Chapter 13: Don’t Blink

Beyond the one they saw at the beginning, they had discovered the others one after another, even making a casual joke about it: What would you expect from an overbearing CEO? He even puts a few god-of-wine-like statues in his cellar—he isn’t even afraid of scaring himself if he comes down late at night.

Whether the CEO was scared or not, they didn’t know, but now they were nearly scared to death.

Pei Liu furrowed his brows, suddenly remembering something, and whispered a warning: “Everyone, look at one statue each, quickly.”

“…Huh?”

The others were a bit bewildered, not understanding why he made such a demand.

Pei Liu repeated himself, his speaking pace more urgent: “Do as I say, now.”

Based on the trust they had built up earlier, combined with his resolute attitude, they followed his instructions almost subconsciously.

They stood in a circle, facing outward, nervously watching the statues ten meters away.

Pei Liu then explained: “Have any of you seen a science-fiction show?”

“What?” Tong Jiaqi subconsciously turned her head to look at him.

Pei Liu didn’t even turn his head, immediately saying in a low voice: “Don’t move, keep staring at the statues.”

When Tong Jiaqi looked back, she discovered that the statue she was facing had clearly moved forward by a meter; its stone eyes were staring straight at her as if it were grinning maliciously, which was extremely terrifying.

Tong Jiaqi panicked: “He… he’s walking over!”

“Don’t turn your head, don’t blink,” Pei Liu instructed seriously.

Wu Kai obediently did as he was told, and suddenly realized: “Is it that winged bird-man? The one that covers its eyes?!”

Bird-man…

Under such an atmosphere, Pei Liu was almost amused, but he held it in to correct him: “It’s an angel, an extraterrestrial organism. When they are watched by any creature, they turn into stone, themselves included. Once you look away or blink, they can move, and their speed increases the more they do.”

Zhao Hai, who hadn’t seen the show, asked nervously: “What happens if they move right in front of us?”

Wu Kai: “They send you to the past.”

Pei Liu: “Or they twist your neck.”

Jian Yongge’s expression turned grim: “It doesn’t look like the former to me.”

The malice and killing intent on the statues’ faces were very obvious.

Wu Kai: “Can we make them look at each other?”

Pei Liu didn’t quite agree: “That’s the protocol for the Weeping Angels, but it might be different here; they didn’t have their eyes covered to begin with. Besides, that would bring them too close to us—it’s too dangerous.”

“So we have to keep staring at the statues and slowly back away until we leave the basement?” Wu Kai felt dejected.

Pei Liu nodded: “Right. As long as you don’t blink, the success rate is quite high.”

After saying that, Pei Liu emphasized: “You must not let your guard down; we still have to climb the stairs, and we must keep a distance from the statues to avoid being grabbed.”

Once he reminded them, the others remembered and grew even more tense, not daring to be careless.

“Start, move.”

Together, they carefully moved toward the basement entrance, holding each other’s hands, with those in front guiding those walking backward to ensure they wouldn’t bump into the wine racks, fall, and lose sight of their statues.

Although they were very careful, not blinking was difficult. Keeping it up for a minute was already an achievement.

Therefore, even though they didn’t want to, they couldn’t help but blink.

Eight meters.

Six meters.

Three meters.

Every time they opened their eyes, the statues were closer, the pressure intensifying; fear rolled in like a tide, submerging them. They didn’t dare to breathe, their heartbeats racing so fast they felt like they would leap out of their throats.

The statues’ features became clearer—glowing with an eerie cold light, their faces twisted, sinister, and horrifying.

The ghost infant had stopped wailing at some point. The basement was abnormally silent, appearing even more eerie—it made one wish to hear the crying instead.

The statue Tong Jiaqi was watching had moved once at the very beginning, and now it was the closest, its ghostly aura the strongest. Even though this was just recording a show and everything was fake, she didn’t feel it for a second. The danger felt real, the overwhelming fear wasn’t acted, and a trace of uncontrollable sobbing leaked from her throat: “…What do I do? I… I’m going to die…”

Wu Kai felt a pang of heartache, but in this situation, there was no way to help other than to grip her hand tightly, offering encouragement and comfort.

Pei Liu said: “Let’s swap. The statue on my side hasn’t moved.”

Tong Jiaqi was shocked: “Are you really sure?”

“It’s fine.” Pei Liu’s voice was raspy but calm and convincing, making one want to listen: “I’ll turn my head to look at your statue first; wait for my signal, then turn immediately.”

“But…” Tong Jiaqi hesitated, not because she didn’t trust Pei Liu, but because she felt it was unfair to him.

Pei Liu could tell and softened his tone: “Don’t worry, I can go without blinking for up to half an hour. The most important thing is that we all get out safely together.”

Tong Jiaqi took a breath and said firmly: “Okay, I’ll listen to you.”

Pei Liu timed it perfectly. The moment he turned his head and met the eyes of the other statue, he shouted: “Turn.”

They swapped successfully.

The statue Pei Liu was now facing had closed the distance by two meters, but it was still within a controllable range.

Wu Kai and Zhao Hai were impressed that Pei Liu would do this. He had courage, was kind, and cared for others.

Jian Yongge stayed silent the whole time, inwardly sneering at Pei Liu’s hypocrisy.

Finally, they managed to move to the stairs. The exit was right above them, bright light shining down, which was a joyous sight.

The stairs weren’t wide, so they had to go up one by one.

Pei Liu was the furthest from the stairs, so naturally, he was the last to go up.

The order was: Zhao Hai, Wu Kai, Tong Jiaqi, Jian Yongge, Pei Liu.

While climbing, they had to walk backward to keep staring at the statues’ eyes. They wanted to get up quickly, but were afraid of falling, making their emotions anxious and complex.

Even when they reached the exit, they couldn’t leave; they had to keep clinging to the ledge and staring.

Time ticked by rapidly. Jian Yongge went up, and Pei Liu followed right after. With only three seconds left until they were out, at the final moment, Wu Kai and the others were so nervous they could hear their own loud heartbeats, and they couldn’t help but reach out to Pei Liu: “Fast!”

Jian Yongge watched this scene, vicious whispers repeating in his ears. Then, he closed his eyes.

In an instant, one of the statues in the basement lunged into the middle of the stairs, reaching out to grab Pei Liu’s ankle firmly. Pei Liu was forced to meet its gaze, the statue’s grotesque expression frozen in place. The statue Pei Liu had been staring at, no longer restricted by his gaze, immediately climbed up, opening a giant mouth with a twisted, horrifying face.

Pei Liu didn’t even think; he tilted his head to look at the grinning statue while simultaneously kicking the one at the bottom.

Wu Kai and the others were panicked, but they did their best to coordinate, grabbing Pei Liu’s arms and pulling him up with all their might.

The moment Pei Liu’s foot cleared the exit, Tong Jiaqi slammed the hatch shut, locked it, and sat directly on top of it. Seeing this, Wu Kai hurried over to add his weight.

The hatch shuttered violently from the impacts, several massive jolts, before finally falling silent.

But they didn’t relax just yet.

“They aren’t going to trick us again, are they?”

For example, the moment they stood up, the hatch would be flung open, and the statues would climb out one by one.

Pei Liu gasped for air, sitting on the floor, completely drained of strength: “No, they haven’t come out before; they must be ghosts bound to the basement.”

Tong Jiaqi noticed something off and scrutinized Pei Liu. The lighting in the basement had been too dim to see clearly, but now she noticed Pei Liu’s face was flushed red and his eyes looked hazy.

She reached out to touch his forehead and panicked: “You have a fever!”