Volume 9: The Days Can’t Be Lived Anymore
Nuonuo
He is… that little girl’s father?
The little bell rang again, but the several people lying horizontally and vertically on the floor showed absolutely no sign of waking up, making her unable to help but suspect that currently, this sound was something only she herself could hear.
Huo Dongdong was not right.
Now Ren Yue could be certain.
If there was nothing wrong with this little kid, she would be able to take off her own skull and give it to Xiao Lou to kick as a ball.
The hand she held behind her back was gripping the windowsill tightly, while her face still wore a worried expression: “This is too dangerous, jiejie is afraid something will happen to you.”
Huo Dongdong raised his arm, his small hand grabbing the corner of her clothes, and he tilted his head up to act cute with her: “Jiejie, let me go play, okay? Papa won’t know…” Saying this he paused for a moment, first turning his head to glance at the people on the floor, and only then did he say, “They won’t know either, I will come back before the sky is light, this is our little secret~”
Who wants to have a little secret with you!
Ren Yue couldn’t figure out why Huo Dongdong had to pick this particular time to run out. Was it because she was easier to bully?
Then he really found the right person.
She spread her hands towards the direction of the little girl’s bedroom: “Please, be my guest.”
Huo Dongdong’s eyes lit up, and he gave her a milky sweet, milky sweet1 smile, looking like a little angel: “Jiejie is so nice~”
After speaking, he cheerfully ran towards that door. The little bell behind the door rang urgently and messily, until his small hand touched the door panel, and all sound came to an abrupt end, leaving only the “creak” of the door being pushed open by him.
The window was blown open by the wind again, lightly pressing against her back. A snowflake melted on the nape of her neck, raising a patch of goosebumps. Only then did she awaken as if from a dream. She turned and slammed the window shut. When she looked at the glass again, there was already nothing on it.
After doing all this, she returned to her original position and sat down, her eyes fixed intently on that tightly closed room door.
It was still quiet and silent inside, without a single sound.
She glanced at Boss Huo’s sleeping bag; only then could she be certain that everything just now was not her hallucination.
After sitting down, her brain started operating again, and she began to think carefully about everything that had just happened.
She didn’t know why, but she kept feeling that she had misunderstood just now—that bell-ringing sound didn’t seem much like a welcome, but rather like… fear?
Not until a glimmer of light appeared at the end of the sky did Huo Dongdong open the door, safe and sound, and walk out of the room.
He seemed to be drunk, squinting his eyes and swaying as he took off his shoes and slipped into his sleeping bag, snuggling into his father’s arms and closing his eyes. He did not make a sound throughout the entire process, nor did he wake up Boss Huo.
Although she knew this was probably something Huo Dongdong did, she still felt a bit of hating iron for not becoming steel2.
Boss Huo, your son was just short of jumping disco3 on your body! How did you manage to sleep so soundly?!!
The six o’clock alarm rang. Without even needing her to call them, Xiao Lou and Shang Zhou immediately scrambled up, followed by Da xiongdi and Boss Huo.
Boss Huo affectionately pinched Huo Dongdong’s little cheek and called out in a soft voice: “Little lazy worm, time to get up.”
Huo Dongdong opened his sleepy, hazy eyes and obediently put on his own socks and pants. He looked just like an ordinary little child; one couldn’t at all see the appearance of him from last night, who dared to look for ghosts to play with in the middle of the night.
Xiao Lou knocked on her own head and asked her: “Did anything happen when you were on watch?”
Huo Dongdong turned his head with a “swoosh”, his ink-black pupils staring at her without blinking.
Ren Yue’s throat tightened. In the end, she didn’t say what happened last night, only asking back a bit unnaturally: “No, what’s wrong?”
Xiao Lou’s movements of packing things paused for a moment, then she raised her head and smiled at her. The smile instantly made her spirit and soul turn upside down4, and the words “Huo Dongdong has a problem” almost slipped out of her mouth.
“Rabbit-jiejie~” Huo Dongdong suddenly called out to her, “Do we have any instant noodles, I want to eat some!”
Ren Yue was stunned for a second. As soon as she turned her head, she saw Huo Dongdong looking at her expressionlessly.
He was clearly just a three-head-tall5 little kid, yet he gave her a great sense of pressure, as if he already had control over her life and could kill her with great ease.
Ren Yue’s mouth pulled into a strained smile. She immediately took out a box of instant noodles from her own backpack and handed it to Boss Huo: “Yes, but you have to let your dad boil some hot water for you.”
Huo Dongdong turned his head, looking expectantly at Boss Huo.
Boss Huo put a jacket on him and educated his child: “Then what should you say to jiejie?”
Huo Dongdong hesitated for a second, looked at Ren Yue and said: “Thank you, Rabbit-jiejie~”
Ren Yue’s mouth twitched: “You’re welcome.” She could not bear this “thank you”.
After Boss Huo finished packing, he carried Huo Dongdong to the kitchen to look for tools.
Ren Yue took out a few more compressed biscuits6 and swallowed them down with yesterday’s water, hastily finishing her breakfast.
Xiao Lou walked to her side and looked at her quietly.
Ren Yue blinked her eyes at her.
The two did not communicate at all during the whole process, yet they inexplicably understood each other’s meaning.
Xiao Lou should have already guessed that there was a problem with Huo Dongdong; after all, their behavior in the morning was too obvious.
But this was not something they should worry about. As long as he didn’t cause trouble in the maze, everyone could still coexist harmoniously. As for after leaving the maze—whether this father and son pair lived or died had nothing to do with her, Ren Yue.
Everyone packed their things and prepared to go downstairs. Ren Yue’s sharp eyes noticed that Xiao Lou had dropped a dagger. Just as she was about to walk over and help her pick it up, she was grabbed by the hat by her, who then carried her out of the door of 302.
Ren Yue was puzzled, but Xiao Lou didn’t give her a chance to open her mouth, pulling her downstairs all the way, not letting her go until they reached the entrance of 101.
Then she said: “I think I left something upstairs.”
Hearing this, Da xiongdi in front stopped his hand that was opening the door and asked: “Do you want to go back and get it?”
Xiao Lou nodded.
Before she could open her mouth to speak, Shang Zhou suggested with a smile: “Since it’s like this, let Rabbit accompany you? It will be a bit safer with two people.”
Boss Huo was completely oblivious: “Then you two hurry up, we’ll wait at the entrance.”
Xiao Lou nodded, and again hauled Ren Yue, hauling her up the stairs.
As soon as they opened the door, a corpse hanging from the ceiling looked straight at the two of them.
It was a man. His neck was being strangled tightly by a tuft of hair growing out from a crack in the ceiling. Bloody tears flowed down from the corners of his eyes, dripping one by one into the carpet.
So what she saw last night was this thing.
The man stared viciously at them, the resentment in his eyes was like a tangible substance, wishing it could turn into steel nails and pierce through their bodies.
However, neither of them was very scared. They directly stepped onto the carpet. Ren Yue closed the door with a backhand motion and said to the man in a low voice: “Da xiongdi? Could you move aside? We want to find something.”
The man opened his mouth, his tongue, which was much longer than a normal person’s, dangled out, and he said something indistinctly.
Only after listening carefully did Ren Yue realize he was calling a name, it seemed to be something-something Nuo.
Xiao Lou said: “Speak. What happened when you were on watch?”
Ren Yue told her everything that happened last night, and at the end, she praised her mindlessly: “As expected of Xiao Lou, you could even detect a problem with this.”
Xiao Lou gave her a pair of white eyes7 and explained in a single phrase: “Under normal circumstances, I would not sleep so soundly.”
“As expected of Xiao Lou, always maintaining vigilance, this is precisely what we should learn…”
“Stop patting a horse’s butt8.” Xiao Lou pushed aside the ghost big brother hanging at the doorway and walked inside, first picking up the dagger on the floor, then heading straight for that children’s room.
“Ding-dong ding-dong.” The little bell at the doorway made a dull sound. The two entered the room and stood at the entrance, surveying their surroundings.
The room had long since lost its tender pink appearance from before—the walls were covered everywhere with blood spots, the pure white carpet and wardrobe were also covered with spray-shaped bloodstains, the unicorn rocking horse lay in a pool of blood, torn to pieces, and the dolls were scattered in disarray, their arms and legs strewn all over the place.
Other than them, Huo Dongdong was the only person who had entered this room last night.
Not only did he go in, but he also walked out from inside safe and sound, without a single speck of blood on his body.
No one knew how he did it.
Looking at this scene in the room, Ren Yue felt a surge of anger in her heart that she couldn’t smooth over. When she was searching yesterday, she couldn’t bear to touch the decorations in this room, because this room reminded her of life before the apocalypse, filled with the love of parents for their child.
A pity that it was all ruined now.
She had believed his ghost words9, and was even worried about whether he would be played to death by ghosts. The result was the complete opposite; the little kid Huo Dongdong was formidable, not needing adults to worry at all.
With a “peng” sound, the room door closed behind the two of them. The man at the doorway had at some point come down from the ceiling and had even staggered over behind them, pouncing forward while streaming bloody tears.
Ren Yue quickly shielded Xiao Lou and said sternly: “Are you looking to die?!”
The man murmured: “Avenge… Xiao Nuo… Avenge Xiao Nuo…”
Ren Yue’s eyes inexplicably reddened: “He is… that little girl’s father?”
Xiao Lou said: “Should be.”
The two kept backing away and were soon forced in front of the wardrobe.
Ren Yue didn’t want to hurt him, but if her and Xiao Lou’s lives were threatened, she would not show mercy.
She took out the dagger Xiao Lou had lent her from her pocket, gripped the hilt tightly in her palm, and prepared to attack.
“Wait!” Xiao Lou suddenly said, “Did you hear a crying sound?”
As her voice fell, the man immediately stopped his attack, pricking up his ears to listen intently.
Xiao Lou: “It seems to be behind us…”
Two people and one ghost, six eyes in total, looked in unison towards the large wardrobe, and sure enough, they heard a crying sound like that of a little kitten coming from inside.
The man pushed the two of them aside, pulled open the wardrobe and rummaged through it for a while, finally digging out an intact doll from the pile of scattered clothes.
The crying sound was coming from within the doll.
The man hugged the doll tightly and cried out in anguish: “Nuonuo… Nuonuo…”
Xiao Lou patted Ren Yue: “Still not running, what are you waiting for?”
“Ah?” Ren Yue was watching with teary eyes, and was stunned upon hearing this, “What?”
Xiao Lou, without another word, turned and ran.
Ren Yue: “!!!!” This plot! Why is it so damn familiar?!!
She was a beat slow, and hurriedly followed, rushing out of the main door of 302 like she was flying, backhanding the door to shut the father and daughter both inside, then continued to chase after Xiao Lou, panting for breath.
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