Otherworldly Merchant

What could I even say? From the little details he provided, I couldn’t guess anything yet. We’d have to check the elevator tonight.

Before we left, Lin Zhongcheng said that we could contact the police if we needed anything. However, I tactfully declined. “Sorry, but I have no intention of using police resources. I’m just here to help a friend. If I can solve this case, I will. If I can’t, please don’t bother me. It’s better if we keep some distance.”

Lin Zhongcheng was reluctant as he wanted more cooperation, but after I insisted, he could only agree to my terms.

After seeing Lin Zhongcheng off, Li Mazi and I went to fetch the items we would use tonight.

Ru Xue and Yin Xinyue were scared. They didn’t dare to stay in the building alone and wanted to go with us, so we had no choice but to take them along.

We took the elevator down, but nothing happened. The lift didn’t stop on the third floor, and everything was perfectly normal.

I went to buy some swamp eels and refined salt. Then, we all waited at Ru Xue’s apartment.

10 PM was when the lift acted strange according to Ru Xue. I went out and asked Li Mazi to stay and take care of the girls.

To prevent anything unexpected from happening, I told them to sprinkle salt at the entrance, which would prevent ordinary spirits from entering the place.

I walked to the elevator and glanced at the LED display; the elevator was currently on the third floor.

I knew the lift had started to act ‘strange.’ Normally, when no one used the elevator, it would stop at the ground floor.

According to Ru Xue, no one dared to take the elevator anymore. If the lift had stopped on the third floor, it meant that something was controlling of it.

I took a deep breath then pressed the button to call the lift. The elevator slowly rose and stopped at my floor, the tenth floor.

The doors opened; as expected, there was no one inside.

I entered the lift, but the instant the doors closed, I suddenly felt afraid. The narrow, closed space, and the mirror-like walls reflecting my image gave me goosebumps.

Although I was fearful, I knew I couldn’t back down now. I took out an eel and cut it, smearing its blood on the shining walls around me.

Eel blood contained pure Yin energy. If there was a soul lingering in this place, it would be revealed.

I waited and didn’t press any button. I wanted to see what would happen if the elevator was left to its own devices.

The elevator slowly lowered from the tenth floor, stopping on the third floor soon after. The doors opened; yet, no one was outside.

Until now, I hadn’t encountered any ghost.

I took out another eel and cut it in the middle. I smeared more blood onto the walls and waited patiently.

The doors slowly closed.

Right at that moment, I felt a strange wind blow in. The scent of blood rolled in with the wind. However, the smell dispersed and disappeared shortly after.

My nerves went completely tense. I knew that this wind wasn’t normal. I became more cautious and looked around.

A light red tint slowly appeared on the wall in front of me.

Although the color was very light, I still managed to notice it. I checked my body, and I wasn’t wearing anything red, so that red color was definitely sketchy.

The red tint moved, swaying gently. Next, another color appeared right above it, white.

The red and white colors spiraled around, which made me remember that the parcel contained some ancient garments. If I wasn’t mistaken, the ‘person’ in front of me was the owner of those clothes.

It seemed the ghost didn’t want to harm me. The lift descended to the first floor. Then, the red-and-white reflection on the wall headed toward the open elevator doors and disappeared.

I knew that the ghost was leaving, so I followed behind it. However, since I didn’t have the right tools with me, I couldn’t keep track of it.

I sighed as I looked at the vehicles moving in front of me. It was too late to catch up to the ghost.

Reluctantly, I got in the lift and pressed the button to go to the tenth floor. However, the instant the doors closed, a distant sound came to my ears.

My nerves went tense instantly, and my ears pricked up to listen.

The sound was vague, and it seemed to come from a distant place. Since the elevator made some noise as it moved up, I couldn’t clearly tell what the sound was, but I knew it was there.

Sometimes, when one lay on their bed to sleep, they would hear some faint noises coming from around them.

My current situation was similar. This sort of sound was known as ‘Netherworld Sound’ in my profession. As one could guess from the name, it was a sound that did not belong to this world.

I listened attentively and held the Sirius Whip tightly.

It sounded like a male’s voice. The voice was crying and weeping, looking very resentful. My heart raced in fright as I listened.

All of a sudden, the elevator halted and the doors opened. I checked around and saw that I was on the third floor.

A man stood in front of the elevator. He gave me a faint smile and just stood there; he didn't come in.

I felt strange, but I didn’t pay him too much attention. The doors slowly closed, and the bizarre male voice disappeared into thin air.

However, when the lift reached the fourth floor, I heard a thud from the third floor. It sounded as if someone had just slammed the door shut.

Soon after, the lift brought me all the way to the tenth floor. When I returned to the apartment, the others were watching TV.

When they saw that I was back, Yin Xinyue came over and asked, “How did it go?”

“I didn’t have the necessary tools today. We’ll have to wait tomorrow.”

Yin Xinyue nodded.

Ru Xue was frightened. “We should go and stay in a hotel tonight. I’m scared, I don’t want to stay in this building anymore!”

Li Mazi said coldly, “What are you afraid of? The more frightened you are, the more that thing will bully you.”

“Of course you’re not afraid. I’m the one who’s getting targeted!”

“You’re so stupid.” Li Mazi didn’t sound patient at all. “Do you really think that the ghost will dare to come as long as we are here?”

“Shut up, you don’t know anything. You’re just a pig pretending to be smart!”

Li Mazi was enraged. “You! How can you repay someone’s kindness like this?!”

Thus, the two began to quarrel.

I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Those two did nothing but quarrel; it would be surprising if they could become a couple. I moved forward to stop them.

Ru Xue loved to enrage Li Mazi, and she was content with her achievement. She then ignored him and asked me, “Did you see anything strange in the lift?”

I then told her what I had experienced back there.

After listening to my story, Ru Xue was puzzled. “You said that when you got up here, there was a man standing on the third floor?”

I nodded. “Yeah, what about that?”

Ru Xue became restless. “No one lives on the third floor now. After the death of that delivery guy, most of the families have moved out. Moreover, even if some have stayed, no one dares to go out at night, let alone stand and wait for the elevator…”

As soon as Ru Xue reminded me, my heart skipped a beat. I jolted up. “Something’s wrong. We have to go to the third floor to check things out!”

Ru Xue was scared. “Do we have to go as well?”

I wanted to bring them with me because I was also scared. I didn’t want to be trapped in the elevator alone.

With Yin Xinyue’s encouragement, Ru Xue agreed to go with us.

This time, nothing strange happened in the lift, and we went all the way down to the third floor. The lights were on, and the corridor was well-lit. This gave me more courage.

When I walked out of the lift, I was something shining on the ground. I lowered my head to check and found a series of wet footprints that led from the elevator to one of the apartments.

At first glance, Ru Xue recognized that apartment. It was apartment No. 304, the destination of the delivery guy.

I had the feeling that something had happened to that family!