Chapter 73: Red and Black
The dilapidated alleys twisted and turned. Afraid of losing them, Chen Ge quickened his pace.
After rounding a few corners, a row of low two-story buildings appeared before him. The gaunt, dark-skinned woman and the boy had vanished here.
The sewage ditch reeked, the walls were scrawled with bold red characters for demolition, and the corners were piled high with all sorts of trash.
Chen Ge walked to the base of the building, one question after another surfacing in his mind.
Living in such poor conditions, the gaunt woman and the little boy's circumstances couldn't be good. Yet at the haunted house entrance, the woman had decisively pulled out a hundred yuan to let the boy go inside, showing she doted on him excessively. But the boy's attitude toward her was extremely cold. After arriving at the haunted house, he only spoke twice, and both times were directed at Chen Ge. He seemed to resent the gaunt woman.
"Is it a personality disorder that prevents him from accepting others' care, or is there something else going on?"
Upstairs, only one household lived on the second floor. Clothes and pants hung on the railing to dry, and the hallway was swept clean—much tidier than downstairs.
"Anyone home?" The door wasn't closed, but Chen Ge didn't dare barge in. He knocked on the door panel.
"Just a moment."
Footsteps sounded from inside, and soon the gaunt woman emerged from the inner room. She paused noticeably when she saw Chen Ge at the door.
"Why are you here? Did our visit to the haunted house cause you any trouble?" she asked cautiously.
"No, I'm just curious about the little guy's situation and wanted to ask him a few things." Chen Ge stopped at the doorway, noticing the woman showed no intention of inviting him in. He had no choice but to press on, shamelessly. "Don't misunderstand. I have many friends at Hanjiang Medical College. Maybe I can help you."
"Thank you, but no need."
The woman refused without a second thought. Chen Ge felt his approach was a bit abrupt. "I'm really not a bad person, and I mean no harm. You can check your phone—look up today's Jiujiang Morning News."
Seeing the woman unmoved, Chen Ge pulled out his own phone and randomly found a news story about how he'd helped the police solve the Safe Apartments case.
"See? I provided key clues for the police and was even awarded a medal."
Chen Ge handed the phone to the gaunt woman. She glanced at it. "Paranormal Streamer Rescued by Police After Mountain Danger? Haunted House Owner's Midnight Stunt Nearly Causes Disaster?"
"Those headlines don't matter. There should be a photo of me in there."
After Chen Ge explained repeatedly, the gaunt woman finally let down her guard and returned the phone. "Come sit in the living room. No need to close the door."
"Alright."
The woman led Chen Ge to the living room. Calling it a living room was generous—it was just a cramped thirty-square-meter space with a dining table and a bed crammed together.
"I didn't expect anyone to visit, so I never tidied up. Sorry for the mess. Would you like something to drink?" The woman looked a bit embarrassed, a demeanor that reminded Chen Ge of the little boy.
"No, thanks. I just want to ask about the child's parents—the more details, the better." Chen Ge took out his phone, ready to jot down useful information.
"It's been so long. Why are you asking about that now?" The gaunt woman sat across from Chen Ge and recounted what had happened at Muyang Middle School three years ago.
Three years ago in summer, before Muyang Middle School was shut down, a heavy rainstorm hit. After the little boy's parents got home and found him missing, they braved the rain to search for him. Little did they know, that would be the last time they were seen alive.
The woman repeated to Chen Ge what she'd told the police three years ago.
"So the root cause of the parents' disappearance lies with the boy himself?" Chen Ge noted the key points the woman mentioned in his phone, trying to piece together the sequence of events.
In the pouring rain, Fan Yu's parents came home from work, found their child missing, and went out to look for him. The exact location of their murder is unclear, but the body was likely hidden in the well at Muyang Middle School. The whole process was probably witnessed by the little boy—he's the sole eyewitness.
It's likely that seeing those scenes caused the boy to become abnormal.
Chen Ge stared at the table, suddenly feeling something was off. He pulled out his black phone and found the side quests for the Haunted School. One of them, Side Quest Six: The Deep Well, read: "The younger brother and sister didn't come home after school. Where did they go?"
The black phone's quest system couldn't be wrong. So what did "younger brother and sister" mean? Based on the information gathered so far, the ones stuffed into the well should have been the boy's parents. What was wrong here?
Chen Ge put away his phone and looked at the red-eyed gaunt woman. He asked hesitantly, "Is Fan Yu an only child? Does he have any younger siblings?"
The moment he asked, the gaunt woman's face changed. Her fingers dug into her flesh, and tears streamed down uncontrollably. "If my two children hadn't died, Xiao Yu would have had a younger brother and sister by now."
"Your children?" Before entering the room, Chen Ge had noticed the clothes drying on the balcony—only a boy's and a woman's, no adult man's. So he'd assumed the woman wasn't married.
"They passed away when they were very young." The gaunt woman's emotions spiraled. She muttered an apology and slipped into the kitchen.
"Fan Yu does have a younger brother and sister, but according to the woman, they died long ago. So why does the black phone say the younger brother and sister didn't come home after school? How can the dead go to school? Is the black phone wrong, or is the woman lying? Or is Fan Yu hallucinating?"
The woman rummaged through the kitchen, not coming out. Chen Ge got up and headed to the only single room in the house. Fan Yu should be in there—this little guy was the center of it all.
Pushing open the door, the bedroom was tidy. Fan Yu stood at the desk, seemingly writing something.
Chen Ge walked behind the child and saw he was drawing. He seemed particularly fond of red and black.
"Xiao Yu, what are you drawing?" Chen Ge kept his voice soft, afraid of startling the child.
The boy turned to glance at Chen Ge, didn't answer, and continued drawing.
As he kept smearing colors, the image on the paper gradually became clear.
In a pitch-black house stood several little red figures.
After finishing, the boy crumpled the paper into a ball and tossed it on the ground, then started another drawing.
Chen Ge watched for a while and noticed the core elements of the child's drawings were just two things—black houses and red little figures.
"What's the meaning behind this?" Chen Ge picked up the crumpled drawing from the floor, smoothed it out, folded it, studied it for a moment, and then secretly slipped it into his pants pocket.