Chen Ge used the phone to look around and discovered several strange locations. There were eight cubicles inside the small building, and each cubicle had a wooden plaque hanging over it on which different terms were written.
The first cubicle was categorized for paper-based trash. White paper, brown paper, and paper cups and plates littered the door.
The second cubicle was for plastic trash. Abandoned plastic mineral water bottles were left on the ground. The third cubicle had the term metal on the plaque, and the fourth was for aluminum. So far everything appeared normal. However, from the fifth cubicle onward, things started to get strange.
The wooden plaque on the fifth cubicle had the following written on it.
Human.
"Human is a kind of trash here?" The door of the fifth cubicle was not locked, so Chen Ge pushed it open to take a look.
Creak…
Various deformed 'humans' hung like dried meat inside the small cubicle. Their feet were tied, and that was how they were dangled from the ceiling with their heads facing downward, their heads swaying lightly in the wind. Chen Ge drew in a cold breath. There were at least thirty 'humans' inside the narrow s.p.a.ce. "These should be mannequins, right?"
Raising the phone, Chen Ge took a few pictures of the hanging men. The pictures showed nothing more than what he could see with his bare eyes.
Wiping away the sweat from his palm, Chen Ge raised his hand to touch those hanging 'humans'. The sensation that came from his fingertips did not feel like that of rubber. It was not the sensation from touching a dead person's skin either. It felt more like he was touching a living person. The skin was warm, the pores were breathing, and the blood under the skin was still flowing.
"They're similar to living humans, but it feels like they've all lost their souls." Taking one step back, Chen Ge studied the hanging men. Their eyes were closed like they were fast asleep. "Perhaps I should stay away from them."
Chen Ge was about to leave when he noticed that one of the 'humans' had the same physical appearance as the shadow from Room 413. It was 1.6 meters tall, on the thin side, and had practically no muscle on it. It looked more like a skeleton with human skin sewn over it.
"This looks very similar to the shadow. Is this why the shadow told me to come here?" Chen Ge was not one hundred percent sure that the 'human' inside the cubicle belonged to the shadow. There was not much walking s.p.a.ce inside the cubicle, and there were too many obstacles in the way for him to get a good look. "Temporarily, I should ignore this. I should try and see if I can leap over the wall first. If I can, then my explorable s.p.a.ce will have increased."
Walking out of the fifth cubicle, Chen Ge turned to look at the other cubicles.
The sixth cubicle was for experimental trash. The door was locked, and Chen Ge could not open it. The seventh cubicle was for non-recyclable trash. Once he got near, Chen Ge was a.s.saulted by a suffocating stench. "This is horrible."
The door of the seventh cubicle was also locked. Chen Ge quickly walked past the door and was heading to the last cubicle, but when he pa.s.sed the door, a male voice suddenly came from inside the door.
"Is someone out there?"
Chen Ge froze immediately. He turned his head slowly around to stare at the door of the seventh cubicle. He definitely did not expect a human voice to come from a room meant for non-recyclable trash.
"I hear footsteps. You're now just outside this door, aren't you?
"I am the manager of the trash cla.s.sification center; can you please open the door for me? When I came in here to move the trash, something slammed the door shut, and I found myself accidentally trapped in here. I'm locked inside the center's storage room." The man's voice sounded normal, but there were many suspicious points in his explanation.
The cubicle door could only be opened from the outside, and an iron lock hung on the door. No matter how one knocked into the door, the lock would not have locked itself.
"I know that you're out there. Can you please help me? The spare keys should be on the second floor." The man continued to yell out the door, but Chen Ge did not reply. After half a minute, the man appeared to have given up. "Is there really no one there? I thought I could trick them in here and then snack on them little by little. The smell in this room is getting more fragrant by the day. What do you think?"
"He should be still out there. I'll bet ten fingers."
"He probably overheard our conversation. He won't come in to save us. Give up already, you bunch of ugly, dirty, disgusting things."
"I'm wondering if we should go out the backdoor and drag the person in here to join us. They probably don't realize that we can leave this place freely, right?"
"That's a secret that we've kept to ourselves. Don't expose everything for some temporary joy."
"But he already heard our secret. How about we kill him? What do you think?"
"Killing him will still get us exposed, you idiots! Last time, I shoved so many brains inside your skulls, so how come you're all still so stupid?"
Listening to the heated argument coming from inside the cubicle, Chen Ge's face was turning white. Inside the cubicle meant for non-recyclable trash, only a man's voice could be heard, but he seemed to be playing different characters. It sounded like he suffered from schizophrenia, but unlike other patients, every single persona of this person was extremely mad, crazy, and sick—none of them could think or act like a normal person.
"The people here have been completely influenced by the negative emotions. Even inside the world behind the door, I haven't met someone so crazy." Chen Ge immediately left. He glanced at the eighth cubicle.
This cubicle was situated at the deepest part of the building. The wooden plaque on the door was blank. The s.p.a.ce around the door was very clean. It did not look like it was meant for trash at all.
"Such a scary school. Even a trash collection center can give me such creeps." Walking past the black plastic bags that were still seeping blood, Chen Ge grabbed the phone to go to the second floor. Some tools could be found there, and overall, it was cleaner than the first floor.
Chen Ge did not stop to admire the view and headed for the only window of the building. The window faced the night school, and various stains dirtied the gla.s.s. Standing inside the building, one could barely see outside.
"The monster inside cubicle seven could come out at any moment. Whether he was lying or not, I cannot stay here any longer. Though, I should keep note of this place—perhaps I'll think of a use for it in the future."
As Chen Ge reached toward the window, before he could open it, a screeching sound arrived at his ears. It sounded like someone was using their nails to scratch at the gla.s.s.
