Chapter 120 - 117: Eternal Corridor

Chapter 120: Chapter 117: Eternal Corridor

Red Hat followed Blue Hat toward the third floor.

The light grew dimmer and dimmer until he couldn’t see his hand in front of his face.

Even though Red Hat was a big guy, he was surprisingly afraid of the dark.

To ease the oppressive atmosphere, he started a conversation with Blue Hat.

"So, how much gold did you see just now?"

Blue Hat said,

"Quite a lot. It’s hidden in the ceiling, real hard to spot.

If I could’ve reached it, I wouldn’t have even called you for help."

Red Hat paused for a second, then cursed with a laugh,

"You little punk! If you could’ve gotten it, you would’ve taken it all for yourself, wouldn’t you?"

Blue Hat gave an awkward smile.

"No way, no way. We’re the best of brothers, aren’t we?"

Red Hat started fantasizing about how he would spend the gold once he got his hands on it.

’First, I’m definitely quitting!’

’That woman Xu Wei might be pretty, but she’s so damn stingy!’

’A regular Zhou Bapi, squeezing us for every last drop!’

’Rich people are never satisfied.’

’I heard she opened another coffee shop on Nationalist Era Charm Street.’

’Of course, that’s not the only business she has.’

’They aren’t huge companies, but they’re all profitable ventures.’

’That woman is completely obsessed with money.’

Suddenly, Red Hat’s phone rang.

Red Hat froze. ’Who would be calling him this late?’

He picked up his phone, and after seeing the caller ID, he looked doubtfully at the Blue Hat leading the way in front of him.

Red Hat tapped the answer button.

"What’s up?"

On the other end of the line was Blue Hat’s irritated roar:

"Where the hell are you?! Slacking off?

Didn’t we agree to finish up early and call it a day?!"

Red Hat felt as if he’d been struck by lightning!

At first, he’d thought the Blue Hat leading him was playing a prank, secretly calling him.

But now it seemed... that wasn’t the case.

’If Blue Hat is on the first floor, then who is this leading the way in front of me?’

On the other end, Blue Hat said anxiously,

"Say something! Where are you?!"

Red Hat said woodenly,

"The... the third floor?"

There was a moment of silence on the other end, followed by a curse:

"Are you kidding me?! This department store doesn’t have a third floor!"

Red Hat suddenly remembered something.

The Worker’s Village, where the Worker’s Department Store was located, was on the outskirts of the city.

Despite being called a "department store," it only had two floors!

A chill instantly shot down Red Hat’s spine, and the hair on his body stood on end!

...

「Outside the ruins of the Worker’s Department Store.」

Blue Hat scrambled outside in a panic, abandoning even his camera.

"How could that kid be on the third floor! Impossible!"

Blue Hat’s face was a mask of terror.

He had just heard Red Hat let out a bloodcurdling scream and had immediately turned and fled.

This department store... something was really wrong with it!

Just as he burst out the entrance of the department store, Blue Hat froze.

The sky... it had started to rain?!

It was almost the New Year. How could it be raining in the South Sea?

Then, he saw two people.

A man dressed in a black suit with a black trench coat draped over it.

A woman in a white robe, beautiful enough to topple nations, was holding a black umbrella for the man.

Blue Hat flattened himself against the wall, not daring to breathe. His heart pounded in his chest as he stared in terror at the two of them.

’Two strange people showing up at a derelict department store in the middle of the night... no matter how you look at it, this is bad news, right?’

The man walked to the entrance of the department store. As if he hadn’t seen Blue Hat, he looked up, sized up the interior, and murmured,

"Number 3-08, Endless Corridor."

The Endless Corridor was a painting, one of the most bizarre paintings in the world.

Within that painting was a separate dimension—an endless maze.

To contain this Taboo Item, one had to enter the maze and find the painting’s creator.

That’s right. The creator of the painting was inside the maze.

Killing the creator was the only way to contain the Endless Corridor.

Jiang Chaosheng took a step forward and walked into the department store.

Daji glanced at Blue Hat, who was cowering nearby, not daring to breathe. A ball of cyan Fox Fire materialized in her hand.

Blue Hat’s eyes widened in terror.

He could feel the terrifying heat emanating from the Fox Fire. The slightest touch, and he would be reduced to ash.

Just as Daji was about to throw the cyan Fox Fire at Blue Hat, a hint of hesitation appeared in her eyes.

She retracted the Fox Fire. With a flick of her jade-like hand, a sheet of Talisman Paper appeared between her fingers, and she pressed it onto Blue Hat’s forehead.

Blue Hat froze like a statue, completely still.

...

Outside the department store, the light rain pattered, striking the broken windows. The smell of mildew and dampness assaulted the nose.

Jiang Chaosheng no longer needed to travel on rainy nights; the Curse on him had been lifted.

As long as he continued to retrieve the Taboo Items on schedule, the Curse wouldn’t return.

The reason for the rain was the Dragon Pearl that Jiang Chaosheng carried.

With the Dragon Pearl, Jiang Chaosheng could soar freely in the rain, which was a considerable boost to his Combat Power.

Jiang Chaosheng walked to the end of the second floor and looked at the staircase leading to the third floor—a staircase that shouldn’t exist.

"Are you confident you can handle what’s inside?"

Daji gazed at the pitch-black stairwell and smiled gently.

"There are only some small fries up there. Husband, just stay close to me."

Jiang Chaosheng nodded and headed upstairs.

He trusted Daji’s Combat Power.

As long as it wasn’t a monster with absurdly high Combat Power like the Sea Coachman, Daji should be able to defeat it easily.

Even now, Jiang Chaosheng felt a lingering fear when he recalled the Sea Coachman.

That was the closest he had ever come to real danger.

...

「The nonexistent third floor of the department store.」

The scene inside was identical to the second floor of the department store.

Except, both ends of the corridor were pitch-black, like two black holes—bottomless and endless.

Dilapidated, decaying, dark, and bizarre.

"A maze..."

Jiang Chaosheng murmured.

’Aren’t traditional mazes supposed to be full of twists and turns?’

’This Eternal Corridor just has no visible beginning or end.’

Daji suddenly took a step forward, positioning herself in front of Jiang Chaosheng, and said softly,

"Something’s coming. Husband, be careful."

The words had barely left her lips when a terrifying, strange cry echoed from the darkness at the end of the corridor.

A thick, gray fog surged from the end of the corridor.

Jiang Chaosheng narrowed his eyes.

He could see what was in the gray fog.

They were people dressed in tattered clothes.

Looking closely at them, the men had toothbrush mustaches and queues, while the women wore kimonos.

’Are these... East Sakura People?’

’No, I should say, the Ghost Souls of East Sakura People.’

’From their attire... I can tell they came to the Xia Kingdom a hundred years ago and were then trapped in the Endless Corridor forever.’

The Ghost Souls’ eyes were filled with venomous hatred for the living as they shrieked and charged toward them.

Daji formed a Sealing Technique with her fingers, pointed toward the fog ahead, and whispered,

"Break!"

The dense fog dissipated instantly, and the Ghost Souls within were engulfed in cyan Fox Fire.

Piercing wails echoed throughout the space.

"Husband."

Daji turned back with a beaming smile, like a little girl waiting for praise.

Jiang Chaosheng said,

"Nicely done."

He had changed. He was no longer willing to be a buzzkill and could now generously praise his friends.

Hearing Jiang Chaosheng’s words, Daji’s smile bloomed like a flower.

Jiang Chaosheng continued walking forward.

Here, space lost all sense of direction and the very concept of "boundaries."

After walking for an unknown amount of time, a broken chandelier on the ceiling ahead suddenly lit up.

There was no light bulb in the chandelier, but rather a vivid red candle.

The candle dripped wax onto the floor, looking just like blood.

The ’blood’ didn’t pool on the ground. Instead, like living vines, it snaked along the cracks between the floor tiles, tracing out a single, crooked word.

"Stop!"

The chandelier then fell, crashing to the floor.

The shattered glass fragments reflected numerous pale faces.

There were men and women, old and young. Their expressions were identical as they roared in unison:

"Stop!"

Jiang Chaosheng’s expression was calm.

"It seems the master of this place isn’t very hospitable."

Daji smiled faintly.

"Then we’ll just have to beat them until they are!"

She flicked out a sheet of Talisman Paper.

The Ghost Souls in the glass shards and the waxy writing on the floor all dissolved into black smoke.

Just as Jiang Chaosheng was admiring Daji’s Magic, she grabbed his hand.

Jiang Chaosheng felt the cool, soft touch on his hand and stared, mesmerized, at Daji’s beautiful profile.

Daji said,

"This place is starting to shift. Stay close to me."

The moment her voice fell, the light in the entire corridor dimmed for an instant.

Immediately after, from the unseen darkness at the end of the corridor, came a heavy sound, like countless doors being pushed open and slammed shut at once—

RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE...

It grew closer and closer.

Jiang Chaosheng felt the world spin around him.

Even though he was standing firmly on the ground, he sometimes felt like he was upside down on the ceiling, and at other times, he felt like he’d been nailed horizontally to the floor.

Daji’s hand tapped lightly on Jiang Chaosheng’s head.

The dizziness vanished. Jiang Chaosheng’s vision cleared, and he carefully observed the changes.

K-CHUNK! K-CHUNK! K-CHUNK!

The sound of massive doors opening rang out.

Before, only the beginning and end of the corridor were bottomless black abysses.

Now, black holes had also appeared on both sides of the corridor, revealing eight different paths.

The Endless Corridor had just awakened from its slumber and opened its chaotic eyes.

Jiang Chaosheng chuckled.

"Now *this* is more like a maze."

Daji looked at the surrounding passages and asked,

"Which way should we go?"

Jiang Chaosheng said,

"I’m very good at navigating mazes."

He pulled a Compass from his coat.