Trembling At A High Altitude

Li Teng, holding Liu Yin in one arm, tapped his wristwatch with the other hand, retrieving a machete from the storage APP on his watch, and then he swung it through the air and across the floor of the elevator.

It seemed like he had hit something, yet it seemed like he hadn't hit anything at all.

In the darkness, sounds of the elevator operating could be heard.

Then, suddenly, a 'ding!' resounded.

The doors of the elevator cabin opened.

Looking at the floor indicator above the elevator, it showed that they had reached the sixteenth underground level.

Ahead was a corridor, a corridor with dark decor.

The lighting was dim, it was impossible to see what exactly lay at the end of it.

Only by going out would they know.

"Don't be afraid, the worst is death, and then torture. That's all there is to it. What haven't we experienced? What else is there to be afraid of?" Li Teng carried Liu Yin out of the elevator.

"Let's stand for a while, let me calm down a bit more," Liu Yin said to Li Teng, then she took a deep breath.

Li Teng wasn't surprised by her reaction.

For someone who was extremely timid, to have grown to this point in less than two months was already commendable.

In the past, she probably would have rather died than follow him to the basement, let alone into an elevator.

By entering the basement and the elevator, she had bravely taken the first step.

This was a process of challenging one's own limits, gradually overcoming oneself, and surpassing oneself.

After a while, Liu Yin had indeed calmed down a lot. She relaxed her body and then, holding the hem of Li Teng's clothes, she signaled that they could move forward.

At the end of the corridor was a door.

A sensor door.

When they approached the door, it automatically opened.

Inside was another corridor.

Along both sides of the corridor in front were paintings in frames, with not-so-bright spotlights above them.

From the doorstep, the angle made it hard to make out the contents of the paintings.

The two took a few steps forward.

Just then, a 'thud!' echoed from behind them.

A thick alloy gate dropped from the ceiling, sealing the sensor door behind them.

"Is closing the door any use? Can't we go back now?" Li Teng opened the teleportation APP on his wristwatch.

The teleportation APP was working normally.

It seemed this alloy gate had no effect on Li Teng.

The two continued to move forward.

They reached the side of the first framed painting.

In the frame, a Grim Reaper with its head bowed was depicted.

It looked rather terrifying.

Actually, Chinese people don't really fear the Grim Reaper much. Many Chinese, like Liu Yin, are more afraid of ghosts.

The second framed painting depicted the Grim Reaper chasing a person.

That person was jumping around among dilapidated rooftops, buildings, and ruins, desperately dodging the Grim Reaper's pursuit.

The third framed painting showed the Grim Reaper holding the man by the neck.

The fourth framed painting... depicted a treasure chest.

As they continued forward, they found that the end of the corridor was blocked by a wall.

"What is this, playing at being mysterious?"

As Li Teng commented, the wall in front of them 'bang!' emitted a muffled sound as something smashed a large hole through it, causing Liu Yin to scream loudly, taken completely by surprise.

Li Teng quickly pulled her back, retreating more than a dozen steps.

A man with his head lowered, wearing a black Grim Reaper cloak... perhaps the Grim Reaper himself, appeared at the hole in the wall, then stepped closer, approaching Li Teng and his companion.

"You step back," Li Teng said, drawing out his machete to face the Grim Reaper.

As they got closer, Li Teng slashed fiercely with his blade.

But the knife passed through the body without harm, leaving the Grim Reaper completely unscathed.

Then, with a wave of his robe, the Grim Reaper sent Li Teng flying.

He flew more than ten meters and landed on the floor of the corridor, hitting hard, but without sustaining any serious injuries.

Liu Yin screamed loudly, but the Grim Reaper seemed to have little interest in her, instead heading straight for Li Teng.

Reaching Li Teng, the Grim Reaper continued to ignore his machete, again waving his robe and sending Li Teng flying out.

This time, Li Teng landed directly at the mouth of the hole in the wall.

Looking out from the hole, Li Teng saw what seemed to be an enormous underground world.

Just like the painting depicted, there were connected ruins everywhere.

The area with the ruins was elongated, stretching into the darkness beyond.

According to the hints in the painting, was he supposed to run toward the front?

The Grim Reaper step by step closed in again.

"Liu Yin, stay here for now; I'll go ahead and check things out," Li Teng quickly instructed her.

"Mm, take care!" Liu Yin knew she couldn't be of much help in this situation.

"Not gonna die yet," Li Teng remarked sarcastically, then leaped out of the hole, landing on a nearby rooftop.

Is this... training for parkour?

The Grim Reaper also picked up speed, jumping out from the hole and then started chasing after Li Teng on foot.

Li Teng hastened forward, running to the end of the rooftop and leaping to the next one.

The Grim Reaper pursued him relentlessly.

In the beginning, Li Teng hopped around fairly effortlessly, but as he went further, the buildings became more complex, the distances between rooftops increased and the heights he needed to climb or jump to became greater.

Before long, Li Teng was caught up by the Grim Reaper.

Having been caught, Li Teng was grabbed by the neck and swiftly carried back to the corridor by the Grim Reaper, who then flung him again to the wall hole.

"You, are too weak!" The Grim Reaper emitted a deep voice, clearly scoffing at Li Teng.

"Damn it! Again!" Li Teng, sometimes quite prideful, especially in front of a girl like Liu Yin who admired him.

Before long, Li Teng was caught and brought back by the Grim Reaper by the neck again.

"You, are not fit to be a man!" The Grim Reaper continued to mock Li Teng.

"Motherfucker!" Li Teng leaped out of the hole again, embarking on a new round of escape.

After several attempts, Liu Yin found it utterly boring and dozed off against the corridor wall.

After a dozen attempts or so, just when Li Teng was almost exhausted, he arrived at the top of a building and found an Energy Drink vending machine.

Taking advantage of the brief reprieve before being caught by the Grim Reaper, he quickly exchanged for a drink, downed it in one gulp, and then resumed his escape.

This time, after being captured by the Grim Reaper, he wasn't thrown back into the corridor but back to the rooftop with the Energy Drink vending machine.

It seemed he had passed the first minor challenge.

Subsequent difficulties escalated.

He often had to climb up and jump down around four meters in height, navigating various railings, slopes, and even clothes drying racks, among other things.

In some special terrains, Li Teng would spot paintings in frames like those in the corridor.

Inside were depictions of a fleeing person performing various movements and postures in complex terrain.

Movements such as wall runs, side-hand grabs on railings, flips, and so on.

Seeing these, Li Teng adopted the same movements when he encountered the same scenarios, and indeed his speed increased significantly.