Uncanny Valley

Uncanny Valley

Main text (introduction)

As evening approached, the sun had set, but the lights remained off. The shadows of the trees outside the window made the narrow corridor even darker. The ceiling and walls of the corridor were painted a stark white, which, combined with the gray cement floor, created a depressing atmosphere throughout the space.

The sound of footsteps suddenly broke the silence. With that sound, a young woman turned into the corridor from the stairwell. Perhaps because she had just entered from the outside, she was momentarily unaccustomed to the dim environment, subconsciously slowing her pace while widening her eyes to carefully observe her surroundings.

An elderly man dressed in white robes and a white hat, resembling a doctor, followed the woman in and quickly overtook her. The old man was clearly familiar with the area; he walked without stopping into the depths of the corridor, saying in a low voice, "Please follow me." His steps were quick and light, making not a sound.

The woman could now see her surroundings clearly, but the other end of the corridor remained completely dark due to the distance.

What might be hidden in that darkness?

The woman stood there, looking somewhat uneasy. Seeing the distance between her and the old man gradually increase, she quickly followed, her high heels clicking on the hard ground with a series of "tap-tap" sounds.

The two of them walked one after the other to the end of the corridor.

A tightly closed wooden door appeared before them.

The old man took out his key, but instead of opening the door, he turned to look at the woman beside him, as if gesturing something. The woman was somewhat nervous; she bit her lip and then nodded to the old man.

The old man inserted the key into the lock, making a soft click. The sound was extremely subtle, but it immediately produced a huge reaction inside the house.

Ahhhhh

A piercing scream easily pierced through the doorway, a cry filled with terror and despair that went straight to the deepest recesses of the listener's eardrums. Although the woman was somewhat prepared, she still involuntarily trembled.

The old man, however, seemed unfazed. He casually turned the key in his hand and then opened the tightly closed wooden door.

Behind the wooden door was another iron door, but it was merely a fence and couldn't block the dim light from streaming into the room. A figure could be vaguely seen huddled in a corner, trembling with fear. The heart-wrenching screams were coming from him.

The old man pressed a switch by the door, and the fluorescent light inside flickered on. The light calmed the man in the corner slightly; he stopped shouting, staring wide-eyed at the visitor outside, his eyes still filled with terror. After a moment, he suddenly spoke, uttering a series of words with extremely strange pronunciation.

The old man seemed not to understand what he was saying and turned to look at the woman beside him with a questioning gaze.

The woman nodded: "Yes, this is indeed the indigenous language of the Hamo people."

The old man's eyes lit up: "What did he mean by that?"

The man kept repeating something, his emotions growing increasingly agitated, and his voice rising higher and higher.

The woman frowned, straining to listen; it was clear she was also struggling to decipher the other person's words. After a moment, a strange expression crossed her face, and she murmured, "The Valley of the Uncanny... the demons are coming?"

"The Valley of the Uncanny? Demons?" the old man asked, puzzled. "What demons?"

The woman shook her head, then looked at the man inside the house and asked in the Hamo language, "Demon? What demon did you say?"

The man suddenly stood up and walked step by step toward the door, his eyes fixed on the woman's face like knives.

The old man rubbed his hands together excitedly, unable to hide his excitement: "That's great! He understood you! You can communicate with him now!"

The man had reached the iron gate. The woman stood facing him through the fence, waiting for his answer. Suddenly, the man stretched his arms out from between the bars and reached out to grab the woman!

The old man reacted quickly, pulling the woman back a step. His hands brushed across the woman's cheeks, carrying a chilling breeze. The woman was clearly terrified; her pretty face paled.

The man missed his grip, then tightly clutched the iron bars of the gate. His gaze drifted into the distance, and he let out a chilling cry that sent shivers down one's spine: "Ya-ku-ma!"

That was a sound no human could possibly make! It seemed as if all the fear, despair, and pain in the world were condensed into that one scream, and the immense power of it was enough to destroy a person!

A power filled with fear and despair!

The old man and the woman trembled under this power, involuntarily looking around with deep terror in their eyes.

demon!

They seemed to have sensed the arrival of the demon!

Part 1: Running to Death

When things first started, Luo Fei even suspected it was a prank.

The complainants were three students from Class 32 of the Department of Resources and Environmental Engineering at Longzhou Polytechnic College. Because the Municipal Public Security Bureau is very close to Longzhou Polytechnic College, and Luo Fei happened to be on duty that day, the case was reported directly to him.

The boy who led the group, Zou Wenbin, was the class monitor. He was accompanied by a boy and a girl. They reported the incident at 11:47 PM. According to their description, the incident unfolded as follows:

Around 8:10 PM that evening, students from Class 32 of the Resources and Environment Department were gathered in their classroom for evening self-study. A boy named Yu Ziqiang suddenly shouted and rushed out of the classroom. Before the other students could react, he had disappeared into the night. He didn't return even after the dormitory lights were turned off and the doors locked. Calls to his cell phone went unanswered. Zou Wenbin, the class monitor, was worried and, along with Yu Ziqiang's roommate Zhang Hong and a girl named Xu Ting who was concerned about the matter, went to the police station to report the incident.

“We can’t file a case right now in this situation,” Luo Fei said frankly. “These kinds of cases can only proceed after the person has been missing for 48 hours. You should first get your classmates around to search and inquire. Or you can wait a bit; maybe he’ll come back on his own tomorrow.”

Since Luo Fei had said so, the three students had no other choice. However, it was clear that they were not satisfied with the outcome, especially the girl, who seemed to want to say something, but ultimately left with the two boys.

Luo Fei didn't think there was anything wrong with what he did. First, he was acting in accordance with the law; second, the situation reported by the complainant really didn't warrant his attention: Yu Ziqiang ran away on his own, and although the reason was unclear, there were too many strange ideas and behaviors among college students these days. If you seriously followed their lead, you'd exhaust yourself!

But the situation quickly became complicated. Early the next morning, elderly people doing their morning exercise discovered a male corpse on the north bank of the Yudai River in the east of the city. The identification documents found on the body indicated that the deceased was Yu Ziqiang.

Upon receiving the report, Luo Fei immediately led forensic doctor Zhang Yu and others to the scene. The Yudai River is a river that encircles the urban area of Longzhou City. The incident occurred in a relatively remote section, with unpaved dirt roads on both sides of the riverbank and no streetlights installed. Few people would pass by here at night.

The deceased was found face down on the riverbank, in a natural position, showing no signs of struggling or pain before death. The clothing was intact, and there was no blood or other suspicious items found at the scene.

After taking a series of photos, Luo Fei and Zhang Yu put on gloves and turned the body over. When the deceased's face was revealed to them, the two couldn't help but feel suspicious.

The deceased was grimacing, his facial muscles contorted and stiff, making his nose appear crooked to one side. But what was truly unsettling was undoubtedly his eyes.

Those were eyes filled with terror, almost bulging out of their sockets, revealing large patches of bloodshot whites. The round pupils bulged outwards, as if about to burst from their sockets. Even Luo Fei felt a chill run down his spine when he met those eyes.

"What do you think?" Luo Fei knew that Zhang Yu was an expert in autopsy, so he first sought his opinion.

Zhang Yu carefully examined several key parts of the deceased's body and then said, "The surface of the body is intact, with no signs of violence. Judging from the state of the secretions from the mouth and nose, poisoning can be preliminarily ruled out. Overall, the possibility of homicide seems unlikely. As for the specific cause of death, we will have to wait for further examination and analysis—perhaps it was a sudden onset of some congenital disease, but of course, this is just my guess."

"What was the time of death?"

"Hmm, it should be between nine and eleven hours ago. That is, between eight and ten o'clock last night." Zhang Yu squeezed the deceased's right wrist and made the above judgment based on its stiffness.

Luo

……