Chapter 19: I think there is someone inside the wall
The staff present included Brother Zhang and several NPCs in makeup. They often encountered frightened customers, but rarely anyone as agitated as Fang Xinai.
Several people looked at each other in bewilderment. Finally, Brother Zhang came forward and said to them, "We all just joined this year, and we didn't know anything about the renovation process at the time. What happened to Xiao Ai? Is she scared? I'm calling 911 right now..."
Chang Xile frowned, a strange suspicion brewing within her. Even though she knew her request sounded a bit absurd, she still asked, "Can this wall be demolished?"
"Ah? That's definitely not possible. Do you have any problem with this wall? Did you bump into it just now?" Brother Zhang had never heard of this request.
Yang Guisi wanted to take Fang Xinai to the wall as well, but once she got close to that place, she became very resistant and refused to take another step.
Chang Xile pressed her hands against the wall. The little boy's cries of "I want to get out" seemed to still ring in her ears. She felt an inexplicable pain somewhere in her heart. When she looked up, she was already sobbing and could only say word by word, "I think there's someone in there."
Crying certainly couldn't solve the problem, but the moment she touched the wall, she felt as if she were trapped in a small, narrow room, never seeing the light of day for the rest of her life. Such a desperate and painful emotion immediately swept over her, making it almost impossible to breathe.
"How could there be someone in here? Girl, don't get excited, let's talk it out." Brother Zhang looked confused and just hoped that the matter would be resolved quickly.
Chang Xile took a deep breath and slowly calmed down. She wiped away her tears, stepped back, and examined the wall. The dim light had obscured many details. But now, with the room's main lights on, the contrasting paint colors became more pronounced.
The color of this wall was newer than the ceiling and the adjacent wall. She turned her head and asked, "Was this wall added later?"
She knocked on the wall. Unlike a solid cast-in-place wall, the knocking sounded hollow and resonant, as if it were hollow. Suddenly, with the knocking, a faint cat meowed from the other side of the wall.
"Why is there a cat inside?" an employee nearby was surprised.
Zhang Ge's expression relaxed. "Oh, cats like to run around. You never know when it crawled in through the ventilation duct. It will be out on its own later, right? Don't worry about it."
Chang Xile knocked on the wall, and the kitten inside meowed again. However, its voice was so weak that it was almost inaudible. She said angrily, "It's crying for help. Can't you hear it?"
"You're joking, girl. Cats love to meow, how do you know what they're saying?" Brother Zhang found it funny. "You mean this wall has to be torn down just for a cat?"
"What do you mean just for a cat? Doesn't a cat's life matter?" Chang Xile noticed that the cat was so weak that it could hardly even ask for help. She didn't want to argue with him anymore and just wanted to rescue the cat quickly.
"Girl, I understand that you are kind-hearted and love animals. But if we tear down the wall to rescue the cat as you said, we will have to rebuild it. Who will bear the cost of renovation, including the loss of business during this period?" Brother Zhang was a little anxious. He was just an employee and could not make this decision.
"I'll take responsibility." An Ping raised his hand slightly, his eyes always staying on Chang Xile's face. Finally, he slowly and irresistibly held Chang Xile's hand that was leaning against the wall, isolating it.
"Alas!" Brother Zhang looked at Fang Xinai, who was still a little crazy, and realized that today's matter was not something they could suppress. He sighed heavily and called his boss.
The owner of the shop lived on the upper floor of the building. He was about to rest when he received the call and rushed down. When he heard that the wall was going to be demolished, he firmly disagreed at first.
"You're going to bear all the expenses? You are college students, right? How much money do you have in your pocket? Do you know how much the decoration will cost?" When the boss learned that these people were students, he gave them a discounted price when they came in to buy tickets, and he didn't take them seriously anymore.
They're just students, so just scare them a little.
Chang Xile remained unmoved. She asked, "Have you obtained approval for this wall extension? Are you sure it won't obstruct the escape route? If I report a fire hazard, will you be able to withstand an inspection?"
The boss was silent for a moment. Brother Zhang pulled his sleeve and whispered into his ear.
Chang Xile whispered to Anping, "You said you would cover the expenses. Do you know how much it will cost?"
Looking at Anping's outfit, which has been the same for several days now, with a washed-out shirt and jeans, and the fact that he just bought a mobile phone not long ago, it is clear that his financial situation may not be optimistic.
Before Anping could say anything, Chang Xile shook his head and comforted him: "It's okay, no matter how much it costs, I can afford it."
The New Year's money and scholarships she had saved over the years, plus the bonus given by the city and village after she was admitted to university, as well as the red envelopes given by relatives, amounted to tens of thousands of yuan.
During the brief silence, Fang Xinai's condition worsened. She was so hungry she'd eaten anything, losing her mind. During the struggle, she bit Yang Guisi's hand. Yang Guisi, enduring the pain, struck her on the back of the neck with a palm strike, temporarily knocking her unconscious.
The staff were frightened by this scene and started whispering to each other.
"You said you'd cover all our losses, right? Okay, then destroy it." The boss thought for a long time before reluctantly agreeing. He added, "First of all, let's be clear, that girl has nothing to do with us! We don't have any NPCs in this room at all."
After we hired temporary workers to determine whether the wall could be demolished and agreed on a price, they explained in advance: "It's easy to cut a hole to get the cat out, but it will take some time to demolish the entire wall."
Then the work began. Chang Xile clenched her fists. Although she felt that there was someone inside, she didn't want anyone to be inside.
Who can accept spending the rest of their life behind a wall? How cruel that would be?
When the first brick was thrown, almost everyone present covered their noses.
"Ugh...what's that smell?" Brother Zhang and several employees were almost retching. "Isn't the cat still alive?"
The worker suppressed his nausea and used tools to pry the brick out from the other side, fearing that the cat inside might be injured. As the hole grew larger, one of the sharp-eyed workers saw something and sat down on the ground in shock: "Hey! There's someone inside!"
"What?... Oh my god, it's rotten, right?" The other workers also took a look and covered their mouths to try not to vomit.
In full view of everyone, there was a little boy as tall as an adult's waist, standing upright in the wall. As the bricks were broken, he lost his balance and fell forward.
Chang Xile stared at the small corpse. She neither covered her nose nor retched.
She remembered the cold hands and the boy's sad and desperate cries.
"Call the police."
"Don't call the police. Who would dare to call the police?" The boss's first reaction was to cover up the matter. However, there were too many people here, both known and unknown, and the situation was no longer under his control.
The police arrived quickly, took the body away, and left the contact information of everyone present for follow-up on the case.
In a corner where few people were paying attention, An Ping and Chang Xile brought out the dying kitten. An Ping took the kitten to the veterinary hospital, while Chang Xile and Yang Guisi each helped Fang Xinai, who had just woken up, down the stairs. She had stopped crying and making a fuss, but she still looked dazed.
It was not until he reached the first floor that Chang Xile finally noticed the piles of papers posted on the old bulletin board.
[Missing Person Notice:
Chen Wan, 8 years old, about 1.1 meters tall. Lost in August 2022. Please help find him. If you have any clues, please contact 136xxxxyyyy. Any clues that are confirmed to be useful will be rewarded!
There was also a photo attached to the paper. It showed a cheerful boy at the beach, making a "V" sign with his hand and grinning at the camera with his big white teeth.
Beneath this piece of paper, there are countless papers with the same content. Some of them have turned yellow and thin over time, but some people still persist in posting new missing person notices.
But because no one had ever seen the boy, no one had ever removed the paper.
Fang Xinai suddenly used a moderate amount of force to break free from the two people holding her. She walked towards the bulletin board in a daze and reached out to touch the photo.
Yang Guisi wanted to call Fang Xinai, but Chang Xile stopped her. She walked over and took Fang Xinai's hand. The temperature of her hand was extremely low, definitely not what one would expect in such a hot September.
Fang Xinai noticed something and his pupils shifted slightly towards Chang Xile.
"Chen Wan, sister promised you that she would bring you out. You will be able to see your mother soon. When the time comes, we will bring you a lot of delicious food, okay?" Chang Xile patiently comforted the person opposite her, as if she was just a child of a few years old.
Fang Xinai's scattered vision suddenly focused. She looked at Chang Xile for a long while, said, "Xile?" and then fainted.
That night was a sleepless night. Fang Xinai kept running to the toilet to vomit, which scared Ren Qing who was originally angry with her. He was busy boiling water, looking for medicine, and asking if they should send people to the hospital.
Chang Xile was bandaging the wound on Yang Guisi's hand. Ren Ni didn't take it seriously at all. She waved her hand and said to Ren Qing, "Let her vomit."
Just wait until you spit out all the dirt.
Chang Xile patted her head and scolded her, "Don't move, bandage it properly!"
The police handled the case very quickly and called the three people in a day later to investigate the situation.
The building's elevator had been out of service for two years due to a problem, but it was simply fenced off and had a sign prohibiting its use.
But have you ever had this experience? Even a machine that is confirmed to be broken may occasionally resume normal operation.
The little boy came to the building on a deserted day. He knew very few words, and when he saw the elevator, he just pushed open the white sliding fence and pressed the up button.
The elevator, which was clearly out of service, slowly opened its door and the little boy skipped in, but no one ever saw him come out.
The police believed that the elevator had most likely stopped at the fourth floor by mistake. Even if they had taken the wrong elevator, they could have just gone down the stairs.
However, that year, the "Nameless Haunted House" had just opened. They had built a wall in front of the abandoned elevator to create a mirrored room. The little boy had thus entered the death compartment, with an insurmountable wall in front of him and an elevator door behind him that would never open again.
He also called for help and could clearly hear people talking and shouting on the other side of the wall. He even heard someone ask, "Who's calling for help?"
However, no one ever actually noticed him. Most of them said, "Maybe it's the decoration of a haunted house?" and then ran away.
In a haunted house, crying, screaming, and calling for help are commonplace. Who would care about the tiny sound just across the wall?
The little boy didn't understand this, and he ended up squatting weakly in the corner, dying from lack of water.
The only person who saw him was his sister who hid behind the mirror every day.
Later, a sister with short hair came and took his hand, walked to the wall, and broke the shackles for him.
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