Chapter 241: Chapter 203: Dong Dong 2
"Mr. Lu, I was ignorant last time, please don’t take it to heart," Yang Xiao, a man of resilience, was ready to swallow his pride.
Facing Yang Xiao’s eagerness, Lu Youdao showed no reaction, but still nodded politely, "Come with me."
It was the same room, the first one closest to the door. They pushed the door open and walked in one after the other. Dark red velvet curtains hung all around the room, and in the center stood a tripod holding a wooden Ghost Camera.
"Captain Yang, let me repeat the rules of my place," Lu Youdao’s hoarse voice rose, "Here, you must obey me. Without my permission, do not leave the room you are assigned to, especially do not approach the doors of other rooms. Do I make myself clear?"
Yang Xiao nodded earnestly, "Clear."
Next, Lu Youdao triggered a mechanism. The wall the camera was facing changed as the velvet curtains drew back on both sides, exposing the peculiar high-back chair shrouded under a glass dome.
For Yang Xiao, who had learned the truth, "shrouded" wasn’t quite the right term, "imprisoned" was more apt, as there was a ghost sitting on the oddly shaped high-back chair.
Lu Youdao reached into his pocket and pulled out a flat tin box, inserting it into the left slot of the camera, fitting perfectly into place.
"Take the picture," Lu Youdao stepped back, yielding the spot to Yang Xiao.
With the experience from last time, Yang Xiao first removed the tin box containing the Ghost Photos, took it out, and checked the film inside.
This time there was only one photo, which meant he had only one chance.
He reinstalled the photo box, quickly cranked the handle, raised the lens, and silently calculated the position of the clown ghost. After determining the angle, he pressed the shutter.
After waiting for about a minute, a green light suddenly illuminated at the bottom of the camera, and with a rustling sound, a photo slowly emerged.
The clown ghost was seen sitting on the chair, with a ferocious face, but its eyes were no longer as evil as before; instead, they were filled with a sense of blankness.
"It’s a success," Yang Xiao felt a rush of excitement. He had been on missions before and had once led a team to seal a white-dress female ghost. It was exactly this feeling.
He was now sure that the clown ghost imprisoned here had once again fallen into a slumber.
"Not bad," Lu Youdao gave rare praise, but his tone suddenly changed as he faced Yang Xiao, "How did you know to check the photo cartridge? Who taught you?"
Caught in his excitement, Yang Xiao’s heart skipped a beat. He realized he had done something wrong; Lu Youdao hadn’t taught him to check the small box containing the Ghost Photos last time.
It was Fu Qingzhu who had taught him that before, even giving him a photo box with three Ghost Photos inside.
"I’ve been on a mission before, and I saw Da Xiong do it like this." Yang Xiao kept his composure, "Is there something wrong with how I did it?"
"No, it’s standard."
Under Lu Youdao’s scrutinizing gaze, Yang Xiao was in agony, but fortunately, his mental fortitude was solid, and he didn’t show any flaws.
"Mr. Lu, Da Xiong once told me that these photos capable of capturing ghosts are extremely precious, that one gets only three per mission and there are none once they’re used up. Is that true?" Yang Xiao tried to change the subject.
"They’re hard to come by, but not precious. The allocation is small because we’re considering the members executing the mission, especially the less capable investigation teams," Lu Youdao said, growing more talkative as he discussed these matters.
"How so?"
"Every shot taken at a ghost has an invisible influence on it, which you can think of as provoking or challenging. Generally speaking, three times is the limit. If after three consecutive attempts a ghost is not sealed, it will become extremely dangerous. In such situations, we would abandon the mission and consider withdrawal," Lu Youdao explained more readily.
"I see," Yang Xiao slowly nodded, then continued, "So, including last time, I’ve used up three Ghost Photos. Is that too wasteful?"
"The two photos last time were defective; only this time’s was a standard one." Lu Youdao replied candidly as they conversed.
Yang Xiao understood; no wonder there was only one photo in the box this time.
"Now, I’ll teach you how to dismantle this special camera. Come closer and watch carefully." Lu Youdao hobbled closer, pressing down on the camera’s wooden shell with his left hand, which was missing part of the palm, and easily removed the shell by pressing the groove beneath the camera with his right hand.
"Thud."
"Thud, thud."
Yang Xiao was concentrating when he suddenly heard a faint knocking sound, three times in total, which he heard very clearly.
"Hm?" Yang Xiao suddenly looked up.
The explaining Lu Youdao turned his head, annoyance showing on his face, and after a pause, he spoke in a hoarse voice, "Captain Yang, are you listening to what I’m saying?"
"Did you hear that sound?" Yang Xiao cocked his ear and listened for a moment, but the strange knocking had vanished.
"What sound?" Lu Youdao frowned.
"It’s just... it’s the sound of knocking on something, very clear; I heard it." Yang Xiao looked at Lu Youdao with some surprise, thinking Lu Youdao would know what was going on since the knocking was so distinct.
In the instant their eyes met, Lu Youdao’s expression suddenly turned weird, quickly pulling out the ghost photo taken by Yang Xiao to examine closely. Finally, he looked up at Yang Xiao with a puzzled expression, "There’s nothing wrong with this photo, the thing inside is definitely asleep."
"Do you have a history of auditory hallucinations?" Lu Youdao pressed.
"No, absolutely not." Yang Xiao also realized something was amiss; ever since he heard those three knocks, he had felt uneasy, as if something was about to happen.
Yang Xiao held his breath, closed his eyes, and tried to sense everything around him.
A moment later—
"Thump."
"Thump, thump."
The next second, Yang Xiao’s eyes snapped open, and he immediately looked behind him, "It’s outside, in the hallway."
Lu Youdao’s complexion turned pale at this, visibly distorting, "I’m the only one with a key; I locked the door, no one can get in."
Lu Youdao stared at Yang Xiao as if judging whether he was lying, but soon he limped toward the door and immediately deadbolted it. This seemingly ordinary door actually had four locks: a bolt lock, a padlock, and two bronze-colored chain locks.
Even Yang Xiao could tell that something was wrong now, judging by the set-up here which was clearly meant to keep something at bay.
Yang Xiao quietly approached Lu Youdao by the door, only to see Lu Youdao bringing his eye close to the peephole to look out. A few seconds later, Yang Xiao did likewise, but the hallway was empty. Although the dim yellow light was rather dull, it was still easy to see whether there was anything out there.
Just as Yang Xiao was about to speak, the knocking sound appeared again, this time much closer, right outside the door!
"Thump."
"Thump, thump."
Yang Xiao nearly jumped with fright, and Lu Youdao grabbed him, pulling him backward.
"Something’s out there; I heard it again." Yang Xiao explained urgently as soon as Lu Youdao relaxed his grip slightly.
From Lu Youdao’s reaction, Yang Xiao was sure he still hadn’t heard anything. Lu Youdao made a silencing gesture to Yang Xiao and walked over to the right side of the room where he pulled back a dark red curtain, revealing a safe embedded in the wall.
After expertly entering the code, the safe door popped open, inside was a set of antiquated machinery, surrounded by a plethora of complex wiring next to an old-fashion monitor that seemed from another era.
After a few simple adjustments, the monitor suddenly lit up, and an image appeared. The video quality was very crude, resembling an old movie, but it still showed a deserted corridor, with doors on both sides.
Yang Xiao quickly found their door. It was clean outside, with no sign of anything else.
But as soon as Lu Youdao pressed another red button, the surveillance footage began to shake like it was being interfered with, and strange ripples spread across the image, until moments later, Yang Xiao’s eyes suddenly narrowed: a figure had just appeared on the monitor.
It was a child wearing a yellow raincoat, their head covered, their face unclear, standing right outside the door.
The next second, the child slowly raised his hand, the movements stiff, knocking on the door in an unnerving pattern.
"Thump."
"Thump, thump."
