The snow on the eaves fell off. The ice on the lake's surface cracked. The smell of anger and gunpowder mixed together. The man glared through the snow and dust. As he moved forward, he reloaded.
“Get out! Get out of my home!” The burning rifle melted the snow that fell into the room. The man guarded the window like a roaring lion. The frozen faces quickly retreated. They scattered towards the outer walls.
“I told you to keep the windows and curtains closed. Why didn’t you listen to me?” The man didn’t fire a second shot. His bullets appeared to be very precious. Gao Ming noticed this. The rifle and bullets might carry a deeper meaning in this nightmare.
“It was not me. It was Silly who didn’t want to listen.” Xu Deyi pushed Silly forward. Silly seemed to be stunned by the gunshot. He hid behind Gao Ming.
“You wouldn’t have opened the window for no reason,” Gao Ming asked Silly, “Did you discover something?”
“I heard my sister calling my name. She was outside.” Silly pointed out the window. “However, I couldn’t hear her anymore after the gunshot.”
“Don’t worry. Could that be the voices of the hikers?” Gao Ming thought of a possibility.
“No. My little sister is outside the manor!” Silly pointed at the frozen east lake.
“This man is really silly.” Xu Deyi peed from fear. He was angry just looking at Silly.
Gao Ming thought back to the hikers. Other than the hiking gear, they were also covered in frozen water grass.
“The hikers died in the mountains. Why would they have water grass on them? Did they come back here because of the east lake?” Gao Ming sniffed his fingers. The scent of fish and rot was heavy.
When he opened the door to Room 2009, he inevitably touched the doorknob that was covered in mud and water. The scent was probably left behind by the snowman.
“Hmm. Does this mean the snowman also comes from the east lake?” Gao Ming was really curious about the lake.
“Where is the female guest who is supposed to be in Room 2001? Didn’t she come with you?” The man frowned as he stood beside the window. He seemed to see the hikers in Gao Ming’s group. No matter how he tried to persuade them, they would die due to various reasons and then return inexplicably. “Where is that woman?”
“No clue. However, she wasn’t the one who broke the window in her room.” Gao Ming told the man about what had happened in the morning.
Xu Deyi also changed the subject, “The biggest danger is not the hikers but the snowman has entered the manor.”
“Go to the storage to grab the tools to seal up the windows.” The man ordered Xu Deyi, but he didn’t dare to wander through the manor alone. He looked at Gao Ming pitiably.
“You’re going alone. The others are going to block the door to Room 2009!” The man shoved the dresser to the window. Gao Ming and Silly ran to Room 2009.
They had made so much noise, but the trio in Room 2004 didn’t show up. Either they were asleep, or they were not in their room.
Silly and Gao Ming reached Room 2009. Gao Ming had Silly move back while he opened the door and kicked it down. The light scent of rot drifted forward. Gao Ming frowned. The room was cold. It was colder than it was outside. The floor was wet. Even the bed and mattress were soaking. The ceiling appeared to be leaking.
“How is the snowman gone?”
Gao Ming put the oil lamp at the door and blocked the only exit. The flame distorted Gao Ming and Silly’s shadows.
“If I didn’t go to find the owner tonight and stayed in Room 2009, what would I have seen? The snowman stopped at every room, so why did it choose Room 2009 in the end? Is there anything special about this room?” Gao Ming was confused, “The snowman knows the location of the basement and the inside of the manor. Is it because the snowman has stolen the missing brother’s memory, or is it the little brother?”
The man’s stories slowly became true. The atmosphere became stranger and stranger. Gao Ming and Silly didn’t enter the door. They guarded at the door until the sky slowly brightened. Silly worked his arms and tapped his head. Gao Ming blew out the oil lamp earlier. His conditions weren’t much better.
On the other side of the corridor, Xu Deyi was asleep. The man had fixed the window of Room 2001. He hugged his rifle and slept on the bed.
The dull knockings came from downstairs. They tensed instantly like they were being attacked.
“Who is it?” The man ran to the corridor. He aimed the rifle at the door and shouted.
“It’s me, Bai Feng.” The woman’s voice came from outside the door. Gao Ming and Silly eased the door open.
Bai Feng stood outside like a snow monster with ice crystals in her hair.
“Don’t open the door for her!” The man was very wary. “She might not be your friend anymore! The sun hasn’t fully come up yet! She might be a monster in disguise!”
“Do you trust him or me?” Bai Feng’s skin was unhealthily purple from the cold. She looked like a decaying corpse. Her hands were shoved in her pockets like she was holding something.
“Have you been outside for the whole night?”
“I have discovered something very important.” Bai Feng raised her head to look at the manor owner through the gap, “But I cannot tell you now.”
“Is it related to the manor owner?” Gao Ming whispered.
“Do you really think he’s the owner?” Bai Feng shook off the snow and ice. “The livings here are all missing other than him. Have you seen anyone else? He is the only person who told us everything. However, have you wondered this question: Who is he?”