chapter 5
As expected, her hand passed right through the Man, who looked no different from a real person.
The room should have been the scene of Liu Xue’s Parents weeping day and night after Liu Xue’s disappearance. Cheng Miao, as if stroking the air, did not cause any disturbance.
This must be an Illusion triggered by Cheng Miao touching some point.
Cheng Miao sighed. After waiting a while and seeing the two only repeat the same scene, she put the Diary she was still holding into her bag, planning to check out Room 401.
Without warning, Liu Xue’s Parents, who had seemed so real, suddenly vanished from the room.
Cheng Miao’s first reaction was to turn around, confirming that the classic horror movie scene hadn’t happened to her. Frowning, she pondered the reason for the sudden disappearance of the Illusion.
Her fingers accidentally touched the cover of the Diary in her bag, and Cheng Miao’s heart stirred. Could it be…
Sure enough, when Cheng Miao took out the Diary again, Liu Xue’s Parents reappeared in the room.
She decided to take the Diary to the Clinic for a look later. Deep in thought, Cheng Miao carefully put away the Diary, found a Small Knife for peeling fruit in the Kitchen, and tucked it carefully into her clothes.
Although she knew a knife probably wouldn’t harm ghosts, having a weapon in hand was always more reassuring.
Just as Cheng Miao was about to leave, a strong sixth sense suddenly flared up. She snapped her head up to look at the photo on the dining table.
The once innocent Liu Xue, who had been making bunny ears and smiling, had somehow lowered one hand, while the other stretched straight out, as if trying to crawl out of the frame. Her fingertips were so pale they looked a bit ghastly.
In the photo, Liu Xue bowed her head, her eyes hidden by thick bangs, her mouth stretched into a wide, eerie grin.
Cheng Miao stared at the photo in silence for a while, then walked out of the room expressionlessly, thoughtfully closing the door behind her.
“Stupid Game, screw you!” Cheng Miao silently cursed the Game eighteen times in her heart, tears welling up.
The door of Room 401 was covered in curses. Cheng Miao stared at the word “Human Trafficker” painted in oil and fell into deep thought.
Just as the Diary described, the people here firmly believed Aunt Li was the culprit.
Pushing open the door, she saw at a glance that it was the home of a single woman. The few photos in the house all showed a slightly plump woman.
Aunt Li, who lived in 401, must have been truly poor. There were only a few pieces of furniture, and the small wardrobe held only a handful of faded, washed-out clothes.
Poor and unmarried, she would have been looked down upon in that era. Cheng Miao could easily imagine how this middle-aged woman lived alone in her room every day.
The only thing of note was a few slightly curled drawings pulled from the wardrobe in the Bedroom, all clearly done by children-crooked family portraits and various little animals.
Cheng Miao noticed that each drawing had the author’s name written on it. These kindergarten assignments had been deliberately kept.
Seeing that many of the drawings were by Liu Xue, Cheng Miao shook the pictures thoughtfully.
A single woman, with many children’s crafts hidden at home-it’s hard not to think of something bad.
401 was truly bare. After searching several times to no avail, Cheng Miao found a spot by the front door-easy to defend and retreat from-stood against the wall, and took out Liu Xue’s Diary.
As soon as she took out the Diary, the simple room was filled with the Illusion of a slightly plump woman with some white hair.
There was no cruel scene as Cheng Miao had imagined; the Illusion in 401 was so ordinary it was almost dull.
Aunt Li first cleaned the house, then changed into a faded dark brown shirt. She carefully took a palm-sized Cake from the Cabinet and placed it on the coffee table.
No one knew how long Aunt Li waited. She kept glancing at the iron Alarm Clock, and finally, with a heavy heart, pocketed her Key and left the room.
Cheng Miao leaned against the wall, watching the Illusion loop once again. She had originally thought that each room would reveal the most crucial clue, but now it seemed that what appeared was actually the moment when the room’s owner was most emotionally agitated.
Thinking about it, Aunt Li rarely interacted with others, and the only person she could call a close friend was Liu Xue.
According to Liu Xue’s description in her Diary, on Liu Xue’s birthday, Aunt Li had planned to celebrate with her, but Liu Xue never showed up. Aunt Li knew Liu Xue wouldn’t break her promise, so she grew anxious and went out to look for her.
Everything was coming together. It was almost certain that, regardless of why Liu Xue disappeared, it most likely happened in that unremarkable Clinic Room on the second floor.
As for whether it was Aunt Li or Brother Xu, Cheng Miao would have to check the Clinic again to be sure.
While Cheng Miao was deep in thought, a girl’s coy laughter suddenly came from outside the door: “Hee hee…”
Cheng Miao turned around swiftly, only catching a fleeting glimpse of a figure in red outside the main door.
It was another red shadow, but this time it was much clearer than when she first entered the Instance. Cheng Miao was certain-something had definitely appeared just now.
That eerie, coquettish laugh sounded so close, as if someone was whispering right behind her.
Cheng Miao pinched herself, forcing herself to calm down as she analyzed the two supernatural phenomena that had already appeared.
The Illusion in the room was triggered by Liu Xue’s Diary, its purpose to provide clues to the Player.
The other phenomenon was the missing Liu Xue: from seeing a blurry figure at first, to hearing her voice, then noticing changes in Liu Xue’s photo, and now Liu Xue was gradually becoming corporeal…
The latter was clearly not as harmless as the Illusion. Its presence was like a countdown, warning Cheng Miao that when Liu Xue truly appeared before her, it would be the most dangerous moment.
A Wraith cares nothing for relationships-when the time is up, the slaughter begins.
There wasn’t much time left. What Cheng Miao had to do was race against the clock to survive.
With a heavy heart, Cheng Miao went down to the second floor. If Doctor Xu was the culprit, Cheng Miao felt a bit nauseated and curled her lip-so he was a pedophile hiding behind the mask of a benevolent savior…
The three children were still sitting on the Examination Bench. They had looked worried before, but when they saw Cheng Miao finally appear, their eyes lit up.
“Sister Miaomiao, you finally came down! Was there anything upstairs?” Er Gou jumped off the bench and ran over to Cheng Miao, tugging at her sleeve.
Cheng Miao calmly tucked the Diary further inside her clothes. “Nothing much, just dust everywhere. Looks like no one’s been there for a long time.”
Hu Zi curled his lip and whispered, “Ever since something happened at Uncle Liu’s house in Minsheng Lane, almost everyone moved away. No one comes here anymore.”
Cheng Miao keenly caught the key word. “Hu Zi, what else do you know? Tell me.”
Seeing Cheng Miao suddenly so gentle, Hu Zi scratched his head in confusion, not knowing why Sister Miaomiao’s smile didn’t seem very sincere.
“It was a long time ago. I overheard my parents talking about it.”
“My dad said that more than ten years ago, kids kept going missing in Minsheng Lane. He wondered if the criminals from back then had come back again.”
“My mom remembers that the last one to go missing was a Little Girl from Uncle Liu’s family. She had a lovely smile. Uncle Liu and Aunt Liu searched for her for over half a year. Later, Aunt Liu’s health failed, so Uncle Liu sold the house and took Aunt Liu away for treatment.”
“After that, Minsheng Lane was never peaceful again. People said they often heard the sounds of girls playing Jump Rope and laughing. Everyone got scared and moved away, and Minsheng Lane became an empty building.”