The fish would only appear at night. The meaning of that sentence was clear. He hoped Gao Ming would leave the manor at night and brave the snow to go to the east lake. The issue of the mysterious snowman aside, the complicated path and the snowstorm would pose a huge problem to Gao Ming. Even the experienced Bai Feng went there in the day.
“I will not force you to do anything for me. I merely told you what had happened to me. To be honest, I hope all of you are safe.” The man noticed Gao Ming’s hesitation. Melancholy flowed in his eyes.
“Do you remember the hikers I told you about? If they had listened to me and stayed inside the manor, they would still be here today. Now, they have returned after turning into strange things, causing my manor to be more dangerous,” The man sighed. “The manor itself is strange enough, but outsiders like you keep coming over to bring trouble to me. None of you will listen to me until tragedy befalls you.”
“Will we survive as long as we listen to you?” Gao Ming said to distract the man. He captured the term the man used to describe them: ‘outsiders’. Before this, the man referred to them as guests.
“You used to be able to do that, but I am not sure now. If you don’t want to return to your room, you can come with me. I can prove everything that I’ve said to you.” The man didn’t have any malice. He just wanted to wait for the winter to be over. The man added firewood to the fireplace. He picked up the rifle. “So, are you coming with me or staying here?” Before Gao Ming answered, the man had already left Room 3003 with the oil lamp. He bowed at the staircase when he passed by the steps that led to the fourth floor. “I’ll let you out when the winter is over. Or I’ll come to reunite with you.”
“Reunite? Do you plan to lock yourself in the fourth floor too?” Gao Ming followed the man with an oil lamp.
“There are many ways to reunite in this world, like having you in me and me in you.” The man didn’t finish because he was interrupted by the crack of a plate from the kitchen. The man raised the rifle and ran to the first floor. He used the butt of his rifle to knock the door open. The bowls used by the testers were still on the table. One of them had fallen to the ground. It should be Bai Feng’s bowl. Other than the broken pieces, there was still the spilt soup. The man hurried to the window. The reinforced window was still locked. “They didn’t come in through the window.”
“Should be the kitchen chimney.” Gao Ming knelt before the stove. The ashes were wet. There was also chipped ice as if a wet kid had crawled through there. Gao Ming looked in. The wind extractor was ruined like someone had attacked it multiple times with an icepick.
“You sure are optimistic. How are you still thinking about food?” The man grabbed the rifle, “I suspect it was the snowman, the snowman who kidnapped my little brother!” The man’s arms burst with veins. His eyes were chilly.
His boots stomped on the wooden floor. The man followed the water stain on the ground. “I’ll capture it and smash its head open!”
The pocket watch ticked joyfully. The water stain gathered at the northern east side of the kitchen. This was one of the entrances to the basement. It was sealed off by thick wooden planks and a huge padlock.
“Stay here.” The man took out a ring of keys from his thick coat. The four keys were about ten centimetres long and were made with unique material. They were carved beautifully. They were labelled pain, sadness, resentment and hatred.
The man took out the pain key and unlocked the basement entrance. He lowered the oil lamp into the steps. He waited for a few seconds before entering the basement.
Gao Ming wanted to follow him out of curiosity. However, before he could, the man turned back. “The snowman is not here. It should have gone somewhere else.”
The man locked the basement and put away the four keys. His expression was different from before as he rushed out of the kitchen.
He aimed the barrel of his rifle at the dark lobby. “Help me hold the light.”
“Okay.” Gao Ming aimed the lamp at the water stains on the ground. The man held the rifle with both hands. They ran through the manor and up to the second floor. It felt like something was watching them from the dark.
“The water stain continues to the end of the corridor. It looks like it has stopped before each door for a moment.” Gao Ming had the image in his mind. The giant snowman with the red lips paused before each door to look through the peephole. Gao Ming’s face darkened when he realised the water stain ultimately disappeared into his room, Room 2009.
The water that reeked of rot seeped through the gap. The doorknob and lock were stuck with leaves and mud. The man swung his rifle to signal Gao Ming to open the door.
Gao Ming took out the key to Room 2009. As he pushed it into the keyhole, Xu Deyi’s scream came from Room 2002.
“Not good!” The man and Gao Ming ran to Room 2002. Xu Deyi, who was wrapped in a blanket, flew out. His face was pale from fright. He could barely speak.
“Is the snowman in your room?”
“No… No. Look! Window!” Xu Deyi fell to the ground. He pointed inside the room.
They turned to look into the room. Silly stood dumbly beside the window. The thick curtain had been pulled back. There were frozen and twisted faces outside the giant glass window. They wore bright hiker’s outfits. Their bodies were bound by rope and water grass. Their eyes were about to fall after being frozen for too long.
No one knew where they came from. They appeared to be still climbing. If the window were not closed, they would have crawled in.
The rope swayed. The frozen faces grinned. They crawled towards Room 2001.
“Not good! The window in Room 2001 has been shattered!” The man ran out of the room. He ignored the rest and headed to Room 2001.
The man’s nostrils flared with anger. He aimed the rifle at the shattered window of Room 2001. The gunshot shattered the silence of the wintry night.