Chapter 344 - 148: Mysterious Cabin (3)

Chapter 344: Chapter 148: Mysterious Cabin (3)

"Holy crap, it’s not level. There’s a step here—I almost missed my footing," Du Kang cursed. "You guys be careful. Shutong, hold the flashlight for me for a sec..."

With that, he nimbly jumped down. "It’s not that high. Come on down!"

Zhang Shutong cautiously extended one foot. After the drop of the step, the tip of his shoe sank into standing water. The ground ahead was indeed lower, and the water level was already over the sole of his shoe. He then felt the soft give of mud underfoot.

Zhang Shutong relayed this information to Ruoping, and the two behind him carefully made their way down.

"Why is there a step here?" Zhang Shutong asked instinctively. "This isn’t a real alley."

"Let me see," Du Kang said, crouching down to study the "step" for a moment. "Oh, so that’s what it is..."

"What is it?" Ruoping prodded his shoulder with her umbrella handle.

Du Kang wiped the water from his face, then turned and shined the flashlight behind them.

"Look, this isn’t ’behind the hospital.’ Or rather, there’s no such thing. Instead, it’s..."

He murmured,

"a walled-off patch of wasteland."

A deafening CRACK of thunder exploded nearby. The accompanying flash of lightning finally illuminated the scene ahead: a red-brick house stood silently in the rain, surrounded by nothing but swaying weeds.

Zhang Shutong wasn’t particularly surprised. He had seen this place many times from his window upstairs. This was, however, his first time here in person. He looked around—

The wasteland was only about half the size of a basketball court. Its existence seemed to be an accident, a patch of land somehow overlooked during urban development.

The land all around it had been paved with concrete foundations for new buildings, but this spot remained in its primal state.

The terrain here was low-lying. The so-called step was simply the border where the concrete pavement met the dirt.

Looking down, he saw their shoes were submerged in the standing water. A biting cold seeped in. The rain had turned the soil soft and mushy, making every step a slippery risk. It felt like walking through a marsh.

"Are we still going forward?" Ruoping asked hesitantly.

"We’ve come this far," Du Kang coaxed her. "It’d be such a letdown to turn back now."

"I feel like the water’s about to get into my shoes. I hate having wet socks..." the girl said, shivering. So that was her real concern. But Ruoping was Ruoping, after all. She glanced at the nearby house, grit her teeth, briskly rolled up her pant legs, and tossed her hair. "Fine, let’s go!"

The surrounding buildings completely blocked any light from the streetlamps. Only by looking back could they see the lit windows on the back of the hospital, which offered a small measure of comfort.

The four of them slowly advanced toward the old house again, but the closer they got, the slower they walked.

"Hey... shouldn’t we come up with a plan, you guys? Just so we know what to do if something suddenly happens."

"Why worry so much? Let’s go, let’s go! Cut the chatter!"

"Easy for you to say, lady. I’m the one in the lead..."

"Shh."

They grew closer as they spoke, until they could see creeping vines on the ground. The group lowered their voices. Du Kang held the flashlight steady, aimed directly at the open door.

He stopped, intending to observe from a distance. However, it was simply too dark; the flashlight beam seemed to be swallowed by the blackness. All he could make out was the standing water inside the house—

Where the light hit, the water was a ghostly white. The house itself was also on low ground, and murky sewage flowed within it, looking even deeper than the water outside.

"Looks like..." Du Kang took a few more steps closer, sweeping the light back and forth. "...there’s nothing in here?" he said, puzzled.

His voice returned to its normal volume.

"Hah, it’s just an empty house. Not even any furniture. You know what my biggest fear is, right? Shining a flashlight inside and immediately seeing an altar with some old lady’s funeral portrait on it..."

"Hey, stop talking! That’s so creepy!" Ruoping quickly cut him off.

"Alright, alright, I’ll stop," Du Kang said, not having meant to scare her. "I’m telling you, there’s really nothing here."

"Really nothing?"

Ruoping finally dared to peek out from behind Zhang Shutong.

"No, don’t be scared." Zhang Shutong chimed in. He walked over to Du Kang, took the flashlight, and had a look for himself. "From the looks of it... it’s just an old, abandoned house. Everything’s been cleared out."

He then asked for Qingyi’s opinion. To his surprise, Qingyi was even bolder; he walked right up to the doorway, steadied himself on the frame, and peered inside.

"There’s definitely nothing in the house. The only question is how this door opened."

Zhang Shutong was also examining the half-open wooden door.

He saw a pin tumbler lock on the door. Its surface was a bit rusty, but the lock itself was intact. The problem, it turned out, wasn’t the lock, but the hasp.

The wooden door was rotted, and the hasp installed on it had simply broken off. That’s why the lock was fine, but the door was open.

Zhang Shutong gave the wooden door a shake. It was definitely loose and felt like it could fall off its hinges at any moment.

He was about to call Ruoping over to show her and put her mind at ease when Du Kang suddenly yelped.

The other three jumped in fright and hurriedly asked what was wrong. They then realized that Du Kang had, at some point, gone into the house. He was making a pained face.

"I shouldn’t have come in. Why is the water so deep in here? My shoes are completely soaked..."

Zhang Shutong looked down at Du Kang’s feet. His sneakers were completely submerged, and the water was already reaching his cuffs.

"Then what did you run in there for?" Ruoping asked.

"I figured since we were already here, I might as well go in and take a look around. Who knew the floor in here was even lower than the ground outside?" Du Kang sighed, sloshing aimlessly around the room. "You guys wait here. My shoes are soaked anyway, so I’ll just take a quick look and be right back."

The flashlight beam danced about as he waded through the water, hugging the wall as he completed a circuit of the room. He wondered aloud,

"Huh, that’s weird. Why aren’t there any windows?"