MM Racing Chapter 585 Basement
Chapter 585 Basement
The air fell silent for a moment.
A moment later, Lin Feng suddenly raised his head, a glint of clarity flashing in his eyes:
"I have a solution."
"Amansa was able to spot us accurately thanks to the security cameras inside the house."
"As long as those cameras are out of their field of vision, they won't be able to detect intruders and trigger the defense mechanism."
Su Wan raised an eyebrow: "That's true. But how do we disable the cameras without entering the locked room?"
Lin Feng chuckled softly, raising his hand to press his temples: "Leave it to me."
He closed his eyes, his wild instincts raged, and he began to act.
An invisible wave emanated from him, spreading outwards, penetrating the walls of the ward, overflowing the overgrown courtyard, and dissipating into the distant tree canopy.
In less than a minute, a dozen black crows flapped their wings and flew over, landing on Lin Feng's shoulders and arms, their beady black eyes quietly watching him.
Su Wan stood there, gazing at the flock of crows that had landed on Lin Feng's shoulders, a mixture of surprise and感慨 (gǎnkǎi, a feeling of deep emotion or reflection):
"Honey... just how many more abilities are you hiding that I don't know about?"
Lin Feng smiled faintly: "It's always good to have more skills."
He then turned his head away, his lips moved a few times without making a sound, but the crows seemed to understand and all tilted their heads.
He raised his hand and pointed towards the ceiling, and the flock of crows took flight in response, like a silent black stream, deftly disappearing into the ventilation duct openings above the wall.
In an instant, all the cameras inside the sealed room were covered and obscured by black raven feathers, and the real-time footage of the entire area was completely blacked out.
Using his shared view with the crows, Lin Feng scanned the four corners of the room to make sure no camera was missed, then turned to Su Wan and said, "Done."
Without further hesitation, Su Wan stepped forward and gently fiddled with the keyhole a few times with her fingertips.
A crisp "click" came from inside the lock cylinder, and the lock popped open.
The two held their breath as they stepped into the secret room. Su Wan's S-level perception spread out again, carefully scanning the walls and floor of the entire room.
A moment later, she pointed to an area in the corner that was partially covered by thick mold.
"That's it!"
Before she finished speaking, Su Wan had already condensed a wisp of thick black energy in her palm, which extended out like a long snake and brushed away all the mushroom caps piled on the surface.
A flat, square cement slab was then revealed, with a rusty, simple pull ring welded to the center.
"This is the entrance to the underground space."
The two exchanged a glance, and Lin Feng stepped forward, grabbed the pull ring, and pulled it up sharply.
The cover was lifted open, revealing a deep hole below.
A cold wind carrying old incense ash and accumulated dust rushed towards me, like someone exhaling a breath of foul air from the bottom of a cave.
Lin Feng turned on his flashlight, and the pale beam of light cleaved through the thick darkness, illuminating a section of stone steps that stretched downwards.
The steps were covered with a thick layer of dust, with not a single footprint in sight, clearly indicating that no one had set foot on them for a long time.
Lin Feng stepped on first, and after completing the third and fourth steps, Su Wan followed silently, closing the cover from the inside.
With a dull screech, the last ray of light from the outside world was completely cut off.
In the enclosed space, only the breathing and footsteps of the two people could be heard.
After climbing the last step, Lin Feng raised his flashlight, the beam sweeping forward—
He was stunned.
Instead of the server room I had imagined, the area illuminated by the beam of light was a spacious and well-organized underground space, with even neat bluestone slabs paving the ground.
"...This isn't a server room." Su Wan leaned halfway out from behind his shoulder, her voice very low. "This looks like..."
Lin Feng took a few steps forward, flashlight in hand. His shoes landed on the bluestone slabs, each step kicking up a fine cloud of dust.
The beam of light slowly moved to the right, sweeping across the wall.
Dark red lines meandered and intertwined on the wall, outlining the contours of lotus flowers, flames, and cloud patterns, but the paint had long since oxidized and turned black.
Su Wan took a half step closer, squinting to make out: "Is it... a Buddha statue?"
"It's Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva." Lin Feng's flashlight stopped on one of the relatively complete images.
The Bodhisattva statue has lowered its eyes and wears a Vairocana crown and a kasaya. Although the lines are mottled and faded, the outline is still faintly discernible.
"Holding a staff in his right hand and a jewel in his left, this is a common image of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva. It's depicted here—"
He paused.
Su Wan continued his sentence: "It's used to pray for the souls of the dead."
The two exchanged a glance but neither continued speaking.
The stale scent of incense ash in the air seemed to have become even stronger.
Lin Feng moved the flashlight down.
The beam of light swept across the corner of the wall, illuminating several dark yellow clumps scattered on the ground.
He took two steps closer, squatted down, and tapped the surface of one of the clumps with his knuckles.
It has a dull sound, a dry and hard texture, and a surface that crumbles at the slightest touch.
"A meditation cushion." He broke off a corner, revealing dry, decaying straw inside. "It's completely rotten."
There was also a wooden fish lying on its side, with its mouth facing downwards and wide open.
Su Wan came around from the other side, and somehow picked up a loose piece of paper.
She held up her flashlight and looked closely. The paper was yellowed and brittle, with curled and cracked edges. On it were rows of small regular script characters, neat but slightly hurried.
"...Zhang Wenshan, male, 47 years old, date of admission...the rest is illegible."
Lin Feng stood up and swept his flashlight across both sides of the wall—under the beam of light, hundreds of similar-sized, yellowed and tattered sheets of paper hung densely on the entire wall.
Each one has a name, gender, and age written on it, and some also have a note field for family contact persons, but most of them are empty.
He walked over and gently touched the one closest to him.
The paper was as brittle as a cicada's wing; the moment your fingertip touched it, a small piece of paper crumbled off the edge.
Liu Xiuying, female, 53 years old...
He looked at more than a dozen more photos, listing names, ages, and admission dates.
After that, it was all blank—no discharge record, no transfer record, nothing at all.
He turned and shone his flashlight into a corner further away on the ground—where stacks of yellowed books lay piled up, their covers moldy and curled, but the titles were still legible:
The Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva Sutra, the Compassionate Water Repentance Ritual, and the Essential Explanation of the Rebirth Mantra.
Su Wan squatted down, casually picked up a sutra book and opened it. Inside was a dried paper slip with the words "[Deliverance Ceremony - Day 3]" written on it.
On the back of the paper label was a line of hastily written penmanship, like a note someone had hurriedly left:
Seven monks participated, but no family members were present. Incense, candles, and offerings were prepared, but...
The writing stops here, as if the writer didn't know how to continue, or perhaps there was no need to continue writing.
Su Wan held the piece of paper in her hand and remained silent for a long time.
"...They built this basement," she said slowly, her voice heavy.
"The walls were covered with a list of names, an altar was set up, and monks were invited... They wanted to use a ritual to subdue the evil spirits here."
"But clearly, they failed!"