“You want to bring me into the manor!” The girl’s pitch rose. Even her eyes glowed. “That’s perfect. However, you need to complete my body first. And I can only go near the manor at night.”
“Haven’t I already pieced your body back together?” Gao Ming was confused.
“You are missing one last crucial element. My doll can only be completed with a stitch from Mom’s needle and thread. Then, I can leave the pine forest.” The girl let go of her hand on Gao Ming’s shirt. “Mom used to stay in Room 3009. Then, she was trapped on the fourth floor.”
“Understood. Wait for me.” Gao Ming ruffled the girl’s hair and left.
“The manor is on the left! You’re going the wrong way!” The girl kindly reminded Gao Ming.
“I want to check out the east lake first.” Gao Ming didn’t forget his initial goal.
“Don’t go there. It’s too dangerous. There’s something that scares me at the bottom of the lake.” The girl ran to Gao Ming, “The ice surface could break at any moment. If you keep going down this path, you’ll reach a port. There’s a small boat there. Dad used to take that boat to go fishing.”
“Thank you.” Gao Ming followed the girl’s instructions and successfully passed the thick forest. He stood at the half mountain and was taken back by the scenery that he saw. The snow blanketed everything. There was a large lake that spanned the horizon in the middle of the forest. The lake's surface was frozen. Perhaps the lake was too deep. The edges of the lake were deep blue. The centre was almost black. The lake seemed to hide a huge secret. It exuded a mysterious aura. Gao Ming couldn’t imagine the guts Bai Feng had to visit this lake at night.
“The girl said the surface might crack at any moment. If anyone falls through, there’s no saving them.” Gao Ming reached towards the flesh seeds in his pocket. The seeds didn’t react during the day, but some kind of summons came from the east lake at night.
Gao Ming’s pupils narrowed when he focused on the centre of the lake. Under the surface, he believed he saw a person swimming. In the blink of a moment, the humanoid thing submerged under the water. Perhaps it had gone into hiding. “Was that a fish?”
Gao Ming walked to the port. The wooden planks created a path on the water. It reached into the east lake. There were two boats tied to the port. It was worth noting that the water near the port was not frozen. There was a rusted and red letter box built at the end of the port. Against the snowy backdrop, the redness of the box was captivating. It was unclear who would send letters there.
Gao Ming touched the letterbox. It felt sticky to his touch. It felt like he was touching half-frozen blood. “It feels letterbox is not from the dream. It gives me the same feeling as the walkie-talkie. When the nightmare nears its end, I should try and see if I can bring this with me.”
When Gao Ming kept going down the path, he felt very uncomfortable. There was a voice in his mind that told him to jump into the lake and swim towards the centre. “How curious.” Gao Ming observed the surroundings and retraced his steps.
The manor owner appeared more tense after the things that happened the day before. He hugged his rifle, and there were three knives hanging around his waist. He regarded every one with suspicion. He forced Xu Deyi and Silly to help him reinforce the windows. He also blocked off the kitchen chimney. The temperature inside the manor rose, but the air was murky. The owner checked every room. He hung humanmade nets around the guestroom doorframes. He said those were dreamcatchers. The locals would hang similar nets on the doors to stop the monster inside the east lake.
The manor owner did a lot of things. Other than the dreamcatchers, he also changed the guests’ bedsheets. The new bedsheets were white with human shapes. Apparently, they were called the human sheets. If the person sleeping were attacked, the sheet would perish on the person’s behalf.
As the owner bustled about, Gao Ming didn’t help. After he interacted with the little girl, he suspected the owner was setting up some kind of ritual. For the sake of safety, Gao Ming went to Room 3009 to find Bai Feng. He wanted to share information with the woman. However, he noticed Bai Feng’s state was not so good. Her frostbite was treated, and her wounds were bandaged. However, she appeared drowsy and listless.
“Sister Bai, are you alright?” Gao Ming stood carefully beside Bai Feng and draped a blanket over her.
“I haven’t slept or eaten since we entered the dream. I also spent the night outside.” Bai Feng closed her eyes. “I just need to rest for a bit, and I’ll be fine.” Bai Feng didn’t look like the kind who would explain herself.
“In that case, I won’t disturb you anymore.” While Gao Ming fixed the hot water for Bai Feng, he checked out Room 3009. Apparently, this was where the girl’s mother used to live. The room was small and covered in books. The messy table had medicine and an open medkit. The needle and thread needed by the girl were on the table.
“This is strange. It’s like they’re here for me to collect them.” Gao Ming didn’t act too strangely. He noticed something fishy. Similar to Bai Feng, he also hadn’t eaten or slept since the nightmare started. However, he was fine. Furthermore, when Bai Feng returned to the manor that morning, even though she was injured, her eyes glowed. However, the current Bai Feng in Room 3009 was like a completely different person.
“A completely different person?!”
Gao Ming chilled when he remembered what the girl told him. A scary thought appeared in his mind.
The owner was a monster that escaped from the door. After he killed the girl’s family, he was sealed by the girl’s brother in the nightmare. Now, the owner was trying to take over the tester to escape from the nightmare into the real world.
“The needle and threads are probably traps set by the owner to see whether we’ve interacted with the girl and found out the truth!” In that case, the girl’s real brother was the kindest person who suffered the most.
Gao Ming poured the water for Bai Feng. He stayed for a while but he didn’t touch the needle and thread. There were many methods to grab those things in the future.
Gao Ming left Room 3009 to find Xu Deyi. He asked him to grab some medicine when it was almost dark.
In the large manor, everyone had their own goals. Even Silly was quietly gathering some items in preparation for something.
Eventually, night fell.