Death Spiral [Infinite Flow]

Xu Rendong looked up.Indeed, as Lian Qiao said, among the row of red lanterns, only the one at the stairway was extinguished.

It was daytime at this time, and logically speaking, the lights should not be turned on.But the maids did not blow out the lanterns because of daylight, so all the lanterns were still lit.The sun was shining brightly, and the candle flame in the lantern was very dark against the sunlight. At first glance, it was difficult to detect the flickering light of the candle.

If it weren't for Lian Qiao's amazing eyesight, he wouldn't be able to tell that there was another one in this lantern that was different.

Xu Rendong said: "I'll climb up to have a look."

The lantern was hung high on the eaves, and even Lian Qiao, who was 1.8 meters tall, could barely reach the bottom of the lantern.Xu Rendong found a stool to step on, climbed up the railing, and reached out to take off the lantern.

The lantern is huge.He hugged it in his arms and climbed down carefully.The two looked down into the lantern, and saw that the red lantern was empty, like a big mouth, with only a brass candlestick at the bottom.There are still a few solidified candle tears left on the candlestick, which seems to have been extinguished for a long time.

Just looking at this lantern, nothing can be seen.Xu Rendong took down the left and right lanterns together, and now he noticed something strange.

It turned out that in the two lanterns on the left and right, candles with thick bowl mouths were burning.The candle was more than ten centimeters long, and it could last at least a day or two.

Obviously, the candle at the top of the stairs didn't burn out by itself.Someone took the candle.

"Why did you take the candle away?" Lian Qiao rubbed his chin, puzzled, "Is there something different about this candle?"

Different?

This sentence made Xu Rendong suddenly enlightened: "Shi Jianchuan?"

Even Joe understood: "Let's go to the ninth floor and have a look." As he said that, he was about to limp upstairs.

Xu Rendong stopped him, told him to wait where he was, and ran up to the ninth floor by himself.Sure enough, the lantern on the stairs on the ninth floor was also extinguished.He took off the lantern and saw that the candle inside was also missing.

It seems that there is indeed something wrong with this candle.

Xu Rendong was going to see if the candles on the stairs on the eighth floor were still there, when he turned around, he ran into someone head-on.

Subconsciously, Xu Rendong took two steps back, and was about to apologize, when he suddenly realized that it was not someone else he bumped into, but the little-footed old lady!

The little-footed old lady was still wearing the red dress, and her chubby figure was tightly wrapped in the red dress, which was both ridiculous and weird.She didn't know why she went crazy, at this time her face was covered with a thick layer of white powder, like an unevenly painted earth wall, and the powder fell off when she grinned.

But the lips were painted as bright red as blood, just like the red dress, dazzlingly red.

The little-footed old lady was too old to tell her age, but she was wearing heavy makeup at this time, and she was dressed like a paper doll to be buried with her.No matter how you look at it, it's weird and frightening.

"Guest, aren't you seated yet?" The old lady stared straight at Xu Rendong with dark eyes.

Xu Rendong secretly suppressed his violent heartbeat, pretended to be calm, looked around, and said: "Let me see if there is anyone here who hasn't gone down yet."

The old lady smiled: "Everyone is waiting for you below."

It was uncomfortable to hear this.It was inconvenient for Xu Rendong to continue exploring in front of the old lady, so he said, "Then let's go."

So the little-footed old lady stretched out an arm and hooked Xu Rendong's arm.Xu Rendong only felt entangled with a piece of wet and cold dead branch, and a cold and damp feeling climbed up his arm.

Although it feels disgusting, it's not enough to turn against the old guy over such a trivial matter.Xu Liandong remained calm, letting the old lady help him, going downstairs from floor to floor.

Lian Qiao should have been waiting for him on the third floor.However, after reaching the fourth floor, Lian Qiao greeted him: "Brother Liandong, guess I—"

When he saw the old lady, his voice stopped abruptly.

There was no need for Xu Rendong to wink at him, Lian Qiao immediately changed the subject and greeted the old lady.

After exchanging greetings with him, the old lady suddenly noticed something and asked him with squinted eyes: "My guest, where is your crutch?"

Lian Qiao was standing with his back against the wall, his face changed slightly when he heard this.

Xu Rendong flicked the old lady's hand away, and walked to Lian Qiao's side, doting and reproaching: "Look at you, you must act like a baby. Now it's all right, let people see the joke."

This was said very softly, like a whisper between lovers, but it just happened to be heard by the old lady.A look of disgust appeared on her face.

Seeing this, Lian Qiao understood immediately, hooked Xu Rendong's neck, raised the orchid and pointed at Jiao Didi and said: "I just want you to help~"

"..." Xu Rendong shivered from his sudden nausea.

The old lady with little feet couldn't stand it any longer, and said dryly: "Guests, let me sit with you." She turned her head and went downstairs alone.

The two supported each other and followed the old lady slowly downstairs.Xu Rendong recovered from his numbness, and asked him: "You're not waiting for me on the third floor, what are you doing up here by yourself?"

"Idle is idle anyway." Lian Qiao whispered, "Guess what I found?"

Xu Rendong thought for a while and said, "Is there a problem with the candle?"

"Yes." Lian Qiao got closer and whispered in his ear, "The lantern facing the stairs is different from the candles in other lanterns. It's a hollow circle."

Lian Qiao clenched his fist loosely with one hand and made a circle: "It's about this big."

Xu Rendong said: "When I went upstairs just now, I kept looking at the lanterns at the top of the stairs. Except for the ninth floor and the third floor where we live, the lanterns on other floors are all lit. The candles inside should still be there."

"The lantern on our third floor was still on last night. If it went out last night, we will definitely notice. In other words, the candle on the third floor disappeared only today." Xu Rendong frowned: " Was it taken away by someone, or disappeared by itself?"

"I don't know about that. But it's possible..." He stopped before he finished speaking, as if he was caught in some kind of thinking.

Xu Rendong turned his head to look at him, quietly waiting for his next words.However, until the two came to the open space in the lower hall, they didn't even say what Joe said.

A dozen or so round tables have already been set up in the open space, all of which are covered with red tablecloths, and no food has been served yet.There were people sitting on two of the tables, and the rest of the dozen or so tables had empty stools.

Everyone was sullen, maintaining a deathly silence.After all, the team of 81 people has died and only [-] people are left. Who is in the mood to have a feast at this time.

Seeing the little-footed old lady with heavy make-up at this time, everyone's expressions changed, with expressions of astonishment, fear, and disgust in their eyes.Only Shi Jianchuan had a calm demeanor, waved with a smile on his face, and let Liandong Lianqiao sit at his table.

There were two empty seats beside Shi Jianchuan.I don't know if he specially reserved it for Liandong and the others, or no one wants to sit with him.Xu Rendong didn't care about this, and sat down beside him with Lian Qiao.

Someone at the table asked: "What are you doing, why are you here so late?"

Xu Rendong said indifferently: "My friend has limited legs and feet, so of course he walks slowly." He looked around, "Is everyone here?"

Shi Jianchuan said with a smile: "All the living ones have come, but I don't know if the dead ones have come or not."

After hearing this, everyone couldn't help but glanced around, as if those empty tables and chairs were really filled with fresh ghosts who had just died.Although the sun was shining straight down at noon, everyone felt that their backs were gloomy and chilly.

One person said angrily: "Why are you scaring people? Is this necessary?!"

Shi Jianchuan shrugged: "It's not like there haven't been ghosts here."

"Stop arguing." Xu Rendong had already seen Shi Jianchuan's ability to irritate people, and spoke out to dissuade the quarrel that was about to break out, "The old lady is here."

Everyone turned their heads, only to find that the old lady in red with small feet was walking between the two tables with a glass of wine.

"It's a great honor for all the guests to attend today." The old lady smiled so red that her lips almost went behind her ears, and the wrinkles on her face were frighteningly deep.She raised the wine glass above her head, "I don't have much to say, let me offer you a glass."

Everyone looked at each other in blank dismay, and their eyes fell on the small wine glass in front of them.The wine was orange-yellow like amber, with a rich aroma that looked very attractive.But who would dare to drink the wine prepared by the old lady in red?

No one did anything, and the atmosphere became tense for a moment.The old lady was not angry at all, she drank the wine cheerfully, and then clapped her hands: "Serve the food." Then, beautiful maids came out of the hall with dishes.

Before those maids approached, a fishy smell came over their faces.Xu Rendong frowned, and was about to speak, but found that Lian Qiao's eyes were fixed on the tray in the maid's hand, with a strange look in his eyes.

"Lian Qiao?" Xu Rendong called out in a low voice.

Lian Qiao didn't answer.

But Shi Jianchuan turned his head and looked at Xu Rendong thoughtfully.

The maids walked to the table one by one and put down the dishes.When Xu Rendong saw it, he couldn't help being shocked.I saw that all the dinner plates were filled with dead fish and rotten shrimps.The white maggots wriggled, and the stench made one almost want to vomit.

Everyone seemed to be possessed by a demon. Instead of showing disgust, their eyes showed longing and ecstasy.Some people even couldn't bear it anymore, and they stretched out their hands to grab the rotten fish that the maggots writhed.

Xu Rendong frowned, and was about to stop, but Shi Jianchuan said: "Don't talk, take care of yourself."

Xu Rendong turned his head in surprise, only to see Shi Jianchuan slapping off Lian Qiao's chopsticks that were about to move, and said with a smile, "...and your friend."

Only then did Xu Rendong react, and quickly held down Lian Qiao, preventing him from eating the food on the table.Lian Qiao struggled a bit, and asked in bewilderment: "Brother Liandong, what are you doing?"

Xu Rendong said: "There is something wrong with the food, don't eat it."

Lian Qiao swallowed: "It smells so good..."

Xu Rendong grabbed his restless hands and said in a deep voice, "Be obedient."

Lian Qiao didn't struggle anymore, but his eyes kept glancing at the dishes, and he kept swallowing at the dead fish and rotten meat.

It seemed that Lian Qiao had already been bewitched, but with a sliver of rationality, he barely suppressed his appetite.The others were not dissuaded, and had already feasted on the food.They ate the messy dead fish one mouthful after another, and some even dropped their chopsticks and held a fish head with their hands, biting the fish bone until it crackled.

Maggots kept coming out of the fish head.Yellow-white juice flowed down the corners of their mouths, and those people had long since ignored their gaffes, grabbing food like a drunk, their faces full of intoxicated expressions like taking drugs.

Going on like this is not an option.Xu Rendong's brain was running fast, and his hands were not empty.He took out the climbing rope from his backpack and tied up Lian Qiao's hands again.

Lian Qiao was very unhappy about this, and cursed uncharacteristically: "What are you doing? Why are you tying me up? Why aren't you letting me eat?"

Xu Rendong tied a slipknot, the more Lian Qiao struggled, the closer the knot would be.This is the technique that Lian Qiao himself taught him.But at this time, Lian Qiao had already forgotten how to break free from the knot.He twisted blindly, even biting with his teeth, completely losing his sanity as an adult.

While Xu Rendong was arguing with Lian Qiaola, Shi Jianchuan's leisurely and almost lazy voice came from the side: "Why bother? Just get him another one."

Xu Rendong didn't understand: "What?"

Shi Jianchuan asked, "Which floor did you take?"

Xu Rendong suddenly felt blessed: "Did you take the candle in the lantern?"

After hearing this, Shi Jianchuan showed surprise in his eyes: "Didn't you take it? Then why are you okay?"

Xu Rendong chewed on the meaning of these words, and finally understood.He immediately pulled up Lian Qiao, dragged Lian Qiao to turn around and leave.

Lian Qiao kept struggling.The red-clothed little-footed old lady also noticed something strange, and chased after her: "Guest, where are you going?"

Xu Rendong said casually: "Go to urinate. What, you want to follow?"

The little-footed old lady was taken aback for a moment, and then said with a sneer: "No, no. Guests, please do what you want."

Xu Rendong dragged Lian Qiao and walked towards the stairs without looking back.Seeing this, Shi Jianchuan got up and followed.The little-footed old lady frowned, and stretched out her hand to stop her: "Mr. Shi, what's the matter, do you want to leave the table too?"

Shi Jianchuan said with a smile, "I'm going to watch the excitement."

The old lady asked: "There are so many people here, isn't it lively enough?"

Shi Jianchuan threw a glance at the voracious crowd, and said lightly: "A bunch of dead people, it's boring."

The old lady had a strange look on her face when she heard this.They stopped him no longer and let him go.