Chapter 214: The Perilous Internet Cafe

The flames were slowly diminishing. Previously, no one had noticed, but it had been over two hours since they entered.

The decrease in the intensity of the fire was now palpable. The exterior walls were no longer engulfed in visible flames, having turned a desolate black. Yet, within the building, the glow of fire still flickered.

“When we entered, we needed to reenact the cause of that year’s fire, but it wasn’t a real blaze,” Mo Qingyan explained. “Even with the fire department’s full efforts, that fire burned for an entire night before it was completely extinguished. What we’re experiencing now is merely an intermittent phase.”

“Oh, right, Liang Xuezhang also told me about a taboo, but it wasn’t relevant to this situation, so I didn’t mention it before. You absolutely must not enter on the actual anniversary of the fire; that would lead to a gruesome death without burial.”

“Today isn’t the disaster day, so this malevolent domain is still in its dormant phase, making it relatively safer.”

I checked the date of the fire: April twenty-third. Indeed, it wasn’t today; there was still some time. I looked up and asked, “What? Are we still going inside?”

“Yes, going inside will be a bit more dangerous, but I promised Xushan I’d help him out. Xushan, are you going in now?” Mo Qingyan inquired.

“Today it is,” Xushan replied. “I’ll go in and see if there are any suitable targets. My vengeful spirit’s terror level is currently moderate. If we came on the actual fire day, I probably wouldn’t be able to withstand it.”

“You can choose to wait for us here; we’ll be back soon.” Mo Qingyan turned to address us.

“I’m going in too. My bugs aren’t full yet,” Bai Yue stated.

‘Her parasitic worms have been hungry for days.’

“Then I’ll go in and take a look as well,” I decided after a moment of thought. It was a good opportunity to gain experience while powerful teammates were present.

Seeing me prepare to enter, Xiao Qing eagerly declared her intention to join.

“Oh, if all the beauties are going in, there’s no point in me staying outside,” Jia Cheng said, picking up his old-fashioned camera. “I’ll go in too. Maybe I can capture some supernatural photos.”

Everyone unanimously decided to seize the opportunity while the fire had lessened to investigate. Without further delay, we headed towards the entrance of Unit 5.

Not only had the flames subsided, but the scorching heat had also decreased. Protected by our magical artifacts, we could approach more closely.

However, as we neared the entrance, I noticed the shop on the left. This space had originally been a gym, but after the fire, it had transformed into an internet cafe.

Much of the equipment was completely incinerated: mainframes, keyboards, and monitors were all charred black, some even melted by the intense heat. Several skeletal chairs had carbonized remains stuck to them, making one intensely reluctant to speculate on their former nature.

Amidst this wreckage, still billowing thick smoke, one computer remained perfectly intact. Or rather, one monitor, an old-fashioned, non-LCD screen, was undamaged.

Then, the screen suddenly lit up. To be precise, the screen remained pitch black, but I instantly knew it had activated; there was a faint glow of power.

On the dark screen, a line of blood-red characters appeared. They were blurry from the distance, making one involuntarily want to draw closer to discern what was written.

Just then, I suddenly recalled the taboo Mo Qingyan had mentioned: ‘Never step into the internet cafe where the incident originated.’ The moment this taboo resurfaced in my mind, a sharp pain simultaneously shot through the back of my neck and my wrist, tearing me free from the temptation.

“Ah!” At the same instant, Xiao Qing let out a cry of pain. I turned to look; she was only three steps away from the internet cafe’s entrance. If she’d taken one more large step, she would have walked right in. The jade gecko had bitten her finger forcefully.

The Wire Gu had pierced my wrist, and the one on the back of my neck was, of course, the Golden Bee Gu. Fortunately, Bai Yue’s Gu worms possessed illusion-breaking abilities; otherwise, I might have been alright, but Xiao Qing certainly would have fallen prey to it.

Not far from me, Xushan was shaking his head vigorously. He seemed to have broken free as well, though I didn’t know what method he used. Jia Cheng, however, was still walking towards the internet cafe, while Bai Yue and Mo Qingyan, oblivious to what was happening, had already reached the entrance of Unit 5.

Mo Qingyan suddenly reacted, turning around and shouting, “Don’t go in! Don’t look at anything inside!”

Her shout, delivered with some unknown technique, caused my eardrums to ache faintly and my head to feel slightly rattled. Yet, it successfully startled Jia Cheng awake. Xushan and Xiao Qing were also fully roused from their struggle.

“Hiss! I almost fell for it!” Xushan immediately jumped aside, averting his gaze from the internet cafe. I, too, flung out my Wire Gu, pulling Xiao Qing back and carrying her away. She was drenched in sweat.

Only Jia Cheng, as if fearless of death, immediately raised his camera after regaining consciousness. Without even focusing, he snapped a picture towards the internet cafe, then rolled to the side, away from that direction.

I quickly realized this was his subconscious action: if an evil spirit attacked or tried to bewitch him, he would instinctively raise his camera and take a shot, treating it like someone with a gun firing at a potential enemy.

“Are you all right?” Mo Qingyan asked, looking at me with surprise. She had sensed something amiss even before her warning, realizing I still had the presence of mind to pull Xiao Qing out.

“I’m fine. I didn’t expect this malevolent domain to be so dangerous; there’s a huge trap even before we’ve entered the door.” Xushan took a deep breath. Although he could have broken free without Mo Qingyan’s help, he had still come perilously close to falling victim.

“This malevolent domain is a bit special. The ignition point at the entrance is one of the most dangerous places,” Mo Qingyan explained. “The earliest victims of the original fire were right inside here. It’s said that not a single person in the entire internet cafe made it out alive.”

I had also looked at old news on my phone, which didn’t specify the exact death toll for the internet cafe. However, seeing the site in person, I now understood: the internet cafe had only one entrance. If the arsonist had set the fire from outside the door, no one inside could have possibly escaped.

“You truly have no regard for your life, daring to take a picture,” Mo Qingyan said to Jia Cheng. “Do not, under any circumstances, try to develop this photo alone. I fear there might be some danger. Wait until Monday; we’ll take it to the Department of Supernatural Incidents and develop it while we’re all present.”

“Haha, it’s a habit,” Jia Cheng said, cold sweat trickling down his face. “I wasn’t thinking much just now; it was a reflex to raise the camera.” He had been the only one who hadn’t fully reacted earlier. If not for Mo Qingyan’s shout, he might have walked straight into the internet cafe, and then his fate would have been unpredictable.

The photo he took might hold some value, but we neither dared to look at the situation inside the internet cafe again nor could we develop photos here. We would simply have to wait until Monday to view it.

“Don’t be careless. Once we’re inside, it will be safer,” Mo Qingyan said, walking into the building. We followed her in.

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