When Yan Yueming woke up again, her first reaction was pain.

The back of his head hurts, and when he reaches out to touch it, there is blood. There wasn't a lot of blood, which made his fingertips get a little touch, but the moment he saw it, Yan Yueming was still breathless, and his face turned pale.

But the more this happened, the more he calmed down.

Looking around, this is no longer a box.

Beneath him was a neatly manicured lawn with an asphalt road in front of it, about wide enough for two cars to stagger through. Behind him was a small two-story building, and a little warm yellow light could be faintly seen in the small building.

The street lights were still on, but it wasn't night anymore, it was more like the early morning of day and night.

There was fog in the early morning, and there was dew on the grass on the ground. As far as the eye can see, the asphalt road leads to no one or where it originates, and it is shrouded in mist in front and back. There are houses at intervals along the roadside, and the shape is very similar. Some are lit and some are not.

Where is this?

Although Yan Yueming didn't want to admit it, he also guessed that he was most likely knocked unconscious and thrown into the gap again. Because before he fainted, he clearly heard someone say "bad boy", probably in retaliation for him for smashing the candle.

It's too bad, it's not normal at all.

The worst thing is that his flashlight, mobile phone, and emergency kit are no longer on him. Yan Yueming searched all over her body, and only found a few pieces of candy and compressed biscuits in her clothes pocket when she was at home, out of caution.

Oh yes, and a glowing bracelet, and a sports watch.

It's only 2:36, but it's already dawn. Time seems to have lost its meaning here.

But thankfully, Yan Yueming changed into a sportswear early in the morning. It was similar to the material of the jacket, so he was lying on the dewy grass just now, and the inside of the clothes was not wet.

He was wearing sneakers on his feet, which were easy to run, and there seemed to be no one around. He made up his mind and turned to approach the house behind him.

If the lights are on in the room, there may be people, but if this is really in the cracks, maybe there are people who are the most terrible. He cautiously approached with his waist bent, did not shout rashly, and waited until he was under the window to quietly peek in.

There was no one in there either.

To put it more accurately, he didn't see anyone, but he wasn't sure if there was anyone inside.

Yan Yueming didn't know whether to worry or breathe a sigh of relief, the only thing he knew was that he couldn't let his guard down. Soon, he walked around the base of the wall and came to the main entrance of the house.

The door is white, just like the wall. Two pillars support a portico with boxes of blue and pink hydrangeas. Yan Yueming doesn't plant flowers, but he also knows that it's not yet the flowering period of hydrangeas.

The beautiful flowers made people vigilant, and he looked up to see that there were still a lot of geraniums planted on the small balcony of the room on the second floor. Geraniums are more colorful and decorate balconies, even in the mist.

Yan Yueming had no time to admire, so she had the courage to survey the neighborhood, and finally saw a piece of paper pasted on the porch.

【No. 9 Entry and Exit Instructions】

1: The house has only two floors, no basement, no attic.

2: If you see any hydrangeas or geraniums in the house, throw them into the fireplace and burn them immediately. They are only found outside the house and on balconies.

3: Guests are only allowed to stay in the room.

4: When you enter the house, you have to change your shoes.

5: Don't use any red cups.

6: Whatever you see in the mirror, ignore it.

7: Don't enter locked rooms.

Yan Yueming looked at the familiar pen words, and almost cried with joy, because he recognized it! He recognized that this beautiful handwriting was from senior Li Zheng.

Almost immediately, he thought of the day he first met, when Li Zheng came out of the non-existent door. And he happened to be in Pu Box Lane when he had an accident, and it is very likely that he entered the door like Li Zheng.

No matter how he got in, there are traces left by Li Zheng here, which is the greatest comfort to Yan Yueming. He looked at the house number, which was number 9.

In other words, Li Zheng has a high probability of going in, and then summed up these rules and wrote them down to warn future generations.

"Whew......" Yan Yueming breathed a long sigh of relief.

It's good to have ready-made rules, the senior said that there is a more terrible and deeper world of rules in the cracks, and it is easy to get in and difficult to get out. Yan Yueming was not so arrogant, thinking that he could break out by himself, but he could barely wait until the people of the search and rescue team appeared.

He believed that as long as someone found out that he was missing, they would definitely call the police.

Now that there are ready-made rules, at least the house No. 9 is not completely unknown to Yan Yueming, and can be regarded as [safe] for the time being. However, Yan Yueming didn't rush in, but decided to take a walk around the neighborhood to see if there were any other hints left.

As far as the eye can see, the houses on both sides of the asphalt road are not close to each other, at least a dozen meters apart, separated by low fences or cobblestone paths.

Yan Yueming went next door to take a look first, next door was No. 7, No. 7 was not lit, and there were no entry and exit instructions posted in front of the door. Yan Yueming looked in through the window by the half-bright skylight, but the light in the room was dim and she couldn't see clearly.

The dimly lit environment is always intimidating, and he was about to walk, but when he passed by the door, he suddenly noticed a black bar on the door frame.

The horizontal bar is about 1cm long, and the position is level with Yan Yueming's knee. Originally, Yan Yueming couldn't find it, but he walked cautiously, his eyes lowered, and he was too cautious to see anything suspicious, so he naturally found it.

Yan Yueming didn't dare to touch it, squinted her eyes and carefully distinguished, and found that it was a bit like it was written with charcoal. Charcoal is written, then it is unlikely to be accidentally rubbed, this kind of mark left in front of the house...... It is inevitable that people will think of some outlaws, such as thieves who step on the spot. Anyway, it doesn't look like Senior Li's handiwork.

Wait, was there in front of Gate 9 just now?

Yan Yueming immediately turned back, and sure enough, on the door frame of No. 9, she found a cat drawn with charcoal, a cat with no facial features but a stick figure drawn in a similar shape.

What does this mean?

With just two patterns, it is impossible to reason at all. Yan Yueming emboldened herself again, came to the other side of No. 9, and found that the house number here was 11.

7, 9, 11, the houses here are all single numbers.

Yan Yueming looked at the other side of the asphalt road, are they all double numbers? If there is an odd or even number, is there a certain rule? It's hard not to let Yan Yueming think about the number limit, if the number is limited, then you can't just mess around.

He made up his mind and continued to look at the doorframe of number 11.

Number 11 is also unlit, and there is a cross-facing Ω on the door frame, with the opening of the circle facing to the right.

This logo looks very familiar, probably a certain kind of text. But three marks, three styles, nothing in common, what does it mean?

Would you like to go to the other side and have another look?

Yan Yueming was a little hesitant, but in the end, for the sake of safety, she went to Room 9 first. At the very least, he made sure that Room 9 was safe and that he could have a temporary shelter.

House 9 looks like it's business as usual.

But Yan Yueming probably squatted for too long when she was thinking, her feet were numb, and it was difficult to even stand up. I don't know, I thought he gave the owner of the house some big gift, and as soon as he entered, he almost knelt in the hallway.

Auntie, I want to go home.

The aunt couldn't hear it, and the aunt didn't answer.

Yan Yueming endured the soreness, and tears were rolling in her eyes—because the back of her head also hurt. It hurts, which garbage hit him, even if you hit him, you have to throw him here, it's too much.

Although it hurts, Yan Yueming has not forgotten the entry and exit instructions at the door. He grinned and took off his shoes, stacked them neatly on the shoe cabinet, and chose a pair of indoor slippers that fit properly. There is only one pair of good-looking slippers with patterned knitted uppers, the size of adult women, and the others are similar brown slippers, all sizes, stored in a simple storage bag, which looks like they are for guests.

After changing her shoes and the soreness eased slightly, Yan Yueming finally stood up and looked at the situation in the house.

This is a very life-like abode, idyllic walk. The sofa is covered with knitted blankets, and the coffee table and table are also covered with white or floral tablecloths.

The lights were on in the living room, the fire in the fireplace was still there, and everything looked like the owner was still there. This man should be sitting in front of the lamp in the living room, lying in a rocking chair, with a book in hand and a cup of tea in his hand, enjoying himself.

But at this time, there was no one on the rocking chair, only scattered small knitted blankets. There was no tea on the coffee table, only a blue hydrangea in a vase.

Yan Yueming was alarmed in her heart, and despite the fact that her legs had just recovered, she quickly rushed over and grabbed the hydrangea and threw it into the fireplace. The flames burst out in an instant, engulfing the hydrangea.

And in the firelight, Yan Yueming vaguely saw those burning firewood, glowing white like human bones.

Bone!

It's bones!

Yan Yueming was so frightened that she took a step back, but when she looked at it again, the flames had been wrapped in the hydrangea that had burned into powder and regained her calm. The wood burns quietly, where do the bones come from?

Am I reading it wrong?

Yan Yueming's back was a little cold, even if he stood in front of the fireplace, he couldn't feel the slightest warmth, and his vigilant eyes looked around, but there was silence all around, only the sound of his own breathing.

It's okay, it's okay. Yan Yueming comforted herself like this.

At 3:30, Yan Yueming carefully inspected the entire house. Unfortunately, he didn't find any more clues, and could only deduce from the ubiquitous knitted blankets and cushions that the owner of the house had a preference for knitted items, and from the furnishings and shoe cabinets in the master bedroom, she was an elderly woman who lived alone.

Of course, he didn't go straight into the master bedroom. With the rule that guests are only allowed to stay in guest rooms, he felt that it was probably not pleasant to rush into the master's bedroom.

Strangely enough, there are no traces of cats in the room, so what does the cat-shaped pattern on the door frame mean?

Yan Yueming returned to the first floor with doubts, and thought about it and went into the kitchen. No matter where you are, it's important to make sure you don't go hungry.

There is a refrigerator in the kitchen, and the small single-door Xiaoice box that is not too large is the bean green that Yan Yueming likes. The refrigerator is fully stocked, vegetables and meat are available, and there are all kinds of items on the spice cabinet, according to this reserve, Yan Yueming can survive here for at least half a month.

But Yan Yue knew that he would never be able to eat the food here until he had to.

Thinking of this, he took a hard candy from his pocket, peeled off the candy wrapper, and stuffed it into his mouth full of preciousness. The back of his head didn't hurt as much as it had been, but he was starting to get dizzy, and after the sweetness of the sugar spread in his mouth, he finally felt better, and his eyes fell on the shelves on the living room wall.

There is a telescope there.

The telescope has a metal body with intricate patterns carved on it, and at first glance it is considered a work of art. Yan Yueming took it off slowly, it's good, no problem, this action is very safe.

Holding the binoculars, Yan Yueming walked to the window and looked out. He quickly discovered a problem, one that he had just overlooked—the lack of wind.

The mist barely flows because there is no wind coming from elsewhere. The firewood in the fireplace has been burning for so long, and it looks like the flames are not very big, but they have not been extinguished, as if there is no need to add firewood.

Everything here seems to be static.

Yan Yueming's sports watch is still walking, and it is now 3:57 in the morning.