Chapter 108: Strange Illusionary Scenery
One press or two, it’s all the same; Xuan Xia simply tapped repeatedly like sending a telegram.
Unfortunately, this elevator’s mission seemed only to carry them to the seventh floor.
Now that they had arrived at the destination, any further commands had all lost their effect.
Xuan Xia withdrew her hand and retreated to her original position, staring at the dim and unclear scene outside the elevator, and said dryly: “Qu Xingxuan, let go.”
She felt like her entire arm was about to become a pole, just to hang a heavy Qu Xingxuan.
Qu Xingxuan snapped out of his daze and immediately let go.
But as soon as he let go, he started fidgeting again, wanting to grab back on, only to be yanked over to his side by Li Xinze.
After switching positions, Qu Xingxuan was still shaken: “What’s going on? Is the hotel you’re staying at some kind of theme hotel?”
Xuan Xia: “…”
She didn’t know whether to first praise how much he knew or sternly scold him first—how could the film crew’s hotel possibly be a theme hotel!
Couldn’t he tell that what they were facing was illusionary scenery?!
Xuan Xia shot him an annoyed glance, then noticed him nestling against Li Xinze like a quail cuddling up to a domineering pigeon.
“…”
Couldn’t bear to watch.
“What’s wrong with you? Are you scared?”
It shouldn’t be, right? Qu Xingxuan worked in this field; he shouldn’t be scared.
Xuan Xia asked the question, then dismissed it herself.
Qu Xingxuan whined, unclear if it was because his butt still hurt or for some other reason.
The next second, he said: “I feel safer this way.”
Outside the elevator at this moment was a corridor stretching straight into the dark depths, unclear if it had an end.
Doors lined both sides of the corridor, one after another tightly packed, neatly arranged like they were specifically for selling doors.
The distant doors faded into the darkness, unclear what they looked like exactly, but the nearby ones were illuminated by the elevator light. The more Qu Xingxuan looked, the more they resembled those old wooden doors in long-abandoned ancient houses.
Who knew what might be hiding behind the doors. Also, the wooden floor outside the elevator was missing chunks here and there, looking extremely ominous—wouldn’t it collapse if stepped on?
And if it collapsed, what would be revealed underneath…
Perhaps because he was thinking too much, it created a psychological effect; with each breath, his nostrils were filled with the stale musty smell of decay.
Qu Xingxuan gasped and whined, leaning even more against Li Xinze.
Seeing his weak, about-to-collapse appearance, Xuan Xia had no more patience left.
“Don’t give me the impression that you’ve never entered illusionary scenery, okay?” Xuan Xia hoped he could straighten his back and not forget that he worked in this field.
Qu Xingxuan made humming noises from his nose.
Xuan Xia didn’t know what he was humming about, but Li Xinze translated: “He’s only entered illusionary scenery once, when he was little.”
“Huh?”
Li Xinze looked at Xuan Xia and explained: “He accidentally entered illusionary scenery when he was little, and his master saved him. After coming out, he started learning from his master.”
“But that time he came out seriously ill. Right?” After Li Xinze spoke, he turned to the person in question for confirmation.
Qu Xingxuan didn’t speak.
Better not to bring up this matter!
Though he didn’t get confirmation from the person himself, Li Xinze was already sure he hadn’t remembered wrong.
He looked back at Xuan Xia and continued: “Because of this, since he started with his master, he’s never entered illusionary scenery again.”
At this point, Qu Xingxuan had something to say: “My master said I’m prone to being startled, so before adulthood, it’s best not to contact illusionary scenery. After I become an adult and my soul aspect stabilizes, I can enter.”
“That’s true.” Li Xinze nodded in confirmation.
So that’s how it was.
Then it seemed the illusionary scenery he accidentally entered as a child must have had a significant impact on him to make him like this now.
But thinking again, Xuan Xia felt something was off.
“Are you really prone to being startled? Then last time at An Qi’s house, weren’t you fine?”
Qu Xingxuan’s whines increased.
“How can that compare to illusionary scenery?”
And that time he had been scared to tears too, right?
He had kept saying to call for help, but she wouldn’t listen and insisted on going in herself…
Luckily that thing had only appeared for a few seconds before she dealt with it on the spot. He was too shocked by her brutality and her throwing talismans like they were free to be too scared.
Later they ate hotpot, which completely settled his nerves.
Of course, most importantly, when encountering something uncontrollable outside, he could call for help!
But trapped in illusionary scenery, who could he call!
Most importantly, “If we can’t break the illusionary scenery, we’ll die!”
We’ll die—
Die—
On the endless corridor, Qu Xingxuan’s words echoed.
The distant darkness also became eerie due to the echoes, like a pitch-black eyeball tightly locking onto the three people under the light.
“…”
Qu Xingxuan let out a low groan; if he weren’t clutching Li Xinze’s arm, he might have slid to the ground by now.
Xuan Xia couldn’t help but rub her forehead, not wanting to look at this timid guy anymore.
Looking at Li Xinze, Xuan Xia asked him: “Brother Li, how many times have you entered illusionary scenery?”
“Me? I’ve never entered.” Li Xinze answered frankly.
Look at his mental fortitude!
If he hadn’t said he’d never entered, one could think he was used to entering and exiting!
Qu Xingxuan: “…”
Luckily Li Xinze had strong mental fortitude; if he were like Qu Xingxuan, Xuan Xia would definitely have a headache right now.
But the current situation wasn’t much better.
Xuan Xia looked at the scene outside the elevator, hesitating whether to leave this only source of light.
Go alone, or all three together.
If going alone, honestly, she was a bit scared too.
Thinking this, she still asked: “Should we stay here, or go out and check the situation?”
Qu Xingxuan said: “It’s so dark outside, so scary. But staying here forever isn’t a solution either, right? We can’t break the illusionary scenery like this, right?”
Might as well not say anything.
Xuan Xia thought for a moment and said: “Then let’s go out and check, but there’s something I need to tell you two.”
The two: “?”
Hesitating, Xuan Xia said again: “Forget it, never mind. Let’s go.”
With that, she took the lead and stepped out.
Li Xinze had wanted to take the lead, but Qu Xingxuan was clinging tightly to him, making him miss the chance.
Luckily, Xuan Xia didn’t go deep, just standing at the elevator door, facing the nearest door on the right.
Then she discovered that this door was different too.
Some doors had no doorknob, while others did.
The one she was facing now had no doorknob, but the one next to it did.
She tried pushing it, but the door didn’t budge, like pushing a wall.
So she moved forward a small step, preparing to turn the one with the doorknob.
Just as her hand was about to touch the door, Li Xinze from behind said: “Let me do it.”
Him? Better do it herself.
Thinking this, Xuan Xia directly grabbed and twisted the door open.
As the door opened, the elevator light grazed past the doorway, slightly illuminating the area inside.
Using the light, Xuan Xia peered inside and found the interior furnishings quite recognizable.
There was a washbasin, a towel rack…
This was a restroom.
Qu Xingxuan, trailing at the end, couldn’t see the interior clearly and softly asked Xuan Xia: “Can you see clearly? What’s inside?”
“Restroom.”
“Oh, oh.”
Xuan Xia stood at the door for a few seconds with no anomalies occurring, deciding to go in for a closer look.
At this moment, she was stopped by Li Xinze.
Li Xinze said: “I’ll go in.”
Fine.
Xuan Xia stepped aside.
Li Xinze pushed Qu Xingxuan to Xuan Xia’s side, then stepped into the restroom.
The restroom was hidden in darkness, but after eyes adjusted, the overall area and other objects could faintly be outlined.
Li Xinze tried touching the switch on the wall.
He found the switch, but it wouldn’t turn on the light.
After carefully scanning the area twice more, he exited the restroom.
After he came out, it was Xuan Xia’s turn to enter.
Once inside, Xuan Xia headed straight to the sink and tried the faucet.
This was an old cast-iron faucet, and not only that, even the water pipe was directly exposed, connected to the wall and running to the side before going into the ground—only unfortunately, it didn’t work and produced no water.
But this gave Xuan Xia some inspiration; she turned back and called to Li Xinze: “Brother Li, do you think the water pipe can be removed?”
Li Xinze didn’t ask why and just said: “I’ll try.”
With this try, the two actually managed to remove the water pipe.
When the two emerged from inside, each holding a section of water pipe, Qu Xingxuan had a completely dumbfounded expression like he had nothing to say.
Xuan Xia looked at him and said: “Now I feel safe too.”
Qu Xingxuan: “…”
His gaze fell on the section of water pipe in Xuan Xia’s hand, with the faucet still attached to one end—not looking closely, it resembled a magic tool.
Then he looked at Li Xinze, wondering why he didn’t get one too.
Li Xinze glanced at him, that glance saying he wouldn’t have use for it anyway.
Qu Xingxuan didn’t actually speak up and quickly followed Xuan Xia.
Xuan Xia was already carrying her “safety” toward the door across the corridor.
This time, she first tapped the no-doorknob door with the water pipe, confirmed it couldn’t be opened, then moved to the one with the doorknob again.
Seeing her open the door, Qu Xingxuan gulped repeatedly.
The door opened, still peaceful.
But this time it wasn’t a restroom, and there was nothing Xuan Xia could use.
Because it was an empty room.
They could only continue forward.
The three first went right then left, opening three doors in a row, but all were empty rooms.
Now they were almost out of the farthest reach of the elevator light; going further would mean advancing in darkness.
Xuan Xia puzzledly tilted her head; this illusionary scenery was really strange, like playing hide-and-seek.
Could it be they had to open all the doors?
Thinking this, she turned to look deeper into the corridor.
Before her gaze landed on anything specific, a shrill scream suddenly rang out.
This scream made the screamer tremble along with it.
The next second came the loud bang of a door slamming against the wall, and the sound of footsteps pounding the floor while running.
Additionally, there was a dragging sound mixed in with the running.
And that sound was approaching from far to near.
Qu Xingxuan immediately pressed against the wall, not daring to breathe.
He wanted to grab someone, but the two in front of him had raised their water pipes, looking fully prepared.
Soon, something vague rushed straight at them.
But that thing didn’t reach Xuan Xia and the others first; with a “thud,” it fell to the ground. Next, the vague figure began retreating.
But while retreating, it let out frightened screams.
Xuan Xia heard clearly; this was a male voice.
Not familiar, but not unfamiliar.
With this realization, without time to think more, she rushed forward.
While running, she tucked the water pipe under her arm, pinched a spell with one hand, and reached for a talisman with the other.
Halfway through, she remembered she had no talismans.
What to do?
Without time to think, she gripped the water pipe again and used it like a talisman brush to draw a lightning talisman in the air.
She hadn’t even considered if it would work, but unexpectedly, once the lightning talisman formed, lightning really struck down from above. The power seemed less fierce than when throwing talismans, but the crackling barrage still had its momentum.
Using the light from the lightning, Xuan Xia vaguely made out two figures ahead.
Soon, all the lightning struck one of them, and Xuan Xia heard a shrill wail.
Accompanying the wail, the retreating figure stopped moving, while the one hit by the lightning talisman retreated even faster.
It could almost be said to zip away, retreating into a door.
Xuan Xia also stopped her steps, not daring to rashly approach in case of a counterattack.
Stopping in place for a moment, suddenly, light shone from behind.
And this light bobbed up and down, flickering uncertainly.
Xuan Xia cautiously turned sideways: “…”
It was Li Xinze and Qu Xingxuan coming; as for the light, it was the flashlights from their mobile phones.
Yeah, both of them had their mobile phones, while hers was with Yang Wanxiu.
Xuan Xia practically gritted her teeth—mobile phone lights could be used, so why not say so earlier!
“Is this a person?”
Li Xinze’s voice interrupted her gritted teeth; she turned to look, and yes, there was indeed a person lying on the ground.
Just motionless, unclear if dead or alive.
Xuan Xia was closer and wanted to check personally, but Li Xinze was quicker, holding his mobile phone as he went over and soon flipped the person over.
Once flipped, the person quickly covered his eyes with his hand, trembling like chaff.
“How is there another person here?” Qu Xingxuan’s voice followed.
And it was someone as timid as a grain of rice like him.
Seeing someone like himself, Qu Xingxuan’s courage grew a bit.
Xuan Xia, using their lighting, looked left and right, uncertainly asking: “Brother Huang?”
At this voice, the originally trembling person suddenly trembled less, loosening a finger gap over his eyes and squinting to slowly confirm.
After a short while, he finally recognized her: “You’re Xuan Xia?”
It really was Manager Huang, Huang Ke.
“Brother Huang, how are you here?”
Huang Ke fully lowered his hand from his eyes, sitting up from the floor, and asked the same question as Xuan Xia: “How are you here?”
Xuan Xia thought, clearly I asked first.
“This person looks so familiar.” Qu Xingxuan looked at Huang Ke uncertainly.
Huang Ke looked at Qu Xingxuan and soon said in surprise: “It’s you. Master Yuan’s disciple.”
“Ah.” Qu Xingxuan realized belatedly, finally remembering who this was.
It turned out to be his master’s old client.
Xuan Xia was also surprised they knew each other, but thinking of Huang Ke appearing here, she couldn’t help thinking of Ji Ziyao and Yang Wanxiu.
