By the time they reached the fourth floor, the surroundings had changed noticeably.
There were more railings now, and they weren’t the ordinary waist-high kind. These had been extended upward by another section, with weld marks that still looked fairly new.
An Yuexin was walking at the very front when he suddenly stopped and turned to face everyone, the joking expression fading from his face.
“In 2004, the first person fell to their death here.”
He raised one finger and paused for two seconds before raising a second.
“Then came the second, the third... eight in all.”
Luo Ruiyu instinctively took half a step back from the railing, then felt that something was wrong and returned to the middle of the group.
An Yuexin continued, “There were incidents in 2005, 2008, 2010, and most recently in 2012. People chose to end their lives here.”
Jiang Yunlu frowned.
“Wait a minute. Even adding up the deaths from those years after 2004, there weren’t nearly eight people, were there?”
An Yuexin didn’t answer directly.
He turned sideways, traced a small circle in the air with his finger, and pointed around them.
“Lilin Plaza isn’t just a shopping mall. There are also eight residential buildings surrounding it. The layout of those buildings is like the eight coffins from back then. If nobody died inside those residential buildings, then...”
“Then someone would have to jump from here to make up the difference, right?”
Fang Jun happened to finish the sentence for him.
The moment those words were spoken, no one said anything.
The mall’s background music was still playing. It was an old song with a fairly cheerful tune, which made the subject even more unsettling.
Luo Ruiyu was the first to break the silence. She pointed at the sealed railing overhead. The metal mesh extended from the fourth floor all the way to the fifth, packed tightly together like the bars of a cage.
“So that’s why the railings between the fourth and fifth floors were completely sealed off?”
“The mall couldn’t just stand by and watch something happen,” An Yuexin said with a shrug.
After all, the third floor wasn’t that high, so the danger level wasn’t exactly maxed out.
Only then did Lin Mo speak. His tone was casual, and he kept both hands in his pockets.
“But speaking of which, if some supernatural thing really was behind all this, the shopkeepers who’ve been doing business here for years should’ve been the first to suffer. Look around you. Which of these shops hasn’t been open for several years? They’re all doing just fine.”
Lin Mo wore an expression of complete faith in science, looking as honest as could be.
His words were so convincing that the atmosphere among the group relaxed considerably.
Several of those who didn’t know the truth visibly let out a sigh of relief.
The three people who did know the truth all looked at Lin Mo, unable to understand how he could lie so shamelessly with such a straight face.
Still, they made it to the fifth floor.
The number of people dropped off a cliff.
In the enormous corridor, only a few people came and went. The shops were open, but most of them dealt in wholesale and retail jewelry, jade, and crystals.
The lights were glaringly bright, and the crystals on the shelves reflected colorful patches of light everywhere.
As An Yuexin walked along, he suddenly came to a stop.
“Custom Factory Services.”
He stared at the shop’s sign for several seconds, then tilted his head.
“I feel like... I’ve seen this shop before.”
“Then go in and ask,” Lin Mo said, already stepping inside.
The shop wasn’t large. Three rows of glass display counters lined the walls, filled with jade and crystal ornaments of all kinds and qualities.
A woman in her forties sat behind the counter, her eyes fixed on her phone as she avidly followed a TV drama.
When she saw a group of young people walk in, she couldn’t be bothered to greet them. After all, young people were usually broke.
Still, she didn’t say anything to drive them away.
Lin Mo strolled leisurely between the counters, his eyes sweeping over the rows of merchandise.
He barely spared most of the items a glance before moving on, until he noticed a piece of murky yellow jade in the corner.
It was small, and its quality was nothing special. Among all the finished pieces with their clear, translucent colors, it was particularly easy to overlook.
Lin Mo picked it up, weighed it in his hand, then passed it to Jiang Yunlu.
The instant Jiang Yunlu took it, she understood. Without asking any questions, she walked straight up to the counter.
“Boss, how much for this piece?”
The auntie finally pulled her gaze away from the screen. She glanced at the yellow jade, then at Jiang Yunlu.
A young girl. Decently dressed, with a reasonably nice bag.
“Three thousand seven hundred.”
Standing behind Jiang Yunlu, Lin Mo cut in, “Three hundred seventy.”
The auntie’s eyes finally settled on Lin Mo.
They stared at each other for two brief seconds.
“Deal.”
Jiang Yunlu paid by card without the slightest hesitation.
Fang Jun watched from the side, the corner of his mouth twitching.
He could really bargain 3,700 down to 370? The auntie had agreed far too quickly. That meant she was still making a profit at 370.
So she’d been trying to make a killing at the original price of 3,700?
After the payment went through, Lin Mo didn’t leave. Instead, he leaned against the counter and struck up a conversation with the auntie.
“You’ve been running this shop here for quite a while, haven’t you, sis?”
Having made a sale and been called “sis,” the auntie’s attitude noticeably improved. She even paused her drama.
“Mm-hmm.”
“Do you remember there used to be an arcade on this floor?”
The auntie thought for a moment. “There was. Business used to be pretty good, but later it went downhill and they moved out. After that, they said the place was going to be renovated for some kind of project. They even put up construction barriers, but then the project fell through. It’s been fenced off ever since.”
An Yuexin, listening nearby, raised an eyebrow.
Fang Jun slapped him hard on the back.
“Looks like you really weren’t remembering wrong.”
An Yuexin grimaced. “Are you part bear?”
“That’s your punishment for making up stories and scaring everyone that day.”
“You scared yourselves. It had nothing to do with me.”
As he spoke, An Yuexin had already walked out of the shop on his own.
“You guys keep chatting. I’m going to the bathroom.”
Fang Jun didn’t need to go, so he didn’t follow.
The group continued learning about how the arcade had eventually pulled out after its business steadily deteriorated.
The public restroom on the fifth floor was at the far end of the corridor.
When An Yuexin entered, there was no one inside. When he came out, there was still no one there.
He rinsed his hands at the sink and flicked the droplets of water away twice, just as he was about to head back.
“Come with me!”
The voice didn’t come from any particular direction. It sounded as though it had rung out directly inside his mind.
An Yuexin’s footsteps faltered.
His gaze began to grow unfocused, his pupils widening slightly, as if he had suddenly lost consciousness.
Yet his legs did not stop. Step by step, he walked toward the other end of the corridor.
He wasn’t going back.
The sealed barriers covered more than ninety percent of the fifth floor. But at a corner near the emergency exit, there was a gap about half a meter wide.
At some point, a short section of the metal mesh had been removed. Perhaps it had been overlooked when the barriers were installed, or perhaps it had never been repaired. Either way, it stood open, completely unattended.
An Yuexin walked up to the gap.
His body tilted forward by several degrees.
Below lay the atrium, five floors down.
“Go over! Go over!”
The voice came again, clinging to his eardrums like a hand pushing against the back of his head.
The tips of An Yuexin’s shoes had already touched the edge of the gap.
“Jump.”
His center of gravity continued shifting forward.
Just then, a hand clamped down on his shoulder.
The force was tremendous, yanking his entire body half a step backward.
“Hey.”
ver to a world of cultivation and returned invincible. Modern medicine is child's play compared to elixirs; technological might crumbles before true cultivation. My name is Qin Ning, Earth's sole cultivator!
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
ions, keeping it grounded and realistic】 After quitting his job, office worker Su Yang accidentally binds with the "Enjoy Life System." As the name suggests, simply by indulging in life's pleasures, he can earn random rewards from the system—no need to spend money on beautiful women or grovel before anyone. Just enjoy, and the money follows, making it all about effortless fun. The system comes with a scanning feature, allowing him to establish a favorability bond with women rated 85 points or above. Every 20-point increase in favorability unlocks additional rewards. After suffering through over twenty years of hardship, Su Yang trembles with excitement, his dull eyes suddenly gleaming with newfound hope. "Enjoy life? How hard could that be?"
uld barely embark on the path to immortality. Just as he was on the verge of death, his golden finger awakened. No matter whether it was poison, drained blood and vital energy, diminished lifespan, or any other physical debuff caused by paying a price—once midnight passed, everything would be refreshed. From then on, whenever someone asked what kind of person Chu Ran was, the answer was simple: Forbidden arts that other cultivators dared not learn? Chu Ran would learn them. Prices that even demonic cultivators dared not pay? Chu Ran would pay them. Lifespan that even righteous cultivators dared not burn? Chu Ran would burn it. All the blood essence in his body? Take it. Want both his hands and feet? He would cut them off and send them to you. You say he’s finished? He wasn’t built to sit idle. You think he’s gone mad? No—he was simply waiting for midnight. From that day onward, Chu Ran would respect neither Heaven nor Earth, bow to neither gods nor ghosts. He had only one wish: For midnight to arrive a little sooner.
