His mind was groggy, his vision as if veiled by a thick layer of gauze. The sound of traffic from the main road in the distance was ethereal, sometimes distant, sometimes near, as unreal as a dream.
After walking for an unknown amount of time in this uncomfortable, dazed state, his mind finally regained some ability to think. Yu Sheng hesitantly stopped and looked back at the road he had come from.
The sky had almost completely darkened, and the streetlights along the way had long been lit. He was walking on a narrow street near his home. The low, old residential buildings on both sides of the road were like two rows of beasts crouching in the night, but the "ground-floor shops," converted by the residents themselves, cast a warm glow, dispelling a trace of the coldness lingering in his heart.
Coldness?
Suddenly, Yu Sheng seemed to feel that bone-chilling cold again, the cold that had pierced his very lungs and marrow. He felt the blade-like freezing rain on his skin, felt those two cold, slick gazes—the gaze of the frog watching him.
He suddenly suffocated, and it was only after a dozen seconds that he seemed to remember how to breathe again. He gasped for air while quickly looking down at his chest.
For a split second, he had the illusion that there was still a gaping hole in his chest, that he no longer had a heart, that his chest was as silent and cold as an extinguished furnace. But the next second, he felt his own heartbeat again, even seeming to hear an exceptionally clear "thump" in his ears… Yes, living people have heartbeats.
He was still alive. He had not had his heart eaten by a bizarre, giant frog.
But the fragments of memory rushing back were like a tsunami washing over his mind, impossible to ignore or push out of his memory no matter how he tried. Yu Sheng remembered the rain, remembered the door painted on the wall, and the giant frog… He tried to tell himself it was just a hallucination, but this thought was rapidly wavering as the memories repeatedly washed over him and grew clearer.
He had died once, but for some reason, he was now alive and on his way home—he was almost there, just two intersections away.
This was the most bizarre thing among all the bizarre things he had encountered since arriving in this cursed city.
He felt eyes on him. Yu Sheng noticed that his strange behavior had apparently attracted the attention of passersby. Someone nearby was hesitating, perhaps wanting to approach and ask if he needed help. He quickly waved his hand, avoiding any further interaction with the pedestrian, and then quickened his pace to leave the area.
He didn't know what had happened to him, but it was clear that standing on the street lost in thought would not help solve the mystery.
He hurried through the narrow path, leaving the last street near the old residential area, and walked towards his "home" in this city.
Although he had only passed two intersections, the surroundings had clearly become a bit more desolate and deserted—as if he had walked into a forgotten corner of the city. The number of pedestrians on the road dwindled, until finally, only the cold streetlights accompanied Yu Sheng. After walking a little further, he saw the old, large house standing in the night, seemingly maintaining a certain distance from the surrounding buildings.
It was an unremarkable large house, a three-story old residence with mottled walls, a sloped roof, and old doors and windows that were dated but still clean and intact—a house that looked like a "self-built bungalow" from a village-in-the-city, constructed decades ago when regulations were less strict, now a historical relic that had slipped through the cracks of urban planning management…
Yu Sheng didn't really understand the urban planning regulations of this "Boundary City," which was so different from the one in his memory. After all, he had only been here for two months. Excluding the time he had wasted by staying indoors out of caution at the beginning, he had only just now adapted to his new life here and figured out the situation in the surrounding area—but there was one thing he was very clear about.
This large house was his only relatively safe refuge in this dangerous and dissonant city—at least when he was inside the house, he had never seen those sinister shadows.
Although the large house itself also had many aspects that he found bizarre.
Yu Sheng took a light breath, carrying the supermarket shopping bag still in his hand, and walked through the cold light cast by the streetlight. He arrived at the door, took out his key, and opened it.
The old door creaked open. Yu Sheng entered and turned on the electric light—although this house was almost completely different from the "home" in his memory, the moment the light came on, he felt a tangible sense of… security.
He turned and closed the door, shutting the city's night outside.
Then he tossed the things he bought from the supermarket onto the storage shelf at the entrance to the kitchen to the right, and then walked with hurried steps through the somewhat empty living room to the mirror in the bathroom, and pulled open the front of his shirt.
The image in his memory was so vivid and profound that he couldn't help but want to confirm it again and again.
There were no scars on his chest, no bloodstains, as if the "death" had never happened.
Yu Sheng frowned, then checked the integrity of his clothes and pressed on the spot where the frog had ripped out his heart in his memory. Only then did he truly confirm that he was not currently a man with a hole in his chest.
"This is so damn weird…"
He muttered softly, left the bathroom, and walked back to the living room.
Behind him, on the surface of the mirror above the sink, cracks silently appeared and then quickly and silently closed…
Sitting on the sofa in the living room, Yu Sheng tried to sort out his messy thoughts. After an unknown amount of time, his exhausted mind finally quieted down and drifted into a daze.
Sleep enveloped him.
The grogginess lasted for a long, long time, until an abrupt "thud" exploded in his mind. The sound was like someone hitting a rock with a shovel right next to his head, instantly waking Yu Sheng from his deep sleep.
He opened his eyes in the darkness, stunned for a moment before realizing—the living room light had been turned off at some point.
He clearly remembered leaving the light on before he fell asleep!
A sense of alarm surged in his heart. Yu Sheng almost subconsciously reached for the retractable baton beside him—after arriving in this strange and eerie city, the first thing he did was get himself this self-defense tool. Although it hadn't seemed to be of much use so far, as a terrifying bipedal ape, having a stick in hand at least provided some psychological comfort. Then he cautiously and slowly got up, while paying attention to any movement in the darkness.
In such a desolate and remote place, a burglar breaking into the house didn't seem like an unimaginable event. In fact, at this moment, Yu Sheng would rather it be a burglar. At least a burglar could be knocked out with a baton; a meter-tall frog could not.
But the living room was silent. There were no signs of a break-in, nor could he hear any sound from a burglar.
The good news was that he couldn't hear any frog sounds either.
Using the faint light from the streetlights filtering through the window, Yu Sheng moved with his body low, identifying his surroundings. He slowly felt his way to the wall switch and pressed it, turning on the light.
His eyes, now bright, swept across the living room.
Yu Sheng blinked. He felt that something was strange about his vision, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what was abnormal—but regardless, at least it was bright now, and he could see the situation in the living room clearly.
He crouched slightly, holding the baton, and began to check every part of the house.
The first floor had only a living room, a kitchen, and a dining room, plus an unused empty room. Everything was normal.
He hesitated at the foot of the stairs leading to the second floor, then stepped up.
There were three rooms on the second floor. One was his current bedroom, one was filled with miscellaneous items, and the last one at the end of the hall was locked.
When Yu Sheng arrived here, that room was already locked. He had searched the entire large house but had never found the key.
He first checked his bedroom and the storage room opposite, then went to the locked room.
As usual, the door was tightly shut.
In fact, Yu Sheng had tried to solve this lock with some technical means, including but not limited to an impact drill and a handheld power saw, but all attempts had failed—at the time, the drill and saw had sparked against the seemingly fragile wooden door, the drill bits and saw teeth wearing down without leaving even a scratch.
Of course, he had also tried to seek more advanced technical means, like calling a locksmith. He had called three in total. The first two got lost in the old district and couldn't find 66 Wutong Road after wandering for half a day. The third one got hit by a motorcycle just after turning the corner and was just discharged from the hospital last week…
It was as if some mysterious force was preventing Yu Sheng from opening this locked room in his own home.
Yes, although this large house was his only relatively safe refuge in this city, even the house itself had many… "not quite right" places.
Yu Sheng reached out and grasped the doorknob in front of him, trying to turn it. As expected, it didn't budge.
No expected "accident" occurred. It was still locked.
But, perhaps it was an illusion, as he futilely turned the handle… he thought he heard a faint, indistinct laugh.
The laughter came from the other side of the door. It sounded like a young woman's voice, as if mocking his inability to deal with a single door.
Yu Sheng's hair stood on end in an instant!
In his only safe refuge in this city, in the house he had lived in for two months, right here in his home, this perpetually locked room… had someone hiding inside!
…How has she not starved to death?