"You haven't heard of it?" Akasaka asked in surprise, then realized what he meant, grabbed Cheng Shuang's hand, and answered firmly, "No problem, it's just a courtyard that hasn't been lived in for over a year. I was worried that you might be too scared to go, so I asked you!"
If it were an ordinary girl, she would definitely puff out her chest and act tough after being provoked like that, but Cheng Shuang was different. Helplessly, she pulled her arm back, stopping the little boy who was determined to walk forward. "Tell me, what are the rumors about the house? If you don't tell me, I won't go with you!"
Akasaka was about to angrily shake off Cheng Shuang's hand, but found that she couldn't. Then she heard the girl opposite her calmly say, "I won't let you go!"
"So what if someone died there!" Akasaka muttered as he confessed the truth. Fortunately, after a conversation, he regained his senses and remembered to respect his friends' opinions.
He frowned slightly, suppressing his anxiety, and looked at Cheng Shuang seriously, "You don't need to come in with me. You stay outside and keep watch. If you see Kojiro, help me catch it. If there's any danger, remember to run away."
Although the boy had a bad temper, he was still a good person. He noticed that Cheng Shuang's face was slightly pale, so he reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, saying apologetically, "Seeing you all sweaty, it's my fault for being too hasty!"
The ticket reminder is symbiotic. Cheng Shuang is unsure what type of homeless people she will encounter, and she has also suspected that the boy and other human-looking creatures in front of her are essentially aliens.
However, when she contacted Sihai in class that afternoon, Sihai replied that he was not in Asia and was surrounded by Western faces, while Liu Juan was the opposite, as she was in China.
If they want to get together, they can only do so by public transportation, but they each have their own status, and they can't just leave the country casually.
Cheng Shuang guessed that this land of death was not completely occupied by the wanderers, or to put it another way, it was a so-called symbiosis—the wanderers hid among humans, silently devouring lives and developing stealthily.
Like the aliens in the Men in Black movies, some are officially certified, wear human skin, and blend into the crowd openly, working and socializing normally.
Another type is illegal entry, mostly by vicious and unwelcome aliens who prey on Earth life and cannot coexist peacefully.
Homeless people will only belong to the latter category.
She lowered her eyes and softened her voice, "But I'm worried about you, Senri. Kojiro knows his home, he won't abandon you. When Uncle comes back, the three of us can go look for him together, okay? I'm so tired, but I really want to go with you! What should I do?"
Cheng Shuang was testing the waters, and Akasaka's reaction would most likely confirm her agreement.
Akasaka hesitated, but when he saw that Cheng Shuang's forehead was covered in cold sweat, he finally gritted his teeth and nodded, "Okay, I'll go home with you. Maybe Kojiro is waiting for us at home!"
Cheng Shuang obediently hummed in agreement. Akasaka, preoccupied with his pet, wasn't in the mood for conversation. He took her hand and slowed his pace to walk back.
Just as they took two steps, an orange figure darted out from the low bushes in the neighboring yard, quickly disappeared into the opposite yard, swiftly climbed the wall, and ran along it into the distance.
"Kojiro!" Akasaka shouted, instinctively pulling Cheng Shuang along as they chased after him.
He was only ten years old, and his thinking wasn't comprehensive enough. He completely forgot about his friend's stamina and was only focused on chasing his pet.
When the two of them stood in front of a gloomy, dilapidated house on the street corner, he didn't think twice and was about to crawl into the yard in the direction the cat had disappeared when his arm was grabbed.
Akasaka turned around abruptly and saw his gentle childhood friend staring at him with a sinister expression. The girl's pretty heart-shaped face was wet with sweat, her complexion flushed, her lips pale, and her peach blossom eyes were as cold as ice. She was barely holding onto the old and dirty iron door with one hand, while her other hand was in his.
"Sorry!" He quickly stopped, feeling uneasy. "Kojiro went inside. I'll go get him. Wait for me!"
After saying that, he tried to shake off Cheng Shuang's hand, but to his surprise, she let go completely with just a slight sway.
For some reason, Akasaka became more hesitant when faced with his childhood friend's drastically changed expression, and didn't dare to take that step easily.
He rubbed his sweat-dampened hair and hesitated, then said, "Let me call out to it from outside first!"
Cheng Shuang scoffed inwardly, almost certain that there was something seriously wrong with this dilapidated, abandoned house. The sky was still dark, the sun was setting, and the light was at its most beautiful, creating a peaceful atmosphere in the streets and alleys.
Here, however, it's as if sunlight can't penetrate, leaving only darkness.
It's not that the poor lighting prevents the sun from shining; what's worse, the feeling of being watched is several times stronger than at the Akasaka residence as soon as you step into the courtyard. It's as if malicious eyes are lurking in every corner.
Her intuition was screaming, and she desperately wanted to get far away from here right now.
But is it really possible to avoid it?
She's here for a challenge, not a vacation!
"Go inside!" Cheng Shuang took a breath, slowly pulled out a handkerchief, and wiped the tears from her face. A breeze had just blown by, and her sweaty back felt cool and damp, just like the shadowy gaze, making her feel extremely uncomfortable.
The little girl's fingertips drooped. Without the bear cub for company, her mood plummeted. Even Akasaka, who was oblivious to mood swings, fell silent and followed closely behind into the courtyard.
Akasaka was still worried about Kojiro, but for some reason, his friend's imposing presence intimidated him, giving him a strange feeling that he might get beaten up if he said the wrong word.
Cheng Shuang, with a handkerchief under her hand, pushed open the half-closed door. The room was dimly lit and filled with a damp, dusty smell.
She looked down and noticed several very light footprints in the messy entryway. The deeper ones were from some kind of dark liquid, which had dried and formed marks. There was also a footprint that looked quite fresh.
She stuffed the soiled handkerchief back into her pocket, put on her gloves, and gently touched the dust on the side table. It was quite thick, indicating that no one had cleaned the place for a long time.
So whose footprints are they?
Structurally, this house is exactly the same as the Akasaka family's, a standard detached house in Japan. Perhaps it's more accurate to say that the houses on this street are basically the same in structure.
Upon entering, there is a foyer, and around the corner leads to the living room, where the dining room and kitchen are located.
Deep inside the entryway is the staircase leading upstairs, covered in dried brown stains that linger from the first step to the last.
The living room was also in a mess, with tableware and chairs mostly broken and damaged, having been violently overturned.
So it wasn't just a case of someone dying; it was a case of murder.
Cheng Shuang looked around and quickly analyzed the fate of the previous owner of the house.
With that amount of blood loss, and considering it wasn't an immediate artery injury, the person must have suffered considerable torment before dying.
Tsk!
It's probably a haunted house!
In such an environment, Akasaka was already a little scared, but when he accidentally caught a glimpse of his friend's sinister smile, his hair stood on end and he started to back down.
A single meow shattered his plans to leave.
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