The iron handrail, coated in red paint, still bore the handprints of a child. The stairwell twisted downward in a spiral, and the steps were covered in a black-red liquid that stuck to their shoes with a sickly adhesive grip.
The windows in the stairwell had been boarded up with planks, half-finger-long iron nails protruding outward. A careless brush against them would slice open skin.
"This place is disgusting." Wen Qing was anxious to find Xiang Nuan, but even so, she frowned when she saw the stairwell ahead. "It feels like someone regularly drags huge amounts of trash up and down the stairs, leaking the whole way."
"You're thinking too simply. What kind of trash could form this black-red membrane on the floor?"
"Then how do you think it was formed?" Wen Qing picked up the white cat — she seemed afraid it might step into that revolting black-red liquid.
"Severely injured people, bleeding corpses — either could create a blood-colored film. Once the blood dries and solidifies, it gradually turns this color." Chen Ge stared at the traces on the ground, and for reasons he couldn't explain, his mind drifted to something that had happened a long time ago.
Back when the door in the haunted house bathroom stall first showed signs of anomaly, Chen Ge had heard the sound of something heavy being dragged on the other side of the door. An image surfaced in his mind.
A faceless, deformed monster, using some kind of tool to drag a corpse along a corridor, down the stairwell.
"This place is getting more and more unsettling. Let's go to the third floor first — stay careful."
Chen Ge gripped his backpack, every nerve taut.
He rounded the corner and had just reached the third floor when he heard a strange sound.
*Creak... creak...*
A door was being opened repeatedly, then closed.
"There's no wind in the hallway, and the windows in the stairwell are boarded shut. That door isn't moving on its own — someone is opening and closing it over and over."
Chen Ge leaned sideways to peer down the third-floor corridor. At the far end of the pitch-black hallway, a security door was swinging back and forth, producing a slightly grating noise.
"Should we go check?"
"Find Grandpa Huang first. Before we accomplish our goal, don't stir up trouble — an uncontrolled accident could happen." The moment Chen Ge finished speaking, the opening and closing sound stopped. He turned his head and caught sight of a small boy's face poking out from the room at the end of the corridor.
The child's neck was longer than a normal person's. His head jutted straight out of the doorway, his eyes locked unblinkingly on Chen Ge and Wen Qing.
"He noticed us." Wen Qing clutched the white cat. "That child's eyes are terrifying!"
"Ignore him. Let's go to the first floor."
Chen Ge tugged at Wen Qing to continue heading downstairs, but the peculiar child darted out of the room. He didn't speak — he just kept staring at Chen Ge and Wen Qing.
"We're not going to do anything about him?"
Wen Qing and Chen Ge went downstairs. The child followed. Only when Chen Ge realized they couldn't shake him did he finally give up.
He stopped, tightened his grip on his backpack, ready to pull out the Skull-Crushing Hammer at any moment.
"What's your name?"
His fingers had gone white from squeezing, and veins were already visible on the backs of his hands — yet even so, Chen Ge's voice remained calm and gentle.
"I'm Wu You. Are you here looking for someone?" The boy's voice sounded eerie, somewhat unnatural, as if he was stiffly imitating the cadence of another person's speech.
"He can communicate?" Chen Ge narrowed his eyes. He had initially assumed the child was mute — after all, making constant noise in a place this dangerous was no different from courting death.
"Yes, we're looking for someone." Wen Qing was too worried about Xiang Nuan and blurted it out.
"Are you looking for a little boy?"
"Yes! That's right!" Wen Qing's voice rose without her even realizing it. She was desperate to learn Xiang Nuan's whereabouts. "He's not very tall, cute-looking..."
"I've seen him." Wu You cut her off before she could finish, answering with absolute certainty. "He went downstairs."
"Downstairs? How do you know he went downstairs? Did you see it with your own eyes?" Wen Qing wanted to confirm.
"Mm, I saw it myself." Wu You didn't seem to be lying.
Wen Qing hesitated briefly, then looked at Chen Ge. "Should we hurry downstairs? If we go now, we might still catch up to Xiang Nuan."
"Fine." Chen Ge still felt something was off about Wu You. He didn't want to linger here and pulled Wen Qing toward the stairs.
"Wait — that little boy didn't go downstairs from here." Wu You had followed them again.
"Then where did he go downstairs from?"
"Through the window." Wu You pointed to the boarded-up window in the stairwell. "With a *pop*, he went straight downstairs."
He made a laughing sound like a sharp intake of breath and waved his arms excitedly. "I was sitting at home, the window was open, and he just went *whoosh* — right down."
"What are you saying?" Wen Qing's face went pale. If Chen Ge hadn't held her back, she might have lunged at the strange child.
"Don't rush." Chen Ge stepped between Wu You and Wen Qing. "This child lives in the innermost room of the corridor — that's 301. The rooftop directly above is 401, which is your apartment. So theoretically, what he's saying could be possible."
"Xiang Nuan would never do that!" Wen Qing answered firmly.
"I know. That's exactly why we should go take a look at his place." After speaking, Chen Ge stared at Wu You. If it was possible, he wanted to check inside every single unit.
"It's true — I really saw it. I never lie." Wu You let out that spine-chilling laugh again.
"Are your parents home? Can we take a look at your place?" Chen Ge asked in a low voice.
"My parents don't allow strangers in the house. But they're not home right now, so I can sneak you over." Wu You turned and walked deep into the third-floor corridor. Watching his retreating back, Chen Ge and Wen Qing finally noticed that Wu You walked very strangely — his legs were uneven in length, and his body was extremely uncoordinated.
After Wu You had gone a short distance, Chen Ge quietly asked Wen Qing, "Do you know anyone who looks like Wu You?"