Chapter 53: Chapter 53: The Situation
"We’ve almost figured it out."
After the three of them walked around this street, the two women returned.
Zhou Yingting looked at the expression on the two women’s faces, which didn’t seem quite right, wanting to ask something.
But after glancing at the sky, he felt it was about time.
As agreed, it was time to head back and meet Song Qingyun and the others.
"Let’s go then, we can exchange information after we get back."
Zhou Yingting nodded to the two, then led them toward Apartment No. 9.
It was unclear if there was something odd about the sky in this area, but as they headed toward Apartment No. 9, the sun was still hanging on the horizon in the distance. However, by the time they reached the apartment building, the sun had completely set.
The distant streets were brightly lit, but this place was shrouded in darkness.
Zhou Yingting looked up and saw lights on the seventh floor, knowing that Song Qingyun and the others had returned.
With that, he led the two to the elevator and went straight to the seventh floor.
As the elevator arrived, Zhou Yingting first walked toward unit 701, but when the three reached unit 701, they found the door tightly shut, with no lights inside.
Hmm?
Zhou Yingting had already reached out to knock, but the action stopped abruptly.
"Let’s go, to your room."
Zhou Yingting withdrew his hand, then looked at Song Qianqian.
At this moment, Song Qianqian and the other woman realized something was wrong, stiffly heading toward their own room.
The slightly dim lights in the corridor began to flicker slightly at this moment.
The intermittent illumination gave an inexplicable sense of oppression.
When Song Qianqian reached room 704 and opened the door, turning on the lights, the room was brighter than the corridor, and the brightness immediately dispelled some of the darkness.
With the lights now on, as if part of the dark was dispersed, Song Qianqian and her partner both sighed in relief.
They hastily went inside, then plopped down, wanting to talk about what they had just seen, but at that moment, the elevator made a "ding" sound.
Following that, Song Qingyun and four others appeared inside the elevator.
"You’re back!"
Seeing Zhou Yingting and the others, Song Qingyun and his group quickly came over.
Seeing this scene, Song Qianqian and her companion’s eyes widened in shock.
They weren’t in the room? Then, what was that light they saw just now?
As a chill rose in their hearts, Song Qingyun’s group stepped in briskly.
As they walked in, Song Qingyun opened his backpack, took out some food, and distributed it to everyone.
"There is some food in the apartment building, but we don’t know if it’s safe to eat, so it’s better to eat what we brought."
The food they brought was quite a lot, mainly stuff that would stave off hunger.
Zhou Yingting casually took a compressed biscuit, opened it, and started eating, "How did your side do on gathering information?"
"Our progress hasn’t been smooth, whenever we ask about this area, people avoid talking. What about you?"
Song Qingyun sat down, looked at Zhou Yingting, and asked.
"Go ahead and tell them."
Zhou Yingting turned his gaze to the two ladies, indicating they could start sharing.
Song Qianqian and her friend took the cue and began to speak, taking turns.
"We found out some things; the locals are very scared of Apartment No. 9. We heard about a tragedy that happened there ten years ago, but we couldn’t get specifics."
"It’s said that after that, strange things began happening; some who moved in died continuously, and others went mad and harmed each other."
"Nothing about anyone surviving here for seven days and living to tell the tale."
Everyone listened with furrowed brows, feeling they hadn’t gained much useful information.
"And about the old man, anything on him?"
Zhou Yingting contemplated for a moment and asked.
"That man, from what people around said, kept to himself, had a very volatile temper, and wasn’t a good person, liked to take advantage of others."
Song Qianqian immediately replied upon hearing this.
She had previously gathered this information but had found it not very useful, so she hadn’t mentioned it.
Zhou Yingting nodded, "Any other info, like if any mages have been invited to perform rites here?"
"Yes, after several incidents, such things have happened, but they didn’t work. Eventually, even if someone reports from this building, no one dares to come."
"Only during the day will people come around."
Zhou Yingting slightly organized this intel, then looked at Song Qingyun, "How about your side, did you manage to get any useful info?"
"We didn’t find much; it seems a fire occurred here over ten years ago, causing many deaths."
"We think the strange happenings here are connected to that fire."
"Some tenants who stayed a few days and survived left notes saying that at night, the taps often turn on by themselves."
"They warned not to turn them off, or something terrifying would happen."
Fire?
Zhou Yingting looked around; the surroundings must have been renovated, with no traces of a fire remaining.
Song Qianqian and her friend, hearing this, immediately clung to each other, thinking about how to make it through the night.
"I noticed that in this dungeon, transactions are done using Blood Gold."
Zhou Yingting thought for a moment and shared the information he’d gathered.
Song Qingyun and his companion remained calm, seemingly having seen Blood Gold transactions in other dungeons.
As for the other newcomers, they were quite puzzled, not knowing what Blood Gold was.
"Can we sleep together at night?"
Song Qianqian hesitated, then asked Song Qingyun.
Zhou Yingting didn’t know, but these two probably did.
Song Qingyun, understanding their fear, carefully chose his words, "It should be possible, but I think it’s better if you sleep separately."
"The dungeon gave out seven keys. If you all sleep together, there might be unforeseen circumstances."
"Of course, if you want to try, you can attempt sleeping together."
Though Song Qingyun didn’t know much about this Horror Dungeon, he could at least offer some advice based on his experience.
The two looked at each other and, gritting their teeth, nodded.
It looked like they had decided to try spending the night together.