Chapter 50
Chapter 50: Escape
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After confirming no one was around, Lin Muyu gently turned the door lock, and the security door clicked open with a “clack.”
The hallway was pitch black, with the motion-sensor lights completely unresponsive as if they had died.
Only the sickly green glow from the emergency exit flickered at the far end, adding an indescribable eeriness to this deathly silent space.
“It’s so quiet… Master, can you say something? I’m a bit scared.”
She kept her voice low.
But in this hallway where even breathing could be heard echoing, each word was like a stone thrown into a deep pond, rippling outward in heart-palpitating waves.
“Don’t be afraid, I’m always here.”
The voice that echoed in her mind was still that of her unreliable Master, but at this moment it strangely carried a reassuring power.
Lin Muyu clutched her skirt tighter, her fingertips digging into the fabric to barely steady her trembling knees, softly responding:
“Mm, thank you.”
Walking to the elevator entrance, she reached out her hand, her fingertips just touching the cold button.
The metal doors let out a series of harsh “creaking” sounds, like rusted hinges being forcibly pried open.
There was no light inside the elevator, the darkness like a beast’s gaping maw.
“This elevator… is it broken?”
Lin Muyu instinctively stepped back half a step, a chill running up the back of her neck, making her shiver involuntarily.
“Forget it, I’ll take the stairs instead.”
She made the decision decisively and turned around, without even a second of hesitation.
But the stairwell wasn’t much better. The emergency lighting was dim yellow like a dying candle flame.
It cast twisted shadows on the walls that overlapped with the green safety exit signs, making it even more eerie.
No matter.
Lin Muyu lifted her skirt and strode forward, her canvas shoes making light “thud thud” sounds on the steps.
It was only the 10th floor. Compared to the Ten Thousand Step Heavenly Stairway she had climbed before, this height should have been nothing.
But now, with each floor she ran down, the suffocating feeling in her chest grew heavier, as if invisible cotton was hidden in the air, gradually blocking her throat.
“10th floor… 9th floor…”
She counted the numbers on the wall, her voice bouncing around in the empty stairwell.
Each floor had exactly the same layout, even the peeling red paint on the fire hydrants was identical down to the smallest detail.
But the further down she went, the quieter it became, so quiet she could hear her heart pounding like drums in her chest.
“2nd floor.”
When she saw the number overhead, Lin Muyu finally breathed a sigh of relief.
The air in the stairwell was really too oppressive, like being covered by a glass dome, even breathing felt labored.
She quickened her pace downward, calculating in her mind that she just needed to go down one more floor to reach the 1st floor. But when she looked up at the exit sign,
Her pupils suddenly contracted. The number outlined by that green fluorescent light was clearly:
“10th floor”!
She spun around sharply. Behind her, the door to her home was still in its original place, and something seemed to be peering through the dark crack under the door.
And that pitch-black elevator still had its gaping maw wide open, extremely eerie.
A chill ran straight up her spine to the top of her head, instantly freezing her in place, even her fingertips turning ice cold.
At this moment, she kind of missed Su Wanqing. Although she was always… like that, at least she gave a strong sense of security.
“Master… am I trapped in a ghost wall? What should I do?”
Her voice shook terribly, and she could even hear the light chattering of her teeth.
She swore that after getting out, she would definitely learn illusion techniques, not just purely focus on improving her cultivation.
“Jump out the window.”
The spiritual energy’s voice was calm without a ripple, but the words made Lin Muyu so shocked she nearly bit her tongue.
“Jump… jump down?”
Lin Muyu’s eyes widened, looking at the stairwell window in disbelief.
That dusty glass window was tightly closed, the glass covered with tiny cracks that spread like a spider web.
“Are you serious?”
“Yes, don’t be afraid.”
The spiritual energy’s voice carried more certainty.
“This building is fake. Jump down and you’ll break the illusion.”
Lin Muyu bit her lower lip and walked to the window. When her fingers pushed open the old latch, the metal scraping sound was particularly harsh in the silence.
She stuck her head out and looked down. Below was darkness so thick it seemed solid, with only the outlines of a few short trees swaying in the wind,
their branches twisted like ghostly claws reaching toward the sky.
The cold night wind mixed with moisture hit her face, freezing her nose tip red and making even her eye sockets feel stiff.
“Do I really have to jump?”
She asked again, her voice carrying a pleading tone she didn’t even notice herself.
“Jump.”
The spiritual energy’s voice was decisive.
“Unless you want to be trapped here forever and become part of this place.”
These words were like a needle, piercing through the last bit of hesitation in Lin Muyu’s heart.
Yes, she had already seen the eeriness of this world… This wasn’t the home she was familiar with at all, just a carefully woven cage!
She climbed onto the windowsill, the cold concrete making her knees ache.
Looking down at the ground below, the height of 10 floors made her dizzy, and in the darkness it seemed like countless eyes were staring at her, waiting to watch her fall.
Lin Muyu took a deep breath, steeled her heart, and was just about to close her eyes and leap down when a familiar voice suddenly came from behind her.
“Xiao Yu? What are you doing? Come down quickly! Don’t do anything foolish!”
The anxiety and trembling in that voice was so real that Lin Muyu’s movements instantly froze.
She spun around sharply, only to see her mother standing at the door to their home, the white hair at her temples particularly striking in the dim light.
Her wrinkled face was streaked with tears, and those eyes that always carried warmth were now filled with fear.
“Mom…” Lin Muyu’s throat suddenly tightened.
Her hand unconsciously gripped the window frame, her heart feeling like something was clutching and hurting it.
Maybe… maybe staying here wouldn’t be so bad? At least she could see her mother every day, could return to that peaceful home…
“It’s all fake.”
The spiritual energy’s voice rang out at just the right moment, like a bucket of cold water washing away her delusion.
Lin Muyu suddenly came to her senses.
This was just an illusion, not her home at all!
“I’m sorry, Mom.”
She said softly to that phantom, as if also speaking to the part of herself that had once longed for family affection.
Lin Muyu closed her eyes and jumped down.
Behind her came piercing screams.
The expected feeling of weightlessness didn’t come. When her body landed, it was as light as a feather.
She opened her eyes in confusion and found herself standing in the open space in front of the building. Behind her, that residential building was already shrouded in eerie black mist.
“If I hadn’t come out, would I have been assimilated?”
Lin Muyu murmured to herself as she gazed at that mass of black mist.
The wind lifted her clothes, carrying the crisp scent unique to night. This time, breathing finally became smooth.
She knew she could never go back.
There’s no turning back once you’ve drawn the bow. Since she had already jumped out of that cage, she had to keep moving forward until she found the real exit…