Volume One: The Phantom Tower Chapter Four: Cheng Fan's Doubt
“Ah! It’s him—wasn’t he trapped in the elevator?”
Pointing at the twisted corpse of the tattooed man, Zhao Linxuan’s beautiful eyes widened in disbelief. “Why is he dead here?”
It wasn’t surprising that Zhao Linxuan was shocked. Like Cheng Fan, she had witnessed the other four people, including the tattooed man, enter the elevator.
Cheng Fan took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. “It seems the danger of the elevator is more complex than we imagined, or rather, the ghost’s abilities are far more intricate than we thought.”
Hearing Cheng Fan’s implication, the perceptive Zhao Linxuan quickly caught on. She tentatively pointed at the body. “Are you saying… the ghost moved the body here?”
When Cheng Fan nodded, Zhao Linxuan looked puzzled. “Why would the ghost do that?”
“Probably to intimidate us, to weigh on our minds,” he replied.
Cheng Fan had no idea why the ghost deliberately moved the tattooed man’s corpse—who should have died in the elevator—to the hallway. Still, with his thoughtful mind, he offered his personal theory.
He was well aware of the current situation. Trapped in a building that was nearly impossible to escape, being hunted by a powerful female ghost, the psychological pressure on the explorers was unimaginable.
That pressure would only increase with every terrifying experience, and once it crossed a critical threshold, people often broke down, fell into despair, and lost all will to survive.
At that point, the ghost could easily slaughter everyone.
Unfortunately…
The ghost’s plan was doomed to fail, at least against Cheng Fan.
Because Cheng Fan’s will was unyielding; he firmly believed that as long as a way out of the scenario existed, he would find it.
Suddenly, a gust of cold wind blew up from downstairs. Almost simultaneously, Cheng Fan’s pupils contracted sharply.
In the shadows beneath the staircase, a faint red glow flickered.
“She’s coming!”
Grabbing Zhao Linxuan’s hand, Cheng Fan urged, “Go upstairs!”
Before the ghost could appear, the two turned and dashed up the stairs, the sound of howling wind growing louder behind them.
---
As they ran, Cheng Fan’s mind raced.
This ghost was relentless, giving the explorers no chance to catch their breath, continuously hunting them down. Damn it! What to do? If this keeps up, even if we manage to sense danger and escape each time, human stamina is finite. Once it’s drained, will Zhao Linxuan and I still have any hope of survival?
But I still can’t decipher the meaning of the oil painting…
Fine, then I’ll have to rely on conventional methods.
To shake off the ghost’s pursuit as quickly as possible, Cheng Fan fully unleashed his physical potential. Like a madman, he dragged Zhao Linxuan along, running desperately upward without looking back.
They ran for a full fifteen minutes. When no strange sounds came from behind, the two collapsed to the ground like deflated balloons.
“Ha, ha, ha!”
Like the weakening Zhao Linxuan, Cheng Fan leaned against the wall, gasping for breath.
But after only a brief rest—before their breathing even slowed—Cheng Fan struggled up, using both hands and feet.
“Wait, wait!”
Seeing Cheng Fan pulling her to run again, Zhao Linxuan shook her head urgently. “Can we rest a little longer?”
Cheng Fan refused without hesitation. “No! Now’s not the time to rest. Get up and come with me!”
“But I really can’t run anymore.” Women naturally have less stamina than men. Even though Zhao Linxuan was older by a few years, after running so long, she was completely exhausted compared to the still-enduring Cheng Fan.
“You…”
Seeing Zhao Linxuan stubbornly refuse to move, Cheng Fan grew more anxious and frowned. “How about this: you wait here for me. I’ll do something and come back for you.”
“No, don’t leave me!”
To Cheng Fan’s surprise, just as he planned to leave her behind and go deal with something, Zhao Linxuan’s expression suddenly changed. She desperately shook her head in refusal, then, ignoring her fatigue, forced herself to stand.
Clenching Cheng Fan’s wrist tightly, her face resolute, she said, “I’m going with you!”
Huh?
No one understood why Zhao Linxuan reacted so strongly, and Cheng Fan couldn’t figure it out either. Sure, she might be afraid of being alone, but her reaction was extreme. In Cheng Fan’s memory, Zhao Linxuan was a pretty brave woman—though not as bold as he was, she was far braver than most women and could usually stay calm in any situation.
Pondering this, a seed of doubt began to grow in Cheng Fan’s mind.
“Follow me!”
But now was not the time to dwell on it. Seeing that she could walk again, Cheng Fan no longer hesitated. After scanning their surroundings with a wary gaze, he grabbed Zhao Linxuan’s hand and hurriedly left the stairwell, racing to the nearest floor.
---
At the same time, on another floor of the building.
Tap, tap, tap…
Walking down the cold, oppressive corridor, Sun Zhihai’s hands and feet were icy, his face pale, and his heart pounding like a drum.
As the only explorer to escape the elevator, Li Dahai was both lucky and unlucky. Lucky to still be alive, but unlucky because…
He was thoroughly terrified!
The situation was straightforward. Since waking from unconsciousness and realizing he had become an explorer, the 46-year-old Sun Zhihai had immediately run out of his room to join the others rushing to the elevator. Everyone knew the elevator was the fastest way out, and only by taking it could they escape this haunted building sooner.
But something puzzling happened during the rush.
As everyone headed for the elevator, a young man who was last to leave ignored it entirely, running straight toward the stairwell.
Out of concern, Sun Zhihai called out to remind the young man about the elevator’s location, but the man ignored him, only muttering that the elevator was dangerous before heading down the stairs.
Afterwards, a beautiful woman inexplicably abandoned the elevator as well and followed the young man into the stairwell.
The other four, including Sun Zhihai, naturally didn’t believe the elevator was dangerous. With no evidence, who would easily trust such a claim? They dismissed the young man and the woman as crazy and soon entered the elevator themselves.
After stepping in and pressing the button, the elevator began to move. But midway, Sun Zhihai suddenly remembered the awakened talent he had received earlier. Curious, he quietly activated it.
“Spirit Detection”—a Class C awakened talent. When used, it detects all non-living entities within 200 meters. If spirits exist within that range, the user immediately senses them. The effect lasts 10 seconds and can be used three times.
Originally, he had only tried the skill out of curiosity. But what he never imagined was…
That very use of the skill turned out to be the twist of fate that saved his life!