Volume One: The Eight Coffins of the Corpse Field Chapter 24: Truly Lost

Third Uncle was startled as well, hurried over, and asked, "What happened? Why are you shouting?"

"Gh...gh...ghost...hand...hand..."

Fear had rendered me speechless; I couldn't utter a complete sentence.

Just then, a shadow swept past my eyes, darting to the end of the corridor like a gust of wind.

"There!" With Third Uncle beside me, my fear momentarily abated. I raised my flashlight and chased toward the end of the corridor.

Sure enough, footsteps sounded behind me—Third Uncle was following close.

The corridor was pitch dark, illuminated only by our flashlights.

The shadow quickly vanished into the gloom; our lights could barely pierce the darkness ahead.

But when I finally reached the corridor's end, I found it was a dead end. No passage forward, just a window locked tight.

I shone my flashlight around and asked, "Third Uncle, do you think that shadow was a person or a ghost?"

No answer. I turned and discovered a face very close to mine.

I let out another startled cry and stumbled backward.

"Why are you screaming? Am I that frightening?"

It was Liang Yue. My heart finally eased.

"Why are you standing so close to me? Are you trying to scare me to death?" I said impatiently.

But then I looked around: only Liang Yue was here, Third Uncle was nowhere to be seen. I shone my flashlight back along the corridor we'd come through, but it was pitch black, not a soul in sight.

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

Liang Yue raised her voice as well, "Why are you yelling? How should I know where your Third Uncle is? I just saw you running like a madman over here, so I followed."

"Damn." I ignored Liang Yue, muttered to myself, and gripped my flashlight, heading back to look for Third Uncle.

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

I glanced back and saw her face was pale. I thought to myself, she's a woman after all; no matter how brave, anyone would be scared in a place like this.

I said, "We have to find my Third Uncle. In a place like this, anything could happen if we're separated. Did you see him when you came over?"

Liang Yue shook her head. "Maybe he went to the basement on his own?"

I said no, he wouldn't leave us and go to the basement alone.

As we spoke, I looked up to realize we had unknowingly arrived near the elevator.

Liang Yue, sharp-eyed, pointed at the elevator, "Look."

Startled, I quickly looked over. The elevator's floor indicator was changing numbers.

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

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

The elevator kept descending. Though I doubted Third Uncle would leave us and go downstairs alone, facts spoke for themselves.

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

"What else? Go down and find him." I stared at the changing numbers. When it reached "1," it didn't stop but settled at "-1."

The elevator doors clattered open with a loud noise, clearly audible to us above.

Liang Yue pressed the down button, and the elevator began clattering upward.

I asked, "Is this the only elevator here?"

Liang Yue nodded, "This is the office floor. Only this elevator is running now. The mall has several elevators, but none reach here."

I thought that leaving this place as soon as possible might be wise. The recent events chilled me, but now, after the ordeal, I felt calmer. Even the persistent flute sound seemed to have stopped.

The elevator quickly arrived, and we entered one after another.

Liang Yue asked if we were going to the basement as well.

I glanced at the time; after all the chaos, it was already past twelve-thirty, less than half an hour until our one o'clock appointment with Third Uncle.

So I pressed the button for the first floor, saying, "Let's wait for Third Uncle at the designated spot on the first floor. I don't want any more complications now."

Liang Yue cast me a look and muttered, "Coward."

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

My retort made Liang Yue purse her lips in frustration, but she held back and said nothing more. I found it amusing—she mocked others for cowardice, but in a place like this, anyone claiming not to be afraid must be either mad or foolish.

Watching the elevator descend, a thought suddenly struck me.

I slapped my forehead—my mind must have been muddled by all that's happened. Why hadn't I thought of this before?

The issue was, seeing the elevator descend, we instinctively assumed Third Uncle had entered it and was controlling it.

But we overlooked another possibility: someone might have pressed the elevator button from below.

It was a simple, common fact, but at the time, neither of us considered it. I glanced at Liang Yue but kept this to myself. Deep down, I hoped Third Uncle had gone down in the elevator. Otherwise, if the basement was sealed and someone pressed the button from below, just thinking about it was enough to make my hair stand on end.

At night, the elevator seemed noisier, rattling and shaking noticeably. I grew anxious—would it malfunction again?

We stood in silence inside, the atmosphere strange. To ease the tension, I joked, "Assistant Liang, your group is so big, why don't you fix the elevator properly?"

Liang Yue's reply nearly made me faint.

She said, "This elevator hasn't been serviced in five years. It's amazing it still runs."

"Damn, seriously? It won't go out of control, will it?" I leaned against the wall, silently praying nothing would go wrong.

Fortunately, despite the noise, the elevator functioned and quickly reached the first floor.

I prepared to step out, but oddly, it didn't stop at the first floor—instead, it rattled on downward.

"Eh?" Both Liang Yue and I noticed, surprised. The first-floor button was still lit—why didn't it stop?

"Ugh, you jinxed it," Liang Yue glared at me in reproach.

I waved dismissively, "Relax. We're already on the first floor—if it breaks, we won't die."

Soon, the elevator reached minus one; it shuddered and finally stopped.

The doors slid open slowly, a chill wind blowing in from outside. The dim bulb inside flickered several times, as if about to go out.

Damn, that's an electric light, not a candle—how could the wind blow it out?

Luckily, it just flickered, like an unstable voltage, but didn't completely extinguish, though its glow grew noticeably weaker.

I grabbed my flashlight and swept it outside. The darkness was so deep that the beam could only reach two or three meters; nothing was visible.

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

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

The basement was emptier still; the echo was longer and louder.

But there was no response from Third Uncle.

Liang Yue tugged my sleeve, "Should we try to go back to the first floor?"

I nodded and pressed the first-floor button again.

The elevator doors closed once more. I felt a bit safer inside, preferring its light to the unknowns outside.

I remembered a saying—though I’d forgotten who said it—that darkness means the unknown, and the unknown is the most terrifying thing of all...

But just as the doors were about to close fully, suddenly an arm reached through the gap.

That took us by surprise. In the dim light, the exposed skin of the arm was the color of ash—dead gray.

It matched the hand I’d felt on my shoulder up on the top floor.

"Ah..." Liang Yue and I screamed in unison.

The elevator doors, meeting the arm, began to open again.

As the doors fully swung open, I saw a person standing outside. A wave of icy air rushed in, the overhead bulb flickered, then went out with a snap.

I had already switched off my flashlight, plunging us into darkness.

Judging by the color of that hand, the person outside was certainly not alive.

The thought made my scalp tingle. Frantically, I switched the flashlight back on.

In the sudden light, I saw Liang Yue already launching a kick at the person’s chest. The figure staggered back several steps but did not fall.

"Quick, close the elevator!" Liang Yue shouted.

I hurriedly pressed the close-door button. This time, the doors slid shut smoothly. We had already pressed for the first floor, so the elevator shuddered and began to rise.

As soon as we left the basement, the bulb flickered and came back on.

Liang Yue and I both clutched our chests, our hearts pounding wildly.

What had just happened defied explanation.

Liang Yue asked, "Was that your Third Uncle outside?"

I shook my head, "Impossible. That skin...clearly belonged to a dead person. Is there a morgue down here?"

"Don't be ridiculous. This isn’t a hospital—how could there be a morgue?"

Liang Yue almost blurted out something vulgar, but caught herself and changed words. I wasn’t in the mood to laugh at her; worry for Third Uncle gnawed at me.

Then, unexpectedly, something strange happened again.

While we were talking, the elevator passed the first floor and continued to ascend.

(End of chapter)