The warm water poured into the glass. The man removed his gloves in a hurry and cupped the glass to feel its warmth.
“You’re so brave. I’ve warned you so many times, but you still wander everywhere.” The man’s room had been modified many times. It not only had a fireplace but also a stove and firepot. Even without a door, the room was very warm.
“I have a great curiosity.” Gao Ming also held the glass, but he didn’t intend to drink from it.
“Curiosity kills the cat. Haven’t you heard of that?” The man wanted to remind Gao Ming of certain things. He raised his head and realised Gao Ming was pacing around the room. He held the picture that he had previously hung on the wall, “It’s not a good habit to touch other people’s things without permission.”
The picture was a family of five. Three children stood at the front, and the parents stood at the back. It was worth noting that the face of the child in the middle had been crossed out to leave behind a black hole. The other four looked at the camera expressionlessly. If not for the family portrait style, Gao Ming would think this was five strangers standing together. They didn’t share any physical or verbal communication. There was a distance between each of them.
“Are they your family?”
“Yes.” The man seemed to sink into memory. “The brutish middle-aged man is my father. He is of mixed descent and a handsome bastard. Unlike my carefree grandfather, he is strict and old-fashioned. He has a horrible temper too. About two years ago, he murdered a bear in the snow forest.”
The man’s feelings for his father are complicated. There was admiration and helplessness.
“The middle-aged woman is my little brother and sister’s biological mother. She doesn’t seem to age. In my mind, her face hasn’t changed.”
“Do your siblings not share a mother with you?” Gao Ming raised the picture, “Why has the face of the children in the middle been scratched out?”
“That’s my little brother. I didn’t know why that happened. Ever since he disappeared, all the pictures in the manor that have him are .” The man noticed Gao Ming’s confusion. “I know you won’t believe me, but this really has nothing to do with me. Even though we’re not biological brothers, we are very close. I accompanied him since he was young. If we’re being honest, I’m closer to him than I am to my parents.”
“What about your sister? Where is she now?” Gao Ming put the picture back. He had memorised everything.
“I’ll have to bring up another strange event to explain that.” The man’s eyes focused on the little sister’s face. “Sometimes, I wonder whether I have a little sister or not.”
“She exists in the pictures, diaries and budgets, but I can’t remember anything about her.” The man didn’t look like he was acting. “I have no impression of how she looks, what has happened between us and how she disappeared.”
“When did you start losing memories of your sister?”
“It was not a slow process. It happened very suddenly. In other words, even though the girl is in my family portrait, I don’t know her.”
The man’s family was strange.
“Don’t force yourself if you can’t remember her.” Gao Ming clinked his glass with the man. “By the way, you mentioned your parents are trapped on the fourth floor. What happened to them?”
The man sighed. He seemed to age before Gao Ming’s eyes. He sat beside the fireplace. His eyes reflected the fire, “My stepmother fell ill the last winter. My father did everything he could to care for her, but her condition didn’t improve. One day, my father discovered my stepmother had developed a liking for the live seafood caught in the east lake. It helped her heal. After that, he would go out to fish for her no matter the weather. But…”
“He would always leave at night and return with a black bag before dawn.”
“Are you sure the bags contain fish?” Gao Ming didn’t believe a fish could be so miraculous.
“They always flopped around in the bag. Father had to exert a lot of strength to control them. I actually haven’t looked in the bags before. My brother did try to get close to the bags because of his inquisitive nature but he was always chased away by father.”
“What did your brother see?” Gao Ming was curious.
“He didn’t see any fish but hair.” The man tweedled his fingers. “Strands of hair stuck together. They reeked of mud and fish.”
The temperature in Room 3003 dropped.
“Father only cooked for mother at night. He would close the pot with a lid. He’d only open the lid when the pot was carried to the fourth floor. Father would not waste any portion that Mother couldn’t finish. He often hid in the kitchen basement to finish the leftovers. Sometimes, I would hear digging from the kitchen. I wondered what he was digging a hole for.” The man revealed a piece of information for Gao Ming. The basement in the kitchen might hide a big clue.
“When it was winter this year, Father bricked up the windows on the fourth floor. He even put up the iron bars. However, the bars still had a door.” The man’s eyes dimmed. “He told me to remove the door after he entered the fourth floor.”
“But you didn’t do that.”
“I thought they would return, so I only placed the door with a sturdier fence of bars. That was how I saw my father and stepmother. They had turned into monsters and would only appear at night.” The man tightened his grip on his rifle. “The misfortune of this family might be related to my stepmother, but I don’t have the courage to harm her or the ability to figure out the truth. I can only stay guard over this place and hope to survive the long winter. Perhaps everything will clear up when summer comes around.”
“What if there’s only winter in your world?” Gao Ming didn’t fully trust the man.
“That is not true.” The man shook his head. “If you really want to help me, you should check out the east lake. You might find the fish there.”
Bai Feng went to the east lake before dark. She didn’t mention anything related to fish. Gao Ming had no idea if Bai Feng was hiding anything.
“Okay. I’ll go there when the sun is up.”
“No.” The man shook his head. “I’ve been there many times in the day. I couldn’t find anything. The fish will only appear at night.”