“What are you talking about? Based on my voice, I can be your grandmother already.” Auntie Wang felt like it was a mistake for her to participate in this test. She couldn’t understand what the young people were into.
The heavy footsteps silenced Auntie Wang. The door before her opened. An extremely muscular young man stood inside the room stuffed with old junk. An ugly scar ran across his bald head. The flame ruined half of his face. He wore a tattered sweater and hugged a broken radio. There was a glass ball in his left eye, and only his right eye worked. The young man was very tall, and he wore a silly smile. He should look quite handsome, but after the fire, whenever he smiled, it would move the scars on his face, giving him a grotesque visage.
“Little Sister, are you back?! Let’s play a game!” The man shuffled to Auntie Wang. The young man bent over, his face almost touching Auntie Wang’s nose. Auntie Wang was so scared that she stumbled backwards.
“Is he from Immortal Pharma?” Xu Deyi grabbed the club, “He doesn’t look too bright.”
“This is the only light source in the building. The chance of him being someone sent by Immortal Pharma is high.” Xu Yajing shared her experience. “Pay attention to what he’s saying. The test might have already started.”
“Little Sister, is that you?!” Hearing Xu Yajing’s voice, the young man poked his head out into the corridor. He grinned to reveal his white teeth. His one eye scanned everyone in the corridor. His eye was filled with blood. The young man’s expression darkened. He didn’t see his little sister.
“Please don’t hide from me. Your brother doesn’t have good eyesight, so he can’t see you.” The scars on his face twisted. He started to breathe heavily. He was like a mental patient trying to maintain his last wisp of rationality.
Auntie Wang and the others retreated, afraid that they’d be harmed by the young man. Tang Qing and Xu Deyi were ready to take the man down by force. Xu Yajing felt sorry for him. However, after sniffing the scorching scent on him, her words of comfort lingered on her lips.
“What is your little sister’s name? Perhaps we can help you find her.” Gao Ming moved to the young man’s side. He patted his back and allowed his shivering body to lean on him. He didn’t think he was a good person, but for a quick moment, he saw himself as the young man. “By the way,” Gao Ming remembered what Tang Qing had said earlier, “Do you like Jiujiang Meat Noodles? I know someone just opened a shop…”
“It’s little sister! She’s home!” The young man shoved Gao Ming away. He looked down the dark corridor. He laughed happily and waved madly. “Are you here to play with Big Brother?”
It felt like there was, indeed, someone down the corridor.
“Haha! You finally came to find him. Let’s play a game. We’ll play your favourite game, the wooden puppet. This time, you have to follow the rules. You can’t move and run away again!” The young man acted like a child. His tone was that of a 5-year-old.
The young man ran into the guest room. He tried to switch on the table light, but it wouldn’t turn on. He was taken over by a sudden rage. He grabbed the light and smashed it on the ground. “It’s rare for Little Sister to come home! Why won’t you work?”
Stepping on the broken glass, the young man knelt down and dragged a large wooden box from under the bed. They couldn’t see anything clearly in the dark, but the scent of blood was unmistakable.
The box opened. Gao Ming heard the sound of metals colliding. Then, the light reappeared in the room. The young man stood inside the guest room with a flashlight. His incapacitated left leg stepped on the wooden box. “Little Sister, don’t move. If we perform well, they won’t bully us anymore.”
Tang Qing and Gao Ming captured the main term. If they didn’t perform well in the game, would someone bully them?
The ray from the flashlight swayed. The young man turned around to walk towards the study table deeper in the guest room.
“There are things on his study table. There are letters inside the well-read book. There’s a picture frame next to the spot where he placed the flashlight. It contains a group picture.” Gao Ming said softly, “The other things are dirty and unkempt. But the picture is clear and clean. It should be very important to him.”
Gao Ming’s quick analysis surprised the people around him. The light only appeared for a quick moment, but Gao Ming had so many discoveries.
“Then, what do you think we should do now?” Xu Deyi walked to Gao Ming.
“There has clearly been a fire here, but the man wants us to play a game of wooden puppets. Does he want to burn us? We’ll play the game and use the chance to get close to him. See if we can grab those letters.” Gao Ming entered the room, but the others didn’t want to play this game. The group of 13 started to crack.
The group was not united, but the young man didn’t care. He grinned before he suddenly switched off the flashlight.
His voice was like rusted gears grinding against each other. They couldn’t see anything in the dark. No one dared to move.
The flashlight came up. The young man turned around excitedly. “None of you moved, and Little Sister didn’t move too!”
With the flashlight’s aid, the 13 testers looked at each other. The man who was at the back felt wetness on his back. He looked down and noticed five bent fingers on his shoulder.
Before he could react, the girl in front of him lost all colour from her face. Her body shook uncontrollably.
“What did you see?” The man was scared. When he wanted to turn back to look, the flashlight went out again. At the same time, the girl screamed, “Ghost! There’s a ghost behind you!”
The people at the back shoved against each other. No one dared to stay in the corridor. Most of them rushed into the guest room.
“One, two, three! Wooden puppets!”
The light came on again. There were nine people in the guest room. The other fours had escaped into the other rooms.