Here Lies The Wicked

Chapter 52: Papier-Mache Man

[Series of disappearances

[Number of victims: 34.

[Date of the first incident: March fifth.]

The details from the case file flashed across Wei Youran’s mind.

Thud… thud…

The man’s footsteps echoed louder, making the silent third floor of the library sound like the heartbeat of a human’s heart. It echoed from the back section of the bookshelves as it grew progressively closer.

It was closing in where Wei Youran sat by the corner of the wall.

“Who goes there?”

She had calmly spoken a single phrase.

The man’s footsteps halted suddenly.

“Is this the library’s security?”

However, the bookshelves were silent, not even a hint of breathing sounds nor footsteps could be heard. The deafening silence was slightly overwhelming, as the rows of bookshelves that stood underneath the ray of bright white light formed rows of dark shadows around them.

Thud!

The sounds from the footsteps could once again be heard, however, this time, it originated from the stairwell, walking toward the direction of Wei Youran. It was walking in the same rhythm as before, eerily closing in on her.

However, as the footsteps reached the spot where the sound ended from before, the footsteps once again halted, and all hints of the footsteps also disappeared.

Even the air around her began to mysteriously thicken. It felt tense and was peculiarly suffocating. Thud! The sound of the footsteps could be heard a third time and the echoes it made in the empty third floor of the library were deafeningly loud.

One step, two steps, and three…

As the footsteps came to the same spot where it had halted earlier, it once again stopped and disappeared without a trace.

Thud! The sound of the footsteps was like a broken record as it cycled over and over again. The sounds of the same footsteps could be heard for the fourth time, however Wei Youran remained calm and held her breath, only taking out her cell phone as she sent a series of cryptic strings of code.

This time, the footstep inched closer, and as the footsteps were closing in onto the same spot it had halted previously, a screech could be heard!

As the chair slid, it let out an ear-piercing screech, however the gaze in Wei Youran’s eyes remained calm as she immediately shifted her gaze at the direction behind the bookshelf.

However, the footsteps stopped, and every sound the footsteps had made had completely disappeared!

Nothing happened beyond the bookshelf.

Wei Youran grew stiff at that point as her calm and deep, focused gaze was completely directed to the direction of the back of the bookshelves.

She felt suffocated.

The air around her had seemingly, eerily condensed to a harrowing and bone-chilling degree.

It had seemingly caused the temperature in the entire library to drop by several degrees, and as time had slowly passed, the sounds of the footsteps could no longer be heard.

Thus, Wei Youran raised her eyebrows as she remained in her same spot to calmly think for several minutes. The entire library was completely empty and the surrounding area outside the windows was shrouded in darkness. Sealed in the entirety of the third floor was her, alone.

It was also at this very moment that a techno tune began playing in the library, signaling it was closing. It broke the deafening silence.

Thus, Wei Youran turned around to return to her spot as she got ready to begin packing her stuff away to leave.

It was at the very moment she turned around that a thud could be heard!

The sounds of the footsteps could be heard again. It was from the bookshelf behind Wei Youran, and, this time, it sounded a lot closer. It was standing behind her, slowly walking toward her.

‘Nothing but a trick of the mind!’

Wei Youran was emanating an aura of justice as she fearlessly turned around.

However, there was nothing but a gust of cold wind that greeted her.

…

A silver car broke the veil of darkness under the faint glow of the streetlights as it drove by the Hall of Four Seasons Pharmacy. Wei Youran, who was driving at the moment, took an instinctive glance into the pharmacy.

Little Xue was the only one in the pharmacy; she was hunched over the glass medicine display case doing her homework.

She had not noticed the owner of the pharmacy, Yang Feizhang.

As Wei Youran turned back to focus on driving, a loud screech could be heard!

The rubber tires screeched across the tiny road of the parking lot in the rural district.

Not long after that, the ring of a doorbell could be heard.

The doors of an elevator opened as Wei Youran walked out alone off the elevator.

The sound of the footsteps sounded heavy as it reached the floor, however, she was not even the slightest bit bothered by it, wearing a calm look on her face. The only thing was… the neighbors that walked by her. Upon facing the doors of the two university girls and the entrance to Fang Zheng’s house, the calm look in her eyes had a slight shred of worry. She frowned slightly. The footsteps, too… seemed to hesitantly stop.

However, she did not stop as she carried on her way to where she lived.

She took out her keys.

She put the keys through the keyhole.

She then proceeded to push the doors open, revealing the interior of her house, shrouded in darkness, since not a single soul had spent any amount of time in her house for the whole day. It seemed that the moment she pushed the door open, a gust of cold breeze had brushed against her. Wei Youran stood by the entrance of the house while switching on all the lights.

The veil of darkness was instantly engulfed in light.

A second, two…

Nothing in the house seemed unordinary, and it seemed that Wei Youran was feeling slightly disappointed, as she frowned slightly.

She thought about something as she closed the door. In that single moment, Wei Youran had sealed herself in a completely closed environment alone. One second, two, three… Time slowly slipped by…

Then, suddenly, a thud could be heard!

It sounded like a heavy footstep.

There was absolutely no prior warning or signs. The sound of a man’s footsteps seemed to echo from the bedroom in this sealed off space. Step by step, it slowly walked in the direction of the living room.

In that instant, an eerie aura was slowly filling the entire room, even the lightbulbs seemed to be affected, flickering several times.

The moment she heard the footsteps from her bedroom, she instantly unlocked her phone—that had been in her hand the entire time—to send a different string of cryptic code.

After that, she calmly opened a different app on her phone. It was the family surveillance cameras that were connected through the wifi in her house!

In the very next second, the footage in her room was shown on her phone.

However, due to the angle of the camera in the room, it was unable to record the most important scene; but the sounds of the footsteps were very clearly recorded by the camera. It was directly beneath the camera!

After that, it seemed the camera was violently shaken several times before it blacked out.

However, before the camera had blacked out, it had successfully captured the final moments of what exactly had transpired: it was the head of a papier-mache man that was painted red with a sinister grin on its face.

“Hmm?”

Suddenly!

Fang Zheng, who was so focused on his training, stood up forcefully and stared at the wall that divided his house and Wei Youran’s.

The next second!

Rumble!

Wei Youran’s anti-theft door was forcefully slashed opened by a strong external force, causing it to explode into countless pieces. The huge aftershock and sound it made shook the supporting walls of the door, manifesting a couple of huge cracks.

“You seek death!”

A single loud and threatening, furious yell could be heard. Like a powerful hurricane, he rushed into the bedroom with a huge sword.

Wei Youran was completely frozen in place, unable to fight back as she was slowly dragged into her dark bedroom. She felt relieved when she heard her front door being forcefully rammed open. The moment she heard the explosive furious yell, the agonized and painful look on her face cracked into an expression of complete relief.

“You guys are finally here!

“Although it was several minutes late…”

In the very next second, a man that was completely engulfed in a golden light, who could only be paralleled by a god-like presence, appeared in front of Wei Youran wielding a sword.

Wei Youran was stunned, as she had no clue who that person was.

It was not her usual assistants!

Fang Zheng was wielding a sword as a flash of cold lightning reflected across his eyes.A golden shroud that felt unfamiliar, deep, and aged enveloped Fang Zheng, causing him to look like a man that was shouldering a tiny sun. Without even thinking, he slashed directly at Wei Youran.

Grunt!

Wei Youran, who stood directly in front of him, shattered into several pieces.

“Aaah!”

The illusion had been broken, as a papier-mache man that had a thick red blush around its cheeks shrieked out in agony.