The dim light reflected the faces of the people, and the ticking sound of the clock represented the passing of time.
When the hands crossed again, everything appeared to have returned to many years ago. All the dead carried their memories and pain and started this journey that was destined to end all over again.
"Every butterfly is the ghost of a former flower, it has returned to find itself."
The reader closed the book. She leaned against the sofa and looked weakly at the people around her.
She rarely attended such gatherings. The reason she came this time was that her favorite author had invited her.
Her eyes sneaked to the author who sat in the corner. The man was as quiet and silent as usual.
"I don't understand it. Just because of a letter, we have to come to this kind of place?" The student crossed his arms before his knees. He removed his earphones. "I'm not interested in whether there are ghosts in this world or not. If you want to prove it, then you can stay here and prove it yourself."
"There are no ghosts in this world, only people who pretend to be ghosts." The thug stood at the door. His broad and muscular back leaned against the door. "Before we capture that person, no one is allowed to leave this building."
"The person it wants to kill is me, why are you so panicked?" The doctor snuffed out the cigarette. There was a trace of gloom and displeasure in his eyes. "I don't know whether there are ghosts in this world or not, but if there are no ghosts in this world, then the person who wants to kill me should be inside this room, one of the eight of you."
"But why would it want to kill you?" Uncle Lee did not even raise his head. He looked at the medicine bottle in his hand. "Have you done something behind our backs?"
"I just hope to cure all of you." The doctor stared at Uncle Lee like he was trying to confirm whether he was the killer or not.
"I'd advise everyone to stay put for the time being. This building is indeed not safe." The teacher's voice was gentle, but there was a trace of anxiety and deeply hidden fear in the gentleness. "I've asked around. The neighbors say that this place is not clean. Many people have died for no reason. People from other places like to come here to commit suicide. It feels like this building is a black hole that keeps attracting the dead."
She tried her best to persuade everyone not to wander around. She wished for everyone to stay in a safe room, away from danger. "Those people's deaths are probably not just accidents. There are many scary stories circulating around this building, like monsters with a pig's face, the stench that can't be washed away no matter what kind of cleaning agent you use, the suicide victims who tried to climb up the stairs even after their bodies were torn apart, and so on. In short, whether there are ghosts in this world or not, we must be careful. "
"We are not the only living people in this building. Aren't the other residents alive and well?" The student walked to the door, but the thugs refused to give way. The student was not afraid of ghosts, but he was afraid of thugs.
Regarding the existence of ghosts in this world, the people in the room had different answers. None of them could convince the other. After a long argument, the doctor suddenly turned to the silent author.
"Author, you were the one who first saw the letter and you were the one who accepted the invitation. So what do you think the person who wrote the letter is? Or is it a person? "
The doctor was a very clever person. Every word he said seemed to carry a hidden meaning.
Even though he did not say it out loud, everyone there heard something in the doctor's words. The doctor appeared to be suspecting the author.
Perhaps due to the unstable voltage, the lights in the room flickered several times.
Everyone turned to the author who sat in the corner. Compared to the others in the room, he had a unique presence about him, it was hard to describe with words.
It was as if there was a rope made from a mixture of rationality and madness hanging around his neck. This rope dangled from heaven and was slowly tightening. As it was about to strangle him to death, it also brought him closer to the answer.
Lifting his head, the author glanced at the doctor. His gaze caused the doctor to subconsciously evade it.
"If I was the one who wanted to kill you, it would be the 8 of us huddled around a dead body, discussing why you would commit suicide."
There was no unnecessary explanation but it was convincing. There was no reason to argue with him.
"I accepted the invitation to finish my book, this place is very suitable for me to end my story."
The lights in the room flickered again. When the author spoke, footsteps came from the corridor outside the door. A faded stench seeped in through the gap of the door. It was as if all the abnormalities would only appear when the author spoke.
The doctor stared at the author for a long time. His facial expression changed several times before he finally returned to normal.
He acted like nothing had happened and changed the topic. "My experience is a warning to everyone. The killer is using various scary rumors to kill people. After you leave this place, stay in your room quietly. Do not leave your room before dawn …"
Just as the doctor finished, a strange sound came from the living room door. It sounded like someone was scratching at the door with their nails. Everyone could hear the sound of the wind chime. It sounded like it was coming from Room 401.
Following the chime, a horrible stench came from every corner of the room. No one knew where the stench came from, it was as if the room itself was a dead body.
The student started to dry heave. The teacher and readers frowned. Ah Meng covered his mouth and nose. Only the doctor, the author and Uncle Lee looked normal.
The discussion about the ghost and killer was fruitless. The discomfort on his body became more obvious. The student looked left and right, trying to find the source of the stench. Ah Meng put down the pen in her hand and her face was red.
Finally, the student could not stand the stench anymore. He pushed the thug away. "Do whatever you want to do, don't drag me into this. I'm going back to my room."
The student grabbed the doorknob. Just as he was about to open the door, another hand pressed against the door.
His eyes followed the hand with confusion. The student saw the author had moved to the side of the door.
He was about to push the author away but his hand stopped when it was about to touch the author's shoulder. He saw the author's face.
Deep inside the calm eyes hid a world that was completely separated from reality. Hallucinations, hallucinations, delusions, these were the most destructive symptoms of schizophrenia. The author had gotten used to it. For him, the boundary of reality had blurred.
"If you leave this place, you can die."
Looking at the living people in the room, the author pressed on his temples. Various noises entered his ears.
He was trying his best to control his actions. He tried his best to suppress the urge to scream, to slam into the wall and to tear everything apart inside his heart but his every word still caused the whole room to depress. His emotions appeared to be able to infect all the other secondary personas.
His palm reached toward the student. The author who was in a state of extreme mental conflict wanted to grab the student to stop him from leaving.
But reality was different from the script. The student subconsciously evaded the author's hand. He pushed the door open and ran out!
This was the body's natural reaction to danger. The student had forgotten what he was supposed to say. He just did not want to be targeted by the author.
"Come back!"
When the door was opened, the stench in the room dissipated. The oppressive atmosphere eased. A few of the actors even sighed in relief when they saw Han Fei.
Han Fei's character was just a side character but he was like the main character. His emotions could infect everyone in the room. Even Bai Xian, who played the doctor, was secretly shocked. 'Young people these days sure have good acting skills.'
"Good is more than that." Be it the stench or the experience, Lee Huaiming, who was not affected by it at all, took out a bottle of medicine from his shirt pocket. He poured out two pills and swallowed them. "His acting is like a sharp knife. It can cut through the surface and pierce directly into the audience's heart. He can infect everyone with his emotions and he can control them as he pleases. But I'm afraid he might be influenced by his character. After all, his character is relatively dangerous. "
The two experienced actors acknowledged Han Fei and they had a better understanding of each other. Just as they were about to chat with Han Fei, a scream came from the corridor.
This was something that did not happen in the script. The actors were pulled back to reality and they all ran out from Room 404.
They saw Xiao Tong who played the student sitting on the stairs. The stairs leading to the 3rd floor were littered with the carcasses of many birds. Some of them had been dead for a long time, their feathers and blood had congealed together.
"What's going on?" Hearing the scream, the door to the 3rd floor was pushed open. Director Zhang and the crew ran over. They too saw the carcasses. "Who did this? Props! Where are the props?! "
"Director Zhang, we didn't do this!" The staff member in charge of the props rushed over. "Didn't you tell us to all leave the fourth floor and give the actors some time to get used to each other?"
"You didn't do this?" Director Zhang had the crew clean up the carcasses and then ran to the 4th floor. "Is everyone alright?"
"We're fine." The other actors were confused. "You guys haven't come to the 4th floor?"
"Yes! We've been watching you from the 3rd floor. You guys are amazing. "
"What's with the sudden stench and scratching sound?" Bai Xian was startled. He thought it was the director's doing.
"Stench?" Director Zhang sniffed the air. There was no stench but he did not argue with Bai Xian. "It's probably the work of the other neighbours. We've paid them a lot of money but there are still a small number of people who don't want us to come here."
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