Heading to the Basement

"Thanks. I look forward to working with you."

Bai Yuze smiled, then held out his hand.

The receptionist stared at Bai Yuze's hand for a moment before reacting. He took off his glove and shook Bai Yuze's hand.

Only then did Bai Yuze notice that the receptionist's hand was covered in scars—cuts and burns—and that his palm was rough.

"If you're looking for something, you'd better take this."

The receptionist pulled a flashlight out of his pocket. It looked old, and its beam gave off a warm glow.

"Is that so? This isn't free, is it?"

Bai Yuze didn't take the flashlight. Even the human world ran on exchanges of favors, so in the world of the supernatural, he had to be even more vigilant.

"There's something in the basement I want, too... I need you to bring it back for me."

"What is it?"

"My... dog."

"A dog? I understand."

Bai Yuze considered this for a moment, but still agreed.

After receiving the key and flashlight, Bai Yuze remembered to ask one more question.

"How do I get into the basement?"

"If you want to enter the basement, then you already know how to get in."

After saying this, the receptionist returned to his room and shut the door.

Bai Yuze could only give up on trying to get more information out of him. Of course, he knew how to get into the basement. But if he had a key, why couldn't he just unlock the basement door? Why did he have to go through the eerie stairwell?

Could it be that the basement door only allows one-way passage? If someone inside comes out through the door, the exit remains an exit. But if someone enters through the door from outside, the exit becomes an entrance forever, with no way to change it?

The more Bai Yuze thought about it, the more plausible it seemed. In the mental flowchart he had constructed:

Entering through the stairs (not the main entrance) ＞ leaving through the main entrance from inside ＞ the door becomes a one-way escape door (and the way in remains accessible)

Entering through the main entrance (not the stairs) ＞ the main entrance becomes a one-way entrance (with only one way through: the single-person passage)

But one question still troubled Bai Yuze: Was the basement's maximum capacity two people, or two living beings?

Bai Yuze leaned toward the latter. The receptionist had clearly been inside the basement before, and he'd brought his dog with him. Yet the outcome seemed to suggest that the receptionist had entered through the main entrance, which meant he could only leave through the single-person passage—so he'd left his dog behind.

"It looks like the 'single person' in 'single-person passage' means 'person' literally."

As Bai Yuze pondered this, he had already stepped into the stairwell. He took a deep breath and counted the steps as he walked.

The tentacles appeared again. Bai Yuze took a step back, and just as he'd expected, he felt himself falling. As his consciousness sank into darkness, he clutched the flashlight, key, and kitchen knife tightly to his chest.

When he woke again, he saw the damp, dim walls covered in moss that Yuigahama Yui had described.

He hurriedly checked his equipment. Thankfully, everything was there. The room was far too dark.

But that didn't bother Bai Yuze. Thanks to Gui Dan's ability, he could see in the dark, so the phrase "walking at night" didn't apply to him.

Bai Yuze checked Yuigahama Yui's phone. Its battery was down to ten percent, so he immediately turned off the screen and left the room.

At the same time, he followed the method Yuigahama Yui had described, hoping he could find a safe room.

Sure enough, every room in his field of vision appeared in one of three colors: red, yellow, or green.

There was only one green room, while red rooms were scarce and yellow ones plentiful.

Bai Yuze remembered to check the room he'd woken up in. It was yellow.

"Good thing I didn't stick around. Otherwise, my perception would've been affected too."

Bai Yuze smiled, then looked up at the water droplets dangling from the basement ceiling.

"I remember seeing corrosive wounds on Tuanzi's hand. Was it caused by these droplets?"

It was impossible to avoid every droplet on the ceiling. Bai Yuze looked around for something he could use to shield himself.

In the end, he chose the same thing as the two women: a bedsheet.

But it was unrealistic to search the entire basement. As Bai Yuze draped the bedsheet over himself, he hoped to find something connected to Yukinoshita Yukino.

Then... Bai Yuze froze. His hands stopped moving as he pulled on the sheet. He didn't come back to himself until a droplet hit his shoulder with a sizzling sound.

He ignored the burning sensation in his shoulder. His eyes were trembling...

A flash of white suddenly appeared in his field of vision. Bai Yuze knew it marked Yukinoshita Yukino's location, but there wasn't just one white spot... There was a whole cluster!

There had to be dozens of them! Which meant... Yukinoshita Yukino had become Yukinoshita Yukino (puzzle-piece version).

"Am... I too late?"

Bai Yuze looked dazed. He wanted to say something, but chose to remain silent. He wanted to do something, but his right hand, gripping the knife, went limp and let it fall.

Clang!

The sound of the kitchen knife hitting the floor echoed down the hallway. It reached the ears of the hunter stalking its prey, and the prey fleeing for its life...

"Heh heh heh... Hee hee hee..."

A child's giggling came from far away, drawing closer with every step as it headed toward Bai Yuze.

With his night vision, Bai Yuze saw several children with deathly pale faces running toward him. They laughed and played, but their eyes looked painted on. They didn't blink, and their eyeballs were the color of fish bellies.

Bai Yuze picked up the kitchen knife and scraped it against the door a few times. The friction between the knife and the door made the "children" stop laughing.

"Kids... This isn't funny, and it's not fun." Bai Yuze flashed them a terrifying... no, a ghostly smile. "Big brother's in a bit of a bad mood right now."

Bai Yuze raised the flashlight in his left hand and shone it at the children standing still.

"AAAH!!!"

The moment the eerie children saw the light, they screamed and scattered.

Their shrill cries made Bai Yuze tilt his head and scratch his ear. In that instant, he happened to dodge an attack.

"Is that... a scalpel?!"

Before Bai Yuze could react, a fierce attack came at him.

Bai Yuze raised his weapon to defend himself, but Male Corpse still kicked him back several meters. He stumbled more than a dozen steps before regaining his balance.

After yanking the scalpel from the doorframe, Male Corpse attacked again. Bai Yuze could only retreat as he fought back with the kitchen knife.

Fortunately, the scalpel was far inferior to the kitchen knife. After several exchanges, Bai Yuze was unharmed, while he'd cut Male Corpse in several places.

But corpses couldn't feel pain. Even after Bai Yuze cut off one of his arms, it did nothing to stop Male Corpse from attacking.

"This can't go on. My stamina is limited, and he's just a corpse. If I keep this up, I'm done for."

Bai Yuze fought as he searched for a way out, but Male Corpse's fierce attacks made him struggle to keep up. Worse, the corrosive droplets were getting in the way too, making an already bad situation even worse.

"The scalpel is the key to sealing him, but how do I take it away?"

Male Corpse attacked relentlessly, managing to defend himself even as he struck. Whenever Bai Yuze tried to attack the hand holding the scalpel, Male Corpse used his other hand to block the blow.

Bai Yuze had also considered cutting off Male Corpse's other hand first, but the moment his kitchen knife struck, Male Corpse's attack came again.

Bai Yuze could either take a hit and trade blows, or retreat.

He couldn't catch a blade barehanded with absolute certainty, so wresting the scalpel from the corpse's hand was like trying to snatch food from a tiger's mouth.

Suddenly, Bai Yuze remembered a scene from the original story. He glanced at the scalpel in Male Corpse's hand and felt the burning sensation across his body. His gaze gradually hardened.

At that moment, Bai Yuze changed his approach. Instead of retreating, he charged forward.

Male Corpse raised the scalpel again, gripping it in an overhand hold to give the downward thrust more force and speed.

Without hesitation, Bai Yuze thrust out his left hand.

Squelch!

The scalpel pierced Bai Yuze's left hand, and in that same moment, he chopped off the arm holding it.

As soon as the arm came off, Bai Yuze kicked Male Corpse away.

Then the sharp pain of his pierced palm hit him. The agony made his breathing quicken.

He gritted his teeth, pulled out the scalpel, and tossed aside the severed forearm that still clutched it.

Male Corpse got back to his feet and charged at Bai Yuze again.

Without panicking, Bai Yuze threw the kitchen knife. It traced an arc through the air and struck Male Corpse in the head.

Male Corpse reached for the knife, intending to pull it out and use it as a weapon. But Bai Yuze didn't give him the chance. He seized his opening, dashed up to Male Corpse, and plunged the scalpel into his neck.

The moment the scalpel entered Male Corpse's neck, he stopped moving. Then he collapsed limply to the ground like a marionette whose strings had been cut.

Bai Yuze had won the battle—but barely.