Volume 1: Days Moving Bricks at the Construction Site
Xuehua
I am so cold…
Shen Maomao realized that now was their best opportunity to escape.
The foreman had already left, so she quickened her pace and ran downstairs. At this moment, she couldn’t care about alarming the ghosts inside the house; she shouted using Golden Retriever’s name: “Golden Retriever! Hurry up!”
A voice responded from downstairs: “I’m not called Golden Retriever!!”
The two of them rushed downstairs, the stairway echoing with loud footsteps.
Shen Maomao dared not look at the floors, nor did she dare to peek into the house again, fearing she might see something like the eternal sixth floor or the endless first floor.
The corridor was very dim, with only a high window letting in a bit of faint light. They felt like prisoners in a jail, able only to look up at the starry sky through the window.
Fortunately, aside from being a bit dark, nothing else terrifying happened. She quickly reached downstairs and bumped into Golden Retriever. The two of them did not linger, bypassing the direction the foreman had left and ran back.
Purple lightning streaked across the sky, and a clap of thunder sounded in their ears, followed by a muffled noise from the building they had just run out of, then pouring rain began to fall.
Shen Maomao and Golden Retriever were unexpectedly drenched like soaked chickens. They ran to the dormitory with their heads down, not daring to look back at what was happening behind them.
The journey was safe, and Golden Retriever, very loyally, first escorted Shen Maomao to the dormitory, then braved the rain, enduring his fear, and quickly slipped away.
In the dormitory, there was only Shen Maomao; the others had not yet returned. Shen Maomao opened the door and went inside, turning on the light.
The clock on the wall pointed to 8, and it was almost eight o’clock.
Xiaolou had alone lured the foreman away, and there was still no news about what happened…
Shen Maomao took off her wet outerwear and sat cross-legged on the bed, drying her hair. The curtains in the room were not drawn, and bean-sized raindrops hit the glass, splashing into small water droplets and making a random crackling noise.
She waited for about half an hour and finally saw the first person return. It was not the Xiaolou she had been longing for, but the expressionless Xuehua.
Xuehua’s complexion turned pale, her hair wet into strands, with rainwater flowing down her cheeks and finally slipping into her dusty work clothes. She stood at the doorway, holding the door, but didn’t come in, staring fixedly at Shen Maomao.
Shen Maomao felt uncomfortable being stared at: “Why are you looking at me like this?”
Xuehua opened her mouth and said, “I’m so cold…”
Isn’t it cold when it rains?
The wind blew in from the doorway, chillingly making one shiver. Shen Maomao, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, felt her scalp almost explode. She shrank into the corner, covered herself with her small blanket, and pretended to be natural as she said to her: “I’m not cold.”
Xuehua: “…?”
Shen Maomao sternly but with internal guilt said: “You better stay away from me; anyone I touch gets pregnant!”
The two of them were at a stalemate, anxious, with one standing at the doorway and the other shrinking in the corner. Shen Maomao widened her eyes and stared at her, although she was scared to death inside, her face showed no fear at all—if not for her holding onto the blanket tightly.
Xuehua faintly said: “I’m a bit cold, can I come in and sit for a while?”
Shen Maomao feigned ignorance: “Ah? The wind is a bit strong! I didn’t hear clearly!”
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Xuehua: “…”
Shen Maomao pretended to lie down: “Oh, I’m so sleepy, I’ve fallen asleep.” After saying that, she even started snoring.
Time slipped away minute by minute, and even though she didn’t dare lift her head to look, she knew Xuehua hadn’t left, and the door had never been closed—because the cool wind still blew on her head, the chill seeping into her bones.
She didn’t know what Xuehua wanted to do, but she knew that if a ghost knocked on the door, you must never agree to let it in; who knows what would happen after it came in.
Perhaps Xuehua wasn’t a ghost, but she definitely had some problem. Shen Maomao made up her mind that no matter what Xuehua said, she wouldn’t answer.
By not answering, the possibility of something going wrong would be slightly smaller.
When it was two minutes to nine, a sudden burst of footsteps came from the doorway. She couldn’t resist looking up and saw Xuehua’s departing back.
Immediately, the dormitory door was fully opened, and someone slipped in, skidding slightly and blurting out: “Why didn’t you close the door?”
This time it was Xiaolou!!
Shen Maomao, as if seeing a relative, with tears in her eyes, lifted the blanket and jumped off the bed: “Sister Lou! You finally came back! You scared me to death!”
Xiaolou closed the door with her backhand, picked up her towel, and wiped her face: “What, afraid I’d have an accident and you’d have to pay with your life?”
Shen Maomao shook her head repeatedly: “No—just now Xuehua ran out! Didn’t you see her?!”
Xiaolou frowned: “No, I didn’t see anyone run out.”
“Wow QAQ, it scared me to death! Just now Xuehua stood at the doorway and told me she was very cold…” Shen Maomao rubbed her nose with a tissue, “She also asked if she could come in and sit… my legs went weak…”
Xiaolou looked at her with admiration: “You’re quite smart?”
Shen Maomao choked up and said: “In ghost stories, it’s always written like this, you can’t let them in.”
Xiaolou patted her shoulder: “Perhaps a ghost story saved your life.”
It was already past nine o’clock, and both Yan Nan and Xuehua had not returned. Xuehua very likely had an accident; it’s just unknown what happened to Yan Nan…
Xiaolou closed the curtains, and the two of them tidied themselves up, took off their wet clothes and hung them up to dry, wearing only underwear as they climbed into bed.
They both weren’t very sleepy, and Shen Maomao scooted closer to Xiaolou, asking: “Sister Lou, did you find anything?”
“I found a newspaper that reported on the Shuitian Concrete workers’ suicide incident.”
“What did it say?”
Xiaolou got up, her entire chest directly exposed to Shen Maomao’s gaze, both firm, perky, and large…
Shen Maomao touched her own modest-sized chest, shamefully feeling envious.
Xiaolou took out a wet, neatly folded newspaper from the pocket of the clothes hanging on the windowsill: “Almost forgot to mention.”
She carefully unfolded the newspaper and handed it to Shen Maomao: “Shortly after Shuitian Yise community began construction, workers started disappearing. The wife of a missing worker made a big scene at the construction site and eventually hanged herself in front of the dormitory. After that, strange things often happened at the site, with continuous disappearances. Later, the project was abandoned.”
Hanged? It seems to be the same way Ding Hou died…
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Shen Maomao didn’t dare to hold the newspaper too firmly, fearing it might tear.
The newspaper read—Shuitian Concrete frequently experiences accidents, after multiple unsuccessful blessing attempts, they even sought a master to perform rituals!
It naturally didn’t describe how the rituals were performed, but instead criticized Shuitian Concrete’s desperate measures from a scientific perspective, and also introduced a construction engineering group accident insurance…
Shen Maomao: “…” Truly fits China’s national conditions!
Xiaolou said: “I encountered the foreman in room 301; during his disappearance, he was hiding there, with many talisman papers pasted inside.”
It seems the foreman knows about the haunting at the construction site.
Since he’s so afraid, why doesn’t he leave and instead recruit people to work there?
Shen Maomao also shared her own discovery with Xiaolou: “I just checked three floors; each floor has blankets and daily necessities. Also, on the top floor 1201, I found four big letters SXSB, possibly a lock code!”
Xiaolou’s expression was somewhat hard to describe.
Shen Maomao was puzzled: “What… what’s wrong?”
Xiaolou said: “The foreman’s name is Shi Xin…”
Shen Maomao: “Shi Xin? S, X?? So that phrase means Shi Xin is an idiot?”
Xiaolou held back her laughter: “It should be.”
Shen Maomao: “…” I’m tired, I don’t want to talk anymore.
(“S” stands for “Shi” (石), which is the foreman’s surname. “X” stands for “Xin” (信), which is the foreman’s given name. “SB” stands for “Sha Bi” (傻哔 or 傻逼), a slang term in Chinese that roughly translates to “idiot” or “fool” in English.)
Yan Nan and Xuehua did not return all night.
Shen Maomao and Xiaolou woke up early, preparing to go tell the men on the other side this news.
But what surprised them was that Yun Shengjin from the men’s dormitory was also not there.
Luo Xingbang and Wei Gu were already panicking. With Yun Shengjin missing, Beidou was indifferent to them…
In the game world, going missing is almost equivalent to death.
No matter what purpose Yun Shengjin had in kindly bringing in newcomers, they would not encounter another leader like him again. So, regarding this matter, the two of them are more anxious than anyone.
Wei Gu pleaded: “Please help us look, maybe we can find the missing people…”
Leng Bingbing, as always, remained aloof and ignored him, just leaving.
Brother Long crossed his arms and said, “None of my business.” After speaking, he took Binzi and left as well.
Luo Xingbang looked at Beidou: “Is there still a possibility that Brother Yun is alive?”
Beidou had no desire to engage in pointless struggle, coldly telling him: “Yun Shengjin and I were only temporarily teamed up. Since he’s dead, our cooperative relationship ends here. Please don’t entangle me anymore.”
Suddenly four people left, and Wei Gu fell to the ground, somewhat in despair: “What… what should we do? What should we do now…” After muttering for a little while, he suddenly looked at Xiaolou, as if grabbing at the last straw, crawled over and clutched Xiaolou’s leg: “Sister Lou! Sister Lou… can you take me along?! I’m more useful than that little girl… taking me is better than taking her!”
Shen Maomao: “What the f*ck are you saying? Stop talking nonsense! Your father’s not dead yet, why are you so eager to become an orphan? I… beep… beep…” As she spoke, she even wanted to kick him.
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Golden Retriever quickly stopped her: “Sister Rabbit! Sister Rabbit! There’s no need! This isn’t necessary!”
Xiaolou, expressionless, shook her leg, broke free, jumped to the side, and said: “At least she wouldn’t, if I went missing, just switch masters without even looking for me.”
Shen Maomao: “Yes! I can die in Sister Lou’s place! You cannot!”
Wei Gu’s eyes widened, seemingly unable to believe that these two people could develop such a deep bond in just a few days.
Golden Retriever was also very envious: “Sister Lou, Sister Rabbit, your relationship is really good…”
Shen Maomao patted Golden Retriever’s shoulder: “You don’t understand.” No one understands her pain.
Xiaolou said: “There’s still some time, Rabbit, you go make breakfast. Yan Nan is not here, so make whatever you like, as long as it’s edible. You two—” she pointed at Luo Xingbang and Wei Gu, “come with us to find people, gather at the cafeteria before 7:30.”
Luo Xingbang quickly agreed: “Okay, Sister Lou.” After speaking, he hurriedly left to search for people everywhere.
Wei Gu, however, remained motionless, sitting in place as if unable to recover from a blow, or perhaps unwilling to place himself in danger…
Xiaolou mockingly curled her lips and, with Golden Retriever, turned and left.
