“While Yao Yao keeps the man distracted, we need to hurry to open the other door on the third floor!” Zhi Ge grabbed the axe. After the owner closed the door, he rushed up to the third floor. He and Qian Jin didn’t plan to save Yao Yao. It was not that they had abandoned her, but they needed to be more rational. Saving her without a plan would mean meaningless sacrifices. Their determination surprised Gao Ming. There was a reason the trio could complete so many missions. Their trust in each other was deeper than Gao Ming previously thought.
“How do we deal with this headless body?” Xu Deyi was scared. He moved away from the corpse.
“Why would a mafia member be afraid of a corpse?”
“What kind of prejudice is that?” Xu Deyi didn’t dare to stay too close to the corpse, but he didn’t dare to stray too far from Gao Ming.
“It’s not safe in the manor. We need to figure out a way to send it out.” Just as Gao Ming said that, he was denied. “No! This corpse is our bargaining chip with the owner. We can’t give it to anyone else!” Zhi Ge waved the axe, “Ah Jin, bring the corpse into the first-floor toilet.”
“Alright. Then, I’ll leave the upstairs to you.” Resisting the disgust, Qian Jin accepted the corpse from Silly.
“Hurry! Quick!” Zhi Ge was still worried about Yao Yao. This was shown through his tone.
The group blew out the oil lamp and went up to the third floor.
“Room 3009 is right above Room 2009. When the owner hears us, he will be able to get there in half a minute. We need to be quick!” There was no backing out now. They had to keep on going. None of the rooms on the third floor had doors. This saved them time. Once they entered Room 3009, Zhi Ge’s goal was clear. He moved the bookshelf to reveal the hidden room behind it. To everyone’s surprise, the wooden door of this room was left open. The lock had already been broken.
The group looked into the hidden room. There was a woman covered in frostbite standing among children's clothes and toys. Her eyes blurred and brightened. She wore someone else’s clothes. Even though Bai Feng was not the youngest among them, she was well-trained. Her body was well-proportioned. She looked strangely beautiful.
“Why are you here?” Zhi Ge was stunned. He checked the lock. The bloody lock was undamaged. In other words, Bai Feng didn’t break it down using force.
“My memory is a mess.” Bai Feng turned around, “I can only remember using the ointment for frostbite this morning.”
“What happened after that?”
“I can’t remember. I fought with a cold malice and fell asleep.” Her voice was even.
“Your explanation doesn’t help your case.” Zhi Ge doesn’t look at Bai Feng with the same amount of trust as before. He held the axe as he entered the room. The room was messy. Zhi Ge looked around, but he couldn’t find anything.
“Are you here for this?” Bai Feng pointed at the clothes she was wearing. “The room is filled with children’s clothes and toys. The only adult clothes is this female dress I’m wearing.”
“Why are you wearing it? Don’t tell me it’s because your original clothes were wet.” Zhi Ge was cautious.
“I don’t know.” Bai Feng shook her head. “Perhaps the manor owner wanted to sew discord between us.” Bai Feng didn’t sound like she was mocking them. She really thought that.
“Can I see your dress?” Gao Ming walked to Bai Feng to examine her dress. Even though the dress was bloody, there were no tears or holes. The blood didn’t seem like it came from the owner. It was more like someone in the dress hugged another person who was leaking blood.
“Dress, box, here.” Silly looked like a murderer with an axe, but he was shy and awkward. Gao Ming and Zhi Ge turned to where Silly was pointing. There was an open present box. The box was stained with blood. There was a letter at the bottom of the box. Xu Deyi reached to grab the letter. The moment he touched the letter, he heard horrible cries. He froze, and his face twisted.
Gao Ming smacked Xu Deyi’s hand away. The latter snapped out of it. His eyes were red and bloated.
“I was caught in a deep melancholy. Everyone has left me.” The adult male pouted like a little child.
“It’s this letter.” This letter should be related to sadness.
Gao Ming told Xu Deyi to back away as he moved to pick up the letter. As he opened the letter, an indescribable sadness exploded in his mind. The world turned grey. The snow fluttered like paper money. The fog shrouded his eyes.
Gao Ming saw people. They were the people from the family portrait. Their bodies were taken over by the snow. Gao Ming dug crazily through the snow, but he couldn’t save them. He could only watch them slowly disappear. As Gao Ming watched this, the sadness in his mind was shredded by a deeper despair. The deepest sadness in the world couldn’t compare to that despair.
The fog was blasted away. Gao Ming pushed away the snow to see his family’s faces. He was rather disappointed. He didn’t see his real family but the family of the little brother in the picture.
Gao Ming’s eyes returned to normal. The letter was open. It was a letter of apology from a child. The letter was short. Each word dripped with guilt and regret.
“A letter written by the nightmare owner to his mother?”
The boy in the letter opened the door his grandfather forbade him from getting close to due to curiosity. After the thing inside was let out, his sister and family were harmed. He swore to his parents that he would never let the thing escape the manor. Even if he had to pay with his price, he couldn’t let anyone fall victim again.
The boy used his grandfather’s last effects to sacrifice himself to trap the thing inside his body. The back of the letter included details and steps of the sacrifice ritual.