I'm being held captive by a monster

Chapter 42 Where Have You Been? (Please Read!)
"……Hey?"

Lin Xing'an said.

There was no sound from the other side.

Until the voice-activated light in the garage went out again.

It was as if the ringing sound just now was just an illusion.

"Crack..."

Just as Lin Xing'an was about to hang up the phone, the sound of electricity came from the receiver again.

It was like a machine that had not been started for a long time was constantly trying to connect to the data. The sound of the electric current became louder and clearer.

"Zizi... go home... don't... zizi... be afraid..."

After a long time, an intermittent electronic mechanical voice said.

"Go home, don't be afraid."

It repeated itself again.

This time the voice was smooth, but full of coldness.

"Ka-chi-chi...du-du..."

Another series of electric current sounds came.

After a few seconds, the sound disappeared completely.

All that was left was the "beep" sound after the call was hung up.

"……Hey?"

Lin Xing'an still held the receiver.

Go home, don't be afraid...

He frowned, looking confused.

The person on the other end of the phone seemed to know his current situation, and even knew that he was struggling with whether to go back...

But...how is this possible?

"Hey?"

He waited for another half a minute, and only hung up the phone after making sure it was really hung up.

"Wait... this phone call..."

At this moment, Lin Xing'an suddenly realized that the end of this public telephone line... was actually disconnected...

That is to say...

This is a situation where you cannot make or receive calls even if you insert a phone card.

"Gudong..."

Lin Xing'an swallowed his saliva.

He pressed the dial button a few times in disbelief.

But nothing happens.

The green screen on the phone's main unit, which was only a few square centimeters in size, showed no sign of lighting up.

This is a public telephone that is completely broken and completely unusable.

There is no possibility of redialing.

Then just now...

"Who's calling..."

Lin Xing'an looked around.

The garage's voice-activated lights went out again.

His fingertips touched the cold metal keys of the phone and he shuddered.

"It's not some ghost call..."

Lin Xing'an checked the phone again reluctantly.

It really couldn't be any worse.

And even if it's not broken, it's still a card-operated phone.

How can it call if there is no calling card inserted?

"Go home, don't be afraid, go home, don't be afraid..."

Lin Xing'an repeated these two words several times in his mind.

"What am I afraid of?"

"I'm afraid Yu Yu will wake up in the middle of the night and see that I'm not there. I'm afraid Xu Can's affair will be discovered. I'm afraid that if I go back now, I'll be caught."

"So this is someone telling me... not to worry? That all these things I'm worried about... won't happen?"

"But...how did he know that wouldn't happen? And who was helping me? Why was he helping me?"

Lin Xing'an thought about it for a long time but still had no clue.

All the questions about the gluttonous ghost, about Taoyuan Village, and about the red-haired girl in the long river of time...

Now with another call, the numerous questions made Lin Xing'an's face look relieved.

"Now that things have come to this, let's go home."

He put the phone down and stopped worrying about it.

After all, he had no other choice.

"Go home..."

Lin Xing'an's expression was extremely complicated as he took the elevator and arrived at his home. He was only six years old, standing at the door with his hands behind his back.

He looked up at the rain outside the window at a 45-degree angle, with a sadness in his eyes that did not belong to his age.

"This is... I almost forgot..."

Lin Xing'an felt in his pocket and found a palm-sized notebook left by the old man who hanged himself on the seventh floor of the abandoned building.

After being in the rain all the way with him, Xiaoben was completely soaked.

He used the moonlight and lightning to carefully crumple the first few pages.

When I opened it, what caught my eye was a three-inch old black-and-white photo.

It was a man wearing a Gua robe, holding a child.

But the child's face was deliberately scratched, and it was impossible to tell whether he was a boy or a girl from his clothes.

"So… retro…"

This photo has an ancient feel, whether it is the people's clothing and expressions or the materials.

"never mind."

The pages at the back have been stuck together by the rain, and the ink on them has long since faded.

Even if I could barely open it, I couldn't see the words on it clearly.

Lin Xing'an looked left and right, then quietly stuffed the small notebook into the miscellaneous items piled in the neighbor's corridor.

The neighbors are an elderly couple, and these items have been there for several years without anyone touching them.

It should be safe in the short term. Once this book is done, he will take it out and take a closer look when he has a chance.

Lin Xing'an's intuition told him that there must be a lot of secrets in this little notebook.

"Huh, go home!"

Lin Xing'an took out the key from under the carpet.

After preparing himself mentally, he deliberately waited for a flash of lightning before inserting the key into the keyhole.

"Haha, don't open the door and find Yu Yu sitting on the sofa waiting for me..."

Muffled thunder mixed with beeps could be heard. Lin Xing'an adjusted his expression and silently pushed open the door...

"crunch..."

The dark living room was empty.

I don't know when the wind blew the window open.

The curtains kept rising and falling as if controlled by an invisible pair of hands.

Leaving a ghostly shadow on the sofa.

Lin Xing'an put the key back, then gently closed the door, put his shoes in the shoe cabinet, and went into the bathroom first.

He turned off the lights and took off all his clothes and socks in the dark and threw them into the washing machine.

After hesitating for a moment, Lin Xing'an did not go back to the house directly. Instead, he went to the toilet in the dark as if he had gotten up at night as usual.

Looking at his blurry outline in the mirror, he turned on the faucet and washed off the dust on his hands.

"Crack!"

Suddenly, a flash of lightning streaked across the sky.

The cold light penetrates the darkness.

Lin Xing'an's hand trembled.

As if he sensed something, he slowly raised his head.

The door of the bedroom behind the mirror was opened at some point.

Deeper darkness seeped out through the crack in the door.

"Gudong..."

Lin Xing'an's heartbeat suddenly quickened.

"Boom!"

Thunder roared, and the strong wind outside, accompanied by heavy rain, hit the window, yanking open the curtains.

By the moonlight coming through.

Behind his own blurry silhouette in the mirror, Lin Xing'an saw Yu Yu standing in a nightgown with her hair loose.

"Crack!"

Another bolt of lightning.

Yu Yu's shadow suddenly lengthened, covering Lin Xing'an.

In the darkness, she slowly raised her head, tilted it strangely, revealing half of her pale face.

Amidst the cascading black hair, the bloodshot eyes met Lin Xing'an's gaze through the mirror.

"Where have you been?"

"... pee, what's wrong, mom..."

Lin Xing'an acted as if he didn't hear the hoarseness and trembling of Yu Yu's voice. He rubbed his sleepy eyes and yawned.

After mumbling a few words, he staggered towards the bedroom.

Yu Yu just stood there, staring at Lin Xing'an.

It stood motionless, as if gathering some kind of power, like a volcano about to erupt.

　Thanks to book friends "Wo Zhengdao Ye" and "Remember Persistence is Victory" for their monthly tickets!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)