Chapter 225: Standing Door
The original appearance of the door couldn’t be seen anymore due to the embedded investigators. However, Zhang Ding could sense that there was something very scary hidden in the door. The thing hid underneath the investigators and stared back at Zhang Ding.
“This is troublesome.” Just as Zhang Ding finished speaking, eight thick arms grabbed the edge of the bloodred door. Gong Xi walked out of the torture room and stood behind Gao Ming. Without any warning, Gong Xi hugged the door with the harshest method. With Gao Ming’s order, Gong Xi sunk his legs into the bloody mess. The four ghost faces roared as he tried to lift the door up from the ground.
“You’re crazy!” Zhang Ding had no choice but to cooperate with Gao Ming. He used the water to blast at the spot where the door was connected to the ground. After he washed away the bloody blob, roots-like capillaries were exposed.
“The blood door uses these capillaries to grow into the building.”
The capillaries crawled all over the tenth floor. To move this door, one had to sever all the vessels first. The building trembled. Gao Ming ‘uprooted’ the door at the core of the east city investigation centre.
Gao Ming tried to send Gong Xi back into his heart. However, Gong Xi couldn’t even approach Gao Ming’s heart, much less send the door into his heart.
“Let’s leave for now.” Zhang Ding tried carrying the door back into his death portrait, but he failed as well. “The door is the passage that connects the two worlds. However, neither of the worlds wishes for the door to exist.” With no other choice, Zhang Ding covered the door with a black cloth and carried it on his back. “Let’s go and salvage anything else useful.”
The two went down the corridor. Gao Ming felt like someone was staring at him. He turned to look down the corridor that led to the 11th floor. Just as he was about to walk away, Xia Yang suddenly said, “The training programs this place has for the newbies are quite interesting. Some of them might benefit you.”
“A ghost that manages to grab your attention must be a special one.” Gao Ming knew Xia Yang very well. He walked to the 11th floor, but he couldn’t find the sign of any ghost.
“You always refuse to trust me.” Xia Yang paced around the torture room. He smiled.Situ An stared at him. It was hard to tell what he was thinking.
Gao Ming found many devices. He tossed them all into the flood and had Zhang Ding bring them back to the supermarket.
“The manager of the logistics department, Jiang Chan, has already left. He has Situ An’s death portrait. He probably has seen through my disguise and didn’t give me the chance to strike,” Xia Yang said with regret. “But I’ve trapped all the logistics members inside the paintings. Considering you might not know how to operate the devices, I also trapped a batch of workers inside the storeroom.” Teacher Xia had high standards for himself. He was like a chef who had cooked a five-star meal, but he still berated himself.
Gao Ming and Zhang Ding kicked down the storeroom door. They were stunned by the investigation centre’s hoard. There were all kinds of stuff inside the room, including food and water. Situ An was really preparing for the arrival of doomsday. There were also helmets of the taboo game, banned items from other countries and some stuff that caused Gao Ming’s heart to freeze.
“Are you sure I can put all these things in my supermarket?” Zhang Ding asked nervously.
Gao Ming nodded. “Yes.”
Zhang Ding was so happy. When he was 70 percent done, Gao Ming received a message from Wei Dayou. The people from the headquarters were coming.
Gao Ming notified Zhang Ding, and they both rapidly retreated.
The chaos outside the east city investigation centre was still ongoing. This absurd night officially started the tragedy at Han Hai. The resistance became stronger, but there were fewer people maintaining order. People used anger to overcome the fear in their hearts. The roads were sealed. The storm stopped the traffic. The investigation became more serious. The night became longer. The lights in the city weakened. It was like a pair of hands was covering up the city. People outside the city had no idea what happened inside the city. The people inside the city had no idea if the tragedy had spread to other places.
The internet was limited due to Situ An’s last video. Han Hai citizens could only gain and trade information through private networks. Most of them didn’t realise that the real terror had arrived.
At 2 am, Gao Ming led everyone back to Li San. Before he returned to the shadow world, he had to solve one problem: Where to put the door?
The door would affect the whole building where it was placed. It would attract the investigators. If it were placed in a secluded place, Gao Ming would have a hard time accessing the map of Shadow Han Hai.
“The investigation centre has the list of every student in Class 13. You can’t escape. You should use the door as bait to lure the security members over.” Xia Yang suggested.
“Why don’t you put it at my home? My son and I used to live at the cross-section of Da Zai and Li San.” Zhang Ding suggested, “Even ten years ago, the place was the dirtiest area in Han Hai. The population number was more than ten thousand. It was a lawless place. We could find a spot to put it and then arrange for our people to guard it. It will take the investigation centre some time to find it.”
“What if they find it?” Teacher Xia whispered to Gao Ming with excitement, “I can help you deal with everyone that you hate. You only need to let me leave your heart temporarily. I will bring them back to you.” Xia Yang became stronger after taking over the east city investigation centre. Gao Ming didn’t know how he did it, but his powers became even stranger.
“Gao Ming, we need to return.” Wei Dayou exited the centre vehicle. “Those who have been infected can’t stay away from the shadow world for too long.”
“Okay. We’ll follow Boss Zhang’s advice.”
They abandoned the vehicles and entered the complicated alleys. The place was crowded with illegal buildings. After they walked for half an hour, they came to Zhang Ding’s home. To everyone’s surprise, even though ten years had passed, someone still came to drop fresh flowers and candles before Zhang Ding’s home.
The other houses were messy and dirty, but Zhang Ding’s home was clean. No one came to squat at his home either.
“Is it because I saved those people in the flood?” Zhang Ding scratched his head. “I haven’t returned in a while.”
Zhang Ding removed the kitchen door and then leaned the bloodred door against the wall. The moment the door touched the door, the blood vessels crawled out and drilled into the ground. Soon, it would consume the building and spread new anomalies.
“Should we evacuate the people here?” Gao Ming asked for Zhang Ding’s opinion. Zhang Ding shook his head.
“The city will become more dangerous in the future. If anything, I think this place will be safest with your protection.”