The beam from the flashlight swept by, and even after it had passed, the vivid red color lingered in Lu Ban's vision. He quickly swung the flashlight back, but by the time it illuminated the safety passage door again, there was no sign of anyone.
He tried to recall the person's appearance and clothing, only distinguishing vaguely that it was a woman, dressed in clothes that didn't seem to match the current trends.
Lu Ban, holding a crowbar, walked towards the safety passage door.
Directly above the safety corridor was the control room, where the mannequins still gazed out into the theater hall. When Lu Ban arrived, he saw a newspaper lying on the floor.
He prodded the newspaper with the crowbar and hooked it toward him.
Picking up the newspaper, Lu Ban confirmed it was a normal issue of the Jiangcheng Evening News.
Except that this copy of the Jiangcheng Evening News was over twenty years old.
Using the flashlight as a light source, Lu Ban stood and began reading the newspaper.
"...During the fire, the Jiangcheng Grand Theater was in the midst of rehearsals for its annual performance, with individuals including Du Danping and other performers in attendance, along with theater staff. It is reported that the fire originated from backstage equipment, which caught fire due to a short circuit, though arson has not been ruled out."
The article was an investigation report on the fire incident at the Jiangcheng Grand Theater. In that era, the internet was not as developed, and without online police bulletins as we have today, many investigative reports were released by newspapers.
Of course, these reports were not always true or detailed. For example, the one Lu Ban was holding seemed to contain some ambiguity and speculation.
Turning the page, the Jiangcheng Evening News became the Jiangcheng Weekly, an entertainment-focused weekly that had shut down a few years ago. Lu Ban had only glimpsed the title of this publication while searching for materials in the library.
"...An insider revealed that Du Danping was rumored to be having a romance with the daughter of Jiangcheng Industries' chairman, Song Yunyan, and this fire might hide some hidden truths. According to information provided by relevant personnel, Du Danping and Song Yunyan's relationship was opposed by Song's family. The couple had tried to elope but were stopped..."
This report from the weekly had a flavor of celebrity gossip, even insinuating that Du Danping and Song Yunyan might have faked their deaths in an attempt to elope, which led to the fire. It was not far from directly accusing the deceased Du Danping of having staged the event.
"...This accident caused five deaths and sixteen injuries. The musician Du Danping unfortunately perished in the incident..."
The newspaper turned another page, morphing into a black-and-white accident investigation report from the Jiangcheng Daily.
After finishing the last line of text, Lu Ban continued to flip through.
Now, he saw that the text on the newspaper was becoming densely packed.
No, that was not a report at all, but a curse.
"Die! Die! Die! Die! Die!"
Malicious, dark; as if written with blood that had congealed, these words sprawled across the newspaper.
And upon closer examination, Lu Ban noticed that these words seemed to be constantly writhing, moving like ants, seemingly about to crawl onto his hand from the paper.
These words seemed as if they could imprint on the skin, burrowing into the pores and leaving a permanent mark.
No one knew if these words would keep climbing, perhaps eventually taking over the entire body!
Feeling itchy, Lu Ban immediately dropped the newspaper he was holding.
Thwack—
The newspaper hit the ground and swiftly turned into a pile of ashes and dispersed.
Lu Ban checked his hand, but the words that had seemed to clamber onto his skin were like an illusion; he couldn't find any trace. He subconsciously checked the newspaper again.
Only to discover, at the doorway, there stood a pair of feet in red high heels!
"!"
Lu Ban lifted his flashlight, only to find the safety passage completely empty, devoid of any figure.
"...It seems like the ghost here wants me to investigate the truth of what happened back then,"
he pondered.
Perhaps the ghost in red was Song Yunyan? Had she been harmed by Du Danping, suffered injustice and was now hoping someone would uncover the truth?
The entity had provided him with clues without showing any signs of harm; it didn't seem that dangerous.
Lu Ban silently summarized the clues.
"The accident happened backstage with the equipment due to a short circuit, but someone could have set it all up in advance to create a similar situation,"
"Du Danping and Song Yunyan did seem to have a close relationship, so the woman who appeared in the video is the one called Song Yunyan?"
"The reports say that these two had previously failed to elope, so they wanted to set the fire this time, to fake their deaths and escape, but it went too far, and the fake death turned real?"
"The musician might be Du Danping, his ghost also trapped here, playing music every night?"
Lu Ban thought a lot and decided to check out backstage.
It was now past eight o'clock, and aside from the eerie mannequin, Lu Ban had yet to find any trace of the musician, perhaps it required some sort of trigger.
Thinking of those horror movies where opening a box could unleash a disaster, Lu Ban laughed at himself with self-deprecating humor.
"Being this proactive in courting death is not my style."
He stepped onto the stage again and headed towards the backstage.
Tap tap tap—
The footsteps echoed through the grand theater's hall, but as he walked, Lu Ban suddenly felt something was off.
There seemed to be footsteps of more than one person!
He immediately stopped in his tracks.
Tap tap tap—
However, the footsteps did not cease.
Lu Ban turned to look back, but there was nothing.
It was as if someone he couldn't see was following him, wearing leather shoes and trailing behind.
Two seconds passed, and then the footsteps abruptly stopped.
He continued forward, arriving at the dilapidated backstage, the site of the fire, the most damaged part, where wooden structures were charred to a crisp, and even the concrete walls were blackened.
The entire backstage was permeated with a stubborn, acrid smell of decay that made Lu Ban wonder if the odors were real or some kind of supernatural illusion.
Where the flashlight beam landed, there were several mannequins, some so melted by the high temperatures that they fused with the ground and walls in a bizarre assimilation.
Perhaps, these weren't mannequins?
"Impossible, the police would have cleared the scene by now; they wouldn't have left any bodies."
Lu Ban dismissed those unwarranted imaginings; the deeper he went, the hotter his surroundings felt.
Despite what should have been a cool night, Lu Ban was so hot he was about to sweat.
It was as if... he was surrounded by fire.
Lu Ban, relying on the architectural blueprints he had memorized and descriptions from the reports, made his way to the site of the backstage accident.
He saw an old-model electrical switch that controlled the lighting, a type not very safe and prone to accidents if worn out from age.
Since the theater had been established many years ago and was always in use, the electrical equipment had not been upgraded to the latest standards in time.
"Could it be that the switch short-circuited and the fuse failed to melt in time, and then the electric sparks ignited the props next to it, and by the time anyone noticed, the fire was already raging?"
Lu Ban recalled the newspaper's investigative report, and his flashlight swept along the wiring.
He then saw a toppled mannequin, more than half its body melted away, leaving only its upper half in a human form, lying on the electrical wires.
Only, this mannequin's face, unlike that of the others which was smooth, had distinctive facial features!
*
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