Chapter 47: A Warm Home 2

Chapter 47: A Warm Home 2

That man.

You frowned. He didn't seem like a supernatural entity.

Having only glimpsed his back through the peephole, you weren't entirely sure.

If he was human, no human had ever entered this building before. What was he doing here?

And he had a key. If he were a thief, there'd be no need to dress in a business suit, right?

You couldn't make sense of it. Your gaze shifted to the Barbie doll lying sideways on the floor, facing the door crack. That man must have been peering through the gap just now, and the doll's eyes, meeting his through the slit, had startled him into fleeing.

From this, it seemed more likely that the suited man was human.

But beyond that, there were a few other details that troubled you.

1. Why did the door close by itself when you stated the first rule?

The Rule Ability you currently possessed was only at the stage of influencing thoughts, which then led humans or supernatural entities to comply with the rules. It hadn't yet reached the level of directly affecting physical objects—you were well aware of this.

2. When you stated the second rule, the Barbie doll fell from your body. Earlier, you were doing homework on the sofa, and the doll was there too. It might have accidentally gotten caught on you while you were sitting there. That explanation barely held up. But why did it fall precisely when you stated the second rule, and why did its eyes just happen to face the door crack, scaring off the suited man peeking through? This couldn't be dismissed as mere coincidence.

The Barbie doll was highly suspicious, yet no matter how you examined it, it appeared to be an ordinary mass-produced toy with nothing unusual about it.

And since your Rule Ability wasn't strong enough to affect reality, you could rule out that possibility as well.

With both the influence of Rule Ability and the doll itself ruled out, only one unlikely explanation remained—there was an unseen entity in this house.

With that, everything made sense.

After the rule was established, it was this presence that closed the door from inside the house. It was also the one that knocked the Barbie doll off you, positioning its eyes to face the door crack and scare away the peeping man.

The moment this realization hit, your entire body stiffened. Even blinking felt strained. A chill crept up from your feet to your back, then surged to the top of your head, making your scalp prickle like an electric current.

Where was it?

When did it get in? How long had it been here? Was it… watching you from behind right now?

You stood frozen on the chair for a long while, mentally preparing for every possible scenario and preemptively formulating multiple rules in your mind, ready to react the moment it made a move.

Ten minutes passed. Your legs went numb, your hands went numb, and your neck ached—but nothing else happened.

The house was quiet, exuding a peaceful, cozy atmosphere.

You took a shallow breath and carefully stepped down from the chair, every muscle tense as you scanned your surroundings, as if every corner of the house hid a "person."

The house didn't feel safe, but you weren't eager to go outside either.

The suited man had just fled, and you weren't sure if he'd return. You also couldn't be certain whether it was just another supernatural entity's ploy to lure you into opening the door.

The first rule your mother ever taught you about this house was clear: Never open the door for strangers.

You'd never forgotten that.

A long time passed, and the house remained still except for you. Gradually, your fear subsided. You paced around, scrutinizing every corner for anything out of place.

Sunlight streamed through the window, spilling golden light over the bedding in the bedroom, dust motes drifting lazily in the beams like tiny specks of light. Your water bottle sat on the living room table, its surface warm to the touch. Homework books were scattered across the sofa, an open workbook filled with answers. The kitchen still carried the faint scent of boiled corn, and cartoon-patterned plates were neatly stacked. Your clothes and shoes hung drying on the balcony. In the bathroom, your towel, toothbrush, and toiletries were all in place.

Everything seemed perfectly normal, just like any other day.

Half an hour later, a new rule surfaced in your mind:

"3. No noise is allowed inside the residential building."

This was an auto-generated rule. In fact, after using Rule Ability, if you didn't revoke the rule and no new rule was added within half an hour, a new one would automatically form every thirty minutes.

If it reached the tenth rule without being revoked, it would become permanent.

By your estimate, your mother should be back soon, so you proactively revoked the rules. However, about ten minutes after revoking them, chaotic footsteps echoed in the hallway again.

This time, it sounded like more than one person.

Along with the footsteps came the sound of conversation.

"I'm serious—I'll be damned if I'm lying. I'm not opening any doors this time. Whoever's brave enough can do it. Here's the key." The man's words were followed by the metallic jingle of keys.

Someone took them. "Brother Wu, of course we believe you. That's why so many of us came up with you. This building's been vacant for years, and the higher-ups are insisting we document every unit. We've got no choice—who'd want to come here otherwise?"

They continued talking as they climbed the stairs.

One voice sounded doubtful: "Is it really that bad?"

"What do you think? Eight years ago, all the residents moved out within a week. It's infamous—move in during the day, get carried out at night. Either that, or vanish without a trace!"

"Vanish without a trace!"

"Without a trace!"

"Trace…"

The speaker deliberately lowered his voice, but the building was so eerily silent that his words seemed amplified, echoing through the hallway like a distorted recording.

The footsteps and chatter abruptly stopped.

Standing behind the door, you listened, your unease growing.

But it was just unease. Strangely, you didn't feel much fear about the building's dark history.

What concerned you more was that these people were heading straight for your home.

Whatever their reason, you couldn't let them in.

The hallway stayed quiet for about half a minute before someone hesitantly whispered, "Maybe… we should just skip this building? No one would dare live in a haunted place like this anyway. What's the point?"

"The higher-ups don't care about that," another voice replied, taking a deep breath. "Let's just go. No point scaring ourselves. There's six of us—we'll check each door, take notes, and leave. How bad can it be?"

The footsteps resumed, closer now, but far more cautious than before.

They were almost at your door.

The sound came from the staircase right outside—the same one where you and You Guang often sat.

"Hey… why are there so many colored lights here?"

"And they're powered on."

"Someone's living in this building? The hallway is quite clean too."

The outsiders noticed something odd.

"Brother Wu, the last place you went to was that one, right? Room 302? Maybe someone’s secretly living there and tried to scare you away on purpose."

"If that’s really the case, there’s nothing to be afraid of. The rumors might just be exaggerated—people make up all sorts of stories these days."

"Let’s not scare ourselves. If someone’s here, we can just knock."

After some murmuring—

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The door was pounded heavily from outside.

You stood on a chair behind the door, blankly looking through the peephole at the men outside.

Six men in black suits—some glancing around, some indifferent, others clearly nervous.

They were human.

This made twice today that humans had knocked on your door.

You were now completely certain that, just over half an hour ago, there had been something else in here with you.

When the suited man had opened the door from outside, the warping and rot in the room had come from the supernatural entity lurking inside.

Every time the door was about to be opened or spied on, the supernatural entity in the house would freak out.

It was hiding in the house, unwilling to be discovered by humans.

Just like you.

You had to keep them busy until Mother returned.

The six outside knocked for over a minute before preparing to unlock the door. Hearing the clinking of keys, you spoke up.

"Who’s there?"

The people outside were startled but quickly recovered, calling back, "Kid, do you live here?"

Another asked, "Are you home alone?"

You replied, "I’m waiting for my mom."

"Uncle’s here to register the house. When will your mom be back?"

"My mom…" You sensed that familiar cold creeping closer.

She let her presence be known, soothing you.

At the same time, through the peephole, you saw the figure in white with long hair appear at the end of the hallway behind the six men, slowly walking toward them.

Curling your lips into a smile, your childish voice said brightly, "Isn’t she right behind you?"

The six were confused, their expressions varying—some turned around in bewilderment, eyes widening in shock as they frantically grabbed the person next to them.

One by one, they all turned to look, their hearts pounding at Mother’s appearance.

One managed to keep it together, voice shaking as he asked, "A-Are you… human or a ghost?!"

Mother slowly lifted her head, glancing in your direction.

It felt as though you were locking eyes with her through the peephole.

You saw the half of her face visible to them twist into a terrifying smile, her tone attempting to sound human but coming out unnervingly flat and stiff.

She said, "Of course… I’m human~"

"Just like my little one~ We're human~"

From your angle, you couldn’t see their expressions anymore, nor how they reacted to Mother’s words. You could only see from their backs that two of them were trembling so badly their legs looked like they were dancing to music.

Even though Mother now looked almost human, when she didn’t suppress her presence, the difference was still obvious.

The overwhelming, piercing, unnatural cold radiating from her alone was something no human could produce.

"W-We’re here to register the house. If… if everything’s fine, we’ll just… go now."

One managed to say, nodding nervously while sliding along the wall in an attempt to flee. His companions were quick to follow.

Mother watched them silently, her creepy smile never wavering, making no move to stop them.

She wanted to let them leave.

Sensing her decision, you quickly called out, "Uncles, wait!"

But at your shout, their cautious retreat turned into a panicked rush—some even tripping in their haste to escape.

Mother’s expression darkened instantly, her grin turning stone-cold as she drifted forward, blocking their path with a malicious stare.

You covered your ears in advance. After a chorus of screams, you finally lowered your hands.

Once again, you saw the difference between Mother, a supernatural entity, and other supernatural entities. Even You Guang couldn’t do as much as Mother without using his special abilities.