Chapter 19 White Paper

The old-style main room is so small that you can see it all at a glance. Except for the large dining table in the middle, there is no place to hide people... or even a dog.

Seeing that more and more fog was seeping in from the crack in the door, the few of them walked straight to the next door without hesitation.

Qing Bai hesitated for two seconds, then turned back and picked up the small schoolbag on the bench.

"Brother, what are you doing with this?"

Qing Bai glanced at the two little kids clinging to him like little tails and said nonsense, "I'll give you guys a haircut."

After saying that, he put the schoolbag on Qi Xiaopang and Li Canglan.

After putting them on, he picked up the handle on the top of the schoolbag and easily "carried" the two three-head-tall people into the next door, one in each hand.

Jiunian, who entered first, stood by the door and closed it after they all went in.

"This isn't about the shape, it's about the seatbelt...right?" Fat Qi, now grounded again, muttered as he laboriously straightened his clothes, which had been pulled askew by his backpack straps. His voice gradually grew quieter and quieter...

It was nothing special. I just looked up and saw the little girl hiding under the cupboard.

It's not quite accurate to call it a cabinet. To be precise, it should be a box, one of those old-fashioned big wooden boxes with old-fashioned iron hinges connecting the lid and the box body, and a lock facing outwards, but no padlock. The light is dim and I can't see the specific color of the box, but it's probably either red or black... The structure of this box is very simple, it's just a rectangular block, and there are no legs underneath. If it is placed directly on the floor of an old house without cement tiles, it will easily get damp, so usually there will be something padding underneath. This family put two long benches underneath, so that the height of the box surface is just right and can be used as a table.

In the small space supported by the long bench, a little girl was huddled there, hugging her knees.

This place is actually quite secretive and clever as a hiding place, but because of the height, Qi Xiaopang and Li Canglan can see it at a glance without even having to raise their heads... It shows how short they are now.

"elder brother!"

"What are you doing?" Qing Bai's tone was not very good. Anyone who was looking for a light switch in the dark would suddenly feel their trouser legs tighten. If they didn't grab the waistband of their trousers in time with their quick hands and eyes... their tone would not be very good either.

Fatty Qi didn't notice that he almost ruined his brother Qing's innocence, and he said in surprise and disbelief: "I found the little princess!"

Qing Bai couldn't stand it any longer. He grabbed the waistband of his pants with one hand and used the other hand to pull away the fat kid who was still pulling on his pants leg... Then he looked up sharply and met the slightly embarrassed expression that he hadn't been able to hide for the past nine years.

Qing Baixin said, "I, the victim, am not embarrassed, so why should you be embarrassed as a bystander?"

As their eyes met, Jiu Nian suddenly felt even more embarrassed. He even turned his body to the side and said something in a low voice.

It seemed like... 'disrespectful'? Qing Bai was so surprised that he almost let go of his belt.

Fortunately, he didn't really let go, because Fat Qi pulled it again with his claws.

The dwarf almost wanted to jump up and poke his brother Qing in the face and say, "Brother, brother, brother, brother, brother!"

Qing Bai pulled the fat boy's paws apart again: "Brother, what brother? Are you laying eggs?"

Qi Xiaopang, who was used to being a mother hen, was extremely anxious: "I'm talking to you, little princess! The little princess is under the box!"

Qing Bai bent down to look, and only saw a pointed chin. Although he couldn't see the face clearly, Qing Bai was certain: "It's not her."

Qi Xiaopang: "No?"

"No." Qing Bai looked at it for a while and suddenly said, "Something seems wrong. Come and take a look."

Qi Xiaopang was about to ask what was wrong when he saw Jiu Nian walk up to Qing Bai, then bend down to take a look, then nodded and said "indeed". Only then did he realize that his brother was not talking to him.

After confirming that the girl hiding under the box was not a little girl, Qing Bai stopped looking at her and did not intend to communicate with her. He had an inexplicable feeling... This girl might not be a ghost, nor a human.

With the help of the faint light coming from nowhere, Qing Bai reached out and groped around the door frame. Soon, with a "click", the light came on.

There are no balls of yarn on the lamp cords in this room, but they are covered with cartoon stickers.

As soon as the lights came on, everything in the room was exposed - a large wooden bed with a mosquito net, a chest of drawers next to the head of the bed, a large wardrobe that matched the chest of drawers at the foot of the bed, and then there was a wooden box by the door.

After the lights came on, I could finally see clearly that the wooden box was red and black, like some old wood, or the color of dried blood. All the furniture in the room was this color. At first glance, it looked very textured, but after looking at it for a long time, it would become a bit depressing. But that was not the case in this room, because all the furniture - the wooden box tops, wardrobe doors, chest of drawers sides, bedside tables and bed frames were all covered with colorful cartoon stickers, the kind that came with the bag of snacks you bought. Most of them were popular cartoon characters, and there were also snack brands... I could tell at a glance that they had been collected for a long time.

The marks are clean, it should have been put on not long ago.

This place looks like a child's room, but not entirely, because apart from the stickers on the furniture, there are no other children's things, not to mention clothes and shoes, there are not even photos. At least there are pairs of toys and school bags in the main room.

"Good boy, no wonder she had to hide under the box. With the furniture in such a mess, her butt would be beaten into three pieces!" Qi Xiaopang was obviously experienced and had already started to worry about the little girl.

As soon as he finished speaking, there was a creaking sound and someone pushed the door open. Everyone was startled - they were standing right by the door.

However, the person who came in just pushed the door open with ease and passed through them unhindered, really passing through them.

Qing Bai and Jiu Nian were lucky enough, as they reacted quickly enough and leaned sideways against the wall the moment the door opened, avoiding the head-on impact. Qi Xiaopang and Li Canglan were in a worse situation... Especially Qi Xiaopang, who was short and had short legs. His brain knew he should run, but when he put it into action, he turned left foot and right foot. Fortunately, just before he was about to fall flat on his face, Qing Bai hooked the backpack on his back at an extremely tricky angle.

Then Qi Xiaopang watched helplessly as a foot pierced through his chest... In that brief second, he had even made plans for his next life...

When Qing Bai picked up the child, he was already dumbfounded.

Although Li Canglan on the other side did not move, he was obviously shocked and lost his mind, his dark eyes were staring straight ahead.

"Am I dead?" Fat Qi couldn't even feel his limbs anymore. He seemed to be floating in mid-air, but his chest felt tight. Is this what it feels like to be a ghost?

Qing Bai was speechless: "You're not dead. I'm carrying you. I'm holding you with my schoolbag strap."

Then, just as Qi Xiaopang was about to speak, he interrupted the spell: "Shut up, don't make a sound."

Qi Xiaopang covered his mouth obediently, his eyes like black holes staring nervously at the hunched figure in front of him wearing black clothes and black pants... He seemed unable to see them or hear their voices, and he never looked back once.

The old man stood at the door, looking left and right, as if he didn't notice the furniture that was covered with stickers beyond recognition... Or maybe he didn't care, and just called out a name softly. His voice with a slight accent was light and fluttering, like the cold wind that sneaked into the house through the window at midnight, as if he would die at any time.

"Nan-nan, nan-nan... where are you?"

Not getting a response, the old man walked back into the house. Perhaps it was because old people always walk slowly, as if they didn't have enough strength to lift their legs. Every step forward had to be dragged on the ground first, so even the sound of his footsteps was a long and weak "sha-da, sha-da".

He called out softly with every step he took, and didn't stop until he reached the bed. The room was silent for a moment. He stood quietly at the head of the bed, the light cast a long, slanted shadow on the wall. He seemed to be waiting for something, and then the next moment he suddenly pulled open the closed mosquito net.

“It’s not here…”

After muttering to himself, the old man walked towards the wardrobe again, still calling out with every step he took.

Qi Xiaopang was almost scared to tears. He finally knew who the little girl under the box was hiding from. Who wouldn't hide?

'Squeak', there's nothing in the closet either.

The old man suddenly returned to the bedside, holding the bed with his hands like old tree roots, and he squatted down slowly -

Qi Xiaopang held his breath, as if the person hiding under the wooden box was himself.

“There’s nothing here either…”

Just when Qi Xiaopang thought the old man would stand up and go look for someone else, he suddenly turned around... His body didn't move, but his shriveled head spun 180 degrees, even making a sound similar to screwing a screw -

"I found you..."

Opposite the bed is a large wooden box.

Qi Xiaopang really cried... The old man's face turned around and had no facial features! Only when he spoke would a long crack appear on his white face, revealing the dark red flesh inside, which slowly squirmed as he spoke.

"Come, come, nan.nan, come to grandpa. It's time to eat. It's time for us to eat..." The old man turned around little by little in this twisted posture, and then slowly reached under the wooden box.

There was silence under the wooden box.

The old man seemed unable to wait any longer. While calling the girl's name softly, he reached out to touch the little girl who was curled up under the box. His body was stiff and he couldn't bend over with any strength. He could only kneel on the ground to reach her. His skinny fingers seemed to have caught something, and they made a sharp squeaking sound. When he pulled his hands back, there was no good flesh left on his hands, revealing the white bones underneath.

…It turned out that the squeaking sound was not from him grabbing something, but from the little girl biting his hand.

The old man seemed to be unaware of the pain. He just knelt on the ground with his white face staring blankly at his hand that had been bitten to pieces. After a long while, he slowly stood up, put his hand with a piece of flesh still hanging on the edge of his palm on the wooden box, and then lifted the box up. The little girl underneath was suddenly exposed.

"Come, come, let's go eat with grandpa... You can't do without eating."

The little girl, who had been silent all this time, finally let out a hoarse scream when the wooden box was moved away. It no longer sounded like a human voice, but rather like the voice of some crazy beast. Then, while the old man was holding the box in his hand, she rushed out of the room on her knees and crawled.

The people standing at the door finally saw the full appearance of the girl under the box - it was also a face without facial features.

But the cut on her face was stained with blood, as if cinnabar was pouring out.

"From the moment we stepped through this door, the house is no longer the same house as before... We have entered deeper memories." Jiu Nian suddenly spoke in a low voice.