A Mysterious Package
A Mysterious Package
Ling Feng was a low-level employee at a foreign company. For five consecutive years, he had been living a monotonous nine-to-five life, which was both dull and tedious. Sometimes, he would feel despondent, wondering if his entire life would be wasted in such a muddled and mundane manner.
However, at this very moment, something extraordinary happened that changed his fate forever.
One evening not long ago, he received a mysterious package from a stranger. From that moment on, his previously calm and boring life was completely disrupted.
Ling Feng could still vividly remember the events of that night, which occurred seven days ago at midnight. It was just past twelve o’clock when the power suddenly went out in his community, plunging the surroundings into darkness and silence. He had just turned off his laptop and was preparing to go to bed.
“Knock! Knock! Knock!...”
Suddenly, there was a series of low, powerful knocks on the security door of his living room. Ling Feng was puzzled, wondering who would come to his rented apartment at such a late hour in complete darkness.
With a heart full of curiosity, Ling Feng got up and opened the security door. Standing outside was a tall stranger. Due to the power outage, the stairwell lights were also off, so Ling Feng could only make out the stranger’s silhouette, unable to see his face or age.
At that moment, the stranger’s hoarse and rough voice suddenly sounded in Ling Feng’s ear. “Hello, are you Mr. Ling Feng?”
Ling Feng nodded in confusion and said, “Yes, I am Ling Feng. What do you want?”
“This is your package. Please sign for it.”
The stranger in the darkness suddenly handed a package to Ling Feng.
“Package?”
Hearing that the stranger was delivering a package, Ling Feng was momentarily stunned. He wondered which courier company would be so dedicated to delivering packages at midnight. What puzzled him even more was how the stranger had entered the building without calling him first, given that the entrance had an electronic lock. How had the stranger gotten in?
With these questions in mind, Ling Feng took the package and, using the light from his phone, checked the recipient’s name. Sure enough, it was his own name. He signed for it with a face full of suspicion.
After receiving the package, Ling Feng hurried back inside to open it, eager to see what was inside. He hadn’t ordered anything online recently, so who could have sent him this package?
Just as he returned to his room, the lights suddenly came back on. He remembered that the building had an electronic lock, and without his electronic key, the stranger couldn’t leave.
Thinking of this, Ling Feng rushed to the stairwell to help the stranger open the door, but when he reached downstairs, the stranger was already gone.
Ling Feng was puzzled, wondering how the stranger had left.
With a mind full of questions, Ling Feng returned to his room. This time, under the bright light, he carefully examined the package. To his astonishment, he found that both the sender and recipient names were his own. He was dumbfounded.
Ling Feng shook his head and sighed, thinking, “Whoever sent this package must have been careless, even filling in the sender’s name wrong. Now I have no idea who sent it. Oh well, let’s just open it and see what’s inside.”
The package was quite heavy, and Ling Feng wondered what it contained. After some effort, he finally revealed the contents: a small, square metal box, sealed tightly as if it contained something valuable.
Seeing the metal box, Ling Feng was momentarily stunned, then filled with curiosity, he opened it.
As soon as he opened the metal box, a blinding light burst forth, startling him. At that moment, he felt a sharp pain in his head, and then everything went black as he collapsed on the living room floor.
In a daze, Ling Feng found himself in a strange and eerie place. It was vast, and although he couldn’t see the surroundings clearly, he could sense its expanse.
Ling Feng stood there, terrified, not daring to move. Everywhere he looked, there was a thick, gray mist. He couldn’t see the sky above or the ground below. Everything around him was shrouded in a dense, endless fog.
Terrified by the bizarre scene, Ling Feng screamed, but there was no response. He wanted to escape, but the heavy fog made it impossible to discern direction. Finally, overwhelmed by fear, he was drenched in cold sweat.
At that moment, he noticed the fog in front of him rolling away, revealing a deep, dark passage. At the end of the passage, a tall, black figure appeared.
The figure, though far away, suddenly stood five meters away from him in the blink of an eye.
Ling Feng, terrified, stared at the black figure, his breathing quickening. The figure, shrouded in black mist, was indistinguishable in appearance and attire. The mist around it constantly churned, revealing a vague human silhouette.
The black figure slowly extended a large hand, presenting a black contract to Ling Feng. A mysterious, ethereal voice echoed in his ear.
“Sign this contract with your blood, and everything in the Infinite Armory will be yours.”
Staring at the contract with its eerie runes, Ling Feng, suppressing his fear, asked in a trembling voice, “Who are you? Where is this place?”
The figure ignored his questions, repeating in a cold, eerie voice, “Sign this contract with your blood, and everything in the Infinite Armory will be yours...”
“No... No!”
Ling Feng screamed, turning and fleeing into the fog.
He ran aimlessly through the endless mist, but no matter how fast he ran, the black figure followed him like a shadow, the cold, eerie voice echoing in his ears.
“Sign this contract with your blood, and everything in the Infinite Armory will be yours...”
Finally, exhausted and cornered, Ling Feng could no longer bear it. He shouted in desperation, “Enough! I’ll sign the damn contract! Just leave me alone!”
In a fit of rage, Ling Feng grabbed the black contract from the figure’s hand and, without hesitation, bit his finger and signed his name: Ling Feng.
As soon as he signed, the surrounding mist surged towards him, flooding into his body. He felt a sharp pain in his head, but it soon subsided.
When the pain stopped, the mist and the black figure had vanished. Ling Feng found himself in a small warehouse, about ten meters square. On the far wall was a large LED screen displaying five words: Infinite Armory.
“Infinite Armory?”
Ling Feng muttered to himself, puzzled, “What is this place?”
Suddenly, the screen changed, and the black figure appeared again. Its cold, eerie voice echoed in Ling Feng’s ear.
“Ling Feng, remember, by signing this contract, you have taken on a mission of salvation. The Infinite Armory will help you overcome obstacles and fulfill your mission.”
Staring at the figure on the screen, Ling Feng was shocked and asked, “Salvation? Who do you want me to save?”
“Save those you are destined to save...”
With these words, the voice faded, and the screen went blank.
Buzz!
Ling Feng felt a sharp buzzing in his head, and then everything went black as he collapsed.
Gasping for breath, Ling Feng sat up on the floor, his chest heaving. He realized he was lying on the living room floor, drenched in sweat.
He looked around, realizing that the strange events in the mist were just a nightmare.
Relieved, he sighed deeply.
Suddenly, he remembered how he had ended up on the floor. He recalled opening the mysterious package and seeing a blinding light before passing out.
With a sense of urgency, Ling Feng searched for the package, wanting to see what was inside. But after searching the living room, he found no trace of the package or its contents.
He distinctly remembered opening the package on the coffee table, but now it had vanished without a trace.
Checking his phone, he was shocked to see it was already five in the morning. Five hours had passed since he received the package.
Ling Feng, bewildered, stared at the empty coffee table, recalling the nightmare. A chill ran down his spine, and his scalp tingled.
“What is going on? Was the package and the nightmare all just an illusion?”
His mind in turmoil, Ling Feng tried to calm himself. But then, a sharp pain in his head lasted for half an hour, leaving him exhausted.
Feeling drained, he yawned and went to bed, falling into a deep sleep.
