“I’ll bring you to meet your real parents.”
Ah Fang’s death portrait was connected to Ah Fang. The closer the two were, the clearer the characters inside the portrait. The elevator moved up. Gao Ming was ready to encounter a supervillain on Situ An and Xia Yang’s level. In all his death memories, the boy was never once featured. Even though he was also a child of shadow, he seemed to have chosen a path completely different from the other twelve.
“In the picture, the boy is cute and innocent. However, he must be special to have appeared in the death portrait of the bloodred city.”
The elevator paused on the 16th floor. He was like a big brother coming to fetch his younger brother. Holding a bag of toys, he ignored the anomalies around him as he walked past the doors. Gao Ming looked down at Ah Fang’s picture and the rooms rolled by him. When he raised his head again, the room before him was Room 1601. Gao Ming knocked on the door lightly. This was the first time he was so polite inside an anomaly, “Is anyone home?”
Several old newspapers fluttered in the dark corridor. They recorded the horrible murders that happened at the apartment many years ago. The mad woman, covered in blood, ran down the corridor, brandishing a knife. She carried the corpse of her child. Tears flowed down her face, but she couldn’t stop laughing. There was more than one victim. There were more than five murders. Every murder appeared on the newspaper front page.
“Ah Fang? I’m here on your parent’s behalf.” Blood oozed out of the black-and-white newspaper. The woman in the article slowly turned around. Her hand that held the black knife appeared to reach out of the paper.
The lock turned. The old door was opened from the inside. A boy in a dinosaur pyjamas stood at the door. His eyes were pure and flawless. He looked scared. Compared to ghosts, human strangers scared him more. Ah Fang lifted his head, and the pyjama cap covered his forehead. He looked at Gao Ming’s face with confusion.
“Ah Fang?” The kid was similar to the one inside the picture. Gao Ming didn’t think things would go so well. “Your parents have been looking for you. I’ll bring you to meet your mom and dad.”
Goosebumps rose on his neck. A sharp, murderous aura came like a blade. Gao Ming instantly grabbed the chain from the torture room and blocked his side. The giant impact sent Gao Ming flying. He slammed into the wall. If he hadn’t been strengthened by the God of Flesh and Blood, he’d die from that one move. Gao Ming quickly adjusted his posture and evaded. A rusted knife stabbed where he was. Gao Ming had the chance to breathe when he was more than five metres away. He studied Room 1601.
“Are they my parents?” Ah Fang had no impression of his real parents. The confusion in his eyes deepened. His pair of flawless eyes looked at the two doctors. Then, he ran back into the room and dragged the giant schoolbag out. Ah Fang hugged the bag with difficulty and then pushed it over. Building blocks fell out noisily. When they touched the shadow, the blocks automatically arranged themselves into a simple city.
The city looked simple and unassuming, but if one compared it to the murder cases at Han Hai, one would realise that the city corresponded to all the haunted houses in the city!
The chill wind blew. The twisted souls inside the wooden homes opened their eyes. Different big ghosts crawled out. Standing in the middle, Ah Fang asked Gao Ming innocently, “Then, what about them?”
The horrifying presence blasted the surroundings. Gao Ming retreated. He felt his scalp numb. This kid was a collector of haunted houses!
Putting the schoolbag back on, Ah Fang was like a little monster standing in the city made from building blocks. It looked ludicrous, but Gao Ming felt that Ah Fang had the power to destroy the city.
“Roar!” Ah Fang pretended to growl when he saw Gao Ming back away. The boy was pure, but there was too much negative energy around him. Strong ghosts showed up and squeezed into the corridor.
Ah Fang used the building blocks to create many haunted houses. The haunted houses influenced each other in unexpected ways and showed signs of turning into a death realm. Gao Ming confirmed that Ah Fang was born with a special power of piecing together unrelated haunted houses.
“Is this the child of the shadows?” Gao Ming tossed the bag of toys behind the two of them. He touched his heart to send the two doctors out. “I’ve completed my part of the promise. Now, it’s your turn to verify your identity.”
The female doctor studied the big ghosts that surrounded Ah Fang. She was glad to see how ‘well-loved’ her son was. At the same time, she was rather disappointed because her son couldn’t recognise her.