Reaching the 24th floor, Li Xinwen noticed the air seems different. Compared to the lower floor, the floor here doesn't reek of too much blood. Opening the building, he stepped into the floor area and saw that the hallway, though the floor was stained with blood, looks much better than the sixteenth floor.
"Maybe they managed to deal with the situation calmly?" he wondered as he made his way through the hallway. He followed the path leading to that familiar spiritual signature and not long after, he finally saw the first zombie on the floor. Taking out another dagger from his spatial storage, he quickly dealt with the zombie in one blow.
Since he was alone, Li Xinwen's movement is more free as he didn't need to worry about hiding his strength. Of course, he still made sure that what he did is still within the realm of what mortal could do.
After dealing with three more zombies, Li Xinwen reached the place where several zombies were huddled against a big door, which seems to be barred from the inside. They continued to bang against the door while letting out a low growl.
'One… two… three…' Li Xinwen counted the head of the zombies and saw that there were six of them. He could deal with them in an instant if he were to use spiritual energy. 'Acting as a normal person is really troublesome. Just this once… Just once wouldn't hurt,' Li Xinwen thought to himself as he gathered the spiritual energy onto the palm of his hand.
He could see the energy swirl over his palm, forming a cold, crystal dust and soon, he threw them over to the six non-suspecting zombies. The moment the crystal dust touched the zombies, their body started to frost over at a quick rate. Before long the six zombies were completely frozen and Li Xinwen waved his hand, sending a gust of wind towards them.
Their frozen body toppled over and then, it dropped to the ground before shattering to icy dusts. Li Xinwen felt that if left alone, it would cause suspicion as to why there were ice on the floor so he quickly evaporate them with heat generated by his spiritual energy.
Now that his path is no longer blocked, Li Xinwen approached the door and knocked it slowly. The people inside probably thought that he's a zombie as there were no movement from within. So in the end, he had to call out for the person he came to pick up.
"Manager Su, it's me, Xinwen," he said out loud.
Finally, there was a rustle inside followed by several whispered voices. With his heightened hearing, Li Xinwen could clearly hear the conversation behind the door.
"That… person spoke. Then does that mean they're not zombies?"
"He said that he's Xinwen, is he the artist of Manager Su? That Li Xinwen?"
"Wait, what if its a trap? It wasn't long since the zombies had stopped banging on the door! What if once we opened the door, those monster came crawling in?"
"But… if we stay here, Manager Su might be in danger. Maybe that Li Xinwen is coming to pick her up. Let's just leave her to him. Look at her, don't you think she needs medical treatment?"
Hearing the conversation inside, Li Xinwen couldn't help but frown. He spread out his spiritual awareness to check on Manager Su's condition and found that she was unconscious but luckily, he noticed the demonic qi didn't gather around her which means that she wasn't injured.
"Is Manager Su alright? Please open the door. There are no zombies here," Li Xinwen said but the people inside was still reluctant to open the door. But not long after, a voice came from inside addressed to him.
"That… are you Li Xinwen?" the voice asked. From the voice alone, Li Xinwen knew that it was a male and this person was very nervous.
"Yes. I am Li Xinwen, an artist under Manager Su. Can you please open the door?"
"Before that, please answer this few questions honestly. If we find that you're lying, we won't open the door!"
Li Xinwen only have a helpless smile on his face but their paranoia is understandable. Compared to the group of people who were with him on the sixteenth floor, these people would have a higher chance of survival. "Alright," Li Xinwen replied. "You can ask away."
"Then… are you alone?"
"Yes."
"Are you injured?"
"No."
"How many of those things are outside now?"
"There are none nearby."
"Really?"
"Yes."
"How did you deal with the monsters that had been banging the door?"
"…" Li Xinwen didn't expect that they would ask this question so he was caught unprepared. It took him a few seconds to come up with a sound lie. "I merely lured them away from the door. They are very sensitive to sounds so once I threw a can of soda into a far away direction, they all went after it."
After that, there was a short moment of silence. Not long after, there was a sound of something solid scraping the ground, though it was being muffled by the carpet inside. After a good three minutes, Li Xinwen finally heard the door being unlocked and finally, the twin door was opened.
"Don't come in yet! Mr. Mu will go out and inspect you," the man who had been talking with Li Xinwen said.
Li Xinwen who was about to take a step forward, stopped and waited for this Mr. Mu to come out. The person who stepped out was actually someone that Li Xinwen is familiar with. It was Mu Bai, his co-actor in his recent movie. 'So he's also here. No wonder they are able to survive.'
Mu Bai's physique is actually large, standing at 197cm, Li Xinwen actually had to look up in order to face him. Coupled with his muscular build, he looks extremely menacing as an opponent but as an ally, he is very dependable. In all honesty, if it wasn't for this physique of his, Li Xinwen would've already forgotten that he had such a giant as a co-actor before.
"It's actually Da Bai. It's actually no wonder that the people inside would ask such question," Lin Xinwen said with a smile on his face.
"Senior Li, please allow me to inspect you for injury," Mu Bai said to him and Li Xinwen cooperated. Once Mu Bai saw that Li Xinwen didn't even have the smallest scratch, he turned to the people inside and nods his head. "You can come in with me, Senior Li. Please forgive my rudeness earlier. I had to make sure that you are not infected… I'm sure you understand."
"Don't worry. I understand," Li Xinwen replied. Anyway, is Manager Su alright?" he asked the big man.
"Manager Su… she fainted. But don't worry, she didn't suffer any external injuries," Mu Bai informed him.
When they got into the room, Li Xinwen saw that it was actually a conference room. 'That explains the twin door,' he thought to himself. The people inside were about to bar the door again and Li Xinwen stopped them.
"Wait, don't close the door yet. I will be leaving soon after I pick up my manager," Li Xinwen told them.
"Leave? Isn't it better to just stay here and wait for rescue?!" someone voiced out.
"If you want to wait for rescue, you're free to do so. According to my estimation, they will arrive in another ten minutes," Li Xinwen informed them.
"Oh, did you already inform the authority? Thank goodness! Then, its fine if we just wait for ten minutes more. Why the rush?"
Li Xinwen didn't answer immediately. Though rescue will arrive in ten minutes, it might take another hour for them to reach this floor while clearing the zombies on each floor below this.
"Where is Manager Su?" he asked.
"Over there," Mu Bai pointed at the long sofa in the room. On it, lay a woman in her middle age. Her face was slightly pale and the usual strict expression was absent. There was a round bulge on her stomach, indicating that she was pregnant.
Walking over to the sofa, Li Xinwen reached out and touched her head, gently massaging them while sending a small strand of spiritual energy to soothe her mind. "Manager Su," he called out gently.
With the help of the calming effect of Li Xinwen's spiritual energy, Manager Su slowly regain her consciousness.
"Xin…wen?" she called out.
"It's me. Manager Su, why are you here? Didn't you say that you have a hospital appointment?" Li Xinwen asked.
"I… was at the hospital. But the check up didn't take long and there was also something I need to confirm with the studio about your next shooting," Manager Su mumbled in a soft voice. "I was in a meeting with the director when Mu Bai and the rest entered, telling us that there was a dangerous situation… and then…"
Suddenly, she felt a sharp pain on her stomach and she winced in pain as she placed her hand on the bump.
"Manager Su, calm down. Don't be too stressed… it's fine now," Li Xinwen said to her. "Luckily you did come here. This way, I can protect you," Li Xinwen told her. His hand reached out to touch Manager Su's stomach and gently rubbed the area while sending his spiritual energy inside to calm the agitated baby within the womb.
As the pain subsided, Manager Su's expression became more relaxed. Seeing this, Li Xinwen gave her a gentle smile. "Manager Su, I plan to evacuate this place. It might be dangerous, but would you join me? If you stay here, it might be detrimental for you and the baby. If you join me, I promise I'll protect the both of you," Li Xinwen informed her.
"You already said that its dangerous. We should just stay in place and wait for rescue," Manager Su replied.
"But Manager Su… aren't you worried for your baby? You just experienced something frightful and if we don't bring you for a check-up…" Li Xinwen didn't finish for he knew that Manager Su understand what he was about to say.
"Alright, but… with just us?"
"No. I think Da Bai would join us. I will go ask him first."