The familiar smell of cigarette triggered Chen Ge's memory. He was not a sentimental person, but at that moment, he stopped moving.
"You abandoned me and ran to such a dangerous place on your own. Just how many things are you hiding from me?"
He knocked lightly on the door, but there was no response. Chen Ge whispered, "Is anyone there?"
Just as he said that, a surprised voice came from behind the door.
"Mr. Chen?"
The chain behind the door slid, and the spring sprang open. After a long time, this seemingly normal door was opened.
Fan Cong, in his pajamas, stood behind the door. His face was streaked with tears. When this fat young man, who weighed more than 100 kilograms, saw Chen Ge, he rushed over to give Chen Ge a bear hug.
"Control yourself." Chen Ge took a step back. He could see that Fan Cong was very emotional.
"I knew you would come! Mr. Chen, I almost lost the chance to see you again! " As Fan Cong said that, there was a trace of a sob in his voice. He had many things that he wanted to tell Chen Ge, but he did not know where to start. He paced around the room, and his fat stomach jiggled with the movement of his body.
"Calm down first. Do you have your phone with you? We spoke on the phone a few hours ago. Let me see your call history. " Chen Ge was testing Fan Cong. When Fan Cong disappeared, he left his phone in the room. Later, Fan Dade used Fan Cong's phone to communicate with Chen Ge for a short time.
"It's not with me. I was in a hurry when I ran away, and I dropped it in the room." Fan Cong pointed at his extra-large pajamas. It did not have any pockets.
Chen Ge nodded and looked into the room. This was a very normal rented room. There was a bed, a table, an electric fan, and there was nothing special about it.
"Why are you hiding in this place? Who brought you here? "Chen Ge had always thought that Fan Cong had been kidnapped by the shadow, but from the looks of it, that didn't seem to be the case.
"Even I can't believe it when I say it out loud." Fan Cong moved his fat body away and walked to the window.
"Basement two, what's the point of fixing a window? Are you lying to yourself? "Chen Ge gripped the hammer and blocked the door.
"She brought me here." Fan Cong pulled open the thick curtains. The cement wall behind him had been painted with cheap watercolors. There were mountains, water, bright sunshine, flowers that would never wither, and smiling family members.
Chen Ge's gaze followed the movement of the curtains and finally stopped at the side of the window frame. There was a little girl sitting there.
Dressed in red, she stared blankly at the painting on the cement wall.
"Xiao Bu?" This was not the first time Chen Ge had seen this girl, but each time, the girl gave him a different feeling. There was warning, coldness, and this time, helplessness.
"When we were on the phone, it was she who brought me away." Fan Cong's eyelids twitched like he was still afraid when he thought back to that scene. "That night, it was not my brother who returned but someone else. I can't believe I did not notice it and stayed in the same room with him for so long."
"Your brother has been replaced by the shadow?" Fan Cong's words matched Chen Ge's speculation. "Did Xiao Bu tell you that?"
"Yes, my brother did not return that night, and now I'm worried about him." Fan Cong sat on the bed, and the old bed creaked like it could collapse at any moment.
Compared to his body size, the bed seemed to be even smaller.
"These beds are prepared for children," Fan Cong explained as he snuck a glance at Xiao Bu. He was also worried that he might collapse the bed.
"Prepared for children?" Chen Ge keenly captured the keyword in Fan Cong's words. "You told me on the phone that after the game was cleared, Xiao Bu entered this building. Is this building very special? It looks like the interior is no different from the other buildings in Li Wan City. "
"I also heard that from Xiao Bu. Many years ago, there was an epidemic in Li Wan City, and this building was the only one that was avoided by the patients."
"The only one that was avoided? What do you mean? "Chen Ge did not quite get it.
"It's a long story, but if you complete Xiao Bu's game, you'll understand everything. The game uses Li Wan City as its background, and it recreates the real Li Wan City at the time." Fan Cong had cleared all the side quests, so he was familiar with the game's plot. "Human nature is a complicated thing. It can be like the sun, sacrificing itself to bring warmth to the weak, or it can be like the abyss, dark and bottomless.
"The source of the epidemic was Li Wan Hospital. The hospital was helpless, and the few patients knew that they were not going to survive, so some of them started to take revenge. They placed their own blood and other things on the fruits and medical equipment, and soon, the epidemic spread.
"First it was the other patients, then the doctors, and then it spread to half of Li Wan City.
"The disease is rampant, and people are in a state of panic. Many of those who are sick seem to have gone mad. Even though they did not directly kill anyone, innocent people died because of them. They are not that different from those homicidal maniacs."
"At the time, the whole of Li Wan City was in chaos, but this building was different.
"Before the building was built, it was an orphanage. The developers thought that Eastern Jiujiang would develop quickly, so they bought the land and built a new building. At the time, they promised to build a new home for all the orphans and workers, and to preserve the existence of the orphanage. After the building was built, they found out that they used the first and second floor to house the orphans.
"After the outbreak, all the workers at the orphanage forbade the children from coming out, and they guarded the entrance that led underground. They had already made the decision to not let anyone in, including themselves.
"After one day and one night, the people from above came. No one knew the actual solution, and there was no information online. The game only said that all the orphans were rescued, and none of them were infected."
At this point, Fan Cong's voice changed. "To be honest, I have great respect for the workers at the orphanage. They can be said to be the only beauty in Li Wan City."
Humans were a very unique life form. Even in the dirtiest and ugliest environment, they could still bloom as a kind and beautiful flower.
"No wonder all the buildings have human-shaped stains except this one." Chen Ge had answered the first question, but then more questions popped up. "But in the game, why would Xiao Bu enter this building in the end? Does it mean that she is a kind person? "
Those who could open the door were in deep despair, and self-redemption was very difficult for them.
"You should have noticed the posters in the basement corridor, right? In the game, there was a side quest where a young couple entered Li Wan City. They found Xiao Bu and turned this building into Xiao Bu's shelter. " Fan Cong tried his best to remember the last few scenes of the game. "They wanted to help Xiao Bu, but they demanded that Xiao Bu agree to one of their conditions."
"Condition?" Chen Ge knew that the young couple that Fan Cong mentioned was his own parents. Smoking the familiar cigarette, carrying the Haunted House posters everywhere, wishing that the whole world would come to visit the Haunted House — only his own family would do something like that.
"Yes." Fan Cong turned back to look at Xiao Bu. Seeing that there was no reaction from Xiao Bu, he continued. "They hoped that Xiao Bu could become their child's shadow."
"Tell me more." Chen Ge narrowed his eyes.
"You've seen the dialogue in the game before. It's hard to decipher. The general gist is that their child's shadow has been lost, so they hope that Xiao Bu can become their child's new shadow. I know it's hard to believe, but that's what the game says. In the game, Xiao Bu did not agree immediately, so they built a shelter in Li Wan City. They said that if Xiao Bu made up her mind, he should enter the shelter to wait for them, and then they would help Xiao Bu deal with the shadow. "Fan Cong had no idea how big of an impact his words had on Chen Ge.
"To make a Red Specter as a shadow, I can't believe they came up with something like that." Now that Xiao Bu had entered the shelter, it meant that she had agreed to become Chen Ge's shadow, but his own parents not only did not follow through on the promise, they made him go missing. This made Chen Ge unsure how to face Xiao Bu. "Let's not think about it anymore. As long as I can kill the shadow, no matter who did it, I've fulfilled the promise."
Entering the room, Chen Ge walked to the window. Xiao Bu looked like she was only seven or eight. The blood red dress was a stark contrast to her pale face. Just by getting close, Xu Yin gave off a strong warning.
"She looks very powerful." This was the first time that Chen Ge had seen a door that had gone out of control. He had no idea what kind of effect the door would have on the door-pusher, but from the looks of it, after the door went out of control, the door-pusher would become scarier.
"It was my parents who made the promise with you. I am the one who lost my shadow."
Hearing that from Chen Ge, the girl, who had been spacing out, moved her lashes. She slowly turned around, and a pressure that made Chen Ge feel like he was suffocating came from before him.
"This …"
The red dress floated. Xiao Bu had no hands, and her heart was empty.
"This child is just like the door! Where the door was removed, other than the head being replaced with the heart, the other parts of the door correspond to her body. "
Looking at her silently, no one would willingly give up their freedom. Chen Ge finally understood why Xiao Bu had escaped into the shelter.
Resisting the pressure, ignoring Xu Yin's warning, Chen Ge took another step forward. There was pain in his eyes. "I'm not here because of the promise. You've been injured too much. I don't think I can experience even one thousandth of your pain, so I won't console you from the perspective of a bystander. I understand that consolation is futile."
"An eye for an eye. I will help you kill the shadow, and then you won't be alone anymore." Chen Ge stopped before Xiao Bu. He slowly squatted down and looked at the numb face. "The scenery inside this window is a painting. After dealing with the shadow, I will take you out the door. We will go to all the places you want to go and see all the sceneries you want to see."
Chen Ge did not bring up the promise again. He would not let Xiao Bu be his shadow.
Perhaps sensing that Chen Ge was not lying, Xiao Bu blinked. Blood leaked out from the window, and the blood gathered to form a few words — People without a shadow do not live long. Are you sure you don't want me to be your shadow?
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
