Volume 1 Chapter 105: The Exploration Continues
After walking into the lobby, the first thing Bai Muxue saw was a wide and spacious hall. The marble floor and dark golden pillars quietly reflected the cold moonlight, giving the place a luxurious and grand feeling.
“Come to think of it, what was Liu Li originally planning to build here? It seemed like it was supposed to be an office building?”
While recalling the information she had read before, Bai Muxue tilted her head slightly.
Well, it did not really matter what the building was supposed to become, because that woman probably never planned to finish it from the very beginning.
Thinking of this, a faint smile appeared on the girl’s face.
However, because the place had already been abandoned, the lobby was filled with a deathly silence. The strange sounds mentioned in the rumors were nowhere to be heard.
The floor was still fairly clean and had not gathered much dust, though some torn newspaper scraps were scattered around.
“Heh... I knew something was suspicious.”
Bai Muxue crouched down and touched the smooth floor with her fingers. After rubbing her fingertips together in front of her eyes, a trace of mockery flashed through her clear eyes.
At first glance, this place really did look like no living person had entered for a very long time.
But that was only a disguise.
The lack of dust on the floor was proof of that. As for the newspaper scraps scattered around, they were obviously placed there on purpose to create the illusion that the building had been abandoned.
People were definitely coming and going here regularly!
To avoid leaving footprints, someone had cleaned the entire lobby to hide any traces of their visits. But at the same time, they were afraid people would notice how strange that looked, so they deliberately recreated the appearance of an abandoned building.
Heh, who would go through so much trouble to do something like this? Liu Li?
No, a big boss like her would never personally lower herself to do this kind of work. It was probably one of her subordinates, or perhaps someone she hired.
The second possibility was more likely. After all, if something went wrong later, Liu Li could simply cut ties with that person, and no one would suspect her.
“Hmm~ Could it be that all the so-called ghost stories here were just tricks created by some temporary worker?”
Hm, if that were true, then all the preparations she made earlier would have been completely pointless, wouldn’t they?
Probably not.
After all, Heidi really had sensed the smell of blood here...
Still, Liu Li was already dead, so trying to find that person now would basically be like...
searching for a needle in the ocean.
As Bai Muxue wandered aimlessly through the lobby, her thoughts slowly drifted.
She casually pressed the button for the elevator in the hall, but it did not move at all. Bai Muxue could only sigh helplessly.
The elevator here was truly broken beyond repair.
“How strange. Without an elevator, how are these people going upstairs? By stairs?”
Bai Muxue curled her lips and complained subconsciously.
Of course, she knew very well that Liu Li would not be stupid enough to openly place the building’s secrets on the first floor.
But if everything was hidden on the top floor instead, would going up and down every day not be exhausting?
With no other choice, the girl headed for the emergency staircase on the right side of the lobby. After turning a corner and climbing a short distance, she arrived at the second floor.
Unlike the lobby downstairs, the second floor already looked somewhat like an office building. However, there were still no office desks or work equipment. Instead, the place looked more like a monitoring room or security area.
Compared to the first floor, the second floor was much cleaner and neater. There were not even any newspaper scraps left behind.
“Well, there’s really no need to keep pretending anymore.”
Bai Muxue was not surprised by this at all and nodded as if she had already expected it.
The person behind this probably felt there was no need to create the same fake abandoned appearance on every floor... the amount of work would have been far too much.
With all the creepy rumors surrounding the place, even if some curious people secretly came inside to explore, they would probably run away after seeing the abandoned-looking first floor and hearing those strange noises.
As for the stubborn ones who refused to run...
their ending had already become obvious.
After searching around for quite a while, the night had already grown much darker. The last traces of light outside were completely swallowed by darkness, and even the sounds around her had disappeared.
The surroundings slowly became pitch black, so dark that she could barely see her own hand in front of her face.
Fortunately, Bai Muxue had come prepared. She took a flashlight out of her bag.
The powerful beam instantly pushed away the darkness around her, greatly improving her visibility.
“Why do I suddenly feel more like some livestream explorer visiting a haunted building?”
Haha... though if she really encountered some kind of monster right now, she probably would not even have the ability to fight back.
After all, with the little lifespan she had left now, she could not even transform anymore...
Sigh, I wonder when our Miss Shen will arrive. Whether I survive or not is basically completely up to you now...
Smiling bitterly at herself, Bai Muxue held the flashlight and continued climbing to the higher floors.
But the higher she climbed, the stranger the building felt.
Although this place was supposed to be an office building, there were still none of the offices, desks, chairs, or workspaces she expected to see.
And the higher floors were completely empty.
Not only was there no office equipment, but even the clean floors from earlier had disappeared, replaced instead by thick layers of dust.
Looks like... nobody has stepped onto these floors anymore from this point onward?
Seeing this, Bai Muxue raised an eyebrow thoughtfully, resting her small hand against her pale chin.
But if the secret was hidden at the very top, then why were there no footprints from this floor onward?
Did that person stop going upstairs?
After searching around and still finding nothing, Bai Muxue walked into the stairwell and looked upward.
The overlapping staircases all connected toward somewhere above. The complicated paths and stairs twisted together like a maze with no end.
This did not look like an office building at all...
What exactly had Liu Li planned when building this place?
And the complicated structure above...
It almost looked less like a building and more like a prison designed to stop or trap certain people, or creatures, from escaping.
A prison?
The moment this thought appeared in her mind, even Bai Muxue herself was startled.
Could it be...
Liu Li was not trying to carry out some secret plan on the top floor at all...
Maybe the reason she worked so hard to hide the secrets inside this building was because there was something hidden here.
She did not want whatever was inside to get out.
Or perhaps more accurately, she did not want it released “yet,” which was why she kept hiding its existence.
It felt like a tangled ball of thread had suddenly revealed its starting point. Bai Muxue instantly felt her thoughts become clear, and many of her previous questions suddenly made sense!
But...
“That still doesn’t explain why the person Liu Li hired stopped coming upstairs after reaching this floor...”
Forget it. Thinking too much about it is pointless. Since that’s the case, I’ll just go up and see for myself!
With that thought, all the hesitation in the girl’s heart disappeared. Letting out a small “huffh,” she continued climbing upward.