Sha Qing

Chapter 26: Murder Castle (1)

The corridor was dark, cramped and long, with a string of old-fashioned light bulbs suspended by the ceiling. On both sides of the wall pasted with grubby wallpaper, there were rows of identical doors at every other distance - some were were locked and its rusty handles were much stronger than it looks so it couldn't be opened.

What in the world is this? It's like a low-class hotel in the 1920s and 1930s ... Leo walked forward with the damp moldy wall, trying to find the stairs down. He didn't know what floor he was on, but from the 'Devil King' Evans' words, he at least knew that this wasn't the top floor.

A door handle on the right side seemed to be loose so Leo shook it hard a few times and the door finally opened. The inside was empty and kind of peculiar, the walls, floors, as well as the ceiling were all completely gray and as he stepped in, he found that his feet sank slightly. The four walls were covered with cushions, just like the white rooms in a psychiatric hospital that prevents patients from hitting the wall and hurting their selves. This room seemed more like a prison cell that prevents inmates from committing suicide.

He exited the room and continued to move forward. He found that some of the unlocked doors had mind-numbing facilities inside, sulfuric acid pools, dissection tables, quicklime pits, torture chambers filled with tools, gas chambers, incineration rooms...

What the hell is this fucking place? The people who built and used this building were simply perverts who were happy to torture and murder! Leo looked at these sickening, horrifying rooms, and his scalp tingled; a flame of anger also burned in his chest, If all these really used to be covered with many victims' blood, he must catch the perpetrators to face justice and throw them to prison or sentence them with a death penalty!

The floor was not flat - some parts were elevated, other's are in a downward slope. The aisles kept turning, as if he was trudging inside a loop of a Mobius strip, with a non-existent end. The constant loss of strength and the pain from the wounds made Leo's footsteps heavier than the last, and he could hardly lift his sore and numb sole. He rested his back against a wall near a door - then his elbow hit an unknown protrusion and it made gritty creaking sound like a rusted pendulum.

His ears heard a dull, rumbling sound, getting closer and closer...

What's that?

A dark, heavy metal ball more than a meter in diameter that almost filled the corridor, rumbled towards him like a giant bowling ball!

-Damn, this scene is like from those low-budget old horror movies!

But the fact was in front of him and even if he sticked himself to the wall, he couldn't escape being run over!

Leo shook the doors on both sides frantically in hope that any of them have the slightest loose, but it was contrary to reality. Hopeless, he turned and ran away, while trying to open all the doors he passed by. He remembered that the previous door that could be opened was not far from here, but the looming roar behind reminded him of a cruel reality - it's too late to run back there!

Desperation and fear stirred his brain like a sharp knife. Just when he thought that he was doomed, a man's voice came from above,

"Grab my hand! Hurry!"

His survival instinct urged him to jump without hesitation, and grasped the hand that stretched down from the ceiling.

A pair of strong, powerful hands wearing fingerless tactical gloves grabbed his wrist firmly and pulled him up into the ventilation duct. Leo cooperatively used his two forearms to hold the metal plate at the mouth of the pipe, struggled to climb up, and with the help of the other party, he quickly hauled his suspended torso into the square ventilation pipe.