My Pet Beast is Super Fearsome-Chapter 114 - 113: Department Store

Chapter 114: Chapter 113: Department Store

After lunch, Shao Zifeng gave his mother a heads-up and left the house under Qiqi’s earnest gaze.

His mother had grown used to him running out after eating these past few days, and didn’t pay much heed to his safety, even as she mumbled about it.

Reaching the street corner, he flagged down a “one-yuan ride,” the so-called one-yuan vehicle being a van that served as both a bus and a taxi.

Dragon City County didn’t have planned bus routes, nor formal taxi companies because these types of functional vehicles occasionally had to travel around the outer ring, hence they were required to have certain defense capabilities against attacks by mutant creatures. This was also why such functional vehicles were pricey.

Located inland with a low population, Dragon City County was also known for being poverty-stricken, so no formal company was willing to establish bus routes or taxi services there. A large investment might not see a return for over a decade.

To address the need for transportation, this use of vans as “one-yuan rides” emerged and became very popular.

...

The silver-white van came to a halt, and the driver poked his head out of the window.

The driver was a wiry middle-aged man with dark skin and a long face, wearing sunglasses, a faded and worn gold chain around his neck, and a mouthful of uneven, yellow teeth that were quite eye-catching.

“Yo, handsome, you’re a new face,” said the driver with the yellow teeth after Zifeng got on, pulling down his glasses to reveal a pair of small eyes.

Shao Zifeng fastened his seatbelt and looked up at the man, “Yeah, I’m not often home. You can’t possibly know everyone in this city, can you?”

Putting his glasses back on, the driver started the van with a smug smile on his face, “I wouldn’t boast about anything else, but in this tiny patch of Dragon City, there’s no person or event that I don’t know about.”

But he was too thin; when he smiled, the wrinkles at the corner of his eyes nearly reached his cheeks.

“Since you say so, brother, I’ve been away for such a long time. What’s new and exciting in Dragon City?” Zifeng contemplated with a little scheme in mind.

“Well,” the skinny driver pondered for a moment, “so much happens every day. What kind of stories are you interested in, handsome?”

“I’m interested in odd and supernatural incidents. You seem to have the scoop, brother, could you share?” Zifeng didn’t hide his intentions and came right out with it.

“Ha, well, there’s no shortage of that. Our Dragon City is full of strange phenomena. It’s said that in ancient times when the city was built, the Huanlong Clan came here to search for dragons. You know about them, right? They were those who served the Yellow Emperor…” As soon as he started on the topic, the driver got energized. Driving back and forth every day, whenever he had unfamiliar passengers, he would recount the local gossip of Dragon City, which he knew better than his own identity card number.

Zifeng rolled his eyes. Having grown up here from a young age, he was no stranger to these old and stale tales of Dragon City. He quickly interrupted, “Hey, brother, I’m from Dragon City County too. I just haven’t come back often these last two years. I want to hear about any fresh odd stories.”

“Oh, I see.” The driver didn’t show any displeasure and furrowed his brows in thought while driving.

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After a little while, he began, “Actually, something does come to mind. Recently, there was a strange case out west of the city. Right around where you got on, there was an old bachelor who died at home, and his body had started to decompose before it was even discovered.”

Pausing, the driver seemed to consider how to embellish the story to make it worth the title of a bizarre event. Then he continued, “The street office received a report, and when they broke down the door… tsk, it was a terrible sight. The old man’s body had been gnawed at by mutant creatures, covered in wounds and blood.”

“Because the cause of death was uncertain and the body had been eaten, the Space Rift authority also got involved, but sadly they didn’t find anything after several days of investigation. The old man had neither children nor other family, so in the end, the street office paid for his cremation and burial. It was thought that was the end of it, but weird things started to happen continuously after that…”

Zifeng listened intently, afraid of missing any important clues.

Screech.

The sound of tires screeching against the pavement arose, followed by a strong push. Zifeng’s body instantly jerked forward, reached a limit, and then was yanked back by the seatbelt, slamming hard against the seat.

He became alert and looked around quickly.

Through the window, he saw an old-style building with four dark red characters on it.

Department Store.

“Handsome, here we are.”

The previously solemn driver instantly switched to a smile, turned his head, and cheerfully stretched out a hand, “Scan or cash.”

Standing beside the department store, Shao Zifeng shook his head as he watched the van drive away into the distance.

What is even happening.

…

The Dragon City county department store stood tall above People’s Square, this five-story building once the pride of Dragon City residents.

Unfortunately, decades had passed, and the old-fashioned building, looking grimy and dirty, had gradually been forgotten by people; many young people didn’t even know of its existence.

Pushing aside the black, oily door curtain, Shao Zifeng entered.

The first impression upon entering the department store was one of low height, not that the building was short, but rather the ceiling of the first floor was quite low.

Without comparing it to those modern malls, even the average residential suite was a bit taller than this place.

As the oily door curtain closed, the entire space seemed cut off from the outside world; inside the department store, the lighting was dim, many unattended counters covered in dust, with only a few still doing business, the clerks idly playing with their cell phones, utterly bored.

Since time was tight, Shao Zifeng didn’t have the luxury to browse; he directly headed towards the elevator at the far end.

“Squeak”

Pressing the button, the elevator door, plastered with small advertisements and mottled with rust, emitted a grating scraping sound as it struggled to slide open, and Shao Zifeng genuinely feared it might get stuck halfway.

Peering inside, there was a single-door freight elevator, its space much larger than a regular lift. A ceiling light with a shade was flickering due to a loose connection, intermittently making a buzzing sound; the already dim bulb, wrapped in a layer of greasy black dirt, appeared even more gloomy.

With the sound of friction, the elevator doors slowly closed, losing the external source of light; the elevator’s internal lighting was nearly negligible, the various small ads and phone numbers piled on the walls within seemed like ghostly scribbles in such an environment.

Squeaking.

The sound of rusted gears turning reached his ears, Shao Zifeng felt a moment of weightlessness as the elevator began to shakily ascend.

Shao Zifeng’s heart rose to his throat, this elevator was really unreliable.

The dull sound of gears grinding and chains clashing were infinitely amplified in this narrow, silent space.

Shao Zifeng took a deep breath.

Luo Feng, he wouldn’t harm me…right?

After a long wait, the elevator finally stopped at the fifth floor, Shao Zifeng stepped out of the elevator, only then realizing that aside from the light at the elevator entrance, the entire fifth floor was pitch black.

The elevator doors closed once again, their frictional sound echoing through the fifth floor.

Listening to the echoes around him, Shao Zifeng could almost be certain that the entire fifth floor was empty.

He checked the time; six minutes left until half past two, just waiting around…

Hmm… it is actually quite unsettling.

Shao Zifeng extended his hand, and a semi-transparent Space Rift opened.