Chapter 35: Chapter 35: The Sinisterly Laughing Thing
At Gao Tian’s command, the expressions of the two men, Alligator and Grey Wolf, shifted. They might have been uneducated, but they weren’t stupid. They knew their boss was using them as guinea pigs to see if it was dangerous upstairs.
While neither of them believed in vengeful spirits, they knew whatever was laughing upstairs was bad news. But intimidated by "Zhao Qiang’s" authority, they didn’t dare refuse outright. They just hemmed and hawed, shuffling their feet at the bottom of the stairs, clearly unwilling to go up.
Gao Tian saw right through them and said coolly,
"We’re gangsters. We live with our lives on the line every day. You’re not afraid of men, but you’re afraid of ghosts? If you are, then ask the bullets in your guns if *they’re* afraid of ghosts.
"Whoever goes up first, I’ll wire you each fifty thousand yuan on the spot—whether you find that jar of gold or not. Any coward who doesn’t want the money can get the hell to the side and stay put."
He had inherited most of Zhao Qiang’s memories, so he knew his bank account numbers and roughly how much wealth he had. For a man of Zhao Qiang’s means, a hundred thousand for two men was nothing. The moment Alligator went upstairs, he would make the transfer.
A great reward makes a brave man. These gangsters, including Alligator, were all tough, shameless thugs. It was impossible for them to be genuinely scared off by a woman’s laughter. They were just trying to squeeze a better price out of their boss. If they balked at going upstairs even with this much money on the line, their reputation in the criminal underworld would be shot. They wouldn’t be able to make a living anymore.
Brother Monkey jeered,
"My two brothers, that’s an easy fifty grand. Just take a stroll upstairs and the money’s yours. If you don’t want to earn it, then your Brother Monkey here won’t be shy."
The strange, cackling laughter continued to echo around them. Alligator steeled himself, clicked the safety off his gun, and sneered.
"Son of a bitch. I’ve been on the streets since I was twelve. What haven’t I seen? Ignore the weird shit and it goes away. I’m gonna see what the hell is playing spooky games up there. Even if it’s a real ghost, let’s see if it’s still laughing after it eats a couple of bullets."
Spurred on by the money, he took the lead and was the first to set foot on the stairs. His heavy frame made the wooden steps creak loudly. Seeing this, Grey Wolf wiped the blood from his mouth and cautiously followed him up.
For a gangster, reputation is everything. If word got out that he was too scared of a ghost to take fifty thousand yuan that was right in front of him, he’d lose all face in this line of work. He’d never get any of the good jobs, like watching over a club.
Gao Tian and the other men stood below, waiting for them to investigate and see if they would trigger some kind of killing rule.
About three minutes later, the strange cackling slowly died down, replaced by the sound of two people walking around upstairs. Another two minutes passed before Grey Wolf and Alligator’s figures slowly reappeared on the stairs. They had holstered their guns and seemed unharmed, but their faces were bewildered.
"Brother Qiang, we checked it out like you asked.
"There’s no one alive up there, not even a shadow of a ghost. It’s just a bunch of junk and a leaky, broken-down toilet. We couldn’t find the source of the cackling."
’So the ghost isn’t on the second floor?’
Gao Tian didn’t say a word. Just as he’d promised, he promptly wired fifty thousand yuan to each of them. Seeing "Brother Qiang" act so generously, the other men took note.
"Let’s go. We’ll check it out upstairs."
On Gao Tian’s order, Alligator and Grey Wolf stayed behind to guard the first floor and ensure their escape route wasn’t cut off. The other five men went up the stairs in a line toward the second floor.
The second floor was much like the first, filled with the musty smell of a place long abandoned. Water stains seeped out from the bathroom area, a yellow grime deeply etched into the tiles that likely couldn’t be washed away.
The men hadn’t even begun to search when the strange cackling, like the buzzing of a fly, started up again. This time, however, they were all prepared for it. The sound was coming from the third floor.
A chill ran down Gao Tian’s spine.
’The thing making that laugh... it’s moved to the third floor?’
’No wonder Alligator couldn’t find it on the second floor.’
He shot a look at San Hu and Brother Monkey. The two of them knew the opportunity to earn some cash had just landed in their laps. Without a word, they raised their pistols and cautiously started up the stairs toward the third floor, heading for the incessant cackling.
Meanwhile, as he waited on the second floor, Gao Tian assessed the situation.
’The laughing thing was able to run from the second floor to the third. Above the third floor, there’s only a small attic. It’s running out of places to hide.’
’Alligator and Grey Wolf got lucky. San Hu and Brother Monkey won’t be so fortunate. Once they get up there, they’re bound to have a head-on collision with that unclean, laughing thing.’
After the two men went upstairs, the grating cackle subsided once more. The three thugs waiting on the second floor relaxed a little, figuring Brother Monkey and San Hu would be back down shortly.
They were even a little jealous of Brother Monkey and San Hu. Making an easy fifty grand just for going upstairs? Where else could you find a deal that good? They worked their asses off for a fraction of that in a month.
The clock on the second floor, which kept no accurate time at all, continued its irritating ticking. Three minutes passed. Then five. Soon, it was almost ten. Since Brother Monkey had gone up, not only had the strange cackling vanished, but so had any and all sound from the two grown men.
’Something’s wrong. The soundproofing in this white house is terrible; when Alligator and his partner went to the second floor, we could hear their footsteps clearly. So why is there complete silence now that Brother Monkey and San Hu are on the third floor?’
’Even if they were attacked, they were two armed thugs who’d been in countless fights. They should have at least put up a struggle, fired a couple of shots, made *some* kind of noise.’
’How could they just disappear on the third floor? Did they go up there and fall asleep?’
Fifteen minutes later, a middle-aged thug on the second floor, his neck covered in tattoos, finally lost his patience and shouted upstairs,
"Goddammit! Whatever you saw up there, just say something, will you?! If you’re gonna sleep up there all night, does that mean I have to wait down here all night for you?"
No matter how much he yelled, the two men upstairs seemed to have fallen into a bottomless abyss, utterly silent. Then, the strange cackling started again, as if mocking the men below for their long, pointless wait.
Gao Tian knew they must have run into trouble on the third floor. He figured they had likely triggered an extremely deadly, "kill-on-sight" kind of rule. He gave his next order.
"The three of you, all of you, go up and see what’s going on.
"When you get to the middle of the staircase, one man goes up to the third floor while the other two stay on the landing, guns raised, ready to provide support.
"At least find out what the hell happened on the third floor."
But the thugs weren’t idiots. What good was fifty thousand yuan if you weren’t alive to spend it?
"Boss, be straight with us. What is the deal with this white house?
"We’ve all felt uneasy ever since we came in here. And you said we were just coming here tonight to take care of someone, and we could leave once the job was done. You never said anything about exploring an abandoned Haunted House on some desolate mountain."
Gao Tian cut him off, coldly holding up two fingers.
"Two hundred thousand.
"Go up there, check it out, and confirm whether Brother Monkey and San Hu are alive or dead. Dead or alive, it’s two hundred thousand for each of you when you come back down."
Two hundred thousand. For low-level thugs who lived by their muscle, how long would it take them to earn that much on their own?
With that kind of money, they could take a long break. Think of all the women they could have.
The massive sum went to the thugs’ heads. Even if there really was a ghost upstairs, so what? They had guns. What gangster hadn’t paid his respects to Lord Guan? Who was afraid of a few unclean spirits?
The lust for money once again made these hardened thugs forget their fear. The middle-aged man conferred with the other two. He would take point, the most dangerous position, on the condition that the other two would each give him fifty thousand of their share.
After all, he was taking the greatest risk, so it was only fair he get a bigger cut.
Once they’d agreed, they followed "Brother Qiang’s" orders. Acting as if they were facing a formidable enemy, they raised their guns, hunched their backs, and moved in a single file up the stairs that had just swallowed Brother Monkey and San Hu.
KEKEKEKEKEKE...
As if sensing more people were coming upstairs, the eerie laughter grew even more brazen. Perhaps the thing upstairs had regained some strength after "feeding" on two people.
"Whatever you are, playing your spooky games, go to hell!"
Halfway up the stairs, the middle-aged man aimed into the darkness above, toward the general source of the laughter, and pulled the trigger twice. BANG! BANG! The gunshots were shockingly loud in the deathly silent house, and the smell of cordite filled the air.
He couldn’t tell if he’d hit anything in the darkness, but maybe the shots had worked. The cackling stopped again, as if intimidated by the deafening blasts.
"Fucking right," he muttered. "Try that shit again."
Believing the gun had actually worked and hit the cackling thing on the third floor, the middle-aged man regained a sliver of courage. He signaled for the two men below to follow as he slowly advanced toward the third floor.
At that very moment, Gao Tian, still standing on the second floor, was watching the staircase intently for any strange movements.
In a flash, he saw something white shoot past in the gap between the handrails connecting the second and third floors.
It was on the floor of the third story, something mouse-like, and it was moving incredibly fast.
But of course, it was round and deathly pale. It was definitely not a mouse.
When Gao Tian realized what that fleeting object was, his blood ran cold.
"Get away from the third floor! Get down here, now!
"Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!"
