C24

Third Uncle was startled too and quickly ran over, asking, "What's wrong? Why are you screaming?"

"Ghost... Ghost... Hand... Hand..."

Fear had gripped me so tightly that I couldn't form a complete sentence.

Just then, a black shadow zipped by, racing to the end of the hallway like a swift breeze.

"Over there..." Having Third Uncle by my side gave me the courage to push aside my fear and rush toward the end of the hallway with my flashlight leading the way.

As expected, I heard footsteps behind me as Third Uncle followed in pursuit.

The corridor was pitch black, lit only by the beam of our flashlights.

The shadow vanished into the darkness, and our flashlights could only reveal a limited distance ahead.

It wasn't until I reached the end of the hallway that I realized it was a dead end. No more pathways, just a locked window.

Shining the flashlight on it, I asked, "Third Uncle, do you think that shadow was a person or a ghost?"

No one responded to my question. When I turned around, I was met with a face inches from my own.

Startled, I let out a yelp and stumbled backward.

"What's all the shouting for? Am I really that frightening?"

It was Liang Yue. My heart settled down at last.

"Why are you standing so close? Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" I said, clearly annoyed.

But then I realized that only Liang Yue was there; Third Uncle was nowhere to be seen. I shone the flashlight back down the corridor we'd come through. It was shrouded in darkness, empty of any presence.

"Where's Third Uncle?" I called out loudly.

Liang Yue's voice rose as she replied, "Why are you yelling? How would I know where your Third Uncle is? I just saw you running this way like a lunatic, so I followed."

"This is bad," I muttered, my mind not on Liang Yue. Clutching the flashlight, I headed back to find Third Uncle.

"Hey, where are you going?" Liang Yue called out, trailing behind me.

I glanced back and noticed that Liang Yue looked uneasy. I thought to myself, "She's a woman, after all. No matter how brave, in a situation like this, fear is inevitable."

I said to her, "We need to find my Third Uncle. In a place like this, anything could happen. Didn't you notice him when you arrived?"

Liang Yue shook her head and suggested, "Could he have gone down to the basement on his own?"

I disagreed, "No, he wouldn't just leave us and head to the basement alone."

While we were talking, I looked up and realized we had unwittingly made our way near the elevator.

Liang Yue, with her keen eyes, pointed at the elevator and exclaimed, "Look!"

Startled, I glanced over and saw the numbers on the elevator's floor indicator changing.

7... 6... 5...

"See, I told you your Third Uncle has already gone down," Liang Yue said, pointing at the elevator.

The elevator continued its descent. I was skeptical that Third Uncle would go down without us, but the evidence was undeniable.

"So, what do we do now?" Liang Yue asked.

"What else? We go down and find him," I said, watching the numbers on the elevator tick down. After reaching "1," it didn't stop but settled on "-1."

The elevator doors opened with a resounding clang, a sound that was unmistakably clear to us above.

Liang Yue pressed the down button, and the elevator started its ascent with a series of loud clangs.

I inquired of Liang Yue, "Is this the only elevator on this floor?"

She nodded, "Yes, this is the office level, and it's the only one operating right now. The shopping mall has several, but they don't connect to this floor."

I thought it best to leave this place sooner rather than later. The recent events had left me unnerved, yet I was feeling steadier now. Even the persistent flute music that had been echoing in my ears seemed to have ceased.

The elevator quickly returned to our floor, and we stepped inside, one after the other.

Liang Yue asked if we were also going to head down to the basement.

Checking the time, I realized that after all the commotion, it was already past twelve-thirty. There was less than half an hour until the time Third Uncle had set to meet.

I pressed the button for the first floor and decided, "Let's wait for Third Uncle at the predetermined spot on the first floor. I don't want any more complications right now."

Liang Yue shot me a glance and muttered, "Coward."

I bristled, "Who are you calling a coward? If you're so brave, go down to the basement yourself."

After my retort, Liang Yue pouted in annoyance but managed to hold back any further comments. I couldn't help but chuckle internally; she was the one who was timid, yet she always teased others. In a creepy place like this, anyone would be scared. If not, they'd have to be either foolish or insane.

As I watched the elevator continue its descent, a sudden realization hit me.

I smacked my forehead. My mind must have been cluttered with everything that had happened. How could I have missed this?

The issue was, we had assumed that Third Uncle had gotten into the elevator and was sending it down. We had overlooked another possibility: someone could be calling the elevator from below.

It was such a basic thing, yet it had escaped all of us in the moment. I glanced at Liang Yue but kept my thoughts to myself. Deep down, I still hoped Third Uncle was the one using the elevator. Otherwise, the idea of someone pressing the elevator button from a supposedly sealed basement was enough to send shivers down my spine.

The elevator was noisier at night, clanging loudly with significant vibrations. My anxiety spiked. Was the elevator malfunctioning again?

We stood in silence, the air between us growing awkward. To lighten the mood, I said, "Assistant Liang, for such a large corporation, why don't you guys fix this elevator?"

Liang Yue's response nearly made my heart stop.

She said, "This elevator hasn't been serviced in five years. It's a miracle it's still operational."

"What the hell? Are you serious? Could the elevator lose control?" I leaned against the elevator wall, fervently hoping nothing would go wrong.

Thankfully, despite the noise, the elevator functioned properly and soon arrived at the first floor.

I prepared to exit, but to my surprise, the elevator didn't stop. Instead, it rattled on, descending further.

"Huh?" Liang Yue and I both noticed the problem and were startled simultaneously. The button for the first floor was still lit up. Why wouldn't it stop?

"Tsk, jinx," Liang Yue shot me a glare, chiding me.

I gestured dismissively and reassured her, "Relax. We're already at the first floor. Even if something's wrong, it won't be fatal."

The elevator quickly descended to the basement level, and with a jolt, it came to a halt.

The elevator doors gradually slid open, letting in a chilling breeze from outside. The dim yellow light inside flickered ominously, as if threatening to go out.

Damn, that's an electric light, not a candle. How could it possibly be snuffed out by the wind?

Thankfully, the light merely flickered a few times, seemingly due to a voltage fluctuation, and didn't go out completely, though it did dim significantly.

I grabbed the flashlight and shone it outside. The darkness was so thick that the beam could only penetrate two or three meters, revealing nothing.

Neither Liang Yue nor I dared to step out hastily. I simply called out, "Third Uncle, are you there?"

"Are you there... there... there..."

The echo traveled far and long in the spacious basement.

Still, there was no reply from Third Uncle.

Liang Yue tugged at my sleeve and suggested, "Maybe... we should try going back to the first floor?"

I nodded and pressed the now darkened button for the first floor.

The elevator doors began to close once more. My heart settled a bit; I felt safer inside the elevator than out. Here, at least, there was light and fewer unknowns.

I clung to a saying, though I couldn't recall who it was by: darkness signifies the unknown, and the unknown is the most frightening...

But just as the elevator doors were nearly shut, an arm suddenly thrust through the gap.

This caught us off guard. In the faint light, the exposed half-arm was a deathly pale gray.

It was the same color as the hand I had seen on my shoulder at the top floor.

"Ah..." Liang Yue and I let out an unsurprised scream.

The elevator doors, upon encountering the arm, started to open slowly again.

As the elevator doors slid open, I was greeted by a figure standing just outside. A chilling gust swept in, causing the elevator's overhead light to flicker several times before going out with a snap.

My flashlight was already off, plunging the space into pitch darkness.

The color of that hand made it clear that the person opposite us was certainly not among the living.

My scalp tingled at the thought, and in a panic, I fumbled to switch the flashlight back on. In the sudden illumination, I saw Liang Yue launch a kick at the chest of the figure before us. The figure stumbled backward several steps but didn't fall.

"Quick, close the elevator," Liang Yue urged sharply.

I hit the door close button, and this time, the doors obediently shut. We had selected the ground floor, so the elevator began to ascend with a slight shudder.

As we moved away from the basement level, the elevator light flickered back to life.

Both Liang Yue and I clutched at our chests, our hearts pounding too fiercely to find any sense of calm.

Neither of us could make sense of the bizarre incident.

"Was that your Third Uncle outside?" Liang Yue inquired.

I shook my head. "Impossible. Did you see his skin? It was clearly that of a corpse. Is there a morgue down here?"

"Stop... That's absurd. We're not a hospital; there's no way we have a morgue."

Liang Yue caught herself before saying something crass, opting for a more polite term instead. I wasn't in the mood to tease her, my mind now preoccupied with concerns for Third Uncle.

Yet, as we conversed, the elevator continued its ascent past the first floor, heading for the upper levels.