CHAPTER 55: CHAPTER 38: JULY PHOTOGRAPHY STUDIO (PART 4)

Half an hour ago.

"Friends, behind me is the July Photography Studio~ I wonder how many of you remember the missing children’s case that caused a sensation in Yu City more than ten years ago. Although there’s no evidence, all nine children who disappeared from Yu City during that time had one thing in common: they all had their photos taken at this studio."

The petite Qi Xiaomiao stood in front of the July Photography Studio, holding a flashlight under her chin to create a deathly lighting effect, deliberately making a spooky face.

Zhang Da Kui stood beside her, holding a crowbar, the camera on his body aimed at Qi Xiaomiao.

The mist was thick, and the light from Zhang Da Kui’s flashlight shone on the faded sign of the July Photography Studio. Behind the shop window and glass door, it was pitch black, with mist and dust floating in the beam of light.

"...I know a lot of people say this is a conspiracy theory, but think about it, netizens’ analysis isn’t without reason. Could it be that the owner of the photography studio singled out suitable children, and after taking their photos, arranged for someone to kidnap them?"

"During the photo sessions, the studio could learn about the children and their families, find out where they live, and where they frequently go. Unfortunately, without sufficient evidence, this case became a mystery."

"After the original owner of the studio sold it to someone else, they disappeared without a trace. The new owner kept the original name. Strangely, after the new owner took over, many customers who had their photos taken in the studio claimed to hear children laughing behind them, only to find no one there when they turned around, or saw balls bouncing out on their own."

"There are even some strange missing persons cases online attributed to the studio. In the end, there arose a creepy legend: those who have their photos taken at the July Photography Studio will vanish."

"Today, Little Miao and I, Da Kui, will dispel this legend. We’ve decided to take a group photo in front of the July Photography Studio, then enter the studio and take another photo. Just wait and see, we definitely won’t disappear!"

After recording, Qi Xiaomiao took out her 1.5-meter tall floor stand, setting up her phone at the entrance of the July Photography Studio, ready to take the group photo.

Behind her, Zhang Da Kui used the crowbar to pick the lock. Without much effort, the door opened a crack.

Jingle jingle~

The wind chimes rang, and inside the long-sealed studio, dust started to drift down.

"Da Kui, come take a picture."

Hearing Qi Xiaomiao’s call, Zhang Da Kui didn’t think much about the door lock, walked over to Qi Xiaomiao, let her hold his arm, and got on his tiptoes.

Zhang Da Kui crouched on one knee, leveling their heights, and brought their heads together.

Qi Xiaomiao made a victory sign with one hand and held a Bluetooth remote control in the other.

"One, two, three, beautiful!"

Click!

In the flash of the camera, their smiles were captured. Qi Xiaomiao and Zhang Da Kui immediately went over to check the photo on the phone.

"Ah!"

Seeing the photo, Qi Xiaomiao let out a scream, and the phone and stand fell to the ground. Zhang Da Kui also shivered at the sight of the children’s faces in the photo.

Their flashlights instantly turned toward the studio’s glass door. Through the mottled glass, they could vaguely make out the walls inside the studio, on which hung numerous portraits of children.

Could it be a mistake?

Qi Xiaomiao and Zhang Da Kui exchanged glances and were about to pick up the phone to confirm when a ball bounced out from the distant darkness.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The sound pressed upon their racing hearts, and Qi Xiaomiao widened her eyes, hiding behind Zhang Da Kui. He raised his flashlight and discovered there was no one where the ball bounced from.

An eerie breeze brushed their necks, causing goosebumps to rise.

The ball rolled closer, and in a blink, it morphed into a rotten human head, hair entwining the face, revealing a pale eye staring at them.

"Ah!!!"

Terrified, Qi Xiaomiao turned and ran, pushing open the studio door and rushing in, with Zhang Da Kui following in a daze.

"What was that? Could there really be something unclean in this village?"

Qi Xiaomiao asked Zhang Da Kui nervously, not daring to look outside again.

"I’ll check again."

His face pale, Zhang Da Kui swallowed hard, grabbed a flashlight, wiped the dust from the shop window’s glass, and shone it outside.

Nothing was there, neither the head nor the ball.

Bam!

The studio door shut suddenly, making Qi Xiaomiao tremble all over, and she immediately pointed her flashlight in that direction.

There was still no one, but on the dusty glass, a child’s handprint had appeared!

"Brother Da Kui, could there really be... ghosts? What do we do? Are we trapped here?"

Zhang Da Kui hesitated, saw Qi Xiaomiao’s panic-stricken, teary-eyed face, and bravely walked over to pull the door with all his might.

As expected, it wouldn’t budge.

Qi Xiaomiao nervously scanned the surroundings with her flashlight, trembling, fearing something might suddenly emerge.

The wall at the entrance of the photo studio was neatly covered with various frames of different sizes, all showing children’s smiling faces, covered in dust and barely discernible.

Ssss!

The two flashlights in their hands flickered twice and suddenly went out.

"Brother Da Kui!"

Qi Xiaomiao was so startled that she cried out, grabbing Zhang Da Kui’s arm tightly, trembling all over.

"Don’t be afraid, I’m here!"

Zhang Da Kui quickly pulled out his phone from his pocket, swiftly turned on the flashlight function, and held it up to illuminate.

"Ahhhh!!!"

Qi Xiaomiao screamed and fell back, staring in horror at the photo wall in front of her.

All the photos on the wall turned black and white, and bright red blood dripped down from the children’s eyes, their smiling corners turned malicious.

Teehee~

Unknown laughter drifted from nowhere, under the mobile phone’s light, the dusty ground suddenly showed many small footprints, rushing towards them from all directions.

The phone light went out, and the darkness completely engulfed everything.

Teehee~

"Ah————"

The silent abandoned village remained quiet, lifeless and still.

The door of the July Photography Studio slowly opened with a creak.

Jingle jingle~

Welcome!

*

At the same time, upstairs in the Brother Watch Shop.

Zheng Letian was supporting the breathless Xu Shufen, sitting collapsed on the stairs.

Zheng Letian’s eyes turned red as he ran to the railing of the middle skywell, looking down, but the misty black fog made it impossible to see the first floor.

(Skywell Building layout reference, imagine it as night.)

Above was the same darkness, around them the old green wooden doors were marked with faded couplets, abandoned clutter stacked in the damp corners, everywhere exuding a creepy, eerie atmosphere.

They were completely lost in this building.

They couldn’t reach the top floor nor the first floor, though he had meticulously counted, they had run through at least twenty-one floors, but this building was only seven floors high!

This wasn’t just a simple ghost wall; they brought rooster blood, black dog blood, exhausting all possible ways to break the ghost wall, yet still couldn’t see the bottom floor.

The last thing he could think of was to jump directly from the skywell!

But remembering Brother Wu Jun swallowed up by ’village resentment’, he could only abandon such a risky idea, he had to survive to save Brother Wu Jun.

As long as he went out and contacted his elder brother, before Mid-Autumn Festival, there was still hope for Brother Wu Jun!

Wiping away the wetness from the corners of his eyes with his sleeve, Zheng Letian turned his head, the disheveled woman in red clothes was still standing in the distant darkness, like a shadow, always following them.

Zheng Letian pretended not to see, retreated beside Xu Shufen, who was sitting limp on the stairs, her originally graying hair now completely white, cheeks sunken, as if hanging by a thread.

Xu Shufen was still holding the Mountain God Statue wrapped in red cloth in her arms, gasping, "Child, I’m sorry, it’s all my fault, this village resentment is far stronger than I imagined, even stronger than the Mountain God, we simply can’t deal with it, very sorry to have dragged you into it."

Zheng Letian slightly shook his head, "Nothing like that, grandma. It’s this era that has created too much resentment, allowing the village resentment to grow rapidly. Nonetheless, have you ever heard the saying, ’People are scarier than ghosts’? That’s why I believe we’ll surely make it out alive."

Xu Shufen sighed faintly, "I’m old and can’t run anymore, I’ve lived long enough already, you leave me here and find your own way out. There must be some rules we haven’t noticed in this building; find them, you must get out!"

Zheng Letian did not rush to refuse, thought carefully, took the Exorcism Jade Pendant from his neck, and placed it in Xu Shufen’s hand.

"I can leave you and go alone, but you must accept this Jade from me, it’s the Amulet my elder brother gave me, keep it safe for me, I will come back to take it."

After speaking, Zheng Letian didn’t wait for Xu Shufen to refuse and quickly disappeared down the stairs.

Xu Shufen clutched the Jade tightly and sighed heavily. Without this Jade and Zheng Wujun’s protection, it would have been Zheng Letian swallowed by village resentment.

Zheng Letian had more potential than Zheng Wujun; it was evident as he could always perceive more than Zheng Wujun.

Without this Jade, for sure he’d be targeted by village resentment.

This child intended to use himself to lure away the village resentment!