Wutong Road No. 66 was almost never quiet. Inside this unusual home, there was always some sort of noise. If it wasn’t Yu Sheng’s fiery temper heating up the place, it was the shrill cries of the little Doll named Irene—together, they ensured no peaceful moment could last. Adding to the lively scene, Foxy, the fox-eared girl, sat nearby, happily crunching on her bag of chips as though watching a show unfold right before her eyes.
For about ten minutes, absolute chaos reigned. Irene darted about like a wild creature, snapping her tiny teeth at anyone who came near. Eventually, Yu Sheng managed to catch her. With a firm grip, he lifted her up and, after quite the struggle, hung her on the drying rack on the living room’s small balcony.
“Yu Sheng, you rotten scoundrel! Put me down!” Irene shrieked, twisting and swinging her arms madly. The rod had slipped right through her sleeves, pinning her clothes from behind and leaving her to dangle like a salted fish flapping in a seaside breeze. She glared at him, furious. “It’s just a twelve-hour ban, alright? My account isn’t doomed forever! Are you seriously going to leave me hanging here for twelve hours? Don’t you feel guilty? At least hang me in a more comfortable way!”
“If I just used clothespins, you’d slip free in no time,” Yu Sheng replied, settling himself onto the sofa and giving her a sideways glance. “This’ll teach you not to mess with my stuff. Relax, I’ll let you down before dinner. But if you dare do it again, I’ll hang you in the basement instead.”
At the mention of the basement, Irene’s eyes went wide, and she began to struggle even more fiercely. Yet, despite her defiant kicking, her “indomitable spirit” quickly crumbled. “I-I was wrong! I was wrong! I promise I won’t do it again! Please, just let me down…”
Truth be told, Irene could back down astonishingly fast when faced with real threats. Although she was terrible at games, had a foul mouth, forgot things all the time, and often seemed hot-tempered, she knew when to admit defeat. Yu Sheng simply ignored her pleas, treating them as nothing more than background noise.
Foxy, still holding her snack bag, tiptoed quietly closer. She looked up at Irene, then glanced at Yu Sheng. With a small pause, she spoke softly, “Benefactor, I think Irene really regrets what she did. Could you let her down?”
As though offering peace, Foxy stretched out her chips. “Here, have some. Maybe it’ll help you calm down.”
Yu Sheng reached into the bag, took a few chips, and tossed them into his mouth. As he crunched, he glanced at Irene, who had fixed her gaze on the television the moment he switched it on. Seeing the bright screen, she suddenly quieted as if the TV had cast some silent spell on her.
“Oh,” said Foxy, nodding even though she clearly didn’t understand what a “tough cookie” was. Before she could ask, a loud “BANG” suddenly echoed from upstairs. The sound thundered through the ceiling, making everyone jump.
Irene, still hanging, craned her neck upward. “Hey, Yu Sheng, what fell upstairs? Could it be that old ladder leaning in the attic corner?”
Yu Sheng stood and turned a puzzled look toward the second floor. “No… that sounded like it came from the room at the far end of the hallway,” he murmured. “I’d better go take a look.”
Foxy sprang up at once, her fluffy tail swishing excitedly behind her. “I’ll go with you!” she said, her voice bright and eager.
Irene flailed again. “Hey! Let me down too! I’m coming with you! That noise didn’t sound normal at all. I might need to protect you two!”
Yu Sheng rolled his eyes. “Protect us? Sure.” Still, he stepped forward and lifted the drying rod, allowing Irene to slip free and drop to the floor. “Just this once. But next time you pull a stunt, I’m really taking you to the basement.”
Irene landed, stumbled a moment, then straightened her clothes and stuck out her tongue at Yu Sheng. Her face practically shouted, “I’ll be good for now, but don’t think you can scare me forever!”
Yu Sheng ignored her childish gesture. He stretched his limbs and gave Foxy a nod before heading toward the stairs. Foxy followed closely, and Irene, after shooting one last glare, hurried after them. Together, they climbed to the second floor, their footsteps quiet on the steps. Yu Sheng led them straight down the hallway to the room at the very end—the one that once had Irene’s portrait on its door.
They found the door closed, and from the outside, nothing looked unusual. Everything seemed calm and still. Yet Yu Sheng was certain the loud thump had come from this very room.
He remembered how this particular room had changed before: once completely empty, it had later shown simple furniture. The only object inside heavy enough to create such a noise might have been the mirror on the wall. But last time he’d checked, that mirror had been fixed so securely it had been nearly impossible to remove. If it had fallen, they would have also heard the shatter of glass. But there hadn’t been a single sound of breaking glass—just that deep, strange thump.
Yu Sheng approached the door carefully. He wrapped his hand around the oddly shaped doorknob, ready to turn it.
“Wait,” Irene whispered, holding up a hand. She spread her fingers, and from them stretched thin, black, web-like threads. These glossy strands slipped soundlessly beneath the door, creeping inside to explore the room first.
Foxy, on the other hand, silently removed one of her fox ears. She pressed it gently against the door’s surface as if it were some kind of listening device. Concentrating hard, her face grew very serious, and her bushy tail stilled.
Yu Sheng watched them both and sighed quietly. “Can’t either of you act normal for once?”
“I’m perfectly normal!” Irene thought irritably to herself. “It’s that fox who’s being weird.”
A moment later, Foxy whispered, “Benefactor, I can’t hear anything unusual inside.”
Irene frowned, withdrawing her dark threads. “No strange presence from what I can sense either. Everything seems clear. Go ahead and open it.”
With a nod, Yu Sheng gently pushed the door open a crack. He felt a bit silly—this was their home, not some haunted mansion. Still, given the strange nature of Wutong Road No. 66, and this peculiar room in particular, being careful was only wise. ŕΆ𐌽Ổ𝔟ЕS
A chilly gust rushed out from the room the instant the door opened, making Yu Sheng shiver. It was the kind of cold that reminded him of icy winds that blow over distant snowy mountains. The air nipped at his skin, prickling him with sudden frost. But when the door swung fully open, the room looked just as it always did.
Inside was the same simple arrangement: a modest bed, a wooden desk paired with a plain chair, a small mirror hanging on one wall, old wooden floors that creaked underfoot, faded wallpaper curling at the edges, and threadbare curtains. Nothing appeared changed or out of place. No strange intruders, no gaping portals, no bizarre cracks in the wall.
Yu Sheng did not let his guard down. He stepped forward, peering into every corner. Irene followed a step behind, her curiosity rising as she inspected this space that was supposedly “hers.” Suddenly, Irene’s eyes widened as she spotted something near the door frame. “Hey, Yu Sheng! Look over there, near the wall!”
Yu Sheng turned to see where she was pointing. There, at the base of the door, lay a small pile of something white and fluffy, along with dark, damp spots slowly sinking into the floorboards.
He leaned closer, bending down to examine it. “Is that… snow?” he asked, startled. It certainly looked like snow, and as he touched it, it quickly melted into droplets of cold water.
Irene blinked, astonished. “Snow? Inside the room? That’s so weird!”
Yu Sheng studied the melted puddle. “It looks like the wind blew it in from somewhere, piling it up along the wall. But how on earth could snow get inside this closed room?” He frowned, trying to piece together the puzzle.
Foxy joined him, crouching down and pressing her nose close to the damp wallpaper. She sniffed carefully, her fox ears twitching. “It smells like a living creature,” she said seriously. “Wherever this snow came from, there are living things involved.”
Irene gaped at Foxy, amazed that she could tell so much with just one sniff. “You’re kidding! You can really tell that just from smell?”
Foxy straightened up, looking proud. “Foxes have very sensitive noses,” she said.
“That’s even better than a dog’s nose,” Irene muttered under her breath, sounding impressed.
Just then, Yu Sheng caught sight of something else. He moved away from the wall toward the desk. There, on the floor, he picked up a small, pitch-black piece of metal. It looked like a tiny device or a strange connector for pipes. It had several threaded holes, was hollow inside, and felt light yet solid between his fingers.
Irene stepped closer, studying the curious object. “That definitely wasn’t here before, right?”
“Not at all,” Yu Sheng said, shaking his head. “Just like the snow doesn’t belong here, this strange metal part doesn’t either.”
With that, Yu Sheng approached the mirror hanging on the wall across from the door. He stared into it, noting how it simply reflected the room behind him. Bed, desk, chair—everything looked normal.
But as he narrowed his eyes, Yu Sheng noticed something else, something superimposed over the reflection. Within the mirror, there seemed to be another scene layered on top of the room’s reflection. Beyond the ordinary furnishings, he could just make out what looked like the mouth of a cave, half-hidden but visible if you looked closely. And outside that cave, snow was falling steadily, drifting down from a cold and secret world far away from Wutong Road No. 66.
This novel is translated and hosted on bcatranslation