Chapter 6 The Second Story (2)

  Lao Chu's body hair stood up all at once, this is the third person asking himself what he saw, what did he see? It was just a oil painting like a mirror or a colorful picture, and then there was the little boy in the painting.

  As soon as he thought of that little boy, Old Chu couldn't help but recall his smile. Just then, the migrant worker-like man leaned in and asked, "What are you smiling about?"

  Lao Chu was taken aback: "What are you laughing at? I didn't laugh."

  That person leaned in closer and said, "You smiled, you smile just like that." As he spoke, he cracked a faint smile at him. Old Chu was startled and took several steps back. This smile was too familiar, exactly the same as the little boy's in the painting.

  That person however 'pressed' even closer, staring into Old Chu's eyes, saying word by word: "Don't go up, whatever you do don't go upstairs."

  Lao Chu almost crawled into his own house, as someone who had received higher education, he naturally didn't believe in ghosts or gods, let alone that he often worked until midnight and hadn't encountered any legendary paranormal events. But for some reason, the migrant worker-like person made him feel a pang of fear, no, perhaps what he feared was that smile, the little boy's smile in the painting.

  Lao Chu didn't have the heart to sort out his gains for today, instead he lay on the "bed" with the light on, staring at the ceiling with wide eyes. The clock struck twelve again, and just then, the sound of a glass ball falling came from upstairs once more.

  Lao Chu's heart suddenly tightened, and he sat up from the "bed" with a start, looking up at the ceiling as if trying to see something there, but of course, nothing could be seen. The "dang dang" sound still showed no signs of stopping, and this noise gradually grew louder, as if the glass ball had fallen not on the floor of the top of the building, but into Lao Chu's heart. Lao Chu finally couldn't bear it anymore, rushed out of the room and pressed the doorbell of the ninth floor again.

  This time it was the male host who opened the door. Seeing that it was Old Chu, he first froze for a moment, then very warmly invited him into the house.

  The candles in the room were still lit, and their color was still white. The little girl sat on the sofa with her head down, looked up at Lao Chu when he came in, then continued to play with her toys with her head down.

  Lao Chu couldn't help but glance at the mottled colors on the wall, but this time he didn't dare to look for long. The male host saw Lao Chu looking at the wall and suddenly smiled, asking: "What did you see?"

  Lao Chu was startled by the master's sudden smile and hastily retreated a step, saying: "Your child is playing with glass balls again."

  The host said "ah" and apologized repeatedly, turned around and walked back into the house. After a while, he came out and said: "It's okay, it won't happen again next time. The child doesn't understand things, I'm really sorry."

  After saying a few words, the "da da" sound in Lao Chu's ear gradually disappeared. He had always had an inexplicable fear of this room upstairs and didn't dare to linger. Seeing that the master had already persuaded the child, he stood up and bid farewell, and when he walked to the sofa, he smiled slightly at the little girl.

  Just as he looked up, the male owner was full of terror, pointing at him with his hand, and even his voice trembled: "You... what did you see?"

  Since he last saw the color on that wall, this was the most frequently asked question Lao Chu heard, but for some reason, he didn't know how to explain to others what he had seen. At this time, seeing the male owner's terrified face, he couldn't help but look at that wall again.

  In the painting, it was still this room, on the sofa, sitting wasn't that little girl, but the little boy old Chu saw last time, he held a glass ball in his hand and opened his mouth to laugh at old Chu.

  Old Chu let out a loud cry and couldn't care less about saying anything to the male owner, turned around and ran out of the house. In the chaos, he almost knocked over the screen at the entrance. He ran into his own room in one breath, sat on the edge of the bed, panting heavily. The "thud" sound from upstairs had stopped, but the smile of the little boy in the painting was getting clearer and clearer in his mind. This was a strange kind of fear, because you didn't know what it was or why it was like that.

  Just then, "ding dong", the doorbell rang.

  Lao Chu was startled by the sudden ringing, and reflexively grabbed an iron hook beside him, walked to the door and asked: "Who is it?"

  A soft voice outside the door said, "Uncle, it's me."

  It was the voice of that little girl, Old Chu let out a sigh of relief, opened the door, and the little girl was still wearing a black nightgown, standing at the door with her head raised looking at Old Chu. The black color and the whiteness of her skin gave people a strange feeling, in an instant, Old Chu's heart rate accelerated involuntarily.

  Lao Chu asked: "What brings you to find me?"

  The little girl looked up and asked: "Uncle, what did you see?"

  Lao Chu's face turned pale in an instant, and at this moment, the little girl said again: "Uncle, actually I don't have a brother, my dad only has me as his daughter."

  "What did you say?" Old Chu was startled by this sentence. If the little girl was telling the truth, then her father might be suffering from a serious mental illness. Many patients with delusional disorder have similar symptoms to this. Thinking of this, Old Chu temporarily forgot about the painting on the wall and the little boy, bent down and asked: "Is what you said true?"

  The little girl nodded, and Old Chu thought for a moment before saying, "Uncle will take you to find the police tomorrow. You shouldn't get too close to your dad."

  The little girl nodded and said: "Thank you, uncle, you are really good to me. Then I'll go up first."

  Lao Chu was worried about the little girl's safety, and he had a kind intention to let her stay overnight at his place, but first, her father might not agree, and secondly, he didn't know how to bring it up, besides, they had been together for so long, staying one more night wouldn't make any difference, he thought, tomorrow he would take her to the police station and explain everything clearly, then let the public security bureau arrange her future life.

  Thinking like this, I felt a lot more at ease in my heart, and the initial unease gradually faded away. To outsiders, the home of a "neurasthenia" patient always seems inexplicable, perhaps being in such an environment unknowingly affected me, making me become nervous too, what I saw must have been hallucinations.

  With this idea, Lao Chu slept very soundly. In a daze, it seemed like someone was standing in front of his bed. Lao Chu was startled and quickly turned on the light, but he didn't see anything.

  Perhaps it was because he had been too tense lately and hadn't rested well, Lao Chu thought to himself as he lay back down on the bed. The scare from earlier had completely dispelled his sleepiness. Lao Chu lifted his head to gaze at the ceiling, thinking about the little girl's situation, and in his heart, he felt a deep sympathy for her.

  Just then, Old Chu suddenly thought of a problem, the more he thought about it, the more frightened he became, and gradually his body began to tremble, cold sweat dripping from his face, but Old Chu had no heart to wipe it away, because just now, he discovered a place that he had overlooked:

  This little girl is really too short, it's impossible for her to reach the doorbell by herself. At that time, I went out to take a look, and there was only one little girl, and she had nothing in her hands, nor were there any tools around her that could be used. How did this doorbell ring?

  He hastily packed up his things, and Old Chu opened the door and rushed out. Although it was only slightly bright outside now, he no longer had the guts to stay here any longer.

  Lao Chu is not a timid person, and once even picked up a package full of dismembered bodies while collecting trash in the middle of the night. After the initial shock passed, he calmly called the police to report it, and afterwards, this incident did not leave any 'shadow' on his work. He still picks up and opens abandoned packages, but all fear comes from the unknown, and everything that happens before him has exceeded his cognitive range.

  Looking out of the window on the corridor, the distant streetlights are reflected, and this faintly bright sky actually shows a strange pale color, which is somewhat familiar, just like... that little girl's face.

  Lao Chu couldn't help but wonder why, at this critical moment of escaping for his life, he still had the leisure to think about these things. But these thoughts were uncontrollable, brewing in the depths of his heart. With each step down the stairs, it seemed as if he saw that little girl standing at the entrance of the staircase, her black hair slung over one shoulder, her pale face tilted upwards, looking at him.

  This inexplicable idea made Old Chu even more frightened, and his feet moved faster. The midnight corridor was empty, and even though Old Chu wore his work sneakers, the "shhh" sound they made on the stairs seemed especially loud at this time. As Old Chu walked faster, the rhythm of the "shhh" sound also quickened, and gradually it seemed to transform into a "thumping thumping thumping" sound that was no longer coming from underfoot but from within his heart.

  Lao Chu hastened downstairs with all his might, the familiar staircase now seeming unusually long. Just then, his hand was suddenly grasped tightly by an icy hand from behind, which had a firm grip on his wrist.

  Colder than ice, this was Old Chu's only feeling at that moment. He was so scared that he didn't have the strength to call out. The book said that when people are in danger, they will fall into a coma due to self-protection, but Old Chu felt that every nerve in his body became extremely sensitive. At this time, a face came up from behind and asked in a low voice, "What did you see?"

  The male owner upstairs.

  He tightly grasped Old Chu's hand, looked around cautiously and asked in a low voice with unusual tension: "Did you see TA?"

  Lao Chu Zhang opened his mouth, but could only make a few dull and meaningless sounds from the bottom of his throat. This sudden fear made him more nervous, but he couldn't control his muscles freely anymore.

  The master continued to lower his voice: "Why did you laugh at that time, did you see him?" His voice let Old Chu know that the master was also afraid, just like himself, but he didn't understand what the master was afraid of.

  Lao Chu didn't know which "ta" the male owner was referring to, he saw both "him" and "her". With a surge of unknown strength, Lao Chu finally managed to force out a mouthful of turbid air and asked: "Who did you see?"

  The master's face became even more tense, his hands grasped tighter: "You must have seen her!" He stared into Old Chu's eyes, word by word: "I only have one son, never had a 'daughter'!"

  "Thud... thud thud thud thud", the empty corridor suddenly echoed with this strange sound again, not in my heart, but above my head.

  The "thud" sound from the top floor was terrifying in this dead silent and pitch-black corridor, and the "thud" sound gradually got louder and closer. The male owner held Old Chu's hand and said, "It's Xiaowei, I'll go take a look."

  Just as he let go and turned around, Lao Chu shouted loudly and rolled down the stairs to the ground floor. Fifth floor... fourth floor... third floor... almost there, just about to reach the bottom, that man didn't catch up, from now on I'll never come back again, Lao Chu thought to himself.

  Second floor... first floor! We're finally here!

  Lao Chu's nerves, which had just relaxed a little, suddenly tensed up again. At the foot of the stairs on the first floor sat a man, it was that migrant worker.

  "What did you see?" The worker grabbed Lao Chu with one hand, his hands colder than the male owner upstairs. The expression on his face betrayed his inner heart, and he was more afraid than the male owner.

  Lao Chu was unable to respond, he was already panting heavily. The migrant worker leaned in and said: "Don't go up anymore, the ninth floor hasn't been built yet, it's very dangerous."

  Lao Chu didn't know what he was saying, but remembered the migrant worker's words "don't go up again", and as soon as his hand loosened, he immediately escaped from this place, never to return again, forever not coming back!

  The sky was already faintly bright, and this kind of hazy brightness made people feel a chill on their body. Lao Chu escaped from the residential area and didn't dare to stop until he saw old people doing morning exercises on the road, then he stopped and bent over, panting non-stop.

  "The ninth floor is not yet built, it's very dangerous!" The worker's words echoed in Old Chu's ears. Old Chu looked at the high-rise building in the distance of the residential area, he lived on the 8th floor, and above that was the 9th floor, he had already gone up twice, how could it not be built yet?

  The high-rise building was right there, but he seemed to be unable to see anything clearly. An old man who had been out for an early exercise ran past him, and Lao Chu grabbed hold of him: "Tell me, how many floors does that building have?"

  The old man looked at him strangely, but still didn't mind the rudeness of the person in front of him. He looked in the direction that Old Chu was pointing and said: "You want to buy a house there? It's better not to buy it, although it's cheap. During construction, a worker died, supposedly because the developer modified the design to build an extra floor, which led to the accident. Young man, it's better not to buy here, it's unlucky."

  Lao Chu's body became increasingly cold, he rudely interrupted the old man's words and loudly asked: "Tell me how many floors there are?!"

  The old man was startled, although he felt uncomfortable in his heart, but still told him the answer: "There are only 7 floors in all the houses in this community."

  7th floor? The place I live in is clearly on the 8th floor, how can there only be 7 floors? Lao Chu's head started to ache, this place was filled with too many unimaginable things, he didn't dare stay here anymore, not even daring to take a glance from afar.

  Although some people had already started exercising early, it was still a bit too early, and there were not many people who got up to exercise. Lao Chu sat on a stone bench in the park, and even though it was summer, the early morning air still carried a chill. A gust of wind from somewhere made Lao Chu shrink his body involuntarily, just as a "thud" sound came from behind him.

  An old Chu suddenly jumped up, and behind him stood a little girl wearing a black nightgown with a head of long black hair draped over her shoulders. She looked up at Old Chu: "Uncle, why don't you play with me anymore?"

  She remained like that, her face still pale with an unnatural pallor. Old Chu was so tense he couldn't utter a word; he wanted to take a step forward but couldn't move at all.

  The little girl said softly, "So you don't want me either." Then she lowered her head and wiped the corner of her eye with her hand, as if to wipe away tears. In that instant when she lowered her head, an eyeball fell out and landed on the cement floor, bouncing up and down several times.

  The sound of "Deng... Deng Deng Deng Deng" rang out again.