Only I Walk Alone

Xiao Chao described the building as a strange one. Decades have passed, yet not a speck of dust has accumulated inside. Xiao Chao once sent robots to explore it, but they came back empty-handed.

Wu Ge also investigated once, but at that time, he hadn’t “opened his eyes,” so he discovered nothing.

Later, when robots attempted to dismantle the building, they encountered various supernatural events, causing many robots to leak oil or electricity, or to be smashed by billboards falling out of nowhere. Therefore, they concluded it was a haunted building and temporarily ceased dealing with it.

Thus, the building has been preserved until now.

Standing in front of the haunted building, Wu Ge commented, “This building looks quite sunny and bright. It’s hard to believe it’s actually a haunted building.”

Xiao Chao replied, “Not all haunted buildings have to be dark and scary. Maybe the ghosts residing here prefer a sunny and bright environment.”

Wu Ge: “…”

Ghosts that like sunshine and brightness, are they still considered ghosts?

Wu Ge walked in boldly, this time without any robot guards, as they are useless against ghosts.

Wu Ge said, “Whether there are ghosts is still a question. Maybe it’s just weird magnetic fields here.”

Xiao Chao’s voice came through the earpiece, saying, “One of humanity’s biggest mistakes is to blame magnetic fields for anything unexplainable.”

Wu Ge couldn’t argue. Indeed, humans do this often: mysterious shipwrecks in the Bermuda Triangle, magnetic field disturbances; death of humans and livestock in the Death Valley in the Kunlun Mountains, magnetic field disturbances; missing cases in the Lop Nur Desert, magnetic field disturbances.

Anything that science can’t explain is attributed to magnetic field disturbances, a rather crude method of explanation.

Wu Ge straightened up because as soon as he entered the haunted building, he suddenly felt a bone-chilling coldness. It wasn’t just a drop in temperature but a coldness that could affect the spirit, pervading the haunted building.

“There’s something about this building.”

Wu Ge became more cautious. He continued to move forward. Even though sunlight penetrated inside, the building lacked any sign of life. Decades ago, humans disappeared, and many human constructions have become extremely old, even overtaken by climbing plants, aside from the cities of robots.

Robot cities differ significantly from human cities. Human cities have windows, doors, stairs, etc., but robots’ buildings don’t need stairs, and doors are usually hidden, with slides instead of staircases.

Many movies depict robot-made buildings with windows and stairs, making it absurd that humans could invade robot buildings through windows and outrun robots on the stairs.

As Wu Ge advanced through the haunted building, he paid more attention to his footsteps, and the more he focused, the more he felt as though someone was behind him.

Xiao Chao asked, “Do you feel anything?”

Wu Ge replied, “No, the other party is hiding very well.”

This time, Wu Ge didn’t wear cumbersome power armor since it’s ineffective against ghosts. He carried a peach wood sword and talisman papers, made according to ancient books, unsure of their effectiveness.

He opened his palm and placed it against the cold wall, closing his eyes, letting his spiritual power seep through the walls and around.

“Even if I don’t find any ghosts, this place is a good spot for practicing spiritual power. It seems easy to concentrate here,” Wu Ge thought.

But as soon as he finished speaking, a female voice suddenly appeared by his ear: “Don’t even think about it!”

Another different female voice followed closely: “Get out!”

The last female voice was somewhat timid as she said, “Don’t disturb us!”

Wu Ge opened his eyes, turned his head, and looked toward the empty corridor.

Xiao Chao asked, “Did you see anything?”

Wu Ge narrowed his eyes, concentrating his spiritual power in his eyes. Then, he saw three faint outlines.

“Didn’t you hear anything?” Wu Ge asked.

Xiao Chao responded, “I heard nothing.”

Of course, Xiao Chao heard nothing, because the three ghosts used telepathy, which is a form of communication using spiritual power, not transmitted through air, hence Xiao Chao heard nothing.

Wu Ge said, “Then I can only communicate with them myself.”

As he spoke, he approached them.

The other side continued using telepathy:

“Stop!”

“Leave now, before I lose my temper!”

“Please leave, my second sister will tear you to pieces!”

Wu Ge politely introduced himself, “Let me introduce myself. I am the last human on Earth. I think we can have a chat. After all, you were humans before, right?”

“The last human?”

“What do you mean? Don’t deceive us!”

“Sister, it does seem like we haven’t seen any other humans recently.”

Three girls, three voices, three personalities. The eldest was calm, asking, “What exactly happened? I remember you came here twenty years ago, but you couldn’t find us then.”

The second sister had a bad temper, coldly saying, “No matter who it is, they’re not good news. Drive him away!”

The youngest, with a soft tone, timidly said, “Sister, let’s hear what happened to the humans. How did he become the last human on Earth?”

Wu Ge said gravely, “Even if you don’t want to listen, I’ll tell you. All of humanity has disappeared, taken away by aliens, leaving only me behind…”

Wu Ge briefed the three sisters on the current situation. The second sister responded, “So what? Whether all of humanity disappears or not, what does it have to do with us? We are no longer human!”

Suddenly, the youngest said, “Wait, sisters, have you forgotten what we feed on? We feed on fear. If all of humanity is gone, doesn’t that mean we will also disappear after a while?”

The eldest nodded, “Indeed, without the emotion of fear, we will disappear. Though I don’t really care about disappearing or not.”

The second sister said, “Exactly, it’s better to disappear. Being trapped here every day without being able to leave is worse than disappearing.”

Wu Ge caught the key point and asked, “Do you want to leave this place?”

The eldest said, “We are bound spirits, only able to move up to ten meters away from this house until we disappear. We can’t leave this place. If you’re here to drive us away, there’s no need.”

Wu Ge said, “Can’t leave this house? Why not just move the house altogether.”

The three sisters: ???