With his hand petting the chainsaw, he walked past the corpses while mumbling and smiling to himself. That was how Gao Ming appeared to the other testers.
The silent teacher from Xin Lu First High became a character from a horror film. Xu Yajing panicked. She tried to talk to Gao Ming in the car. He stammered a lot when talking about his students. However, his confidence returned when he stalked down the dark corridor with the saw.
What did this represent? Xu Yajing didn’t dare to ponder its implication. She slowed down to walk beside Tang Qing, “Is everyone like him in Hen Shan Penitiary?”
Tang Qing’s expression was complicated. He really had no impression of Gao Ming at all. “Those who were sent to Hen Shan served either a life sentence or a death sentence. It’s impossible to get out.”
“I can verify that.” Xu Deyi grumbled, “Our boss used his life savings and all of his connections but still died in that prison. Hen Shan is hell on earth. There’s no leaving it when you’re in there.”
“Then, what is his situation?” The group looked at Gao Ming, who had already come to the third floor alone. He anticipated what would happen next.
The burn marks were clear on the walls, ceiling and floor. The flame seemed to have come out of every room. Gao Ming took a deep breath. The air was laden with the smell of smoke, as if a cremation was happening.
The shredded papers fluttered in the corridor. Gao Ming stared into the dark. The others heard a barely discernible footstep. However, Gao Ming saw the silhouette of a fat old man. The man slowly turned around. His limbs were bent. The flesh on his face bulged. His body was pierced by many wooden spines. The old man clearly spotted Gao Ming. His eyes bounced with greed. The flabby mouth slowly opened. A feminine voice that didn’t match his appearance came out, “One, two, three. Wooden Puppets…”
Gao Ming held the man’s gaze. He didn’t move. He wanted to see what would happen next.
“Is that the ghost? I saw him!” The ghost chose to leave. Gao Ming chose to chase after him. He rushed to the room where the ghost disappeared.
The other rooms still had a basic layout, but this room was fully destroyed. Everything had been remodelled.
Tang Qing’s group knew the ghost was there when they noticed Gao Ming stop moving. They paused on the stairs. They only dared to move when Gao Ming started running.
“Brother, should we bash in the window and find a place with a signal to call the police?” The environment could change a person. The gang member Xu Deyi was the first to want to call the police.
“Shush.” Gao Ming didn’t say anything else. As he pushed the door open, he jumped to the side to evade. As the door before him swung open, the door behind him flew open as well. The single-eyed silly man charged out with the hammer. He smashed into the spot where Gao Ming was standing earlier.
The strong stimuli caused the man to lose his mind. He flung the iron hammer around. The groaning of the chainsaw shattered the silence. Gao Ming didn’t retreat. He stood his ground and tightened his grip on the saw.
Sparks flew everywhere as the chainsaw collided with the hammer. The chain shot out of the machine as Gao Ming leaned his weight into the chainsaw!
The chain flew by Gao Ming’s face. The silly man’s arms were numb from the collision. The hammer was too broken to be used anymore.
Gao Ming dumped the chainsaw and pounced forward. He fought the silly man for the axe in the dark.
“What are you standing there for? Do something!”
Hearing Gao Ming’s voice, the other testers finally mobilised. For a moment, they couldn’t tell who the enemy was.
Xu Deyi and Tang Qing detained the silly man’s arms. Gao Ming straddled him and knocked his head into the man’s skull. After doing this twice, the silly man’s head lolled to the side. Blood covered his face, and he finally calmed down.
“Enough, Brother! Stop hitting him!” Tang Qing warned Gao Ming.
“Why are you helping him?” Gao Ming’s face was bloody too.
“I’m worried that you might kill him!” Tang Qing said.
Gao Ming smiled as he stood up. He walked to the burnt bedroom.
“Little Sister, run!” The silly man struggled. He said through tears. They had been in this situation before. They were bullied but were too helpless to do anything.
The door was fully pushed open. Gao Ming walked into the room to verify the existence of ghosts in this world.
Gao Ming narrowed his eyes. He spotted a bed with a pink blanket and mattress on top of the burnt bed frame. A cute girl was sleeping in it. She was like a child from a fairytale.
“She’s the same as the girl from the picture! How is that possible when the silly brother is already a grown-up? Is this girl a ghost?”
Gao Ming gasped. He felt his heart pumping like it was yearning for something. Gao Ming took another step forward.
The silly brother yelled madly. However, he was held down to the floor. Everything reverted to many years ago… back to the horrible memory in that ugly home.
The silly brother’s pleas and screams entered the girl’s ears. Her lashes slowly moved. Gao Ming moved to her bedside.
The bed frame was like a cage of death. The helpless girl was a captured bird. The worst memory surfaced. Gao Ming saw a thick, viscous shadow leaking out of the girl’s heart!
The familiar shadow was like a snake. Once it appeared, it started to spread. The place it touched lost all light. It was like an invasion from another world!
When the crying exploded, the penance letter Tang Qing held leaked out with cold and stinky blood. A dry arm reached out of the girl’s hair. The fingernails of the hand had been brutally yanked off.
The fat old man appeared on the other side of the corridor. Two evil hounds with human heads crawled out from under the bed. They represented the Judo coach’s whole family.