I snapped out of it, the events of last night flashing back to my mind. I frowned and groaned. "Oh my God, do you really have to go see it?" 

"Of course I do. Hurry up. I have to go to the construction site today." 

Xiaoguo came last night and was very excited to see the office. I flatly refused him, saying I wouldn't go even if a gun was put to my head. He persisted for a long time, and I never expected him to be so stubborn. It was getting on my nerves. Finally, I agreed to go in the morning, and here he was, bothering me so early in the morning. I've never met anyone as interested in ghosts as Guo. 

"Ghosts are not young and beautiful naked girls, what's there to see?" I said as I put on my clothes, "Haven't you seen enough horror movies?" 

"Yes, I've seen enough horror movies," Xiaoguo said with a smile, "so I want to see a real ghost." 

"You may be disappointed, because that may not be a ghost, but, but I don't know what, probably it can be called a weird phenomenon! Maybe it can be explained by science, such as soulology..." 

"Is soulology a science?" 

"Alchemy in the Middle Ages has become the ancestor of modern chemistry. Who knows if soulology will be the ancestor of some science in the future?" 

I finally put on my clothes, took out a bunch of keys from a broken table, and turned to face Xiaoguo. "I'm giving you a warning. Human life is at stake, no joke. So I suggest you just take a quick look at the door. It's best not to go in. That thing is truly dangerous. I'm not talking about her fangs or anything like that. Her danger lies primarily in her spirit, and I don't want anything to happen to you." 

"Okay, okay, stop rambling. I won't go in. At least I'll stay at the door until we figure out what's going on. It doesn't hurt to be cautious about ghosts and the like." He suddenly became reasonable, which startled me. 

We left the small room, which was less than thirty meters from the former mailroom at the main entrance. It had originally been an office or something, and now there were two shabby beds and two desks inside. There were quite a few people from out of town on our boss's construction team, and they stayed here when they had nowhere else to stay. Xiaoguo and I stayed here a while ago. Last night, to give me courage, he stayed with me. 

We went to the courtyard. The morning breeze was cool and pleasant, and the weather was beautiful. On such a nice day, the idea of a haunted office and a portrait that came to life seemed unreal. In the easternmost house, an old woman and a little boy were urinating. It was a perfectly ordinary, perfectly normal scene, nothing like something terrifying. I almost began to suspect that last night's events were just a nightmare. 

But as I reached the office door, I saw the wooden pick that had tripped me the night before, looked at the scrape on my palm, and thought about how my nose was still stuffy and my cheek was still numb from the cut. I had to admit that it wasn't a nightmare, but a real thing. I sighed, as the beautiful day suddenly became heavy. 

I inserted the key into the keyhole and turned it a few times. I turned to Xiaoguo and said, "You still have time to regret it. This is your last chance. We'd better get out of here. There's no need to take any risks." 

Xiaoguo smiled calmly. "Open the door! I've made up my mind." 

I grabbed the doorknob and pulled it back, leaping as hard as I could. Even if a lion burst out from inside, I wouldn't be nervous. Xiaoguo was startled by me. He peered inside warily. The security door hit the wooden block but didn't bounce back. Through the open doorway, I could see the kitchen wall. Nothing had burst forth. Everything inside remained the same, unchanged. 

I eagerly gazed at the portrait. Damn it, it was dead again. The woman, as always, gazed melancholy at her toes, her clothes unwrinkled. She had become a flat, flat portrait again, devoid of any unusual aura. In the bright daylight, it was just a plain, ordinary portrait. I couldn't even prove it was a disguise. 

"This is the portrait that nearly killed you," Xiaoguo sneered. 

I didn't answer. What else could I say? This is the realism of horror films. In horror films, when the protagonist discovers a ghost, no one believes him. He tries every possible means to prove the ghost's existence, but the ghost refuses to cooperate, never coming forward when others are present. It seems that the same fate as those fabricated horror films has befallen me. 

Xiaoguo came over and patted me on the shoulder, "Don't be discouraged, old friend, I believe everything you said. There is indeed something wrong with this portrait." 

"Really?" I was happy. Real life must be different from fictional horror movies.