"Taotie's Nest" - Had He Entered Some Kind of Otherworld?
"Name."
"▇▇"
"Age."
"▇▇"
"Come over and have your temperature taken."
"Hmm... it's just a common fever. I'll prescribe some medicine for you. Take it as prescribed for a few days and you'll be fine."
"You mean you always see dark shadows in your field of vision? Could you describe it in more detail?"
"It might be hallucinations caused by the fever. Observe for two days after taking the medication. If similar symptoms occur again, come see me immediately."
Xu Xi felt a terrible headache, and he could vaguely hear a male voice, as if it were speaking to him.
"Any further questions?"
"You're welcome, it's my duty as a [doctor]."
"Okay, goodbye. Remember to take your medicine on time, drink plenty of hot water, and make sure you get plenty of rest."
As the door opened, Xu Xi abruptly opened her eyes.
He was standing in the hallway when the door closed behind him with a soft click.
Turning around, I saw that the door number was 202.
With a dull ache in her head, Xu Xi pressed her temples, hesitating for a moment.
He remembered... he seemed to be thinking about how to deal with the remaining potential long-term tenants one by one.
So, what's the situation now?
Touching her burning forehead, Xu Xi pushed the door to room 202.
The door remained completely still.
He knocked again. "Hey, I haven't picked up my medicine yet."
There was no response from inside.
Left with no other choice, he dragged his drowsy body back to 401.
The long corridor was empty, with only the fluorescent light tube above crackling overhead.
Xu Xi felt increasingly uneasy as she walked, and subconsciously stopped.
Are there lights in the hallway? And why doesn't he remember this hallway being this long?
Also, when did he get sick?
Fever, shadows, doctor...
Etc!
Isn't this exactly what happened to the original owner of the diary?
At this moment, Xu Xi finally came to her senses.
The physical abnormality vanished in an instant, as if it had never happened.
He touched his forehead again; the temperature was normal, and his headache had disappeared.
At the same time, as he shook off the drowsiness and completely pulled himself out of his trance, the surrounding environment changed.
The once bright lights turned a dim red, and in the hazy light, the paint on the walls on both sides was peeling off in patches, revealing damp and moldy walls underneath, as if they had been abandoned for a long time.
Looking at the seemingly endless corridor ahead, Xu Xi wondered if he had entered some kind of Otherworld.
But what about the triggering conditions?
He had no recollection of how he got there.
After standing there for a while, he decided to go back to room 202 and take a look.
I tried walking back for a while, but found that the road also seemed to have no end.
The door marked 202 has never been found.
Just as Xu Xi was pondering whether to turn back, a chilling, sticky sound suddenly came from the far end behind her.
He instinctively turned around and saw a colossal object slowly appear in his line of sight.
A massive Meat Mountain nearly filled the entire corridor, dragging its body as it crawled toward them.
With each inch it moved forward, its massive body deformed from the pressure, and the passageway trembled slightly.
However, its heavy body did not affect its crawling speed at all, and in no time, the stench of decay hit us as it approached.
Without a doubt, that Meat Mountain was aimed at him.
"..." Xu Xi turned and ran without thinking.
Although he was unclear about the current situation, it didn't stop him from temporarily setting aside his recent plans.
The Meat Mountain was hot on his heels. He didn't know how long he had been running until the unchanging path ahead finally branched off into a new one.
After a moment's hesitation, Xu Xi chose the right side.
The corridor was still empty, but a door had appeared not far away, marked with the number 301.
Xu Xi tried knocking on it as she passed by.
He hadn't expected anything, but the door opened so easily.
He hid inside the Meat Mountain just as it was about to turn the corner.
Ignoring the situation inside, Xu Xi braced herself against the door, holding her breath and listening to the sounds outside.
An indescribable sticky sound grew closer, and the trembling underfoot became increasingly noticeable.
Fortunately, the tremors outside lasted for about ten seconds before gradually receding.
With the crisis temporarily averted, Xu Xi breathed a sigh of relief and was about to look around the room when, in the next second, a drop of icy liquid suddenly landed on his face.
He subconsciously reached out and touched it, while looking up at the sky.
On the ceiling, countless humanoid tumors hung upside down like silkworm cocoons, and several tentacles covered in slime were silently descending towards his head.
Xu Xi: "..."
Without saying a word, he opened the door and ran.
Fortunately, that Meat Mountain has disappeared without a trace.
As the corridor branched off, more and more paths appeared, Xu Xi chose the right side for all of them.
302, 401, 402, 501, 502...
As the house numbers appeared one by one, he gradually figured out the pattern.
The spatial structure here is clearly different from the original building; turning right at the fork in the road is equivalent to going up one floor.
So Xu Xi evaded the pursuit of the Meat Mountain while searching for useful clues in those rooms.
He discovered that not all the rooms could be pushed open.
Like 301, 302 and 401 have ceilings covered in human-shaped tumors. 402 cannot be opened, while 501 and 502 can be opened. There are no human-shaped tumors inside, but they look like they have been abandoned for a long time.
He had a vague suspicion about this.
Perhaps the state of this space is linked to that building?
The room covered in human-shaped tumors corresponds to a currently empty, unoccupied room; the door that cannot be opened corresponds to a room occupied by tenants. The tenants of rooms 501 and 502 were killed, so they are temporarily abandoned?
If this reasoning is valid, then what does that Meat Mountain correspond to?
Xu Xi suppressed these thoughts for the time being and continued to turn right at the fork in the road.
He was very curious about what the Sixth Floor would be like, and perhaps he could use it to deduce the secrets hidden on the inaccessible Sixth Floor of that building.
However, as soon as he turned the corner, the scene before him made him stop abruptly.
Along the corridor, skeletons, their flesh and blood ripped out, were forcibly stretched and elongated, their toes barely touching the ground, their backs pressed firmly against the ceiling, their faces down, their empty eye sockets staring straight at him.
Opposite, a door stood quietly.