Secret 1

Chapter 6: At the End of the Tunnel (3)
"That's right, I'm a police officer from the Shanghai Municipal Public Security Bureau—" Ye Xiao's expression was a little grim, but then softened, and he said softly, "But I'm on vacation, do you want to continue interrogating me?"

After all, he propped up an umbrella, picked up an iron rod, and filled the flashlight with batteries.They brought a few boxes of dry batteries from the supermarket, and they were well preserved without being damp and drained.

The two groups of people were ready, and Ye Xiao took care of it again before going out: "There is no AC power supply, and the battery of the mobile phone must be used sparingly. Please turn off all mobile phones and turn them on again tomorrow morning to see if they can be received." Signal."

As the women turned off their phones, the six men rushed into the dark rain.

Walking on the streets of this small town, looking at the surrounding houses, Ye Xiao felt that he was in a certain movie, and the scene in front of him was frozen like a film.The raindrops illuminated by the flashlight danced like fragments of memory, and it felt icy cold when it hit the face.The six people walked to the intersection at the other end of the street, and everyone discussed that the first group would continue to go forward, while the second group would turn into the road on the right.

Ye Xiao was followed by Li Shu and Yang Mou.These three people are of the same age, and they are all the type who don't talk much. Everyone walks silently holding an umbrella, and three flashlight beams cut through the dark night ahead.Yang Mou put the DV in his backpack, and his flashlight kept shining back and forth on both sides.Shops passed by, including beauty salons, laundry shops, women's clothing stores, and beverage kiosks. Except for the mannequins in the windows, there was no one in sight.

Finally, Li Shu yelled to the surroundings: "Hello, is there anyone?"

The voice was quickly drowned out by the heavy rain, Ye Xiao smiled wryly and said, "Stop barking, save some energy."

But Li Shu didn't like to let it go, he pushed open a closed shop door before he saw the sign clearly.He boldly walked in, scanned the inside with his flashlight, and suddenly saw the child's big eyes.

He couldn't help yelling softly, and the flashlight swept over the face of a little girl again, that face was lifeless, only a pair of eyes were wide open.In the blink of an eye, he saw many faces, staring at him one by one, with strange white reflections on their faces.He immediately took a big step back and bumped into Ye Xiao who was behind him.

But Li Shu still had the guts to say calmly, "There are ghosts in this shop!"

Ye Xiao didn't say anything, and slowly stepped in with a flashlight.He also found the child's eyes, but walked up without flinching, until he touched the child's head——

It turned out to be a plastic head!It turned out to be a toy child.Then I took a flashlight to illuminate the surroundings, and the whole room was full of toys and dolls, especially all kinds of Pabby dolls and teddy bears.

"It's a toy store!"

After finishing speaking, Ye Xiao returned to the street, and continued to scan his surroundings in the rainy night.

At the same time, on the street on the right, Sun Tzu Chu was walking carefully with Qian Mozheng and Tu Nan.Tu Nan complained non-stop along the way, saying that he shouldn't have joined this tour group at all, and even Sun Zichu, who was originally a poor talker, was annoyed by him.

Suddenly, a flashlight beam shines on a car.

All three of them stopped, and the car was parked quietly in the rain, the lights were not turned on, and there was no sign of anyone in the car.They approached and took a closer look. It was a 1.8-displacement Toyota, which was assembled locally in Thailand.

Strangely, the car had no license plates and no other markings on the windshield.Shine the light close to the glass, the front and rear seats are empty, but the doors are tightly locked.

Whose car is this?Why stop here?Where did the owner of the car go?
They looked around with their flashlights, but they couldn't see anyone else.At this time, Qian Mozheng saw an alley, which could just accommodate the car.The three of them walked into the alley carefully. There were high walls on both sides, and there were a few big trees beside the walls, with raindrops falling from the dense branches and leaves.

At the end of the alley was a building. It was hard to tell how high it was in the dark, but it had at least three or four floors.There was a motorcycle parked downstairs, it was actually a Lifan brand made in China.

This is obviously a residential building, there must be people inside.They walked into the corridor immediately, but it was still too dark to see clearly.In the long corridor on the ground floor, Sun Zichu knocked on a door.But there was no movement inside for a long time, and the other doors were also locked.

"No one?" Tu Nan had already taken off his sunglasses and said disappointedly, "Let's go."

"Let's go upstairs and have a look."

Qian Mozheng insisted on walking up the stairs, while Sun Zichu and Tu Nan could only bite the bullet and follow behind.There was still no light on the second floor. Tu Nan knocked on the first door, and unexpectedly pushed the door open.With the sound of the door shaft turning, all three of them retreated involuntarily.

The door was open——Qian Mozheng called softly: "Is anyone there?"

There was a faint echo in the room.They exchanged glances and walked softly into the room.The living room was shown in the flashlight, with coffee table, sofa, and a 31-inch TV cabinet.Following the footsteps of the three men, a burst of dust rose gently.Inside, the door was also open, and there were two bedrooms and a study, a kitchen and dining room, and a bathroom.The bedroom has a big bed and all kinds of furniture, and the closed windows are covered with iron bars, just like the multi-storey flats in mainland China.

There was a faint musty smell in the bedroom, Sun Zichu walked gently to the window.Downstairs is a secluded small garden with several banana trees swaying in the rain.They went to the bedroom next door. There was a small balcony with many potted flowers on it. Some of them had dried up and died, while others had grown extremely lush.

There was also a small glass jar under the balcony. He squatted down and took a photo with a flashlight, and found that there was a little turtle inside.The light stimulated the sleeping animal, and there seemed to be some movement under the thick tortoise shell. It seemed that the little guy was still alive—it was the only owner in the house.

Sun Tzuchu went back to the bedroom and said to his two companions: "Look, there is a bed and a bathroom here. Except that you can't take a hot bath, and there is no TV and electric lights, it is no different from a hotel room."

"That's right, I will spend the night here tonight!" Tu Nan brushed the dust off the bed sheet, "Welcome to the five-star hotel!"

"Let's look at the other rooms."

Qian Mozheng said as he went back to the dark corridor, and pushed the other doors on the second floor.Two doors were still locked, but the last room was not covered.

Another set of empty rooms, with all the furniture and electrical appliances, and the decoration is still good.There was even a basket of rotten fruit on the dining table, and the bowls in the kitchen were not put away, as if the owner had just left the house.

Then they ran to the third floor and found two unlocked rooms in the same condition as the second floor.There is also an open door on the fourth floor, which is a large house with four bedrooms and two living rooms.The highest building in this building is the fifth floor, and there are three doors on the top floor that are ajar. There are a total of eight houses that can be freely entered and exited, just enough for the entire tour group to stay overnight.

The three of them ran out of the building excitedly and returned to the rainy streets.They trotted back to the original road and ran to the Yunnan restaurant where everyone gathered.

The others had been waiting impatiently for a long time, and finally saw the "advanced troops" come back.Hearing that they had found a "five-star hotel", everyone was very happy and hurried over with their luggage in the rain.

Only two people remained in the small restaurant—Sun Zichu and the tour guide Xiao Fang, and they had to wait until the first group returned.

It was raining at night, and the streets were dark, leaving only anxious waiting.

At this moment, at the third crossroad hundreds of meters away, Ye Xiao's team also made a new discovery!
A gas station.

It stands alone at this intersection, and the roads on all sides are very spacious, just suitable for all kinds of vehicles to enter and exit.Although the smell of rain is everywhere, there is still some gasoline smell.Ye Xiao often starts the car by himself, he is familiar with the internal structure of the gas station.There is still a lot of gasoline here, enough to fill up the fuel tank of their tour bus.

After finding out this situation, Ye Xiao and the others were very happy.Wait for the car to be filled up with gas tomorrow morning, and everyone can leave smoothly!
The first group of people followed the straight road and quickly returned to the Yunnan Restaurant, where Sun Zichu and Xiao Fang were waiting for them.Afterwards, they packed up all their luggage and went to the newly discovered "five-star hotel" together.

On a rainy night, the streets of the mountain city became more and more chilly, and the T-shirt on Ye Xiao's chest was still torn, and the rain pierced his heart.Following Sun Tzuchu, he turned into the road on the right and saw the empty Toyota car.Ye Xiao looked around nervously. It had been several hours since he came to this city, and he hadn't even seen a single person until now, and his back was sweating faintly.

They walked to the end of the alley and came to the residential building in the dark.As soon as he got to the second floor, he heard a commotion, the loud Tu Nan was making a noise, probably he had taken a fancy to the big bed he found.This "five-star hotel" has no waiters and no front desk registration. Guests have to find their own rooms-whoever strikes first can grab the best room and bed.

There are two flats on the second floor, and Tu Nan and the driver occupied one first.Yang Mou and his wife (or girlfriend) occupied the second room.

The two sets on the third floor are occupied by girls, and Yuling lives in a room with the American girl.The girl who spoke Taiwanese accent lived in the same room as the girl Ye Xiao saw when he came out of the toilet.

The big house on the fourth floor lived in a family of three including the former female doctor, her husband, and her daughter.The wounded Frenchman also had to be attended to by her, luckily the house had three bedrooms with beds.

There are three empty rooms on the fifth floor, Ye Xiao and Li Shu live in one, Sun Zichu and Xiao Fang live in another, and the other one is for Qian Mozheng and the oldest man in the group.

Ye Xiao went to look at each room again, and warned everyone to lock the doors and windows at night, and not to go out without special matters.If someone knocks on the door in the middle of the night, first ask who it is.Try not to move the things in the room, and don't eat the food in the room, in case it is poisonous or spoiled.No one should take a bath tonight, at most wash your face with cold water.At 07:30 tomorrow morning, he will knock on the doors one by one to wake everyone up.

Then, Ye Xiao and Li Shu returned to the room on the fifth floor.They checked carefully with flashlights, and the two-bedroom house was covered with dust.The furniture and electrical appliances are complete, but the phone cannot be heard.The water in the bathroom is also considered clean, and even the flush toilet can be used normally.There is half a bottle of liquefied natural gas in the kitchen, and there are various seasonings such as oil, salt, sauce and vinegar.

In the kitchen sink, there were several dishes and chopsticks, with a layer of dark green mildew growing on them.While exuding a pungent and rancid smell, it also carries a strong breath of life.It seems that the owner has just finished dinner, hurried out to watch a movie, and will soon come home to wash the dishes and clean up.

It's just that everything here is dark, the cold rain is dripping outside the window, and the deadly air is floating.

No one, no one everywhere.

Except Ye Xiao and the others who broke in suddenly.Thinking of this shoulder trembling, I haven't felt this way for many years, not even when I faced the mandrill in the afternoon.Because the beast is a visible fear, but the fear at this moment is invisible and intangible—"nothing" is a greater danger than "yes".

I squeezed my nose and turned on the faucet, and the tap water quickly washed the dishes.Ye Xiao made a temporary cameo as a crazy housewife, found a rag to wash the dishes hastily, and opened the kitchen window to let in some air.

Exiting the kitchen happened to bump into Li Shu, and both of them were startled while clutching their chests.Li Shu asked desperately: "Are we really going to spend the night here?"

"At least it's better than in the car."

Ye Xiao squatted down and opened the low cabinet in the living room. There were all kinds of messy sundries inside, and he managed to find a few pieces of candles.Li Shu took out a lighter from his pocket, and lit a candle on the coffee table—the flickering candlelight gradually illuminated the room, and also illuminated the silent faces of the two men.

"It's already 08:30. If we didn't encounter these bad things in the afternoon, we should have dinner in Chiang Rai."

As Li Shu said, he walked into a bedroom and lit a candle.There is a large double bed covered with a bamboo mat and pillows wrapped in straw mats.Candlelight illuminates the photos inlaid on the wall. It is a wedding photo of a middle-aged couple. Both of them are not beautiful, but their appearance is definitely not from Thailand.There is a small bookcase next to the bed, which are basically Chinese books published in Taiwan-this is obviously a Chinese or a Chinese family.

They found a plastic washbasin and a few clean cloths, and wiped the bamboo mat carefully twice until they were sure they could sleep.Ye Xiao looked out the window and said, "It's quite cold at night, so put your clothes on when you sleep."

Go to another room, also lit with candles.This is a children's room, the length of the bed is just enough for Ye Xiao's height.There is a writing desk by the window, with textbooks and workbooks on it, it seems that the child was still doing homework just now.There are Ultraman and Spiderman on the cabinet, obviously a naughty boy.

Ye Xiao decided to sleep on this small bed tonight, he wiped the mat with great effort, and fell on it like a collapse—just like when he was tired of doing his homework in the third grade of elementary school.

The candlelight at the bedside was still beating slightly, and the room was filled with a kind of "dead energy", as if the child's ghost was also on the bed, lying down beside Ye Xiao and breathing evenly.

Thinking of this, he jumped up from the bed, Li Shu's shadow flashed into the doorway, and said to him, "Can you fall asleep tonight?"

"Don't know—the gods know what's going on here."

Li Shu's face became more and more serious under the candlelight, and the lenses had a dim yellow reflection: "I have a hunch that we will be very dangerous here."

"But we have nowhere to go, and we don't even know where we are."

Ye Xiao anxiously opened the suitcase, which was found by Sun Zichu for him.He took off the T-shirt that was scratched by the mandrill, and there was an obvious scar on his chest.There was some change of clothes in the box, he put on a gray shirt, leaned on the small wooden bed and said: "I know you can't sleep, but tomorrow we have to get up early and get out of this ghost place as soon as possible - perhaps, there will be many unbelievable things happening tomorrow What about it?"

"I heard you were a police officer?"

"Yes, what about you?"

Li Shu took out a business card and handed it to him, with the title of editor-in-chief of a publishing company in Beijing written on it. Ye Xiao frowned: "A publisher? Sure enough, the name also has the word 'book' in it."

"That's right, I've read all of Cai Jun's books, and I know about you in the novels. I didn't expect to meet you here. It's really a pleasure to meet you."

"It's just fiction, you don't take it seriously—" Ye Xiao smiled helplessly, "Go to sleep, remember to blow out the candles!"

"Okay, let's talk tomorrow."

After Li Shu left the room, Ye Xiao's lips trembled, he didn't want people to see his fearful side.He checked the doors and windows one last time, then blew out the candles, and lay alone in the dark room, letting the sound of the rain outside the window accompany him.

On the bed of this stranger, in this unknown city, among the smoky mountains of northern Thailand, the night will be extremely long and cruel...

Ye Xiao lay down for a few minutes, but his heart beat faster and faster, so he opened his eyes and looked at the ceiling.The dim light illuminates the shadow of rain on the window glass, as if there are countless snakes wriggling slowly.

The moment he tightened his grip, there was a loud knock on the door outside the living room.

Who?
He immediately turned over and got out of bed, and rushed to the door with Li Shu, when a man's nervous voice sounded outside——

"The wounded Frenchman is awake!"

(End of this chapter)