Chen Xi ran over without hesitation.
She prepared to go upstairs directly.
And at this very moment, Wang Ming looked at her obsequiously: "I... I'll follow you too, okay? I can apologize for hurting you before."
Li Wu's expression was calm, and she hooked her lips in a way that almost no one noticed:
"Of course, we are all colleagues. Chapter 13: Girl in the Box
It was a very reasonable choice for Li Wu and He Cunyu to each lead a team.
After all, only the two of them openly possessed Ghost Tools.
He Cunyu wanted to investigate the fourth floor to see what happened to Anna, who fell from the roof on the first day, but the fourth floor was locked with an iron door. Helpless, he had to retreat to the third floor.
Considering that Li Wu was still a novice and had to lead one cripple and one injured person, her exploration area was designated as the second floor. This way, if anything happened, she could return to the safety zone as soon as possible.
The stairs were not narrow, but excessively quiet. As they went upstairs, they could hear almost nothing but their own footsteps.
Each floor was isolated into a separate space by a door.
At nightfall, the upper floors plunged into darkness.
Wang Ming behind could only hop along, propped up by something. The regular sound of his single crutch landing in the absolute silence was somewhat eerie.
Chen Xi couldn't help but mutter: "You say your leg is crippled, why did you still run up here? You might as well lie down at the bottom... maybe you could lie until the end."
Wang Ming gritted his teeth and cursed: "Mind your own business!"
Suddenly, there was a "snap" from behind, startling both of them into instant attention, hugging each other.
"The door just closed, but now I guess we can't get down."
As Li Wu spoke, she found the circuit breaker, and the second floor instantly lit up.
Wang Ming was still closing his eyes and wailing: "Ah! Mommy, don't kill me!"
Chen Xi came to his senses, pushed the man away in disgust, and turned to find that the door at the stairs was indeed closed.
He walked to the door and tried to open it without success, "The door is locked."
"Yes, expected." Li Wu was neither surprised nor displeased. She simply grabbed a hair tie from her pocket and tied her hair behind her head into a small ponytail.
Her hair was already chin-length, and she dressed very casually. Her face wasn't particularly beautiful, but the most direct impression one got at first glance was neatness and coordination.
She observed her surroundings for a moment. The structure of the second floor was vastly different from the first.
Looking forward, it was almost an endless corridor, with rooms on both sides. The distance between each room was much smaller than the smallest bedroom downstairs. Each room also had a room inside, like the converted houses many recent university graduates chose because of the cheap rent.
It was like a small maze.
Li Wu casually entered a room and looked around. The internal structure of the rooms was almost identical.
A simple bed, a table, densely packed daily necessities, looking like a storage room... but Li Wu knew that people actually lived here.
Her eyes were sharp, and she saw a book on the table titled "The Appealing Rabbit." That was the story Anna had tried to get her to read last night.
She flipped through it casually. It was almost exactly the same.
She smiled: "It seems we need to find some clues in these rooms before we can go back."
Although these rooms had some minor differences in detail, they were almost all traces of a girl's life.
Now they were empty. No one knew what had happened in these rooms before.
Just then, she heard the sound of a box being dragged:
"There seems to be something under this bed, a very big box..."
Wang Ming found something under the bed. It was a huge suitcase, and it seemed to contain something, as it was extremely heavy.
"Be careful, this box... seems a bit strange."
And the moment Wang Ming unzipped it, a girl's scream came from inside.
This sound startled all of them and made them step back two paces. Wang Ming even sat down on the floor, his heart pounding: "Damn, there's someone inside!!"
This was something none of them had expected. The box... actually contained a living person! Was there someone else in the villa?!
Through the partially unzipped opening, a bloodshot red eye appeared. The pupil had shrunk to the size of a rice grain, filled with fear.
Such an eye was extremely creepy, making one's scalp tingle.
And this person kept speaking in a trembling voice:
"Don't... don't open the box."
"They'll see... they'll see me!"
"Please... don't open the box, please don't."
"Screw you! You scared me and now you want to hide? I'll pull you out no matter what!" Wang Ming didn't have such high moral standards. He cursed and was about to forcibly rip the zipper open.
The girl in the box screamed, pressing her hands against the zipper and yelling: "Ahhhhhh!"
The next second, Li Wu raised her hand and delivered a clean, swift chop to Wang Ming's back neck again.
Wang Ming fainted. Chen Xi's mouth widened: "Whoa, that move again."
Li Wu curved her lips and looked at him: "What, want to learn?"
Chen Xi's eyes lit up: "Can I learn?"
Li Wu: "Sure, just search for chop tutorials online later."
Chen Xi: "..."
Thank you.
Li Wu squatted in front of the box and soothed the other person's emotions: "Hello, it's okay now. We won't open the box, don't worry."
The girl choked, she seemed to be crying: "Thank you..."
Li Wu asked: "Why were you in the box, when did you get in, and who is 'they' you mentioned?"
Obviously, given the current situation, the girl in the box was not aggressive. If she could directly glean some information from her, it would be the best outcome.
The girl seemed hesitant, and it seemed that simple conversation wouldn't yield useful information.
It was clear that the girl had some mental issues.
Just then, Chen Xi suddenly spoke from behind: "Let me try?"
Li Wu looked at him and then voluntarily gave up her position.
Chen Xi adjusted his glasses. He had a plain appearance and looked like the oldest colleague in their group, with a strong sense of being a corporate drone.
He smiled and said, "Please don't be afraid," while pulling the last gap closed.
"Alright, now no one will see you. It's okay... we are very capable and can protect you. We came here to protect you, but we need to know how to truly implement that protection."
"If you're willing to trust us, you can try to tell us some information. Of course... there's no pressure."
Li Wu was a little surprised. She thought Chen Xi was just the comedic relief, but sitting there, he exuded a saintly radiance.
So blinding, almost made her eyes sore.
People often say that communication is an art.
Appropriately lowering one's own status and becoming gentle and harmless can pry open someone's mouth more effectively than a steel bar.
As expected, the girl who had shown fear moments ago finally began to cry.
"I... I don't know why I'm here... I don't know how long I've been here."
"I don't know anything anymore, I only remember my name..."
"My name is Anna. Chapter 14: Kill a Bird
Anna again?
Chen Xi turned to look at Li Wu. It seemed their confusion was the same at this moment.
This job was called "Anna's Room." Here... Anna died, Anna was the one they were talking to, Anna resurrected, and even the girl hiding in the box now was Anna.
If the Anna being watched by Nie Wei on the first floor was the same person, then what was the situation with this Anna in front of them?
Was it the same person?
Li Wu squatted down and asked Anna in the box, "Did you hide in here yourself, or were you put in here?"
Anna replied: "I hid in here myself. Outside... they can see me. No matter what I do, they will see."
"They see me when I get up and dress up, they see me when I change clothes, they see me when I shower. As soon as I step out of the box... I become a naked person, a transparent person."
"They are constantly scrutinizing me. Even if all the doors and windows are blocked, they will see me through any crack in the air."
"They infiltrate my life, every inch of my skin. They set up their eyes in my pores, wanting to see me completely clearly..."
The girl's voice grew weaker and weaker, her sobbing becoming increasingly suffocating.
After a brief pause, she spoke softly again:
"My counterattacks, my roars, even the sound of me smashing a vase into pieces... in their eyes, it was just a game, a game to amuse them..."
"I can't hide, I can't escape... so I hid myself in the box, not letting myself go out, and not letting them see."
"I can only hide myself in the box and not go out anymore."
"Perhaps I will starve to death in the box one day, but... I'd rather starve to death."
The girl panted, her cries heartbreaking, as if tearing open the listeners' senses, making them empathize with this suffocation and helplessness.
Her emotions gradually spiraled out of control, and the suitcase itself began to shake violently, indicating that she was becoming agitated due to her emotional release.
Chen Xi immediately comforted her: "It's okay, it's okay... If hiding in the box makes you feel safe, we won't make you come out."
"It's okay, we're listening, we understand your helplessness."
"It's okay..."
He patiently comforted the out-of-control girl until the shaking in the box gradually subsided, leaving only quiet sobs.
Li Wu felt extremely complex. Not to mention that they had seen the monster covered in eyeballs last night, but just listening to Anna's cries from the box made her feel sadness and pain for everything here.
They were not employees, just NPCs in this job.
Although she didn't know what those stares meant, she knew...
What was the best way to kill a bird.
It's when it squabbles and shouts, you write it as the bird singing.
It's when it curses and cries, you write it as the bird singing.
It's when it begs and groans, you write it as the bird singing.
And those gazes from all directions were killing these birds in this way.
Li Wu hid her emotions in her eyes, not showing much.
She looked at Chen Xi and said, pretending to be calm, "I didn't expect you to have such a way with things."
Chen Xi smiled with his head down, staring at the box with a loving gaze: "Perhaps it's because... I'm a father."
Li Wu: "You're married?"
Chen Xi's eyes were gentle: "My wife and I were childhood sweethearts. We got married two years ago right after graduating from university, and soon we had our child."
As he spoke, he took out a photo from his pocket.
It was not hard to recognize the family of three in the photo. The young couple held their infant daughter, each kissing the child's cheek on either side.
He said, "Cute, right?"
Li Wu nodded, but he didn't seem to need her approval. He smiled and talked to himself:
"I want to give them the best of everything, to let everything remain at that moment captured in the photo."
When he came to his senses, he realized his state was inappropriate and quickly apologized with a smile: "Sorry, I got a bit carried away."
Li Wu curved her lips: "It's okay."
The moment the words fell, the lights in the house suddenly flickered.
Flicker, flicker again, and then all light sources were extinguished, and extreme darkness descended silently.
"Power outage?" Chen Xi said in surprise, immediately realizing that this power outage was not normal.
At the same time, Li Wu said coldly: "Don't speak, observe the situation."
This was the second power outage they had experienced in this villa.
Last time, that monster appeared during a power outage.
Soon, there was a strong commotion from below, with banging sounds and the sound of slime slithering.
This meant the monster had returned.
They couldn't spare attention to what was happening on the first floor right now, but as long as nothing unexpected happened, Nie Wei would be safer than all of them.
Now, they should be worried about themselves.
The box in front of them, which had finally calmed down, began to shake violently again, and screams came from all directions in the room.
"Ahhhhhh!"
"They're here... they're here again!"
"Don't come near me, don't look at me, don't look here!"
These sounds came from various parts of the second floor, and there were as many as ten voices near them.
All of them were girls.
Their voices were similar but not identical. The only commonality was fear.
Fear that permeated their voices like blood.
Spreading and diffusing throughout the rooms.
Darkness deprived them of their sight, making these sounds exceptionally clear.
Chen Xi's back prickled as he leaned against the wall, only to feel a slippery texture on the wall.
When he reached out to investigate, he couldn't help but curse: "Damn! This wall... is full of eyes!"
Even Li Wu was startled by this scene because it wasn't just the walls that were covered in eyes; the floor beneath them was too.
She could feel the disgusting, slimy texture through her shoes.
But the most pressing concern at the moment wasn't these eyes that suddenly grew from the walls, but rather—
She heard the sound of a zipper being pulled.
The girl in the box continued to scream in terror:
"Eyes... eyes, those eyes are here again, they're covering the inside of the box!"
More and more zippers were being unzipped.
"Run!" Li Wu shouted. At that moment, something from behind suddenly lunged at them!
She skillfully dodged and then quickly pulled the stunned Chen Xi.
Chen Xi reacted immediately and followed Li Wu out of the room.
"Boom—!"
A bolt of lightning tore through the rain curtain, and the shadow reflected on the window was of a girl twisting and crawling out of a box.
Like a rapidly growing flower, rising higher and higher in the middle of the window.
Her body, having hidden in boxes for years, was twisted, and her joints were no longer in a normal human posture.
Her body was like irregular branches.
Her hair hung loose, and in the lightning, her eyes glowed with a seductive red light.
She shed tears, with a smile, and held a knife in her hand.
They said to the direction the two were fleeing:
"I finally found my eyes."
—Author's Note—
Kill a Bird is from "Zhou Changfeng's" Kill a Bird. Chapter 15: They are all Anna
The room where lightning caused the power system to collapse now had some light sources.
Under the strobe, the figures of Li Wu and Chen Xi darting away were like ghosts. One moment they were there, the next they were elsewhere.
The entire second floor was like a complex maze. With each flash of lightning, new changes appeared. The girls emerging from the boxes also increased near various doors as the flashes became more frequent.
Their bodies, already twisted like monstrous branches, were now increasing in number and gathering together. In the reflection of the night and lightning, they resembled trees with large fruits, their branches growing wildly.
Fruit opened its mouths. After not seeing sunlight for a long time, their teeth had become soft and fallen out. They mumbled something, their teeth chattering, as if stepping on the floor.
They, along with the eyes on the walls and floor, reflected a cold light with each lightning strike, coming from all directions, seeming to penetrate people's bodies, sending shivers down their spines.
Even Chen Xi, whose psychological resilience had greatly improved after a night's experience, couldn't help but get goosebumps and tremble uncontrollably all over:
"We have nowhere to run... They've blocked all the paths."
There were many kinds of death, and each was incredibly painful.
But if he had to choose the most painful way to die at this moment, he would unequivocally choose to wait for death.
They were cornered. They didn't know how many girls had been hiding in boxes on the second floor, but now they had no room to retreat.
Trapped, if there was no way to break through, they would truly die here!
Their breathing became heavier. Extreme fear made Chen Xi forget other emotions, but it also forced tears out of him.
"Do you have any other ideas? If you need my cooperation, just say it!"
Looking at the approaching girls, Chen Xi was surprised to realize that in such a dangerous situation, his first reaction was to rely on the woman younger than him.
"Be quiet, I'm listening." Li Wu raised her hand to silence him, frowning, and cautiously observing everything with the lightning flashes.
From the perspective of the "Eye of Scrutiny," neither of them showed any death taboos, meaning they were not in a desperate situation yet, and there was still hope for survival.
She noticed that the girls were constantly murmuring something, but their voices were too faint, and with so many of them, their words were jumbled, making the whispers unintelligible.
To understand what they were saying, one could only rely on their lip movements.
But they were getting closer, the nearest only two steps away.
Li Wu whispered into Chen Xi's ear: "If you trust me, stand in front of me and grab one of them."
"Me?" Chen Xi's face turned pale. Did she want him to grab these people?
These people... it was unknown if they could still be considered human.
Li Wu no longer responded, just tightly gripped her surgical knife, her eyes focused intently forward.
With a flash of lightning, she recognized a character and mouthed it out.
"I."
Lightning flashed again, and the women before them extended their hands, swallowing them whole like blooming flowers.
Their twisting fingers seemed to draw people in.
"found.