I was startled by my own thought. As if in response, the same liquid continued to spurt from the mop, and the air in the room was filled with a nauseating, stench. My hands began to tremble, barely holding the mop handle. The mop handle spurted blood continuously, as if it had been cut. Suddenly, a large gush of blood gushed toward me. I screamed in fear and jumped to the side, colliding with my body against a wooden desk. 

The mop handle fell to the floor with a thud. A large pool of blood, along with something resembling egg white, quickly seeped into the tile floor and disappeared. By now, I was standing facing the wall of the room, my legs as weak as ropes. In a flash of panic, I suddenly realized that it was someone in the room with me who had been causing trouble. He (or should I say, "she"?) was trying to alert me to his presence. 

I frantically looked around, trying to find the person. There was a sofa against the east wall with a world map hanging on it. Two desks, one of which I was leaning on, were under the south window. Against the west wall was a wooden cabinet and a third desk. To the north was a wall separating the bedroom and kitchen. There was not a soul in there, yet I could still sense someone staring at me intently. I could even tell they were staring at my chest, but I saw no one! 

My gaze fell on the wall next to the kitchen window. There hung a clock (it was the one that chimed at five o'clock) and a portrait. It was actually a large, full-length photograph with the effect of an oil painting. It was of a young woman. She wore a garland on her head and a long white dress. Her face was delicate and slender, her eyes downcast, a fierce expression on her face, as if lost in some secret sorrow. In the past, whenever I entered the office, I'd involuntarily glance at her twice, thinking it was her expression that captivated me. 

But now, I realized she was glaring at me fiercely. 

Suddenly, a chill ran through my body. I finally understood what it meant to have a true soul gone from my head. I felt truly frightened. I stared at the portrait, hoping it was just a misunderstanding. Unfortunately, her eyelids did lift, and she indeed glared at me fiercely. Her entire body, pressed flat against the canvas, was lifeless, except for her eyes, which were three-dimensional and alive. I could even read contempt and condemnation in them. 

I froze, completely forgetting I could run. A gloomy green light had suddenly illuminated the room, casting a sinister green hue on everything, even the woman's skin. Her eyes also shone faintly with a green glow; I could clearly see her eyelids and face move. A cold sweat broke out, and if it weren't for the support of the table behind me, I would have collapsed to the ground. 

A chilling breeze blew in from nowhere, and the green light in the room trembled slightly. Everything seemed to stir, as if it were about to come alive. I clung to the edge of the table, trying to shrink back, wishing I could shrink into it, or turn into a piece of wood, and never feel again. 

Another gust of chilling wind blew in. I knew I shouldn't look at the portrait again, but I couldn't help but stare. The woman's face was completely green. A closer look revealed that her face protruded from the plane of the portrait, becoming three-dimensional. The skin on her face twitched slightly, and her intense expression shifted to one of deep contempt. This was the first time in my life that I saw a frozen portrait change expression. I think I will never forget this moment.

The face protruded about half an inch from the surface of the portrait. Gusts of chilling wind blew, and the face strained against the portrait. Her entire head seemed to be bulging forward, breaking free from the flat surface of the portrait, becoming three-dimensional and alive. The green light in the room grew thicker, and it no longer looked like a place for living people. 

The sheer defiance of what I was seeing blinded me, and I even forgot to run. But even if I wanted to, I wouldn't have been able to. I didn't know where the blood on my face was flowing, and I could feel my face turning pale as paper. I half-collapsed at the table, my legs unable to support me. This was the first time in my life I was so frightened. I could tell the woman's contempt for me grew even stronger. 

The chilling wind blew, and something fluttered in the breeze: her long hair. Her head jerked forward, freeing the last vestiges of its attachment to the portrait. Her head came alive, and her hair fluttered in the chilling wind, making her look even more sinister. Her maw opened wide, and a shrill laugh erupted. Her laughter gave me goosebumps, more irritating than the cry of an owl in the middle of the night. 

Escape!