In the middle of the night, Shen Yu woke up suddenly.
In his sleep, he was awakened by a pair of hands.
The hands that inexplicably appeared on his throat were cold and sticky, about the size of a child's palm, but their strength far surpassed that of an adult.
Shen Yu, who was suddenly attacked, tried to open his eyes wide, but only felt that his breathing was not smooth, his vision was blurred, and he saw a scarlet mass staring at him viciously.
This scarlet monster stretched out a pair of dry and skinny bloody palms, strangled his neck, as if he had a deep hatred with him, as if it was going to strangle his throat in the next moment.
Shen Yu got up and wanted to break away those hands, but he only felt a slippery hand, and he smelled a strong smell of blood at the tip of his nose.
The child's sharp and proud laughter sounded in his ears, almost piercing his eardrums.
"Story, begin."
Suddenly, an insignificant voice, as well as the sound of pages being turned, was mixed in the malicious laughter, but Shen Yu keenly caught it.
He fumbled in the direction where the sound came from, and found a thick book with a heavy and cold cover on the outside, making it heavy to lift.
Before he had time to think about how the book appeared, Shen Yu instinctively grasped it tightly, and with all his might, slammed it at the scarlet monster in front of him.
The cold book cover was splashed with scarlet.
The smug laughter in the ear suddenly turned into a scream, and the hands that were tightly clutching the throat could not help but loosen.
Shen Yu, who finally got a chance to breathe, did not stop his movements, but used the book in his hand as his only weapon, and continued to smash it down hard one after another until the monster in front of him was smashed to pieces, scarlet red. The liquid kept splashing on the clothes on his chest.
The monster roared hoarsely, and was forced to let go, rolled over from the bed, and slipped under the bed.
Finally getting rid of the restraint, Shen Yu took a deep breath, shook his head slightly, and after getting rid of the dizziness caused by lack of oxygen, he also turned over and got out of bed, still holding the blood-stained book tightly in his hand, lifted the hanging sheet, and put it on the bed look down.
A thing that looks like a human but not human is lying under the bed.
The figure of this monster is about the size of a few-year-old child, but it looks like a monkey that has been skinned, revealing scarlet muscles and continuously oozing sticky blood. At this time, it is shrinking in a strange posture in the corner.
Shen Yu looked at the monster's bloody body, and then lowered his head to glance at the front of his chest and his palms. After the fight just now, it was also covered with sticky blood.
Seeing him relentlessly chasing after him, the monster stared at him coldly, bared its teeth unwillingly, its sharp and twisted teeth gradually disappeared in the darkness, and disappeared under the bed just like that.
Shen Yu didn't dare to relax his vigilance, and stared for a long time, making sure that the monster would not rush out from under the bed again, and then quietly heaved a sigh of relief, fell down on the ground exhausted, raised his head and looked around him in a daze.
Only then did he notice that the room he was in was not the bedroom where he usually slept.
Although his parents died unexpectedly when he was three years old, they left him a big house with four bedrooms and two living rooms as a legacy. It is located in the best neighborhood in the city center. Still high.
Last year, when Shen Yu just graduated from university, he specially redecorated this old house. The whole house should be clean and modern.
But at this moment, the room was dark and dilapidated, with yellowed newspapers pasted on the old window panes, mildew stains growing on the peeling walls, and dim yellow light bulbs flickering non-stop, making the figures under the lights dark and blurry. clear.
Even the pattern of the room has changed, this is definitely not his house.
Shen Yu's handsome eyebrows suddenly darkened.
No matter how deeply he slept last night, it's impossible for him to not even know that he changed rooms! And where did that monster come from? How did she lurk beside him silently, why did she want to strangle him to death...
This is definitely not something that can be explained by a prank.
Thinking of this, he turned a cold face again, looking down at the book that he was still holding tightly in his hand.
The book that saved his life at a critical moment had a black cover, with four corners inlaid with gold as decorations, one of which had just been used to smash the monster's head, and the gold ornaments were still stained with blood.
There is no title, and no author's signature. There is only a dark red handprint in the middle of the cover, so gloomy that it seems that blood may ooze out at any time, revealing a strange and terrifying atmosphere.
He opened the book suspiciously, and saw a small title written in distorted red handwriting on the first page: "Pink Apartment"
Below the title, there is a simple introductory introduction, the style of which is very similar to the fairy tales Shen Yu read when he was a child.
"Once upon a time, there was a dilapidated apartment building. All the residents lived in the apartment. No one could leave. Everyone was very unhappy."
"Later, the dilapidated apartment was repainted by a kind little craftsman. The pink is so cute! All the residents in the apartment were happy and moved in happily, but unexpectedly found that the apartment was not cleaned no matter what. They often found that the apartment was dirty. thing."
"Thus, thirteen brave cleaners accepted the employment of the residents and stepped into this pink apartment..."
The fairy tale ends here.
Shen Yu didn't understand what it meant, but he then went through the whole book, and found no other words except the words on the first page, only a blank space.
He frowned and remained silent for a while, finally sighed slowly, groped around himself for a while, and found a box of mints.
Shen Yu loves mints, and he never leaves his body. At this time, this box of candies was the only thing brought in.
He threw a candy into his mouth and crushed it with a "crack", a cold and pungent sweetness spread in his mouth immediately.
This candy seemed to have given him great comfort, Shen Yu took a deep breath, took this weird book, opened the door, and prepared to face the current weird situation.
After going out the door, you can see a corridor that is narrower and dilapidated than the bedroom.
On both sides of the corridor are two rows of identical doors. Different house numbers are written on the old doors. The layout of the house is very similar to a school dormitory. But there were no windows at the end of the corridor, so the whole corridor looked very dark and damp.
Finding the same dark and narrow stairs, Shen Yu groped all the way down to the first floor of the ground floor.
The ground floor unexpectedly has a rather spacious rotunda, with the hall as the center, connecting the east and west sides of the apartment building. The east building and the west building each have a narrow staircase. Only in the middle of the hall is a closed door. elevator.
He just came down from the apartment in the east building.
In the rotunda at this time, there were about a dozen people scattered, including men and women, of different ages and attire.
Most of the people had an anxious and bewildered look on their faces, and some people tried to contact the outside world with their mobile phones, swearing and screaming, as if they were about to jump up impatiently.
There were only a few people with calm or gloomy faces, but there was not much surprise on their faces. It was obviously not the first time they had encountered such a thing.
Shen Yu, whose clothes were covered in blood, had just walked downstairs when he immediately caught the attention of everyone present.
A middle-aged bald man raised his head lazily, glanced at the blood-stained Shen Yu, and sneered: "Dude, did you encounter a plot kill at the beginning?"
He shook his hands, took out a cigarette and lit it for himself: "It's really unlucky to meet a monster at the beginning of the game! But if you can survive the killing at the beginning, you must be a master."
"I've written a few horror stories more or less, and I'm also a veteran. How about forming a team?" The bald man asked again, blowing out a smoke ring.
Horror stories, plot kills, veterans, monsters, writing...
From the bald man's words just now, Shen Yu quickly extracted several key information, and pondered them back and forth in his mind, but he did not take the olive branch thrown by the bald man for the time being.
He glanced over just now and found that there were thirteen people in the hall including himself.
It coincides with the "Thirteen Cleaners" mentioned in the story.
There were about six of them, holding black books exactly like him. As for the remaining seven people, their hands were empty.
I don't know if there is no book, or the book is hidden.
Seeing that Shen Yu didn't answer his words, the bald man stomped out the cigarette butt with displeasure, and said in a strange way: "Come on, it seems that people look down on me! I don't know which great god it is, with such a high vision!"
At the side, the man who was also holding a black book and wearing a pair of gold-rimmed glasses, gently persuaded him: "Forget it, anyway, the staff is already here, let's wait for the next story to develop! It may not be known at that time..."
He didn't finish his sentence, but he glanced at Shen Yu meaningfully.
Shen Yu knew in his heart that because his reaction just now was too calm, the two veterans misunderstood him, thinking that he was not a newcomer.
But before he could defend himself, among the crowd present, there was a bald man with a swollen face and tattoos on his arm. He jumped up suddenly, smashed the black book in his hand on the ground, and roared violently. : "What charades are you playing?"
"What kind of broken place is this! Why is there a broken book in my hand! Who locked me here?"
He seemed to have a bad temper, yelling and cursing in a fit of rage. Next to him was a young man with dyed yellow hair, who looked like his younger brother, and hurriedly stepped forward to persuade him, but the effect was not good.
Facing the yelling of the flower-armed man, who was obviously a novice, neither the glasses man nor the bald man bothered to glance at him.
There was only one short-haired girl in a black and white tracksuit with a lollipop in her mouth who looked like a middle school student. She patiently explained, "You can't go out for now."
"We're trapped in a horror story, and only when the horror story is written will the living be eligible to get out."
She shook the black book in her hand: "The people chosen by the story are novelists, and they have their own books in their hands. Those who don't have books in their hands are the audience chosen by the story."
"Novelists can write their own horror novels, the story is more involved, the danger is higher, and you need to enter the story again and again."
"The audience is more of a bystander, with less participation and less danger in the story. You only need to experience the story once to return to real life...if you can come out of the story alive."
After hearing her kind explanation, the flower-armed man not only didn't appreciate it, but became even more irritable, and kicked his black book fiercely: "What's so messed up, I can't understand! I don't want to write any novels, let me out quickly!" , otherwise you will look good!"
With the flower-armed man as an example, the rest of the people also shouted: "Which TV station are you holding a reality show? When will you let us out, I have to rush out to discuss business!"
"I'm just a driver. I don't know anything. I came here with my boss. I don't know why I got here. I don't want to participate in any activities."
"I was sleeping soundly at home, and suddenly I was brought here. I want to find a lawyer to sue you..."
Facing the excited shouts from the crowd, the bald man took out another cigarette and lit it, looking at these novices as if they were looking at a group of idiots.
However, Shen Yu noticed that there was a quiet little boy among the crowd.
The boy looked no more than five or six years old, with a pale complexion and black pupils. He wore a hood and carried a canvas schoolbag across his shoulders. He sat alone in a corner away from the crowd. He was silent and looked very introverted.
The boy was really too young, Shen Yu couldn't help but take a second look, thinking that the boy might be afraid.
It's just that the little guy's senses were quite keen, and he suddenly turned his head and looked in the direction where Shen Yu was, and the eyes of the two met in the air.
Shen Yu didn't hide or dodge, showing a gentle smile to the child, trying to comfort the lonely boy.
He has always been good-looking, with refreshing sunshine, starry eyes, and a warm smile at the corner of his mouth, like a ray of light coming in from a dark apartment.
The little boy was slightly taken aback, and after looking at him for a few seconds, he lowered his hood again, completely hiding his immature face in the shadow, and turned his head away from looking at him.
On the other side, the grumpy flower-armed man couldn't hold back anymore, and rushed towards the door of the apartment: "I don't believe it, a broken door can stop me!"
The entrance and exit of the apartment was locked by a rusty iron gate. Outside the door of the apartment was a white fog, and nothing could be seen.
At this time, the flower-armed man kicked up aggressively and fiercely, and the iron door was kicked with a "crash" sound. The sound of metal rubbing was hoarse and piercing, and the thick fog outside the gate also surged.
Seeing this, the short-haired girl who kindly explained to them earlier changed her expression and shouted: "Stop, get out of that door!"
"You little bitch, what are you talking about..." The flower-armed man was tearing down the iron door, yelling uncleanly, but the next second, his yelling stopped abruptly.
An ape-like palm with sharp nails and thick black hair, seemed to be attracted by the sound, suddenly stretched out from the thick fog, passed through the gap of the rusty iron door, and grabbed the nearest to the door. The flower-armed man suddenly pulled outward.
"Damn! What the hell..." The flower-armed man let out a scream, and the wrist grabbed by the black claws turned blue in the blink of an eye.
He howled and wanted to run back, but the arm of the black claw seemed to be able to extend infinitely. It had been pulled for more than two meters, but it was still holding on to his prey, as if waiting for the prey to run out of energy. Moment.
Seeing this scene, the people who were still yelling before suddenly retreated in alarm.
The yellow-haired boy of the flower-armed man originally wanted to go up to help, but when he saw a few black hands looming outside the iron gate, he couldn't help but retreat silently.
"ah!"
At this time, the flower-armed man was exhausted, and he staggered and fell to the ground. He was immediately dragged by the black claws, and quickly dragged him to the door.
Shen Yu, who was closest to him, couldn't bear it, so he stretched out his hand to pull him, and tried his best not to let him be dragged away directly.
"Hold him down well." The short-haired girl who had just issued a warning shouted, and came to the two of them in a flash, only to see a bright knife flash, and blood spurted out.
She held a knife that came out of nowhere in her hand, like cutting tofu, she cut off the wrist of the flower-armed man who was being grabbed.
The black claws dragged the bloody palm and quickly retracted out of the door. Then, in the thick fog outside, there was a creepy and clear chewing sound.
The flower-armed man who had lost one hand, after a moment of stunned, screamed louder, crying with tears and snot all over his face, without any trace of his previous prestige.
The rest of the people stared in shock at the short-haired girl who cut off the wrist of a living person at will.
"Looking for trouble!" The short-haired girl didn't care about the strange eyes of others, she just cursed in a low voice, then took out some first-aid supplies, leaned over and bandaged the wound of the flower-armed man cleanly.
She said with a cold face: "I violated the rules and wanted to leave this place. It is a blessing to be able to save a life. If you don't give up a little flesh and blood to the outside, those things in the dense fog will not be satisfied."
"In the story, there are some rules that must never be violated, remember?" After saving the life of the flower-armed man, the short-haired girl turned her head and cast a serious glance at the newcomers behind her.
Terrified by the bloody scene that happened just now, the newcomers dared not have any objections anyway, they all shrank to one side silently, and did not dare to yell again.
Only Shen Yu, who had just stepped forward to help, noticed that the short-haired girl seemed to gently touch the cover of the black book with her hand before taking out the knife and first-aid supplies.
"Interesting." He thought to himself, slowly stroking his book with his palm.
The touch is delicate, almost like touching a piece of human skin.
"Ahem... Welcome to Pink Apartment."
Just when this tragic farce had just come to an end, many newcomers were still immersed in fear and failed to recover, a cough sounded from behind everyone, followed by a welcome speech with a strange tone .
When everyone turned their heads, they saw a short old woman walking towards them with a hunched back and coughing.
The old man's face was haggard, and his eyes were covered with a layer of gray-white cloud, making one wonder whether she could see clearly.
There was a large bunch of keys hanging around her waist, and every time she took a step, her body rattled. On her left arm was a red sleeve with the words "corridor management" written on it.
The little old man stopped, looked at the crowd with blindfolded eyes, and said seriously, with a hoarse voice: "I am the corridor manager of the pink apartment, you thirteen hired cleaners, why did you come here?" ?”
The identities of the thirteen of them in the story were indeed cleaners, which matched the words written in the book.
Shen Yu's eyes moved, and his fingers rested on the bloody palm prints on the black book, thoughtful in his heart.
The corridor manager was still babbling: "You are too slow. From today, you only have five days to clean the apartment. If the cleaning is not clean by then, our apartment will not pay for it!"
As she spoke, she untied a few keys from her waist: "The pink apartment is responsible for your board and lodging issues. There are seven keys here, which can open seven rooms for people to rest. Two people share one room."
"These six pink keys can only open the corresponding doors of the apartments in the west building. This red key can open all the doors in the east building and you can move in at will."
"Every morning, before you go to work, remember to return the keys to me. Every night, I will redistribute the keys to you."
She spread out all the seven keys in front of everyone. Sure enough, six of them were pink with house numbers engraved on them. There was only one red key with nothing on it.
Seeing this, a newcomer boldly asked tremblingly: "There are two people in one room, but there are thirteen of us, and the remaining one..."
The administrator stared at her with cloudy eyes, and grinned, revealing the sparse yellow teeth in his mouth: "You assign it yourself, and I won't interfere."
After that, she glanced at the crowd again, and said darkly: "The security is not very good recently, please be careful at night, remember to lock the doors and windows."
"The apartment turns off the lights at 11 o'clock every night, and you are not allowed to go out after the lights are turned off. During the day, you must clean up the seven floors of the pink apartment, and no one is allowed to be lazy. When you meet the residents of our apartment, you should be more polite."
After instructing the apartment building rules, she glanced at the tightly closed elevator in the middle of the hall, and said seemingly unintentionally: "Also, the elevator in our apartment has broken down recently, you can use the stairs to go up and down the stairs."
After finishing speaking, the administrator hunched his back again and left.
Only everyone was left, facing the seven keys, looking at each other in blank dismay.
Suddenly, the man with glasses was thoughtful, and was the first to strike, grabbing a pink key in his hand.
Everyone looked at him, he stroked his forehead and eyes on the bridge of his nose, and explained: "Thirteen people, seven keys, two people in one room, one person must be left behind, and one person lives in one room."
"Six pink keys and one red key. The administrator asked us to assign them by ourselves. The meaning is very clear. The person who is left will live in the room with the red key."
He looked around at the dignified expressions of the crowd, and a smug smile appeared on the corner of his mouth: "Obviously, the person who is alone will be in danger at night."
As soon as he finished speaking, those who reacted quickly snatched all the pink keys in an instant.
The rest of the people were a little slower, facing the only remaining red key, wanting to cry without tears, they could only cast their eyes on the person who got the key.
It's about your own life, no one wants to be alone.
Among them, there was a young couple who came in together. The man grabbed a pink key and naturally had to share a room with his girlfriend, and no one else could get in.
Although the flower-armed man lost a palm, his yellow-haired younger brother was a pickpocket with the fastest hands. He managed to snatch a pink key in the chaos, and helped his elder brother to the West Building apartment.
As a result, other people put their courteous eyes on the man in glasses who got the key from the very beginning.
There was a pair of twins among the newcomers, the older sister had a hot personality and could let go, she directly moved to the side of the man with glasses, pleading softly, her chest brushed against the back of the man's hand intentionally or unintentionally.
The younger sister has a shy personality, so she just tugged at the corner of her clothes uneasily, and whispered, "Sister, is it not safe to share a room with a strange man..."
The impatient elder sister scolded back directly: "It's this time now, and my life may not be saved, so what are you talking about? Don't pull me if you want to die!"
The younger sister loosened the corner of her sister's clothes embarrassingly.
There was a reserved smile on the face of the man with glasses, and his critical eyes turned around between the two sisters, and finally he chose the older sister who took the initiative to come forward.
The younger sister who was left behind stayed where she was, staring at her toes anxiously.
The short-haired girl who had acted righteously before, looked at this poor little girl, couldn't help sighing, beckoned her over, and shared a room.
And the bald man who is also a veteran, for some unknown reason, was a step too slow this time, and didn't grab the pink key, his face was so gloomy that he was about to drip water.
On the contrary, it was a thick and honest man who successfully snatched a pink key.
He is a driver, and this time he came here to discuss business with his boss, and was accidentally involved in the story.
Seeing that he successfully snatched the key, his boss was also overjoyed, and held the driver's hand and said repeatedly: "Da Zhuang, if the two of us can go out this time, I will definitely give you the wages owed! Your promotion and salary increase... "
The driver named Da Zhuang, still smiling honestly, turned around and chose the gloomy bald man to form a team.
The boss who was left behind was stunned and shouted: "Da Zhuang, we have been friends for many years, you can't do this kind of thing at this time! Do you think the salary is too low? After you go out, you have to I'll give you as much as you want!"
Da Zhuang scratched his head and said sincerely: "Boss Qian, if you want to live, so do I. You are just like me, you just came in and you don't know anything, so I have to find an old hand to cover me. The chances of surviving are also higher."
"Boss Qian, I'm sorry!"
Boss Qian, who was rejected, was in a hurry. He waved the black book in his hand and stammered, "Da Zhuang, I also have books. I am also what they say... a novelist, but I don't know how to use it yet."
Da Zhuang shook his head, but followed the bald man with a proud face.
"Da Zhuang, you son of a bitch! You, you were fired, and when you got out, you packed up and left..." Watching my driver leave with other men, I felt as if I was being greened by Boss Qian. Can't help yelling.
But his yelling and threats are useless here.
At this time, there were only three people left in the hall, Shen Yu, Boss Qian, and the little boy who was still hiding in the corner.
Shen Yu held the last pink key in his hand.
So, Boss Qian turned his attention to Shen Yu again, and begged, "Little brother, choose me to team up with you! I'm rich, and I'm very rich. As long as we get out alive, I'll give you 200,000 yuan." ...no, two million!"
"As long as I can go out, I will never cut corners to do construction again, never default on wages of migrant workers, never withhold employees' salaries, and never raise a mistress behind my wife's back... I will definitely donate money to charity every day, and I will never do immoral things again..."
A big boss of a dignified company, crying with snot and tears at this moment, almost threw all his face away.
Shen Yu looked down at him, then turned to look at the little boy in the corner.
The little boy was still so silent and quiet, hiding himself in the shadow of the corner, as if he had been forgotten by everyone.
The red key, which was despised by others, was rolling down at his feet at this moment, covered with a layer of dust, as if it was the same fate as the little boy.
Shen Yu pondered for a moment, then slightly shook his head apologetically to Boss Qian, turned around and walked towards the little boy.
Suddenly losing all hope, Boss Qian's legs went limp, he sat down on the ground, and roared with a trembling voice, "Don't choose him, choose me, choose me! He doesn't have money, I have... how much money do you want? Give you all!"
Putting the desperate roar behind him, Shen Yu walked up to the child and reached out to him.
The little boy raised his black eyes and stared at the palm extended to him. He was silent for a long time, and suddenly he smiled slightly.
He asked, "Are you sure you want to choose me?"