The World Below Surface

With a casual flick of his wrist, Lu Yan flung the unconscious body to the dusty floor and advanced steadily towards his remaining adversary.

"Stay back!" Wang Shun De shrieked, his voice cracking with terror.

A cold sweat broke out on his forehead as he trembled uncontrollably, clutching the axe in his sweaty palms. He felt no reassurance from the weapon, only dread.

The man who approached him radiated a menacing aura that chilled him to the bone.

"I swear, I'll kill you if you come any closer! Don't you dare!" Wang Shun De brandished the axe wildly, hoping to scare off his attacker, but his panic-stricken face betrayed his lack of confidence.

Lu Yan merely arched an eyebrow, ignoring the feeble threat, and closed the distance between them with measured steps.

He had snatched the wooden stick from the limp hand of his previous victim, and he used it to his advantage. As Wang Shun De let out a desperate scream and swung the axe down with all his might, Lu Yan darted forward and slammed the stick against his arm with a sickening crack.

The axe slipped from Wang Shun De's grasp, landing with a thud on the ground, where Lu Yan swiftly kicked it away.

"Now, can we have a little chat? Why were you trying to kill me?" Lu Yan discarded the stick as well, finding it cumbersome, and pressed his hand firmly on Wang Shun De's shoulder, pinning him down. He asked the question softly, but his tone was anything but gentle.

Amusement was the last thing that flickered in his eyes.

To Wang Shun De, this young man who called himself Lu Yan was no different from a fierce ghost, more savage and dreadful than any of the spirits he had faced before.

"No, no, you've got it wrong, I was just..." Wang Shun De stammered, trying to conceal his true purpose.

Lu Yan, the young man, flashed another smile, his eyes piercing, his voice laced with a peculiar charm. "Don't be scared, calm down... Tell me, what made you want to kill me?"

Wang Shun De's eyes glazed over. "Because... because of the mission..."

"What mission?"

"To... to find the missing person... and then... kill a man named Lu Yan..."

Lu Yan felt a heavy thud in his chest.

If the previous assignment of retrieving the Pisces jade pendant could be rationalised as recovering a vital artefact, then what about this one?

That thing that lurked behind him, it had finally fixed its gaze on him.

He probed further, extracting more details from the other, then casually knocked him out, leaving him sprawled on the ground next to his companion. He shut his eyes for a moment, as if to block out the sight.

Soon after, he stepped out of the small hut, clutching an axe that dripped blood, leaving crimson stains on the soil.

He had to go into hiding for a while, at least until he shook off the dozens of taskers. Otherwise, if these two died and he showed up, it would arouse suspicion from any angle.

The townsfolk were not entirely reliable either, and he could not rule out the possibility that the taskers would coax them into divulging his location.

However, he had no choice but to stay here, considering the hints left by his future self and the threat posed by the little girl in clown clothes.

Under the moonlight, he discerned the direction and followed one of the forks in the road, vanishing into the darkness at the end of the alley.

**

It was a bleak and dreary morning when Yan Hao Yue (严皓月) along a novice tasker to the police station to reclaim a body.

(严 (Yán) is a surname that means “strict” or “severe”. 皓 (Hào) is a unisex given name that means “bright” or “luminous”. 月 (Yuè) is a unisex given name that means “moon” or “month”.

Therefore, 严皓月 could be interpreted as “a strict month’s brightness” or “a severe luminous moon”.)

The morgue lay beneath the police station. Once they had sorted out the paperwork, a policeman guided them down the stairs.

The passage that led to the morgue's entrance was shrouded in shadows, the flickering lights barely illuminating the way. The passage exuded an aura of decay and desolation, its white walls stained with the traces of time and neglect.

The officer, who looked barely out of his teens, cast an apologetic glance at his companions. "Sorry about this. The lights here are always on the fritz, and we never get around to fixing them. You should hear the stories they tell about this place at night. It's enough to give you nightmares."

They arrived at the elevator, which looked as ancient and dilapidated as the rest of the building. The officer pressed the button, which had long ago lost its colour and shine. They waited for what seemed like an eternity, until the elevator finally creaked its way up and stopped in front of them with a metallic clang.

A blast of cold air greeted them as the doors slid open.

Yan Hao Yue felt a sudden jolt of alarm. She fixed her gaze on the dark and narrow elevator shaft, sensing a powerful force that repelled her from entering.

Anxiety, dread...

As if something malevolent lurked within the elevator.

But the elevator was empty, and there was nothing to see.

The others stepped in without hesitation, and one of the rookies, a young man named Li Ye (李业), looked at her with curiosity. "Aren't you coming in, Sister Yan?"

(李 (Lǐ) is the most common surname in China that means “plum” or “reason”. 业 (Yè) is a unisex given name that means “business” or “profession”. 李业 could be interpreted as “a plum business” or “a reasonable profession”.)

Yan Hao Yue was about to follow them, when a wave of panic washed over her. She knew with absolute certainty that if she set foot in the elevator, she would meet her end!

Yan Hao Yue chose to listen to her intuition. She swiftly retreated a few steps and said, "I'm sorry, I have claustrophobia. I can't take the elevator."

The officer was taken aback by this excuse. "Oh," he said, before Yan Hao Yue composed herself and asked softly, "Could we take the stairs instead?"

A shiver ran through the two newcomers as they felt a subtle shift in the air, a hint of something unnatural and sinister. Perhaps they had also detected the eerie presence in the elevator, for they wasted no time in following Sister Yan out, urging each other.

"Yes, let's take the stairs down." Wang Ke (王珂) chimed.

(王 (Wáng) is the second most common surname in China that means “king” or “monarch”. 珂 (Kē) is a female given name that means “jade” or “ornament”. 王珂 could be interpreted as “a king’s jade” or “a monarch’s ornament”.)

"Yeah, it's only three floors, hardly a bother." Agreed Li Ye.

The young policeman gave a sheepish grin, "Alright, but I should warn you, the stairs are seldom used, so they might be a bit dusty."

"It's alright, we don't mind." Yan Hao Yue replied softly.

The young policeman nodded and led them away from the elevator, towards the stairwell with the four of them in tow.

They had barely covered ten metres when the elevator doors slid shut behind them with a faint click.

Then, the numbers on the display panel above the elevator began to descend slowly.

1, -1, -2, -3.

The elevator came to a halt on the negative third floor, as if someone had stepped out.

But the elevator was empty.

Completely empty.

Even though they had put some distance between themselves and the elevator, Yan Hao Yue's fear did not abate in the slightest. The sense of looming danger grew stronger, making her feel more and more restless.

What was it?

What was coming for her?

Yan Hao Yue had no idea, but her already pallid face turned even whiter, her eyes darting around nervously, ready to bolt at the slightest provocation.

A layer of grime coated the corridor, as if no one had bothered to clean it for ages. The stairs leading down to the basement were shrouded in darkness, the motion-sensor lights having given up long ago.

The young constable turned on his phone flashlight, guiding the way and explaining, "There are three basement levels in this building. The first one is miscellaneous storage where we dump all the stuff we don't need, the second one is the parking lot, and the third one is the morgue. It's going to get pretty cold down there, so be careful not to catch a cold."

Yan Hao Yue nodded slightly, murmuring her assent. Behind her, two rookies followed suit, parroting her words like scared birds.

As they descended lower and lower, the gloom deepened, the dust thickened, and the silence wrapped around them like a suffocating blanket.

Slowly, they began to sense the cold seeping up from below.

Yan Hao Yue held her breath unconsciously, shrinking her presence, trailing behind the policeman in silence.

"Here we are," he declared.

Above the stairwell, a white wall displayed a bright red "-3," and the young constable rummaged through a large bunch of keys, unlocking the door below.

The door creaked open, and a blast of icy air hit them like a punch.

Yan Hao Yue shuddered, and caught the two newcomers doing the same.

"Come on, folks. Let's get this over with," the young constable encouraged, then switched on the lights. The morgue lit up in an instant, revealing its grim contents.

"Just give me a second, I'll have a look around," he said, stepping inside.

The others retreated instinctively, avoiding the cold as much as possible.

Before he entered, Yan Hao Yue heard the young constable whisper to himself, "Weird, it's never been this cold before..."

Yan Hao Yue felt a sudden drop in her stomach.

Something was definitely wrong with this place!

The morgue was a place of dread and horror, a fitting setting for the dark secrets of this town.

She gripped her phone in her hand, ready to contact Shen Zhu at the slightest sign of trouble. They had agreed on a plan: as soon as they verified the identity of the body and any evidence of foul play, she would send her a message.

"Found it!" the voice of the young officer echoed from inside. "Come on, you lot."

The three others who had been waiting at the doorway followed him into the dimly lit interior.

"All the corpses from yesterday's incidents are here, waiting for the autopsy," he explained, opening a freezer door with a loud clang. He gestured to the drawer he had just revealed. "See if this is the one you're looking for."

Yan Hao Yue felt a knot of anxiety in her stomach as she approached the freezer. She had braced herself for the worst, but... nothing happened.

No sudden attacks, no undead horrors. She reached the drawer safely and peered inside.

A young girl lay motionless on a metal slab, her skin a sickly blue hue. Her eyes were wide open, staring blankly at the ceiling. Her mouth was open too, as if she had been screaming in vain until her last breath.

Yan Hao Yue noticed the dark marks around her neck.

She hesitated for a moment, then pulled the white cloth that covered the girl's body a little lower, exposing the full extent of the injuries on her neck.

They were unmistakable traces of fingers.

Yan Hao Yue's heart skipped a beat, and she quickly snapped two photos and sent them to Shen Zhu. She had found what they were looking for.

But then, she heard a strange noise coming from the freezer next to her. It was barely audible, but it chilled her to the bone.

"Did you hear that?" she asked, her voice trembling.

The young officer looked at her, puzzled. "Hear what?"

"I don't know... but there's something weird coming from here." Yan Hao Yue pointed to the freezer behind her, her face turning ashen.

As the young police officer turned his head away, oblivious to the ominous sound that echoed through the morgue, Yan Hao Yue felt a surge of anxiety wash over her. She stood frozen in place, her eyes darting around the dimly lit room, searching for the source of the noise.

It was getting louder and louder, like a scraping of metal on metal, or a clawing of nails on flesh. It sent shivers down her spine, making her scalp prickle with dread.

"Did you not hear that?" she whispered to herself, hoping that someone else would share her unease.

"What did you say?" Wang Ke, the other newcomer, asked, looking at her curiously.

Li Ye, who had been silent until then, suddenly let out a low chuckle. "Oh, I heard it," he said, stretching out his hand and running his fingers along the edge of the open freezer in front of him. "Is this the sound you mean?"

Yan Hao Yue nodded, but then a horrible realisation dawned on her. She recoiled in fear, her body jerking backwards. "You... who are you?"

She remembered something that she had overlooked before, something that could cost her her life.

When they had arrived, she had refused to take the elevator, insisting on taking the stairs instead. Li Ye had agreed with her, saying that there were only three floors to go down.

But how did he know that? The police officer had not given them any information about the morgue yet. How did he know that it was on the third basement floor?

And wait a minute! She had only brought one newcomer with her, Wang Ke.

But there was no Li Ye in their group! There was no one with that name among the task performers!

Li Ye was not human! He was a ghost!

Yan Hao Yue's memory came flooding back, and she felt a wave of terror engulf her. She stumbled backwards, hitting the metal wall of the open drawer behind her.

Li Ye did not seem to notice her panic, or he did not care. He kept scratching the freezer with his hand, making the dreadful sound louder and louder. "You know, when you lie down for too long, you get restless. You need to stretch a bit, move around."

As he spoke, a scream of shock came from the other side of the room. "What the hell? One of the corpses is gone... Aaargh!"

A dull thump reverberated through the air, followed by a piercing scream from the young constable. The sound of flesh being dragged across the floor and the relentless wails of agony from the policeman filled Yan Hao Yue's ears.

"God, what's happening to him?" Wang Ke's voice trembled with fear and confusion.

He stood behind Li Ye, unable to see anything beyond her head. He was about to sep forward, when a drawer beside him that had been firmly shut suddenly cracked open, revealing a pallid and twisted arm that stretched out. It clamped onto Wang Ke's neck with a vice-like grip, and yanked him into the freezer with a violent tug before he could even let out a cry.

The drawer snapped shut with a click.

Now, Yan Hao Yue was alone.

She stood rooted to the spot, her legs urging her to run, but a surge of coldness swept over her entire body in an instant, paralysing her with terror.

With a loud bang, the freezer door slammed shut, and the sounds of struggle and pleas for help from the young constable abruptly were cut off, plunging the room into silence.

Only the pounding of Yan Hao Yue's heart thundered in her chest.

The "newcomer" moved closer and closer. As he approached, his face turned a sickly blue, slowly rotting away. Yan Hao Yue could smell the foul stench of decay wafting from him.

The morgue door crashed shut with a bang.

It was said that if the bodies in the morgue lay for too long, they might move...

**

Lin Chu was definitely up to something.

Shen Zhu glanced at her phone, keeping her cool, and made some small talk with the others before swiftly walking out.

Lin Chu had left early in the morning, but Shen Zhu had no idea where she had gone. She looked around and saw no one, then dialled Yan Hao Yue's number.

"Hello, Little Yue?"

There was a long pause before she answered, and Yan Hao Yue's voice sounded faint and distant: "Hello?"

Shen Zhu felt a jolt of fear in her chest.

They had a secret code, a safeguard against danger, and they never failed to use it when they met. Yan Hao Yue was meticulous and cautious, not one to make mistakes. So why was she breaking their protocol now?

"Where are you now?"

A brief silence followed, then a faint voice reached her ear, "I'm in a... very..." The connection was poor, distorted by crackles and hisses that sounded like electric sparks. She tried to catch the words, but they were muffled and garbled, so she turned up the volume.

"What did you say? Where are you?"

"I'm... in a... "

Was it a bad signal? Shen Zhu, inexplicably, dismissed the oddity and urged Yan Hao Yue to repeat herself several times. The voice on the other end gradually grew clearer.

"I'm in a... very... very cold place... I'm at the police station, will you come?"

Shen Zhu replied, "Should I come to pick you up?"

"Yes... You must come..." Yan Hao Yue sounded delighted; Shen Zhu could hear her giggling over the phone.

Shen Zhu was about to say more when a figure dashed into the yard. His name was Zeng Li Hong (曾黎鸿). He was not very experienced, but he had been around longer than most.

(曾 (Zēng) is a surname that means “once” or “formerly”. 黎 (Lí) is a unisex given name that means “black” or “dawn”. 鸿 (Hóng) is a male given name that means “swan” or “grand”. 曾黎鸿 could be interpreted as “a former blackness” or “a dawn of grandeur”.)

His face was pale and panicked as he ran over, ignoring that Shen Zhu was still on the phone. He blurted out, "Shen Zhu, both of the people who were on night duty at the tunnel entrance yesterday are dead!"

"What?!" Shen Zhu gasped. She quickly told Yan Hao Yue she’ll come to her as soon as possible, and gestured for him to come closer. "Explain clearly, what happened?"

Zeng Li Hong and another person were supposed to take over the shift, but when they arrived, they found a horrific scene. Those two... those two had met a gruesome end in the small wooden house, their faces contorted in terror. The wooden house was stained with blood, a sight too dreadful for Zeng Li Hong to ever want to remember.

"They're both dead..." Shen Zhu whispered to herself.

Suddenly, a cold and creepy voice came from her phone, "I'm waiting for you here..."

"What?" Shen Zhu barely had time to comprehend, before the call ended.

Zeng Li Hong had heard that voice too, and he was equally stunned. He stuttered, "Wasn't that Yan Hao Yue's voice? When did she die?"