The World Below Surface
Chapter 113

A greater danger loomed ahead.

For a brief instant, Lin Chu spaced out, but a jolt of fear brought her back to the present. She shook her head as if to clear it and turned to face the others.

She remembered the last words she exchanged with Chu Xiu…

“So, how did you manage to escape?”

She avoided his gaze and gave a vague shrug, as if hiding a secret that she dared not share, “…Don’t ask about that. Anyway, after leaving the wax museum, I finally made it back.”

…

She could only communicate with her lips, hoping Lu Yan could read them. She couldn’t tell him the truth. She had to stay with him and look for a way out, even though she had no idea where it was.

The candles were not enough. They flickered weakly, barely lasting for half an hour each, and they only had a handful left. And any moment now… the horror could come back!

The hall was too vast.

Lu Yan had thought he had reached the end of it, but he was wrong. It stretched on and on, into the abyss of darkness. He had no clue where it came from, or where it led to. But he knew one thing for sure - it was not part of Spirit Vale Town.

The roar of the waves echoed in his ears, mingling with the salty dampness that filled his nostrils. He wondered if there was a hidden spring or a lake below this cursed land.

They advanced cautiously, side by side, but never too close. They knew better than to trust each other in this hellish place. They could turn on each other in a heartbeat, or worse, be turned by the horrors that lurked here.

They realised something strange then. Something they had overlooked in their haste.

There were no shadows under their feet.

But behind them, they were not alone. The restless spirits followed them, trailing their long, wispy tendrils of grey mist. They felt a cold breeze wrap around them, carrying the sounds of whispers, murmurs, screams… They shuddered as they heard the agony and madness of the dead. Sometimes, they caught a glimpse of a more solid shape, a ghostly face with glowing green eyes, staring at them with malice and hunger.

Lu Yan stopped abruptly, feeling a misty tendril brush against his neck, snapping at him like a rabid dog, but replaceing no flesh to tear. He froze, making Lin Chu halt as well. She looked at him, wary and curious.

“What are the rules?” Lu Yan asked, his voice low and tense.

Lin Chu shook her head, her eyes darting around. “I don’t know. Long ago, these things stopped following any rules.”

They felt a surge of dread, as if they had stumbled into a nightmare with no logic or order. These were the true ghosts, weren’t they? The ones that had no boundaries, no limits, no reason. Unlike before, when they could observe and escape, when the ghosts had some semblance of rules to obey, why would they now? What kept them in check?

He knew better than to linger on this dilemma; it was a sure path to madness.

With a curt nod, Lu Yan resumed his march.

The endless darkness gnawed at his resolve, offering no glimpse of hope, only a dull and shapeless trail, haunted by ashen spectres.

He kept track of the time in his head.

By his reckoning, they had been walking for hours, but their candles showed no sign of burning out, their feeble flames flickering in sync with their steps.

They were caught in a timeless limbo, a prison of shadows, with no escape in sight.

Lu Yan came to a halt again.

Lin Chu followed suit, and they locked eyes in silent understanding.

Something was very wrong.

“Are you sure you can’t discern any pattern?” Lu Yan asked abruptly.

As soon as the words left his mouth, the world around them shifted. The vague boundaries of their surroundings contracted, exposing solid walls on all sides.

Thud, thud, thud…

The walls pulsed and warped with every thump, as if a monstrous creature was tearing at them from the other side, or as if they were moulded from the flesh and agony of the damned.

The faces multiplied, twisted and grotesque, emerging from the cracks and crevices, whispering and moaning, showering them with dust and debris, while the floor trembled under their feet.

But there was a glimmer of hope behind them.

They both instinctively turned their heads. At the far end of the dark and narrow corridor, a glass window shone like a beacon.

A pale light filtered through, revealing the silhouettes of the buildings outside.

Was that their escape route? Or was it a lure to a deadlier trap? Lin Chu wondered, her heart racing. She barely had time to think, when she realised that the window was getting closer and closer.

She felt a surge of dread, certain that something was wrong.

Lu Yan must have felt it too. They froze, torn between moving forward or backward.

They were right to be afraid. The faces became more numerous and more hideous, covering the walls and the floor, merging genders and ages, forming a grotesque collage of human features, staring at them with malice and resentment.

They both had keen eyes for details, and they quickly noticed that the corridor was shrinking, closing in on them, trapping them.

What kind of trap was this? Lin Chu watched the window warily, expecting the worst.

What was behind them? Lu Yan wondered, fearing the unknown.

Then, they heard a woman's scream, piercing the darkness behind them.

A scream tore through the air, a final plea for her mommy from a dying woman. Lin Chu flinched at the sound, a voice she had never heard before. Beside her, Lu Yan shivered as a cold wave of dread washed over him.

He knew that voice. He knew it too well. It was Shi Yan, his partner in the twisted games they played. She had met a gruesome fate in a car crash at an intersection, her body mangled beyond recognition.

How could he hear her voice again?

He clutched his head as a sharp pain stabbed his temples. He understood what “Spirit Vale” meant - a limbo between the living and the dead, a thin line that separated the worlds of light and darkness.

The echoes of the scream faded into silence, but they dared not move. Something sinister was waiting for them in the shadows; their only hope was to escape through the window ahead.

Please… let there be no traps, let us get out of here safely, please…

Lin Chu muttered a prayer under her breath, trying to keep her spirits up.

They crept towards the window.

The hot wax from the candles burned their hands, adding to their misery. The candles were getting shorter by the minute, a sign of their dwindling time. But instead of feeling panic, they felt a strange relief.

They were almost there. Almost free.

The window loomed before them, a colossal pane of glass that dwarfed their human forms. It was like a portal to another world, a world where the sun still shone and the sky was blue. A world where Spirit Vale Town was reduced to rubble and ash by the bombs.

They had been wandering in the dark for so long, they had almost forgotten what light looked like. They felt a surge of hope as they neared the window, eager to catch a glimpse of the outside.

But before they could reach it, the earth began to shake. A thunderous sound echoed through the room, as if a giant beast was stomping towards them. They staggered and stumbled, clutching at the carved reliefs that jutted out from the walls. They felt the vibrations in their bones, in their teeth, in their souls.

Then, a shadow swept over the window, blotting out the light. The room plunged into darkness, deeper than before. The sound stopped, replaced by a heavy silence.

"What the hell is that?" Lin Chu gasped.

Lu Yan reached out and grabbed her. She peered at the window, but saw nothing but blackness. A faint glimmer of something darker and rounder in the centre of the blackness.

Lu Yan followed her gaze, his eyes narrowing. He could make out the shape of the thing that blocked the window, the thing that had caused the tremors. He felt a cold sweat break out on his forehead, a knot forming in his stomach.

He felt a strange familiarity in the air, a faint echo of something he had seen or known before. But no sooner did he entertain the idea of advancing than a cold shiver ran down his spine, a primal alarm that urged him to retreat.

“Back off,” he whispered.

He spun on his heels, retreating as fast as he could. Behind him, the window that had been obscured by a dark mass suddenly brightened, as the thing moved away, exposing a sliver of white.

It couldn’t be…

As more sunlight flooded the room, they gasped in horror at the sight…

A pair of human eyes!

They were far away, but unmistakable. The black orbs, the reddened sclera, the fine lashes.

Those eyes had been watching them, studying them, while they were unaware, drawn by curiosity.

The eyes blinked, then crinkled at the corners, as if amused by their reaction.

"Run, for God's sake, run!"

A wave of coldness swept over them, freezing their blood and bones, a primal dread that seized their souls. They spun around and fled, their feet pounding the floor, their hearts hammering their chests, their eyes blind to anything but escape.

The eyes faded from the window, and a muffled babble of voices reached their ears, but the words were incomprehensible. They could see the outlines of buildings and trees outside, but they seemed oddly distant and small. Had they somehow stumbled into a realm of titans, where they were nothing but ants?

They collapsed in a corner, gasping for breath, trying to calm their frantic minds. The candle still flickered, casting a feeble light on their faces.

Lin Chu clutched her head, feeling a surge of nausea. She croaked out a question, after what seemed like an eternity, "What the hell... was that?"

She didn't really expect Lu Yan to have an answer.

Were those eyes belonging to monstrous beings, towering over them like mountains, or had they shrunk to the size of insects?

Or worse, were they just specimens, bred by those things for some sinister purpose?

Lin Chu shuddered at the thought, pushing it away from her consciousness. She felt a chill in her veins, as if ice had replaced her blood.

Lu Yan leaned against the wall, his face pale, his eyes haunted. He recalled being coerced into playing the elevator game with Chu Xiu, which led him into a strange world. There, he encountered a massive statue and unknowingly roamed around its foot for a considerable time.

And now, had he heard the voice - was it the haunting final scream of Shi Yan, the one who had tragically perished in the game? How did all these pieces connect?

The mist that had shrouded them in shadows dissipated, and the piercing screams that had haunted their ears fell silent, leaving only a deep stillness that was broken by their ragged breathing and pounding hearts.

The candles that had flickered in the gloom snuffed out, and a blinding light poured in through the window, so bright that it washed out the world beyond, forcing them to squint and shield their eyes as they slowly adapted to the glare.

One side was drenched in light, the other swallowed by darkness.

Lu Yan stared for a long time, then moved towards the light, drawn by some instinct. He reached the edge, where light and dark met, and looked back, seeing the corridor that had led them here, a black tunnel that seemed to go on forever.

Life and death were nothing but illusions; this world was a twisted and macabre joke. He had lost his grip on reality, but he still clung to the hope of replaceing some meaning in his existence.

Which way was life? Which way was death?

Lin Chu wondered the same, equally confused and lost, leaning on the wall for support as she gasped for air, her mind a blank slate.

She saw Lu Yan standing motionless at the border of light and dark, as if waiting for something. She decided to follow him, but paused for a moment, unsure of what awaited them.

Outside the window, a dazzling white light hid everything from sight.

But they stepped forward anyway.

“Oh, you finally made it out. What took you so long?” A voice came from the haze, a middle-aged man’s voice, and Lu Yan blinked several times until the fuzzy shape in front of him became clear.

"Welcome back to the land of the living. Did you enjoy your little trip?" the man continued speaking. "I hope you don't have any lasting damage. You know, you signed a waiver before entering this game, stating that you had no medical conditions."

The fog lifted, revealing a stark contrast between the world they had left and the one they had entered. The air was thick with smoke and the stench of paint and dirt. Their skin, chilled by the cold, felt the warmth of the sun. Lu Yan stood frozen, taking in the scene.

Lin Chu was next to him, equally stunned. She looked like she had seen a ghost. They were in an amusement park, but behind them was a... haunted house?

The entrance was draped with a black curtain, and above it was a sign that read 'Spirit Vale Town' in blood-red letters. A long line of people waited outside, eager to experience the horror.

The middle-aged man waved his hand in front of Lu Yan, his voice tinged with worry. "Hey, are you guys okay? You look like you've been through hell."

Lu Yan muttered, "We're fine. We're fine." He grabbed Lin Chu's hand and dragged her away, ignoring her confused glance. She followed him without resistance.

He still had the candle in his pocket, and the jade pendant.

But...

He scanned the surroundings, looking for something familiar.

Nothing. Nothing at all.

An unfamiliar amusement park, unfamiliar people, smiling and laughing, having fun on the colourful rides. The sun was shining, and the wind was gentle.

A sharp pain in her head jolted Lin Chu back to reality. She clutched her temples and squinted at the bizarre scene around her, feeling a surge of disbelief and confusion.

“Where the hell are we?” She muttered, her voice barely audible over the noise of the crowd. She scanned the unfamiliar surroundings with a sense of dread, unable to make sense of anything.

They looked like a pair of ghosts among the living, out of sync with the festive atmosphere. The tourists who passed by them gave them curious or pitying looks, wondering what had befallen them.

“This must be one of those twisted dimensions,” Lin Chu said, trying to sound calm.

They retreated to a quieter corner and whispered to each other. Lin Chu was new to this nightmare, but Lu Yan had been trapped in these warped spaces more than once. He had learned to look for clues and patterns in the first one, at the train station, but the ones that followed were more random and unpredictable.

What was the game this time?

The speakers of the amusement park suddenly blared a cheerful melody, inviting the visitors to join the fun. The crowd cheered and rushed towards the source of the music, eager to see what was in store.

“What’s going on? Do you think we should follow them?” Lin Chu asked, feeling a mix of curiosity and fear.

"Let's go take a look," Lu Yan said, getting up and walking ahead.

The music cut off abruptly, replaced by a distant sound. They reached the edge of the giant carousel, where a path branched off. There, they saw a group of girls in colourful dresses, leading the way. They held flowers and bells in their hands, creating a shower of petals and ribbons as they moved, laughing and singing.

A floral carriage loomed behind them, drawn by two white horses that seemed carved from marble. Their hooves trampled over the delicate petals and ribbons that adorned the road, creating a contrast of beauty and violence. The man who held the reins wore a butler’s uniform, and a thick white beard that hid his lips. He lifted the whip with a flourish and tapped the horses’ backs, making them neigh and prance.

Lin Chu glanced at the carriage, expecting to see someone of importance inside. But the carriage was empty, and she felt a surge of disappointment and curiosity. Why was it here? Who was it for?

Lu Yan shared her bewilderment, and decided to leave. He had no interest in the carriage or its mysterious driver.

They were about to walk away, when the bearded man on the carriage pointed his whip at them, as if he had singled them out for some reason.

A group of lovely girls, holding baskets of flowers and ribbons, ran towards them with smiles and cheers.

“Come, come, ride the floral carriage.”

“Congratulations, you’ve been chosen! You’re the lucky guests, come ride the carriage.”

The girls surrounded Lu Yan and Lin Chu, their hopeful eyes shining with excitement. They reached for their hands, trying to pull them towards the carriage. The other tourists looked on with awe and jealousy, as if this were a stroke of good fortune.

Lin Chu shook her head frantically: "No, no, I don't want to go, please leave me alone."

The girls ignored her pleas, persisting in their efforts to haul her to the carriage. Lu Yan struggled to free himself from their grip. He made a swift move, sending one of the girls tumbling to the ground, then bolted away.

Lin Chu saw his escape and seized the opportunity. She sliced the ribbon of a girl who clung to her hand, shoving her to the ground with force. A gasp of shock rippled through the crowd, as she sprinted after Lu Yan.

"How dare they!"

"They are so rude! If they don't like it, they should just say so."

The girls wept as they lifted the two who had fallen. The music died, and the flowers in the basket wilted.

**

"Surveillance reports that it has breached the third level of space. It's only a matter of time before the third level is completely infested."

"Hm... Keep monitoring the situation."