WHI – Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Following the phone’s navigation, everyone arrived at their destination amidst laughter and chatter.

Just as they had seen in the online photos, the area was deserted. It seemed someone had bought the land but abandoned the project for some reason. A large area was cordoned off with simple hemp ropes, and a makeshift wooden board placed in the weeds bore the words “No Trespassing” painted in red, now faded by time and wind.

The autumn wind carried a hint of coolness, dispelling the restlessness from their journey and having a calming effect on their minds as they looked at the scene.

The abandoned villa stood in a distant corner of the weed-choked land.

Qin Wan and Fang Ran’s dresses were a bit long, so they held up their hems as they walked slowly behind. Han Ziqiu, seeing that the two girls found it inconvenient to carry their bags, volunteered to take their large bags.

“…They’re quite heavy, what did you put inside?” Han Ziqiu’s hand suddenly grew heavy when he took the bags, nearly dropping them.

“DSLR, fill light, reflector, foldable tripod, plus makeup and a few accessories for outfits,” Fang Ran replied.

“Wow, you guys are quite professional,” Han Ziqiu said.

Song Mi turned back, “Of course, haven’t you seen their WeChat Moments? Don’t carry them all by yourself, give me one.” He then took the largest bag from Han Ziqiu.

“We haven’t exchanged WeChat yet…” Han Ziqiu said somewhat sheepishly, his voice low.

As soon as this topic came up, the first thing everyone did upon reaching the villa entrance was not to go inside, but to exchange WeChat contacts.

“Thank you for helping us with our bags, please accept my WeChat request,” Qin Wan said as she took her bag back from Han Ziqiu, then turned to pass the other bag from Song Mi to Fang Ran.

Song Mi, handing the bag over, said with dissatisfaction, “What about me? Why don’t you thank me?”

“Who lent you their homework to copy for those ten papers during the summer break?” Qin Wan waggled her index finger, “This debt isn’t cleared yet, think about the upcoming winter break.”

“Hey! Qin Jie, I was wrong! Whatever Qin Jie says is right!” Song Mi bowed and was the first to enter the villa courtyard.

Ding.

Lin Ting heard his phone ring. He took out his phone and saw a friend request from Han Ziqiu. Looking up, he saw that Han Ziqiu had already entered the abandoned villa’s yard.

As soon as he accepted the friend request and was about to put his phone away, it rang again.

He opened it to see it was Qin Wan.

Lin Ting gave her a friendly smile and nodded. The girl in the Lolita dress waved at him from a few steps away.

“Tsk.” Wen Lan’s voice suddenly appeared behind him, startling him so much he almost dropped his phone.

“Can you not suddenly appear and scare people?” Lin Ting glared at him with displeasure.

“The school hunk is indeed the school hunk, so good at charming both boys and girls~” Wen Lan’s tone was simpering, making one want to punch him.

“You’re just jealous,” Lin Ting tsked, walked past Wen Lan, and headed into the courtyard.

The courtyard here was almost identical to the photos, even more overgrown with weeds. Before the two girls could enter the house, they found a good spot in the courtyard, took out their DSLR and tripod from their bags, and started taking pictures.

Wang Xingzhi, avoiding the camera’s angle, twisted his body and squeezed into the house, whispering to everyone, “This way! This way!”

“Wang Xingzhi, I need to educate you, photos can’t capture sound,” Qin Wan said, holding up one side of her skirt, her perfect smile squeezed through her teeth.

Lin Ting laughed along with the others. After waiting for more than ten minutes, when the two girls were mostly done outside, they followed them into the villa.

Wen Lan was already leaning against the doorframe, having watched for a long time, a blade of foxtail grass he’d picked up from somewhere sticking out of his mouth.

“Do you have to enter with them?” Wen Lan spoke, the foxtail grass bobbing up and down with his words.

Lin Ting felt annoyed seeing him like that. He used two fingers to pluck the foxtail grass and throw it on the ground, saying as he walked in, “Are you looking for a fight today?”

Wen Lan didn’t reply and followed Lin Ting inside.

As the year drew closer to its end, it got dark faster. The sun had already set, casting a deep blue hue both inside and out, making everything appear blurry and indistinct.

Lin Ting inexplicably recalled Wen Lan’s WeChat profile picture.

The interior of the villa was already in a state of disrepair. Half of the ceiling tiles had fallen and hung in the air, swaying precariously with the wind blowing in from outside. The walls and floor were covered in mold stains from water seepage, and the air still carried the smell of decay after the dampness had dried. Although the wooden European-style furniture still showed its original exquisite and valuable appearance, it was now covered in a layer of white dust from the fallen ceiling. Everyone couldn’t find a single place to sit.

Let alone sit, given the speed at which it was getting dark, their script was about to become a ‘haunted house escape.’ Lin Ting found this thought amusing and suppressed his rising smile. He discreetly flexed his ankles and wrists when no one was looking—if there were ghosts, he’d fight them first.

“It’s too dark, let me light a candle, you guys wait,” Wen Lan said, pulling out three white candles from his bag and then lighting them with a zi la sound from his lighter. “Li Ziyao, quickly clear this spot.”

Li Ziyao found a pack of tissues from his bag, pulled one out, and wiped a corner on the round dining table, which had a large patch of peeling paint. Wen Lan dripped some wax on it, and then placed the candle steadily.

“You’re quite skilled,” Lin Ting commented, watching him place another white candle on the entryway table and another on the coffee table, which was broken in two.

“Don’t you guys think these white candles look scarier?” Song Mi suddenly said.

The sky was now a deep blue, likely to turn completely black soon. In this villa, which had been neglected for a long time, forget lights, even the glass windows were so covered in thick dust that not a single ray of external light could penetrate.

The candlelight opened up a spot of light in the darkness, swaying and moving with each breath, magnifying and distorting their silhouettes onto the peeling wallpaper and winding staircase.

“You’re right, it does have that atmosphere,” Han Ziqiu looked around. “Should I go close the door? What if the candles get blown out by the wind…”

Before he could finish, Wang Xingzhi interrupted him, “Han Ziqiu, have you never watched a horror movie?”

“Huh?”

“Usually in movies, once the door is closed, it can never be opened again, and the candles go out,” Lin Ting kindly reminded him.

As soon as he finished speaking, no one dared to close the door anymore.

Not only did they not dare to close the door, but Lin Ting looked at the few people in front of him. They not only dared not move a step but even kept their mouths tightly shut. Although their eyes were looking downwards, it was clear their pupils were trembling violently.

“Seriously, are you guys that timid?” Lin Ting felt like laughing at their expressions. “Why come for an adventure if you’re so scared…”

Before Lin Ting could finish speaking, Han Ziqiu, without even looking up, pointed behind Lin Ting, “Lin Ge…”

The two words were very quiet but carried immense power. Lin Ting felt as if every pore on his body was about to explode. Forcing back a scream from his throat, he slowly turned his head and neck.

A beam of cold white light shone from above, exceptionally dazzling in the darkness.

Even so, Lin Ting could clearly see a human face with extremely flat features, almost no contours, skin as pale as paper, and eyes as dark as black holes.

Ah— The screams that everyone had been holding back erupted one after another following Lin Ting’s “Holy crap!” Although Lin Ting was startled for a moment, his muscle memory was faster than his thoughts. Before he could react, his fist had already landed squarely on the ghost face.

The texture of his fist made him pause for a moment.

“Lin Ting, can you please stop this habit of punching things indiscriminately?” Wen Lan’s gasping voice came from under the ‘ghost face’ as he pulled off the mask in full view of everyone.

“Wen Ge? Is it really you, Wen Ge? Is it really not a ghost?” Yu Zhile was so scared he was about to smear his snot and tears all over Wen Lan’s face.

“Get away from me!” Wen Lan looked at Yu Zhile with disgust and removed his hand that was fumbling on his face. “Who was it that was eagerly hoping to skip school for a month? And you’re already this scared?”

“Wen Ge, I was wrong. How about we just go back to the hotel?” Yu Zhile said. Everyone else, afraid of being left alone, huddled together and nodded in agreement.

“No way! We just got here and you’re already scared like this… not good,” Wen Lan said, waving his fingers. “Oh right, the red string! Tie on the red string, you all brought it, right?”

Upon hearing the words “red string,” everyone seemed to suddenly remember they had a lifeline. They all took out red strings of varying lengths and materials from their bags and tied them to their arms.

Wen Lan saw Lin Ting making no move, “You didn’t forget to bring it, did you?”

Lin Ting patted the dust off the sofa behind him, lay down nonchalantly, his legs stretched out straight, his arms resting on the armrests, a lazy smile on his face. “Your Lin Ge doesn’t need it.”

Wen Lan tsked, “You still have to rely on me.” He then took out a long piece of red yarn from his bag.

“I specifically brought this long piece, it’s enough for both of us.”

Saying this, he folded the red yarn in half and moved closer to the candle, preparing to burn it in two.

“Don’t you know that once a red string brought into a haunted house breaks, it loses its efficacy?” Lin Ting, still sitting on the sofa, looked up, raising one corner of his lips at Wen Lan.

There was no such thing as it losing efficacy if it broke. Lin Ting simply didn’t want to wear it.

He could play pretend with them, but if he had to wear this thing, how could he prove he was the most normal one among this group of lunatics?

Wen Lan heard this and suddenly withdrew his hand. He stared at Lin Ting for a long moment before a smile of unknown meaning appeared on his face.

The candlelight flickered, and in the dim light, Wen Lan’s features appeared even more defiant. His deeply sculpted brow bone and nose bridge were cast in shadow, reflecting the slight upturn of his lips as if it held a hidden meaning.

He slowly leaned down, placing his hands on the armrests of the sofa, trapping Lin Ting in that small space.

“What are you doing?” Lin Ting asked, raising an eyebrow, his expression calm.

Wen Lan leaned close to Lin Ting’s ear and whispered, “You don’t want to play house with me, I don’t agree.”