"What do you mean an unrelated figure appears in the films?" Chen Ge was going to visit that screening room later, so he wanted to gather as much information about it as possible.
"A lot of tourists who visit go to the screening room at night to watch movies, and they find that a girl appears in several of the films. She's in her early twenties, with long black hair and indistinct features — you can never make out her face clearly."
"At first the visitors didn't pay it any mind. They assumed it was a staff member's shadow, or that there was something wrong with the tapes. Until one day, a family of four came here on vacation. Their youngest daughter started crying the moment she stepped into the screening room, and the mother had no choice but to carry her out. The father and the boy stayed behind."
"They were watching an animated film that day, but as they watched, the boy suddenly asked his father why there was a woman standing at the corner of the hallway."
"The man didn't think much of his son's question. But a while later, the boy spoke up again, asking why that woman kept staring at him."
"The child's persistent questions finally got on the man's nerves. But with other audience members around, he swallowed his anger and simply told his son to stop making a fuss."
"The boy was upset. About ten minutes later, he suddenly burst into tears without any warning."
"The man scrambled to calm his son down, but the boy just hung his head, crying and crying without stopping."
"The father slowly realized something was wrong — his son seemed afraid to look up, as though there was something terrifying on the screen."
"He kept his wits about him. After the film ended, he first brought his son back to his wife, then returned to the screening room alone to try to find out what was going on…"
Chen Ge was listening with great interest when the man suddenly stopped. "What did the boy's father find?"
"The boy's father disappeared. Security footage showed that after he entered the screening room alone late at night, he never came back out."
"A perfectly healthy grown man just disappeared? Don't tell me you made this whole story up." Chen Ge stood up. "Where is that screening room? I want to go take a look."
Hearing Chen Ge's words, the corner of the man's mouth twitched slightly. He had intended to scare Chen Ge away, but the opposite had happened — the man seemed even more interested after hearing the terrifying story.
"Absolutely not! No way!"
"If you won't show me the way, I'll go by myself. It's not like this place is that big." Chen Ge picked up his backpack and looked the man up and down.
Regardless of whether the resort was abandoned or not, its management would hardly have left a blind man here alone to watch the gate.
"I just don't understand — why do you want to go to that place? Didn't you just say you were here looking for your friend?" The man grew agitated, trying to stop Chen Ge.
"I am looking for my friend. The last message he sent me before he went missing said he was at the Yongling Mountain villa area." Chen Ge's tone was completely serious, giving no hint that he was making it all up.
"Your friend disappeared here?" The man fell silent. He clasped his hands together, hesitated for a long time, and finally made his decision. "Fine. I'll take you there. If your friend isn't there, we leave immediately."
"Thank you." Chen Ge reached out to help the man, but the moment he touched him, the man jerked his hand away like a startled sparrow.
Chen Ge hadn't expected such a strong reaction. "Sorry, I was just trying to help you up."
"I'm fine. I can manage." The man stood in the darkness. Though his eyes were closed, he moved as though he could see everything around him, avoiding every obstacle with ease as he picked up the white cane behind the door and walked out of the room.
Chen Ge followed behind him, and the two made their way one after another through the strange buildings.