The door was tightly shut. I stood by the offering table, and somehow my forehead was already drenched in cold sweat.
"Mr. Gao, are you okay? May I continue with the questions?" The cold, emotionless voice came from beneath the paper - man mask, sounding like an inquiry yet also like a prompt.
"I'm fine, I'm fine. Please continue." Sensing something was wrong, I focused more on planning an escape route. As for being the host of the Netherworld Show, only a fool would want that.
"Mr. Gao, I hope you can answer the following questions seriously. If your answers don't satisfy us, you may never be able to leave this place." He paused for a moment, picked up the crumpled small advertisement on the table, and added, "Just like the real owner of this card - Xia Chi."
"Xia Chi! Xia Qingzhi's brother! He was indeed killed here!" My heart rate suddenly accelerated. "Are the police in Jiangcheng all useless? They can't even find out what happened to a missing person?!"
Xia Qingzhi didn't lie, but why was there no information about her brother in the household registration investigation, and even her family had no memory of Xia Chi? There were too many doubts, and I had no clue.
"Mr. Gao, please listen carefully to my question." This time, it was the person on the left who spoke. The three of them had no obvious difference in build, but the paper - man masks they wore were of different degrees of wear.
"When I was thirteen, because I thought my sister's crying was very noisy, I killed her and then threw her body into the well outside the house. When I went to check the next day, the body had disappeared.
Five years later, because of a minor argument, I killed my friend and threw the body into the well outside the house. When I went to check the next day, the body had disappeared.
Ten years later, because I was drunk and was pestered by a girl I accidentally got pregnant, I killed her and threw the body into the well outside the house. When I went to check the next day, the body had disappeared.
Fifteen years later, because of my boss's scolding, I killed him and threw the body into the well outside the house. When I went to check the next day, the body had disappeared.
Twenty years later, because I was tired of taking care of my disabled mother, I killed her and threw the body into the well outside the house.
When I went to check the next day, the body didn't disappear. I went to check on the third day, the fourth day, and every day after that... the body still didn't disappear."
"Mr. Gao, your first test question is to tell me why your mother's body didn't disappear?"
"What kind of test question is this?" I listened intently, not missing a single word in his question, but after hearing it, I didn't know how to answer. Their questions didn't seem to be for selecting talent, but more like a criminal psychological test.
The other party used a plain and simple tone, yet it unexpectedly made me feel terrified. It was as if there was a huge hand in the dark that was gripping me, slowly suffocating me.
"Thirty seconds of thinking time is up. Please state your answer."
At this point, I had no choice but to analyze it reluctantly, reasoning based on the limited clues in the story.
"Every time you killed someone and dumped the body, the body would disappear inexplicably the next day. At first glance, it seemed that there was something wrong with that well. But after you killed your mother, her body remained. Thinking about it this way, the only reasonable explanation is that every time you killed and dumped the body, it was your mother who was helping you dispose of the bodies."
After saying this, I stole a glance at that person. There was no emotional fluctuation beneath the paper - man mask.
"Now, please listen to the second question." He didn't tell me whether the answer was correct or not and continued to ask questions.
I don't know if you've heard of snuff films. They are underground films that contain a large amount of brutal killing plots and are only known to acquaintances. Some people say that such films are even real - life murder cases filmed by the murderers themselves.
One day, I was drinking with a friend. He said he had such strange videotapes. Just like a glutton would risk everything to eat delicacies like pufferfish and scorpions, considering myself quite brave and curious, I expressed my wish to watch them.
So he invited me to a hidden cabin in the mountains. I arrived on time as agreed, but he was thirty minutes late.
"Sorry, sorry. My third child suddenly had a fever and refused to take his medicine no matter what."
"Kids are like that. I understand."
"Haha, let's start then."
My friend played the long - awaited film. The background was filled with heart - wrenching crying and trembling laughter. A child of about ten years old was tortured by a masked murderer for twenty minutes before dying. Because the plot was so tragic, I turned off the TV halfway through and questioned my friend in a very loud voice, "How can you watch such a film? Don't you have a child of your own?"
In the face of my indignation, my friend casually replied, "Yeah, I have two. But so what?"
"Mr. Gao, your second test question is to guess whether the 'I' in the story can walk out of the cabin alive."
Compared with the first question, this one was equally hysterical and had an eerie vibe.
"Just watching a video together, it shouldn't cost one's life. Although this video..." As I was thinking, I suddenly noticed a detail. The last sentence of the friend in the story said he had two children, but the excuse for his being late was that the third child had a fever. If the eldest and the second child were there, where was the third child?
"The friend was thirty minutes late, and the child was tortured for twenty minutes before dying. Could it be... that the masked murderer was the friend?" I was shocked by my own speculation. The more I thought about it, the scarier it became.
"Mr. Gao, please pay attention to the time."
"Personally, I think the 'I' in the story probably won't be able to walk out of the cabin alive. He is likely to become the second snuff film in the friend's hands..."
The atmosphere in the room became even more oppressive. I unbuttoned the first two buttons of my shirt, put one hand in my pocket, and clenched the anti - wolf stun gun.
"Good. Now, please listen to the third question."
"They were childhood sweethearts, thinking they could watch the sunset together. But at the age of 35, she got lung cancer. Holding the diagnosis report, she cried and then laughed, laughed and then cried. She didn't smoke and had no bad habits. Why did she get lung cancer? She came to his office and saw a bag of her favorite dried fruits in his drawer. Next to it was a medicine bottle. The implication was shocking, and she shed tears. Three days later, she lit birthday candles for him while crying. He wasn't there. She lit 34 long candles and one short candle, and sneered, 'You've really lost weight'."
"Please tell us why she said he had lost weight."
I seemed to have seen this question somewhere before, but I couldn't remember it for a moment. After thinking hard, I came up with a rather wild answer.
"The man in the story betrayed the woman. He smeared a carcinogenic drug on her favorite dried fruits. He wanted her to die. After the woman found out everything, she killed the man, refined his body into oil, and made candles out of it. As a result, there weren't enough for 35 candles, so she said he had really lost weight."
"Very imaginative. Now, please listen to the fourth question."
"Because of an affair, I pushed my girlfriend off the sixth - floor balcony and made it look like a suicide to deceive the police. But perhaps due to a guilty conscience, I always thought my girlfriend would come back to me.
Living in constant fear, until the seventh day after her death, I met a fortune - teller. He said that the vengeful spirit would return, and if I wanted to live, I had to hide under the bed that night and must not be discovered by her.
I followed his advice. As soon as it was past midnight, the sound of a basketball bouncing, 'dong, dong, dong', came from the living room. When the bedroom door was opened, I knew I was doomed."
"Mr. Gao, do you know what the 'I' in the story saw that made him so desperate?"
"His girlfriend was already dead, wasn't she? This question seems a bit contradictory." The premise for this question to hold is that the girlfriend didn't die. Of course, it could also be another situation, that the girlfriend became a ghost.
"You just need to answer."
My mind was racing, but what I was thinking about was a deeper question. Why did they give me these four questions? What was their purpose?
"Assuming your question holds, the girlfriend in the story fell from the sixth floor. She might have landed on her head first, so she crawled up with her head. This coincides with the 'dong, dong' sound in the living room. As soon as the bedroom door opened, the person hiding under the bed was discovered by the girlfriend with her head down in the first place, so he knew he was doomed."
"Very wonderful. Now, there's only the last question left." At this moment, the three of them actually spoke in unison, and their tacit understanding was terrifying.
Cold sweat trickled down my chin and onto my neck. My Adam's apple involuntarily bobbed.
"Mr. Gao, the last question is..."
"Do you believe in ghosts in this world?"