From the moment he entered the old building, Lu Xin felt an unusual sense of oppression.
The entire stairwell was deathly quiet, without a trace of sound. Only a little light from outside filtered through the gaps in the concrete stairs, allowing him to make out the vague layout of the building. Empty rooms stood in neat rows on both sides of the stairwell, like silent guards or prison cells. The tightly shut doors and cobweb-covered corridors made the old building look utterly lifeless.
Every now and then, a stray cat or rat would scurry out from a stairwell or a hole beneath a door, either chasing and fighting one another or turning back to stare silently at Lu Xin before darting into some unknown corner.
Sister followed behind Lu Xin, crawling forward upside down along the ceiling of the stairwell.
She hummed softly in a childish voice, seemingly in a very good mood:
"Little baby, wah wah wah, barefoot, looking for Mom,"
"Mom is hiding under the bed,"
"We won't tell him!"
"..."
"Little baby, tummy's hungry, lying on the bed without a word,"
"Dad is getting ready to cook,"
"Looking at the baby, he smiles..."
"..."
Lu Xin couldn't help stopping when he heard her and said, "Sister, stop singing."
Sister straightened up while still hanging upside down, her black hair falling down as she giggled. "Brother, you don't like it?"
"No."
Lu Xin nodded. "You're way too off-key..."
Sister swayed upside down, apparently unsure how to respond.
Before long, they had reached the fourth floor. Looking ahead, they saw a sliver of light squeezing out through a crack in the door.
In this cold and empty old building, only their home still had warm lights.
Sister stopped singing too. She lightly jumped down from the