Free Web NovelChapter 7: The Woman in the Water Tank
The guardian ran.
Not fought.
Not resisted.
Ran.
The massive skinned creature crashed through the upper stairwell in blind panic, smashing railings apart as it scrambled upward like an animal fleeing wildfire.
The building shook violently.
Concrete dust rained from above.
"...I found you..."
The mother’s voice echoed again.
Gentle.
Soft.
Loving.
That somehow made it infinitely worse.
The ghost bride stared upward uneasily.
"I’ve never seen a guardian terrified before."
Shen Yu wiped blood from the corner of his mouth.
"You also said nobody survives Coffin Calamity."
The bride fell silent.
Fair point.
Another explosion thundered from the upper floors.
The guardian screamed.
Then came a wet tearing sound.
A horrible one.
Like flesh being peeled apart slowly.
The entire building lights flickered crimson.
The Fear Detection mist thickened until the stairwell looked submerged in gray smoke.
Shen Yu’s eyes sharpened.
"She’s close."
The bride grabbed his sleeve immediately.
"Don’t go up there."
He looked at her.
"That sounded almost caring."
"...I just don’t want my contractor dying before the system finishes evaluating."
"Mm."
"Don’t ’mm’ me."
But Shen Yu was already climbing again.
The bride cursed under her breath and followed.
Fourth floor.
The corridor above looked completely different from the lower levels.
The wallpaper had peeled away.
The ceiling sagged downward unnaturally.
Water dripped continuously from overhead pipes.
The smell...
Rotting flesh mixed with stagnant water.
At the end of the corridor stood the guardian.
Or rather—
What remained of it.
The creature knelt motionlessly before apartment 404.
Its upper body had been twisted backward entirely.
Every apartment key had been shoved into its own mouth.
Black hair wrapped around its limbs like restraints.
The mother entity stood behind it silently.
This time Shen Yu saw her clearly.
Long soaked white dress.
Pale blue skin.
Hair hanging endlessly to the floor.
Her stomach looked swollen unnaturally.
Pregnant.
But not with life.
Something moved beneath the skin.
Dozens of tiny handprints pressed outward from inside her abdomen.
The bride stiffened beside him.
"...High-tier resentment..."
Even she sounded afraid now.
The mother slowly turned her head toward Shen Yu.
Her empty eyes stared at him quietly.
No hostility.
No madness.
Just sadness.
"You came back..."
Shen Yu tilted his head slightly.
"You know me?"
The woman smiled faintly.
Blood flowed from the corners of her lips.
"You smell like death."
The bride immediately moved in front of Shen Yu protectively.
The motion surprised even her.
The mother noticed too.
"...interesting..."
Then her gaze shifted downward.
Toward Shen Yu’s crimson shoes.
The temperature in the hallway instantly dropped.
"...those belong to my daughter."
Silence.
The bride slowly looked at Shen Yu. Then the mother spoke.
"...You stole a dead child’s shoes?"
Shen Yu coughed lightly.
"In my defense, they were very useful."
The mother disappeared.
Instantly.
Shen Yu’s instincts screamed.
Blink activated automatically.
Red light flashed.
BOOM.
The wall behind him exploded inward.
Black hair pierced through concrete like spears.
Fast.
Too fast.
The mother emerged from the shadows directly beside him.
Her swollen stomach bulged violently.
Small childlike arms pushed against the skin from inside.
"You touched her things."
WHAM.
Shen Yu was smashed through apartment 403’s door.
Wood shattered apart.
Pain exploded across his spine.
The mother floated into the room silently.
The bride attacked immediately.
Her own black hair surged forward like blades.
The two ghostly forces collided violently midair.
The entire room warped.
Furniture exploded.
Mirrors shattered.
The mother barely moved.
"...you are weak."
The bride gritted her teeth.
"Shut up."
Black hair wrapped around the mother’s limbs.
For one second—
The mother smiled sadly.
Then every strand of the bride’s hair snapped simultaneously.
The bride staggered backward coughing blood.
Complete suppression.
Shen Yu watched carefully from the floor.
Interesting.
The difference between ordinary dungeon ghosts and true resentment monsters was massive.
This woman had retained intelligence.
Memory.
Identity.
Which made her infinitely more dangerous.
The mother stepped toward him slowly.
"You carry death."
"Yes."
"You are not afraid of me."
"Not really."
"...why?"
Shen Yu thought briefly.
Then answered honestly.
"Because dying isn’t the worst thing anymore."
The room became quiet.
Even the mother froze slightly.
For the first time—
Something changed in her expression.
Recognition.
"...you’re lonely too..."
The words struck strangely harder than the attack earlier.
The bride immediately interrupted coldly.
"Don’t sympathize with him."
Shen Yu pointed lazily toward her.
"She’s rude but surprisingly helpful."
"Stop talking like we’re friends."
The mother stared at Shen Yu silently several seconds.
Then she suddenly whispered:
"Help me."
The bride’s eyes widened instantly.
"No."
The mother ignored her.
"They sealed my children."
The walls began bleeding slowly.
"Please..."
Her voice trembled now.
"...bring them back..."
A system notification appeared immediately.
[Hidden Dungeon Route Detected.]
[Special Objective Unlocked.]
[Recover the Lost Children.]
[Reward Unknown.]
Shen Yu’s eyes narrowed.
Special routes usually meant hidden-class progression.
Very valuable.
But also extremely deadly.
The bride looked alarmed. ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com
"Don’t accept."
"Why?"
"Because hidden routes in silver dungeons are practically suicide."
Shen Yu stared at the mother thoughtfully.
"Where are they?" fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm
The woman slowly pointed upward.
"The water tank..."
The guardian suddenly twitched violently behind her.
"...don’t..."
Its broken jaw cracked open.
"...don’t open it..."
Fear Detection exploded.
The gray mist around the guardian became so thick Shen Yu could barely see through it.
Then he understood.
The killer.
The bodies.
The sealing formation.
Everything centered around the rooftop.
Shen Yu smiled slightly.
"Now we’re getting somewhere."
The bride grabbed him again.
"Are you insane?"
"Yes."
"That wasn’t rhetorical!"
But Shen Yu had already stepped into the hallway.
The mother watched him leave silently.
Then softly:
"If you help me..."
The hallway lights dimmed.
"...I won’t let anything else touch you."
The bride nearly choked hearing that.
A high-tier resentment offering protection?
Impossible.
Absolutely impossible.
Shen Yu only waved casually without turning around.
"Good deal."
The bride stared at him like he’d lost his mind.
"You just made a contract with a nightmare-class ghost."
"Technically she made it first."
"You’re enjoying this way too much."
"Probably."
They reached the stairwell leading toward the rooftop access floor.
The atmosphere changed immediately.
The fear mist became nearly solid.
Even Shen Yu felt pressure now.
His heartbeat slowed unnaturally.
The building didn’t want them going higher.
The bride suddenly stopped walking.
"...someone’s there."
Shen Yu looked upward.
A shadow stood at the top of the stairs.
Tall.
Thin.
Wearing an apartment superintendent uniform.
Unlike the guardian downstairs—
This figure still had skin.
An old man.
Balding.
Wrinkled.
Holding a massive ring of keys.
But his eyes...
His eyes had been sewn shut.
The old man spoke calmly.
"No tenants allowed above this floor."
Shen Yu immediately activated Death Echo instinctively.
Danger.
Extreme danger.
This old man felt completely different from everything before.
The sewn-eyed superintendent smiled faintly.
"You can leave peacefully."
One of his stitched eyelids suddenly split open slightly.
Inside was not an eyeball.
But a moving mouth.
"...or stay forever."
The stairwell walls warped instantly.
The bride’s expression changed sharply.
"Domain expansion—!"
Too late.
Darkness swallowed everything.
