Free Web NovelWest City Lime Factory is located in a remote area. The surrounding dilapidated residential buildings have long been empty, and further blocked by the towering brick walls, there is almost no light source illumination deep inside the factory.
Fortunately, the sky was clear and the moonlight was bright today, so the entire factory wasn't completely plunged into darkness, and she could still faintly distinguish the direction of the road.
However, all the scenery was blurry, the outlines merged into one, and from a distance, they appeared as clusters of dark, deep color blocks.
Walking inside the abandoned factory, Lu Yibei did not dare to use her phone for illumination. In such an environment, any strong light source would appear exceptionally bright, which would expose her to the potential sight of Xunzhen Mutual Aid Society members.
Therefore, she could only grope her way forward carefully. When she passed near the workshop closest to the courtyard wall, she smelled a scent similar to cooked eggshells wafting in the air from a distance. As she got closer, she found some piled-up, solidified lime.
If Lu Yibei guessed correctly, the white dust on Gu Xinian's body was from the powder scattered within the factory area.
While continuing to grope her way forward, she pried loose the manhole covers she encountered along the way and recorded the approximate distance between each cover. Ten minutes later, Lu Yibei finally arrived at the open space behind the second workshop.
Looking around, even under the cover /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ of darkness, she could see a deep gully in the open space. Scattered among the weeds around the gully were broken walls and rubble, some of which still faintly showed a circular arc shape.
...
It seemed these bricks and stones were the remains of the former large chimney.
But was it already demolished, or did it collapse due to disrepair over the years?
Lu Yibei looked at the remains of the large chimney, slowly turned around to look at the second workshop behind her, with its dark walls and damaged roof, and slightly furrowed her brow.
Or perhaps... something unexpected happened?
The fire that occurred in the second workshop and the damage to the roof were caused by that incident.
Could it be that those strange figures caused the accident after sending Gu Qianqian into the chimney?
Lu Yibei was deep in thought, trying to piece together what had happened here.
Just then, a muffled sound suddenly came from a distance, interrupting her thoughts.
In the silent abandoned factory, that muffled sound was particularly noticeable.
Clang—!
That was the sound of a loose manhole cover hitting the ground as it returned to its original position.
Is someone walking in the factory area?
Is it a member of the Xunzhen Mutual Aid Society?
Hearing the sound, Lu Yibei's heart tightened slightly. She looked around, and after finding a curved hollow formed by a pile of chimney remains, she darted forward and quickly hid herself.
Using the sound of the loose manhole covers returning to their original position as a warning for danger approaching from behind, this was the purpose of her prying loose the manhole covers along the way.
----
Speaking of which, she had to thank Ms. Wang Meili, her good mother, for being able to think of such a bizarre way to warn herself of approaching threats from behind.
That year, not long after Lu Yibei's father went missing and before it was confirmed he had met with misfortune, she was still living with Ms. Wang Meili in the Lu Family Old House on Peony Street, waiting for her father to return.
At that time, Lu Yibei, who had just started primary school, was young and didn't know the taste of worry. She only knew how to play foolishly, especially addicted to online games, which gave Ms. Wang Meili quite a headache.
To control the amount of time Lu Yibei spent playing games, Ms. Wang Meili was forced to engage in a battle of wits with her for nearly half a year.
At first, the method Ms. Wang Meili adopted was also a traditional skill of parents - checking the computer case temperature.
She did indeed catch Lu Yibei red-handed a few times.
But soon, Lu Yibei launched a counterattack - she wrapped ice packs in a towel and applied them to the computer case, successfully avoiding several surprise inspections this way.
Good times didn't last long. One time, when Ms. Wang Meili climbed over the wall to enter the house for a surprise check, she touched the computer case which was so cold it pricked her hand, as if it had just been taken out of the refrigerator. Lu Yibei immediately received a good beating.
Subsequently, every time Ms. Wang Meili went out, she would take the computer's mouse and keyboard with her.
However, in less than a month, Lu Yibei had saved enough pocket money to buy the cheapest set of mouse and keyboard. To avoid being discovered, she also took them with her every time she went out.
But as the saying goes, if you walk by the river often, you're bound to get your shoes wet. She was eventually caught by Ms. Wang Meili.
That night, she lay on the bed in her bedroom, looking at the moon outside the window, tears in her eyes, rubbing her faintly aching backside.
Like an illusion, she heard the sound of someone stepping on a loose manhole cover in the alley outside the old house, which was the necessary path. A bold idea gradually formed in her mind.
From then on, every time Lu Yibei played on the computer, she would pry loose the manhole cover in the alley.
Few people walked in the alley on weekdays. As long as she heard a "clang," there was at least more than a fifty percent chance that Ms. Wang Meili had returned. By counting the steps from the alley to the front door or the backyard, she could estimate her approximate arrival time.
So, after hearing the sound, Lu Yibei would immediately turn off the computer, go back to the study, open her textbook, and by the time Ms. Wang Meili arrived home, the computer case, cooled by the ice packs, would have returned to normal temperature.
This method was tried and true!
Thus, she enjoyed a long period of happy times, until one day, what came from outside the window wasn't a "clang!" but a "Damn it... splash!"
After that day, Ms. Wang Meili took the bedridden Lu Yibei and moved to the Teaching Staff Compound.
Later on, Nanling Yaohua appeared in Lu Yibei's life, and since then, her time spent playing games significantly decreased.
Perhaps it was because Ms. Wang Meili bribed Nanling Yaohua with sugar-coated bullets to be a spy.
Or perhaps it was because the people living in the Teaching Staff Compound were all Professors and Teachers from Huacheng Institute of Technology, which allowed Lu Yibei to be influenced by a good cultural atmosphere.
But the most likely reason was... what game is as fun as a fair-skinned, tender little loli!?
----
Hiding in the curved gap, Lu Yibei listened carefully to the muffled sounds echoing in the factory, just as she had listened to the footsteps of Ms. Wang Meili stepping on the loose manhole cover back then.
Although before this, she wasn't sure if this method would work, being prepared was always better than being completely unprepared.
Facts proved that her preparation was somewhat useful.
Judging from that muffled sound just now, the person who stepped on the manhole cover should still be about two or three hundred steps away.
At such a distance, coupled with the dim lighting, the other party should not have discovered her presence, and she still had time to react and respond.
However, after the first muffled sound, the abandoned factory fell into dead silence again.
...
Strange, what's happening?
Is it not coming towards me, or did it not step on other manhole covers?
Lu Yibei muttered inwardly, frowning.
She had observed on the way in. Although this was a factory and there were quite a few manhole covers along the route, the roads within the factory area were quite wide, unlike the narrow alley in front of the old house. It was impossible to step on a manhole cover and make a sound every time she passed by.
Unable to determine if the person who caused the sound was approaching her, Lu Yibei decided to hide here for now and make a plan after confirming the situation outside.
Friendly reminder: The Website is about to be revised, which may cause the loss of reading progress. Please save your 'book shelf' and 'reading record' in time (screenshots are recommended for saving). We apologize for any inconvenience caused!
Thinking of this, she slowly squatted down against the wall, hoping to better conceal herself using the half-human-high withered grass on the wasteland.
These broken walls and rubble had been abandoned on the wasteland for who knows how many years. A thin layer of mud had accumulated in the shaded areas, with some moss growing on it, breeding many insects. It felt slippery and slimy to the touch, and from time to time, unknown insects, startled, would quickly crawl across her hand, making her very uncomfortable.
As Lu Yibei squatted down, she subconsciously placed her hands behind her, supporting herself against the wall to maintain balance. The next moment, a slippery, wet, and cold sensation came from her palms.
In such a scene, suddenly touching something like this, Lu Yibei immediately got goosebumps and almost cried out in surprise.
But just as she was about to pull her hand back, she touched something hidden beneath the moss, and her body suddenly stiffened slightly.
There were words on the inner wall of this damaged large chimney?!
And not just one!
Did I feel wrong? Lu Yibei wondered.
She wasn't quite sure if the regularly shaped indentations she felt were words. After all, it wasn't strange for this chimney, damaged by who knows what, to have a few scratches when it collapsed.
With doubt, she took a deep breath, gathered her courage, and carefully felt the wall behind her. Then, her mood gradually became solemn.
Her feeling was not wrong. There were indeed a large number of words carved on the inner wall of the chimney.
The deep and shallow lines were regularly distributed on each brick, forming a circular pattern. This situation was clearly man-made.
Scratches formed when the chimney collapsed, regardless of depth or distribution, could not be so regular.
However, it was too dark around, and Lu Yibei couldn't see the words on the inner wall of the chimney at all. She hadn't learned Braille either, and coupled with the fact that those words had gone through a long period of time and had already suffered varying degrees of weathering and erosion, she couldn't even feel what was written.
...
Were they carved by the Xunzhen Mutual Aid Society members gathered here?
But what was the purpose of them carving words on the inner wall of the chimney?
It couldn't possibly be some trash talk like "I was here," "I love White Little Flower," right? Moreover, those patterns didn't look like modern Chinese characters. freewebnovёl.ƈom
As Lu Yibei thought, her brow suddenly twitched with pain, followed by another blurry dream fragment that became clear.
Related memories surfaced from the mist, flooding into her mind like a tide.
First Light Spring Wind Curse, Zhu Yan Gai (Rosy Cheeks Change), Night Watch standard triggered solidified Spell...
The names and methods of creating various talismans and solidified Spells appeared in Lu Yibei's mind.
In the darkness, she narrowed her eyes, looking at the chimney remains hidden in the darkness behind her.
Could what was carved on this be... some kind of talisman or the incantation of a solidified Spell?
If that were the case, could the damage and collapse of the chimney be related to these incantations?
Thinking of this, Lu Yibei suddenly had a bold and reasonable guess.
Perhaps, the figures she saw in the abandoned factory in her dream, those who sent Gu Qianqian into the chimney, were planning to use her for some kind of sacrifice ritual!
But that sacrifice ritual failed, leading to the destruction and collapse of the large chimney, and also causing the big fire in the second workshop, as well as Gu Qianqian turning into that half-human, half-ghost appearance.
...
Could it be that the Xunzhen Mutual Aid Society really conducts experiments on living people?
Damn it, you never know what's in someone's heart. Is a friendly Xunzhen Mutual Aid Society member like Gu Xinian just an exception?
Or even just a public relations tactic to recruit members... As Lu Yibei thought, a chill quietly rose up her spine.
If her guess wasn't too far off from the truth, West City Lime Factory, as one of the strongholds of the Xunzhen Mutual Aid Society, had likely conducted countless horrific experiments.
Those who died tragically might be buried right beneath her feet.
Clang!
The muffled sound suddenly rang out again, breaking the silence, and the place where the sound originated seemed a little closer than before.
Lu Yibei's heart jumped. She immediately held her breath and pricked up her ears to listen carefully.
Then.
A situation she had not anticipated occurred.
After the first muffled sound appeared, a series of muffled sounds immediately reached Lu Yibei's ears. A strong sense of suppression kept squeezing her heart, as if trying to suffocate her to death.
Clang—Clang—Clang—!
The sounds constantly coming from the darkness sounded like someone was sprinting, but a human, even a world champion sprinter among humans, could never reach such a speed.
On the way in, when Lu Yibei was prying loose the manhole covers along the way, she had paid attention. The closest distance between those manhole covers was also twenty to thirty meters.
But the interval between the muffled sounds was less than a second, and a creature with a lighter weight could not make such a noticeable sound by stepping on those loose manhole covers.
A "monster" with a speed of twenty to thirty meters per second and a weight close to that of an adult human was rapidly approaching!
Thinking of this, Lu Yibei's pupils contracted, her heart suddenly sped up, and sweat seeped into her palms.
Nervously, she poked out half of her face from her hiding place and looked with one eye in the direction the sound was coming from. Her breath immediately hitched.
She saw that at some point, the dark clouds in the sky had obscured the moonlight, making the light inside the abandoned factory even dimmer. Everything within sight was reduced to a blurry, pitch-black outline.
In this strange darkness, Lu Yibei saw two points of crimson faint light and a blurry figure, about twenty meters away from her, flash by and disappear.
As that figure disappeared from sight, the wasteland once again fell into a dead silence where no human presence could be felt.
A fishy smell filled the air, gradually growing stronger, constantly reminding Lu Yibei that danger was lurking around her.
Splatter...
A light sound rang out behind Lu Yibei, like some sticky liquid dripping onto the ground. She suddenly turned around and, as if by muscle memory, raised her hand and unleashed a Red Flame Flash.
Thus, the crimson firelight pierced through the darkness, and in the illumination of the firelight, she saw that horrifying face hanging upside down at the entrance of the gap where she was hiding.
That face was abnormally swollen, the entire mouth had no lips, and the ghastly white teeth were exposed, like it was sneering. On the uneven, fragmented flesh of the face, there were patches of mold-like erosion marks, deep enough to expose bone.
Dark red flesh tentacles broke through the facial skin, waving and crawling stickily on its face. Countless tiny pupils trembled chaotically on its face, staring at Lu Yibei, emitting malicious resentment.
Then.
Just as that fist-sized crimson fireball was less than a palm's distance away from that terrifying face, it suddenly flashed and disappeared from sight.
Whoosh—!
The fireball unleashed by the Red Flame Flash hit a broken wall, flickered twice, and went out. The surroundings once again fell into dead silence and darkness...
