Before explaining where my friend currently lives, let me talk about him first.

I met him in college, and his full name is Zhu Chang'an, so I call him "Chang'an." He is also a second-year student at Xianshui University, a young man who is handsome and dresses in designer clothes.

Although his speech has been relatively normal so far, he is actually a well-known "second-generation rich" in the area. His father holds a high-ranking position in the government, and their family is quite wealthy. I'm not sure exactly how rich they are, but it's certainly beyond the imagination of someone like me, who comes from an ordinary background, and I don't really care about such matters. However, I occasionally hear people at school maliciously referring to him as "Young Master Zhu."

The animosity towards him isn’t entirely due to class envy; that would be oversimplifying things. While my reputation in school could be described as unconventional, Chang'an is widely criticized, and simply labeling it as "envy of the rich" doesn't fully explain the situation. The issue lies with him personally.

He is a well-known "bad boy" on campus, often heard flaunting his father's higher status, acting arrogantly, stirring up trouble, and even rumored to hang out with a group of unsavory friends at places that students should avoid. Over time, he became ostracized by the majority of those who prided themselves on maintaining a clean image.

His bad reputation actually has a backstory, though he has indeed done some bad things. My relationship with him started off somewhat hostile, but we eventually became acquainted.

To go into the full details of our story would take a while, so for now, I'll focus on his current residence.

I don't know if it's true that "a person is influenced by their surroundings," but like me, he has a certain interest in urban legends. And since he didn’t have many close friends at school, he rented a place off-campus. By chance, there was an abandoned apartment in a regular residential area near Xianshui University, located on the 15th floor. It was a high-rise apartment, and it had a history of someone dying there.

When I say "someone died there," I don't mean that an elderly person passed away unexpectedly or a tenant committed suicide by slashing their wrists. No, it was a proper, horrifying murder case.

The incident occurred eight months ago when the previous tenant of Chang'an was found in the bathroom, disemboweled by an unknown assailant. The scene was extremely bloody, so much so that even the neighbors next door were scared enough to move out. The identity of the killer remains a mystery, and the perpetrator is still at large. It’s completely understandable that no one would dare rent that apartment.

It’s said to be haunted at night. I went there to investigate and stayed for three days and nights, but nothing happened. That was about two weeks ago. Afterward, Chang'an rented the place, claiming it was a test of courage, and moved in, foolishly, for the thrill of it.

"Now, do you think the place is really haunted? Is the ghost of the previous tenant after you?"

"No, no..." He shook his head repeatedly. "It’s the basement. I found the basement."

"So it’s just the basement..." I felt a bit disappointed, but then I noticed something odd. "Wait, did you just say 'basement'? In that apartment?"

"Yes, in that apartment on the fifteenth floor."

He looked uneasy as he began explaining the situation:

It all started the night before yesterday, when he saw a video online of someone cleaning an old, dirty carpet. Carpets—especially plush ones—are prone to accumulating dirt, and the uploader specifically chose a particularly filthy carpet to clean and film. After watching the video, he thought of the black plush carpet in his own living room.

The carpet had been there since he moved in, and he wasn’t sure how many tenants it had seen. He’d never paid much attention to it, but now, he became critical of it. Black was supposed to be a color that hides dirt, but it was probably full of grime, and maybe even the blood of the previous tenant, of which he was completely unaware. He decided he’d replace it.

But when he lifted the carpet, the floor underneath revealed something that definitely shouldn’t have been there in an everyday setting.

What he discovered was a magic circle, intricately drawn with black paint.

Could it be that a previous tenant was some kind of delusional black magic enthusiast, and this was their leftover work? It was only natural for Chang'an to think that way.

But soon, he noticed something else within the magic circle that couldn’t be ignored—a wooden cover, about one meter in length and width, embedded in the floor.

Driven by curiosity, he lifted the cover.

To his surprise, beneath it was a deep, bottomless staircase, leading down into complete darkness.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

He was immediately shocked.

Was this a basement? But this was the fifteenth floor—how could there be a basement here?

He immediately came up with a plausible explanation—the staircase likely led to the apartment below. Just to be sure, he didn’t descend the stairs himself. Instead, he went downstairs to inquire, and after receiving permission, he entered the apartment to take a look.

However, there was no staircase downstairs, and the ceiling didn’t have any openings.

For a moment, he was overcome with an indescribable sense of panic.

That dark staircase led to a space that didn’t exist in reality.

---

I was deeply captivated by his description, and curiosity arose within me.

"Did you go down there?" I asked.

Chang'an slammed his hand on the table, unable to help himself as he shouted, "How could I have gone down there!"

The staff and customers in the tea restaurant all looked over at him, and he awkwardly cleared his throat and sat back down.

"Anyway, I haven't gone down, and I’ve temporarily moved to a nearby hotel. I really can’t continue living there," he said after calming down. "But I haven’t canceled the lease yet, and I still have the keys."

I nodded and continued to inquire, "Then, have you tried lighting up the space beneath the stairs?"

"I tried. The depth below should be more than three meters, and the bottom of the stairs is made of gray concrete," he said dejectedly. "Beyond that, I don’t know. I didn’t dare go down to investigate."

"Besides me, have you told anyone else about this?"

"I have. I told my sister yesterday, but she didn’t believe me."

"You mean Zhu Shi? You saw her yesterday during the day, but you told her and not me?" I was a bit upset.

Zhu Shi, Chang'an's younger sister, is one year younger than both of us. I had met her a few times before.

This year, she entered her first year at Xianshui University. Unlike the notorious Chang'an, her first impression is more like the image of a small stream, clear spring, or misty lake—something like an elegant watercolor painting.

It’s understandable that she didn’t believe Chang'an, or rather, any normal person wouldn’t believe his account.

Chang'an quickly gave a forced laugh, steering the conversation back and adding, "Also... when I encountered that thing the night before, I called the police right away."

"You called the police?" I reflexively frowned.

From my current perspective, it’s hard to feel any sense of security from the police.

"And then? Did you tell them about the strange happenings in your house, and they actually came?"

"Of course, I didn’t say that directly. I just came up with some random excuse to get the police to come over. Then, after they arrived, I lifted the carpet in front of them again, and...," Chang'an's expression grew darker, "It disappeared. The wooden cover was gone, the entrance to the basement vanished without a trace, and all that was left on the floor was that suspicious magic circle. They thought I was making a false report and almost detained me."

At this point, he noticed my expression and quickly explained, "Wait, I'm not lying to you, I really saw the basement!"

"Although I personally want to believe you..."

In the past, many of the people I visited who claimed to have experienced supernatural events shared a common trait: they insisted they encountered strange phenomena in certain situations, but when I accompanied them or investigated based on their clues, the supernatural events would vanish without a trace.

Chang'an’s situation now seemed very similar to my past experiences. He claimed to have encountered a strange phenomenon, but it was something only he could perceive, and when other people were present, the phenomenon would mysteriously disappear.

How could I fully trust him with all my heart?

However, he is still my friend, and I wanted to give him at least the basic trust.

"Trust me! I know you've encountered many people who have deceived you before, so that's why I didn't talk to you at school yesterday. I was afraid you'd think of me as one of them!" He said, looking flustered. "But... but! Last night, I just couldn’t let it go, and I felt that, both emotionally and logically, I should talk to you about it. Now, you're the only one who might believe me..."

"Last night, suddenly?" I caught on to a key point. "What time was it approximately?"

"Uh? Well... around 10 o'clock?" He said vaguely.

That was around the time I had just encountered Ma Zao.

Assuming that both Chang'an and Ma Zao are telling the truth, then I was originally supposed to miss the strange events that Chang'an experienced. However, due to Ma Zao’s curse-like physique, which attracts misfortune, it seems that Chang'an, far away from me, was suddenly thrown off course, bringing the clues of this event to knock on my door?

Chang'an's testimony contains many suspicious points, yet it somewhat aligns with Mazao's account...

As I ponder the logic between the two events, I said to Chang'an, "Words alone are not enough. Take me to your place and show me."

"Alright, but..." he hesitated.

I countered, "Isn't the reason you came to me so that I can go with you to see the house again?"

"...Yes. That was definitely not a hallucination or nightmare I created while alone, but a real, strange occurrence. I hope you can help me prove that..." he admitted, then grew cautious, "But if nothing happens this time..."

"Just take me there," I said firmly. "I promise, even if there's nothing under the carpet, I won’t blame you."

Having said that, he couldn't argue further. After quickly eating at the nearby tea restaurant, he and I headed to the house.

We passed through the entrance of the community, went through the security door of the building, and took the elevator all the way to the fifteenth floor. Chang'an took out his key and opened the door to the target apartment, leading me into the living room.

Although it was said to be a house where someone had died, it actually looked no different from an ordinary home. In fact, due to Chang'an's time living there, it had a bit more of a lived-in feel. To put it plainly, there were some scattered items, a few crumpled clothes and pants thrown on the sofa, and the trash bin was full of takeaway boxes with leftover sauce and rice.

Between the sofa and the TV was the black plush carpet he had mentioned. It looked like an ordinary old carpet, with a few large brown English letters drawn on it, spelling out the word "carpet."

"Well... I'm going to lift it now," Chang'an swallowed nervously.

I didn't want to take the initiative in his house, so I simply urged him verbally, "Go ahead."

He took about ten seconds to gather his courage, then crouched down, grabbed the edge of the carpet, and suddenly yanked it up.

Underneath the carpet, on the floor, there was a complex magic circle painted in dark black paint.

At the center of the magic circle, there was a light brown wooden lid.