Chapter 2: Death Elevator 2
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[Hey, there’s a special friend this time…]
The playful mechanical voice suddenly took on an uncertain note.
[Tang Lin, Unknown Intelligence, Unknown Stamina, Unknown Attack power, Unknown Defense power, Unknown Comprehensive Danger Level… Strange, I can’t find your challenge level data…]
The owl seemed puzzled. Fan Peiyang remained unfazed, and Zheng Luozhu, upon hearing this, essentially understood the criteria for level evaluation. However, Ge Shaping, Zhang Quan, Yu Fei, and Li Zhan all turned their attention to the tall man with a sense of curiosity and inquiry.
Everyone in the elevator more or less knew each other, except for Tang Lin, whom none of them had seen before today.
He had been quiet from start to finish, standing in the deepest part of the elevator with Fan Peiyang, sharing the same long legs and coat. If you didn’t know, you might have thought they were here for a fashion show.
However, in stark contrast to Fan Peiyang’s stern demeanor, Tang Lin had a pleasantly plain face—a kind of good-looking that made people feel comfortable. Even when he didn’t smile, there was a gentle aura of tranquil that comes with passage of time about him.
Ignoring the gazes around him, Tang Lin raised his head slightly and asked the small owl, “Do you really need the data? You can’t evaluate directly?”
The chubby little owl seemed torn, its round head tilting from side to side, struggling with the decision. Eventually, it started rolling around on the screen, back and forth, then back again, in an attempt to shake loose some ideas.
Tang Lin patiently waited, his eyes revealing an unmistakable sense of anticipation.
The people couldn’t help but feel sorry for the owl, which appeared to be struggling with the question.
Just then, the suspension system jammed once more, and this time it was worse than before. The elevator jolted with a loud “clang” and then shook violently.
Even though everyone had the previous experience, they were still caught off guard by the sudden inertia.
Ge Shaping lost his balance directly, almost causing Zheng Luozhu next to him to fall. When Zheng Luozhu managed to stabilize himself against the side of the elevator with some difficulty, Ge Shaping had already pressed heavily onto Zhang Quan’s body, pressing Zhang Quan’s face tightly against the elevator door, almost distorting it.
“Ge Shaping——” Zhang Quan was both embarrassed and annoyed.
The elevator continued to sway, and Ge Shaping couldn’t straighten up for a while. He shouted angrily, “How many damn years has this broken elevator been around?”
His thunderous roar filled the confined space, shaking the walls of the elevator as the echoes buzzed.
The violent shaking left everyone disoriented, and their eardrums were under assault once again. Then, suddenly, all the lights in the elevator went out
The overhead light, the floor button lights, and the cold glow from the display screen all went out simultaneously, plunging the cramped space into complete darkness, as if it had been soaked in ink.
The elevator suddenly swayed more violently, as if a giant hand had grabbed the cable and was shaking it vigorously. The darkness and the shaking combined to create chaos inside the elevator.
“What’s going on—”
“Who the hell bumped into me—”
“Who’s pressing on top of me—”
“Ge Shaping, move your iron arm off me—”
“Damn—”
“Wait a minute… do you guys smell something…”
With a slightly trembling voice, Li Zhan brought an end to the chaos and noise.
In the pitch-black darkness, one by one, the people fell silent, as if something was coordinating with them, even the elevator stopped shaking.
“It smells… like blood…”
In the boundless and quiet darkness, a strong smell of blood filled the air.
Suddenly, the cold white lights came back on, bringing brightness once more.
Everyone had shifted positions in the recent chaos, the intense light was blinding. However, the elevator was too small for them to avoid seeing the bloody mist.
Ge Shaping collapsed against the elevator door, a bloody hole was in the back of his neck. He must have been pierced from behind by some kind of weapon, but it had already been removed. The spurting blood from his severed artery stained half of the carriage door red, along with Tang Lin’s light camel coat.
He was closest to Ge Shaping, so his coat was nearly all crimson now. But his face remained clean, just a tiny speck of blood spattered below his eye. Set against his excessively pale complexion, it looked like a single red teardrop mole.
He had no weapon in his hand.
No one had a weapon in their hands.
But Ge Shaping was indeed dead.
Everyone gasped in shock, disbelief, and fear that followed.
Li Zhan’s legs gave way, and he sat down against the elevator wall, his voice trembling, “It’s impossible… how could someone die…”
“Who the hell did this?” Suddenly, Zhang Quan pulled out a dagger and waved it at everyone, roaring, his eyes bloodshot.
Everyone in the surrounding immediately backed away, and Yu Fei yelled back, gritting his teeth, “You damn f*cking hypocrite!”
“F*ck, don’t you dare accuse me. I never used my dagger,” Zhang Quan shouted, his voice almost breaking.
Li Zhan struggled to stand up, breathing heavily with his leg muscles cramped. Nonetheless, he managed to give Yu Fei a shaky push.
Yu Fei was startled when he saw Zhang Quan’s dagger – it was clean and shiny, with a flat blade, while the wound on Ge Shaping’s neck was round. Bloodstains could be wiped away, but the wound’s shape couldn’t be faked.
[Oh, someone’s dead? Congratulations, you have one less competitor now.]
The little owl chirped gleefully, reveling in their misfortune]
Zhang Quan suddenly twitched, and the dagger’s tip swung towards Tang Lin. “It’s you! You were the closest to Old Ge, only you could…”
Could what? No one knew because the next moment, Fan Peiyang had disarmed him and forcefully pushed him out of the way.
Zhang Quan didn’t have time to react and crashed into the elevator wall with a loud “thud.” He was utterly bewildered.
No one saw when Fan Peiyang had moved, but now he stood in front of Tang Lin, his gaze slowly scanning each person, deliberate and menacing.
Yu Fei sneered, “So, are we dropping the act now?”
Tang Lin patted Fan Peiyang’s shoulder and walked out from behind him. He still felt the impact of the corpse, taking a deep breath and wiping a drop of blood from under his eye with his thumb. “I’m not the killer.”
“You say you’re not, and we’re supposed to believe you?” Zhang Quan challenged, his neck tense. “Why should we trust you?”
“I don’t need you to trust me,” Tang Lin replied calmly, showing no intention of proving his innocence. He simply surveyed the elevator and said confidently, “Anyway, the killer is either among us or…” He turned his head slowly to face the screen above, maintaining eye contact, “You.”
[I would never kill anyone!]
The little owl protested indignantly. But in the next moment, its tone changed, and it let out a mischievous laugh.
[But I do know who the killer is~~]
Before the “is” could finish, the lights went out again, and the elevator shook even more violently than before.
Tang Lin stumbled and bumped into someone’s shoulder, causing a painful knock on his back.
From one direction came Zhang Quan’s terrified voice, “Don’t come over—”
Immediately from another direction came Fan Peiyang’s voice, “Tang Lin, come over here.”
Tang Lin was about to move towards the sound when he suddenly sensed a cold breeze, right in this darkness and chaos, all around him, yet he couldn’t pinpoint its source.
His breath hitched, and his body instinctively went on high alert.
A tiny spot of coldness touched the back of his neck.
Tang Lin reacted almost instantly and lunged forward without hesitation.
A muffled thud echoed, and he wasn’t sure whom he had tackled. The person he tackled, however, hugged him back and asked, “Tang Lin?”
It was Fan Peiyang.
Tang Lin didn’t have time to respond and raised his head to alert everyone in the darkness, “Be careful, the killer has moved.”
As he finished speaking, the lights suddenly came back on.
In the gradually subsiding shaking, a new wave of bloodstains and a fresh scent of blood filled the air.
Tang Lin’s vision slowly cleared, and he first saw Fan Peiyang beneath him, followed by the stern-faced Zheng Luozhu, the startled Zhang Quan…
“Li Zhan—”
A heartbreaking shout came from Yu Fei.
Tang Lin turned, and there, the fair-skinned young man sat against the floor buttons, eyes wide open with a bloodied hole in his throat, blood gushing out.
With reddened eyes, Yu Fei rushed over and desperately tried to stem the bleeding, but it was in vain. Li Zhan had already stopped breathing.
[Sigh, another one dead…]
The mechanical owl sighed in a feigned manner.
Yu Fei stopped, staying silent for a long while. He gently closed Li Zhan’s eyes.
He slowly stood up, his hands covered in fresh blood like a demon from hell.
“Who is the killer?” He asked the screen, articulating each word.
[Hmm, should I tell you or not…]
The round head tilted to look at him, speaking coquettishly.
“Bang——”
A military tactical blade stabbed directly into the screen, shattering it. The little owl’s head twisted and flickered a couple times before disappearing.
Yu Fei pulled the blade out, looking wordlessly at the others remaining.
Zhang Quan. Fan Peiyang. Zheng Luozhu. Tang Lin.
Who the murderer is doesn’t matter anymore; after all, none of them can escape these four.
His eyes held a strong intent to kill, with almost no intention of hiding it.
Zheng Luozhu leaned slightly towards Fan Peiyang and Tang Lin. Yu Fei held a military blade, but it wasn’t drawn until now, indicating his composure. Yet, when a composed person goes berserk, they can be even scarier than impulsive individuals.
“Zhuzi*,” Tang Lin suddenly spoke from behind, “Can you restrain him?”
Note: Zhuzi is also another form of address to a friend. It usually their name followed by -zi
Zheng Luozhu was puzzled, “Restrain who?”
Tang Lin: “Yu Fei.”
Zheng Luozhu：“……”
The target was listening, and the boss was watching; he had to perform no matter what.
Without wasting words on any unnecessary guarantees, Zheng Luozhu grabbed a travel bag from the floor and smashed it directly towards Yu Fei.
Yu Fei swiftly sidestepped, but Zheng Luozhu was already holding another backpack and pressed it forcefully against Yu Fei’s arm, with such speed and fierceness that he managed to disrupt the momentum of the explosive device hidden in the bag.
The two of them entangled in a scuffle, leaving Zhang Quan dumbfounded.
Suddenly, Fan Peiyang received a signal from Tang Lin through eye contact. Tang Lin glanced in Zhang Quan’s direction.
Fan Peiyang understood the message, and taking advantage of the situation, he stepped forward and twisted Zhang Quan’s arm, pinning him against the elevator wall.
“Hey, what are you doing to me——” Zhang Quan was caught off guard, wincing in pain.
Tang Lin approached Zhang Quan and wasted no time, grabbing his hands and examining them carefully.
Meanwhile, Zheng Luozhu had finally managed to subdue Yu Fei, panting heavily. “F*ck, you’ve got some strength.”
However, his restraint wasn’t very elegant. The two of them were a tangled mess, rolling on the ground, with arms and legs entwined like a pretzel.
But he still managed to bring Yu Fei under control. Zheng Luozhu was about to claim credit when he heard Tang Lin say, “Zhuzi, you can let him go now.”
Zheng Luozhu: “…”
Working for Tang Lin was proving to be quite f*cking challenging.
“The culprit is him,” Tang Lin pointed at Zhang Quan, but his gaze was fixed on Yu Fei, as if providing an explanation to the latter.
The elevator suddenly fell silent.
For a few moments, it felt like the world was reduced to the cold white light and the lingering warmth of blood.
Zheng Luozhu loosened his grip on Yu Fei as he realized what was happening.
Yu Fei, still struggling, eventually pushed Zheng Luozhu aside and stood up, staring at Tang Lin with a mix of disbelief and hostility.
Zhang Quan, now fully aware of the situation, became furious and, despite being restrained by Fan Peiyang, protested, “Why do you say I’m the culprit? My dagger doesn’t match the murder weapon!”
Tang Lin responded, “Because the murder weapon is your body.”
Zhang Quan protested again, “My dagger doesn’t match the murder weapon!”
“It’s not a dagger,” Tang Lin’s gaze traveled from top to bottom, landing on Zhang Quan’s hand, “I sensed it when you tried to kill me earlier. It’s a finger.”
Zhang Quan froze.
“Tang Lin,” Yu Fei suddenly spoke, his voice hoarse, “What are you saying? Who did he want to kill?”
“I,” Tang Lin took off his coat, walked over, and gently covered Li Zhan’s body, “was the one who was originally supposed to be killed.”
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