With a heavy creak, the iron door was pushed open, and two boys poked their heads in at the entrance. Driven perhaps by curiosity, Zhou Xiaomi also edged closer. This old-style house had poor lighting; the sparse rays filtering through the windows, reflecting off the dust, only added a touch of eerie atmosphere. One of the boys, summoning his courage, stepped inside and groped along the wall, seemingly searching for a light switch.
"Don't bother. This kind of condemned building has had its water and electricity cut off for ages," the other boy warned. Sure enough, after a few seconds, the first boy sighed, apparently confirming the issue.
"I feel like there's a weird smell in here. Maybe we should just leave?" At this point, Zhou Xiaomi seemed to waver again. Among the three boys, he appeared to be the most timid.
"You're backing out now?" The first boy turned back with a scornful look. "Zhou Xiaomi, man up!"
"Yeah, don't tell me you actually believe those old folks' gossip. Get in here—I need to take photos." With that, the other boy ignored Zhou Xiaomi and strode into the house first. Zhou Xiaomi hesitated at the doorway for a moment before finally following.
At this moment, Chen Mo felt a strange sensation. Though he knew this was a dream or illusion—a way for the radio station to reveal the story's origins to them as participants—watching the three boys step closer to death one by one stirred a desire in him to stop them. Yet, that impulse was utterly pointless here. Though he observed everything through Zhou Xiaomi's perspective, he couldn't influence the illusion in any way.
Moreover, this scene was likely something that had already happened. Unless time could flow backward, it couldn't be altered in the slightest.
The two-story duplex had a small hallway leading into the living room upon entry. Inside, a sofa and some furniture were haphazardly arranged, draped in white cloth to keep off the dust. A long staircase stood behind the sofa, connecting to the second floor.
In the dusty, cluttered house, the last trace of vitality seemed to vanish with the setting sun. Chen Mo noticed that the walls were covered in drawings—childish, crude lines that looked like a kid's doodles. But upon closer inspection, they bore a resemblance to the little girl from the game.
By now, the three boys were curiously exploring and photographing the room. As one of them snapped pictures, he approached a wall and touched it. Flakes of mottled paint fell away, revealing a dark brown stain underneath, as if something had once splattered there. He let out an excited shout, calling his companions over to see.
They examined the area and found similar irregular stains not just on the walls but also on the floor, now blackened with age.
"Could this be blood?" one boy exclaimed, as if discovering a treasure, pulling out his phone to take photos. Zhou Xiaomi, however, stepped back. "Hey, maybe we shouldn't take pictures. What if this house really was the scene of a murder?"
"Oh, haven't you heard?" Another boy came up from behind and patted Zhou Xiaomi on the shoulder. "They say this house was sealed off because of a crime!"
"What? What crime?"
"Rumor has it the husband killed his wife and kid over something."
"Isn't that just like the plot of *Ju-On*? What was it about? Don't tell me he suspected his wife was cheating and the kid wasn't his?"
"No idea. Stories like that get twisted as they spread—who can say for sure?"
"Alright, enough of that. It's getting dark. Let's go upstairs, snap some photos of the bedroom, and then leave. I feel a chill in here."
With that, the two boys nodded and dashed upstairs. One of them glanced back. "Zhou Xiaomi, aren't you coming?"
"I'll stay down here. Hurry up, okay?" Zhou Xiaomi seemed both scared and curious. "I'll just look around the ground floor."
Thump, thump, thump—footsteps echoed on the stairs as the two boys reached the top. Zhou Xiaomi stood alone in the empty hall, scanning his surroundings. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly saw...
Or rather, Chen Mo suddenly noticed that on the sofa beside him, a little girl of about six or seven had appeared out of nowhere. She was holding something in her hands, absorbed in playing with it. Sensing Zhou Xiaomi's gaze, she looked up and smiled at him...
"Ah!"
Zhou Xiaomi was so startled he fell to the ground. At the same time, Chen Mo jolted in shock. There had been no one else in the house before—where had this little girl come from?
Could she be...?
When Zhou Xiaomi scrambled back to his feet, the little girl had vanished. But on the sofa, a red device, resembling a game console, was left behind.
"Zhou Xiaomi, what's wrong? You look pale!"
Just as Zhou Xiaomi was recovering from his fright, the two boys came down the stairs. They both immediately noticed the red game console on the sofa.
"Hey, where did this game console come from?"
"It's a Nintendo—let me see!"
Zhou Xiaomi opened his mouth, perhaps wanting to tell them what had just happened, but fearing they'd mock him, he closed it again.
"Zhou Xiaomi, your family's not short on cash. We'll take this console, okay?" One of the boys grinned as he turned back. "But we're not taking it for free. We'll send you the photos we took upstairs and say you took them. That way, Xiaoxiao will have to agree to be your girlfriend."
"Well... I think we shouldn't touch anything here."
"You mean this?" The boy smugly shook the red game console in his hand. "This probably isn't from the house. Look how old and dusty this place is—it's been years. This console is still brand new. Some explorer must have left it behind."
"Come on, it's getting late. If we don't head back, we won't finish our homework!"
The two boys quickly packed up as they spoke, and one of them casually stuffed the red game console into his backpack.
"Let's go, Zhou Xiaomi!"
"Zhou Xiaomi, time to go home!"
With that, the three of them left the old house one after another. After walking a short distance, Zhou Xiaomi inexplicably glanced back, and Chen Mo saw it too.
At the second-floor window of the old house stood a woman with a cold expression, staring at them blankly. Beside her, the little girl appeared again.
Zhou Xiaomi blinked, and both figures vanished.