Fifteenth Floor's Basement 4

Things that went against the laws of the world could not exist, just as a flame without fuel could not continue burning.

Although my "Firefly" was indeed a creation that defied the laws of the world, it was certainly no rootless duckweed.

The reason it could continue to exist was that there was a spiritual connection between it and me. My mental power continuously added fuel to its existence along that connection.

However, the cave before me seemed to be covered by an invisible, untouchable barrier. When "Firefly" descended, the invisible barrier did not forcibly stop it, but ruthlessly severed the spiritual connection between us. It was as if "real space" and "space that should not exist in reality" were as clearly separated as yin and yang. Those in the mortal world could not defy reason, recklessly overstep the laws of Heaven and Earth, and establish a freely accessible channel to the underworld.

"So what are you planning to do?" Chang'an had not noticed the change on my side.

First, he asked for my opinion, then he revealed an uneasy expression. "I think we should close the lid as soon as possible. What if there's something filthy hiding beneath the cave...?"

"Don't rush." After thinking for a moment, I asked, "Do you have a Bluetooth camera or something at home?"

"Are you planning to throw a Bluetooth camera down there and use it in place of your own eyes?" He immediately understood, then shook his head regretfully. "But I don't have one here."

"That's fine. Give me your phone."

He obediently handed me his phone. I took out my own, opened WeChat, and sent a video-call request to Chang'an's phone.

After the call connected, I went to the kitchen and fetched a broom. Then I took out the rubber bands that had come with one of his old barbecue takeout orders, secured my phone and a flashlight to the end of the broom, and used it as a glowing selfie stick. Crouching on the floor, I lowered it into the cave.

"So there's a way to do that!"

Chang'an's eyes lit up. He leaned over and looked at his own phone, wanting to see the video transmitted from below.

A moment later, he let out a confused, disappointed sound. "...Huh?"

Unfortunately, no images had been transmitted back.

As soon as my phone entered the space beneath the cave, the network signal had been cut off automatically.

I first retrieved my phone, switched the network connection to Chang'an's mobile-data hotspot, and then tried sending my phone beneath the cave again. The result was the same. The network seemed to have been cut off by a barrier invisible to the naked eye.

Apparently, not only spiritual connections but electronic signals were unable to pass through.

I pulled my phone back again, then took a deep breath and mentally prepared myself.

This time, I extended my arm directly into the space beneath the cave!

Chang'an could not stop me in time and could only cry out, "What are you doing?"

I paid no attention to his voice, focusing entirely on sensing my arm.

Human beings ultimately relied on electronic signals to sense and control their own bodies. If this cave even blocked electronic signals, then I should have been unable to control my arm now.

Yet this time, the signal was not blocked. I could clearly sense my arm and move my palm smoothly.

"Spiritual connections" and "electronic-signal connections" were, in the end, both "wireless connections." Given the current situation, since the physiological connection between my brain and arm worked, did that mean other forms of "wired connections" would work as well?

Or was the living body endowed with some kind of mysterious property? Just as many spatial-storage items in fantasy stories could store everything except living beings, perhaps this cave could likewise block every signal except the connection of a living body?

If it was the latter, then entering personally was my only option.

Wait, it seemed that I had been led astray by Firefly's disappearance at the beginning.

If I only wanted to understand what was inside the cave, there was no need to fuss over wired or wireless connections. Couldn't I simply switch my phone to video-recording mode and repeat what I had just done?

I understood why I had not thought of such a simple method immediately. It was because I had been too eager to investigate the phenomenon of the cave's interior being disconnected from the outside world. This was the first time I had encountered something so incredible, so I had unconsciously devoted myself to investigating its exact mechanism.

Seeing that I was unharmed, Chang'an breathed a sigh of relief, then hurriedly grabbed me and tried to pull me away from the cave.

"You're being way too reckless! Didn't you consider that something might happen to you!?" he said, still shaken.

"Chang'an, let's try once more." I turned to him and told him what I planned to do.

After hearing me out, his first reaction was, "You really just want to record what's down there with your phone, right? You're not planning to go down there yourself, are you? Once you've seen what's inside, you'll be satisfied, won't you?"

"..."

"Why are you turning your head away?" he demanded, glaring at me.

Chang'an's premonition was correct. There was no way I would be satisfied with merely taking a look inside. Even if there really was some kind of "filthy thing" below, I would persist to the end.

I began thinking about how to persuade him or get him out of the way.

It was not that I could not enter the cave directly, but if I did, he might follow me in. What if there was danger inside? He might have encountered these supernatural incidents because of me, but I had no intention of involving him any further.

The safest course might be to pretend to agree for now, then return alone and investigate afterward. In any case, he did not live in this house anymore.

It seemed I would be unable to investigate any further for the time being.

"Chang'an, I..."

I had only gotten that far when an unexpected event interrupted our conversation.

Knock, knock, knock.

An unwelcome visitor was knocking at the entrance.

I could only close my mouth helplessly. Why did it feel as if someone had been knocking on a door all day today? This was already the third time, wasn't it? Although this time, it was not my own door that had been knocked on.

"Who is it?" Chang'an called out.

But the person outside did not answer and simply continued knocking.

I got up and walked toward the entrance. Chang'an, meanwhile, grabbed the black plush rug rolled up nearby and covered the cave with it. It was not exactly a secret that had to be kept hidden, but when it came to a supernatural object whose dangers were unknown, perhaps it really should not be exposed to unrelated passersby.

However, setting aside whether this visitor was related or not, at least he was not a complete stranger.

When I opened the door, the person outside saw me as well.

"Hm?" He was first confused and surprised. Only after a moment did he finally recognize my face. "...Do you live here? That can't be right."

This was the police officer who had knocked on my door not long ago while investigating leads about sightings of the Serial Killer.

He had come all the way here while making his rounds?

"No, my friend lives here." I suppressed my surprise, then turned back into the room and called Chang'an over.

Chang'an came over immediately and introduced himself to the officer.

The police officer looked at me suspiciously, but in the end, he spoke to Chang'an first. "You're the one who made that false report the night before last, right?"

"I didn't make a false report," Chang'an said stubbornly.

"People from our station went back and checked later. A highly serious murder case occurred in this house in the past, and the murderer has yet to be brought to justice." The officer asked sternly, "You said this place was haunted. Was it really just a haunting? Tell me again about the abnormalities you discovered."

So this police officer had come to investigate the murder from eight months ago.

I had heard that the authorities took murder cases extremely seriously, to the point that they had the slogan "Every murder must be solved." But this was a murder from eight months ago. Did the authorities really pursue murder cases this relentlessly?

I had once heard online that some wanted criminals, after lying low until the heat died down, had gone to see a Jay Chou concert, only to be dragged out of the crowd and arrested on the spot by the authorities. Compared with that, it did not seem all that strange for the authorities to keep such a major murder suspect, who had remained at large until now, under close watch.

But I remembered that this officer had previously been focused on the recent Serial Killer case. Now he had found time to investigate clues about another case. Was this kind of rushing back and forth common for the police? Or could it be that...

"There really is a ghost!"

Eager to prove himself this time, Chang'an invited the officer inside, then walked over to the black plush rug and yanked it away.

"Look!" He pointed at the Magic Circle on the floor. "Look, there really is... really..."

His voice faltered before he could finish.

The floor was completely bare. Where was the cave? Only the Magic Circle drawn in black paint remained. Even the wooden cover had disappeared.

Chang'an was stunned, and so was I. The cave had vanished?

What was going on? The night before last, Chang'an had called the police, and the cave had disappeared after the officers arrived. Today, the police had come again, and the cave had once more vanished without a trace.

Could it be that police officers possessed a strong, righteous aura, while the cave was some sinister object? Thus, the moment the police arrived, it had trembled in fear and hurriedly concealed itself? How absurd!

With the facts right before me, I could only tell myself not to panic. This was not the first time the cave had appeared and disappeared. Perhaps this, too, was part of the supernatural phenomenon—and something I needed to investigate.

"Where's the ghost?" the police officer asked expressionlessly. "Bring it out."

"Ghost... ghost..." Chang'an stammered, unable to say anything.

The officer sighed. Then, seemingly noticing something, he immediately walked over to the Magic Circle and crouched down, touching the paint along its edge with a finger.

He rubbed his fingers thoughtfully, his expression growing more and more solemn. After a moment, he muttered to himself, "...Blood?"

-

Although he had not seen the strange cave with his own eyes, the police officer's attitude clearly changed after touching the Magic Circle. His already stern, seasoned features immediately became even more grave.

He took us downstairs, then asked Chang'an, "Do you have somewhere else to stay?"

"What?" Chang'an had not yet reacted.

"The house you rented will once again be sealed off as a crime scene from this moment on. You cannot return to live there today or tomorrow, at the very least." The police officer's tone left no room for argument.

"Huh? But..." Chang'an seemed about to say something.

But he suddenly shut his mouth, turned to look at me, then said firmly to the police officer, "No problem. I wasn't planning to go back and live in that kind of place anyway. Please make absolutely sure to protect the crime scene. Don't let even a single rat inside!"

It was rather excessive of him to call me a rat.

He must have said that to prevent me from entering the cave. He was really worrying over nothing. If I made up my mind to enter that cave, it would be useless no matter how many ordinary people came or how tight their defenses were.

"By the way, why does that house need to be protected?" Chang'an finally asked. "Is it because of the murder from eight months ago? But that happened eight months ago. Maybe the murderer has already fled to another city."

"You can't put it that way. This is a murder case—one involving extremely brutal methods and exceptionally serious circumstances. Our station has always attached great importance to it. And..." The police officer seemed to be considering whether he should reveal what came next.

After a long while, he looked at Chang'an, then glanced at me, and finally continued. "And the murderer is still roaming around Xianshui City. He's even continuing to stir up trouble."

"What?" Chang'an was horrified.

I, meanwhile, drew a connection from the other man's gaze and combined it with my earlier suspicions to reach a conclusion.

"The Serial Killer who has committed murders in the city over the past two months is the murderer who killed the previous tenant in that house eight months ago?"

Maza's face surfaced in my mind as well.