Lonelytree

  Millman97

  The bedroom suddenly became quiet. Fan Chong looked at Chen Ge’s face, forgetting what he was going to say.

  “No, that can’t be right……” After a long time, Fan Chong forced a smile. Every time he was with Chen Ge, he had to remind himself to be quiet and calm, but he often found himself being stunned by the words that left Chen Ge’s lips and the things that he did. “The door and windows of the old lady’s place are unharmed, and the child wouldn’t have shown up inside the room.”


  “Could it be that the child sneaked into the room when the old lady was out and had been hiding inside the room? And he’d only appear after the old lady crawled into bed and fell asleep.”


  “How come you’re making it sound so scary?” Fan Chong could not catch up to Chen Ge’s train of thought. He did not think that this would be that scary, but once Chen Ge gave his thought, his heart quivered.

  “I just stated the most possible scenario with the limited clues.”


  “Even so, what was the child doing at the old lady’s home at night? Prank? To steal stuff?”


  Chen Ge looked at the building opposite, his eyes focusing on the tapes. “It’s quite a heartless for a child to prank an old lady. The chance of it being a thief is bigger but not by much. By the way, was the child that the old lady saw a girl or a boy?”


  “Is that important?” Fan Chong combed his memory. “It should be a girl.”


  “A girl?” Chen Ge turned around and looked at the game that was playing on screen. “Could it be that Xiao Bu has returned?”


  The leap in Chen Ge’s thought was big. Before Fan Chong could get it, Chen Ge continued. “The first floor of the first building was where Xiao Bu’s classmate’s house was. If the game reflects reality, then Xiao Bu would show up there. After all, that is the door’s location.”


  He did not hesitate. “I wish to go over to the building to take a look. Do you want to come with?”


  “Now?” Fan Chong shivered. “You’re going there at 2 am?”


  “There are too many people in the morning, and that will limit our actions. It’s better at night.”


  “Boss Chen, it’s not that I’m a coward.” Fan Chong took up the cola from the table and took a sip. This seemed to be the way the man calmed himself down. “The old lady passed away soon after she saw the girl—she died from a sudden heart attack. When the ambulance arrived, they were already too late.

  “At the time, I was also there. I heard the medical people say that the old lady was too old, and the sudden heart attack meant that she shouldn’t have been able to make the emergency call. I didn’t think too much of it at the time, but after what you told me tonight, the more I think about it, the more confused I am. The old lady stayed at her place alone, so when she lost her mobility due to the heart attack, who was the person who called the emergency number for her?”


  “Didn’t this show that the child did not have any intention of harming her? Perhaps she was just passing by.”


  “Brother, aren’t you being a bit optimistic?” Fan Chong shook his head. “I don’t feel that safe going there now.”


  “Never mind then, you can stay here. We will keep in contact over the phone. If you see anything weird from the window, remember to tell me on the phone.” Then Chen Ge picked up his backpack and headed out. Fan Chong tried to stop him, but looking at his back, he did not know what to say. Chen Ge stood alone in the darkened residential area.

  From how Chen Ge saw it, it was just a coincidence that Xiao Bu opened the ‘door’. Even though the door was ultimately the reason Li Wan City had become how it was, the culprit was not Xiao Bu—she was technically also a victim.

  Chen Ge reached the first building. The first floor had two rooms, one on the left and the other on the right. The old lady’s home was the one on the west side, and Jiang Long’s was on the east side. Studying the rusted door, Chen Ge opened the backpack, activated the recorder, and pulled out his phone to call Fan Chong. “Fan Chong, I’ve entered the building. Now I have a question for you.”


  “What is it?”


  “Are there still tenants living in the first building?” Chen Ge gripped the hammer. If this place was already abandoned or all the tenants were on the top floor, then he was going to rely on violence.

  “A few days ago, I ran into the mother on the third floor at the market. There are still tenants but probably just two or three families.” Fan Chong’s answer disappointed Chen Ge. He released the grip on the hammer and zipped up the bag.

  “Why did you ask that?”


  “If there are still tenants, I have to be more careful.” Chen Ge walked toward the window. He held the bag, leaned against the window, and looked in.

  “Boss Chen, it’s 2 am. You’re leaning against the window. What if someone sees you? How are you going to explain this?”


  “If you keep this up, I’m going to hang up.” Chen Ge’s pupils narrowed. He used Yin Yang Vision to look inside the room. The place had two rooms and one living room. It was probably around eighty meters wide, and the decoration was very simple, but there were many handcrafted art pieces. It was very stylistic, and the people who lived there seemed to have a passion for life, happy people. The decoration was different from the story that Chen Ge knew and did not fit Jiang Long’s identity.

  “To open the door, one has to be completely wrapped in despair, from the heart to the body.” Chen Ge felt like when Jiang Long first met Xiao Bu’s mother, he probably promised something to make Xiao Bu’s mother fall in love with him. When the woman was feeling the haze of happiness, he changed into a different person, lavishing her with endless cruelty and despair. Chen Ge moved his gaze and saw the closet in the living room.

  The world outside the closet was filled with happiness, but behind it was torture and torment. This contrast was just like Xiao Bu’s game. Before the style changed, it was filled with color and sunlight, but once the style changed, the game became filled with ghosts and murderers.

  “The ‘door’ should be here.” Chen Ge walked past the few windows. He noticed the window at the bathroom was cracked. It had probably been hit by the children when they were playing with a ball.

  “I can get in through here.” Chen Ge used the hammer to make the hole bigger. He reached in to open the lock of the window. He jumped into the room. He summoned Xu Yin to follow behind him as he entered the living room and pushed the closet aside.

  “It’s similar to the game.”


  Underneath the closet was a wooden board that shared the same color as the tiles around it. After lifting it up, there was a hidden passage that led downward.

  “The space underneath here is quite big.”


  Chen Ge studied the wooden board. He felt like this probably was not the door that Xiao Bu opened. He prepared to enter the hidden dungeon to take a closer look.