Escape from the Basement 37: Thirty-seven.
Escape from the Basement Stepping over a floor covered in broken charcoal, Lu Li descended a dozen steps and arrived at the basement’s lowest level.
Raised high, the oil lamp dispelled the darkness around him, and the basement bore the marks of fire damage as well, but it was much better than the situation above.
Some things still retained their original shapes, like the blackened deer head and the smoked axe hanging on the stone walls.
In the corners and beneath the staircase, only distorted black matter remained, unrecognizable in its original form.
This place might have once served as a storage room for a library.
On the wall at the farthest end of the basement was a door.
Most of it was burnt away, leaving only parts clinging to the frame like leaves nibbled by caterpillars.
The space behind the door seemed to be a rest room, with a charred single bed frame and a wardrobe placed in the corner.
These were the only two items in the basement that were somewhat well-preserved.
The burning of the rest room wasn’t severe; there might still be books untouched by damage.
As he neared the rest room, Lu Li pondered.
If that poor fellow had stayed in here, he might have had a chance to survive…
The oil lamp probed into the rest room, revealing three smoke-blackened walls.
The light, hitting them, seemed to be absorbed and vanish.
There were no vents in the basement, unless that person didn’t need to breathe.
Lu Li’s steps hesitated slightly as he neared the rest room, then he set aside his worries and stepped in.
His luck surely wasn’t so bad that ghosts appeared wherever he went.
Besides, Belfast wasn’t chaotic enough for spirits to be seen everywhere.
At that moment, heavy footsteps with an echo and a sense of oppression came from the darkness beyond the lamp, distant and yet distinct.
The sound originated from above the stairs; something had entered the basement.
Lu Li clicked his tongue softly.
Without hesitation, he drew the Spirit-Calling Gun, not aiming, but relying on its properties to sense the space of malevolent spirits.
Regret, resentment, sorrow, loathing, melancholy…
a multitude of emotions turned into revolting, dark colors, wrapping around Lu Li’s body, seeking to assimilate him, to stain him with their abhorrent hues.
As before, the sensation of being watched arose from within, his skin involuntarily bristling with goosebumps.
Yet unexpectedly, Lu Li did not feel malevolent gazes from this place.
In previous encounters, the moment his hand touched the gun, Lu Li would invariably sense the surrounding space cramped with malicious whispers and spiteful stares, but now, they had all vanished.
Lu Li lifted his eyes, looking towards the heavy darkness in the distance.
He could see nothing, but in his perception, a pitch-black, indescribable shadow, darker than the darkest black, was silhouetted on the staircase, moving downwards.
And Lu Li remembered, it seemed he had not closed the door when he entered the basement.
The second after gripping the gun’s handle, Lu Li sensed the black silhouette.
At that moment, he quickly let go, allowing the Flintlock Pistol to fall back into its holster.
At the same time, he extinguished the oil lamp, swiftly scanning the room in the fading light, his gaze lingering briefly on the wardrobe.
Grabbing the wardrobe handle, Lu Li left a noticeable mark on it.
But just as he was about to hide inside, he suddenly held his breath and looked back.
Ominous darkness enveloped him; the oil lamp no longer emitted even a flicker of light.
This wasn’t important.
What caused Lu Li to react was that the footsteps had stopped.
The last place they were heard seemed to be at the doorway.
With the silhouette gone, Lu Li couldn’t pinpoint its current position.
It might still be standing motionless on the staircase, or perhaps…
Lu Li couldn’t touch the Spirit-Calling Gun again.
As a medium, the gun operated on a principle of equivalence.
It allowed one to harm spirits and also to feel their presence.
However, at the same time, spirits could also sense you and cause harm.
In the oppressive darkness, Lu Li slowly regained his movements, hiding just as he had earlier thought to do.
In the cramped and closed space, his breathing and heartbeat seemed to amplify; Lu Li gradually slowed his breathing and calmed his heart rate.
The deathly silence persisted for a dozen seconds, then was broken by a rough scraping sound.
The door of the break room, nearly burned to cinders, was opened.
Carrying a chilling breath, footsteps approached the entrance of the break room.
In the darkness, it seemed as if the vague silhouette of a person stood at the doorway, its presence cold and malevolent, spreading unchecked.
The sound of footsteps resumed, pacing around the confined break room.
They failed to find Lu Li, hiding away; the footsteps left the break room, gradually fading away until they vanished altogether.
Had he evaded detection…
Lu Li’s tense body relaxed slightly as he exhaled a long, murky breath.
Inevitably, he made a slight noise.
But at that moment, the footsteps that should have disappeared started up again in the break room!
The pitch-black silhouette, which had not left the break room, was ominously close, standing silently in front of the wardrobe.
An intangible pressure hit him head-on.
Lu Li had no time for any reaction; in the next instant, the dark silhouette raised its arm, reaching into the wardrobe.
The silhouette’s movements were slow, but nothing could stop it.
Its arm stretched out unimpeded, easily breaking through the charred wardrobe door, as fragments fell.
The entire arm was submerged into the wardrobe.
The next moment, the dark silhouette slowly withdrew its arm from the wardrobe, looking down to see its hand was empty.
The dark figure strangely tilted its head, a hoarse and low murmur emanating from its throat.
No longer interested in this place, it slowly left the bedroom.
The footsteps gradually receded, finally echoing away until they disappeared.
Five seconds, fifteen seconds, thirty seconds…
This time Lu Li waited a long while, until he was sure it was no longer possible for the presence to return.
A figure slowly crawled out from under the scorched bed.
The wardrobe was always the most obvious hiding spot, and of course, Lu Li would not make such a foolish mistake.
With only the wardrobe and under the bed as hiding spots in the break room, Lu Li had no choice but to set up one as a decoy and hide in the other.
It seemed that doing so had been somewhat useful.
Covered in black ash, Lu Li looked somewhat disheveled as he looked towards the break room door, a flicker of caution in his eyes.
He wasn’t sure if that ghost was lying in wait outside in the storage room; rashly retracing his steps wasn’t a good choice.
But he had no other options.
Bending down to reach for the oil lamp under the bed, he took a deep breath and then, holding his breath, stepped out of the break room.
In the pitch darkness, Lu Li could only rely on the faint light from the stairs to discern his position.
In the darkness, Lu Li, stepping out, inevitably stepped on debris, making a slight but distinct noise.
As if in response, the heavy footsteps sounded in the corner.
At this instant, Lu Li no longer hesitated, striking the match he had prepared and using the fleeting, faint glow to dash up the stairs, shooting towards the light at the very top like an arrow from a bow!
The moment he burst out, Lu Li gripped the metal door in his palm and slammed it shut with force.
The vibration made dust and debris from the dilapidated corridor scatter down.
The metal door leading to the basement was tightly sealed.