Chu Chen sat up, breathing heavily for a while, bent down to put on his shoes, walked into the bathroom in the bedroom and washed his face with cold water.
He took out the rusty key from his pocket, looked at it for a while, and then slowly wrapped it in his palm.
Time is running out, we have to finish the task quickly.
Chu Chenan walked out of Room 702 quietly.
Zhang Liang and Li Yaya are not here. They must have returned to Room 703.
He didn't pay much attention and slowly walked towards the stairs to the seventh floor.
He held a small flashlight and walked down the stairs with the tiny light. He passed the corner of the stairs where Wu Longyang died. His hand holding the flashlight was shaking slightly, and he walked down the stairs nervously and carefully.
Soon, he arrived at the stairs to the sixth floor.
The red lights in the corridor flashed from time to time, making this floor seem particularly lonely and eerie.
He took a deep breath, opened his bright eyes wide, and walked towards Jiaojiao's door with increased vigilance.
...
...
"Tick, tick, tick."
The corridor was so quiet that only his footsteps could be heard. The light from the flashlight and his shadow intertwined in the corridor, and the eerie light reflected by the red light climbed up the side of his face.
He came to the door of Jiaojiao's house and stood still. He took out the key and inserted it into the door lock. After trying it twice, the door opened with a "click".
Chu Chenan pushed the door open, and the old door made a slight "creaking" sound, echoing in the dark and eerie surroundings.
The light in the house is dim and the furnishings are old.
I didn’t have time to take a closer look when I visited Jiaojiao’s house last time. The counter on the left side of the living room was filled with all kinds of expensive Western decorations and collectibles.
Pearl and gemstone pendulum clocks, glass lamps, gold-inlaid glass wine jugs...
The furnishings are elegant and luxurious.
Chu Chenan held a flashlight and let the light sweep across every corner. Behind the counter is a row of tall bookshelves covered with black, moldy debris. Many classic books must have been placed here in the past.
There was also a row of carved counters next to the bookshelf, but now it has been obscured by the black and gray debris. Judging from the remaining ruins, there used to be paper, ink, brush, inkstone and several ancient paintings placed above the counter.
The decoration style of the house combines Eastern and Western cultures, which is simple and elegant, yet luxurious and rich.
Chu Chenan guessed that Jiaojiao's parents should have received higher education and appreciated both Eastern and Western cultures.
He walked forward and smeared a little black ash on the counter with the tip of his index finger. He looked at it carefully with the light for a while.
It is indeed a sign of fire.
Could it be that Jiaojiao died in a house fire?
But if it was a fire, then what about Jiaojiao’s parents? Did they move away?
He looked around the living room with a flashlight; it was obvious that the house had been tampered with.
There are only two suites on the floors below the seventh floor, and each suite has three bedrooms and two living rooms.
However, Jiaojiao's house has only two bedrooms. The living room and a room are connected to store antiques from the East and the West. The kitchen is on the inside of the living room and does not take up much space.
He walked quietly into the master bedroom on the left, and when the light shone on the inside of the master bedroom door, he was suddenly startled.
On the black and gray inner door, there were countless long, dark black bloodstains, like scratches from human hands.
This means that when the fire broke out in the house, the door of the master bedroom was closed and there was someone locked in the bedroom!
Chu Chenan's hands trembled as he stepped forward to look at the evenly distributed scratches. The highest scratch stopped a few centimeters above Chu Chenan's head.
He raised his hand and compared it to the scratch marks on his five fingers, only to see that the scratch marks on his five fingers were slightly larger than his fingers.
In other words, the owner of the five-finger scratches... is an adult!
Chu Chenan used a trembling flashlight to illuminate the room. There were traces of fire everywhere in the room, from the bed to the dressing table, everything became a blurry ruins.
The flashlight shone on the cabinet above the dresser, and the lock on the cabinet was knocked off.
The room was so quiet that it made people sweat. Chu Chenan could only hear his own breathing.
He carefully scanned the surroundings with the light and made sure that there was nothing else in the room before he dared to walk towards the dressing table.
There was no lock on the dressing table cabinet, only a tiny gap was opened.
He raised his hand and tried to drag one of the cabinets.
The cabinet was so old and rusty that it got stuck when I was dragging it.
Chu Chenan then gripped the handle on the cabinet tightly and pulled it back with greater strength.
"Peng Dong"
The cabinet on the left was opened.
Inside were watches, razors and broken men's glasses.
Chu Chenan picked up the men's glasses and looked at them for a few seconds.
Then I found a small long box underneath, like a glasses case.
He hesitated for a moment, took it out, raised his fingers to pry open the opening of the glasses case, and slowly opened it...
Suddenly, he was so scared that he threw the glasses case in his hand back into the cabinet.
That was... a pair of bloody eyeballs!
Wrapped tightly in a plastic bag.
Chu Chenan took two steps back with trembling hands, breathing rapidly.
He held his chest for a long while before slowly turning to the cabinet on the right.
He trembled slightly and pulled it away.
There were some scattered cosmetics inside, buried on a tin makeup box.
Chu Chenan took a deep breath and mustered up the courage to put the iron sheet into makeup.
Box opened...
Sure enough, there was a pair of bloody eyes on it, wrapped in a plastic bag.
There is a pair of ferocious eyes in the left and right cabinets...
Men's glasses case...
Women's makeup box...
Chu Chenan frowned slightly, pushed the cabinet back, and walked out of the master bedroom quickly.
He gripped the flashlight tightly, his palms sweating from nervousness, and walked towards the second bedroom opposite the master bedroom.
The light shone on the door of the second bedroom, which was covered in dark bloodstains and locked.
Chu Chenan stepped forward to check the rusty door lock. The lock was a traditional external buckle type and should be quite old. If it was knocked with external force, it might be possible to break it open.
He was too anxious to care about anything else and started searching the house. Unfortunately, there was nothing hard in the living room that could be used.
He then turned and walked towards the kitchen. He searched around the kitchen and his eyes finally fell on the corner of the window.
Suddenly, he found several square iron pipes on the ruins, perhaps they had fallen from the window fence.
Chu Chenan picked up the hardest iron pipe without thinking, came to the door of the second bedroom, raised the iron pipe and started knocking on the lock.
"Pumbaa"
The old lock was soon smashed half open, which gave Chu Chenan hope. He increased his strength in a hurry.
The surface of the iron pipe was rough and had some sharp corners, which pierced many wounds on Chu Chenan's palms. His white and delicate palms began to bleed.
"Brother is so excessive." Jiaojiao's voice rang out in the living room, her tone resentful.
Chu Chenan was so scared that he stopped knocking on the lock. The iron pipe fell to the ground. He gasped and looked around the empty living room.
"I'm sorry, Jiaojiao, don't be angry." The wound on his palm stung slightly, and he panted quickly, coaxing her in a gentle voice, "Look, this lock is too old and rusty. Wait for me to smash it and I'll compensate you with a beautiful new lock, okay?"
"It's not because of the lock. Brother Chen An, whatever you want, Jiaojiao will give it to you. Everything in my house belongs to you."
Chu Chenan, "Then, what's the reason?"
"Because my brother is injured!" Jiaojiao hid in the corner, saying sadly, "Humph, Brother Xu will definitely be angry when he finds out, and he will lock you up. Brother, you are not allowed to cry then."
Hearing the little ghost's self-proclaimed scary threats, he twitched his lips and lowered his eyes to look at the palm of his hand. The small wound was bleeding a little, but it was not serious, just some superficial injuries.
Chu Chenan, "I was accidentally hurt when I was breaking the lock. It was not intentional."
Jiaojiao said innocently: "Then if you don't smash it, you won't get hurt, right?"
Chu Chenan tried to answer Jiaojiao's question, "But I don't have the key. Jiaojiao, do you have a key?"
Jiaojiao thought for a long time and said, "Hmm... No, I forgot where I put it."
“Hehe, but…” She suddenly laughed playfully, holding the doll and placing it in Chu Chenan’s hand, “Brother, you’re going to be locked up soon!”
The cotton on the doll stopped the bleeding on Chu Chenan's wound. He bent down to pick up the iron pipe and said disapprovingly, "Why?"
"Because Brother Xu is here!" Jiaojiao laughed.
Chu Chenan suddenly straightened up, opened his eyes wide, and looked outside the door in surprise.
It was as dark and silent outside the gate as before, with no sign of anyone.
He breathed a sigh of relief.
Then he gritted his teeth and whispered to the dark air, "Jiaojiao!"
This silly child.
I love to scare him whenever I can.
"Brother looks so good when he's angry, hehe..." Jiaojiao said mysteriously in a childish voice, "But I didn't lie to you, brother, Brother Xu is really here."
Chu Chenan wiped the sweat from his forehead and bent down to pick up the iron pipe.
He didn't believe it anymore and bent down to continue knocking on the remaining iron locks.
While knocking, he perfunctorily said to Jiaojiao, "Then tell me, where is he now?"
Jiaojiao: “Hmm…”
Chu Chenan increased his strength and smashed towards the other side of the lock.
Finally, with a "bang", the remaining half of the lock was knocked open by him and fell to the floor.
"Oh, he's downstairs~" Jiaojiao said.
Chu Chenan paused as he pushed the door shut, frowning, "What did you say?"
"Really, brother. Brother Xu is downstairs. He will be coming up soon. I'm not lying to you."
Jiaojiao said seriously.
Time was running out and Chu Chenan couldn't care less. He took the lead in pushing open the door of the second bedroom.
He was so frightened that his bright eyes widened and even his dense eyelashes were trembling.
In the large bed of the second bedroom, there lay a pale skeleton.
A pair of rusty scissors was stuck in the skeleton's cheekbone and abdomen. Holding a fruit knife.
The area around the second bedroom was not affected by the fire, and even the sheets were intact. There is a circle of golden hair around the skull, so this should be a female corpse.
"Jiaojiao..." Chu Chenan took a few steps forward, looked around the room dully and timidly, and called her in a murmur.
"What's the matter, brother?"
"Is that your mother?" he said with difficulty.
Jiaojiao was silent for a few seconds, and said with doubt in her tone, "Um...Brother Chen An, I don't have a father or a mother, I only have you and Brother Xu!"
"Brother knows everything, Jiaojiao," Chu Chenan's heart tightened, and he followed Jiaojiao's words and coaxed her gently, "It has always been just me and Brother Xu, so can you tell me who this person is?"
"Her, hee..." Seeing that Chu Chenan agreed with her, Jiaojiao smiled happily again, "Well, she used to be my mother, but not anymore."
The girl's strange laughter echoed in the room, giving people goose bumps.
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