Chapter 75

Boom, boom, boom.

The sound of beating a drum kept coming out through the door of Room 102. One by one, it got closer and closer, and heavier and heavier, as if it was hitting Xu Ming's heart.

And soon, in front of Xu Ming's stunned eyes, an even more terrifying scene appeared -

the big cat's eye installed on the door of Room 102 suddenly moved.

It protruded little by little, bulging outwards, until it bulged into a shape like a real eyeball. That was not the end. The eyeball started to move again, as if it was looking for something. It made some sticky sounds from time to time, until it finally locked onto Xu Ming's direction.

The next moment, the eyeball suddenly leaned forward and fell off the door panel, rushing straight towards Xu Ming! As it

approached, the eyeball continued to swell, dragging a long pink polyp behind it. When it rushed to Xu Ming, it was almost as big as a washbasin.

Xu Ming was so scared that he stood there in a daze and instinctively closed his eyes.

However, after a brief pause, the movement of the eyeball stopped.

It stared at the direction where Xu Ming was. After a moment, it pushed it away a little in confusion, and tried to look around her -

but there was nothing in its field of vision.

It was clear that the strange breath it had sensed before came from here. But now it saw nothing. No matter how it looked, the pile of junk was empty, with only those garbage that had been piled up for who knows how long.

There was another pause, and the big eyes did not give up and went around the pile of junk, looking at the stairs again and again. The huge eyes were full of confusion.

- Unknowingly, not far from it, Xu Ming was quietly looking at it.

- And after confirming that it really couldn't see him, he let out a long breath.

Fortunately.

This method works.

Xu Ming thought thankfully. She consciously scanned the bracelet on her wrist.

She saw that one of the matches on the bracelet, which was made purely of toffee and matches, was faintly flashing.

*

Dream simulation.

In the sleepwalking state, the only skill that can be actively used can be directly triggered by touching the match on the bracelet. The specific effect is to copy all the elements in the current room or traffic space and simulate another identical scene.

The time in the scene is stagnant, has its own judgment rules, and is not affected by changes in reality.

And Xu Ming is now in another "first floor corridor" that she has just simulated urgently.

The simulated scene and the real scene are independent of each other. This is why Xu Ming first thought of using this skill - the corridor is too narrow, and the thing in the door is about to rush out, and she can't even escape. In this case, it is better to directly activate the dream simulation and let herself hide in another space temporarily. Not only can she take a breath, but also get a chance to observe for free.

...Yes, observe.

Looking at the big eyes that kept turning around next to him, Xu Ming's eyes turned slightly. Although his chest was still pounding nervously, his eyes had calmed down. He carefully moved his feet and began to try to observe the monsters next to him and the surrounding situation.

The scene simulated by the power of dreams is basically equivalent to overlapping with reality. It's just that there is a slight height difference overall. This is a good thing for Xu Ming, as it helps her distinguish between real existence and simulated objects.

But this also directly leads to her current uncomfortable vision. Everything she sees looks like double images, and she also has some slight discomfort when moving.

For example, if she looks in the direction of Room 102 now, she can actually see two almost overlapping doors.

The upper one is the simulated door, which is still closed at the moment; the lower one belongs to the real Room 102. Although the door is closed at the moment, the position of the original cat's eye has become a hole for no reason. Pink strips of polyps are growing continuously from the hole, and the end of the polyps is connected to the huge eyeball.

For another example, what she is standing on now is actually a simulated concrete floor. The simulated floor is a few centimeters higher than the real floor and presents a strange translucent state. This gave Xu Ming an even more subtle feeling, just like walking on a glass plank bridge. Even though she knew she would not fall, she still couldn't help but feel a little nervous when she moved.

Fortunately, Xu Ming quickly adapted and her movements became agile - she moved her feet carefully, her eyes moving around. When she saw the puppy curled up quietly in the pile of debris below, she immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

- The simulated scene only allows one existence to enter at a time. Xu Ming just came in naturally, with her bag and rule book on her, but the puppy in the bag was somehow isolated outside and could not come in with her.

Xu Ming was originally quite worried, but now seeing it as steady as a rock, she felt relieved. When she looked at the monster again, her brows could not help but show some thought.

Now she finally knew what the deafening "bang bang" sound was. She

originally thought it was the sound of footsteps, but now she found that it was not.

- Just at the end of Xu Ming's sight, behind the eyeball, in addition to the polyp connected to it, there is also a small, beating heart.

The "bang bang bang" sound came from here.

So what is this thing in front of her? Is it an alien root, or a monster created by the domain master? Is it the resident of Room 102? Or is it the "pet" of the resident of Room 102?

Also, the "people" and "pigs" I saw before... which category does it belong to? Did it suddenly come out to attack me because I was not in the house at the moment and was therefore judged to be a "pig"?

If so, then my current situation seems to be quite bad. I feel like I can kick any ghost passing by...

I can't think of any more definite conclusion for a while. On the other hand, there doesn't seem to be anything else worth paying attention to about the monster in front of me.

Therefore, Xu Ming quickly retracted his gaze and shifted his attention to the pile of debris under the stairs again.

Dream simulation, in theory, can simulate all the details of the selected area. If I remember correctly, even the rules and the changes caused by violating the rules can be simulated. The only problem is the time limit. A simulation can only last 15 minutes, and the same scene can only be simulated once "for free". The second simulation requires a price.

At the same time, the scene that Xu Ming simulated this time was also very narrow, just the corridor on the first floor. More scenes could not be simulated. In other words, he couldn't run away now, so he might as well use it to continue rummaging through the garbage, maybe he could find some clues.

With this thought in mind, Xu Ming decisively ignored the big eyes that were still looking for someone next to her, and started searching under the stairs again. Unexpectedly, she was lucky this time, and she really found something again -

in a badly damaged cartoon schoolbag, she found a pencil case. There was a photo sticker stuck in the pencil case, which showed a woman and a little girl. They looked like a mother and daughter.

And the woman, if she was not mistaken, should be the one who appeared behind the screen door not long ago.

There were also new gains in the pile of books that had been searched before. Xu Ming found a piece of rice paper with an exposed edge from a book, on which was written a big "home" in red ink; and the "pig" character under the treasure cover was circled in a big red circle.

Speaking of which... pig and porcupine, if I remember correctly, seem to have the same meaning.

I did hear my Chinese teacher say this when I was in school. The porcupine under the word "home" means pig.

If it's a pig, should it be considered a domestic animal? Could the "porcupine" mentioned in that book also mean this? It

's impossible to be sure for now, but this may be an idea.

In addition, Xu Ming also found a folding toolbox. The reason for noticing this box is also very simple -

it was obviously also piled up in a pile of miscellaneous items, but the dust and damage on it were not as serious as other items. The house number was even written on the surface of the toolbox: 401.

When the box was opened, there were a lot of hardware tools neatly placed inside. At the bottom of the tool, there was a folded piece of paper hidden.

When the paper was unfolded, it turned out to be a sketch drawn with a pen. There were three lines of small words written on the top of the paper:

[If you find that you can't understand what is written above, go find the black notebook. It is hidden in the pile of miscellaneous books.]

[Remember, don't tell others what you saw. No one in this building is trustworthy.]

[It is very important to complete the plan before you forget everything.]

Xu Ming: "......?"

Another incoherent text. For efficiency reasons, Xu Ming decisively gave up wasting time on it and turned to study the sketch below.

Compared to the ambiguous text, the value of the sketch is obvious - it clearly shows the cross-section of the building, from the first floor to the fifth floor. Although the style is rough and simple, it is still clearly recognizable.

At the bottom is the first floor, Room 101 and Room 102. The two rooms are represented by two frames. The frame of Room 101 shows a woman and a little girl holding hands; in Room 102, there is only a block of color scribbled with a black pen, with thin lines intertwined in an extremely chaotic way.

Going up, Room 201 has a question mark in the corresponding frame; the room next to it, Room 202, is also a mess of black lines.

Next is the third floor. In room 301, there is only a little girl alone, and in room 302, there is a mass of black.

Going up further, from 401 to 501, the three rooms are all question marks.

The most special one is room 502. In the frame representing room 502, the words "Building Manager" are written at the front, followed by a question mark - and what makes Xu Ming more concerned is that there is a circle outside this mark, and a big "X" is drawn next to it.

Next to the X, there is a large mass of black.

...What does this mean?

Judging from the information currently available, the black line is most likely not a good thing. It may refer to "pig", or it may simply be another expression of high risk.

If that's the case, then the fact that Room 502, which is related to the building manager, is blacklined is worth noting - especially the word "building manager" itself is crossed out.

In addition, there are two points on this whole picture that Xu Ming is very concerned about.

One is Room 301. That is the family where Qiu Yufei was abducted this time. In the drawing, there is only a little girl in this family, and no one else.

What about the big brother who always contacts her? And what about Po Haitang who entered this strange story in her place?

Are they "foil" and not worthy of being drawn; or when this picture was finished, there was indeed only the little girl in that "family"?

If the latter, the reliability of this picture may have to be discounted. Her "big brother"'s weirdness can be traced back to at least a year. According to this idea, this picture was completed at least a year ago.

One year is enough time for a lot of changes to happen.

Also, 401, isn't this the house number on the toolbox? In other words, the person who left this painting probably lives in 401... In that case, why did he leave a question mark in the room of 401?

Finally, the point that Xu Ming couldn't understand the most

was - what did these pants mean?

Xu Ming stared at the picture in his hand and couldn't help but pursed his lips.

In the picture, there was a pair of pants drawn on almost every floor of the stairs.

Crooked, but it was indeed a pair of pants.

...So what is this implying? Is there a pants monster on the stairs? Be careful with your pants when going up the stairs? Or is it simply an alternative expression of "passable here"?

Xu Ming couldn't figure it out. Fortunately, at this moment, the big eyeball next to it that had been obsessed with finding something finally made new movements - it seemed to have finally given up the search, turned around twice, and finally crawled back listlessly.

Even the polyp behind the eyeball shrank inch by inch, and the eyeball itself also kept retreating, and finally returned to the security door, and quickly slumped down like a deflated balloon, and finally shrank into a flat cat eye.

Seeing this, Xu Ming quickly moved in the simulation scene and quickly turned to the side of the stairs. This position is a blind spot in the sight of Room 102. Even if she leaves the simulation scene later, the other party will not immediately notice her.

Having chosen a relatively safe place to stay, Xu Ming felt more at ease. She took out her cell phone to check the time, and since there was still a while before the deadline, she quickly took out the black leather notebook that she had collected from her bag.

——Since it has been confirmed that this thing and the drawing paper were made by the same person, it is time to take a good look at the contents inside.

*

The other side.

In room 101.

The disheveled woman was lying on the cat's eye behind the door, nervously observing the movements outside, her chest still heaving violently; until she saw the big eyes of the person opposite her slowly retracting, she calmed down a little.

She took two steps back slowly, staring at the door in front of her in shock. Although she was still afraid, she looked a little dull. Just when she finally came to her senses and breathed a sigh of relief, a hand quietly reached out from behind and gently pressed her shoulder.

"Ah!"

She was startled and screamed uncontrollably. She

turned around and met a pair of beautiful eyes.

"Auntie, what are you doing standing here alone?" The girl with exquisite beauty said to her with a smile, and before the woman could react, she helped her to sit down at the dining table.

"It's time to eat now, Auntie, have you forgotten? Eat quickly, don't be hungry."

The girl said, and she skillfully turned on the rice cooker, took a bowl, and began to scoop food into the bowl. Then she held the bowl with both hands and carefully brought it to the table, as if it was very hot. After putting it down, she brought several plates and placed them on the table one by one.

However, after a closer look, whether it was the bowl or the plate, it was all empty.

There was nothing in it.

The woman sitting at the dining table seemed to be completely unaware of this, and only shook her head slowly.

"I don't want to eat." She whispered, "Panpan hasn't come home yet. I can't eat."

The girl seemed to be used to it. She used chopsticks to pick up the air while comforting her with all her heart: "Oh, auntie, don't worry. Panpan is such a smart child, could she not know the way home?

"She is not coming back now, she must be delayed by something. Your health is not good to begin with. If you get sick from hunger because of worrying about her, Panpan will definitely be even more sad..."

The girl said, remembering the sound of the door opening not long ago, and her movements paused. When she spoke again, her face was a little serious:

"And auntie, did you open the door just now?"

"Well... well. "The woman nodded slowly, then lowered her head gently, like a child who had done something wrong, "But I didn't open the screen door, I just opened the inside..."

"That won't work either." The girl immediately said seriously, "How many times have I told you that as long as you open the door and go out, it will definitely alarm the monster on the opposite side. Besides, there are not many people outside. As soon as you open the door, the monster on the opposite side will definitely stare at you..."

"Someone." The woman looked up and said, "There is someone outside."

"..." The girl pretended to eat a meal and paused.

"Who? Someone from outside?" She couldn't help but raise her voice, realizing that her tone was a little impulsive, and quickly lowered her voice, and made that gentle tone again, "I mean, who did you see, auntie?"

"I don't know him. "The woman answered stupidly, gesturing with her hands, "a girl, about this tall. Looks very..."

She wanted to say very good-looking, but then she swallowed her words back when she thought of Xu Ming's scarred right face.

After a pause, she finally found the right wording: "Looks, half good-looking."

"Averagely good-looking?" The girl frowned slightly and smacked her lips at the words.

...Could it be her? But that guy isn't averagely good-looking either, right? At least in its picky eyes, he's still pretty good...

No, it's also possible that her existence has raised the aesthetic threshold of this dead man. After all, her current face has been optimized several times on the basis of that guy's face. She couldn't help but be intoxicated when she looked at herself in the mirror...

"Oh, yes. "Just at this moment, the woman remembered something and suddenly raised her hand and knocked on the table, "There are not only people. There is also a puppy."

She turned her head slowly and met the surprised eyes of the girl next to her. She opened her mouth and emphasized seriously: "She also has a puppy. "

Hello, puppy." Panpan also likes puppies. So she couldn't help but take a few more glances at it.

After hearing this, the girl was completely stunned.

Some good-looking girls bring a dog.

In a place like this, who would bring a dog?

It can't be wrong - it must be her!

The girl was excited and jumped up from the table almost instantly. After asking the woman where she saw the other party, she stood up and was about to rush out, but then she thought about it and turned back, picked up a bag from the clothes rack, and began to put things in it quickly. While packing, she pretended to remind "Auntie" to stay at home, eat well, don't run around, and wait for Panpan to come back.

The woman nodded blankly, and looked at her strangely: "Where are you going?"

"I'm going out to do something and will be back soon. "The girl said perfunctorily, and in a blink of an eye she had walked to the door. After thinking for a moment, she rushed back again.

"Auntie, can I borrow the dressing mirror in your room? I'll be there in a moment!"

She said as she went into the house.

The woman tilted her head, her eyes becoming more and more puzzled.

On the other side, the girl standing in front of the dressing mirror took a deep breath at her reflection in the mirror.

"She has never seen me like this, she won't recognize me if she sees me like this." She said as she looked around, "I still have to choose a look that she recognizes, and it's better to make it a little miserable, to make her feel guilty... Oh yes, and this. It has to be exposed. "

She said, and quickly pulled out something that had been hidden in her clothes, and nodded in front of the mirror with satisfaction.

A closer look revealed that it was a hanging work badge.

On the badge, there were three clear words:

Po Haitang.