Yin Shou Shu

Chapter 86

Elevator building.

A legendary building in Yuezhao City.

Besides its reputation as a chicken coop, there are also some strange legends that have been circulating since the first day the building was built.

It is said that on the first day of construction, workers unearthed several charred corpses from the ground. As the project progressed, the workers dug deeper and deeper, and gradually unearthed more than a hundred charred, unrecognizable mummies from the wasteland.

The appearance of such a large number of mummies, and their deaths being so horrific and miserable, frightened the workers so much that they dared not start work.

The boss spent money to go to the provincial capital to hire someone to identify the bodies. They found that these bodies were very old and said that they had been dead for at least a thousand years. They suspected that there were tombs from the ancient Yelang period underground.

For this reason, the construction site was suspended for a period of time, and experts from the provincial capital rushed to conduct archaeological excavations.

But in the end, after digging for a long time with great fanfare, nothing was found. There was no tomb underground at all.

After all, Yuezhao City is a remote town that has only developed in the last thirty or forty years, thanks to coal mining and the unique historical context. Otherwise, this poor, remote place would have been the most desolate and remote countryside in Zangke a hundred years ago, let alone a thousand years ago.

It stands to reason that there cannot be an ancient tomb here.

The construction site owner, who found nothing, continued to work. Soon, steel bars and concrete were brought in, the foundation was laid, and the building was built.

The building process went extremely smoothly. It is said that during the construction process, the workers did not even suffer minor injuries such as abrasions, let alone accidents.

But on the third day after the building was topped out, a sudden rainstorm suddenly flooded it.

The heavy rain lasted for a week before it stopped, and then some strange things began to happen on the construction site.

When workers rested at night, they would often hear the sound of many people walking nearby. Workers standing on high ground on duty would occasionally see figures wearing colorful clothes walking around the construction site.

During the day, strange faces that the workers did not recognize would appear in some dark corners of the building, wearing the same clothes as them.

Some workers, while sleeping, would feel surrounded by strange figures screaming and shouting in incomprehensible dialects. But when they woke up and opened their eyes, they could see nothing.

The most terrifying legend is that some workers worked for a long time on the construction site, and when they returned home, their families could not recognize them, saying that their faces had completely changed into those of another person.

It is said that some workers disappeared after receiving their wages and were never seen again.

Later, the building was completed and this became the second building in Yuezhao City to be installed with an elevator.

But the lighting inside is very poor, and it is dark and gloomy even in broad daylight. Residents living there often hear someone knocking on the door in the middle of the night, or strange footsteps running in the corridor.

Any poultry, whether chickens, ducks, cats or dogs, will scream in pain once they enter this building, and eventually die in unknown circumstances.

Gradually, the number of residents in the building decreased and the rent plummeted.

Many prostitutes started renting rooms in the building, soliciting clients downstairs and bringing them upstairs for service. As this became more common, it unexpectedly boosted the building's popularity.

As soon as it gets dark, the stairs and corridors are filled with people coming and going. Black-legged prostitutes wearing colorful, cool clothes and smelling of perfume come in and out with the customers they have recruited.

It is said that since then, there have been fewer abnormal phenomena in the building.

Aside from a few people dying in the building every year, the daily lives of most residents are barely affected...

Under the flashing neon lights, Ran Qing stood at the entrance of the building, looking at the tall elevator building in front of him, lost in thought.

Before entering, a faint smell of rottenness and a faint cold smell wafted in...

Xiao Mianhua, who was standing at Ran Qing's feet, was still in a daze, but when she saw the elevator building, she didn't dare to go in.

She opened her mouth and bit Ran Qing's trouser leg, trying to drag Ran Qing away.

Ran Qing glanced at her and shook his head: "Wait for me outside."

Ran Qing walked into the elevator building alone and waited for the elevator with an elderly, hunchbacked old woman.

The scarlet numbers on the floor display screen kept jumping and finally stopped at [1]. Ran Qing heard the scratching sound of nails coming from deep inside the metal rail.

Then, the old elevator doors slowly opened like a rusty guillotine, and the fishy-sweet scent of perfume mixed with the tang of cheap tobacco filled the air. Two heavily made-up girls emerged, their slender legs clad in stockings beneath denim skirts, their slightly muddy toes nearly poking through their sandals.

They looked at Ran Qing curiously, but instead of soliciting customers, they walked away.

Ran Qing remained silent as he and the hunchbacked old woman entered the elevator car one after another.

At the last moment before the elevator door was about to close, a sick old dog suddenly ran in and got close to Ran Qing.

Little Cotton finally caught up.

But the old man in the elevator next to her didn't react at all to Xiao Mianhua's sudden appearance.

Ran Qing glanced at the old man calmly.

If a big dog like this suddenly jumps out, adults will be scared, right?

But this old woman...

The hunched old man reached out and pressed the elevator button.

She looked at Ran Qing and the dog and smiled kindly: "Which floor are you going to?"

The incandescent light bulb on the top of the car flickered, cutting Ran Qing's pale face into fragments of light and dark.

Ran Qing smiled and said, "7th floor."

He reached out and pressed the keypad. The number 7 reflected on the stainless steel surface twisted into a snake-like scar. The moment Ran Qing pressed his finger, the old man beside him sighed.

"... Let's go to the 7th floor. Little kid, you better be careful then."

"A young man died on the 7th floor not long ago. I heard it's been haunted these days..."

Ding--

The elevator stopped at the fourth floor and an old man with a hunched back walked out of the elevator.

She didn't look back.

But Ran Qing narrowed his eyes and watched quietly as the old man's hunched back disappeared into the dark corridor, his right hand always in the canvas bag.

Ran Qing didn't press the elevator door closing button until the old man completely disappeared.

The feeling of being overweight came back and the elevator began to rise.

Ran Qing stood quietly by the elevator door, expressionless, but a chill ran through his heart.

This elevator building seems to be even weirder than I thought.

As soon as I walked in, I encountered something strange...

Ding--

There was another crisp sound, and the elevator arrived at the seventh floor.

Ran Qing walked out of the elevator and the voice-controlled lights in the corridor lit up.

A dark, narrow, enclosed corridor appeared in his sight.

The smell of burning paper money wafted into the cold and damp air.

Just outside the elevator door, in the corridor, there was a small pile of black ash from burnt paper money piled up in the corner.

Apparently, someone had been squatting here burning paper money not long ago.