Free Web NovelChapter 9: Employee Meal
Unfortunately, even though Ji Jue didn’t have much shame, he still hadn’t gone astray. He pulled out his phone one last time, staring at the empty screen.
Feng still hadn’t called back. He didn’t answer Ji Jue’s calls, nor did he reply to his texts. Lu Feng was gone, as if he didn’t exist anymore. Who knew where the guy had gone? Hopefully he hadn’t gotten wasted with his buddies again.
This guy was completely unreliable at critical moments. Could Ji Jue really depend on him? Right now, the only person he could truly rely on was himself.
After hesitating for a moment, he convinced himself with “I’ll just take a look,” “just one glance,” “I’ll figure out what these guys are up to and then go back,” “if things go south, I’ll run.”
Ji Jue took a deep breath and turned away.
Twenty minutes later, he boldly reappeared at the nightclub’s main entrance, dressed in a mechanic’s uniform and wearing a filthy work cap he’d scrounged for four hundred Fedra at a nearby nightmarket’s thrift stall. Ji Jue nearly fainted at the thought of the expense. The only free thing was the toolbox on the back of his scooter, which he always carried with him.
Finally, he slung a battered folding ladder over his shoulder, borrowed from a hardware store he had connections with.
Who needs a membership card? Who needs the Federation’s currency? The ultimate VIP pass is right here.
When he had no money, he had relied on this setup to sneak in certain places countless times. Sure, sometimes he got caught, but most of the time it worked like a charm.
Strutting through the luxury cars and the line of people waiting, he gave the floor manager a practiced nod and muttered vaguely, “Who called for maintenance?”
The manager seemed a bit taken aback, then lowered his head and said a few words into his headset, waiting for a reply.
The hall’s golden crystal chandeliers gleamed down, casting light across Ji Jue’s face. He held his breath, almost unable to contain it.
Soon, a hurried figure came walking over. Seeing him, he visibly relaxed, but then he frowned in frustration.
“Finally, you’re here. The elevator’s been broken for a while... Wait, why are you carrying a ladder?”
“Huh?” Ji Jue froze, but the cogs in his mind spun fast. “I-It’s for the maintenance. Maybe there’s a problem above the elevator, you know?”
The manager nodded. “What about your other tools?”
“They’re in the car. There are too many, I can’t carry all of them over now. I gotta figure out the problem first.”
Ji Jue followed the manager. He finally got inside, but he wasn’t greeted by the loud music and wild pole dancing he’d imagined because they went straight through the staff entrance.Staff bustled back and forth all around. Even with someone carrying a ladder that large, nobody batted an eye. When groups of scantily-clad girls walked past, their scent lingered in the air, testing Ji Jue’s self-control.
The manager warned him, “Don’t stare, don’t wander, and don’t bother anyone. Some guests here are powerful figures that we can’t afford to offend. Be careful, or you’ll get dragged out the back.”
“Yes, yes.” Ji Jue nodded frantically while following behind, finally reaching the elevator with a maintenance sign.
“All right, take a look. If you need any tools, get them from the tool room, but don’t run off, got it?” the manager warned. “If you run into big shots doing shady things, you won’t be able to handle it! See that? Security’s watching!”
He pointed to the surveillance camera mounted on the ceiling opposite the elevator.
“Ugh, how troublesome.” Ji Jue shook his head, then smacked his forehead. “Oh yeah, our company’s KPI checks have been super strict lately. Some overachievers are always trying to grab other people’s work. Don’t let anyone steal my work, got it?”
“Relax. Why would so many people be needed to fix an elevator? Just call me when it’s done.” The manager waved impatiently and walked off.
This prevented the real maintenance staff from exposing him.
In the corridor, while people were passing by occasionally, Ji Jue stared at the elevator and began pretending to dismantle the panel. Halfway through, when no one was looking, he lowered his head, moved along the wall, and sneakily reached out to the camera for a little tap.
“Hey bro, you busy?”
The camera’s indicator light flickered naturally. It synced with him, replaying a few seconds of the maintenance scene, and a coarse, gravelly voice spoke inside Ji Jue’s head, “Whatcha doing, bro? We’ve got strict rules here, no time for chit-chat. Be careful, someone might catch you slacking, and you might get your butt kicked.”
Ji Jue asked, “Do you know what’s going on in there?”
“No idea!” The camera’s tone grew annoyed. “This damn place has several sets of cameras inside and out, who knows what they’re up to... These guys have been bloody messes these past few days. Probably up to no good. I can’t do anything about it, otherwise I’d call the cops myself!”
It then transmitted the images it had captured, showing a few people with their heads lowered, lugging huge plastic bags or boxes out of the elevator. Bloody things dripped from the bags, but they were quickly cleaned up by janitors, leaving the floor spotless again.
Ji Jue went cold.
There’s no way those are donkey penises[1] from the market to be cooked into soup for the customers, right? Besides, are the customers really that terrible in bed? And how big is their appetite anyway? Can they even stomach so much food? Aren’t they worried their dicks are gonna fall off from excessive use?
His mind conjured the face of that insane old man, and even the hunger that seemed about to burst from his eyes...
The surveillance camera reminded him, “Yeah... call the cops.”
Ji Jue had already uncovered so much, and it was about time for the police to step in and clean things up.
He instinctively reached for his phone, but the camera spoke again. “Oh, right. Looks like the cops are in cahoots with these guys. A few girls who tried to run away got dragged back, and they were beaten badly... Don’t let them mess with you, bro.”
The transmitted footage showed a supervisor in a private room handing a cigarette to a cop, chatting happily. Everyone’s faces lit up with smiles, perfectly in harmony, as if they were one big family.
In the supervisor’s eyes, a quiet red light flickered, like blood flames.
There’s another one?! He’s already the third... no, there’s more.
The overzealous camera had dumped all the strange incidents from the past days at once. At least eight or nine people carried that same unnatural blood-colored aura.
Ji Jue’s heart pounded violently; his vision went black.
Damn it... Did I just accidentally stumble into the lair of these monsters?! Is it too late to run now?
“Thanks, bro, I’m good!”
Squatting in front of the elevator panel, Ji Jue followed its guidance. He found a faulty connection, reconnected it, wrapped it with two turns of electrical tape, and finished the job.
The elevator cheered. “All done. Go, quickly! Don’t end up like the last maintenance guy. He was taken away and never seen again.”
Ji Jue froze, and he was ready to run when the elevator transmitted internal images to him. A few minutes ago, another maintenance worker wearing a hat had followed someone down into the elevator to a floor not shown on the panel. When the doors reopened... there was nothing inside. He never came back out. It was as if somewhere inside the noisy, bustling nightclub, there was a hidden black hole. If you stepped in carelessly, you'd vanish forever.
What made Ji Jue freeze in place, however, was a split-second image on the screen—the maintenance worker’s right hand with a familiar scar stretching across it, making Ji Jue’s breath nearly stop. A chill ran down his spine.
Ji Jue’s eyes widened. “Feng...”
The floor manager, rushing over after getting the message, nudged his shoulder. “Eh? Already fixed? Come on, let’s go down for the employee meal... Hey, I’m talking to you. Say something, stop playing dead.”
Ji Jue didn’t talk back. Without a word, he turned around and looked at the manager.
The man furrowed his brow, about to speak, but then he saw the boy’s raised eyes with bloodshot veins spread across them. His eyes were an alarming crimson hue.
And then, he saw Ji Jue lift his right hand from the toolbox. In it was a crowbar, aimed right at his head.
Ji Jue slammed it down with all the strength he could muster.
Bam!
The manager’s vision went black, and he collapsed to the ground. The last thing he heard was a cold voice echoing in his ears.
“Good.” Ji Jue grabbed him by the back of his collar and pulled him into the elevator. “I’ve been dying to try your employee meal...”
The elevator doors closed, and the hallway fell silent now that it was empty again. Slowly, the elevator descended.
In the brief silence, Ji Jue took a deep breath, tightened his grip on the crowbar, and thought for a moment. He swapped the tool for a sharp screwdriver, which he pressed against the manager’s neck, enough that a little pressure could pierce through.
He admitted to himself that he was taking a gamble. Such reckless behavior was foolish and irrational. However, the moment he saw Lu Feng disappear into the underground floors, all reason seemed to vanish. What remained was pure, unimaginable fear and rage.
How did he end up here? Is he okay? He even said he will buy a new computer so we can all play games together. That bastard, he never keeps a single promise! And Mrs. Lu had just gotten out of the hospital, how can he run off to a place like this? What was he even thinking? Couldn’t he have just called?
There was nothing else Ji Jue could do but grab the manager’s phone, upload every image he’d found, and set it to send a video in two hours to the news channels and the governor’s feed. Maybe this was all in vain, but at least if he died, he wouldn’t disappear without a trace. freeweɓnovēl.coɱ
Then, he lifted the semi-conscious manager from the ground, held him in front like a shield, and pressed the screwdriver to his neck. Ji Jue raised his head, watching the elevator doors slowly open.
From that narrow, eerie sliver of light emerged a twisted, horrifying face. As the elevator doors opened fully, it lunged at Ji Jue!
“Fuck!”
Ji Jue’s eyes went wide. He instinctively raised the screwdriver to stab, but the moment his hand went up, he saw the blood on that grotesque face, and the bullet holes running from the forehead to the back of the head. The skull had burst open like a cracked coconut, sending red and white matter spraying everywhere.
It’s a corpse.
The body leaning against the elevator doors fell inside with a thud. And it wasn’t the only corpse around.
It was as if Ji Jue had stumbled into a battlefield; the thick acrid smell of gunpowder lingered in the air, mingling with the viscous stench of blood. The vast underground space seemed to have turned into an arena, with a destructive storm roaring through.
What remained were eleven bodies, and amidst the crimson, one solitary figure stood alone.
Stepping on a struggling figure whose heart and arm had been pierced, the figure raised an axe, aimed at the forehead, and brought it down with all his might.
Bam!
Done.
Then, he raised a gun with his other hand and aimed at the open elevator. And, like Ji Jue, he froze in place...
The figure was Lu Feng.
“Shit.”
1. Donkey penis is a specialty ingredient in traditional Chinese cuisine, often served in specialized restaurants that focus on animal genitalia, particularly in Beijing. It is primarily consumed for its purported health benefits and as an aphrodisiac. ☜
