Chapter 14: Statue Party (6)

Source: https://www.gongzicp.com/novel-1388844.html
This translation was originally posted on https://love4baihe.blogspot.com

Shu Yushuang lay on the bed.  

She had slept too much during the day and now felt no trace of drowsiness.  

She kept recalling what exactly was drawn on that door she had just seen.  

Although painted in such a place, at first glance, it was easy to mistake it for symbols. But upon closer thought, it looked more like children's doodles.  

Crooked and uneven lines formed various independent shapes, some round and some flat.  

Shu Yushuang suddenly sat up. She remembered what it resembled.  

Now she felt in a hurry, and she wished she could immediately return to that room to verify her guess.  

She closed her eyes and slowed her breathing. It took her a long time to suppress her impulsiveness.  

Completing the task wasn’t urgent at this moment. She only needed to wait one more day.

Returning to that place now would likely result in running directly into the residents inside, which would be very dangerous.  

Shu Yushuang felt that her state of mind today was extremely unusual. She had never been this impatient before.  

Being as clever as she was, she immediately connected this to those strange doodles.  

She felt as though those doodles were calling to her.  

No, to be precise, it seemed that the door was calling her.  

There was something beneath that door that exerted a powerful pull on her.  

Suddenly, Shu Yushuang felt a deep, instinctual fear.  

She felt like her mind was being controlled.  

Whatever was beneath that door must be something terrifying.  

Shu Yushuang closed her eyes, trying her best to stop herself from thinking about the door any further.  

She needed to think of something else to distract herself…  

Her thoughts drifted back to the summer after the college entrance exams.  

If she hadn’t bought that phone for Shu Ya, maybe none of this would have happened.

Shu Ya was still safe by her side, and she herself had still been living an ordinary life.  

But now, even leading a simple life was a luxury, and meeting her master again seemed almost impossible.  

Shu Yushuang rubbed her eyes as her nose stung with sorrow.  

Although she had forcibly reopened the scars in her heart, she found that when she thought about the door again, its pull was no longer as strong as before.  

Fortunately, it worked.  

Only then did Shu Yushuang dare to let her thoughts settle.  

She was now certain that something extremely dangerous was hidden beneath that door, and that it must be closely tied to why the town’s residents had turned into what they were now.  

If she could figure out what was beneath that door, she might be able to complete the first task directly.  

Next time, Shu Yushuang would not go there without any preparation.

She felt that she had been too impulsive today. She needed to come up with a thorough plan before going on another "adventure."  

Even so, she still could not think of any particularly good strategy.  

Forget it, she would just take it one step at a time.  

Shu Yushuang spent another whole day lying in bed, but this time she did not sleep the entire time.  

It was not because she did not want to sleep, but because she had that nightmare again. After waking up in fright, she could not fall asleep no matter what.  

Shu Yushuang curled up in a ball on the bed.  

Even though so many years had passed, she could never forget what happened before she turned nine.

In the past, having Shu Ya by her side made her rarely think of the past. But now, she was all alone.  

Shu Yushuang did not know when these days of being haunted by nightmares would come to an end.  

Perhaps, they never would.  

Liquid trickled down her face, and Shu Yushuang wiped her face with her hand.  

She could not even remember the last time she cried. She thought she would never cry again in this lifetime, but...  

Taking a deep breath, Shu Yushuang wiped the tears from her face.  

She was never a weak person. Crying would not solve anything.  

The room grew darker and darker, and finally, night arrived.  

The time had come. Outside, she heard the sound of a stone door being opened and then shut heavily.  

After waiting a few more minutes, Shu Yushuang quietly opened the door.  

She glanced toward Qi Qi's room and saw Qi Qi also sneaking out.  

When Qi Qi saw Shu Yushuang, she quickened her pace.  

Shu Yushuang raised her hand, signaling Qi Qi to roll up her sleeve and show her arm. Qi Qi looked slightly displeased but complied nonetheless.

Qi Qi walked up to Shu Yushuang and asked unhappily, "Did we not already confirm it last night? Why do you still need to check?"  

"Who can guarantee that you were not attacked during this time?"  

"..."  

Qi Qi was left speechless. Shu Yushuang had a point, but her distrustful attitude toward everyone still annoyed Qi Qi.  

Shu Yushuang did not notice her displeasure. Even if she had, she would not have cared.  

"Let’s go inside. The resident just left, so we need to hurry."  

Shu Yushuang entered the room first. Compared to yesterday, nothing here has changed at all.  

This time, she and Qi Qi did not waste any time and directly moved the corpse pile aside.  

Shu Yushuang stared intently at the hidden door. At this moment, the sense of danger grew stronger, and the pull it exerted became even more overwhelming.  

What exactly…was beneath that door?

While Shu Yushuang was still hesitating, to her surprise, Qi Qi directly opened the door and walked down.  

Shu Yushuang only hesitated for two seconds before quickly following.  

Although she had not previously noticed that Qi Qi was so bold, there was no time to think too much about it now.  

Beneath the door was a long staircase that led to an unknown depth.  

It was very dark below. Shu Yushuang took out her phone again and turned on the flashlight for illumination.  

In just this short time, Qi Qi had already gone far ahead. Shu Yushuang did not hurry to catch up but instead descended the stairs at her own pace.  

She had already started finding Qi Qi a bit suspicious.  

Although this might have been just Qi Qi's nature, Shu Yushuang thought that being cautious would not hurt.  

Shu Yushuang felt as though she had been walking for a long time, yet she still could not see the end of the staircase.  

The darkness and silence of the place made her feel disoriented.  

Where was this? What was she doing? Why was she walking endlessly like this?  

Right, she had to keep walking. Below... below was something she absolutely had to see.

Shu Yushuang's gaze began to become unfocused. She could no longer see Qi Qi's figure ahead, but she did not care.  

She was now only concerned with the thing deep underground, the thing she did not know but had a deadly attraction to her.  

Shu Yushuang stared intensely at the dark ahead, not even realizing when her phone's flashlight had turned off.  

At that moment, her foot slipped, and she fell heavily down.  

Shu Yushuang was dazed from the fall, but this fall was not entirely without benefit. At least it snapped her out of the strange state she had been in.  

Shu Yushuang slowly got up from the ground and turned on her phone's flashlight to illuminate her surroundings.  

She finally saw the scene before her.  

Although the space here was vast, the only object in it was a stone statue placed in the center. At this moment, Qi Qi was standing in front of the statue.

The statue was life-sized, and it was clearly carved in the shape of a woman.  

The statue was so lifelike, almost indistinguishable from a living person.  

For some reason, Shu Yushuang suddenly felt a strong urge to confirm whether it was really just a statue.  

She didn’t understand why she had this thought—what else could it be if not a statue?  

Shu Yushuang raised her hand and slowly reached toward the statue.  

At that moment, Shu Yushuang suddenly felt a chill all over her body and instinctively withdrew her hand.  

She thought she had seen the statue’s eyes move.  

But how could that be? It was just a lifeless statue. No matter how lifelike it looked, it was not a person.  

Unless…  

Shu Yushuang turned to look at Qi Qi, wanting to ask her if she had noticed anything, but she saw Qi Qi staring intently at the statue, her eyes seemingly fixed only on it.  

Qi Qi and the statue locked eyes, and Shu Yushuang called her twice, but she received no response.  

Qi Qi’s hands were tightly clenched, moving up and down across her chest. It was only then that Shu Yushuang noticed her hands had turned entirely into stone.  

Shu Yushuang didn’t know what had happened to Qi Qi, but she sensed something was wrong. She immediately turned and ran.

Behind her, Qi Qi still stood there, repeating the strange movements.  

Shu Yushuang vaguely heard someone speaking behind her, “Next time, you won’t be able to run away.”  

Shu Yushuang didn’t dare to look back. She directly ran back to the place where she had fallen earlier.  

Thankfully, the stairs were still there, and they hadn’t mysteriously disappeared.  

Shu Yushuang quickly ran up the stairs, closed the hidden door, and swiftly restored the room to its original state.  

After doing all of this, she walked out of the room and collided head-on with the room’s occupant.  

Shu Yushuang’s breath caught, and she tightly gripped her stone knife.  

The occupant, however, merely glanced blankly at her feet. After noticing she had completely left the room, the resident shook his head in disappointment.

Afterward, the resident did not pay any more attention to her and directly went back to their room.

When the resident slammed the door shut, Shi Yushuang finally realized that her back was drenched in cold sweat.

Source: https://www.gongzicp.com/novel-1388844.html
This translation was originally posted on https://love4baihe.blogspot.com

She dared not stay outside any longer. Instead, she dragged her already exhausted body and used her last bit of strength to return to her room.

As soon as she entered her room, she collapsed onto the floor. She finally began to feel a sense of fear.

If it hadn’t been for Qi Qi going ahead and entering the secret door if it hadn’t been for her tripping on the stairs, would she have ended up like Qi Qi, turning into stone?

Stone, statue... Shi Yushuang vaguely felt that she had caught a clue, but it was still not clear.

But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t grasp that fleeting clue.

At this moment, Shi Yushuang suddenly realized that six people were executing this quest, and now four of them had turned into stone.

The dungeon time had not yet passed halfway, and only two survivors remained.

Shi Yushuang had not felt this scared in a long time.

Although she always considered herself very bold, the threat of death being so close made it hard for her not to be afraid.

Whether it was because she feared that no one would go look for her master after her death, or whether it was fear of something else, it was undeniable that she was truly scared.

Shi Yushuang never expected that her first official quest would be this difficult.

Originally, after learning part of the "Comprehensive Guide to Ghost Hunting," she had been full of confidence. But she did not expect that in this quest, she would encounter monsters instead of ghosts.

Would she have to continue adventuring through the secret door tomorrow night?

That statue definitely had a problem, but Shi Yushuang was afraid that if she went down again, she would be once again entranced.

Shi Yushuang recalled today’s experience. When she had walked on the stairs, at some point, she had fallen into that strong, magnetic state. However, after she tripped, that state disappeared.

Shi Yushuang felt that it was not necessarily required to fall to break free from that state; perhaps a strong blow would work as well. 

But now, she didn’t know when she had been affected, how she had been affected, or how to make herself suffer a heavy blow after being affected. 

Looking back now, she felt that she was really lucky to have fallen at that moment today. 

What troubled her the most now was how to wake herself up in time after falling into that abnormal state.

But then Shi Yushuang recalled that after she had been first tempted by the door, she thought of some painful things to distract herself. Although it was difficult, it had successfully pulled her out of that state. Perhaps this could be a good method.

However, at that time, she had not fallen too deeply into it, so this method might not be very effective. 

But having a method was always better, and Shu Yushuang decided to give it a try. Although there was a risk of paying with her life, if she never dared to face it, then after the dungeon time ended, she would still die.