Chapter 7 Who Am I 6

That paper containing the rules was illuminated clearly.

The cold wind in the stairwell seemed to stagnate for a moment.

[Flashlight: This is a powerful Flashlight. One hundred underworld currency can bring you forty-eight hours of light, and it is enough to illuminate the path ahead of you. A Flashlight is, of course, only for lighting. What else did you expect it to do?]

This Flashlight was the lowest D-rank item, without any additional abilities, and useless for anything other than lighting. For most people, the cost of using it was high. After all, a two-star instance only awarded three hundred, and charging this Flashlight once cost one hundred.

But the one thing Lin Xiangjun didn't lack was money.

That Black Gold Debit Card was right in her pocket.

The Black Gold Debit Card looked no different from a regular bank card. It was solid black, with all patterns and numbers outlined in gold thread. The front of the Black Gold Card featured the Tiandi Bank logo and card number, while the back had Lin Xiangjun's ID number and bank balance.

The bank balance was originally a long string of zeros, but after paying one hundred yuan, it became a long string of nines.

This length... even squandering it for a million years might not shorten it by a single digit, right?

Lin Xiangjun was very satisfied with this Flashlight and very satisfied with her balance.

After expressing her feelings about her wealth, her gaze shifted to the rules.

[Stairwell Rules:]

[1. The stairwell is old. Please do not run or jump in the stairwell.]

[2. Many elderly people in the community cool off in the stairwell. The elderly are easily startled. Please do not shout or scream here.]

[3. Each flight of stairs has only twelve steps. When a thirteenth step appears, please close your eyes and wait. Continue walking forward when the stairwell lights turn back on.]

[4. From 9:00 PM to 8:00 AM the next morning, the stairs are one-way only; you cannot turn back.]

[5. If an enthusiastic neighbor invites you to their home while you are going up the stairs, please refuse them. Neighbors will not disturb those who want to go home.]

As per her routine, Lin Xiangjun took a photo of the rules with her phone and memorized them. While silently reciting the key points in her mind, she turned and stepped onto the stairs.

It wasn't that she didn't want to memorize the rules on the spot before leaving, but she had seen the other three heading towards the residential building before she entered. Based on the time, they would catch up before long.

Lin Xiangjun didn't want to walk with them.

There were entrances and exits to the safety passage on every floor. These exits had no fire doors. Through the empty door frames, she could see Room 01 and half of Room 02 diagonally ahead. The remaining Room 03 and Room 04 should be located diagonally behind and were not visible while going upstairs.

The most important thing now was to return to her own home. She had no intention of taking risks for the time being, so she only scanned the visible areas with her Flashlight without specifically stepping out of the stairwell to check.

Lin Xiangjun counted the steps beneath her feet while observing her surroundings until she reached the landing between the third and fourth floors.

Half a floor more and she'd be on the fourth floor.

"Seven, eight..."

When she looked at the announcement earlier, everyone had been assigned to Unit Building No. 4, and everyone was assigned to Room 04.

Sun Tao was in 104, Wang Zixuan in 204, Aunt Wang in 304, Lin Xiangjun herself in 404, and Zhuo Xing in 504.

Was it a hint?

Lin Xiangjun remembered a regulation stating that buildings with seven floors or more required elevators, so most of these communities only had six floors, and this building was no exception.

Zhuo Xing was on the fifth floor, but there was still a sixth floor above him.

There might be hidden clues in 604.

"Eleven, twelve..."

Lin Xiangjun's foot suddenly halted on the step.

Her right foot was on the twelfth step; she hadn't made a mistake counting all the way up.

But the left foot she had stepped out with was indeed resting on another step.

...No way?

[Each flight of stairs has only twelve steps. When a thirteenth step appears, please close your eyes and wait. Continue walking forward when the stairwell lights turn back on.]

Lin Xiangjun reacted quickly. The rules she had just read instantly surfaced in her memory. Without hesitation, she closed her eyes and turned off the Flashlight.

The moment she closed her eyes, the dim, old lights in the stairwell, which looked like they were about to fail at any moment, suddenly flickered a few times and then went out.

Darkness flowed slowly, gradually filling the narrow, cramped stairwell.

It was a strange feeling, like staying in an empty pool and turning on the tap; you could feel the water level slowly rising and your body being gradually soaked.

This darkness was the same.

Lin Xiangjun could feel something moving slowly within the darkness.

It was coarse and lumpy, carrying a rotten stench as it surged slowly around her.

When she tried to sense those lumps carefully, she could only feel a slight sensation of collision rather than concrete objects—they were empty, invisible.

That thing filled the entire stairwell, enveloping her whole body. Its movements were somewhat restless yet very gentle as it rubbed against her skin and lightly tugged at her clothes.

Lin Xiangjun swallowed nervously.

At that slight movement, the thing in the darkness immediately noticed. As if receiving a signal, the speed of its surging suddenly increased, and the coarse sensation rubbed against Lin Xiangjun's skin until it hurt.

Lin Xiangjun immediately didn't even dare to swallow.

Her foot was on the last step. With one more step, she could reach the fourth floor, and as long as she stepped through the door frame that didn't even have a fire door, she could leave the stairwell.

The thing obviously knew this too, so when Lin Xiangjun delayed responding to it, its movements became increasingly restless.

The increasing force of the impact made Lin Xiangjun almost unable to stand steady.

The rules clearly stated that she could only continue walking forward when the stairwell light came on. In other words, as long as this thing didn't leave, she had to stand here as straight as a wooden post.

Lin Xiangjun didn't want to be so passive.

Before going upstairs, she had put away the Sharp Knife because she needed to hold the Flashlight.

However, for card-based items, bringing them out was just a matter of a single thought.

This thing was unwilling to leave, and the rules said she couldn't walk forward.

But not being able to walk forward didn't mean she couldn't move! Just now, when she had clearly swallowed, the thing had only become very restless without attacking.

Only her legs couldn't move!

Lin Xiangjun went over the rules in her mind once more.

She couldn't keep stalling with this thing.

She didn't know when it would leave, but if it could stay here for two hours, she couldn't actually stand here for two hours.

Being trapped in the stairwell only wasted her time for collecting clues.

For Lin Xiangjun's first time in an instance, caution and prudence certainly took precedence, but once she had carefully confirmed that her actions didn't violate the rules, she was going to be bold and reckless.

With just a thought, the thin card clutched in her palm turned into a cold, jewel-encrusted hilt.

With her eyes closed, Lin Xiangjun thrust the Sharp Knife forward with all her might—

This thing filled the entire stairwell, so she didn't even have to worry about missing.

This thing had always been a void, impossible to touch as a solid entity, yet when she stabbed forward, it felt as if she had actually hit something.

What slid across the blade was coarse particulate matter mixed with soft, rotten things that broke upon being poked. It was a bit like digging up a half-rotten orange while loosening soil for flowers, or like sticking your hand into bulk rice at a supermarket and touching a long-dead rat.

It was a very strange sensation.

The thing paused for a moment, then suddenly began to scream like crazy—