After closing the door to Room 2002, Gao Ming’s oil lamp became the only light source. The weak flame danced in the glass jar. It was like a dying bird. As his shoes stepped on the wooden boards, the worms crawled through the cracks. Gao Ming’s shadow reflected on the mottled walls. He walked down the corridor. His elongated shadow danced on the walls.
At the end of the corridor was his room, Room 2009. The room number seemed to represent a certain year. As he strode down the corridor, dust that represented countless people’s fate settled. The cold wind blew on the corridor windows. The frosted bits hit the glass. It sounded like someone’s nails tapping against the windows.
Gao Ming fogged up the window with his breath. He drew a smiley face on it. “The snow is getting heavier.”
Gao Ming opened the door to Room 2009. He looked at the empty room. He entered the room without closing the door. He opened the cupboard and hid the spare blanket and bathrobe under the blanket to create an impression that he was in bed. Then, he moved the bathroom door to a certain angle. If the bathroom door moved after he returned, it meant that someone had entered his room without permission.
Gao Ming sat on the bed and searched his pocket. Soon, two seeds with a meat fragrance appeared in his palms. Gao Ming gripped the seeds. He could feel something calling him, like the giant flesh tree from Jiang Miaomiao’s nightmare. In that nightmare, one of the seeds absorbed all of Jiang Miaomiao’s despair and misfortune. It grew rapidly. It caused Jiang Miaomiao’s nightmare to sink deeper. It seemed to have dragged her into a deeper nightmare.
However, to Gao Ming’s surprise, he could still sense the tree’s summon in another person’s nightmare. There seemed to be an untenable connection between them as if he were the creator of the flesh tree. Gao Ming was confused too. How could a man and a tree be connected like a father and his rebellious daughter?
As he tried to respond, the tree’s summons became stronger. The tree extended its roots to break into the nightmare he was currently in.
“This strange plant appears to come from my own flesh. It is trying so hard to reach me.”
As time passed, the summons became more intense. “Maybe staying here might not be such a bad idea.” Based on what Zhi Ge said, other middle-level nightmares would take at most ten hours to clear. That wouldn’t provide enough nutrients for the flesh tree. Thankfully, this nightmare was unique enough.
Gao Ming put away the seeds and took out the walkie-talkie. This was his biggest secret. Even the girl worker at the haunted house didn’t know about it.
“I can bring No. 2’s walkie-talkie into other nightmares. This shows how powerful No. 2 is.” Gao Ming adjusted the dial. The machine, without any batteries, started to produce static.
“Channel 1. Channel 2… No. 2, can you hear me?” Gao Ming got some buzzes as a response, but he couldn’t hear him clearly. He tried to move around the room. Then, he concluded that the higher he was, the better the signal. “Do I need to go higher?” This surprise discovery delighted Gao Ming. He shoved the walkie-talkie into his pocket, grabbed the oil lamp with his other hand and left Room 2009. Gao Ming soon arrived at the staircase. Some words could be heard through the walkie-talkie but it was far from being coherent.
“I need to go higher.”
Gao Ming came to the spot between the third and fourth floors. He was blocked by the iron bars. He raised the lamp to look around. The flame chased away the darkness. Something seemed to grow on the steps that led upstairs. It felt like faces poked out of the rooms without doors. However, when Gao Ming looked over there, he saw nothing.
“Is there really no way for me to get through here?” Gao Ming planned to do something risky. He twisted off the cap of the oil lamp and shredded his shirt. He bound the cloth around some broken twigs. He used a lot of effort to light it up.
“I should be able to see clearer now.” Gao Ming tossed the torch as far down the fourth floor as he possibly could. The light arched through the dark. For a moment, Gao Ming saw a figure in red. The figure stood beside the door frame. They were much taller than normal. Their face was covered by a curtain of black hair.
The figure noticed the light and turned towards Gao Ming. Just as Gao Ming was about to see their face, a giant force careened into Gao Ming’s shoulder and pushed him to the side. The iron bars rattled. It sounded like a beast was scratching the bars crazily. Dust and wooden splinters flew everywhere. The oil lamp was snuffed out. Gao Ming tried to stand up when he felt a gloved palm cover his mouth.
A rotting smell came from the glove. Gao Ming didn’t struggle. When the bars stopped trembling, the voice of the man from Room 3003 entered Gao Ming’s ears. “Do you want to kill all of us?”
“What is on the fourth floor? Is it a beast?” Gao Ming raised the oil lamp and looked at the man with wariness.
The man carried the rifle on his back. His eyes were sharp as a hawk. They were dangerous in the dark.
“They are not animals.” The man offered steadily, “They are my parents.”
“This is not the place to chat. Come with me.” The man dragged Gao Ming to Room 3003.
None of the rooms on the third floor had doors. They looked like caves. The man didn’t let his guard down even after they entered the room. He blew out all the candles and rushed to the fireplace. After he made sure all the embers were out, he sighed in relief.
“Take a seat. Since you’re so curious, I’ll regale you with this manor’s last secret.”