Free Web NovelChapter 91: Chapter 9: Tower of Resentment
Behind the two members of the Watcher Squad, a horrifyingly tall figure silently emerged.
It was a woman—if you could still call "it" human. She was over two meters tall and had to keep her head bowed low as she moved, her hunched spine nearly scraping the ceiling. A thoroughly filth-stained dress clung to her body, emitting waves of a thick, putrid stench. The fabric over her chest was long since torn, revealing the stark white ribs beneath; parts of the cloth were stuck to severely ulcerated flesh, fused together and indistinguishable from each other.
What sent a chill down Gao Tian’s spine were her hands—her nails were unnaturally long, sharp as blades, and hung all the way to the floor. The grimy, yellowed nails were stained with dried, dark red blood. And she just walked like that, casually kicking two heads that were at her feet: one belonged to a white man, the other to a black man. The expressions on both heads were frozen in a relaxed smile, as if they hadn’t even realized they were dead. Every few steps, she would give them a careless kick, sending the two heads rolling gently across the floor.
"Shit, fuck you, holy shit."
Seeing this, the relaxed smile on Bruce’s face vanished. He reeled off a string of curses, raised his submachine gun, and started shooting as he quickly retreated. Even in such a critical moment, his footwork remained tactically sound.
"Didn’t Owen say he had it under control? Why is this madwoman out again?"
Nancy shrieked as she spun around and bolted in the opposite direction. Her screams were like a sparrow’s chirps, completely drowned out by a much more terrifying roar.
A bizarre smile spread across the rotten woman’s face. Her jaw slowly elongated to an inhuman length as she let out a deafening screech. The entire hallway began to tremble.
That roar was like a scream from Hell itself. It was this very sound that Gao Tian had heard from the bottom of the stairs.
The Wind Attendant Buddha had no interest in lingering here. The task Gao Tian had sent it to do was complete.
’The madwoman is clearly more interested in attacking the Watcher Squad. No need for me to get involved.’
"Good luck to you, Watcher Squad.
"Hope you make it out of here alive. I’ll be on my way."
With that, the Wind Attendant Buddha turned and headed back toward the stairs.
...
...
The Wind Attendant Buddha descended the stairs.
The once-solid staircase was now showing visible cracks. Dirt and dust rained down; the passageway was no longer secure and threatened to collapse at any moment.
’Nancy must be dead by now. She did say that after her death, the passage she created would only last for about two minutes.’
On one of the landings, the Wind Attendant Buddha saw a trembling figure. Xiaoliu was still curled up in a ball, too terrified to move.
"Snap out of it, we’re leaving. Stop burying your head in the sand.
"If you don’t move now, you’ll never move again."
The Wind Attendant Buddha was heading down the stairs, trying to snap him back to his senses.
But the man turned a deaf ear. Even as small chunks of debris fell on his head and body, Xiaoliu remained in his imaginary safe corner, unable to move.
’Friend, that’s enough. I’ve been too polite with you.’
The situation was urgent. The Wind Attendant Buddha couldn’t be bothered to waste any more words. It grabbed him by the collar and slammed a fist into the bridge of his nose. Caught off guard, the man didn’t even let out a grunt as blood splattered from his face. In the next instant, the Wind Attendant Buddha was dragging, hauling, and kicking the dead weight that was Xiaoliu down the stairs.
Behind them, the woman’s beast-like roars echoed once more. It seemed she had annihilated the entire Watcher Squad upstairs. Her long nails, now dripping with fresh blood, had pursued them to the top of the stairwell.
Parts of the staircase had already begun to collapse. Fortunately, the collapse was between the 200th and 300th steps, which conveniently blocked the monster from the Tower of Resentment from pursuing them further down.
Billowing smoke surged from behind, engulfing everything in its path, including the "madwoman" who had also entered the stairwell.
The Wind Attendant Buddha sprinted downward, forcibly dragging the tumbling Xiaoliu, determined to haul him out of the staircase one way or another.
With fifty steps left to go, the Wind Attendant Buddha saw the exit to Jin Hai Mansion just ahead. With one final, powerful kick, it punted Xiaoliu clean out of the stairwell.
An avalanche of dirt and debris tumbled down. The Wind Attendant Buddha knew it couldn’t escape. ’But it doesn’t matter,’ it thought. ’My very existence is to be sacrificed for my master.’
Amid the chaos, the Wind Attendant Buddha sensed something. It turned, and through its eyes, Gao Tian saw the terrifying woman clawing through the endless rubble, "swimming" through the debris toward the Wind Attendant Buddha.
’This terrifying creature... The entire collapse of the staircase couldn’t stop her. She actually followed me all the way here.’
’If she reaches Jin Hai Mansion, the consequences will be dire!’
Without hesitation, the Wind Attendant Buddha turned and lunged toward the madwoman, trying to hold her off for as long as possible.
The scarlet-yellow nails slashed through the Wind Attendant Buddha’s body, and countless currents of wind instantly collapsed and dissipated. The act of killing the Wind Attendant Buddha delayed the madwoman for a single second, and in that moment, the final fifty steps of the staircase completely gave way. The link between the passage Nancy had created and Jin Hai Mansion was severed.
From an outsider’s perspective, a bruised and battered Xiaoliu came tumbling and scrambling out of the strange staircase. Then, the staircase that had appeared out of nowhere vanished just as suddenly, leaving nothing but an empty patch of floor.
The supernatural phenomenon had completely vanished.
The onlookers were silent for a moment, then burst into thunderous applause, expressing their recognition of Gao Tian’s professionalism as a "Spirit Disaster Bureau expert."
Although they had no idea what had happened on the staircase or what perilous monster had been encountered, from the perspective of the office workers watching, Gao Tian had shown up, and less than half an hour later, the trapped security guard was rescued and the supernatural staircase had disappeared. This was a testament to his professionalism.
Xiaoliu was also carried away by several of his colleagues. After a fall from such a high staircase, he surely had multiple fractures, and his mental state was on the verge of collapse. He would probably be sent to the hospital for treatment. None of this was Gao Tian’s concern.
Supervisor Yao came forward, grabbed Gao Tian’s hand, and shook it vigorously.
He was genuinely grateful to Gao Tian. If the supernatural phenomenon had worsened, causing the entire floor or even all of Jin Hai Mansion to shut down, the financial losses would have been staggering, and the company’s financial reports would have been a disaster.
"Young man from the Spirit Disaster Bureau, who’s your direct supervisor? I must write a letter to commend you properly."
Gao Tian slowly pulled his hand away from Supervisor Yao’s grasp.
"There’s no need for a commendation letter. My mission is complete, so I’ll be heading off.
"No need to see me out, just bring Wang Wenbo."
Supervisor Yao’s face lit up.
"Of course, of course.
"Wang Wenbo is already waiting on the first floor. Follow me, this way to the elevator. It’s the VIP express, it’ll be faster."
Led by Supervisor Yao and a few other staff members, Gao Tian prepared to leave Jin Hai Mansion.
’This mission was much simpler than I imagined.’ Gao Tian had barely done anything himself.
For now, everything seemed normal.
’The passage created by the American Ghost Hunter, Nancy, has been closed. Even if they all died in the Tower of Resentment, for the madwoman inside to reach Shanghai, she would have to cross an immense distance.’
’It’s strange, then... why did the Future Altar show that kind of future?’
’All of Jin Hai Mansion collapsed. What kind of terrifying, immense power could have caused such a result?’
’The madwoman, her nails might be like knives, but she shouldn’t be capable of destroying an entire building.’
An uneasy pulse started throbbing in Gao Tian’s temples.
Even though the mission was complete, he felt even more unsettled.
’I don’t know what’s going to happen next.’
’The first four fragments of prophecy from the Future Altar all came true. This time will most likely be the same.’
In front of the elevator, Gao Tian made a point to turn back and confirm with his own eyes that the staircase-shaped passage had vanished completely and would not be reappearing in Jin Hai Mansion.
Just then, Gao Tian’s phone buzzed in his pocket with a notification.
Someone had sent him a message.
Gao Tian pulled his phone from his pocket. After a glance, his expression shifted slightly.
"Excuse me.
"Tell Wang Wenbo to wait for me downstairs for five minutes. I need to use the restroom.
"I’ll be right back."
Supervisor Yao and the others had not yet realized the gravity of the situation.
"The restroom is that way, I’ll show you."
Gao Tian politely refused. "No need, I see the sign." With that, he took large strides toward an empty corner.
On his phone, in the Jialan Society chat group that had been silent for so long, someone had started talking again.
And the very first message was a bombshell.
[Ghost Cave]:
Do you remember?
I said before that among the dozens of ghosts here, a living person has snuck in.
A living person, like a little mouse, secretly observing our conversations.
...
(Silence)
...
[Ghost Infant]:
Here we go again.
Are you nuts or something?
Last time you had everyone claim that black packet. Even if there was a living person, they would have been killed after every ghost here claimed it.
Wasn’t that enough?
[Ghost Cave]:
That’s where the problem lies.
The curse I released, the one called "Face-Shatter," has still not returned.
[Ghost Infant]:
So what?
You’re a ghost, and it’s a ghost. Why should it have to listen to you?
It killed its target and bailed. Maybe it went to another city to keep killing. Is that not possible?
[Ghost Cave]:
That’s what I thought at first, too.
But then, because of that incident in the boss’s hometown, the Immolation Ghost deliberately stirred up trouble.
I started to suspect the Immolation Ghost was the living person, so I put a lot of effort into investigating it, following the "Face-Shatter" trail.
[Ghost Infant]:
The boss vouched for the Immolation Ghost. It’s not him.
What are you getting at?
[Infinite Floors]:
Ghost Cave, you already brought this up a long time ago. Everyone cooperated and claimed the black packet.
Logically, that should have been the end of it.
What’s your point in bringing up this old topic again today?
[Ghost Cave]:
It’s a simple question. If the Immolation Ghost is clean, then the living person in this group must be someone else.
So I continued to investigate, following the "Face-Shatter" lead.
And suddenly, I made an unexpected discovery.
[Ghost Cave]:
On the same day I sent out the "Face-Shatter" curse, the Immolation Ghost had a black packet that hadn’t been claimed in a long time. It was about to expire, but then someone suddenly claimed it.
These two events are actually one and the same.
Just imagine.
[Ghost Cave]:
A living person who infiltrated our chat group is being hunted by the Face-Shatter ghost. Just as he’s about to be cornered with nowhere to run, he opens the Immolation Ghost’s black packet, obtains a special Supernatural Artifact, and miraculously manages to kill the ghost instead.
The probability of this happening is low, but it’s not zero.
If you think about it this way, the logic is perfectly sound.
The person who claimed that black packet is the living person hiding in our chat group. He escaped certain death and has managed to survive until now.
