Chen Ge calmed down after knowing how to escape. The door is slowly approaching the boy. When a Red Specter appears, it will make some noise to remind the boy. No matter how you look at it, the door has no malicious intent toward the boy.
Scratching his chin, Chen Ge thought, Something inside the door wishes to come out but I didn’t see such a creature when I am inside here, has they gone into hiding?
The thing inside the door didn’t want to harm Jiang Ming so it wouldn’t be the monsters radiating evil.
Perhaps this is the place Jiang Ming lost his hearing. Chen Ge remembered the mission message on the black phone. The ghost fetus’ mission is a life and death game of hide and seek. Am I suppose to enter the door to find the thing the ghost fetus has hidden? This could be my first direct challenge toward the ghost fetus.
That seemed possible. He took out the black phone and wanted to check the mission details again when footsteps came from the second-floor corridor. They were very light footsteps. It sounded like a child walking on their tiptoes. If not for Ghost Ear, Chen Ge would not have heard it.
Someone is passing by? This thought entered Chen Ge’s mind, and he widened his eyes. Impossible! The monsters formed from memory will not make any sound—I experimented with that earlier!
Since he was deaf, Jiang Ming could not hear the world, but he could hear the sound in his own heart. The world behind the door was made from his memories. The only person who could make any noise there, other than outsiders like Chen Ge, was Jiang Ming himself!
After Chen Ge opened the cubicle door, he found that there was no one in the toilet. He carried the hammer and the backpack as he left the toilet. He saw a group of children standing in the corridor. The children wore clothes that were much cleaner than the neighbors’. They were holding some toys as if in the middle of some interesting game.
Is Jiang Ming among them?
Chen Ge slowly approached them with the hammer. Before he arrived, the children noticed Chen Ge. The children looked friendly, and their clothes were pretty and clean, but their appearance was something else. They had exceptionally large eyes, and their mouths grew wide like they were all trying to mimic the Joker. The leading boy pointed at Chen Ge and then pulled on his ears. The surrounding children started to laugh. From Chen Ge’s perspective, he could not hear any sound, and he could not hear the children’s laughter, but he could see their ugly expressions.
These kids are making fun of me.
His eyes narrowed, Chen Ge observed closely. Through the children’s moving lips, he got the gist of what they were saying. They were mocking Chen Ge for his stupidity because he was different from them. They said that his deafness was infectious and that those who played with him would become deaf.
Looks like Jiang Ming is not among them. A deaf person would not laugh along to these ‘jokes’.
Chen Ge raised the hammer, but he did not attack the children.
It’s meaningless to injure these kids. After I leave this world, I will go back to the real life to teach a lesson and have them come to apologize to Jiang Ming.
The neighbors were impossible to communicate with, and Chen Ge believed that it was because Jiang Ming was just a child and did not have that much interaction with adults. However, it would be different with people his age. Jiang Ming clearly remembered the mocking and jabs these kids made at him. They seemed to have played together often, so Chen Ge believed that he could find clues on Jiang Ming from these kids. He squatted down and tried to gesture with his hands, attempting to communicate with the kids without making any noise.
Chen Ge did not wish to make things so complicated, but if he made any noise, the drunkard would chase after him. Chen Ge did not want to deal with him, so he had to do this. Even after gesturing for a long time, the kids did not give Chen Ge any information. It was as if all they could do was humiliate and mock, gaining their reason for existing from that.
Just as Chen Ge prepared to give up, one of the children suggested a game, and Chen Ge volunteered to join. The leading boy was ‘kind’ enough to gesture at Chen Ge, saying that they wanted to play hide and seek. They would use rock-paper-scissors to decide who the seeker would be. All the children played paper, and only Chen Ge played rock. The children had obviously discussed this beforehand. They wanted to make fun of Chen Ge. They split up and started to hide, leaving Chen Ge alone in the corridor.
“These rascals, after I catch you, I will…” Chen Ge could not stop himself from grumbling, but he quickly caught himself. He looked around, and thankfully, no monster appeared.
I’ve gotten used to talking. It’s so hard to get used to when I need to suddenly keep quiet.
Carrying his backpack, Chen Ge was about to move forward when he heard some movement. It sounded like someone had accidentally knocked into a chair. The sound came from the direction where Chen Ge had heard the footsteps earlier.
Jiang Ming?
Chen Ge slowly walked down the corridor. He realized that one of the rooms was not locked. Pushing the door lightly open, there was a lot of Shui Horsetail Embroidery that was unique to Jiujiang in the room. Horsetail embroidery was a culture heritage going obsolete, so Chen Ge did not expect to run into so much of it there. Many colorful fabrics, knitting needles of varying lengths, and colorful threads were left on the table. The whole apartment building had a dim color palette, but this room was sunny and bright.
The bamboo chair is not by the table. Someone probably knocked into it earlier.
Chen Ge closed the door and looked around. The room was not big; there should be a senior living there because there was a pair of reading glasses among the knitting stuff and a walking stick leaning against the bed. The table was placed in the middle of the room, and there were two bamboo chairs around it, so there should be two people working there. The bedside table had an old man’s black and white picture. Underneath the frame was a eulogy.
“The tenant should be an old lady. This is her living space and her working space.” Chen Ge took a stroll around the room, but he did not see the tenant. “This room is bright and colorful, completely different from the other rooms. This place should be special to Jiang Ming. He feels warmth here.”
The tenant of this place must have been nice to Jiang Ming, but the problem was Chen Ge could not find this mysterious tenant. Chen Ge did not want to give up like that. When he conducted a second search, he heard some noise coming from the bedroom closet. Silently getting close to it, Chen Ge yanked the door open. A faded scent of mildew drifted into his nose. Chen Ge saw a boy about four or five hiding inside the closet. The boy was curled up in the corner. He was different from the others behind the door. The proportions of his face and body were normal.
“Jiang Ming?” Chen Ge asked softly. Hearing Chen Ge’s voice, the boy’s face took on an impossible expression. In this soundless world, someone had called his name!
After a temporarily pause, Jiang Ming recovered, and he nodded heavily!
The boy was not born deaf. In his memory, there is the impression of sound, so what happened to him?
Chen Ge knelt down beside the closet and started to study the young boy before him.
