118. Elevator
What was that just now?
Chen Danshen broke out in a cold sweat, feeling somewhat curious.
"I already told you, the Yin soldiers borrowing passage."
Lu Ban answered as a matter of course.
"But isn't that superstition? And this thing should only exist if some great disaster has occurred, right?"
Chen Danshen hesitated and expressed doubt.
"Not necessarily. Jiangcheng has a history of natural disasters. Have you heard the rumors about the men's dormitory building at Jiangcheng University?"
He Youwu suddenly spoke up at this moment.
"What rumor?"
"Look, there are two particularly tall male dormitories at Jiangcheng University, aren't they? They're both twenty stories high."
He Youwu spoke very softly, as if afraid that something outside might hear him.
"It is said that this place was an ancient battlefield. Jiangcheng used to be a strategic location fought over by military strategists. Hundreds of battles, large and small, were fought outside the city, and the dead were buried in the wasteland. In modern times, with the development of new districts, those former burial sites have become real estate developments in the development zone. Jiangcheng University's campus here is one of them."
"Really? Don't lie to me."
Chen Danshen felt numbness in her arms, which was a physical reaction caused by excessive tension.
"It's true. Because the yin energy is too heavy, two tall buildings were built there, all inhabited by boys, to suppress the spirits of the dead from the ancient battlefield. So, there are usually no problems when students are at school, but when it's holiday time, the students go home and there isn't enough yang energy, so things can easily go wrong."
He Youwu spoke with an air of importance.
Upon hearing this, Lu Ban added his own words.
"Yes, I'm from Jiangcheng University. I heard from my senior that when he was a junior, he stayed at school during the summer internship and didn't go home. There were hardly any people left in the dormitory. One night, he came back to school from the company alone. The dormitory was dark, and only the dormitory supervisor on the first floor had the light on."
"He lived on the fifteenth floor and was about to take the elevator directly. When he walked by, he noticed that the dormitory supervisor seemed to be sleeping in her room, covered with a white blanket."
"That senior didn't pay much attention. He got into the elevator, pressed the button for the fifteenth floor, and went to check his phone. After a while, he heard the elevator arrive, Door Opening, and walked out without paying any attention."
"But when he stepped out of the elevator and walked towards his dormitory, he realized something was wrong. He tried to open the dormitory door with his key, but found that the key wouldn't turn no matter how he turned it."
Listening to Lu Ban's description, Chen Danshen broke out in a cold sweat again.
"Please don't tell ghost stories at a time like this."
"What's next?"
He Youwu urged Lu Ban, probably thinking that he shouldn't be the only one who had just been scared out of his wits.
"Um."
Lu Ban nodded and continued.
"The senior tried it and found that the surrounding furnishings were different. At this time, he saw that the lights in the next dormitory room seemed to be on, so he knocked on the door. Soon, the door opened, and a boy who looked a bit sickly stood in the door. The senior did not recognize him at all."
"He asked a question, and the other person said this was the thirteenth floor. Only then did the senior realize that he had gone down to the wrong floor."
He hurriedly thanked them and turned to leave, but suddenly noticed that on a bed in the dormitory, there was a large black-and-white portrait of a deceased person, with two eerie green candles burning next to it.
"Although the senior student felt something was off, he didn't dare to ask any more questions and could only leave in a hurry, climbing the stairs to the fifteenth floor."
"He found it strange that since he was the only one in the elevator and no one pressed the thirteenth floor button, why was the elevator stopped there?"
Why would someone put a portrait of someone who has died in a funeral on the bed in a dormitory room on the thirteenth floor?
"The next day, the senior went downstairs in the morning and asked the dormitory supervisor about what happened yesterday. But the dormitory supervisor said strangely that the dormitory supervisors were having a meeting at that time last night. They were all in the next building, and there should be no one in the dormitory supervisor's room."
"He then hurriedly asked about the thirteenth floor, and the dormitory supervisor was taken aback, asking him how he knew."
"The senior looked completely bewildered. He didn't know what the dorm supervisor was talking about, so he asked her again."
"The dormitory supervisor then told him that the thirteenth floor was occupied by senior students. One of the boys had committed suicide by jumping off the building during the day because he didn't have enough credits and his graduation project was delayed. They had been discussing this matter in their meeting last night."
"Only then did the senior suddenly realize why he had looked at the boy and the portrait of the deceased with a strange expression."
Lu Ban lowered his voice.
"Because the person in the portrait is that boy!"
The air inside the car fell silent. After a long while, Chen Danshen finally managed a smile.
"This is one of those ghost stories that every university has, right?"
"Anyway, Jiangcheng University isn't very quiet. My former seniors told me that too."
He Youwu felt that after going through a series of events, he went from being a staunch atheist to becoming somewhat paranoid.
Anyone who witnessed such a scene would probably feel frightened.
"I'm sorry, this problem probably occurred because you were carrying me."
Lu Ban said something and urged He Youwu to continue driving.
Strangely enough, after driving a few hundred meters further, He Youwu's phone suddenly made a sound.
"Turn left at the intersection ahead, be careful when changing lanes."
He looked at the navigation; the straight "Yin Yang Road" was gone, replaced by the familiar streets of Jiangcheng.
After turning a corner, you can see shops and a few pedestrians around again.
"Okay, it seems like I've made it out."
He Youwu's clothes were already soaked through before he dared to relax and slow down.
The police car attracted a lot of attention. They watched as the police car entered the residential area and Lu Ban got out of the car and walked downstairs, and there was a lot of discussion.
After seeing the two police officers off, Lu Ban entered his building, stepped into the elevator, and pressed the button for the thirteenth floor.
He glanced at his phone; there were already discussions on Weibo about whether criminals had appeared in his neighborhood.
bite--
The elevator arrived, and Lu Ban stepped out.
"It's so dark."
He stomped his foot, but the motion-activated light didn't turn on. Lu Ban turned on his phone's flashlight and found that the stairwell was rather dilapidated and dirty, unlike the clean walkway in front of his own home.
He looked back at the floor and found it was the seventh floor.
"Strangeness."
Lu Ban could only press the upward elevator button and wait with his phone in hand.
The surroundings were relatively quiet, with only occasional sounds of talking, cars, and dogs barking coming from outside.
Lu Ban watched as the elevator descended from the thirteenth floor, gradually approaching the seventh floor.
Then, he caught a different sound.
creak—
A soft Door Opening came from behind. Lu Ban turned his head and saw the door of the last house slowly opening under the green light of the emergency light.
He looked inside and saw what appeared to be a person sitting there.
bite--
The elevator arrived, Lu Ban turned around to see that it had stopped on the eighth floor.
The only way an elevator could behave this way is if someone went down from the thirteenth floor to the eighth floor.
The sound of the steel cable turning started again, and Lu Ban turned his gaze from the elevator floor display screen to the apartment whose Door Opening.
Then he saw an elderly man with a hunched back standing next to him.
The old man remained silent, staring blankly at Lu Ban.
bite--
This time the elevator really did reach the seventh floor, the doors opened, and Lu Ban stepped inside.
He had assumed the elderly person would also take the elevator, but the person stood Motionless at the elevator door.
Are you going downstairs?
Lu Ban asked a question while pressing the button for the thirteenth floor.
The old man simply shook his head and waved to Lu Ban.
The movements were like those of a marionette—dull, wooden, and awkward.
Lu Ban waited until the elevator doors were completely closed, and this time he noticed that they had indeed reached the thirteenth floor before he stepped out.
The familiar hallway, the familiar security door.
He returned home.