Chapter 92: Spire of Bitterness

Behind the two Watchman Teams, a terrifying, towering silhouette quietly emerged.

It was a woman—if she could still be called human. Over two meters tall, she had to keep her head bowed to move, her hunched back nearly scraping the ceiling. A thoroughly foul dress clung to her body, radiating an intense, rotting stench. The fabric across her chest was torn, revealing stark white ribs; patches of cloth were fused with severely festering flesh, melted together until it was impossible to tell them apart.

What sent the deepest chill down Gao Tian's spine were her hands. Her fingernails were abnormally long and razor-sharp, drooping all the way to the floor. Dried, dark red blood stained the sickly yellow keratin. She just kept walking, casually kicking two severed heads by her feet—one Caucasian, one Black. The expressions on both heads were frozen in relaxed smiles, as if they hadn't even realized they were dying. She would take a few steps, then deliver a casual kick, sending the two heads rolling lightly across the floor.

"Shit, fuck you, holy shit."

Seeing this, the relaxed smile vanished from Bruce's face. He rattled off a creative string of curses. Raising his Submachine Gun, he fired while rapidly retreating. Even in this critical moment, his footwork remained highly tactical. "Didn't Owen say it was under control? Why the hell did this crazy bitch get out again?"

Nancy screamed, turning and sprinting wildly in the opposite direction. Her shrieks were like a sparrow's, instantly swallowed by a far more terrifying roar.

A bizarre smile stretched across the rotting woman's face. Her jaw slowly unhinged to a length far beyond human limits, and she let out an ear-shattering shriek. The entire corridor began to tremble.

That screaming roar sounded as if it came straight from hell. This was the exact shriek Gao Tian had heard from the bottom of the stairs.

The Wind Attendant Buddha had no interest in lingering. Gao Tian's mission for coming upstairs was already complete.

The crazy woman was currently much more interested in the Watchman Team attacking her; there was no need for him to blindly intervene.

"Good luck to you, Watchman Team.

"Hope you make it out alive. I'll be taking my leave."

After dropping that greeting, the Wind Attendant Buddha turned and headed back toward the stairs.

The Wind Attendant Buddha made his way down the stairs.

Visible cracks were already spreading across the sturdy staircase. Dirt and rubble cascaded down; this passageway was no longer impenetrable and could collapse at any moment.

Most likely, Nancy was already dead upstairs. She had said that after her death, the channel she created would only last for about two minutes.

At a certain point on the stairs, Gao Tian spotted that shivering figure. Xiao Liu was still curled up in a tight ball, too paralyzed by fear to move.

"Wake up, get ready to go. Stop playing ostrich.

"If you don't leave now, you never will."

The Wind Attendant Buddha walked down to him, trying to shake him back to his senses.

—

—

The man turned a deaf ear to him. Even as small chunks of rubble fell onto his head and body, Xiao Liu remained cowering in his imaginary safe corner, completely immobile.

"Buddy, enough is enough. I've been too polite to you."

The situation was critical, and the Wind Attendant Buddha couldn't be bothered to waste any more breath. He grabbed Xiao Liu by the collar and smashed a heavy fist right into his nose. Caught off guard, the man didn't even utter a grunt as blood splattered across his face. In the next moment, throwing in harsh drags and fierce kicks, the Wind Attendant Buddha forcefully hauled the dead weight of Xiao Liu down the stairs.

From behind, the woman's beast-like roar echoed once again. It seemed she had completely wiped out the Watchman Team upstairs; her elongated nails were dripping with fresh blood as she chased them all the way to the stairwell entrance.

Portions of the staircase had already begun to cave in. Fortunately, the collapses were concentrated between the 300th and 200th steps, perfectly blocking the downward path of the monster from the Spire of Bitterness.

Billowing thick smoke surged from behind, engulfing everything—including the "crazy woman" who had also forced her way onto the stairs.

The Wind Attendant Buddha sprinted downward, forcibly yanking the stumbling Xiao Liu along. Even if he had to drag him, he was getting him off these stairs.

At the final 50 steps, the Wind Attendant Buddha saw the exit to the Jinhai Building right in front of them. With one last powerful kick, he viciously booted Xiao Liu out through the threshold.

Countless amounts of dirt and rubble cascaded down. The Wind Attendant Buddha knew he couldn't escape. But it didn't matter; his very existence was meant as a sacrifice for his master.

Amidst the chaos, the Wind Attendant Buddha sensed something. Turning around, Gao Tian saw that terrifying woman clawing through the avalanche of gravel and rubble, charging toward the Wind Attendant Buddha as if swimming through the debris.

This horrifying creature—not even the collapse of the entire staircase could stop her. She had actually followed them all the way down.

If she was allowed to enter the Jinhai Building, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Without a moment of hesitation, the Wind Attendant Buddha lunged straight at the crazy woman, doing whatever he could to hold her back.

Sickly yellow nails slashed through the Wind Attendant Buddha's body, and the countless currents of wind instantly collapsed. Because killing the Wind Attendant Buddha delayed the crazy woman for a single second, the final fifty steps of the staircase completely caved in. The channel Nancy had created abruptly severed its connection to the Jinhai Building.

From an outside perspective, a bruised and battered Xiao Liu stumbled and tumbled his way out of the bizarre staircase. Immediately after, the stairs that had materialized out of nowhere vanished, leaving behind only an empty patch of flat ground.

The paranormal phenomenon had completely disappeared.

The crowd of onlookers fell silent for a moment before erupting into thunderous applause, expressing their recognition of Gao Tian's professionalism as a "Supernatural Disaster Bureau expert."

Although they had no idea what had happened on those stairs or what kind of perilous monster had been encountered, from the perspective of the white-collar spectators, the missing security guard was rescued and the supernatural staircase vanished within half an hour of Gao Tian's arrival. This was the ultimate proof of his expertise.

Xiao Liu was clumsily carried away by several colleagues. Having tumbled down from such high stairs, he undoubtedly had multiple fractures, and his mental state was on the verge of collapse. He would likely be rushed to the hospital for treatment. None of that was Gao Tian's concern anymore.

Supervisor Yao stepped forward, grabbing Gao Tian's hand and shaking it vigorously.

He was genuinely grateful to Gao Tian. If the paranormal event had continued to worsen, shutting down the entire floor or even the whole Jinhai Building, the financial losses would have been catastrophic, and the company's financial reports would have been extremely ugly. "Young comrade from the Supernatural Disaster Bureau, who is your direct superior? I must write a letter to properly commend you."

Gao Tian slowly slipped his hand out of Supervisor Yao's grip. "There's no need for a commendation letter. My mission is complete, and I'll be heading down now.

"No need to see me out, just bring Wang Wenbo along."

Supervisor Yao was beaming with delight. "Of course, of course.

"Wang Wenbo is already waiting on the first floor. Follow me, let's take this elevator. It's the VIP line, it'll take us down in no time."

Led by Supervisor Yao and a few staff members, Gao Tian prepared to leave the Jinhai Building.

This mission had been far simpler than he had imagined. Gao Tian hadn't really done much of anything at all.

As things stood right now, everything seemed completely normal.

The channel created by the American ghost hunter, Nancy, was also closed. Even if her entire team died in the Spire of Bitterness, the crazy woman inside would still have to cross thousands of miles if she wanted to enter Shanghai City.

How strange. Then why did the Future Urn show that kind of future?

The entire Jinhai Building collapsed. Just what kind of terrifying, immense power could cause such a result?

Even though the crazy woman's nails were like blades, she shouldn't have been capable of destroying an entire skyscraper, right?

Gao Tian's temples began to throb with a sudden, restless anxiety.

Even though he had clearly finished the mission, he only felt more unsettled.

He had no idea what was going to happen next.

The fragments of prophecies shown by the Future Urn had all come true in reality the previous four times. In all likelihood, this time would be no different.

Standing in front of the elevator, Gao Tian deliberately turned his head for one last look, confirming that the staircase-shaped channel had completely vanished. It wouldn't appear in the Jinhai Building again.

Right at that moment, the mobile phone in Gao Tian's pocket gave a slight buzz.

Someone had sent him a message.

Gao Tian pulled the mobile phone out of his pocket. Taking one look at the screen, his expression shifted slightly.

"Excuse me.

"Have Wang Wenbo wait for me downstairs for five minutes. I need to use the restroom.

"I'll be right back."

Still oblivious to the gravity of the situation, Supervisor Yao quickly offered, "The restroom is over that way, I'll show you."

Gao Tian politely declined. "No need, I see the sign." With that, he took large strides, heading toward a deserted corner as fast as he could.

On his mobile phone, someone had started talking again in the Galan Society Chat Group, which had been silent for quite a while.

And the very first sentence was a bombshell.

[Ghost Cave]:

Do you guys remember?

I said earlier that among the dozens of ghosts here, a living person has infiltrated us.

There is a living person, hiding like a little rat, secretly watching our chat logs.

(Silence)

[Ghost Infant]:

Not this again.

Are you sick in the head or something?

We let you send that Black Envelope last time. After all the ghosts claimed it, any living person would have been killed by now.

Was that not enough?

—

[Ghost Cave]:

That is exactly the problem.

That curse I unleashed, 'Shattered Face'—it still hasn't returned to this day.

[Ghost Infant]:

So what?

You're a ghost, and they are a ghost. Why should they listen to you?

Maybe it ran off after killing someone, heading to other cities to keep killing. Is that not allowed?

[Ghost Cave]:

I thought the same thing at first.

Later on, because of that incident in the Boss's hometown, the Burned Ghost actively jumped out to stir up trouble.

I started to suspect that the Burned Ghost was a living person. I spent a lot of effort investigating him, following the trail of 'Shattered Face'.

[Ghost Infant]:

The Boss vouched for the Burned Ghost, so there's no problem there.

What exactly are you trying to say?

[Infinite Floor]:

Ghost Cave, you brought this topic up a long time ago. Everyone cooperated with you and opened the Black Envelope.

Logically speaking, it should have ended there.

Dragging up this old business again today, what's your point?

[Ghost Cave]:

It's a very simple issue. Since there's nothing wrong with the Burned Ghost, the living person in our group must be someone else.

So, following the trail of 'Shattered Face', I continued digging.

And suddenly, I stumbled upon a rather unexpected harvest.

[Ghost Cave]:

On the day I released the 'Shattered Face' curse, the Burned Ghost had a Black Envelope that had gone unopened for a long time. It was about to expire, but then it was suddenly opened by someone.

These two matters are, in fact, the exact same matter.

Just think about it.

[Ghost Cave]:

A living person infiltrated our Chat Group. While being hunted by the Shattered Face Ghost and backed into a dead end, he opened the Burned Ghost's Black Envelope, obtained a special Supernatural Item, and miraculously pulled off a counter-kill.

Although the probability of such a thing happening is very low, it's not zero.

Looking at it from this angle, the logic is flawless.

The person who claimed that Black Envelope is the living human hiding in our Chat Group. He escaped certain death and has managed to survive all the way until now.