Lonelytree

  Zuo Han looked to be in a hurry like he was being chased by something scary.

  “I have gone to Ping An Apartment yesterday night but you were not there.” It was not that Chen Ge did not want to help Zuo Han but he thought that Zuo Han was still too young, it was such a waste for the young man to put such a big risk on his life like this.

  “After leaving your Haunted House that day, I was targeted by the doctors from the hospital. To shake them off, I had no choice but to go to the Private Academy at the western countryside again and borrow the Single Eye’s power to stop them.” Zuo Han touched the wound on his face, the pain appeared to be able to help him maintain his temporary consciousness.

  “She helped you block the doctors and you have used your own body organs to pay in return?”


  “It is a very fair trade.” Zuo Han sighed in a soft sigh. “The tenants at Ping An Apartment are people like us, they are indeed trustworthy but unfortunately they are too weak. This world is not as simple as you think. All of my suspicions are getting proven little by little. We need Single Eye’s help. Her existence is a kind of threat but at the same time, she will be able to help us understand this whole city more objectively.”


  “Okay then, I will go with you.” Chen Ge glanced at his watch. “But I will have to leave before midnight because I have promised the tenants from Ping An Apartments to meet up at Li Wan Streets after midnight.”


  “Thank you.” Chen Ge initially wanted to leave the white cat behind to look after the Haunted House but to his consternation, the white cat jumped right into his backpack and refused to come out no matter what. It was as if it had already made the decision to stick together with Chen Ge no matter what. Unable to shake the cat loose, Chen Ge had no other choice but to place the white cat alongside his hammer. He carried his backpack and made to depart. Zuo Han did not quite understand Chen Ge’s series of actions but he did not comment too much on it.

  After leaving the Haunted House, Chen Ge planned to call for a cab but he was immediately stopped by Zuo Han. They walked down the small alleys that crossed the city. They walked for a very long time before they encountered a mini van parked at the end of an alley. “The driver’s man is Tang Jun, he is also a tenant from Ping An Apartments. He has lost most of his memory but according to what he could remembered, he used to be a race car driver.”


  Tang Jun was a very skilled driver. He drove the mini van along the routes where there were as little people as people and he managed to get Zuo Han and Chen Ge to Xin Hai Private Academy before 11 pm. For some unknown reason, this place had been abandoned for a very long time already. Once they stepped into the school ground, one could feel the howling winds, the temperature inside the school grounds appeared to be much lower than the temperature in the city.

  “Follow me.” This was not Zuo Han’s first time at the abandoned school. He led Chen Ge away from the education blocks and directly headed towards the multi purpose lab building at the back of the abandoned campus. The interior of the building was filled with chairs and underneath each chair was carved with the name of a student. The students wrote down their name under the chair probably because they were worried that they might mistaken their seat for someone else’s during a meeting but after the school was abandoned, these chairs with names on them looked more like tombstones standing in the dark.

  “The single eye is inside the lab building?”


  “Yes, but she herself has no idea why she likes to stay here.” All of the doors at the lab building were locked. Various kind of strange and cruel doddles were painted on the doors. It was as if something bad had happened at this private education institution before and the abandonment of the school was related to these things. There was a steel door that blocked the way from the third floor to the fourth floor. A bunch of broken chairs were piled up before this door, they looked like a mountain of broken limbs being stuck together. Zuo Han found a way through the mountain of chairs. He led Chen Ge and crawled their way through it.

  “We’re here, this is the place. After we enter this room, I need you to not say a word. The Single Eye has a strange temperament and she might be hostile towards you.” Zuo Han stood at the door to the dance studio at the fourth floor. After giving Chen Ge some brief advice, he pushed open the door to the dance studio. A stinging chill rushed at his face. When Chen Ge saw the state inside the dance studio, both of his shoulders could not stop shaking and his heart started to beat against his chest. It was as if he had been to this place before and this location was a place of importance for him.

  Inside the spacious dance studio, the walls were pasted with pictures that contains people whose faces were gouged out and there was a large ceiling to floor mirror at the end of the studio. All the windows were sealed shut by wooden boards and there were several chairs placed right in the middle of the dance studio. The enclosed space appeared oppressive and dark but there was also a melancholic air in the atmosphere. Zuo Han took out a small dagger from his pocket and he used it to make a small cut on the wounds on his cheeks. The hollow socket in his left eye started to leak blood. The fresh blood dropped one after another on the ground. Zuo Han held the dagger and moved to sit on the one of the chairs. “I am here to complete my promise with you.”


  The temperature inside the dance studio dropped again. The wooden boards over the window creaked noisily and the mirror at the end of the studio also started to have cracks over them. Moment later, even though there was no visible change in the dance studio, should you look at the large mirror, you would notice there was a woman with a single eye who had appeared inside the mirror of the dance studio. Inside the mirror, she ignored Zuo Han who was bleeding and at that moment, she was standing behind Chen Ge. His spine felt like it was frozen, Chen Ge could not make the most basic function of turning his head around.

  “It was me who made the trade with you!” Zuo Han used his remaining eye to stare at the mirror. He was rather confused. Single Eye had never taken such a deep interest in someone before. Just what was on Chen Ge that attracted her so?

  Perhaps she had heard Zuo Han’s voice, blood letters started to appear on the surface of the mirror—give me seven human lives and I will enter the hospital to help you retrieve the patient’s list. Seven human lives in exchange for Single Eye’s help once. Seeing this, Chen Ge frowned slightly. Single Eye who was hidden inside the abandoned school fitted his image of a baleful spectre perfectly, she was cruel, dark, scary and liked to toy with human lives.

  “Seven lives? Haven’t we already made our discussion yesterday night? I will give you my life and you will enter the hospital to help me steal out the patient’s list for Patient Number 1?” Zuo Han stood up from the chair. Fresh blood slid down the wound in his left eyes. Currently his face was covered in blood and he looked quite scary himself. The woman with the single eye in the mirror stood behind Chen Ge and did not move. She waved her hand and new words appeared on the surface of the mirror again—perhaps there is still another option for the two of you.

  “The two of us?” Seeing the choice of words used by Single Eye, Zuo Han already had a very bad feeling about this, “What kind of option?”


  More cracks appeared on the mirror and several ghastly characters then slowly surfaced—Give me Chen Ge’s left eye!

  Seeing the bleeding words on the mirror, both Chen Ge and Zuo Han felt incredibly unsettled.

  “How did she know that my name is Chen Ge?” Chen Ge was very confused about this in his heart. Zuo Han did not have the answer either. The Single Eye had shown much deeper desire in Chen Ge compared to himself. “Chen Ge’s one eye is equivalent to the lives of seven people?”


  This bloody transaction made Zuo Han sink into contemplation. His gaze wandered continuously between the surface of the mirror and Chen Ge. No one inside the dance studio spoke, everyone was weighing the pros and cons in their mind. Honestly, Chen Ge also wished desperately to take a look at the patient’s list of patient Number 1, he had a feeling that Patient 1 was related to the child who was split and stuffed inside the seven glass jars and Patient number 1 would be the key to solve this whole conundrum.

  “If I hand over my left eye to you, can you guarantee you will be able to sneak the patient’s list for patient number 1 out of the hospital?” Chen Ge was unclear about Single Eye’s ability but he knew that the ability of the hospital was not to be underestimated. Almost no one would be able to take them on single-handedly. Moments later, another row of blood letters appeared on the surface of the mirror—I cannot guarantee that but this will be your last chance.

  Even after sacrificing his left eye, there was no guarantee that they would have their hands on the patient’s list, that was when Chen Ge started to hesitate.

  “Chen Ge, the trade is cancelled. Let us go.” Zuo Han seemed to have realized something. He kept his gaze on Chen Ge and shot him a signal through his eyes and then he stood up and prepared to leave. Once the two men moved, the door of the dance studio shut on its own. There was nothing inside the room but both Chen Ge and Zuo Han felt like they were about to be squashed into thin slabs.

  “You will only be able to go away from this place after you leave something behind.” The single eyed woman inside the mirror stood among the blood letters. Her wounded pale arms slowly raised and Chen Ge’s body moved uncontrollably towards the mirror. It was like his body was out of his own control at that moment.

  “Chen Ge!” Zuo Han grabbed Chen Ge by his shoulders but he was unable to stop Chen Ge’s movement at all. Thus, he was dragged towards the mirror as well. Seeing the single-eyed woman inside the mirror, Chen Ge felt inside his heart the mixture of familiarity and unfamiliarity. The familiarity came from the scenario he was in and the unfamiliarity was regarding the person before him.

  The arm that the single-eyed woman raised reached forward. It touched the surface of the mirror and blood rippled. The pale arm that was covered in wound reached out through the mirror and attempted to grab at Chen Ge. His eyes narrowed and the single-eyed woman in Chen Ge’s gaze was slowly overlapping with another figure. As if subconsciously, the name escaped out of his lips before he could stop himself. “Zhang Ya?”


  When the name was mentioned, the hand that the single-eyed woman suddenly stopped. Her hand that was reaching towards Chen Ge’s heart dangled in mid air, in the end, she only took away a strand of hair from Chen Ge. All the bloody characters on the surface of the mirror disappeared. Zuo Han stood next to Chen Ge, his face was covered in blood. He could not believe that the cruel Single Eye had just left himself and Chen Ge go just like that. “Do you used to know the Single Eye? How come in that very moment, it felt like she was entrapped by the sensation of fear?”


  “We should leave this place first before we discuss anything further.” The moment the Single Eye reached out from inside the mirror had triggered a memory inside Chen Ge. When Zhang Ya’s figure overlapped with the woman with the single eye, it was as if he was struck by lightning, a feeling that had been elusive suddenly returned to his body. He was certain that Zhang Ya had once appeared using the very same method before.

  “There has to be some truths hidden inside the dreams that Zhang Ya has been having. Earlier when the Single eye heard Zhang Ya’s name, her expression had clearly changed. Just Zhang Ya’s name was able to shake her, this proved that Zhang Ya could possibly be a spectre that was much scarier than the Single Eye!” Since Zhang Ya was his partner, therefore, Chen Ge’s previous thought was more like he should be there to protect Zhang Ya, to stop her from getting injured but now he realized that might not be the absolute truth. “I will need to have a long and good chat with her.”


  Compared to Single Eye’s promise, Chen Ge now had a new direction. After escaping from Xin Hai Private Academy, they found Tang Jun’s mini van parked at the front. After they got into the van, both Zuo Han and Chen Ge only sighed in relief.

  “Was that a baleful spacetre? That was so immensely scary.” When Chen Ge was together with the tenants of Ping An Apartment, he did not feel too suffocated. Only after this encounter with Single Eye that he truly understood the horror of a real spectre.

  “Chen Ge, there is one thing that eludes me, why would Single Eye know your name? This should be the first time you two have met each other!” Zuo Han was still hung up on that question.

  “I have lost my previous memory, perhaps Single Eye was once my friend.” This was the only reasonable explanation that Chen Ge could come up with.

  “Your one eye is equivalent to the lives of seven people, a spectre will not lie during their trading negotiation. Looks like I will have to give this a serious reconsideration.” Zuo Han scratched his chin. “At the hospital, you were the most unique patient, the doctors had even used the other patients as the medicine to treat you. Now that we have left the hospital, even the spectres could see how special you are.”


  “Sometimes, I too have a feeling this whole city was purposely built for the intention of my treatment. All of the trace had been wiped away, only the things that the hospital wanted me to see was left behind.”


  Along the way, Chen Ge and Zuo Han had been conversing. After they left the hospital, they finally could talk and share their information without any worry of people listening in on them anymore. At around 12 midnight, Tang Jun drove Chen Ge and Zuo Han to Li Wan Street. This old street was located at the eastern side of Xin Hai. It was the final stop for the bus on Route 104. It was extremely secluded and normally people would not come to visit this place.

  “The tenants from Ping An Apartment should be here already, does any of you know how to contact them?” Chen Ge turned to Zuo Han and Tang Jun, both of them responded with a shake of their heads.

  “This is the first time I have come to Li Wan Street myself.” After Zuo Han got down from the car, he first surveyed the place around him. The streetlights on both sides of the streets flickered on and off and there was no one else in sight.

  “Guys, do you notice that all the shadows on this street are tilted?” Tang Jun who had remained quiet suddenly spoke. He tried to rake through his mind for some time. “Ever since we arrived at this place, I was overwhelmed by a sense of familiarity, it was as if I used to come to this place to race cars with someone.”


  “The shadow?” Chen Ge lowered his head to look and he realized something even stranger. All the objects and people on this street had tilted shadow but only his shadow was normal. “Something is not right.”


  The three of them walked down the street. The windows and doors of the buildings on both sides were firmly shut, there was no presence of human activity at all. Crossing down the whole street, they finally arrived at a residential area that was at the deepest part of Li Wan City. Once they stepped through the front door, their whole body was enveloped by a sense of chill. The inside of this residential area was completely different from the world outside. Feeling a pull in his heart, Chen Ge lifted his head subconsciously and he spotted a little girl in a red dress was staring at him from the window of a room on the fourth inside one of the apartment buildings. “That is Scarlet?”


  The door of the corridor was pushed open. The middle-aged man with the surname Zhou appeared at the door. “Stop wasting time. Get over here!”


  The three of them rushed into the building. With Ol’ Zhou leading the led, they were brought to meet Scarlet. Ol’ Zhou and Men Nan wanted to introduce Chen Ge but before they could say anything, the little girl known as Scarlet actively walked towards Chen Ge. She stood before him. Then she did something very strange. This girl in a bloody dress knelt down beside Chen Ge and her hands caressed Chen Ge’s shadow lightly. Moments later, she lifted her head and one after another grotesque blood collected into characters around her.

  “After I followed my instinct to come to this old street, there was a man with a normal shadow who was waiting for me here. He told me he was patient number 2 and he needed a help from me.” Seeing the revelation on the ground, everyone in the room was shocked. Everyone’s shadow at the street was titled, only Chen Ge and this mysterious Patient number 2’s shadows were normal.

  “What kind of help did he want from you?” The question escaped from Chen Ge’s lips before he realized it. His instinct told him the answer to this question would be immensely important to him.

  “He wanted me to become your shadow.” The blood in the girl who was known as Scarlet started to boil. Some of the mist in her old memory appeared to have parted ways.