Chapter 321: Footsteps Wandering Through the Floors in the Dead of Night

At the same time, with the arrival of dawn.

Wisps of morning light began to pour down from the heavens, and after being weakened by a thick layer of Grey Mist, finally struggled to shine into a building within Gucheng.

On the fifteenth floor, in front of a wardrobe in a room whose floor was covered in dust, a small paw stained with liquid came to a stop; not far beneath it, the path of a faint light was slowly forming…

Inside the wardrobe, two pairs of bloodshot, terrified eyes stared intently through a narrow crack at the outside. Every hair on their bodies stood on end, beads of cold sweat continuously seeped from their foreheads, sliding toward their eyes, the bridge of their noses, and the mouths that were being tightly covered by their palms…

But no matter what, those two figures did not dare to make the slightest sound—not even dared to breathe loudly—because—

Outside the wardrobe, a bloated figure stood silently there, attempting to extend a fair-skinned woman's arm to pull the wardrobe open.

After a long while, perhaps because of the appearance of that grey light, the "human figure" paused its movements, studied the situation for a moment, and withdrew its fair-skinned arm before the grey light moved.

"Pitter-patter…"

Within the silent floor, crisp footsteps gradually receded, leaving behind a trail of tiny, nearly imperceptible footprints.

Listening to the retreating footsteps, one of those terrified pairs of eyes unknowingly began to shed drops of hot tears—it was a look of excitement, of wild joy, of relief!

Within it, faintly, was a trace of regret.

Two nights! A full two nights!

Ever since he had crossed Zhou Yun that kid and encountered the terrifying monstrous cat, fleeing from the twelfth floor, Wang Bo had realized that the place he had been before was actually the safest!

Even though there had been that eerie "person" knocking on the door! His former boss Li Dazhuang and the others had died tragic deaths, and afterward the monstrous cat had appeared.

But that was still far better than being targeted by a terrifying "monster" like now!

Unfortunately, he couldn't go back!

Because he had been trapped in this building by that monster—above the thirteenth floor…

At this moment, Wang Bo vaguely recalled the miserable encounters of the past few days. First, in a panic, he had tried to flee the floor with the monstrous cat, attempting to run downward and escape this building,

Never expecting that just as he had fled from the twelfth floor toward the eleventh, he had the misfortune of encountering an eerie figure blocking the stairwell. "It" said nothing, yet directly caused Xiao Gua, who was walking in front, to let out a scream for no apparent reason, his heart ripped out as he died.

In that instant, they who had suddenly met with disaster had no idea what had happened. Overcome by fear, all they knew was to flee that place, because whoever lagged behind would die!

But they hadn't expected that after giving up the lower floors and fleeing to the higher thirteenth floor, the nightmare had only just begun!

He still didn't understand what had happened, or why that monster had been searching for him all along!

What on earth had he done wrong?

Right! After two nights of the monster lingering around him, he had figured it out—that monster perched on the thirteenth floor was searching for them!

Not wandering aimlessly through these empty floors, but as if they were the monster's mortal enemies—it would not rest until it found them.

But that day, hadn't they simply fled into the thirteenth floor, found it empty everywhere, thought it was safe, and forcibly broken into one of the apartments?

Why had the monster, just from seeing its figure face-to-face, clung to them relentlessly?

Could it be that the monster was shy? Or had it taken them for intruders in its nest?

Wang Bo didn't know, and didn't want to know. He only wanted to escape this building, to leave this place! He wanted to get as far from that monster as possible—he wanted to go home!

Every night, every night, they could hear the faint, elusive sound of a woman crying within the empty floors, along with footsteps growing clearer and clearer.

That crying, those footsteps, clung to him like a stubborn plaster, drawing closer and closer.

"She"! Was searching for them!

Searching floor after floor!

And tonight she had nearly caught them directly.

Recalling the thrilling moment just now, Wang Bo was also terrified pale, his face deathly white.

He—he couldn't rely on luck anymore. He had to flee to the top floor, he had to leave this building!

"Crash…"

The sound of the wardrobe being opened rang out. Wang Bo and his underling Crow, who had been curled up in a corner of the wardrobe for an entire night, tumbled out from inside due to severe numbness in their bodies.

They fell flat onto the dust-covered, footprint-littered floor, and at this moment a patch of dim light was quietly falling before their eyes.

In that instant, Wang Bo wept silently. His slightly wrinkled fingers gently reached toward that patch of light. Though the light was dim, extremely faint, he felt a warm current surge from the fingers touching the light into his heart,

He had never felt that light could be so beautiful. Dawn had broken, and he had once again survived another night…

……

At this moment, Baichuan—who was still unaware that while he was heading to the next floor to clear it, that monster had already chased a certain human he had just been thinking about and climbed to a higher floor—also woke up again as the hazy light of dawn arrived.

Looking at the Zhou Yun siblings who had already packed up—though "packed up" was a stretch, there really wasn't much to pack in this situation. Luggage cases and the like were definitely out of the question; at most they could carry a backpack filled with essential food, water, and some tools that might come in handy. As for weapons, those were held in their hands.

Seeing this, Baichuan didn't dawdle either—the sooner they could leave this place, the better.

After quickly finishing their food, Baichuan, who felt he had eaten enough, followed the Zhou Yun siblings out of the room, taking each step with caution.

Of course, the caution applied to Zhou Yun and Zhou Xiaoxiao. Baichuan, who had already cleared the area once during the night, didn't need to be so careful—at most he maintained some vigilance, in case a few strange "human figures" had crept up during the time after his clearing.

Strangely, as they walked downward, seeing the floors so safe, Zhou Yun, though slightly surprised, wasn't overly shocked—only Zhou Xiaoxiao was exceptionally delighted.

It seemed Zhou Yun had noticed his special nature.

Watching the thoughtful young man, Baichuan slowly thought to himself.

After all, he hadn't really tried to hide this aspect of himself. Or rather, for those sharing a room, hiding it was very difficult. If anyone in the same room had woken during the night, a little association would be enough to detect some clue.

And as for Zhou Yun, Baichuan didn't believe he could sleep so deeply at night in such a dangerous environment.

So, being discovered was only natural.

Later, not only did he not hide it, but upon finding that nothing had gone wrong, he led the siblings to the food and tools he had organized.

As for what those siblings might think, that was none of his concern.

After all, he was nothing more than a cat who couldn't speak—Mao Mao.

With that, the siblings' somewhat empty backpacks were once again stuffed considerably fuller.

……

After going down two floors with caution, stopping and searching as they went, Zhou Yun, who was walking in front, abruptly raised his left hand, signaling to stop.

Then, under his sister's gaze that gradually shifted from confusion to understanding, he slowly raised the Nail Gun he had taken from his backpack, aiming it at the head of an unconscious "human figure" on the floor below.

"Whoosh!"

In a faint sound of cutting through air, a sharp nail shot straight out and pierced the head of the "human figure" below, sending it staggering.

But it wasn't over yet!

Zhou Yun, who had just shot the "human figure" in the head, fearing the nail gun would be ineffective against it, grabbed the Dagger Spear leaning nearby, and with a fierce glare, lunged forward and drove it straight into its neck.

The distinctive sound of flesh being pierced rang out, fresh blood gushing forth, and in no time it turned to ash.

"Thud."

In a muffled sound of falling, that "human figure" hadn't even had time to react before being taken down by Zhou Yun's chain of actions.

And with that, Zhou Yun also plopped down on the ground, unable to even bother with his weapon, his hands trembling, his whole body shaking along with them.

It was not only the excitement of a young man from a peaceful era who had never seen blood before launching a subjective attack on "another person," but also the result of overexerting himself to the point of temporary exhaustion.

Still, far too green!

Never let go of the weapon in your hand, and never forget to observe your surroundings at all times, lest unforeseen danger appear.

Baichuan shook his head helplessly, watching the "human figures" in the corridor that had heard the commotion and were closing in,

At this moment, the girl's voice from atop the stairwell quickly followed: "Brother, li—"

Before she could finish, Baichuan moved.

In an instant, the agile cat body moved its four limbs, as if transforming into a grey-white phantom, rising and falling ceaselessly through the corridor where the "human figures" had appeared.

In less than two seconds, the grey-white phantom once again became a fluffy, adorable tabby cat appearing at the other end of the corridor. He gently raised his front paw, seemingly carefully grooming the fur that had been ruffled by his earlier movements, while behind him the "human figures" in the corridor had all completely frozen.

"—sten, beside you…"

At this moment, the girl's voice had just barely fallen.

"Thud thud thud—"

"Plop plop plop…"

Immediately following came a string of falling sounds. Scarlet blood spurted from the necks of the frozen figures like fountains, sending heads with blank expressions flying skyward, and in an instant the ground was littered with heads.

The two siblings were stunned, eyes wide as they stared blankly at the spectacular scene before them.

That unbelievably agile speed was like a beautiful and graceful dancer performing a deadly waltz among the crowd, but the price of that dance was paid in lives.

Amid the blood rain shooting skyward and scattering down, the blank-faced figures fell one after another, heads littering the ground, their traces resembling a flower of flesh and blood—a scarlet flower blooming amidst blood and flesh.

Behind them was a grey-white tabby cat that seemed to have finished some small task, sticking out a pink cat tongue to carefully groom its fur.

That nonchalant expression, aloof temperament, adorable grey-white figure, spotlessly clean white-gloved cat paws, contrasted with the still-fresh scarlet blood around it,

White and red, so glaring.

……

After this little interlude, the relocation was temporarily halted. Floors descended: +3!

The reason for stopping was not only that half the day had already passed, and that some time would still be needed to handle the various settling-in after the move—after all, things were different now from normal times without danger.

Besides, Baichuan knew well that the young man had overexerted himself, and even if he had temporarily recovered, his mental state was hardly any better. Continuing downward in such a condition would undoubtedly be very dangerous.

Besides, no matter how much they walked today, they still couldn't leave this building. After all, Baichuan hadn't cleared the floors below yet, and once they left the building, the real test would only just begin.

Inside the building, for some unknown reason, the shadows hadn't attempted to enter; it was only occupied by some "human figures." But outside was different.

So Baichuan simply stopped, curling up on his own to rest.

This was a form of silent body language.

Seeing this, the siblings immediately understood what it meant, and began searching for some fairly heavy objects, trying to move them over, preparing to completely seal the door shut before nightfall.

Although this was very troublesome, after witnessing that "human figure" knocking at the door, Zhou Yun felt it was something that had to be done.

And with that, the siblings naturally discovered three gorgeous long blades.

They were ones Baichuan had found and dragged over last night—one Miao Dao, one Tachi, one Tang Dao. Although their exteriors were quite flashy and they could only be considered "chop-chop toys" in name, fortunately the materials and such were all modern excellent steel, and they were sharpened, so they were at least a bit more useful than Zhou Yun's homemade weapons.

Presumably the original owner of this room was a weapon enthusiast, but unfortunately, now they were the ones benefiting.

Watching the two siblings excitedly fondling these gorgeous weapons, Baichuan also smiled.

Although Zhou Yun's current performance was still a bit green, he could barely be considered moldable talent—at the very least, he wasn't lacking in basic decisiveness and courage.

With a bit of honing, he could be a decent helper in the short term.

……

Time continued forward, and five days quickly passed.

And with that, maintaining a pace of one floor per day to two days per floor, they drew ever closer to the ground.

The current floor was the 6th; the 5th floor was in a state of having been mostly cleared of unconscious "human figures."

Why so slow? Not only because the lower floors had more and more accumulated "human figures," making clearing them especially laborious, but also because Baichuan considered that Zhou Yun and his sister needed some honing, lest they die in just a few moments after leaving the building.

So he simply stopped clearing them later on, and instead treated it as a kind of test for the siblings.

During these days, the biggest gainers were the siblings.

Because ever since that day when Baichuan had casually killed all the unconscious "human figures" in the corridor right in front of the siblings, he had noticed that the siblings would stare at him whenever they had the chance—especially Zhou Xiaoxiao, who repeatedly tried to take advantage of him by touching him, but that's a story for another time.

Mainly, Zhou Yun seemed to have had an epiphany. After picking up the long blade and finding he didn't know any blade techniques, a sudden inspiration struck him and he began observing Baichuan's every move, especially when he swung his claws, trying to imitate him.

Because he had discovered that Mao Mao's right paw was far too sharp, and every time it unleashed slaughter, each swing and movement carried an indescribable trajectory, as if the most exquisite blade technique in the world.

……

(End of chapter)