The grey sky was oppressive. On this gray setting, a large dark cloud roams in the wind over the city. People are expecting a torrential rain. However, all that was exchanged for anticipation was a continuous mist of wet and sticky water. The sky in the city in late May and early June is like that. There is rarely a torrential downpour, only a light rain like silk. The raindrops tickled people like mosquito bites. But soon, it seems to be evaporated into the air by the temperature of the human body and the temperature of the earth's surface. It is said that this weather is caused by the fact that the warm spring sun evaporates the water of the Taizi River, and the water vapor is blocked by the high mountains around the city and cannot be dispersed. Either way, the heat is irritating, and the sweat mixed with the mist of water melts into a film on the surface of the skin. At this time, people always feel that they have become a slippery fish, and the mucous membrane on the surface of the body makes them even more stuffy.

Shen Mingde got out of the car and walked into the mist. Because of the gloomy, foggy weather, he almost lost his sense of time, and could only conclude from the clock and his somewhat empty stomach that it was ten minutes late. The air conditioning in the car made him feel dry and comfortable, but as soon as he left the car, the surface of his skin formed a slimy film. He felt his pores be sealed in an instant. Shen Mingde felt dizzy as if he was deprived of oxygen, and walked out of the parking lot like a walking corpse.

An automatic door opened, and Shen Mingde rushed in. He relaxed like an astronaut who was about to run out of oxygen and returned to the capsule, greedily taking two breaths of air cooled by the air conditioner. It is a hall with a space of more than 100 square meters. Four thick columns support the low ceiling. Several lights on the ceiling were not lit. I don't know if it's to save power, or if it's damaged. The hall is lit by natural light from a row of glass doors and glass walls at the entrance. However, the foggy outside was reluctant to let the only remaining light shine into this black hole-like hall. On the opposite side of the entrance, through the center of the darkest hall, is a succession window. In front of the reception window, the lights in the corridor are still on, indicating that it is still open.

Shen Mingde walked through the lifeless hall and disappeared from the corner of the corridor leading to the right from the hall. He could hear the echo of his shoes in the hall. As he passed by the reception window, he saw a middle-aged woman working at a desk glancing at him. Her eyes were small, the corners of her eyes drooped, and there was coldness, warning, and a bit of fierceness in her eyes. The mirror-like smooth marble floor of the corridor on the right reflects the white light, and the white walls on both sides look old, bubbled, and peeling.

Shen Mingde walked downstairs from the stairs in the middle of the corridor. She'd never been here, she just followed the sign at the top of the stairs and walked downstairs. When he descended the three steps, he stopped. Downstairs is a bit eerie and dim. Flickering lights cast huge shadows of fan blades onto the wall, and an empty silhouette of a wheelchair poked its head out of the corner. The continuous events in the past few days have made Shen Mingde a little nervous. His body was clinging to the wall on the right, and he walked slowly down step by step, step by step. He craned his neck to observe the movement in the corridor on the left side of the downstairs. Just as he was about to leave the stairs with a few steps left, he suddenly heard a "creaking, creaking" sound not far behind him. The sound seemed to be the sound of an axle that hadn't been lubricated for too long. Shen Mingde immediately pressed his back against the wall and turned his head to observe the situation behind him. A wheelchair was parked at the entrance to the staircase. Under the light of the miserable white light of the lamp above the corridor, Shen Mingde still only saw the pitch-black outline of the empty wheelchair. The wheelchair blocked Shen Mingde's way back upstairs, as if there was an invisible transparent person smiling at him. He turned around, only to find that the wheelchair in the corner had disappeared without a trace. Suddenly, the "creaking" sound behind him sounded again, and he turned his head again to find that the wheelchair at the staircase was also gone. In addition to the continuous "creaking" sounds, he seemed to be able to distinguish footsteps. "Maybe it was discovered and pushed away", Shen Mingde settled his mind and comforted himself.

Shen Mingde walked downstairs in the dimly lit corridor, not far ahead of him was the end. A door that opened left and right glowed with a faint blue light. He kept walking against the wall on the right, trying to stay away from the hallway on the left. The corridor was completely unlit, dark and elongated, and it was impossible to know where it led. He quickly skimmed over the left hallway, turned back to the head he had been observing the hallway, and walked towards the open doorway. Shen Mingde saw an emaciated female figure appear not far in front of him. The woman's body wrapped in the nurse's uniform looked extremely shriveled, and when she walked, her shoulders did not shake or swing, and she was fluttering, as if she was floating in the air. She seemed to be holding a metal tray in her hand, and the instruments in the tray made a terrible metal crashing sound from time to time.

The door at the end of the corridor seemed to be close at hand, but Shen Mingde felt that no matter how long he walked, there was still no shortage of touch. It could be that the air conditioner on the basement floor was turned on too low, or it could be that the corridor space was cramped, and he felt a chill on his body. Shen Mingde wrapped his arms around his shoulders and rubbed his arms a few more times. Just as he knew nothing, a terrifying object was approaching from behind him. An object in a nurse's uniform followed from the dark hallway on the left. The body holding the things was as shriveled as the nurse in front of Shen Mingde. It has no facial features, only two black holes in the original eye sockets. The skin on its face is like a burning candle, melting and dripping layer by layer. The calves and feet that should have been exposed were not visible from the hem of its nurse's uniform, but were shrouded in an illusory shadow.

Xiao Jing stared at this scene with round eyes. She stepped forward to stop her, but her hands and feet only stiffened to keep her moving. Getting closer, it stretched out its arms to reveal its strangely long fingers. Those hands reminded Xiao Jing of the living corpses in the drama school. "Turn back, turn back Shen Mingde!" Xiao Jing kept chanting. But when the words came out of his mouth, he could not hear the slightest voice of himself. Just as the pair of living corpse-like hands were about to strangle Shen Mingde's neck, a melodious music sounded, which was Shen Mingde's mobile phone ringtone. Xiao Jing watched as the living corpse passed through Shen Mingde's body like light and shadow, and then distorted, spread, and disappeared like smoke. Shen Mingde shuddered, as if he was completely unaware of what had just happened. He pulled out his phone, checked it, and walked over to the open door.

Shen Mingde walked quickly into the infusion room with the open door, and found Xiao Jing who was sitting next to the corner from the rows of empty seats. An infusion tube was attached to the back of her left hand, and the clear liquid in the medicine bag was pouring down the tube as if it were in her limp body. Shen Mingde walked to her side, but Xiao Jing didn't notice it, and still closed her eyes. The eyeballs under those eyelids were moving rapidly, her head swaying slightly from side to side, her chest breathing rapidly. Xiao Jing seemed to be asleep and was dreaming. It may be a nightmare, and anyone who has experienced the horrors of last night may be haunted by nightmares for the rest of their lives. Shen Mingde, who wanted to wake her up, retracted his hand again. Xiao Jing seemed to gradually calm down. So Shen Mingde quietly sat on the empty chair next to her, quietly looking at Xiao Jing's beautiful and tired face. Suddenly, he felt that something was wrong. Xiao Jing seemed to be so calm that Shen Mingde couldn't feel any signs of her life at all. She was stiff, pale, and motionless in her armchair. I couldn't hear the sound of breathing, and I couldn't see the heaving of my chest due to breathing. Shen Mingde put his finger under her nose, but he didn't notice that Xiao Jing was breathing. Shen Mingde suddenly became nervous. Just as he was about to open his fingers, Xiao Jing suddenly opened her tightly closed lips. She was like a corpse that had just been "rejuvenated", with her chest straightened forward, her neck tilted back, her eyes widened, her eyeballs rolled up, and she opened her mouth to take a deep breath of air. I don't know if I choked on it, or what, but after taking a deep breath of air, it was accompanied by a violent cough.

Shen Mingde caressed her back, hoping that Xiao Jing would be relieved soon. However, Xiao Jing, who was relieved from the violent cough, turned her head and the first thing she said was "Are you still alive?" ”

Shen Mingde pretended to test his snort with his fingers, and then said in a playful tone: "Well, still wheezing." ”

Looking at Xiao Jing, who was in shock, Shen Mingde comforted her and said that she must have fallen asleep just now and had a nightmare. Xiao Jing rubbed her face with her right hand and brushed her hair again, before she seemed to be slightly relaxed and leaned back on the back of the seat.

Shen Mingde saw that Xiao Jing seemed to be in a lot of energy, so he said, "When you called me just now, I was in the corridor of the infusion room. I came in a few steps away, so I didn't answer your call. But why did you fall asleep in the two minutes I entered the house? ”

Xiao Jing looked at Shen Mingde blankly and asked, "Phone?" I'm calling you? ”

Shen Mingde nodded, took out his mobile phone, and showed Xiao Jing the missed call that was about three minutes ago. Xiao Jing looked at her name on the screen and was very puzzled, and then she also woke up the mobile phone in her right hand. Sure enough, both of them saw a call on Xiao Jing's mobile phone that had been dialed three minutes ago and had not been answered by Shen Mingde. Looking at Xiao Jing with a frightened face, Shen Mingde comforted, "It must have been a phone call that was dialed by mistake in my sleep." ”

Xiao Jing felt unacceptable to this explanation. Because her phone is unlocked by her fingerprint, she can only wake up by pressing her thumb to a specific location below the phone's screen. Could it really be such a coincidence? Xiao Jing originally planned to tell Shen Mingde about her dream just now, but she finally hesitated. Maybe it was really just a dream.

At this moment, Shen Mingde inserted a beautifully packaged drink into his habit and handed it to Xiao Jing. I saw that she excitedly took the drink and thanked her repeatedly. Joyful as a child who has received honey, he narrowed his eyes into two crescents, and muttered, "I'm really bothering you." There must be a lot of people in line. 'Bubble Tea' is a tea shop that has been popular recently. There are long queues every day to get them. And most of the juices in the store are freshly squeezed, which is complicated to make, so you have to wait a while to get the drinks. But I know that you will not cruelly refuse a patient's request. ”

Shen Mingde didn't speak, grinned awkwardly, and smiled. He leaned back on the back of the chair, covered his face with his hands, and massaged the muscles in his face. On today's day, Shen Mingde really felt haggard. When the two of them talked on the phone in the morning, they learned that Xiao Jing was sick, and in the afternoon they learned that she was in the hospital. When he returned to the city, he almost traveled half of the city to visit Xiao Jing from this small hospital in the North District. During this time, Shen Mingde also drove through the city center at five o'clock. Although there will be no traffic jams like in first-tier cities. However, in any city these days, it would not be a wise move to cross the city center at five o'clock. After that, he waited in line for another half hour at the famous "bubble tea shop" in the CBD. After a toss, I finally saw Xiao Jing in the infusion room of this small hospital. Of course, when he saw Xiao Jing's happy expression when he sipped his drink, Shen Mingde still felt a little relieved.

Shen Mingde opened his mouth and asked, "How did you come to this small hospital in the North District?" Why not find a hospital near your home? ”

Xiao Jing bit the straw and said childishly, "My mother lives nearby." ”

Seeing Shen Mingde nodding and seeming to accept her explanation, Xiao Jing asked him about his situation today.

Shen Mingde sighed and shook his head, looking very depressed, and said, "No, it's all gone." ”

"What's gone? Drama schools are gone? Xiao Jing asked.

"No, the drama school is still there. But it's just that the drama school is still there. The contents were gone, the water tanks, the children's paintings, the traces of the chase and fight last night, and even the burned ruins. After Shen Mingde finished speaking, he glanced at Xiao Jing. It seemed that she didn't mean to continue asking questions or talking, just staring at her toes with a straw in her cup of tea. So, Shen Mingde continued: "I had already expected this to be the case. But like I called you this morning and said, I wanted to try my luck. So I was more prepared. I have a folding ladder in my car, as well as a rope ladder. I brought a few voice recorders and two music boxes with good music. There's also something like a dancing doll on the music box. The searchlight also has a stun gun for self-defense. Then, as we agreed on the phone in the morning, if I don't come back or haven't contacted you by the next night, I ask you to call the police for me. However, all the preparation was almost useless. I left a little late today. It wasn't until near noon that I arrived at the drama school. At that time, I didn't take the winding road up the mountain. Instead, he cautiously passed through the woods and went up the mountain. The drama school is a building facing north and south. I set up a ladder on the west wall to climb over the wall and get in. But I saw that the ruins of the east wall and the east wing, which had been destroyed by fire, were gone. The entire western wall was demolished, and the hole we had drilled out was filled in. After that I checked the children's rooms and the basement and there was nothing in it. What happened last night was like a nightmare. ”

Listening to Shen Mingde's narration, Xiao Jing opened her eyes, looked ahead, and nodded slightly and said, "This nightmare is so real. ”

Shen Mingde said mysteriously: "Not only that, but I also saw something that we are very familiar with, but it is unknown. ”

"What's that?" Xiao Jing asked.

"Cage of the Grasshopper. There are gnats hanging on the trees around the drama school," Shen Mingde replied.

Xiao Jing asked, "Why did the grasshopper cage appear there?" Could it be that those villagers are also ......?"

Shen Mingde said: "Judging from the information currently known, the cicada cage is like a prison. It traps the people who can see the lake and the people who sacrifice in the lake. The gnatfish cage outside the theater is supposed to be used to trap those living corpses. ”

Xiao Jing said thoughtfully: "I agree with the statement of trapping the living corpse. But I don't think that thing is going to trap anyone who can see the lake. I can see the lake too, but it didn't seem to have trapped me last night. Also, Zhang Baoshan and his son were not trapped. So, I think that the people who can be trapped by the gnather cage are mainly the people who are offering sacrifices in the lake and their 'sacrifices'. There may also be what Gao Bowen called a 'resentful spirit' or something. Also, many children in Yushugou, including Zhou Tengfei, have seen the lake, and no one has been trapped in it. In the end, only the little girl named Jiang Lingling disappeared. ”

"That's right!" Shen Mingde snapped his fingers and said: "Those two girls were chosen by the Wang family as 'sacrifices', Ling Ling disappeared, and the other was taken back by Zhang Li. This shows that the two of them could not get out after being sacrificed. Someone has to lead the way to leave. Isn't Gao Shan Xing also brought back to the drama school by her grandfather every time? ”

"I'm wondering if Zhou Tengfei has already completed the sacrifice and is now waiting for someone to pick him up and return ......" Xiao Jing looked at Shen Mingde's eyes and expression when she said this. Her voice grew quieter and quieter, and finally drowned out by the faint noise of the electric fan overhead. There was a silent chasm between the two, until Xiao Jing seemed to think of something important again. So, she said with great interest: "Speaking of the girl who moved, Wang Yajuan." Her name also appeared in that notebook. It's just that there is a parenthesis after the name, and I don't know what it means. ”

Shen Mingde heard the content in parentheses that Xiao Jing said, and he was puzzled: "This may mean that Wang Yajuan is Wang Fen's granddaughter." But who is this man named Wang Fen? Does this person matter? Why are bites in parentheses? ”

Xiao Jing hurriedly explained, in fact, it was not a person's name. She quickly wrote a line on her mobile phone, "Wang Yajuan (Wang Fensun)."

Shen Mingde immediately understood the meaning and said, "The Wang family may have another division. The old man of the Wang family may also have a younger brother. His brother's family may be divided. However, will the Wang family choose their own granddaughter as a 'sacrifice'? Is the status of the separation so low? ”

Shen Mingde naturally made contemplative habitual movements. After a while, he suddenly realized that "Wang Yajuan may not be a sacrifice, she is a sacrificer, a priest!" Zhang Baoshang asked Lao Yu to cultivate a 'sacrifice' for him. So for him and Lao Yu, it doesn't matter whose child it is. But when someone in the Wang family can see the lake, they may also have developed a fear of such an incredible thing. So they're going to do a trial. They chose two children, one of them, Wang Yajuan is their family. They made the girl sacrifice to the bell as a priest. If the sacrifice was not successful, only one of their families would be lost. If the sacrifice is successful, then this benefit will not fall to the other family, and they can be regarded as their own people of the royal family. ”

"Therefore, Wang Yajuan may be the first person in Yushugou to obtain 'immortality'." Xiao Jing continued.

"Yes." Shen Mingde continued: "That sacrifice was a success. But after that, perhaps due to the pressure of the Wang family, the Wang family's own family did not want the separation to continue to participate in it. Perhaps for other reasons, the family moved away from Elm Gully. At present, in Yushugou Village, people are afraid of the Zhao and Wang families, as well as Gao Bowen, Chen Yongyi and others. So no one dared to say the truth about the sacrifice, and how they could see the lake. However, this Wang Yajuan is different. She moved out of Elm Gully at an early age, so she probably wouldn't have scruples like this, that. ”

Xiao Jing: "It seems that it is still very valuable to visit this person." ”

Shen Mingde said excitedly: "But that's the case. I just said some angry words last night. Actually, the mind is not clear. But thinking about it today, we must pay a visit to this girl who moved. ”

Xiao Jing saw Shen Mingde's excited appearance, and also showed a knowing smile. This was the first time she smiled sincerely after learning that Shen Mingde no longer planned to look for Zhou Tengfei.