His mind was foggy, and the objects in his vision seemed to be covered by a thick layer of veil. The sound of the traffic coming from the main road in the distance was erratic, drawing near and far, as indistinct as if he were dreaming.
After walking in this uncomfortable groggy state for an indeterminate amount of time, Yu Sheng's mind finally regained some ability to think. He hesitated, stopped, and looked back at the road he had come from.
It was almost completely dark now. The streetlights along the way had been lit early. He was walking on a narrow street near his home. The low and old residential buildings on both sides of the street resembled two rows of beasts crouching in the night, while the "ground shops" privately modified by the residents emitted a warm light, dispelling a hint of cold crouching in his heart.
Cold?
Suddenly, Yu Sheng felt that piercing coldness in his lungs and marrow again, like knife-edge cold rain on his skin, and felt those two cold, slimy gazes—the gaze of a frog watching him.
He choked abruptly, and it took several seconds before he suddenly remembered how to breathe. Gasping heavily, he quickly looked down at his chest.
In that moment, he had the illusion that there was still a hole in his chest, that he no longer had a heart, and his chest felt as silent and cold as an extinguished furnace. But the next second, he felt his heartbeat again, and he even heard a particularly clear "thump" sound next to his ear... Yes, a living person has a heartbeat.
He was still alive and had not had his heart eaten by a bizarre, enormous frog.
But those frantically surging fragments of memories were like a tsunami washing over his brain, and no matter how much he tried to disregard them, he could not expel them from his memories. Yu Sheng remembered that rain, that door painted on the wall, and that huge frog... He tried to tell himself it was just an hallucination, but this thought was quickly shaken as the memories were replayed and became clearer.
He had died once, but somehow, he was still alive, and he was on his way home—he was almost home, just two blocks away.
This was the most bizarre thing he encountered in this eerie city after his arrival.
He noticed eyes on him nearby. People passing by seemed to have noticed his unusual behavior and hesitated about approaching, possibly to ask if he needed help—he quickly waved them off and sped up his pace to leave the area.
He didn't know what had happened to him, but clearly stopping to think in the middle of the road was of no help in resolving his confusion.
He hurriedly crossed the path, leaving the last street near the old neighborhood, heading towards his "home" in this city.
Though only two blocks away, the surrounding environment seemed even more desolate and quiet—it was like stepping into a forgotten corner of the city. As the number of pedestrians on the road dwindled, eventually, only the cold streetlights remained beside Yu Sheng. After a while, he saw the old house standing in the night, seemingly maintaining a slight separation from the surrounding buildings.
It was an ordinary large house, a three-story old residence with mottled walls and a sloping roof. The old doors and windows, though old, were still clean and intact—this house looked like a "self-built small building" that was privately added in the urban villages when management wasn't strict decades ago, and had become a historical relic stuck with a city construction management bug over time...
Yu Sheng did not quite understand the city construction management system of this "Boundary City," which was much different from his memories, since he had only arrived here two months ago. Excluding the time initially wasted due to cautious self-confinement, he had just begun to adapt to his new life here and had figured out the situation in the surrounding areas—but one thing he was clear about.
This large house was his only relatively safe foothold in this dangerous and discordant city—at least when inside the house, he had not seen those bizarre shadows.
Although the large house itself also had many aspects that he found eerie.
Yu Sheng took a deep breath, carrying the shopping bag still in his hand, and stepped through the cold light of the streetlamp to the door, pulling out his keys to unlock it.
The old door creaked open, and Yu Sheng entered and turned on the lights—although this house was almost completely different from the "home" in his memory, the moment the lights came on, he genuinely felt a certain... reassurance.
He turned around to close the door, shutting out the night of the city.
Then he casually dropped the items from the supermarket on the storage rack at the kitchen entrance right to the doorway and hurriedly crossed the somewhat empty living room to the bathroom mirror, yanking open his shirt.
The images in his memory were too vivid and deep, making him unable to resist the urge to verify repeatedly.
There were no scars or bloodstains on his chest, as if "death" had never happened.
Yu Sheng frowned, checked his clothes for completeness, pressed the spot where the frog had supposedly heartlessly gouged according to his memory, finally affirming that he was not a man with an open heart.
"That's bizarre..."
He muttered softly, leaving the bathroom and turning back to the living room.
Behind him, the surface of the mirror above the washbasin silently cracked with several lines, which then quickly and silently closed back up...
Sitting on the living room sofa, Yu Sheng sorted out his messy thoughts, and after an unknown period, his extremely tired mind finally quieted down.
Sleep shrouded him.
This grogginess lasted for a long time, until a sudden "thump" exploded in his mind, sounding as if someone was hitting a stone with a shovel on his head, instantly waking Yu Sheng from his drowsy sleep.
He opened his eyes in the darkness, paused, and then realized—the living room light had been turned off.
He clearly remembered that the light was on before he went to sleep!
A sudden sense of alarm sprung in his heart, and Yu Sheng almost subconsciously reached for the stick beside him—after arriving in this strange and eerie city, the first thing he did was to prepare this tool for self-defense. Even though it seemed useless up to now, as a human being faced with horror, holding a stick at least brought some psychological comfort. Then cautiously, he slowly got up while paying close attention to every sound in the darkness.
In this desolate and secluded place, it wasn't unimaginable for thieves to enter one's home, but at this moment Yu Sheng would rather it be thieves, as he could potentially knock them out with the stick, unlike a meter-tall frog.
But the living room was silent, showing no signs of intrusion or noise from thieves.
The good news was, there was no sound of frogs either.
Using the faint streetlight coming through the window, Yu Sheng crouched and moved, identifying his surroundings slowly, and finally reached the nearby wall switch to turn on the light.
His eyes instantly emitted a bright light, scanning the living room in the darkness.
Yu Sheng blinked; something in his field of vision seemed off, but he couldn't pinpoint anything abnormal—regardless, at least the area was bright, and he could now clearly see the situation in the living room.
He slightly crouched, holding the stick, and began to check every corner of the house.
The first floor included only the living room, kitchen, dining room, and a currently unused empty room, everything appeared normal.
He stood at the staircase leading to the second floor and hesitated for a moment before stepping upstairs.
There were three rooms on the second floor, one of which was his current bedroom, one filled with miscellaneous items, and the last room at the end locked.
When Yu Sheng arrived here, that room was already locked; he had searched this big house thoroughly and had never found the key.
First, he checked his own bedroom and the room opposite filled with miscellaneous items, then approached the locked room.
As usual, the door was firmly shut.
In fact, Yu Sheng had tried using some technical means to break the lock, which included, but were not limited to, an impact drill and a handheld chainsaw, but all attempts failed—sparks flew wildly in front of the seemingly fragile wooden door, and both the drill bit and the saw blade wore out without leaving a single mark.
Of course, he had also sought more advanced technical solutions, such as locksmiths. He had tried three; the first two got lost in the old town area, wandering around half the day without finding No. 66 Wutong Road, and the third was hit by a motorcycle just past the intersection and had just been discharged from the hospital last week…
It was as if some mysterious power was preventing Yu Sheng from unlocking this room in his house.
Indeed, although this big house was the only relatively safe place for him in this city, the house itself had many… "odd" aspects.
Touching the door knob in front of him, Yu Sheng tried to turn it, but as expected, it didn't budge.
Nothing unexpected happened—it was still locked.
But perhaps it was an illusion, as he futilely twisted the knob… he thought he heard a faint chuckle.
The laughter came from the other side of the door, sounding like a young woman's voice, as if mocking his inability to deal with a door.
Yu Sheng's hair stood on end!
In his only place of safety in this city, the house he had lived in for two months, in this always-locked room... there was someone hiding!
...How has she not starved to death?