Celestial Employee - Chapter 10

Chapter 10 Requiem

At times Zhao Lingjun felt that it was pretty good being a man, an example would be not having to stick a big thing in his underwear every month. But, at times like this, being female was much better. Rather than going into the foul smelling sewer, at least he could be like Hao Meili, sashay and say, “You wouldn’t demand a woman to go and unclog it right?”

At this moment, Zhao Lingjun truly admired Zhang Zhong’s deadly skill in condemning others.

Because, upon seeing Zhao Lingjun visibly shaken, Zhang Zhong immediately went into action, and put a shovel and flashlight into Zhao Lingjun’s hands and said, “Maybe only a little bit is stuck. Maybe it’s just one big nylon bag. Maybe you don’t even have to dig things out. Maybe if you’re lucky, just digging a little would cause to water pressure to unclog it.”

“MLGBD.” Before Zhao Lingjun could even rebutt, the flashlight and shovel were already in his hands. He really wished to take the shovel, swat Fatty Zhang, then drag him by the legs to the manhole and stuff his pig head into the sewer, letting him savour the stench. Finally concluding with “Does it smell nice? Do you still dare to insist I, your grandpa unclog a sewer again?”

Although he wished to do this, but in the end he still stalked over to the manhole.

Zhao Lingjun was not one to yield in the face of power. Although swatting Fatty Zhang with a shovel was impossible, he still had the impulse to do other things to him. Such as spitting at both Fatty Zhang and Baoya Zhen, then cursing, your grandpa doesn’t have time to humor you, and finally walk back to his apartment and sleep without a care.

But he just had to see Wu Xiaoye in the crowd, and recalled his reason for staying on even with such a low pay. On top of that, everyday he had to put up with colleagues who were even more annoying than cockroaches. Suddenly, he had an epiphany, if he did not go into the sewers and unclog it, Wu Xiaoye’s nose would be assailed by the stench throughout the night.

Although Zhao Lingjun absolutely did not care about Hao Meili’s well being, but towards Wu Xiaoye, he cared a great deal. He could not bear to inflict torment upon her by letting her stay in a room filled with the stench of a public toilet.

Therefore before he walked to the manhole, he took a deep breath, and ordered Fatty Zhang to give him a facemask and a pair of gloves.

“Sure!” Zhang Zhong exclaimed, overjoyed that Zhao Lingjun accepted in such a straightforward manner.

Within two minutes, a pair of gloves and a facemask were in Zhao Lingjun’s hands.

Judging by his physique, it was obvious that Fatty Zhang could not gather the items so quickly. It was Hao Meili’s Hengha Er Jiang who went to gather the items in his place.

Zhao Lingjun looked at the two shameless bootlickers who were not panting with loathing and turned to face the manhole.

When walking towards the manhole earlier, the stench from afar was already so disgusting that Zhao Lingjun almost puked out everything, even last night’s dinner, not to mention the smell while directly above it.

Although it was not the peak of summer yet, but the weather was already insufferably hot. The sewer smelled like decomposed matter, emanating a sour foul stench. Zhao Lingjun could visibly see vapour rising upwards from the manhole, and the vapour was not just any normal vapor, it carried a foul smell along with it. In the face of the stench, even the facemask could not mask that stench more suffocating than stinky tofu.
　　
At the manhole, staring into the dark abyss, Zhao Lingjun recalled something that really made his scalp tingle, it was something Zhang Changsheng told him last year when he was new.

“This land was once a graveyard, specifically for those sentenced to death.” Was what Zhang Changsheng had told him.

Sometime after, when Zhao Lingjun was together with Wu Xiaoye, he inadvertently brought up this topic. At the time Zhao Lingjun did not fully believe what Zhang Changsheng had said.

But he remembered Wu Xiaoye’s answer.

She did not confirm whether it was a graveyard, and instead asked if Zhao Lingjun heard a song that was often broadcasted throughout the apartment complex.

After thinking for a moment, he replied yes. The complex indeed broadcasted an unknown song whenever night fell.

After hearing his reply, Wu Xiaoye only replied with a single sentence, that piece is a Requiem.^[1]

Zhao Lingjun had absolute confidence in Wu Xiaoye, and trusted that she would never lie to him.

Upon recalling that, many different horror film scenes flashed through Zhao Lingjun’s mind. He figured that the sewer was not a sewer, but instead an entrance to a tomb filled with innumerable vengeful spirits.

“Will I enter, never to leave?” Zhao Lingjun wondered.

Zhao Lingjun shivered from his thoughts and turned to look at Wu Xiaoye seeking solace.

But, when he saw her, he noticed something different about her, she looked a little strange.

Wu Xiaoye was normally very quiet, aloof and indifferent towards everything. Zhao Lingjun suspected that even if a stack of money was dropped in front of her, she would walk away without any reaction.

But Zhao Lingjun found Wu Xiaoye’s slightly pale white face to have a slight tinge of colour on it, and when his gaze lingered, their eyes met for a moment.

When their eyes met, Zhao Lingjun sensed that her gaze revealed not only concerned, but was also trembling with excitement.

“Why would she have such a gaze?” Zhao Lingjun wondered while grabbing the edge of the manhole and lowering himself onto the steel ladder leading down. His thoughts drifted back to the Requiem and felt a shiver run up his spine.

After the place was made, this sewer had not been opened even a single time. The sewer’s metal wall ladder was already covered in a layer of black viscous gunk, of unknown origins. Although Zhao Lingjun was wearing a pair of gloves, he still could feel the stickiness and slipperiness of the substance. This sensation made Zhao Lingjun feel like he was holding onto a putrefied swamp eel instead of a ladder.

“God, almighty God, I haven’t committed any atrocities, I even help old ladies cross the road, and give my seat to the elderly. You can’t let me encounter supernatural things inside.”

Zhao Lingjun did his utmost to breath as little as possible, cautiously held onto the ladder and slowly climbed down, while chanting that prayer in his heart.

　　***

Zhang Changsheng squatted over the manhole and used his flashlight to illuminate the sewer for Zhao Lingjun.

The beam of light from the normal flashlight was not very powerful, coupled with Zhao Lingjun’s body blocking the majority of the beam, Zhang Changsheng could not even see anything in the dark sewer.

Out of fear for a lack of oxygen due to the poor ventilation, Zhang Changsheng tied a rope onto Zhao Lingjun’s body before he entered the sewer, to tug in case the unfortunate happened, upon which Zhao Lingjun would be pulled up. But even so, seeing Zhao Lingjun descend into the darkness, Zhang Changsheng’s hands were already sweating from anxiousness.

Because Zhao Lingjun’s silhouette under the dim flashlight was very hazy, with a looming sensation.

From above, the sewer did not look too deep, but when Zhao Lingjun went down, Zhang changsheng kept feeding the rope and realised that this sewer was abnormally deeper than other sewers by a lot.

When Zhao Lingjun reached near the bottom, Zhang Changsheng could no longer see what was going on below.

The flashlight’s beam seemed to be enshrouded by the darkness, and even absorbed by the unknown sludge on the sewer wall.

“How is it? Do you want me to throw the flashlight down?” Zhang Changsheng shouted when he could no longer see Zhao Lingjun and was frantic.

*Splash* Zhang Changsheng heard the splashing sound and wondered what dropped into the water, after which he heard a scream.

The scream was full of resentment. Everyone near the manhole expression changed.