Chapter 2 I saw a person

  Everything I saw was just an illusion, the only explanation for the inexplicable things I saw after meeting that young man, but now I see a doll that should have existed in the story "The Old Mansion" appearing in front of me. At this moment, I almost overturned all my previous judgments.

  I struggled to control my emotions, I felt that the young man had not deceived me, at least in his view, his purpose had been achieved. I was already lost in this world of unknown truth and falsehood, but there was one thing he hadn't thought of - that he had completely followed the hypnosis plan I had given him to design, although he made some minor changes, but at least most of it remained the same. That is to say, all the people I met before meeting him were under hypnosis, whether they were real or fake. And everything that happened after meeting him should be a real event in real life. So why did I see the doll that was supposed to exist only in the story here?

  I started feeling that the "Old House" I wrote back then wasn't so simple after all. Maybe my amnesia, maybe what young people kept asking me about that day - what exactly did I see? - were all hidden in this story.

  I don't know where that young man went, and naturally I also can't know which parts he modified. Otherwise, I would suspect that another person also knew this story - the idiot Mao who posted "The Old Mansion" on Tianya Forum. According to my previous reasoning, everything I've come into contact with so far is real. So as long as I find someone to help me search for it on Tianya later, I can know whether my guess is correct or not. Maybe I can also find new clues from him.

  But now I have to face the old man who is standing right in front of me.

  I stood up, pulled out a knife from my backpack, and crouched down to run quickly towards that place. I soon arrived in front of the old man who was sitting on a worn-out armchair with his head hung low. His clothes were tattered and despite the cold weather, I could smell the foul odor emanating from him, making him look more like a vagrant.

  The old man sat motionless, not even the natural movement of his body when breathing. I almost thought he was dead here, and was thinking about how to check him out, when he suddenly stood up and let out a loud cry: "Only one can live, only one can live!"

  I was startled by his sudden movement and jumped back, before I could go up to ask what's going on, the old man grabbed the doll and turned around to run away. I took off after him, but who would have thought that despite his age, he ran incredibly fast? I chased for a few steps and then lost sight of him. I didn't give up, turning around everywhere, but this place isn't big, with mountains behind the house, even if he didn't run into the mountains, there are nearly 300 shabby rooms here, and it's easy to hide somewhere where I wouldn't be able to find him.

  Unable to find the old man's trail, I could only walk back and forth in dismay. As I passed by the armchair placed in the deserted field, a sudden thought occurred to me: I sat on that armchair to look for new clues, so what was this old man doing sitting here?

  I looked at the armchair and couldn't help but want to sit on it, but for some reason I suddenly thought of a legend that had been passed down for a long time. I always thought it was nonsense, saying that if you stand in the middle of the rice field at dusk, wear a conical hat, and look north, you will see the legendary ghost.

  It's now dusk, the sky is gradually darkening, the direction of the armchair I'm facing is north. I don't have a straw hat, but I'm wearing a cap. The land under my feet was originally a field. Fengmen Village has a very strange custom, which is that people who have died like to be buried around the house, saying that people die without leaving the village. And every person buried will wear a mask on their face, it's said to be for calming down the yin soul. If I sit here and look over, what would I see in the room where I was just now?

  I don't know what's wrong, but after coming to Fengmen Village, I, who had started anew and no longer believed in ghosts, couldn't help but start thinking wildly, and every time it was related to ghosts. Unconsciously, a cold sweat broke out on my body. Maybe choosing that house wasn't a good choice. I planned to take out all my luggage and change places. Perhaps the temple in the village would be a good choice. It's said that temples are used to suppress evil spirits.

  Looking at the armchair, I gritted my teeth and sat down. My heart was racing violently. The house in the distance was right in front of me, the armchair was still there, with a strand of sunset shining through the window onto it, a warm and cozy scene, no ghosts, nothing scary.

  I let out a sigh of relief, silently blaming myself for thinking too much and scaring myself. Then I prepared to go back and get my luggage. With both hands pressing on the armrests of the chair, I habitually lowered my head, preparing to stand up with force. Suddenly, I found that there was a mirror under my feet. My heart suddenly skipped a beat: when the old man sat here, he wasn't looking at me, but had been lowering his head all along. Then what he was looking at would be this mirror?

  I adjusted my sitting posture, learning from the old man's example, and then lowered my head. I finally saw clearly the image in the mirror, and I was so scared that I let out a loud cry and jumped up, but just at this moment, I found someone standing in front of me.

  That person was also startled by my appearance, I immediately came to my senses and saw that the person was holding a knife in his hand. Instinctively, I wanted to turn around and escape, but for an instant, I suddenly thought that this scene was so familiar, just like earlier when I was with that old man.

  I stood still, starting to size up the person in front of me. He was about my age, much taller and larger than me, also wearing outdoor sports attire. But as I looked at him, I felt like I had seen him somewhere before. And when he got a clear look at my face, his expression immediately filled with astonishment.

  This person must have seen me! I made a judgment in my heart, but my memory didn't have this person. It seemed like there was only one explanation - that this person knew me before I was hypnotized. My heart began to get excited uncontrollably and said: "Hello, are you also here for an adventure?"

  The tall guy's face flashed a look of surprise, then he stretched out his hand and shook mine, nodding and saying, "What a coincidence, I originally thought that only I would come to this place alone during this season."

  His words were clearly distrustful of me, and what struck me as strange was that from his expression, he obviously recognized me, so why didn't he greet me?

  I now want to get my past life out of the tall man's mouth, so despite having doubts in my heart, I ignored his coldness and spoke to him as if we were familiar with each other. At the same time, when he wasn't paying attention, I used my foot to push that mirror into the weeds at the edge, I don't want anyone to see the scene inside the mirror.

  The tall man seemed to be on his guard against me, took a step back and kept his distance from me, then turned around to stare at the armchair, walked around it for several times, and asked: "What were you doing here just now?"

  I really dislike this condescending tone, and I couldn't help but feel a surge of anger in my chest. In a cold voice, I said: "This isn't your home, do I need to report to you what I'm doing here?"

  As soon as I finished saying this, I clenched my fists and became fully alert, afraid that he would get angry and come after me. He wouldn't go so far as to kill me, but a beating was definitely possible. What was unexpected was that the tall guy didn't say anything, just looked at me and then sat down in the armchair, staring straight ahead.

  That small mirror was just at his feet in the withered grass, I was afraid of being discovered by him, so I deliberately asked coldly: "What did you see?"

  As soon as the words came out, I was suddenly shocked. Recently, this sentence seems to have always appeared around me, whether others asked me or I asked others, this sentence is almost the one I heard the most.

  At the moment I said this, I seemed to feel that the tall one was also startled by my words, his body stiffened obviously, and then he said stiffly: "I saw a person."

  I was greatly surprised, and hastily walked to the front of him, half squatting my body. I saw that in the only house facing south and north, on that armchair, there was a person sitting.