On the way home, Jack bought two bowls of wontons at the wonton shop on the corner. One bowl was for himself, after all, he was busy all day and was hungry; the other bowl was for Allen, who didn't look very mentally well and might not even feel hungry.
Jack held the wontons in his right hand and held the silent Allen tightly with his left hand. The two slowly walked into the community where he lived - Ivy. This old-fashioned community has a history of 70 years in Yungu City. Although it looks shabby on the outside, the building structure is still solid.
In this world, there is no country, and everything is based on "states". Yungu City is located in "Kuazhou" and is a medium-sized city. Ivy Community is located in the old city and was once the most prosperous place. Although the city center has moved now, it still retains a strong atmosphere of life.
There is no elevator in the community, and the highest is only five floors. Jack's rental house is on the fourth floor. He took Allen carefully and slowed down his pace, worried that Allen's body would not be able to bear it.
When they walked to the third floor, they met their neighbor Fiona and her daughter Claire. Fiona is a single mother with wavy hair, tall and plump. She and Jack are already familiar with each other. Jack is often not at home, and sometimes he helps her take care of her daughter.
"Haven't you eaten yet?" Fiona asked with a smile when she saw the wontons in Jack's hand.
"Yes, are you going out for a walk?" Jack responded.
"Claire, call uncle." Fiona reminded her daughter.
Claire has fair skin, pigtails, and a red and white dress. She looks very well-behaved. She greeted Jack and Alan politely.
"Claire is so good." Jack smiled, and then cast an apologetic look at Fiona, because Alan's dullness made her feel a little confused.
Fiona seemed to understand Jack's difficulties. She took Claire's hand and stood aside, letting Jack and Alan go upstairs first.
Jack's rental house is not big, with one bedroom, one living room, one kitchen and one bathroom, with a total area of only more than 50 square meters. There are simple furniture in the living room, and there is no TV, because Jack rarely watches it, as long as there is an Internet connection, it is enough.
He asked Allen to sit on the sofa, and he went to the kitchen to get a spoon, opened the wonton package, and handed it to Allen. "Allen, please eat quickly. Adam may be here soon."
Jack noticed that Allen's body temperature was completely normal, which made him more convinced that Allen was not a ghost. He began to consider whether this involved the problem of parallel space, or perhaps both Allens were real.
He ate wontons while observing Allen. Allen also began to eat slowly, although he was silent, but at least he started to eat.
As the sun set, the room gradually darkened. Jack got up and turned on the light, and returned to the sofa to continue eating wontons.
Soon, Jack's cell phone rang. It was Adam calling. "I'm almost there. Which floor do you live on?"
"Fourth floor, up the stairs from the first unit." Jack replied, "Alan and I are eating."
After hanging up the phone, Jack noticed that the screen of his phone showed a photo of another Alan. He didn't notice that Alan had stopped eating wontons and his eyes were fixed on the photo.
"Alan, take your time eating." Jack said, put away his dishes and walked into the bedroom.
The bedroom was simply furnished with a large bed, a carving workbench, and a wardrobe. On the workbench was a sculpture that Jack was recently working on - a bust of Alan. The bust was almost finished, waiting for the final fine carving.
Jack glanced at the bust and found that it was at least 90% similar to Alan sitting in the living room. He picked up the mobile phone charging cable and prepared to charge his mobile phone, but was startled when he turned around - Alan had stood behind him without knowing when.
Alan's expression was still wooden, and his eyes fell on the bust on the workbench. Jack patted his chest, pointed at the sculpture and said, "Alan, this is a bust made for you. It will be sent to you in a few days."
As soon as he finished speaking, Alan suddenly reached out and grabbed Jack's shoulder, so strong that Jack had to face him. Jack was startled, grabbed Alan's arm, and said in surprise, "Alan, what are you doing!"
Alan's cheek was only a few punches away from Jack, his eyes were wide open, as if his eyeballs were about to bulge out, his mouth was open, but he didn't speak, but made a gurgling sound of water flowing, which was very much like the sound of water choking in the throat after drowning.
Jack was stunned at first, but soon remembered the scene mentioned by Adam, and Alan in his family would also make this strange sound. An ominous thought flashed through his mind, maybe Alan in front of him was also fake!
Did he guess wrong? Alan in Adam's family is the real one?
Before Jack could think about it, Allen's strength suddenly increased, his lips opened, revealing a row of neat teeth, and he bit Jack's neck like a beast.
Jack immediately bent his knees and pushed Allen's abdomen, keeping his distance, and then pushed hard.
With a crash, Allen lost his balance and fell backwards, hitting the workbench. The half-body sculpture on the table shook a few times, and then hit Allen's forehead heavily.
There was a dead silence in the house.
Just then, there was a knock on the door outside the living room, and Adam's voice sounded: "Jack, Jack? Open the door..."
Jack's heartbeat accelerated, and he was sweating profusely. Looking at Allen lying on the ground, his head had been broken, but the blood seemed not to have flowed out, and his wooden pupils became blurred again.
Jack slowly stood up, responding to Adam while rushing to the living room.
He opened the door. Adam was standing outside. Seeing Jack's appearance, he asked in surprise, "What happened?"
Jack pointed in the direction of the bedroom: "That...that person doesn't seem to be Allen."
Adam walked into the bedroom quickly with a confused look on his face. Then a voice came from inside the room: "Who are you talking about? There's no one in this room?"
"What?" Jack was startled and rushed into the bedroom, looking at the place where Allen had just been lying.
There was no one on the ground, only a half-body sculpture leaning to the side.