The bedroom fell silent. Fan Cong stared at
"That shouldn't be possible…" After a long pause, Fan Cong forced a thin smile. Every time he was with Chen Ge, he told himself to stay calm, to keep his composure, but he still kept getting startled by the things Chen Ge said and did. "The old woman's doors and windows were all intact. There's no way that child could have just appeared inside the house."
"What if the child snuck in while the old woman was out, hid somewhere inside, and then came out at night after she fell asleep in bed?"
"How are you making this even scarier?" Fan Cong couldn't keep up with Chen Ge's train of thought. This really shouldn't have been all that terrifying, but the way Chen Ge laid it out made his skin crawl.
"I'm just reasoning from the limited clues we have. I'm presenting the most likely scenario."
"Even if that's true, what would a child be doing in the old woman's house in the middle of the night? A prank? Stealing something?"
Chen Ge looked at the building across the way, his gaze fixed on the seal on the door. "It's rare for a child to go out of their way to torment an elderly person. A thief is possible, but not very likely. Oh, by the way — was the child the old woman saw a boy or a girl?"
"Does that matter?" Fan Cong thought for a moment before answering. "I remember it was a girl."
"A girl?" Chen Ge turned his head and glanced at the game screen on the computer. "Could it be Xiao Bu, come back?"
Chen Ge's mind was making enormous leaps. Before Fan Cong could even process the thought, Chen Ge continued, "The first floor of Building One is where Xiao Bu's classmate's house is located in the game. If the game corresponds to reality, then Xiao Bu is very likely to appear there — after all, that's where 'the door' is."
He didn't hesitate any longer. "I want to go take a look at that building. Do you want to come with me?"
"Right now?" Fan Cong shuddered. "Going there past two in the morning doesn't seem like a good idea…"
"There are too many people and eyes during the day. You'd feel constrained doing anything. Night is better."
"Boss Chen, it's not that I'm a coward." Fan Cong grabbed the can of cola off the table and took a sip, as if trying to calm his nerves that way. "The old woman passed away not long after she saw that child. Sudden cardiac arrest. By the time the ambulance arrived, it was already too late. I was there at the time, and I remember one of the paramedics saying that given the woman's age, when a heart attack strikes that suddenly, it's nearly impossible for the person to call for emergency help. I didn't think much of it back then, but after talking with you today, the more I think about it, the stranger it gets. Only the old woman lived in that apartment. When she had the attack and lost the ability to move, who would have called for help?"
"Doesn't that prove the child she saw had no intention of harming her? Maybe they were just passing through."
"Brother, you're being way too optimistic," Fan Cong shook his head. "Going over there now… I just don't feel right about it."
"Fine, you stay here. We'll keep in touch by phone. If you see anything strange upstairs, remember to call me." Chen Ge picked up his backpack and headed for the door. Fan Cong wanted to talk him out of it, but looking at Chen Ge's retreating back, he couldn't find the words.
Stepping out of the stairwell, Chen Ge stood alone in the pitch-black residential compound.
"Liwan Ghost Town is rated three and a half stars in difficulty. The final opponent will definitely be stronger than Dr. Gao. If I can find Xiao Bu and get all the victims to unite, the success rate of this mission will go up dramatically."
In Chen Ge's view, Xiao Bu pushing open "the door" had been an accident. Although that out-of-control "door" was probably the root cause of Liwan Town becoming the ghostly wasteland it was now, Xiao Bu wasn't the culprit — she was a victim too.
Arriving at Building One, Chen Ge entered the stairwell.
The first floor of Unit One in Building One had a left room and a right room. The old woman had lived in the one on the west side; Jiang Long had lived in the one on the east.
Looking at the rust-covered, dust-coated iron door in front of him, Chen Ge unzipped his backpack, switched on the repeater, and took out his phone to call Fan Cong.
"Fan Cong, I've entered the stairwell. There's something I need to confirm with you."