Zhang Shutong twirled his keys as he walked back from the patient ward, only to see the other three squeezed into a tight cluster right next to the window.
He thought to himself with a sense of gratification, See? What did I tell you? The windows in a hallway are an absolute human trap. Nobody can resist standing next to one to zone out.
So, he walked over silently and patted Ruoping on the shoulder.
Ruoping let out a sharp gasp and turned her head, her body stiffening for a split second. "Zhang Shutong, do you want to die?!"
Zhang Shutong took a step back and said with a smile, "Sorry, sorry. But aren't we going to eat? It's almost seven o'clock."
"There's a door," Ruoping said in a low voice.
"A door?"
"Look at that old house in the back. There's a door behind the Boston ivy," Du Kang also lowered his voice.
"Oh," Zhang Shutong took a glance.
"Why don't you have any reaction?"
Left with no choice, Zhang Shutong explained that he had been looking at it every single day lately. While they found it to look like a horror movie set, he had essentially been treating it as a landscape photograph, so he had long since become desensitized.
"But a door is hidden behind the Boston ivy!" Ruoping and Du Kang said in unison.
Zhang Shutong didn't know what else to say. He turned on his phone flash and aimed it over, but the flashlight's range couldn't reach the house at all. It wasn't thundering at the moment, leaving only a pitch-black void outside the window.
"Isn't your logic a little strange?" Zhang Shutong said. "Uh, I mean, since it's a house, why can't it have a door? Or rather, a house without a door would be the scary one, right?"
"That actually makes sense?" Du Kang instantly defected upon hearing this. Grinning, he patted Ruoping on the shoulder and backstabbed his teammate. "Let's go, let's go. We know you're afraid of ghosts, but how are you even afraid of a house?"
Ruoping glared at him. Forgoing the chance to twist his ear, she hurriedly nudged Qingyi. "What do you think?"
"Shutong is right."
"Stop copying Second Brother! Bah, stop copying Third Brother!"
"Seriously," Qingyi had a calm face. "It was a bit scary just now, but if you guys came across an old house during the day—the kind built of brick like your grandparents' house—you wouldn't even look at it once, right?"
"It's actually just an inertia of thought," Qingyi, worthy of being a future STEM student, analyzed everything with sound logic. "We saw the Boston ivy first, so our subconscious mind felt that a door that shouldn't be there was hidden inside. But in reality, the house and the door existed first, and then the Boston ivy grew over them. Doesn't it feel less strange when you think about it that way?"
Ruoping nodded reluctantly, seemingly convinced. "But how are you guys not curious at all? Usually, wouldn't you have rushed out by now?"
"We operate by the water. Places on land are outside our jurisdiction." Zhang Shutong teased her in a deadpan manner as well.
In truth, he wanted to say that he might go check it out under normal circumstances, but he had just finished an adventure today and was a bit tired. On top of that, it was raining, so it was probably better for them to part ways with that house in peace.
"Let's go, let's go." Du Kang urged Ruoping, very realistically demonstrating what a three-minute passion meant. "I'm already hungry. Besides, what's there to look at in the rain? Let's just come back when it clears up."
Ruoping took another glance at the old house, only to find that the three boys had already slung their arms over each other's shoulders and started walking away. She said in annoyance, "You guys could at least wait—"
But her words today seemed to have a prophetic power. Just as her voice fell, another rumble roared out, carrying a greater momentum than before. The few of them happened to be standing by the window, and their faces were instantly illuminated by the flash of lightning. Even the light tube above their heads flickered. Du Kang couldn't help but shudder. "Didn't Ruoping say she checked the weather forecast and the rain today wouldn't be heavy? Why does that thing always mess up..."
The thunder seemed like a command, and immediately afterward, the rain poured down in torrents. Big droplets of rain slammed against the ground like beans, leaving only the rushing sound of water for a moment.
This was no longer weather where one could ride a bike while holding an umbrella and not get drenched. Dragging it out any longer would only make it worse. Du Kang walked over and waved his hand in front of Ruoping's eyes. "Are you alright? Why are you still standing there in a daze, like you're possessed..."
She bit her lip, her voice trembling slightly. "Didn't you guys see it just now? That door opened!"
The three of them froze for a moment and looked at one another.
"Was it closed when you guys looked earlier?" Zhang Shutong asked first.
"Probably..." Qingyi hesitated. "I didn't see clearly before either. Du Kang was the one who called the two of us."
"I saw it clearly. It was absolutely closed." Du Kang started to harbor doubts. "The question now is whether Ruoping saw it clearly. I think her eyes were playing tricks on her."
"They really weren't!" Ruoping stamped her foot in frustration. "Why would I lie to you guys? See for yourselves if you don't believe me!"
But even though she said that, the lightning had faded back into the clouds, and there was no moon tonight, leaving only a pitch-black view when looking over.
Du Kang pressed his face hard against the glass. "I also feel like it's a bit eerie. What do you guys think we should do?"
"Let's wait a bit more then." Zhang Shutong glanced at his phone. "It will probably thunder again within a few minutes. If you want to see, just watch. This little bit of time won't hurt."
Having made up their minds, the four of them lined up by the window at the same time and held their breath.
Zhang Shutong kept track of the time in his head. A minute had already passed, but only the sound of rain filled his ears.
To be honest, even now, he didn't quite understand what they were nervous about, but he just treated it as an adventure. They had nothing else to do after eating anyway. However, Heaven wasn't being very cooperative, delaying the thunder for a long time. Just as Zhang Shutong was about to suggest borrowing a flashlight from the front desk, Du Kang said in a low voice, "Ruoping, why don't you say a few words? I think your words are very effective today. Lord of Thunder, Mother of Lightning..."
"Shut your—"
But before she could finish her sentence, a flash of lightning zipped past, and the view ahead suddenly lit up unexpectedly. The girl's face turned pale, but she stared fixedly ahead without blinking.
Zhang Shutong also closely followed her gaze. Within his field of vision was a wooden door, full of cracks and practically rotting, on the verge of falling off its frame. That door was exactly as Ruoping had said—it really was open.
He wanted to see the situation inside the house further, but the lightning slipped away.
The sudden shift between brightness and darkness was truly unfriendly to the eyeballs. Zhang Shutong turned around and rubbed his aching eye sockets. His three best friends were still frozen in front of the windowsill.
"Wow, it really opened..."
"I—I told you so, and you guys still didn't believe me!"
"Wait a minute, the main point isn't that it opened, big brother and big sister. The main point is why did it open!" Du Kang shuddered.
"That door was already about to break anyway." Zhang Shutong recalled, "It's not that rare, right..."
"But it opened inward," Qingyi said suddenly.
The three of them looked at him. Qingyi analyzed out of habit, "Just assume the door is already broken. If it opened outward, with the Boston ivy blocking it from the outside, it really wouldn't be strange for it to swing open on its own once the ivy was gone. But it opened inward..."
Qingyi gestured with his palm. "Did anyone hear any other sounds?"
"You don't think someone sneaked into the shack while it wasn't thundering, do you?!" Ruoping trembled.
"Who can say for sure? I just feel that under normal circumstances, the door wouldn't open. But it opened just like that, which means—"
"Which means there must be something strange going on?"
Du Kang struck the windowsill with his fist. "Wouldn't it have been better to just say that earlier? I'm familiar with this. So now there's only one question left, everyone...
"To go, or not to go?"
...
Just as Shakespeare said, to go or not to go, that is a question.
When encountering this kind of disagreement, they usually resolved it by voting.
Du Kang cast a vote in favor first, and Ruoping immediately voted against it.
Despite the fact that she had been staring fixedly at that old house just now, she actually only wanted to prove that she wasn't wrong. As for what kind of weird things were inside, she naturally couldn't care less.
Qingyi also cast a vote in favor.
Everyone's gaze gathered on Zhang Shutong.
"I don't care either way." Zhang Shutong really didn't care. "I'm conserving energy lately."
"What conserving energy?" Ruoping sometimes truly admired their ability to derail a conversation from one topic to another.
"An anime mystery, Hyouka, which just started airing this year. It's a type of life philosophy, meaning if I don't have to do it, I won't. If I have to do it, I'll make it quick," Qingyi explained.
Ruoping let out a sigh of relief upon hearing this. "That's good. Shutong, your french fries will be doubled later. Whatever else you want to eat, just..."
Before she could finish her sentence, under the girl's look of utter disbelief, Zhang Shutong smiled and raised his hand. "So my suggestion is to go quickly and come back quickly."
...
While walking down the stairs, Ruoping was still complaining about his dramatic pause.
Zhang Shutong would occasionally feel like playing a prank too. "But seriously speaking, with the rain pouring so heavily now, riding our bikes to the commercial street will definitely get us drenched. Since we're free anyway."
"Couldn't we just wait a bit in the hospital?"
"I've smelled medicine enough to make me want to vomit these past few days." Zhang Shutong threw his hands out. "Besides, what Qingyi said might not be right. Anything could go wrong with a deteriorating door like that. With the four of us together, nothing can go wrong."
Ruoping stayed silent, doing nothing but sighing consistently.
In fact, she was quite conflicted. If she truly didn't want to go, she wouldn't have this attitude. Zhang Shutong felt that she was probably both scared and curious, needing someone to give her a push, but then regretting it a bit once she agreed.
An adventure naturally couldn't be done empty-handed.
But the so-called preparation work was nothing more than going to the lobby front desk to borrow a flashlight.
While borrowing the flashlight, they casually asked about the history of that old house, but the receptionist didn't know either, only saying that it seemed to already exist before the hospital was reconstructed.
"That really is early enough," Du Kang explained. "Shutong, you don't know, but this place used to be a hospital too. Back when we were kids—around four or five years old, near the year 2000—they tore down the old hospital and built a new one on top of it."
Zhang Shutong nodded. As an outsider, he was definitely not as well-informed as the locally born and raised kids. He asked for another plastic bag to wrap around his cast-bound arm, so it wouldn't get wet from the rain.
Everyone reported to their respective homes that they were safe and would be returning a bit late today.
After doing all this, they stepped out of the hospital entrance. Even though it was evening, it was so dark outside that it looked like the middle of the night.
The all-enveloping rain fell, making the curtain of night thick and sticky. The moisture was heavy, making even breathing feel difficult.
They formed a single file line. The four of them shared two umbrellas in total, and the flashlight carved out a narrow path of light.
Every now and then, a bright flash zipped across the horizon, reflecting off the rolling dark clouds and illuminating the black surfaces of the umbrellas.
The four youths carefully avoided the puddles. To loop around to the back of the hospital, they needed to cross a small alley. But while it was called an alley, it was merely a gap between two buildings—exceptionally narrow. One person going in left a little space, while two people made it look cramped.
The three boys naturally had to show gentlemanly manners. Du Kang led the charge at the front, Zhang Shutong was second, and Qingyi brought up the rear, sandwiching Ruoping in the middle.
With everyone pressed front-to-back, the visibility wasn't very good. Du Kang changed the direction of the flashlight from straight ahead to down at their feet.
Ruoping simply closed her eyes and stopped looking altogether, resting one hand on Zhang Shutong's shoulder while keeping her head down to follow his steps, muttering repeatedly under her breath, "Are we there yet? Why aren't we there yet..."
Zhang Shutong comforted her, saying they would walk out very soon.
He calculated the time in his head. They had walked roughly twenty steps. After the initial suspense passed, they adapted to the darkness and gradually picked up their pace. Another flash of lightning illuminated their view, and just as Zhang Shutong was about to see the situation ahead clearly, Du Kang suddenly came to a halt.
Like a locomotive suddenly braking, the carriages behind crashed into one another, causing the umbrellas to tilt and creating a chaotic scene for a moment.
"Sorry, sorry. Shutong, is your hand alright?" Du Kang hurriedly shouted.
"I'm fine," Zhang Shutong had been holding his phone just now, shielding his left arm with his right hand in front. "What about you?"
"Holy crap, it's actually not flat. There's a step, I almost stepped into empty space just now." Du Kang cursed. "Be careful, you guys. Shutong, hold the flashlight for me first..."
After saying that, he nimbly jumped down. "It's not very high, come on down, everyone!"
Zhang Shutong tentatively extended one foot. After a drop of a single step, his toes first dipped into standing water. The terrain ahead was indeed lower, with the water surface already covering the soles of his shoes, followed by the texture of mud underfoot.
Zhang Shutong passed the information along to Ruoping, and the two behind carefully walked down.
"Why would there be a step?" Zhang Shutong asked instinctively. "This isn't a real alley anyway."
"Let me see," Du Kang squatted down, studying the "step" for a moment. "Oh, so that's how it is..."
"How is it exactly?" Ruoping poked his shoulder with her umbrella handle.
Du Kang wiped the water off his face but turned around, shining the flashlight behind him. "Look, this isn't the back of some hospital, or rather, the back of the hospital doesn't exist. Instead, it's..."
He murmured, "A piece of fenced-off wasteland."
A sudden explosion boomed by their ears as a flash of lightning zipped past, finally illuminating the scene ahead. A house built of red walls stood quietly in the rain, surrounded only by wild grass swaying along with the storm.
Zhang Shutong wasn't too surprised by this. He had looked at it many times from upstairs before. Of course, this was still his first time being physically present on the scene. He looked around—
This piece of wasteland was only about half the size of a basketball court. Its creation felt more like an accident; the urban district construction just happened to overlook this spot.
The land surrounding it had been laid with concrete foundations, upon which new buildings were constructed, while this spot still maintained a primitive appearance.
The terrain here was low-lying. The so-called step turned out to be the junction where the concrete pavement met the soil.
Looking down at their feet again, their shoes were soaked in the accumulated water, bringing a wave of coldness. The soil had already been washed soft by the rain, making them prone to slipping with every step, as if they were walking in a swamp.
"Are we still going forward?" Ruoping hesitated.
"We've already walked all the way here." Du Kang urged her. "How disappointing would it be to go back?"
"I feel like if we keep walking, water is going to get into my shoes. I hate wet socks the most..." The girl shuddered as she spoke. It turned out that this was what she cared about. But Ruoping was worthy of being Ruoping; she looked at the house not far away, gritted her teeth, cleanly rolled up her pant legs, and tossed her hair. "Let's just go!"
The surrounding buildings completely blocked out the light from the streetlamps. Only when turning back could the lit windows at the back of the hospital provide a small sense of security.
The four of them slowly advanced toward the old house again, but the closer they got, the slower they walked.
"I say... should we guys set up some ground rules, just in case there's a real emergency later?"
"Why care about so much? Move, move! Stop talking nonsense!"
"Big sister, it's easy for you to say since you're standing behind. I'm the first one..."
"Shh."
While talking, they drew closer and closer, and the Boston ivy on the ground was already visible. The few of them lowered their voices, and Du Kang aimed the flashlight straight ahead, pointing it right at that wide-open door.
He stopped walking. He originally wanted to look from a bit further away, but the surroundings were simply too dark. The light from the flashlight seemed to be swallowed up, allowing them to see only the accumulated water inside the room—
The illuminated area was stark white. The terrain of this room was likewise not high, with only murky wastewater flowing inside, looking even deeper than the outside.
"It seems..." Du Kang took a few more steps closer, shining the light back and forth, and said in confusion, "It seems like there's nothing there?"
His voice returned to normal. "Ha, it's just an empty shack. It doesn't even have furniture. You guys know what I'm most afraid of running into, right? It's when you shine a flashlight, only to find an altar table right at the entrance with an old lady's funeral photo on it..."
"Hey, stop talking about it, it's creepy as hell!" Ruoping hurriedly stopped him.
"Fine, fine, fine, I won't talk about it," Du Kang didn't mean to scare her on purpose. "Didn't I say so? There really is nothing."
"Really nothing?"
Ruoping finally dared to poke her head out from behind Zhang Shutong.
"Nothing, don't be afraid." Zhang Shutong took over the conversation. He walked to Du Kang's side, took the flashlight, and looked around. "As it stands right now... it's just an abandoned old house. Everything has been cleared out."
He then asked for Qingyi's opinion. He hadn't expected this guy to be even bolder; Qingyi walked straight to the doorway, holding onto the doorframe as he took a look inside. "There's definitely nothing in the room. The only question is how this door opened."
Zhang Shutong was also studying that half-open wooden door.
He saw a pin tumbler lock on the door, its surface somewhat rusty, but the lock itself was intact—it turned out that the problem wasn't with the door lock, but with the staple.
The wooden door was rotten, causing the staple installed on it to break off. Because of this, nothing had happened to the lock, but the door had opened instead.
Zhang Shutong shook the wooden door again; it was indeed loose, and there was no telling when it might fall off.
He was just about to call Ruoping over to have a look to give her some peace of mind when Du Kang suddenly let out an "Ouch."
The three of them were startled and hurriedly asked what happened, only to find that Du Kang had entered the room at some unknown point. He had a bitter face. "I shouldn't have come in. Why is the water inside so deep? My shoes are completely soaked..."
Zhang Shutong looked down at his feet; the sneakers had already been swallowed by the water, which even reached his pant legs.
"Then why did you run inside for no reason?" Ruoping said.
"I felt that since we're already here, I might as well walk around inside to take a look. Who knew the inside of this house would be even lower than the outside?" Du Kang wandered around the room aimlessly while sighing. "Just wait up, you guys. Since my shoes are wet anyway, I'll come back after taking a look."
The beam of the flashlight darted around everywhere. He waded through the water, walking a circle along the wall, and muttered in puzzlement, "Hey, it's really strange. How come there are no windows?"