"How did you know this Apartment Building had a Basement?"
Hearing Ji Yan's words, Miss Xu's beautiful eyes flickered, her smile calm.
"I noticed it when I went from the first-floor lobby up to the Eighth Floor."
"The first floor had the most severe cracks. It looked like it could collapse at any moment. The higher the floor, the fewer the cracks."
"So it wasn't hard to guess that the real thief—the culprit destroying the Apartment—was in the Basement, or perhaps beneath the Apartment itself."
"The source of the Apartment's damage was likely that its foundation had been gnawed away."
"It was just that the Multi-faced Eerie had been extremely unlucky. Its actions and unknown identity perfectly matched those of the culprit, so it was mistaken for the thief everyone wanted to beat!"
Ji Yan's words were only speculation, but his tone was certain.
If not for the hidden information obtained through his talent, Ji Yan would have been misled as well. He would have tried every possible way to kill the Multi-faced Eerie, accelerating the destruction of the Apartment Dungeon!
From the hidden information he had obtained, he could infer that the eerie faces on the Multi-faced Eerie had once been original residents of the Apartment as well.
They had simply been eliminated, perhaps because their "material had deteriorated" or for some other reason.
That Black Bug Eerie was responsible for containing the discarded resident faces. When the Apartment faced a crisis of destruction, it would emerge and do what it could to save the Apartment Building.
But their help only treated the symptoms, not the root cause.
If they truly wanted to save the Apartment, they still had to rely on the Player!
"There really is a Basement, but the key..."
Miss Xu picked up a cup of hot coffee from the table and dropped two sugar cubes into it.
"The key is with the Landlord?"
"It is indeed with the Landlord, but he won't be participating in this crisis."
"He's been sleeping lately."
Miss Xu took a sip of coffee, answering carelessly.
Ji Yan frowned. "The Apartment Building is about to be destroyed, yet as the Landlord, he's actually sleeping?"
He found it absurd. The Landlord looked like the biggest boss of the Apartment Dungeon, yet he did not even have a role in the Main Quest?
Miss Xu held a spoon and stirred the dark brown coffee. "The old man doesn't involve himself in many things."
"His way of thinking is very old-fashioned."
"If the Apartment really is destroyed, he'll consider it fate and willingly perish alongside the Apartment in this world."
Miss Xu's words made Ji Yan realize something.
The Landlord seemed to be the biggest boss in the Crimson Apartment Dungeon, but in truth, he was merely a dull NPC being controlled by the Dungeon's rules.
Ji Yan shook his head. "There must be a way."
"If I could discover that the real culprit is hiding beneath the Apartment, then this definitely isn't a dead end!"
Miss Xu looked at him with a hint of approval. "Not bad. Your brain does work sometimes."
"Aside from the Landlord, the original residents also have ways of getting to the Apartment's Basement."
"But the original residents are very hostile toward outsiders like us. It's difficult enough just to communicate with them, let alone ask them to help you get to the Basement."
Miss Xu's words suddenly gave Ji Yan an idea.
His eyes flickered. "I just thought of a special original resident."
"Maybe she can help me."
As he spoke, Ji Yan bid Miss Xu farewell and prepared to leave.
"Wait."
"I'll give you another gift. I've placed my bet on you, so don't disappoint me."
Miss Xu stopped Ji Yan and lightly flicked her slender jade finger.
Three little Paper Cutouts landed on Ji Yan's body.
The paper figures possessed vitality. Like tiny people from an Andersen fairy tale, they lined up and bounced across his shoulder before finally burrowing into the roots of his hair.
"Ding! Congratulations player, you have discovered the hiding place of the true culprit behind the Main Quest and received a blessing reward from the Room 801 resident." "Special Eerie Item: Paper Cutout." "Quality: Legendary." "Eerie Item Description: In ancient legends, little paper figures could contain wandering souls. The older generation liked to hang them by windows. When a soul dwelled within a paper figure, it could guide blessings for its Master and help them avoid calamities." "Hidden Information: The three paper figures respectively possess the special effects of curse, blessing, and disaster avoidance."
"Another Legendary item!"
Ji Yan's expression shifted slightly. He had not expected Miss Xu, who was not even one of his eerie family members, to interact with him and yield a Legendary item.
This Main Quest's drop rate was truly high!
"Don't be so eager to smile. My three paper figures have terrible tempers."
"Even if I give them to you, you might not be able to use them."
Miss Xu said carelessly.
Ji Yan nodded, exchanged a few pleasantries, and left Room 801.
Time was short. Ji Yan returned to the first floor and knocked on the door of Room 102.
It was the room where he had helped the Plague Eerie enter before. If he remembered correctly, the Plague Eerie had said that if Ji Yan ever ran into trouble, he could ask his daughter for help.
Human favor was like currency.
As long as it remained there, it retained its value. Sooner or later, there would be a time to use it.
Dyed-Hair Girl opened the door again. The moment she saw Ji Yan, her expression soured. "Why is it you again?"
"What filthy thing have you brought this time? Every time I see you, I get the feeling something bad is about to happen."
Since she did not need to leave the room for her daily tasks, Dyed-Hair Girl was practically cut off from the world.
She thought she could remain comfortably in the little Room 102 forever, unaware that the Apartment was now facing utter destruction.
"I'm looking for your Master!"
Ji Yan pushed open the door and strode inside, dusty from his journey as he headed straight for the Master Room at the end of the corridor.
"Hey! At least change your shoes! Where have you been? The soles are covered in red paint!" Seeing the floor dirtied by his footsteps, Dyed-Hair Girl's pleasant mood for the day immediately vanished.
Inside the Master Room.
The Blood Wall was continuously seeping blood, which gathered into a line of twisted words.
"...I knew you would come..."
"Sorry to disturb you. I want to know whether you know how to get to the Apartment's Basement?" Ji Yan asked directly.
The bloody words changed. "I know..."
"But the Basement was once a forbidden place where the Apartment imprisoned residents who committed serious violations..."
"It is very dangerous... You are my father's and my benefactor. I do not want to harm you."
"If I don't go, the Apartment Building will collapse anyway, and the outcome will be the same."
"Everyone else has been confused and misled. Only I know where the source of the problem lies. I'm the only one who can enter this dangerous place!"
There was a trace of sorrow in Ji Yan's words, carrying the feeling of if I don't go to hell, who will?
But in truth, he was merely afraid that the other Players would steal the credit.
He definitely would not be the only one to discover that they had been misled.
So he had to hurry and seize the initiative!
The Blood Wall fell silent for a moment before the bloody words changed again. "Tear open the floor. I will send you there."
"The Apartment's rules cannot restrain what lies below. Be careful."
Ji Yan's eyes flickered at those words.
He then took out Grandmother's Embroidery Needle and lightly drew it across the floor.
The floor was like a thin piece of cloth, easily torn open as large amounts of blood seeped out.
The flesh and blood beneath the floor wriggled. Along with the tearing, it forcibly opened a pitch-black staircase leading to the Basement!
Ji Yan's eyes widened slightly.
He finally understood why Miss Xu had said that, aside from the Landlord, only the original residents possessed the key to the Basement.
And why it was so difficult to make them willingly offer up that key.
It turned out that the original residents had to tear open their own flesh to open the gate to the Basement.
The so-called key was nothing more than an act of self-harm by the original residents!
Before you continue