Chapter 342 - 148: Mysterious Cabin

Chapter 342: Chapter 148: Mysterious Cabin

Zhang Shutong came back from the hospital room, dangling his keys, and saw the three of them huddled together by the window.

’I knew it, I just knew it,’ he thought with satisfaction. ’A hallway window is the ultimate human trap. No one can resist standing next to one and staring into space.’

So, he tiptoed over and tapped Ruoping on the shoulder.

Ruoping yelped and whipped her head around, her body stiffening for a second.

"Zhang Shutong, are you trying to kill me?!"

Zhang Shutong took a step back, smiling. "Sorry, sorry. But aren’t we going to eat? It’s almost seven."

"There’s a door," Ruoping whispered.

"A door?"

"Look at that old house back there. There’s a door behind the ivy," Du Kang added, also lowering his voice.

"Oh." Zhang Shutong glanced over.

"Is that all? No reaction?"

Zhang Shutong could only explain that he’d been looking at it every day for the past few days. While they saw a horror movie set, he had come to see it as just a landscape photo. He was long since desensitized.

"But there’s a door hidden behind the ivy!" Ruoping and Du Kang said in unison.

Zhang Shutong didn’t know what to say. He turned on his phone’s flashlight and aimed it, but the beam couldn’t reach the house. With no lightning at that moment, the world outside the window was just pitch-black.

"Isn’t your question a little weird?" Zhang Shutong said. "Uh, I mean, since it’s a house, why *wouldn’t* it have a door? Wouldn’t a house with no door be scarier?"

"Huh, I guess you’re right." Du Kang switched sides in an instant. He grinned and patted Ruoping’s shoulder, backstabbing his teammate. "Let’s go, let’s go. We know you’re afraid of ghosts, but now you’re scared of houses too?"

Ruoping glared at him. She didn’t have time to twist his ear, instead turning to nudge Qingyi.

"What do you think?"

"Shutong is right."

"Don’t just blindly agree with him! Ugh, don’t be such a follower!"

"But it’s true," Qingyi said with a calm expression. "It was a little scary at first, but if you saw an old house during the day—you know, the kind your grandparents have, made of brick—you wouldn’t even give it a second glance, would you?"

"It’s really just a mental shortcut," Qingyi, ever the future STEM guy, analyzed with perfect logic. "We saw the ivy first, so we subconsciously assumed there was a door hidden there that shouldn’t exist. But in reality, the house and the door came first, and *then* the ivy grew over them. When you think of it that way, it’s not so strange, is it?"

Ruoping nodded reluctantly, seemingly convinced.

"But how are you guys not curious at all? Normally, you’d have already rushed out to check."

"We stick to the water. Things on land aren’t our jurisdiction," Zhang Shutong teased her with a straight face.

’Actually, on a normal day I might have gone to check it out,’ he thought. ’But we just got back from an adventure today. I’m a little tired, plus it’s raining. It’s probably best to just leave that house well enough alone.’

"Let’s go, let’s go," Du Kang urged Ruoping, that guy a perfect example of a short attention span. "I’m starving. Besides, what’s there to see in the rain? We can come back when it’s sunny."

Ruoping glanced at the old house one more time, only to see that the three boys had already started walking off with their arms around each other’s shoulders. She said, annoyed,

"Hey, wait for..."

But it was as if her words were jinxed today. The moment the sound left her lips, another ROAR of thunder echoed, even louder than before. The four of them were standing right by the window, and a FLASH of lightning illuminated their faces. Even the fluorescent light overhead flickered, making Du Kang jump.

"Didn’t Ruoping say she checked the weather forecast? That the rain wouldn’t be heavy today? How come those things are always wrong..."

The thunder was like a command. Rain immediately began to pour down, pelting the ground in fat drops. For a moment, there was only the RUSHING sound of water.

This was no longer the kind of weather where you could ride a bike with an umbrella and stay dry. Waiting any longer would only make things worse. Du Kang walked over and waved a hand in front of Ruoping’s eyes.

"You okay? Why are you still just standing there, like you’re in a trance..."

She bit her lip, her voice trembling slightly.

"Didn’t you guys just see it? That door... it opened!"

The three of them froze for a second, then looked at each other.

"Was it closed when you guys were looking earlier?" Zhang Shutong asked first.

"I think so..." Qingyi said hesitantly. "I didn’t get a clear look before. Du Kang was the one who called us over."

"I saw it clearly. It was definitely closed," Du Kang muttered. "The question now is whether Ruoping saw it clearly. I think her eyes were playing tricks on her."

"They weren’t!" Ruoping stomped her foot in frustration. "Why would I lie to you? Can’t you look for yourselves?!"

But as she said this, the lightning had already faded back into the clouds, and with no moon out tonight, all they could see was pitch-blackness.

Du Kang pressed his face hard against the glass.

"Okay, I’m starting to think this is a little creepy. What do you guys think we should do?"

"Let’s wait a bit longer," Zhang Shutong said, glancing at his phone. "There will probably be more lightning in a few minutes. If you want to see, we can see. It won’t take long."

Having made up their minds, the four of them lined up at the window, holding their breath.

Zhang Shutong counted the time in his head. A minute had already passed, but all he could hear was the sound of the rain.

’To be honest, even now, he didn’t quite understand what they were so nervous about. But he figured he could treat it as an adventure; it’s not like they had anything to do after dinner anyway. The heavens, however, weren’t cooperating. The thunder was taking its sweet time. Just as Zhang Shutong was about to suggest they borrow a flashlight from the front desk, Du Kang whispered:’

"Ruoping, why don’t you say something? I think your words are weirdly powerful today. Oh, God of Thunder..."

"Shut..."

But before she could finish her sentence, another flash of lightning split the sky. The sudden brightness caught them off guard. The girl’s face went pale, but her eyes were glued to the scene in front of them.

Zhang Shutong’s gaze followed hers. In his line of sight was a wooden door, riddled with cracks and so rotten it looked like it was about to fall off its frame. And just as Ruoping had said, the door was indeed open.