002, Knock on the door
As a private psychologist,
Du Wei encountered all types of patients in "this New York," including not a few like Aisha who always believed Evil Spirits were out to get them.
If he had a choice, Du Wei still hoped he could return to China to be a so-called psychologist, or even return to his original profession as a forensic doctor.
Unfortunately, he had no choice.
He had just taken a flight to New York, hoping for a quiet vacation, but upon landing, he discovered the world had changed. Aside from the name, this New York was completely different from the one in his memory.
When he called his familiar friends, the numbers were either disconnected or the people on the other end didn't recognize him; even the sexes and personal lives didn't match up, and the passengers on the same plane had all changed as well.
This was a world both strange and familiar.
...
When night fell.
23:50.
After taking a shower, Du Wei turned on his laptop to browse the internet.
Since arriving in this world, he had developed a new habit.
Browsing online information, checking out some posts, understanding the lifestyle and living conditions of most people.
Soon, a post titled: Shocking—At Midnight, Man and Woman Flee Home Bare-Handed with Baby in Tow? sparks Du Wei's attention.
So, he clicks to enter.
However, upon entering, he sees a snapshot photo of a man and woman with a naked baby running out of a house; the background is exceedingly dim.
"That's indeed... revealing..."
Du Wei is somewhat speechless but continues to look on.
Oddly enough, the house in the photo, along with the dim background, merges into one silhouette. The only clarity is the open wooden door of the house.
The house seems very old with three steps leading up to the entrance about five centimeters high. The wooden door is pulled open, and the scene inside is blurry, but there seems to be something or someone near the door inside.
Du Wei widens his eyes and looks carefully for two minutes.
Suddenly...
He sees what appears to be a person standing in the dim light inside, also peering out the door.
This...
Du Wei shakes his head. In any world, clickbait and photo manipulators are just as annoying.
He scans the comments below the post, a string of supposedly friendly greetings to the poster's female relatives, not sparing insults directed at the poster themselves.
At this moment, the lights in the room suddenly flicker...
Hiss...
He can faintly hear the sound of electricity, and then the lights throughout the room dim.
The laptop screen suddenly goes black as well.
"Voltage instability?"
Du Wei frowns, thinking that tomorrow he should call property management to have a maintenance worker come over.
After restarting the laptop, the screen is simply black with no apparent issues.
At this moment, the clock on the wall ticks from 12:00 to 12:01.
...
May 16th, Friday, 2:08 am.
Thump thump thump...
Thump thump thump...
Thump thump thump...
A series of knocking sounds arise.
Rhythmic, and very clear, echoing inside the house like a sinister sound.
Du Wei, who was deep in sleep, furrows his brows, barely opens his eyes, shakes his head, but is still very groggy.
He glances at the clock on the wall. Knocking at this hour?
The next second, Du Wei freezes. The knocking sounds as if it is coming from inside the house.
"Something's not right."
As a psychologist, Du Wei is accustomed to staying calm.
He lives on the second floor, yet he hears knocking. This means the person knocking is inside the house, at the door on the second floor?
Could there be a burglar?
```
...
The news has been reporting a spate of home invasions and murders...
The world outside China is indeed very chaotic.
But surely a thief wouldn't knock on the door... That would be too absurd.
Outside the door: thump, thump, thump...
The knocking continued with unnerving regularity.
Throwing off the covers, Du Wei regained his composure, slipped on his cotton slippers, and pulled a box out from under the bed.
Inside was a handgun.
He had bought it a long time ago; it was powerful, easy to maintain, and seldom needed repairs.
Once, he had even dabbled in firearms at a local club back in China, and he was quite accurate within a three to four-meter range.
He released the safety catch.
Then Du Wei walked to the door and peeped through the peephole.
However...
Outside was pitch black, and he could see nothing.
Yet the knocking persisted.
Could the knocker be very short, or crouching outside the door?
An image flashed through Du Wei's mind: A small thief, less than one and a half meters tall, sneaking into his room to steal, but upon discovering that all the valuables were in his bedroom, began to knock, squatting down to avoid being detected, hoping to give him a nasty surprise with this ridiculous behavior?
In that case, this thief might suffer from some unknown psychological disorder...
Then, he pointed the gun at the door and flung it open...
Whoosh...
Outside, a chill wind blew, and all was deathly still.
But the knocking continued.
He took a deep breath, still very calm, and fumbled for the light switch on the wall, turning on the indoor lights.
As before bedtime, the lights were dim, possibly due to unstable voltage.
But at least it was bright enough to make out the room.
"Could it be coming from downstairs?"
Following the direction of the sound, Du Wei made his judgment.
So, he proceeded downstairs with the gun in hand.
As he passed the bathroom...
The sound of running water cascaded.
Living alone meant that, apart from the bedroom and front doors, he kept no other doors closed.
Instantly, he could tell that most of the bathroom was shrouded in darkness under the dim lighting, with only the sink area clearly visible.
The faucet was on, the sink was overflowing, and vast amounts of water were spreading on the floor, seeping into the drain.
"What's going on here?"
Confusion arose in Du Wei, but the knocking from downstairs persisted and he didn't pay it too much attention.
After all... a thief was more troublesome.
Passing by the bathroom, he confronted the staircase, submerged in the dimness.
Looking further down, it was even darker.
He could barely make out the vague outline of a door.
Du Wei set his foot on the stairs, prepared to descend.
With a gun in hand, he wasn't afraid of the average burglar.
But at that moment, a sudden thought struck him.
The knocking he had heard in the bedroom was inside the house, while the knocking he heard after opening the door was outside.
It is well known that the transmission of sound requires mediums such as solids, liquids, or gases, and the speed varies with the medium. The general principle is that solids transmit sound faster than liquids, which are faster than gases.
Yet, despite the distance between floors, the knocking sounded as if it was right next to him.
This world...
Seemed to be concealing something beyond his understanding, and now, he had come into contact with these things...
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