Chapter 9

Wang Xingping sat on the sofa in the living room, the furthest place from the wax figures. Even if a wax figure was broken, it had nothing to do with him. Monkey was afraid too and hid at a corner. Jin Hai had his arms folded over his chest and had a look of watching a good show.

How could the three ‘veterans’, who used the lives of newcomers to fill the pit, awaken a positive attitude just because of the persuasion of a newcomer?

Don’t even think about it.

In any case, everyone could go out if a person completes this game on their own.

Jin Hai harboured vicious thoughts in his mind, that trash Chen Caixing had better die in the basement and become a wax figure.

It was impossible to become a wax figure, it was not possible in this lifetime. Chen Caixing felt three malicious and cold gazes behind his back. The expression on his face also became cold. He didn’t waste time dealing with those three anymore. He said to Wang Xiaoxiao and Zhao Ru, “You move that female wax figure.”

Two tall men were blocking the door.

Because the game was set in the United States, the adult male wax figures were tall and robust, taller than Chen Caixing by half a head. He let those two younger sisters move the smaller ones while he moved those two.

It was obviously in the broad daylight but there was a really sinister feeling when facing the wax figures. It was as if those wax figures were looking at them. Especially knowing those wax figures were real people and would move at night.

“Xiaoxiao, she, she’s so cold. Isn’t she looking at us?” Zhao Ru asked in tears.

Wang Xiaoxiao wasn’t any better, her scalp was numb as she said, “Don’t look her in the eye, don’t touch her arm. Let’s hold her waist and slowly move her. When I shout, start exerting all your strength to move her together with me……”

She was afraid the wax figure would break. If by any chance they knocked the arms off, it would be disastrous.

The two girls trembled in fear as they moved the wax figure. Zhao Ru had even more tears in her eyes but she didn’t back down. She still wanted to live and wanted to go out earlier.

Chen Caixing was not much better. The male wax figure was tall so he couldn’t carry it and could only move it. On top of that, the case of ‘undeniable tragic death should the wax figure be broken’ before so he moved it very carefully.

When he was moving it, a cool wind came from the top of his head, blowing his scalp cold. Chen Caixing’s mind was buzzing with ideas and thought of various scenarios. He stopped at once and raised his head to look. It just so happened he met the eyes of the male wax figure. It was not a delusion of his. The eyes of the wax figure moved, very subtly.

It was true when Zhao Ru said the wax figures were looking at them. It wasn’t caused by her imagination.

This situation was too strange.

“……” Chen Caixing looked the wax figure in the eye. He was silent for a while before he acted like he didn’t see it and continued moving it.

The wax figures used to be only active at night but now, the eyes of the wax figures could move in the morning. It wasn’t hard to imagine what would happen in this house if they waited until the seventh day and didn’t thoroughly put John to death.

The other person was so obsessed with making wax figures. Chen Caixing didn’t want to be killed alive.

“Gege, I’ll help you.” Yuan Jiuwan came over with a pitter-patter, looking obedient and expectantly, appearing to extremely want to relieve the pressure on his father who was painstakingly doing hard physical labour. Chen Caixing was greatly moved and didn’t have the heart to crack down the little brother’s positivity so he said, “Ok, help me to hold it.”

Take it as coaxing the child.

Yuan Jiuwan was very obedient, his little hands were lightly placed on the corner of the hem of the wax figure’s jacket. With a look, Chen Caixing was very pleased. There was no danger so he continued to move it but he totally didn’t see that when Yuan Jiuwan’s hand was placed on the wax figure’s clothes, the originally strange movement of the wax figure’s eyes above his head became stiff.

When he moved it again, that cold blowing sensation above his head stopped. Chen Caixing breathed a sigh of relief and immersed himself in moving it.

The wax figure was finally moved away, exposing the small wood door leading to the basement.

The wooden door was one metre high with a rounded arch at the top. The wooden door didn’t have a lock, the iron buckle was slightly joined. With a push from Chen Caixing and a ‘ka da’ sound, the iron buckle was loosened. The wooden door slowly opened with a creak sound.

“The door, the door opened? What do we do?” Zhao Ru was so frightened that she spoke without rhyme or reason.1

Wang Xiaoxiao was frightened and lost her courage. She sent the helve after the hatchet[efn_]破罐子破摔 pò guàn zi pò shuāi : To make hasty, careless decisions; to discard something after encountering a setback. The image alludes to throwing away the handle (“helve”) of a hatchet after the blade has broken off.[/efn_note] to say, “Nonsense, we moved the wax figures so that we can go down.”

Wang Xingping, those three, who were watching the show unknowingly rushed over when they heard of the news. They faced the half-opened wooden door, exposing a look of fear and expectation. They wanted to divulge but were afraid to.

“Come here, I’ll let you reap the rewards.” Chen Caixing knew, sneered as he bowed and said, “Please.”

“Brat, speaking like this, do you believe——”

“Don’t swear.” Chen Caixing rudely cut off Jin Hai’s clamour, no longer looking at the ugly faces of those three and said to Wang Xiaoxiao, “Let’s go down.”

Wang Xiaoxiao: “Okay.”

The door leading to the basement was narrow so only one person could pass through at once and also hunch forward. Chen Caixing took the lead, Yuan Jiuwan nervously followed behind with his hand holding onto the hem of Chen Caixing’s jacket, wanting to descend together. Chen Caixing thought for a while and didn’t reject him. He already tore the faces of Wang Xingping, those three. He was afraid that if he left the little brother above, he would be in danger.

He might as well follow him.

He pulled out his phone from the pocket of his down coat. The time here was frozen to the outside. For instance, his wristwatch had stopped the moment before he came in, the battery of his phone was the same.

Chen Caixing turned on the flashlight.

The light beam illuminated the dark passageway.

The stairs were quite narrow and small. Both sides of the wall were wet and damp. A whiff of dust had a moldy smell mixed with other odors, causing one to feel disgusted.

“Ou——” Chen Caixing’s body was awfully honest and retched.

“Gege, what’s wrong? Are you uncomfortable?” Yuan Jiuwan’s voice rang out. Chen Caixing could hear the little brother’s nervousness, endured his upset stomach and said, “It’s nothing.”

When the two of them spoke, their voice echoed a bit. It could be imagined how big the basement was.

With a ‘pa’, Chen Caixing switched on the lights.

The lights still work. A small glowing yellow light bulb was better than nothing. When he finished thinking, he was slapped in the face because the cord of the light bulb was a bit long and he didn’t know where the wind came from; With a blow, the light bulb shook and simply gave him the lighting of a horror movie by force.

Chen Caixing roasted in his heart so that his mind wouldn’t buzz with frightful ideas.

The basement was very large and was the site where wax figures were made. Solidified wax oil, paint, a wide and long table set up with all kinds of cutting instruments and tools. Some cutting instruments were stained with brown. It was unknown whether it was paint or blood.

“Barrel. The barrel is over——” Zhao Ru’s voice was high-pitched.

The light flickered. It was dark for a while and bright for a while, casting on the wooden barrel at a corner. The wooden barrel was the sort of homebrew beer of the countryside in the United States. It wasn’t very big. In any case, a living adult man couldn’t fit in it. Looking at House’s figure, his brother also shouldn’t be the slightly-built type.

“Found it. What should I do next?” Wang Xiaoxiao even admired her own guts.

Chen Caixing walked to the barrel and came to a halt, “If someone killed you, what would you do if you become a ghost?”

“Take revenge, of course.” Wang Xiaoxiao replied without thinking twice. She was baffled once she spoke and hesitantly looked towards the wooden barrel, “Are you suggesting we need to kill the NPC?”

The NPC, House, told the story. Everyone could guess it, Edward killed his own brother.

“No.” Chen Caixing didn’t say another word. This place wasn’t a place to speak. Moreover, they could not delay any further. He looked around, “Look for something first.”

“Look, look for what?”

Chen Caixing shook his head, “I don’t know. Let’s see if there’s an unusual trail.”

The three of them found it quickly. Wang Xiaoxiao found a knife wrapped in old newspapers at a corner of the table where the wax oil was placed.

“What about this?”

“Take it.” Chen Caixing glanced at Wang Xiaoxiao, “If you’re scared, I’ll take it.”

Wang Xiaoxiao shook her head, “Forget it, I’m already at this juncture, I’ll brace myself and face the music.”

Afterwards, nothing else was found. Chen Caixing heard the movement upstairs. Zhao Ru paled in fright and said, “Did the NPC come? He noticed we came down to the basement——”

“The NPC never said we couldn’t come down here.” Chen Caixing interrupted and comforted Zhao Ru with this sentence.

This girl was frightened until she was a bit neurotic.

Zhao Ru wasn’t happy that her words were cut off but felt slightly more relieved.

“Thank, thank you. Then, should we go up?”

Chen Caixing felt that there was a place they missed out and didn’t search. He took a quick browse and saw the little brother standing motionless in front of the wooden barrel. Chen Caixing was abruptly nervous. When he was searching for stuff just now, he didn’t pay attention to Yuan Jiuwan.

“Xiao Jiu?”

Yuan Jiuwan turned around, “Gege, I noticed something under the wooden barrel but I don’t dare to go get it.”

Chen Caixing saw that the little brother was perfectly all right. His breath that was held, was released. At that instant, he thought Yuan Jiuwan was a wax figure. Fortunately.

“Let me see, move a bit further.”

Chen Caixing walked over. He didn’t know if it was an illusion but the light flickered more and more and the light in the entire basement was extinguished. Chen Caixing borrowed the weak lighting to see that there was indeed something under the wooden barrel.

A corner of something pitch-black was exposed, appearing to be a piece of paper.

His heart throbbed. Chen Caixing intuitively felt that thing should be very important. He raised his head to look at the flickering light bulb, took out his phone to turn on the flashlight and handed it to Yuan Jiuwan behind him.

”

”

“Take it. I’ll move the wooden barrel, Xiaoxiao, you’ll help me take out the thing under it.”

Wang Xiaoxiao heard herself swallow saliva, “Ok.”

Yuan Juwan shone the flashlight.

The wooden barrel was covered by a lid, nothing could be seen inside but who knew what was inside. Chen Caixing was scared too but he had two sisters and a little brother behind him, what could he do?! Be a boss who didn’t want any face?

“You must not come to life. If you come to life, I’ll really scold you in the face……”

Chen Caixing muttered softly and reached out his hands to touch the edge of the wooden barrel, making contact with a moist, slippery, sticky and greasy sensation. He associated it with something. Chen Caixing refrained from vomiting and used his strength to raise the barrel.

Pa!

The lights went out and there was a gust of wind.

“Ahhhhh!!!” Zhao Ru screamed at the top of her voice.

Chen Caixing felt that the thing in the barrel seemed to move again and shouted, “Xiaoxiao take it!”

Wang Xiaoxiao recovered and took the item out. Chen Caixing put down the wooden barrel. The thing inside shook more and more as if it was about to come out any moment.

“Run!” Chen Caixing pulled Yuan Jiuwan’s hand.

Zhao Ru was already screaming and running out.

The stairs were too narrow. Chen Caixing felt the chilly wind rushing over behind him. He hugged Yuan Jiuwan in his embrace, muttering. He also didn’t know what he said to Yuan Jiuwan or to himself, “Don’t be afraid, it’s okay, it’s okay. We’ll definitely survive.”

Yuan Jiuwan’s small hands were placed around Chen Caixing’s neck. A pair of glowing dark red pupils looked towards somewhere in the pitch-dark basement.

“Hu!”

They came out.

Chen Caixing was the last. Seeing everything in the living room, he felt like he went through rebirth. He didn’t take much of a breather, rapidly put his hand behind to close the wooden door shut. Behind the door, there was the sound of the wind lashing.

“Gege, it’s okay.” Yuan Jiuwan’s forehead stuck to Chen Caixing as he rubbed his cheek against his neck.

Chen Caixing squatted down on the floor and panted, not paying attention to Yuan Jiuwan’s intimate gesture.

He didn’t rest for a second before Mr. House appeared in front of them, his turbid and stiff eyes examined them as if he didn’t notice their sorry figure coming out from the basement. He spoke, “Children, it’s time for lunch, go on and eat your meal.”

Chen Caixing heard a complex sense of joy and pity from House’s tone.