I was already pretty scared, but seeing how cowardly Tong Suo was acting, I couldn't help but find it secretly amusing. Thank goodness there was someone even more timid to make me look better, or I'd have really lost face.
I forced myself to stay calm, patted his shoulder, and said earnestly, "Old Tong, steady yourself. Don't embarrass the Light Alliance."
Tong Suo grabbed my clothes, trembling as he hid behind me.
Li Yang stood in front of the wall, shining his flashlight up at the patterns above. The scene was eerily unsettling. None of us spoke, and the air felt almost frozen.
Suddenly, he turned around and sniffed. "Do you guys smell anything?"
I cautiously sniffed the air, and sure enough, there was a faint, indescribable stench. I turned to Tong Suo. "Old Tong, don't tell me you crapped your pants?"
"Damn it, no matter how scared I am, I wouldn't lose control like that," Tong Suo retorted, indignant.
Li Yang, sniffing around like a dog, paced back and forth in the bathroom. My heart was in my throat, my back soaked with sweat. I stammered, "Li哥, let's stop sniffing and get out of here. It's a bathroom; it's normal for it to smell."
Li Yang frowned suspiciously, scratching his head. "Since we're here, we can't just leave."
He pulled out his phone, switched to camera mode, and started snapping pictures of the wall.
The phone screen's faint glow illuminated his face, making it look eerily sinister.
"With such bad lighting, will your phone even work?" Tong Suo, still hiding behind me, said. "Why not use mine? It's a Samsung."
"Give me a break. Your phone's probably short-circuited from being soaked in piss by now," Li Yang shot back.
As he kept snapping photos, he suddenly turned off his phone, strode to the curtain, and yanked it open, revealing the bathtub behind it.
The moment the bathtub was exposed, I thought I saw a cloud of black mist rising from inside.
Li Yang shone his flashlight into it, and Tong Suo and I edged closer. In the beam of light, we saw the bathtub filled to the brim with black water, nearly overflowing.
"That's weird. Where'd this water come from?" Tong Suo asked.
"Maybe the faucet wasn't turned off properly," I guessed.
Li Yang moved to the head of the bathtub, shining his flashlight to locate the faucet. The faucet was conspicuous, made of brass, glinting faintly in the light. He cautiously reached under it, then pulled back his hand. Sure enough, his rubber glove was wet with black residue.
It was clear the black water was coming from the faucet. The water level was so high it nearly touched the spout, so there was no dripping sound as it flowed.
Li Yang pulled down his mask, brought his black-stained fingers to his nose, and sniffed. He nodded. "This is the smell from earlier—fishy and foul. Tong Suo, take a whiff." He extended his hand toward him.
Tong Suo jumped back like he'd been bitten by a dog. "Don't mess with me!"
"Why is black water coming out of the bathtub faucet?" Li Yang half-knelt by the tub, nearly leaning over the edge, squinting as he examined the dark water's surface.
"What's there to investigate? Maybe a pipe burst and got contaminated with rust. Or the groundwater's polluted. Could be anything," I said.
Li Yang seemed to notice something, looking thoughtful. "Tong Suo, turn on the sink faucet."
"Why?" Tong Suo's face was a mask of misery. He just wanted to get out of this creepy place and avoid any extra trouble.
"Just do it, no questions. See what kind of water comes out," Li Yang said.
Tong Suo trudged over and turned on the sink faucet. Clear, transparent tap water flowed out steadily.
"What the hell? How's that possible? Are the sink and bathtub using separate pipes?" Tong Suo was utterly shocked.
"Interesting," Li Yang said, standing up. He carefully gripped the tub's edge, leaned toward the wall behind it, and began slowly tapping the surface with his fist.
Tong Suo and I clung to each other's arms, too stunned to speak, completely floored by his reckless courage.
Li Yang tapped and listened to the sound, moving slowly to the next spot after each knock. He was practically hovering over the black water, and I was terrified he'd slip and fall in.
The pool of black water in the bathtub looked impossibly deep under the flashlight's beam, like it had no bottom.
After a while, Li Yang straightened up, stretched, and said, "It sounds hollow behind there. Clearly, the black water in the tub is coming from a space behind this wall."
"So what's your plan? Hire a construction crew to tear the wall down?" Tong Suo asked.
"Not a bad idea, actually," Li Yang said, eyeing him. Tong Suo bristled. "What're you staring at me for?"
"Old Tong, let's make a deal. Since this place is up for rent anyway, why don't you just lease it? I'll call a buddy's construction team, and we'll quietly take down this wall to see what's behind it," Li Yang said.
"You're… not serious, are you?" Tong Suo's jaw dropped.
"Look at my face. Do I look like I'm joking?" Li Yang replied.
"Hell no, find someone else. I'm not touching this cursed place again."
"I'll cover the rent," Li Yang coaxed.
"Save it. I don't need the money. I'd rather work night shifts at a crematorium than live in this jinxed house."
"Hold on, guys… there's something in the water…" I said slowly. They both turned to me, and my face must've looked grim because I was on the verge of losing it.
Just moments ago, I'd leaned over the tub, mimicking Li Yang, squinting to study the water's surface. In the flashlight's glow, I clearly saw bubbles rising from the depths of the black water.
Looking deeper, the water was an abyss of nothingness, like a void.
A bizarre thought hit me: what if this water was the gateway to the underworld we'd been searching for? I pictured Li Damin walking into the bathroom, staring at this pool of black water with a reverent expression, slowly undressing, and stepping devoutly into the tub, sinking beneath the surface into a strange, mysterious netherworld.
When I mentioned the bubbles, Li Yang's face lit up with excitement. I panicked, afraid he'd impulsively dive in.
Thankfully, he kept his cool, grabbing a plunger from beside the toilet and slowly lowering it into the black water.
Tong Suo and I stood far back, clinging to each other, watching nervously as if staring at a ticking bomb, barely daring to breathe. Soon, the plunger was fully submerged, but it still hadn't reached the bottom.
Li Yang sat on the tub's edge, leaning forward, gripping the plunger's handle tightly, and probing deeper.
"There's definitely something down there," Li Yang said, startled.
"It's not empty at the bottom?" I asked, voice trembling.
Tong Suo chuckled. "Old Liu, you dumb or what? How could the tub be empty? If it was, how'd it hold all this water?"
I gave a self-deprecating laugh, realizing my earlier idea about the tub connecting to the underworld was pretty naive.
Li Yang said, "Don't just stand there, come help. I just felt something."
We shuffled over, exchanging glances. "How do we help? We don't have any tools to fish it out."
Li Yang thought for a moment. "Alright, I'll reach in and grab it. You two keep an eye out."
"Don't…" I stared at the black water, a bad feeling creeping over me. "What if the water's toxic?"
"It's fine," Li Yang said, rolling up his sleeve and slowly dipping his right hand into the water, reaching deeper. Soon, his entire arm was submerged, his body leaning over the tub's edge, his face nearly touching the water.
We watched, hearts pounding, grudgingly admiring his guts.
"Got it," he said, his eyebrow twitching. "Feels like a box."
Before he finished speaking, he slowly straightened up, and with a sloshing sound, he pulled a dark, square object from the water.
He rushed to the sink, turned on the faucet, and rinsed his arm. Then he washed the object he'd retrieved.
Once the black water was cleaned off, we saw it was a green iron box, perfectly square, made entirely of metal with no decorations. It looked sturdy, with a lock tightly securing it.
Tong Suo tapped it with his finger, producing a rough "clang-clang" sound, then shook it. Something inside rattled, like objects colliding.
"Stop! Be careful—what if there's glassware inside?" Li Yang, always cautious, warned.
"Let's just get out of here," Tong Suo pleaded.
"Old Tong, look at you, such a coward. I shouldn't have brought you. Don't you find this thrilling?" Li Yang said. "It's like a real-life escape room. You couldn't pay to play a setup this creative."
"Oh, right," he added. "I wasn't kidding about you renting this place. Think about it."
"Fine, fine, we'll talk later," Tong Suo said, dodging the topic.
We took a quick look around the bathroom but found nothing else. Too many mysteries here, each needing time and effort to unravel. Glancing at my watch, it was nearly 3 a.m.
Exhaustion hit me in waves; I was too drained to keep up with their antics.
Tong Suo was yawning nonstop, while Li Yang, the ultimate night owl, had eyes gleaming with energy, clearly not done yet.
Yawns are contagious, and seeing us yawning made him let out a few, looking a bit disappointed. He waved a hand. "Let's head back. Maybe we'll get a chance to come back tonight."
Tong Suo gave a bitter smile. "Brother, have mercy. I'll make you a key, and you can come back alone."
"Let's go," Li Yang said, rubbing his brow and motioning for us to leave.
As we were about to exit the bathroom, a strange sound came from overhead. It was like the wind, or maybe someone running with a "thud-thud" sound.
That was impossible. We were on the top floor, and above us was the locked rooftop. Who could be running up there in the middle of the night?
Li Yang signaled for silence. We froze like statues, ears straining, not daring to move.
The bathroom was dead silent. We held our breath, hearts in our throats. I don't know how long it lasted—maybe two or three minutes. My mind went numb, losing all sense of time.