Nightmare Assault Chapter 406: Sea of Fire

“How is that possible?” The guard gasped, “You must have remembered wrongly!”

The travellers stood before the locked door to the stairwell and they sucked in a cold breath. This was not what they remembered.

“This is in violation of the fire safety rules.” Qiao Yu’s brother pointed at the lock. The guard looked awkward but didn’t say anything. He quickly changed the subject: “By the way, do you want to check out the other office?”

Hua Luo turned around. “The other office?”

“Yes. There’s another one. It was Li Zhumei’s old office. After she moved to the ninth floor, the place was turned into a storage room.”

Hua Luo had the guard lead the way. They moved up the stairs from another stairwell. They came to the 13th floor but didn’t encounter Jiang Cheng’s group. The office door didn’t show signs of recent use. They had also disappeared.

Hua Luo believed that they were trapped in the left stairwell, and the ghost who called them was Li Zhumei. This was a trap.

The office was situated at the end of a corner. No one would come here normally.

“Can you wait here? I’ll go find the key. No one has been here in a while,” The guard said, but Hua Luo stopped him. Then, he kicked the door down. The room was dark. They could barely tell that it was an office. The travellers were worried that the guard might leave to summon more people, so they told him to stay. Alongside Qiao Yu’s brother, he was told to stand in the corner to be their lookouts.

Hua Luo was the first to enter the room. Chu Jiu found a small flashlight and followed him. The room looked more decrepit than the ninth-floor office. There was trash everywhere. The table was a mess, and a few empty bottles were scattered on the floor.

The thing that grabbed their attention was a giant bookshelf with glass doors at the corner. Through the pane, one could see many envelopes. They were similar to the ones they had found. Hua Luo walked towards it.

“How can this be?” Chu Jiu’s voice interrupted Hua Luo’s footsteps. He turned around and saw Chu Jiu aiming her flashlight in the direction they had come from. Hua Luo’s pupils trembled. The door they came in from… had disappeared.

Instead, there was a giant frame.

…

“Doctor.” Fatty covered his mouth and mumbled, “This smoke is too thick.”

“Watch your feet and lower your bodies.” Banana Wolf coughed from the smog. Heat waves pulsed through the smoke. It made it hard for them to keep their eyes open. About ten minutes ago, there was a sudden fire in the building. The fire spread rapidly. With Li Zhumei leading the way, they came to a safety door. However, something blocked the door from behind. They tried their best, but the door only inched open a bit. Jiang Cheng and Banana Wolf tried, but they couldn’t slip through. In the end, only Li Zhumei managed to squeeze through the gap. However, after she did that, she disappeared into the smoke.

The heat lapped at them. The fire was approaching. Fatty could smell his singed hair. Just as he thought they would die, Li Zhumei’s voice came from behind the door. She told everyone to hold on. She found a crowbar and managed to widen the gap before they were swallowed by the flames.

Fatty moved to the back and allowed Banana Wolf and Doctor to go first. He was worried that his larger body might get stuck in the door. Thankfully, the other three managed to pull Fatty through the door.

The group instantly ran downstairs. However, the lower they went, the thicker the smoke. Fatty touched his brows, worried that they were about to burn.

Fatty could barely open his eyes. He relied on his instincts. He leaned down, and footsteps echoed all around him. It was impossible to tell where anyone was. He could barely see that the person before him was Li Zhumei. After all, Li Zhumei was a woman. Her stamina and endurance were not as good as theirs. Fatty noticed her gait becoming lighter. Then, with a tremble, she tripped on the stairs.

“What… wrong?” Banana Wolf half-knelt before Li Zhumei. The smoke caused her eyes to water, but the next second, the heat waves dried the tears. Her face stung from the heat.

Fatty and Jiang Cheng had disappeared. She could hear running from downstairs. It looked like they had abandoned her. The woman moaned weakly. She hugged her leg. Banana Wolf touched it and was relieved to find out that her bones weren’t broken. She probably twisted her ankles.

“Don’t… leave me behind.” Li Zhumei pleaded. She reached out her burned hand to grab Banana Wolf’s clothes.

The fire became stronger. Sparks were everywhere. There was a giant wooden shelf in the corridor beside them. The shelf burned wildly like it could collapse at any moment.

Banana Wolf gritted his teeth. “Get up.” He shouted through the cacophony, “I’ll carry you!” He allowed the woman’s arm to latch onto his shoulders. They slowly shuffled downstairs. By then, their sight was pointless. Banana Wolf had to search his way with his feet. Li Zhimei tried her best to cooperate with him.

However, when Banana Wolf tried to force his eyes open to look around, a small detail entered his eyes. Li Zhumei had one hand on his shoulder, and for balance, her other hand was on the stair railing. She slowly inched downwards.

Banana Wolf’s pupils shook. The paint on the railing was melting. Banana Wolf didn’t know how hot it was, but it was too hot for a normal person to be touching it. This woman… was not human.

She was a ghost.

With that in mind, Banana Wolf requested the woman to change their posture. While the woman moved her arm away, he turned and ran.

Jiang Cheng was in the same conundrum. However, the difference was that he discovered something was wrong instantly. The fire spread too quickly and intensely. It came out of nowhere, and multiple floors were affected. He didn’t say anything at the start because he didn’t know where the ghost was.

However, after Li Zhumei sprained her leg and lay on the floor, begging him to help, Jiang Cheng confirmed her identity. After all, in this intense heat, people’s tears would be burned off in seconds. It was impossible for one to cry for so long as Li Zhumei did.

Regardless, Jiang Cheng moved to help her up. As he encouraged her, he helped her move to the railing for support. While she let her guard down, he kicked her down the stairs. Then, he turned and ran upstairs.