Chapter 6: The Apocalypse Caused by One Person

"First, Dad and Mom came back every night, filling the house with parents, and then someone mysteriously called me husband. I only passed through a tunnel on Ghost Festival, but it feels like I've gathered all my family members in an instant."

Watching Xuan Wen's retreating figure, Gao Ming's face was pale; he could now be sure that Xuan Wen, like the parents who delivered cakes to him, had all turned into some "unknown" beings.

"Xuan Wen not only knows what happened in the tunnel, but also guessed that I would come to Night Lamp Studio to delete the game."

Only after Xuan Wen's figure disappeared in the corridor did Gao Ming's face return to normal, and the fat cat came back to life as well, curling up behind Gao Ming.

"With the road closed due to the heavy rain, if I want to know the answer now, it seems I can only go ask Xuan Wen." Gao Ming calmed down again: "However, Xuan Wen's state is very different from that of the parents; she seems to be unrestricted and can move freely around the city in daylight..."

"Rich! How did you get here?" Wei Dayou picked up the fat cat with one hand, while stroking it and joking with Gao Ming: "Gao Ming, why don't you just stay, look, Rich doesn't want to leave you."

"It's not that he doesn't want to leave me, he just cherishes his life more." It was also Gao Ming's first time seeing a cat play dead; no matter what happened outside, it remained completely still: "You, I know you're a good person, so I'll remind you one last time, do not go out after dark and stay away from that new colleague of yours, she has a lot of issues."

"I've seen the news as well and know that things have not been peaceful in Hanhai lately. Don't worry about me, take care of yourself, and call me if you need anything, after all, we have been partners for so many years." Ignoring the fierce resistance of the little one, Wei Dayou took Rich back to the office.

The fat cat scratched at the glass door with its paws, crying out to Gao Ming outside the office, looking truly pitiful.

"If you follow me, you'll see the real hell." Gao Ming said with a wry smile: "This cat has some brains, but not much."

Leaving Night Lamp Studio, Gao Ming didn't head home but went to the bus stop, looking at the city map marked with various routes.

Hanhai is a very special city with a total of nineteen districts. The most prosperous East District is inhabited by wealthy people from all over the world, modern and dreamy. There, one can enjoy things that exceed the limits of the average person's imagination. But the Old City District where Gao Ming lived seemed like a different world entirely, with dense apartment buildings crowding together, oppressive and narrow, barely allowing one to breathe just by walking among them.

A hundred years ago, Hanhai rose from the chaos of war as a refuge for politicians, businessmen, and refugees. It was cosmopolitan and all-embracing. With its unique advantages, Hanhai became one of the three major free ports in the world. However, with the impact of the smart revolution and the biotech revolution, this brilliant city also reached a crossroads of the era.

But none of these mattered to Gao Ming. His gaze swept over the cluttered bus stops, his mind flashing with brutal, terrifying murders and weird, shocking tales.

"The Butcher Case, Cat Doll Dismemberment Case, Pervert Case, Dissolving Corpse Case, Red Pavilion Cooking Corpse Case, Dog Crypt Case, Sunken Corpse Case..." With twitching eyelids, Gao Ming's mind was almost filled with the city's crimes, and what was more terrifying, compared to the murder cases, he had seen far too many strange tales and horror films.

"Borrowing Yin Lifespan, Flesh Immortal, Hanging Man, Night of the Returning Dead, Skin Change Parlor, Headless Doctor, Man-Eating Elevator... Countless, so many it's impossible to count!"

Large facilities like hospitals, schools, and malls, down to corridors, elevators, under the bed, drawers – anything that existed in the city, could be linked to a corresponding scene in Gao Ming's mind.

"According to what Xuan Wen said, if all the nightmares in my heart became reality, then it's not just about the game anymore; all the mystery and paranormal could appear in this city."

Though he was reluctant to admit it, Gao Ming felt as if he alone had triggered the opening chapter of the apocalypse.

"That thing from an unknown world seems to be able to evolve various horrors based on the memories in my head and merge with this city."

The sky was overcast with clouds pressing lower and lower, as if the city, like a prisoner being strangled, was on the brink of a struggling death laden with sins.

Standing on the bus platform, looking at the street in the storm, Gao Ming's face was terrible: "If I were a guy full of lewd trash in my head, there wouldn't be so much trouble."

Xuan Wen was obviously not normal, but she seemed able to provide Gao Ming with the clues he desperately needed at the moment.

At five-thirty in the afternoon, Xuan Wen walked out of the office building holding a red umbrella. It was as if she knew Gao Ming hadn't left, smiling as she approached the bus stop: "Have you been waiting for me this whole time?"

"I just haven't decided which bus to take home yet."

"How about we go together?" Xuan Wen held the umbrella over both of them and looked sideways at Gao Ming, her gaze revealing a fondness, but it was a twisted kind of fondness, like a collector beholding a prized piece of art, or as if someone with a quirk had obtained some strange satisfaction.

When the bus arrived, Gao Ming let Xuan Wen get on and settle down first before he stood by himself at the rear of the bus.

An hour later, they returned to the Old City District.

Looking at the group of buildings in front of him, Gao Ming wanted even more to distance himself from the woman beside him.

Lijing Apartment consisted of four buildings constructed in the shape of a well, with Xuan Wen living in the building directly opposite Gao Ming's. It wouldn't be bold to guess that Xuan Wen might have been secretly watching Gao Ming for the past few days.

"Don't get me wrong, the recent murders around Lijing Apartment have nothing to do with me," Xuan Wen's voice was somewhat vague in the heavy rain: "Actually, I've been scared and on edge every day."

"To stop being afraid, so you took care of the threats?" Gao Ming hadn't thought about the murders at first, but after Xuan Wen mentioned it, Li Lin's warning flashed through his mind.

During the three days he was trapped in his room, many "things" had already "spread."

Passing through the Sky Well Courtyard of the apartment complex, Gao Ming and Xuan Wen entered Building No. 2.

Just as they reached the third floor, they saw an old lady burning paper in the hallway. The brazier was full of ashes left by the burnt paper money, and she kept muttering something, kowtowing to the portrait next to it.

The old woman had a head full of silver hair, yet the man in the portrait looked to be only in his forties. The elder kowtowing to the younger was an odd sight.

"Her adopted son committed suicide three days ago." Xuan Wen stopped: "According to the neighbors, her adopted son was a very good man, honest and hardworking, selflessly looking after the old lady's family despite not being blood-related."

"Often what we see is just the surface. Those who are not eloquent may have even more on their minds." Gao Ming had seen the old lady's adopted son in the courtyard, a man named Brother Zhao, who was very warm to everyone and often used his phone to clean the bathrooms in the apartment.

Brother Zhao was always smiling, but Gao Ming always felt his smile was forced.

As a psychological counselor, Gao Ming sometimes would chat with Brother Zhao downstairs, but he hadn't seen him in the courtyard since last month.

After bowing to the portrait, Gao Ming was led to the fifth floor by Xuan Wen.

The clotheslines were carelessly strung across the hallway, close to the exposed electrical wires, draped with various articles of clothing. Perhaps influenced by the overall environment, the clothes appeared dull and ghastly, fluttering slightly even without wind.

Old-fashioned iron doors lined both sides of the corridor, speckled with rust, and the yellow-brown door frames contrasted eerily with the bright red couplets, making even the 'Fu' character in the middle seem awkward.

"Here we are."

Xuan Wen took out her keys and opened the door to room 2507, but Gao Ming felt hesitant to enter.

2507 was precisely the home of the old lady's adopted son. Three days ago, Brother Zhao had jumped from the balcony of this apartment.

"You rented the apartment of someone who's recently dead? His seventh day hasn't even passed yet."

Gao Ming inexplicably thought of a game scene he had designed before—a scene where the ordinary male protagonist plays a séance game in a haunted house with his deceased wife and sneakily watches his own death video during a break.