Li Xiu actually didn't know why Fang Qianan told him this.
The young man stood there, looked at Fang Qianan for a few seconds, and then he gritted his teeth and replied.
"That's still not clear."
Li Xiu's words were sincere. After all, judging by Fang Qian'an's current physique, he looked like he could kill ten cows with one punch. It was hard to imagine that just over a decade ago, this behemoth named Fang Qian'an was a critically ill patient who needed a kidney transplant.
Seeing Li Xiu's bewildered look, Fang Qianan shuddered and suddenly came back to his senses.
Damn, what the hell is wrong with him...
Fang Qianan muttered to himself.
Fang Qianan rarely shared his private life with outsiders. Even his best friend (if he even had such a thing) wouldn't know about his childhood experiences. Fang Qianan had always felt it was shameful to share such old memories, but now, he couldn't help but tell Li Xiu everything about his past.
No wonder Li Xiu now looks like "I don't know what expression to use to face you."
For a moment, Fang Qianan was filled with regret, until he heard Li Xiu's somewhat clumsy response.
"You look healthy now, and there don't seem to be any sequelae. That's good."
"Well, that's right, isn't it? Over the years, every time I go to the hospital for a checkup, people gather around me, exclaiming that I'm a medical miracle..."
Fang Qianan licked his lips and started to talk uncontrollably again.
As they were talking, a wall came into view.
After seeing the low wall that separated the Xiao family haunted house from Qiming Middle School, Fang Qianan's voice stopped abruptly.
It was still class time, and the campus was exceptionally quiet.
The workers responsible for installing the barbed wire were not near the wall at this time. The iron gate was slightly open and not locked. The path on the ground led directly to the depths of the lush wild trees - the Xiao family haunted house.
Li Xiu didn't know whether Fang Qianan had used some special means to send away the workers who were responsible for blocking the back door, and he didn't ask.
He pursed his lips and walked forward with Fang Qianan in silence. A few minutes later, the two of them stood directly in front of the Xiao family haunted house.
As the midday sun sets, this nationally famous haunted house looks no different from any other abandoned villa.
...But that strange, eerie and dark atmosphere cannot be imitated by any villa.
After seeing the Xiao family haunted house, the two of them stopped at the same time.
The gate of the villa was open, the porch was a little messy, and the bushes and flower beds were trampled into a mess. These should be the traces left when the police brought people to carry out Song Cheng's body in the morning.
thump thump——
Li Xiu bit her lip and felt her heart beating a little faster.
It would be a lie to say I wasn't nervous, he thought as he glanced to the side.
Fang Qianan usually looks very afraid of ghosts, but now his face seems to have no expression at all. Li Xiu even thinks that he may be calmer than himself.
I must be crazy to agree to come to this guy's haunted house.
There seemed to be a voice muttering in Li Xiu's mind.
At this moment, he felt his wrist suddenly tighten.
That was Fang Qianan holding his hand again.
It was not until this time that the 1.9-meter-tall man next to Li Xiu turned his head slowly. His face, which always had a sinister and cold look when he was expressionless, was now filled with a pair of frightened eyes with tears in them.
"I...I'll pull you in so you won't be scared."
Fang Qianan said hesitantly.
Li Xiu: "…"
The boy's forehead twitched slightly, but in the end, Li Xiu did not shake off Fang Qianan's hand.
Just like that, both of them took a deep breath and rushed into the porch in one go.
It's strange that even though it's a bright sunny day outside, once you enter the house, you can't help but feel that it's so dark.
Although there were floor-to-ceiling windows everywhere, Li Xiu always felt that the light was blocked outside by something that was invisible to the human eye and could not penetrate into the interior of the house no matter what.
Abandoned houses that have been in disrepair for a long time always seem to be much colder than normal houses.
As soon as Li Xiu came in, he couldn't help but shiver.
Unconsciously, he also held Fang Qianan's hand. Because of nervousness, Li Xiu's heartbeat was very fast, and Fang Qianan's pulse was also rapid.
"Are you cold? How about I give you my school uniform?"
Because of his clenched hands, Fang Qianan immediately noticed Li Xiu's trembling. He asked hurriedly. Li Xiu shook his head and looked to the other end of the corridor with a frown.
"No, let's go check out that room first."
Following the messy footsteps left by the people who came during the day, Fang Qianan and Li Xiu came to a familiar room - the place where Li Xiu was dragged away and bullied that day.
The ground was very dusty, and the shoe prints piled up one on top of the other, making it look very messy.
In the center of the room, a pool of deep red could be vaguely seen.
The moment Li Xiu saw the red mark, she couldn't help but stop and lean towards Fang Qianan.
If my guess is correct, Song Cheng's body... was lying here during the day...
No matter how calm he usually appeared, Li Xiu felt a chill that was hard to suppress at this moment.
"Yes, this is it?"
Li Xiu's throat felt a little dry.
"Right here."
Fang Qianan's voice was also shaking.
"After we got here, we started...colliding..."
He didn't even dare to say the whole word.
Li Xiu twisted his neck with great difficulty and looked towards the wall in his memory.
In his mind, he could almost imagine what the wall looked like now - it should be just like in the nightmare, with filthy, muddy, disgusting mildew all over the front wall, the wall densely covered with spells that seemed to be dripping blood, and a small, scarlet door embedded in the wall.
And if you listen carefully, you can hear scratching sounds coming from inside the red door.
…
However, when he mustered up the courage to look over, what caught his eyes was a wall painted snow-white.
"Um?"
Li Xiu was stunned.
"The school should have dealt with it."
Fang Qianan was beside him, also breathing heavily, and spoke haltingly after a long time.
Indeed, the walls were newly painted, and if you looked closely, you could see messy, rough paint spots on the ground.
It was obvious that the painters didn't put much effort into painting the wall. But after applying cheap white paint, the wall didn't look so scary anymore.
Fang Qianan mustered up the courage to walk around the room twice, carefully avoiding any places where Song Cheng's blood might be.
He said he came here to die with a clear mind, but when he really entered the haunted house, Fang Qianan did not find anything worth studying.
There were no spells, no strange incantations, not even ghosts.
After more than ten minutes, Li Xiu's originally tense nerves gradually calmed down. He looked at Fang Qianan who was walking in circles and asked in a low voice: "What should we do next?"
"I, I want to go see some other places."
Fang Qianan swallowed and answered in a very low voice.
"A Xiu, you will accompany me, right?"
He looked at Li Xiu, who was leaning against the door, with great anticipation. The wet look in his eyes made Li Xiu feel strangely uncomfortable.
"what ever."
Li Xiudao.
The two of them held hands and carefully walked around other areas on the first floor of the haunted house.
Just like the previous room, they didn't find anything special.
The only thing that could be found was an empty instant noodle bucket that had not been taken away from the room, and some cigarette butts that had been left behind at some unknown time.
Oh, and an assortment of used condoms.
The haunted house was previously used as a staff dormitory by the school, and there were still Simmons mattresses in several rooms that had not been removed. When Li Xiu went to check, he almost stepped on that thing and fell.
Fortunately, Fang Qianan pulled Li Xiu away, and instead of falling to the ground, she collapsed onto the Simmons mattress. For some reason, Fang Qianan suddenly felt a surge of weakness, and without noticing, he slipped and fell directly towards Li Xiu. Fortunately, Fang Qianan adjusted his position at the last moment and didn't press directly on her. He curled up his knees, resting them on the Simmons mattress, and with his hands barely supporting Li Xiu's ears, he managed to steady himself.
The Simmons mattress, which was impacted, moved up and down, making continuous "creaking" sounds.
The voice fell into Fang Qianan's ears, and he suddenly felt hot in the face.
Li Xiu was now directly beneath his chest, a position that made Fang Qian'an realize, more than ever, how slender she truly was. The young man's eyes widened in slight surprise. When Fang Qian'an collapsed, he'd taken a sharp breath, a sound that hadn't quite reached the level of a gasp. Fang Qian'an couldn't help but stare at Li Xiu, who was staring back at him. Her smooth, jet-black hair spread across the mattress, making the area of her neck, exposed beyond her collar, appear a creamy white.
Fang Qianan smelled the scent on Li Xiu.
A sweet, warm fragrance that seems to have its own temperature, the fragrance exuded by human skin.
Fang Qianan's eyes went blank for a moment.
"Fang Qianan?"
Li Xiu looked at Fang Qianan strangely.
"What are you doing?!"
He asked.
"…"
After being stunned for a moment, Fang Qianan realized how strange their current posture was. The boy shuddered, raised his waist suddenly, and straightened up quickly with a bit of panic.
Then he pulled Li Xiu up.
"Are you okay?"
Fang Qianan asked uncomfortably.
"I'm fine, just a little nauseous, and..." Li Xiu didn't notice Fang Qianan's momentary discomfort. He muttered while looking at the things on the ground, his face a little pale. "I really can't imagine anyone coming here to do business."
"In a place like this... can you really get hard?"
While thinking about this, Li Xiu suddenly felt that the entire haunted house was not scary anymore.
"cough..."
The young man's disbelieving whisper fell into Fang Qianan's ears. The tall boy's eyes wandered for a moment, and he unconsciously let out a dry sound, then turned his eyes away.
At this moment, Fang Qianan suddenly caught a glimpse of that thing——
"Um?"
Li Xiu suddenly heard Fang Qianan snort beside him.
"Fang Qianan?"
"A Xiu, look—"
Fang Qianan suddenly stepped forward, dragged the Simmons mattress off the ground, and walked towards the corner of the room.
The room they were in now was close to the large kitchen and was an independent suite. According to Fang Qianan's explanation, this was supposed to be the housekeeping room where the housekeepers did their daily work.
And it was in the inconspicuous corner of the housekeeping room that Fang Qianan saw a small door.
Li Xiu looked in the direction Fang Qianan pointed, and after just one glance, he frowned.
The door was only half a person's height, and the door panel was gray, almost blending into the wall.
...Fortunately, it wasn't the bright red in the nightmare.
Strictly speaking, looking at it this way, there is nothing weird or scary about the door.
However, the moment he saw the door, Li Xiu felt very uncomfortable.
But he didn't understand why Fang Qianan suddenly cared so much about this door.
"Is there something wrong with this door?"
"Didn't I tell you? According to my experience, this is where the housekeepers do their daily work. This door should be a utility room for storing cleaning tools. That's what's strange."
Fang Qianan's fingertips slowly moved up from the gilded door handle of the storage room door, and finally fell on the iron latch above the handle.
A heavy iron lock still hung on the bolt.
"This lock must have been added later."
Li Xiu was still a little confused: "So?"
"It's too ugly." Fang Qianan opened his eyes wide and tried to explain, "I mean, this lock is too inconsistent. Look..."
Fang Qianan turned around and motioned Li Xiu to look in the direction they came from.
"Haven't we seen this all along the way? Although this place is shabby, before it was abandoned, all the decoration and furnishings were the most fashionable and luxurious. And a storage room like this wouldn't contain anything valuable, so there's no need for a bolt lock—and what's more, a lock this ugly."
The boy's voice gradually lowered.
"It's almost as if they were afraid something would escape from inside, so they added a lock on purpose—A Xiu?!"
Fang Qianan couldn't help but scream when he saw Li Xiu's actions.
Because just as he was nervously analyzing, Li Xiu had already put his hand on the door handle and pulled it hard.