From the end of the world

Chapter 8 The Basement on the 2th Floor
Before explaining where my friend lives now, let me first talk about him.

I met him in college. His full name is Zhu Changan, so I call him "Changan". He is also a sophomore at Xianshui University. He is a handsome young man wearing designer clothes.

Although his speech and manners are still normal, he is actually a well-known "second generation". His father is a high-ranking official in the government and his family is very wealthy. I don't know how rich he is, at least it's not something that a student like me with an ordinary background can guess, and I'm not interested in that aspect. But occasionally I hear people in school call him "Mr. Zhu" with malicious intent.

To say that this malice is entirely based on hatred of the rich is a generalization. If my reputation in school is just that I am unique, then Changan is the target of public criticism. The simple word "hate of the rich" is not enough to explain it. The reason lies with him.

He was a well-known "bad boy" in the school. People often heard that he was domineering and causing trouble by relying on his father's higher status. There were even rumors that he and his bad friends often went to some immoral places that students should not go to. Over time, he was ostracized by the vast majority of those who kept themselves clean.

There is actually a hidden story behind his bad reputation. It's just that he did do some bad things, and we have a relationship that we don't know each other from time to time.

It would be a long story to tell in detail, so here I will focus on his current residence.

I don't know if it's because people are born with bad company, but he, like me, has a certain degree of interest in urban legends, and because he has no other close friends in school, he rented a house outside the school. It happened that in an ordinary residential area around Xianshui University, there was an idle house where someone had died. It was located on the 15th floor and was considered a high-rise residential building.

The "deaths" mentioned here do not mean that an elderly person has died suddenly in there, or that a tenant has committed suicide by cutting his wrists, but that there have been serious and horrific homicides.

The case happened eight months ago. The previous tenant of Changan was found disemboweled in the bathroom by an unknown person. The scene was so bloody that even the neighbors next door were scared and moved away. The identity of the murderer remains a mystery and is still at large. It is completely understandable that no one dares to rent that house.

I heard that the place was haunted at night, so I investigated and stayed there for three days and three nights, but nothing happened. It was less than two weeks ago. Afterwards, Changan rented it for the purpose of testing his courage and moved in for fun.

"Now it seems that the house is really haunted? Did the previous tenant turn into a ghost and come to you?"

"No, no..." He shook his head repeatedly, "It's the basement. I found the basement."

"It's just the basement..." I was disappointed at first, then I noticed something was wrong, "...Wait, you said 'basement'? In that house?"

"Yes, it's in the house on the fifteenth floor."

He was still frightened and explained to me the whole story:

The reason was that he saw a video of someone cleaning an old carpet on the website the night before. Carpets, especially plush carpets, are easy to collect dirt and filth. The video uploader would specially take out a particularly dirty carpet to clean and make a video. So after watching it, he thought of the black plush carpet in his living room.

It had been in the living room since he moved in, and had served countless tenants. He had never paid attention to it before, but now he had a problem with the carpet. Black was a stain-resistant color, and it was likely that there was a lot of dirt in it, and maybe even the blood of the previous tenant, but he knew nothing about it. He wanted to replace it.

But when he lifted the carpet, the floor underneath revealed something that should never appear in everyday life.

It turned out to be a "magic circle" painted with black paint and intricate lines.

Could it be that a former tenant was a middle school student with a brain full of black magic, and this thing was his legacy? It was inevitable that Chang'an would have such thoughts.

Soon, he noticed that there was another object in the magic circle that could not be ignored, a square wooden cover about one meter long and wide, embedded in the floor.

Driven by curiosity, he opened the lid.

But unexpectedly, under the lid, there was a bottomless staircase, and it was pitch black down.

He was suddenly shocked.

Is this a basement? But this is the 15th floor, where is the basement on the 15th floor?
He immediately came up with a convincing explanation - this staircase probably led to the residents downstairs. Just in case, he did not go down the staircase, but went out to ask downstairs, and after getting permission, he went in to check.

There were no stairs for the residents downstairs, and no opening in the ceiling.

For a moment, he fell into indescribable panic.

That dark staircase leads to a space that does not exist in reality.
-
I was deeply attracted by his description and my curiosity arose.

"Have you been down there?"

Changan slammed the table and couldn't help shouting, "How can I go down there?"

The waiters and customers in the tea restaurant all looked at him. He coughed awkwardly and sat back.

"Anyway, I haven't been down there, and I've temporarily moved to a nearby hotel. I don't dare to live there any longer," he said after calming down. "But I haven't given up the house yet, and I still have the key."

I nodded and continued to ask: "So, have you ever tried to illuminate the space under that staircase?"

"I've tried it. The depth should be more than three meters. The bottom of the stairs is a gray concrete floor." He said dejectedly, "I don't know more. I don't dare to go down to explore."

"Besides me, have you told anyone else about this?"

"Yes, I told my sister yesterday, but she didn't believe me."

"You mean Zhu Shi? You met me yesterday, right? You told Zhu Shi, but not me?" I was dissatisfied. Zhu Shi, Changan's sister, was one year younger than Changan and me. I had met her several times before.

This year she entered the freshman year of Xianshui University. Unlike the notorious Chang'an, her first impression was that of a pretty female student who was as delicate as an ink painting, reminiscent of creeks, clear springs, misty lakes, and so on.

It is normal that she would not believe Chang'an, or in other words, no normal person would believe Chang'an's story.

Chang An laughed awkwardly and changed the subject, adding: "Also...when I encountered that incident the night before, I called the police immediately."

"Did you call the police?" I frowned reflexively.

From my current position, it is really hard to feel safe with the police.

"And then what? You told them that something strange was happening at home, and they really came?"

"How could I say it directly? I just found a random excuse to get the police here. After the police arrived, I lifted the carpet again in front of them, and the result..." Chang'an's face became uglier and uglier. "It disappeared. The wooden lid was gone, and the entrance to the basement disappeared without a trace. There was only the suspicious magic circle on the floor. I was considered a false alarm and was almost detained."

Just then, he noticed my expression and quickly explained: "Wait, I'm not kidding you, I really saw the basement!"

"Although I personally want to believe you..."

In the past, many of the paranormal witnesses I have interviewed have had one thing in common: they claim to have experienced paranormal phenomena on certain occasions, but when I accompanied them or I conducted my own investigation based on the clues they provided, the paranormal phenomena disappeared.

Chang'an's situation at this moment is similar to my experiences. He claimed that he encountered strange phenomena, but only he could experience these phenomena. When someone other than him was present, the strange phenomena would disappear consciously.

How can I trust him with all my heart?

However, he is my friend after all, and I still want to give him the most basic trust.

"Believe me! I know you've met many people who deceived you before, so I didn't talk to you in school yesterday because I was afraid you would think I was that kind of person!" He said anxiously, "But...but! Last night I suddenly couldn't let it go. I felt that I should talk to you for emotional and rational reasons. Now you may be the only one who is willing to believe me..."

"Last night, suddenly?" I caught the key point. "About what time was it?"

"Ah? Um... around ten o'clock?" he said uncertainly.

That was when I had just met Ma Zao.

Assuming that what Chang'an and Ma Zao said was true, then I should have missed the strange incident that Chang'an experienced personally. However, due to Ma Zao's physique that attracts disasters, Chang'an, who was far away, suddenly changed his mind and knocked on my door with clues of this incident?

Changan's testimony has many suspicious points, but it can echo Ma Zao's statement to a certain extent...

While I was pondering the logic between the two things, I said to Chang'an, "Words are not enough. Take me to your residence first."

"Okay, but..." He hesitated.

I asked back, "The reason you came to me was to have me accompany you to see the house again, right?"

"...Yes. That was definitely not an illusion or nightmare that I had when I was alone, but a real weirdness. I hope you can help me prove it... That's what I think." He admitted it at first, then became hesitant, "But, if it doesn't appear this time..."

"Just take me there." I said firmly, "I promise, even if there's nothing under the carpet, I won't blame you."

Things had already come to this point, and he couldn't say anything more. After quickly filling his stomach at the tea restaurant here, he went to the house with me.

We passed through the entrance of the community, then passed through the security door of the residential building, and took the elevator all the way to the 15th floor. Changan took out the key, opened the door of the target house, and took me into the living room.

Although it was said that someone had died in the house, it actually looked no different from an ordinary house. On the contrary, it had a bit more life atmosphere due to Changan's recent stay. In other words, there were a few more miscellaneous items, a few wrinkled clothes and pants were thrown on the sofa, and the trash can was filled with takeout boxes with residual vegetable juice and rice grains.

Between the sofa and the TV was what he called the black plush carpet. It looked like an ordinary old carpet with a few large brown English letters painted on it, spelling out the word "carpet".

"Then... I'm going to open it." Chang'an swallowed.

I didn't take the initiative in his house, so I could only urge him verbally: "Open it."

It took him more than ten seconds to prepare himself mentally, then he squatted forward, grabbed the edge of the carpet with both hands, and lifted it up.

On the floor under the carpet, there was a magic circle with intricate lines painted in black paint.

In the center of the magic circle, there is a light brown wooden lid.

(End of this chapter)