Chapter 85 Turning the page

further, there is no record. Xu Ming slowly turned the page back and stared at the last line of words. After a moment, he couldn't help but sigh. In a sense, Yu Fei, you are also deeply sinful... Xu Ming thought to himself, and gently closed the book. His eyes moved slightly, but his face showed some thoughts. No matter what, at least one thing is certain. This child is still afraid of the induction light. But if that's the case, what about the induction light on the third floor that was removed? Recalling the white mycelium he had seen in the corridor before, and Po Haitang's description of the fourth floor, Xu Ming was slightly startled, and then he knocked his head in his heart-isn't this already very obvious? The white mycelium that destroyed the induction light and the electric meter box on the third floor was not the little girl's own ability, but came from the fourth floor. It is likely that "Uncle Hu" has also undergone some abnormality. According to the diary, "Uncle Hu" is now in a state that cannot be controlled. Not only will he no longer provide help to the little girl, but he has blocked the entire fourth floor, making it impossible for her to go upstairs... This undoubtedly limits Xu Ling's range of activities. At the same time, without Uncle Hu's help, Xu Ling can no longer obtain the resources to fight against the induction light, so she can't go to the second and first floors; in other words, the change of "Uncle Hu" has restricted Xu Ling's movement in disguise. ...I just don't know whether it did it on purpose, or it just lost control and went crazy without distinguishing between enemies and me. But in this way, some problems become simple. Xu Ming pondered for a moment, and soon he had an idea. He turned around and searched the master bedroom again, but he didn't find any more clues - except for a smart phone in a schoolbag, which was covered with a pink shell. It can be turned on, but it can't be unlocked at all. Thinking of the text messages she had received intermittently in the past year, Xu Ming had reason to suspect that this was Xu Ling's tool for committing the crime. She wanted to pack up the things and take them away, but thinking that Qiu Yufei had to stay in the house, she didn't dare to act rashly, and could only keep it in mind for the time being. After searching for a while and making sure there were no more clues, he moved directly to the empty second bedroom, took out a pen and paper from his bag, quickly wrote a note, folded it up, carefully ended the simulation scene, and put it on the bookshelf in the room. ——The second bedroom in this "home" was originally for the "brother" to sleep. However, because Qiu Yufei is more "favored" now, Xu Ling decided to transfer it to Qiu Yufei. This is why Xu Ming chose to hide the note here. Of course, out of caution, Xu Ming and Qiu Yufei also added two more insurances to this way of communication-the first is the location of hiding the note, which must not be too obvious. There happened to be a simple small bookshelf in the room, which was filled with many old books. The two agreed to stick the note under the bookshelf. This way, it would be more concealed and easier to find. The second layer of insurance is the way of writing. According to Qiu Yufei, the little girl can read quite well, but she obviously has not received the orthodox nine-year compulsory education. Xu Ming also remembered that Uncle Hu in 401 had said in his diary that the children in this room did not even know the characters at first, and he taught them... So, Xu Ming quickly made up his mind - all future communication must be in English. No matter whether it is standard or not, it is enough to understand it roughly. They all passed the CET-4 and CET-6 with low scores, and they still have basic expression skills. Besides, she didn't believe that Uncle Hu could teach English in addition to reading! Xu Ming pondered secretly, and took advantage of the fact that no one was in the room to quickly hide the note. Then he hid back in the simulated scene again. Just as he hid, he heard footsteps outside. The footsteps were light and crisp. It was Qiu Yufei who was wearing leather shoes. Xu Ming immediately breathed a sigh of relief. He couldn't help but search around while waiting for Qiu Yufei to come in and turn over the note. Unexpectedly, after a while, he didn't hear Qiu Yufei coming in, but heard the child's thin voice again—— "Sister, I'm sleepy. Tell me the story of Yang Duoduo again." Xu Ming inside the door: "..." Qiu Yufei, who was only one step away from the bedroom: "..." Child, I don't know if it's appropriate to say it, but listening to everything will only hurt you, really. Xu Ming in the room slapped his forehead helplessly, and then he heard Qiu Yufei's slightly stiff response. The familiar footsteps soon faded away. Xu Ming estimated that the simulated scene in this room could still hold up for a while, so he didn't rush to move, but continued to walk in the scene, searching and waiting. ...Just at this moment, she heard another sound. Another sound of footsteps, heavy and sluggish, approached little by little from a distance, and finally stopped outside the door of the second bedroom. "..." Xu Ming, who was rummaging on the bedside table, paused and looked over vigilantly. At this time, Qiu Yufei was telling a story and Xu Ling was listening to her story. There was only one "person" at the door. The question is, why is it here... Before Xu Ming could figure this out, the half-closed door was gently pushed open. A twisted figure walked in slowly. It was indeed "brother". "Brother" was holding a bag in his hand. As soon as he entered the room, he skillfully opened the drawer of the desk and began to put things into the bag. Xu Ming was stunned for a moment, then he realized that the other party was here to pack up things. It made sense. After all, this was originally its room, so there must be some personal belongings. Since the room has changed hands, these things must be taken away. Looking at the things it took away, they were nothing more than some scraps of cloth, tied hair, broken lipsticks and other small items. Some of them Xu Ming had found when searching before, and some he had never seen before, which shows how well hidden they were. Xu Ming didn't know what it was collecting these things for, so he just watched silently from the side, while moving his feet, slowly approaching the door of the room, ready to move out at any time. Just pack up the things, just don't put them on the bookshelf... Xu Ming thought to himself, with one hand already pressing on the half-open door. Unexpectedly, at this moment, he really saw the "brother" stand up - turned around and walked towards the bookshelf. Xu Ming: "..." Okay, okay. After all, this is its room, it makes sense for it to put books here. The other party should just take the books and leave, as long as he doesn't touch around on the bookshelf, there shouldn't be a problem... "Hiss!" Xu Ming: "..." Looking at the small piece of paper that was torn off by the other party, she couldn't help but slap her forehead again. No, are you planning to pack up the entire bookshelf and take it away? What are you touching down there for? Calm down, calm down. Don't panic. Don't forget that your note is written in English, and this guy may not be able to understand it...

"Open the gate for me now..."

While he was still thinking, the "brother" in the room had already read aloud to the note. His pronunciation was quite standard, but he read it very slowly, "as quickly as you can..."

When he read to this point, he suddenly paused, and his tone was a little confused: "...Strange Talk Demolition Office?"

Xu Ming: "..."

It's just a signature used as an identity certificate, there is no need to read it out so seriously.

Combined with the plastic English in front, it makes people feel a little ashamed for some reason.

But then again...

Looking at the "brother" who was still reading the note with his head down, Xu Ming suddenly felt a little bit of expectation in his heart.

There were cases of knocking over water cups and soup bowls before, and now he can accurately recognize the English on the note... Does this mean that the "brother" in front of him is still somewhat sober?

If that's the case, then if we can reach a consensus with it, the following things will undoubtedly be much more convenient. It's equivalent to developing one more insider, and Qiu Yufei can get more care in Room 301...

Let's not talk about the distant ones, let's talk about the near ones. Maybe she doesn't have to wait for Qiu Yufei to come back, she can go out quietly with the help of her "brother".

Xu Ming's thoughts raced, his eyes fixed on the figure below, paying close attention to the other party's movements. The other party seemed to be stupid, just standing there, staring at the paper in his hand, and after a while, he put the note on the table, lowered his head and tidied the bag at hand like nothing happened.

Xu Ming:...?

What does this mean? Don't want to pay attention? Or... don't understand at all?

Xu Ming was unsure of the other party's attitude for a moment. Unexpectedly, the next second, the other party made a move that surprised her even more.

He took out a knife from the bag.

That kind of push-type utility knife looked very old. Xu Ming watched it push out the rusty blade, and looked at it with a research eye, and couldn't help frowning; then, he saw the other party taking out a lot of things from the bag one after another, mostly old books, and some clothes and fabrics, neatly spread on the desk.

Then, he saw the other party put his right hand on the "table mat" he had laid out, and at the same time, he picked up the utility knife with his left hand again -

accompanied by a sharp sound of breaking flesh, an index finger was chopped off by the utility knife!

"......!"

Xu Ming instinctively covered his mouth, and his back was covered with cold sweat!

Cutting off just one index finger seemed not enough. The "brother" held the knife, thought for a moment, and raised his hand again. There were several more sounds of flesh being cut, and the little finger and middle finger were also cut off.

The finger was obviously very different from the organs of a living person. After being cut off, it rolled straight to the ground, making a hard and crisp sound; the incision was a piece of black tissue, and a strange black liquid burst out, splashing all over the "table mat".

The incision dried up quickly, and the "brother" cut off three fingers in a row, and seemed to be finally satisfied. He put down the knife and picked up the fingers that rolled to the ground one by one, placed them side by side in his palm for a moment, and then picked up another one, facing the base of the finger, and bit it directly.

"..."Xu Ming was already a little frightened by it, and she couldn't help but gasp when she saw

it. Her scalp was tingling, and her mind was full of question marks. Before she could figure out what the other party was doing, she saw the "brother" sweep all the things on the table into the bag, and slowly walked out with the three severed fingers.

Xu Ming stood at the door hesitantly, and saw it turning around and walking towards the master bedroom with the fingers. She knocked on the door and entered the room. The door was not closed tightly. After a while, Xu Ling's voice floated out from the crack of the door, and she didn't look too happy:

"How did you lose your finger again? How many times have I told you that this is not something that can be eaten... How could it be cut off accidentally? "

The little finger and thumb can be put back together, but the index finger... the index finger is bitten like this, how can it be put back together?

"Just forget about it and throw it away. Next time I find a suitable finger, I will make you another one.

" "But brother, don't do such uncivilized things next time. You are the eldest in the family and you must not do such immature things..."

"I really like you. You are obedient, know how to clean, and are not afraid of lights. Besides, I have worked hard to train you to be barely okay... I don't want to replace you because of this. Okay, brother?" "

..."

"Brother" seemed to respond, but the voice was very low and Xu Ming didn't hear it. Xu Ling only heard another "hmm": "Did you dirty a lot of things? Then take those out and throw them away. Leave your right arm here, and I'll sew your fingers back together... You can't use the key this way? Why don't you just leave the door open? Why are you asking me this? You're the brother!"

At the end, Xu Ling's tone was clearly filled with impatience. For some reason, Xu Ming always felt that she would blurt out "Remember your identity" in the next second.

On the other side, the communication in the master bedroom finally ended. "Brother" slowly walked out dragging his big bag, and his entire right arm was gone.

Its face still had that dull expression. It dragged the bag to the living room, found a garbage bag, took out all the old books and clothes that were splashed with black liquid, stuffed them into the garbage bag, and slowly stood up. It glanced around vaguely, and then walked towards the door.

"If you are here, follow me." Xu Ming heard it say softly. There was no change on its face.

It seemed to be talking to himself.

Xu Ming was looking for an opportunity to move to the living room. He paused when he heard the words, and didn't know whether to answer or not. The other party had already walked forward on his own and opened the door.

It walked out, but the door was not closed. According to what I heard before, it should be because it lacks its right arm and cannot use the key, so it has temporarily obtained the qualification of not closing the door.

Xu Ming did not miss this opportunity. After turning around and leaving two more messages for Qiu Yufei, he quickly moved to the living room, and then moved all the way to the door through the simulated scene in the living room.

Switching back to reality, he tiptoed out of the door, but his "brother" was no longer outside.

In front of the door of 302 opposite, there was a small ball of paper.

The ball of paper was not only conspicuous, but also very familiar. Xu Ming could tell at a glance that it was the note she had written to Qiu Yufei.

She carefully moved forward and picked up the ball of paper. When she opened it, as expected, there was another thing wrapped inside.

A stiff finger with the base of the finger bitten to pieces, but still retaining complete fingerprints.

*

"That's probably what happened."

A few minutes later, in the living room of Room 302.

The finger was held up by a piece of paper and placed neatly on the dining table. Beside the dining table were Xu Ming with a serious face, Panpan with a bewildered face, and Po Haitang who was temporarily ashamed.

...It is said that after losing Panpan's arm, he was blamed by Panpan and felt ashamed. So he simply rubbed his entire face off to express his apology and shame.

However, Xu Ming thought that it might be that he simply felt that it would be less likely to be scolded if he changed into such an unconventional style. After all, Panpan looked reckless, but she was actually very timid. If she changed into such a scary style, she would not even want to look at him, let alone be scolded.

Panpan's face was still ugly at this moment. He was still immersed in the impact of his sudden disability and only half understood Xu Ming's story. But the shameless Po Haitang said "Oh" with sudden realization after hearing what he said, and looked at the metal box which was also on the table:

"Are you saying that the 'brother' opposite is actually..."

"Her brother is a patchwork type." Xu Ming felt a chill down his spine when he thought of this, and even felt a little angry, but he tried to keep a calm tone, "I suspect part of it came from the residents of 302."

That is, the helper invited by the building manager to look after 301, referred to as "Ms. Tian" in Uncle Hu's notes.

After hearing this, Panpan finally caught up with the rhythm and her face changed immediately: "But, Aunt Tian is a woman? Why is she the 'brother'..."

"I don't understand the specific logic. But now it seems that it is because the body was originally given the identity of 'brother'." Xu Ming tried to explain, "The person who was regarded as the brother at first should be the 'gardener' living in 402... Panpan, you should know? He is a man."

"...Yeah." Panpan nodded hesitantly, "but he died a long time ago."

"Yes, he was the first to be killed after Xu Ling moved in from 301. And from the information we have at present, he should be the original 'brother' chosen by Xu Ling." Xu Ming pursed his lips and organized his thoughts as he spoke, "In other words, he is the raw material used to make a 'brother'."

But this material is not perfect. That's why Xu Ling kept patching up and patching up, constantly piecing together parts from other people, trying to create a more "perfect" brother.

"Who is it now?" The whale man pondered for a while and couldn't help asking, "Is it controlled by an independent consciousness, or are there many consciousnesses taking turns driving?"

"Not sure." Xu Ming shook his head, but his eyes turned to the table next to him, "But at least one thing is certain."

That is, it belongs to Ms. Tian's consciousness, and a part of it must still be awake. That's why it quickly judged the situation after reading the note it left, and immediately took a series of actions to assist...

Dirty old books and cloth in order to have a reason to go out and throw away the garbage, so that it could open the door; cut off several fingers in succession in order to lead to the fact that it couldn't open the door with the key, so as to gain the right to leave the door unlocked.

... And deliberately destroying the base of the index finger was to ensure that this finger would not be recovered by Xu Ling, so that it could be secretly sent out...

to them.

It just so happened that they had a box in their hands that required a fingerprint to open. Xu Ming didn't think anyone else could think of this so quickly except Ms. Tian herself.

Thinking of this, Xu Ming couldn't help but sigh in his heart. Thinking of his "brother's" current state, he felt inexplicably upset.

Po Haitang couldn't help but exclaimed "Ah", and reached out to pick up the severed finger and the metal box: "In this case, don't waste other people's kindness! Instead of guessing so much, why not just try it..."

Before he finished speaking, his finger had already pressed on the lock of the metal box.

Xu Ming wanted to say something, but had to swallow it back when he saw this. On the other side, as she guessed, the metal box opened with a click, and the whale man reached in and quickly took out a small notebook.

"Work manual? What an old style..." The whale man murmured, flipped it open casually, and saw the first name recorded in it. He was slightly startled, and then he couldn't help laughing out loud.

"Pfft, Xu Dazhuang? Is this name serious? Teacher Su Ming, are you sure this thing is reliable? There is actually someone named Dazhuang in it..."

"..."

Xu Ming's expression froze when he heard it.

"I seem to know this name." She murmured, looking up at the other two people. For some reason, she didn't feel surprised, but felt that it was as expected.

The aunt who raised her was named Xu Zhuangyan.

Sometimes her friends would come to see her, sometimes to get things done, and sometimes because they were short of one person. And the way they called her was often-Xu Dazhuang.