The World Below Surface - Chapter 41

Give Me Another Smile

In the confines of the lift, three figures loomed: two men and a woman, their presence barely acknowledged as the display screen outside ticked down each descending floor.

Chu Xiu cast his gaze downward, his eyes narrowed to a mere sliver as he sought solace in the darkness. Lu Yan followed suit, his eyes squeezed shut as he leaned against the frigid wall.

The woman between them simmered with indignation, her features contorting with each unreturned glance. Gradually, her neck elongated like a rubber band until her head hovered near Chu Xiu’s side, a seething hiss escaping her lips. Sensing something amiss, Chu Xiu recoiled and plastered himself against the wall.

The metal enclosure reeked of rust and iron, a potent blend that assailed their senses. Huddling together for warmth, the two men were engulfed in an eerie silence as the lift hurtled towards its unknown destination. Finally, the car shuddered to a stop, the doors sliding open with a soft whoosh.

The woman disembarked with measured steps. Was she truly gone?

Lu Yan nudged Chu Xiu, but the latter remained tight-lipped, merely shifting away.

Both men were wary, unwilling to let their guard down. Lu Yan edged towards the door, his fingers grazing the icy metal before locating the buttons. After hesitating, he punched in the relevant floor, and the lift began its ascent.

Yet the chill lingered, an unsettling reminder of the unknown horrors beyond.

Was the world outside truly a realm beyond comprehension?

As the lift rose, Chu Xiu breathed a sigh of relief, his eyes flicking open to survey the frost-coated walls. “It’s all right,” he murmured. “She’s gone.”

Lu Yan mirrored his actions, taking in their surroundings with mounting dread. The six walls seemed to exude a palpable coldness, the door rimmed with a delicate veneer of frost.

Chu Xiu scrutinized the buttons, his gaze alighting on Lu Yan. “You did hit the tenth floor, didn’t you?”

Lu Yan stepped back. “I thought you said to reverse it?”

Their fates lay in the hands of the ascending lift, the tenth floor fast approaching.

The hotel had eighteen floors, and to play the Elevator Game, Chu Xiu and Lu Yan needed to follow a specific sequence of floors, beginning from the first floor and going to the eighteenth floor. They would then descend to the second floor and ascend to the seventeenth, continuing until they reached the tenth floor, the game’s midpoint. Reversing the sequence of floors would allow them to return to the real world, starting from the tenth floor and going on to the ninth.

After a brief pause, the elevator halted with a melodious “ding” as the door slid open, revealing a dimly lit area. Cobwebs clung to the long-forgotten corridor, and Chu Xiu’s eyes wandered over the piles of abandoned items scattered around them.

“It does seem like a different world,” he murmured, his brow furrowing. “Do you want to venture out and explore?”

Lu Yan hesitated, intrigued but fearful. “You’re not really planning on going out, are you?” This world was already strange enough. As a mere pawn in the game, he was reluctant to take any risks without safety guarantees. Still, his curiosity burned within him. What could this “different world” be like, and how would it differ from his own and those of outsiders?

Could this world be even more eerie and terrifying than their current surroundings?

Chu Xiu, equally intrigued, was wary of the potential danger. “I’m tempted, but it’s too risky. What do you think?” He pressed the button for the ninth floor, a look of caution on his face.

As the doors began to close, they caught sight of a figure slipping past the gap, sending chills down their spines.

“Are we sure the rules work as they claim?” Lu Yan asked, his voice strained.

Chu Xiu replied, “According to the rules, yes. Also, if we want to go out and take a look, we can, but we’ll have to find this elevator again to return. And the longer we stay in the other world, the more likely we are to get lost.”

The elevator doors opened on the ninth floor, and they exchanged glances before continuing their conversation as Chu Xiu skillfully selected the next button, sending them to the eleventh floor.

“Did the rules say anything about what the other world looks like?”

Chu Xiu shook his head. “There are different accounts. Some say it’s a mirrored world, while others believe it’s the world of the dead.”

As the elevator doors slid shut, a fleeting figure darted past, too swift for Lu Yan and Chu Xiu to discern its gender. They didn’t dare to steal a second glance, promptly averting their gazes the moment it whisked by.

The moment the doors sealed them in, relief washed over them.

“Did you manage to get a proper look at that shadow?”

Chu Xiu nodded in affirmation.

Lu Yan had a notion brewing within, yet it remained unverified. Upon reaching the next floor, they opted to remain in the lift, hitting the button for the 8th floor.

The doors shut in that split second, and the shadow materialized once more.

With unease creeping up on them, they exchanged glances, each reflecting the other’s trepidation.

The shadow drew closer to the elevator, leaving no room for denial.

It wanted in!

If it succeeded, the consequences would be catastrophic.

The ride from the 11th to the 8th floor took only a few seconds, with neither uttering a word. Upon arrival, they hesitated, foregoing the button for a moment.

Counting the seconds down in their heads, they were flabbergasted when the entity failed to reappear despite having expected it to.

Chu Xiu hit the button for the 12th floor, the doors closing as the shadow streaked by once more. This time, it drew dangerously close, narrowly avoiding getting wedged in the narrow hallway.

“It appears we’re being coerced out. Want to investigate together?” Lu Yan proposed nonchalantly.

Oddly, he no longer felt petrified at this juncture. After all, he had lived in a world devoid of living or the dead. Even if it were the afterlife lurking beyond the doors, what of it? At least he could perceive the presence of death unequivocally.

As opposed to their present state…

Lu Yan cast a fleeting glance at Chu Xiu, wondering silently, ‘What would he be like if he were to die? Will he find happiness in this place, like the previous occupants did before him? Tsk, if that naively innocent smile shows up on his face…’

Chu Xiu immediately sensed the danger, and his body bristled with tension. Yet, as suddenly as it appeared, the sense of impending doom dissipated.

He fixed his gaze on the door.

It wasn’t a mirage.

What could be outside the door?

They had arrived on the 12th floor.

Chu Xiu stepped out.

**

‘When you see a person coming in later, you must not speak or look at her. Do you understand? If she takes notice of you, the consequences… may be even more ghastly than death!’ Wen Zheng Xin kept repeating Shi Yan’s warning in his head, and the more he thought about it, the more fear gripped him. He couldn’t help but tremble, especially as the elevator suddenly plunged downwards, as though the cable had snapped.

“Ding.”

They reached the negative 18th floor.

The woman’s light footsteps echoed as she approached the elevator door. When the doors slid shut again, the four remaining passengers exhaled with relief.

Unconsciously, cold sweat trickled down their faces, drenching them.

Just as the woman left, Wen Zheng Xin silently raised his head, attempting to peek through the crack in the door. However, what he saw made his eyes widen in disbelief.

Outside the door… a pool of blood flowed upside-down while the ground was engulfed in flames. In that instant, he seemed to glimpse the horrors of the 18 layers of hell that humans had imagined.

He was stunned and inadvertently knocked Ye Sheng Ke over.

Ye Sheng Ke cried in alarm, “Hey, what are you doing?”

Wen Zheng Xin was unable to answer. He collapsed to the ground, his face drained of colour, his eyes rolling back into his head. He muttered something incoherent, but no one could discern his words.

Shi Yan spun around. “What’s wrong with him?”

Nie Yun Zhen replied, “Perhaps he saw something he shouldn’t have seen.”

Ye Sheng Ke inquired, “Do we still need to keep him now?”

The woman had already departed. Per protocol, they pressed the elevator button in reverse, endeavouring to return to their original realm. They had no intention of venturing into another world.

“No need,” a voice echoed in the elevator.

“Alright,” Nie Yun Zhen replied as he and Ye Sheng Ke pulled the middle-aged man up reluctantly. As soon as the elevator doors opened, they pushed him out hard without even glancing at the pitch-black surroundings.

The doors closed again, and Nie Yun Zhen and Ye Sheng Ke sighed in relief. However, Shi Yan broke out in a cold sweat.

“Chu, Brother Chu,” her voice trembled, “did you ask them to throw him out?”

Chu Xiu shook his head, and Ye Sheng Ke and Nie Yun Zhen’s pale faces showed unease. If it wasn’t Chu Xiu, then who spoke?

As usual, Chu Xiu remained impassive, gazing intently at the crack in the elevator door.

**

The world he had just traversed…appeared to be ordinary?

Wen Zheng Xin staggered into an unfamiliar hallway, but he felt nothing. He giggled foolishly for a moment before breaking down in tears, burying his head in his hands.

For humans, touching the forbidden realm, even briefly, comes at a high cost. Those who are as muddled as Wen Zheng Xin are considered fortunate.

“What’s wrong, Mr Wen?” Due to an unknown cause, the hotel experienced a power outage. Two staff members patrolled the hallway with flashlights when they suddenly shone the light on him. Observing his frenzied appearance, they immediately approached with concern.

What the quartet in the elevator did not anticipate was that instead of randomly shifting into another world and returning to their original realm, they had inadvertently transported him back. And now, they were striving to return according to the rules.

However, the hotel was now in no better condition.

A frigid, horrifying, and contorted aura emanated deep within the earth.

“Today is an ominous day. Why is there a power outage and a sudden cold wave?” The manager grumbled. “Is the backup generator ready yet?”

“It is nearly ready. The technician reported a circuit malfunction,” a staff member replied.

“Is anyone using the elevator?” asked one of the guests.

“I don’t believe so. I just went downstairs and it wasn’t moving,” replied the other.

Unbeknownst to them, the four individuals still trapped inside the elevator had no idea of the sudden power outage in the hotel. The elevator was still illuminated, and it continued to operate as usual.

But perhaps fate had something else in store for them, as the elevator soon transported them to another realm.

Just then, two staff members approached the manager, supporting the incoherent Wen Zheng Xin, laughing and crying uncontrollably. The two staff members appeared anxious and distressed as they spoke to the manager.

“Manager, look at Mr. Wen,” one of them said.

The manager was taken aback. “What happened? What’s wrong with him?” he asked, crouching and waving his hand. “Mr. Wen, are you okay?”

“We don’t know. We found him upstairs like this. He was already in this state by the time we reached him,” one of the staff members said anxiously. “Manager, what should we do?”

“We’re all going to die…hahaha,” Wen Zheng Xin suddenly burst into laughter. “We’re all going to die. I can’t find it…we’re all going to die!”

With the lobby still dark, candles and flashlights were the only light sources. The sight of Wen Zheng Xin’s twisted face illuminated by the flickering candlelight was enough to startle the manager.

Is he truly losing his mind?

What could be causing this?

“Everyone, calm down. Let’s take Mr. Wen to his room and contact his family to come and get him,” the manager instructed, attempting to calm himself and the others. He clapped his hands, and the two staff members who had found Wen Zheng Xin promptly took him back to his room.

“Speaking of which, it’s quite terrifying. I think Mr. Wen may have been somewhat unstable to begin with. And that statue he lost…do you think it could be related?” one of the staff mused.

The other staff countered, “Come on, it’s the 21st century. Who still believes in such things?”

“But don’t you find it scary? What if ghosts do exist in this world?”

As they conversed, they arrived at Wen Zheng Xin’s room. They used his keycard to enter, then assisted him onto the bed. By now, Wen Zheng Xin had calmed down considerably and was no longer making a scene. He sat huddled at the head of the bed, repeating that he wanted to see his daughter.

At that moment, the hotel room was shrouded in darkness as Wen Zheng Xin sat on the edge of the bed, his companion’s features obscured by the shadows. Both of them felt a sense of relief as they believed they had completed their task, and they departed the room.

“I can’t do this. I feel so scared. My intuition has been accurate since childhood, and it’s telling me to leave,” one of them clutched the other’s arm, shivering.

“…Is it because of me?” The other person gazed down at her.

Suddenly, the hotel’s power surged back, illuminating the corridor with bright lights, and the two exchanged a brief glance.

The woman finally saw her companion’s face, and her expression froze in disbelief. She had been holding onto a faceless figure all along!

“Are you scared of me?” the person questioned as her face began to melt like hot wax, warping into a grotesque mask. She could barely recognize her own reflection in the eerie glow.

Frozen with fear, she remained motionless, forgetting to run.

A faint scream echoed in the corridor before it fell silent again.

Meanwhile, a schoolgirl in uniform climbed desperately up the elevator shaft, her eyes filled with hatred and cruelty. Her once-beautiful face contorted into a grotesque, unrecognizable mask.

Meanwhile, the four players remained trapped in the elevator.

“We can’t leave yet. We must complete the procedures, or we’ll be stuck in this false world,” Shi Yan reminded them.

“In this world, anything can happen. You may think you’ve returned home, but you might have entered someone else’s home in another world.”

The elevator doors opened as she spoke, revealing a familiar hotel corridor. A man was standing outside the door, and the four stared at him in shock.

The man also seemed surprised and muttered to himself before closing the elevator and waiting for the next one. As the doors slid shut, they heard him murmur, “Huh, strange. Why are so many people taking the elevator in the middle of the night?”

Chilled to the bone, the four of them shuddered in unison.

**

As the elevator doors slid open, Chu Xiu and Lu Yan entered an eerily deserted corridor. Despite the flurry of figures they’d glimpsed through the crack earlier, there wasn’t a soul in sight. The walls were yellowed and peeling, adorned with dusty oil paintings and childish scribbles. Piles of debris cluttered the floor, forcing them to navigate the space single-file.

“We should stick together,” Chu Xiu advised, aware of the potential danger of getting separated. Lu Yan grunted in agreement, though he hardly needed reminding to exercise caution.

Without warning, Chu Xiu was struck across the face. Stunned, he stumbled backwards, trying to discern the source of the attack. The space around him had turned pitch black, like the light had been snuffed out. Squinting into the darkness, Chu Xiu could see nothing, but he could sense the presence of another being. Someone or something was approaching him, moving with light footsteps.

The sound of its approach only served to tighten Chu Xiu’s nerves further. He could feel its emotions – nervousness, perhaps even fear. Was it a living person or something else entirely? He couldn’t be sure.

Finally, the figure stopped before him, its features indiscernible in the darkness. Chu Xiu tensed, unsure of what to do next.

Meanwhile, Lu Yan was growing increasingly anxious. Chu Xiu had disappeared without a trace, leaving him alone in this strange and unsettling place. He couldn’t even begin to fathom the rules that governed the ghosts’ movements or how many of them there were.

Should he continue exploring or wait for Chu Xiu to return?

Lu Yan turned his head, noticing that the elevator door remained ajar as though beckoning him to return. The display screen glowed faintly with a green hue, yet the floor numbers were muddled and indistinguishable.

Since he had already come this far, he might as well press on.

Lu Yan tried to steady his gait and tiptoed gingerly forward. However, the absence of Chu Xiu made him apprehensive. He paused, deliberated momentarily, and retraced his steps, going a different way.

Should Chu Xiu make it back alive, he would ask him later.

But wait, what if the Chu Xiu who returned was not the genuine one?

As Lu Yan progressed, the hall gradually grew dimmer. It seemed an endless passageway with no rooms or windows. He couldn’t discern the source of the light that illuminated his path.

The farther he ventured, the more bloodstains he stumbled upon, while cobwebs became scanty, adding to his discomfort.

Even the spiders appeared to have deserted the place, indicating a severe shortage of surviving creatures ahead.

When he arrived at the end of the corridor, he spotted a staircase.

Lu Yan hesitated momentarily, then swivelled his head in the elevator’s direction before resuming his descent.

It didn’t matter anymore. He only had to survive. As long as he could survive, what did it matter which world he lived in?

With this mindset, Lu Yan descended the stairs at a leisurely pace.

As he reached the ground floor, he suddenly widened his eyes.

What was this vision?

How did he end up in his childhood home?

“Xiaolu, you’re finally coming down. You’ve been hiding in the attic all day long. Your entire body must be covered in dust, right?” Lu Yan’s mother emerged from the kitchen, holding a plate of scrumptious, steaming food.

“Mom?” Lu Yan’s voice quavered with uncertainty.

“What’s the matter?”

“Is there anything special happening?” Lu Yan looked around his old home, feeling perplexed and stuttering.

Everything was normal: sunlight, blossoms, a tidy house, his mother’s beloved teddy bear on the couch, and their dog frolicking around in delight.

Lu Yan still vividly recalled that during the first six months of the world’s bizarre outbreak, that tiny dog fell into the bathtub and shattered into fragments before their eyes.

Was all of it a mere illusion? Could every strange event be a figment of his imagination, conjured up while sleeping in the attic?

What is genuine and what is not?

Have all those years been nothing but an illusion?

“Xiao Lu, hurry and tidy up yourself. Your father will be back soon. If he sees you in this state, he will beat you again.”

“Dad is coming back?” Lu Yan inquired.

He gazed at the calendar.

He remembered well that his father should be out on a mission at this hour. His father was the sternest of all and despised his “slovenly” appearance.

What was he like back then? He lowered his head and looked down at himself, wearing torn clothes and jeans. He reached for a clump of hair and pulled it before his eyes. Indeed, it was dyed red.

It was utterly different from his later style.

Before, he feared his father coming back every time, as he would beat him upon sight, not with brutal force but with a beating that displayed his disappointment. Despite everything, the father-son relationship was far from good.

“By the way, Xiaolu, your father said he would introduce you to a comrade’s daughter this time. I heard she’s rather beautiful. They should be arriving soon, so hurry and tidy up to go!” Lu’s mother re-entered the kitchen, sticking half of her body out and brandishing a spatula in her hand.

Everything appeared so real.

However…

“Is everything truly real?” Lu Yanli asked abruptly.

“What is it that you consider real or false? What is going on with you today? Why are you acting so strange?” The woman appeared perplexed.

“It’s nothing.”

“You can tell your mother anything, go ahead and speak.”

Lu Yanli gazed at the woman’s face.

He had dreamed of and yearned for this moment countless times. Yet his recollections reminded him that it was all a sham. He had watched as the other person drenched herself in gasoline and set herself ablaze. This house… had exploded right before his eyes, leaving nothing but ruins.

Despite this house and the woman before him returning intact after just a few days, he knew that someone who had already passed away wouldn’t be the same upon their return.

“It’s all a deceit.” He resolutely turned around and ascended the stairs.