It was getting late, and the surrounding farm was enveloped in the thick darkness of night. The air was filled with the fresh scent of grass and trees, but there was also an inexplicable sense of oppression.
Lu Yunfei and Li Yechen exchanged a glance, silently agreeing not to speak. They decided to temporarily stop here and continue their search for answers tomorrow.
The man was still sitting on the sofa, muttering quietly to himself. His voice was broken and intermittent, filled with an unidentifiable anxiety and unease. His eyes were hollow, as if he had completely immersed himself in his own world, completely ignoring the two of them.
Lu Yunfei glanced at Li Yechen and pointed outside. "Let's check other places. Maybe we can find something."
Li Yechen nodded, and the two of them walked toward another wooden house. The house was old and neglected, with bundles of dry straw, shovels, spades, and worn-out burlap sacks scattered on the floor. The air was filled with a musty smell, as if no one had cared for this place in a long time. They searched carefully, but found nothing unusual.
They continued to the stable, hoping to find more clues. The stable was empty, with only a few broken wooden posts and a pile of dry hay. There was nothing else.
"There's nothing here." Li Yechen looked around with a slightly weary tone.
"Yeah." Lu Yunfei nodded. "Let's go back."
They returned to the wooden house, and the man was still sitting in the same position, as still as a puppet on the sofa.
It was clear he had fallen into some sort of emotional trap, seemingly completely unaware of everything around him. The two did not disturb him and silently went upstairs to their rooms.
The rooms were dimly lit, sparsely furnished, and the beds were relatively comfortable, perfect for a temporary rest. Lu Yunfei lay on his bed, his mind swirling with a series of questions: What secret was this farm hiding? Why was the man so anxious and uneasy? What did he know?
Li Yechen lay on his own bed, eyes tightly shut, seemingly thinking the same things. An intangible sense of tension filled the air, making it hard to fall asleep. Outside, the night deepened, silent and still, as if time had frozen over this land.
The next morning, Lu Yunfei and Li Yechen were woken by an enticing aroma. They both woke up from their respective rooms, feeling as though it had been a long time since they'd eaten. Oddly, the smell from the kitchen made them suddenly feel very hungry.
They went downstairs and saw the farmer busy in the kitchen, preparing a hearty breakfast. On the table, there were soft bread rolls, golden scrambled eggs, fresh milk, and some cut fruits—all emitting a rich, appetizing fragrance.
When the farmer saw them come down, he smiled and greeted them. "Good morning! Come and eat. You must be tired from your journey."
This made Lu Yunfei and Li Yechen pause for a moment. The farmer's demeanor today seemed completely different from yesterday. It was as though he were two different people. The farmer who had been emotionally unstable and anxious the day before had disappeared. Now, he seemed calm, even a bit friendly. The two exchanged glances and silently walked over to the table to sit down.
"Thank you." Lu Yunfei spoke first, and Li Yechen nodded.
The atmosphere became somewhat quiet, but it was no longer as tense and cautious as it had been yesterday. The breakfast was simple but delicious. Lu Yunfei took a bite of the eggs and felt a rare sense of satisfaction. Li Yechen silently picked up a cup of milk, drinking it while his gaze remained deep in thought.
The farmer also sat down, smiling as he raised a glass of water, his expression gentle and kind. However, though his smile appeared genuine, it still made one feel an inexplicable discomfort.
He looked warmly at Lu Yunfei and Li Yechen, softly asking, "You must have had a tough journey. How are you feeling? Is there anything uncomfortable or anything strange you've noticed?"
A trace of suspicion rose in the hearts of both men.
They exchanged a glance, and Li Yechen turned away first, remaining silent for a while before finally speaking. "Nothing strange. Nothing uncomfortable."
Lu Yunfei asked, "But you, you said yesterday that you were discovered? Who discovered you, and what did they find?"
The farmer's smile instantly froze, and his gaze became somewhat strange. It was as if he were trying to find the answer, but his eyes resembled something of a mimicry. Soon, he returned to normal and smiled again. "Oh, yesterday… I might have had a bit too much to drink, so I don't remember very clearly." He seemed to intentionally avoid the question.
Lu Yunfei and Li Yechen exchanged another look. Li Yechen furrowed his brows, seemingly not fully believing his explanation.
"Who exactly are you?" Lu Yunfei suddenly stood up, his voice low but firm. "Tell us the truth."
The farmer maintained his smiling face, but this time, his eyes seemed hazy, as though he was trying to piece together something. "I… I will help you," he said, his tone mechanical.
"Help us?" Lu Yunfei sneered. "Tell us the truth, help us unravel the mystery."
But the farmer simply repeated, "I will help you."
"Stop the nonsense!" Li Yechen suddenly stepped forward, grabbed the farmer's arm, and forcibly pushed him back into the chair. He quickly tied the farmer's hands with rope. "If you won't talk, we'll make you understand what it means to help us."
The farmer still showed little reaction, his smile almost unchanged. His eyes, however, were full of emptiness. "I will help you," he mechanically repeated.
Lu Yunfei and Li Yechen exchanged another look. They now realized that the farmer before them was not the ordinary person they had imagined. That inexplicable sense of emptiness felt as though he didn't belong here at all.
"Who are you really?" Lu Yunfei whispered again.
At that moment, the farmer suddenly became quiet, no longer speaking, only sitting there with his eyes blankly staring ahead.
Lu Yunfei suddenly remembered the bag the farmer had been carrying yesterday. He vaguely recalled that the farmer had placed it in a corner of the room when they first arrived.
Lu Yunfei bent down to search carefully and finally found the bag among the piled-up clutter. He opened the zipper and found a few items inside, including a key card and a notebook.
Lu Yunfei opened the notebook. The first page was a casual sketch. It depicted a room, with a woman sitting in the center. The woman's figure was blurry, and her facial features were almost indistinguishable.
The next few pages were even more chaotic. Lu Yunfei flipped to one page and saw a corridor, with countless doors lined up on either side. Each door was different, and the surrounding space was dim.
As he turned further, Lu Yunfei came across a single, distinct door drawn very clearly. It stood in the middle of a forest, surrounded by nothing—only this door, isolated in an empty space, as if it didn't fit the surrounding scene at all.
The notebook also contained some sketches of scenes from the farm—flocks of sheep, groups of horses, and various tools piled up. In each drawing, the animals seemed strange and hollow, as though they no longer possessed the breath of life, like lifeless puppets.
Lu Yunfei and Li Yechen studied the notebook for a long time, their brows furrowed.
Each drawing seemed to convey some kind of message, but neither of them could fully understand it.
Finally, Lu Yunfei whispered, "This should be the place where we escape." He pointed at the isolated door in the drawing.
Li Yechen also pondered the meaning of these sketches, his eyes filled with confusion. "Why did he look at the woman through the crack in the door? Who is she? And what is her connection to this place?"
The two of them exchanged a look, both of them without answers.
Lu Yunfei finally decided to leave. He handed the other key card to Li Yechen, took the farmer's bag, which contained the notebook, and said quietly, "We need to leave here first."
They walked back to the room where the farmer was. The farmer was still sitting in the chair, seemingly unreactive. They untied him from the chair. Although the farmer appeared confused, he did not stop their actions.
"We're leaving," Lu Yunfei said, his voice calm but firm.
Li Yechen nodded, and they turned to leave the farm, walking toward the empty plains on the other side. Behind them, the farmer remained in the house, his head bowed in silence.
As they walked away from the farm, the sun was beginning to rise, casting a soft glow over the vast, empty landscape. The air felt colder now, and the silence was oppressive. Lu Yunfei and Li Yechen didn't speak as they walked, each lost in thought, trying to make sense of what had just happened.
The bizarre atmosphere at the farm weighed heavily on them. The farmer's sudden change in behavior, the strange drawings, and the cryptic clues—it all seemed like a tangled web that was impossible to unravel. And yet, the notebook, with its eerie illustrations, seemed to hint at something far more sinister.
"Do you think we're getting closer to the truth?" Li Yechen finally broke the silence, his voice low and cautious.
Lu Yunfei hesitated for a moment before answering. "I don't know. But something is wrong. I can feel it. That man… the farmer… he's not who he says he is."
Li Yechen nodded, his gaze fixed ahead. "And the drawings in the notebook… They seem to point to that door. But what is it? Why is it so important?"
Lu Yunfei didn't have an answer. He had the same questions swirling in his mind, but every lead they followed only seemed to raise more. "We need to find that door. The one in the forest."
Li Yechen looked at him. "But the farm… that place felt like it was meant to trap us. Why would anyone leave a clue so obvious?"
"I don't know," Lu Yunfei said, his voice tinged with frustration. "But I'm sure of one thing. Whatever is going on here, it's bigger than we can imagine. And we need to get to the bottom of it."
The two of them walked on in silence, the journey ahead uncertain and full of unease. They didn't know what awaited them, but the pull to find the truth was undeniable.
As the minutes passed, the landscape around them became more desolate. The wide expanse of land stretched endlessly, and there were no signs of life—no animals, no people—just the endless emptiness. It was as though they had walked into a void.
Soon, they found themselves at the edge of a small forest. The trees were sparse, their branches twisted and gnarled, casting long, distorted shadows in the dim morning light.
"We're getting close," Lu Yunfei murmured, his voice barely audible as he stepped into the woods.
Li Yechen followed, his eyes scanning the surroundings. There was something unsettling about the place, a sense that something was lurking just beyond their sight. The forest felt eerily quiet, and the further they went, the more oppressive the air became.
They didn't speak much as they walked, each step leading them deeper into the woods. The ground beneath their feet was soft and uneven, covered in dead leaves that crunched with every step. The trees seemed to close in around them, their bare branches creating an almost claustrophobic atmosphere.
After a while, they reached a small clearing, and there it was—the door.
It stood alone in the center of the clearing, its frame tall and imposing. The door was made of dark wood, weathered and worn, but it still looked solid. It didn't belong here—it was completely out of place, standing in the middle of the forest with no building or structure around it.
Lu Yunfei and Li Yechen stopped in their tracks, both of them staring at the door in disbelief.
"There it is," Li Yechen said, his voice low. "Just like in the drawings."
Lu Yunfei stepped closer, his heart pounding in his chest. The door seemed to hum with an energy he couldn't explain, a feeling of anticipation that sent a chill down his spine.
"What now?" Li Yechen asked, his eyes narrowing as he looked at the door.
Lu Yunfei hesitated. He could feel something was off about the door, but he didn't know what. Still, the urge to open it was overwhelming. He reached for the key card in his pocket, the same one he had found in the farmer's bag, and slowly slid it into the slot on the side of the door.
With a soft click, the door creaked open.
A rush of cold air hit them, and the darkness beyond the door seemed to swallow the light. Neither of them spoke as they stared into the void that lay on the other side. The air was thick with an unknown presence, and the door seemed to beckon them forward.
Lu Yunfei glanced at Li Yechen, his expression hardening. "We're going through. No turning back now."
Li Yechen nodded. "Let's do it."
Together, they stepped forward into the darkness.