The next morning, Jiang Ye got up early and went back to his own apartment to check.
There was no one around. Sunlight fell through the curtains and spilled across the floor, filling the room with a bright, clean glow. The windows were clear, the room spotless. He checked the kitchen, the bathroom, the bedroom, and the living room. He even remembered to look inside the closets. Everything was normal. The female ghost had already left.
The only question was whether she would give up—or come back again.
Once Jin Feize got up and washed, they went to buy rice noodle rolls at a breakfast shop. While they were lining up to pay, Jin Feize saw his worried expression and smiled.
“Don’t be scared. I’ll stay with you.”
His smile was like warm sunlight in winter. Anyone else who saw it would probably feel warmed through, but Jiang Ye had not forgotten the vile look this bastard had worn when he threatened him with that little video.
He had to think of a way.
Jiang Ye’s mood was heavy. He couldn’t spend all day stuck to Jin Feize like glue.
Even if Jin Feize was willing, he was not.
After guitar class ended that afternoon, Jiang Ye opened the listening app to see where Xiao Liu and Xiao He had gotten to. A full day and night had passed, and their schedule was so rushed that they might already have reached Taisui Village by now.
His classmates packed up their guitars and left the practice room one by one. Jiang Ye looked at the sky outside, a little worried that the female ghost would appear again.
Jin Feize was waiting at the door, his smile warm.
“Little Ye.”
Jiang Ye froze. “Why are you here?”
“To take you home.”
Jiang Ye hesitated, then nodded. He walked beside him, lowering his head as he took out his earphones and plugged them into his phone.
The first thing Jiang Ye heard was footsteps moving through grass. They seemed to be hurrying along. Xiao Liu’s breathing was very heavy.
Jiang Ye listened for more than ten minutes. No one in their group spoke. From start to finish, all he could hear was Xiao Liu’s violent panting.
Jiang Ye frowned. He had picked a bad time to turn on the listening device. He probably wouldn’t hear anything useful this time either. He was a student. There was no way for him to monitor them around the clock. He could only spare a few minutes here and there, which made it very difficult to obtain any effective information.
Still, since they were still on the road, they probably hadn’t found his mother yet.
Jiang Ye was about to exit the listening app when Xiao Liu suddenly spoke.
“Teacher Shen, Teacher Shen, can you hear me?”
“Damn it. I can’t get through no matter what. I can only leave a message.”
“Teacher Shen, I’ve been walking for about three hours. Around half an hour ago, Xiao He and I got separated. Just now, I found Xiao He’s corpse on the riverbank. There were two claw wounds on the body, about four inches deep. There are beasts lurking in this forest. Xiao He was attacked by a beast.”
The more Xiao Liu spoke, the more agitated the voice became.
“Fuck, what the hell is this place? Why haven’t I reached the rendezvous point you marked yet? It was supposed to be a two-hour route. I’ve been walking for almost three and a half fucking hours. There’s something wrong with this place. There has to be. I keep feeling like something’s following me. Sometimes I think I can hear footsteps. I suspect I’m too tired and starting to hallucinate, because I circled back to check and didn’t find anything suspicious. I can’t panic. I can’t panic. Right. I have to stay calm. In a place like this, losing my mind means death. I can’t keep going. I need to close my eyes for a while.”
Jin Feize asked, “What are you listening to?”
Jiang Ye said, “Don’t talk.”
Xiao Liu’s footsteps stopped. It seemed Xiao Liu had found a place to rest. The listening device went quiet. Only the rustle of wind through leaves remained.
Slowly, Jiang Ye heard Xiao Liu’s snores—long and slow, occasionally pausing, almost rhythmic.
Who knew how long Xiao Liu would sleep? Seeing that the bus was about to reach its stop, Jiang Ye was just about to shut off the listening app when he suddenly heard a tiny, strange noise in the pause between snores.
“Heh-heh-heh.”
Jiang Ye’s heart lifted into his throat.
He did not know what had made that sound. It carried a strange, wicked quality, yet somehow it also felt familiar. From the volume, it should still be some distance from Xiao Liu.
“Heh-heh-heh.”
The sound grew clearer and clearer. He could tell that whatever it was, it was gradually approaching Xiao Liu.
A chill ran through Jiang Ye’s heart. He immediately called Xiao Liu. He called twice in a row, but Xiao Liu did not answer. The snoring from the listening device showed no sign of stopping. Xiao Liu was sleeping very deeply.
About five minutes later, the sound had grown louder and louder, as if it were right next to Jiang Ye’s ear.
Xiao Liu’s snoring stopped. It seemed Xiao Liu was slowly waking up, and said groggily, “Xiao He?”
Then there was no more sound.
The “heh-heh” noise gradually grew smaller. Whatever that thing was, it must have been moving away. In the end, no sound came through at all.
Jiang Ye did not know what had happened, and unease filled his chest. He concentrated and listened carefully. After a long while, another “heh-heh” sounded.
At first, Jiang Ye thought the strange thing from before had come back. But after listening closely, he realized that wasn’t it, because this sound had changed in tone.
Wait.
Jiang Ye suddenly froze.
He realized that this voice was somewhat hoarse and rough, exactly like Xiao Liu’s voice.
And the reason the previous strange sound had felt so familiar was because it had clearly been Xiao He’s voice.
Jiang Ye called Zhang Yang.
“Can you contact Teacher Shen? Shen Duo?”
“What’s wrong? Is another strange thing bothering you?”
“I have something to ask him. It’s urgent,” Jiang Ye said.
“All right. I know your matter is classified, so it’s not convenient for me to ask. How about this? I’ll contact him by satellite phone in a bit and tell him you have an urgent matter. I’ll see whether he can speak with you.”
“Thank you, Captain Zhang.”
“Don’t mention it.”
After the call ended, Jin Feize looked at him.
Jiang Ye explained, “It’s nothing. I wanted to talk about that female ghost.”
Jin Feize asked, “Why don’t you ask me for help? I don’t mind living together.”
“Sorry. I’m used to living alone.” Jiang Ye refused.
A teasing smile curved Jin Feize’s lips.
“Forgive me for being blunt, but Shen Duo is too far away to help. Your best option is to ask me. If you try depending on me, things might become much simpler. We’re lovers. Lovers should depend on each other, shouldn’t they?”
“Jin Feize, I’m very grateful for your help,” Jiang Ye said, stubborn as ever. “But my business is my business. I’ll find a way to solve it myself.”
“You wouldn’t tell me what you were listening to just now. You lied to me. Now you won’t ask me for help, and you’re trying to draw a clear line between us. I’m very unhappy.”
That was what Jin Feize said, but he was still smiling. Not the slightest trace of displeasure could be seen on his face.
“…What are you trying to do?”
Jin Feize’s eyes curved.
“Since you’re convinced you can solve it yourself, I wish you luck.”
The bus had not reached the final stop yet, but he got off first.
“I’m not going home tonight,” he said from the platform, waving at Jiang Ye. “I hope we can still see each other tomorrow.”
Jiang Ye: “…”
When Jiang Ye returned to the apartment building, the offering lamps on both sides of the corridor were already gone. The offering table and memorial portrait on the fifth floor had also been removed.
Jiang Ye thought, since the seventh-day soul return had passed, the female ghost probably wouldn’t come again, right?
When he got home, three packages were sitting outside his door. Jiang Ye brought the packages inside, locked the doors and windows, and carefully checked the street again. There was no trace of the female ghost.
His heart lightened a little, but he was a cautious person. He preferred to make full preparations for everything.
He opened one of the packages and took out the life-size poster inside. It was printed with Jin Feize’s image. His smile was gentle, his eyes bright.
This was a photo Jiang Ye had secretly taken that morning. He had called an in-city print shop and paid for an urgent order. The quality was excellent. He was very satisfied.
He stood and pasted the poster on the front door.
With Jin Feize’s poster here, it should be enough to ward the place, right?
He put the other two packages in the entryway, went to the bathroom to wash up, and climbed into bed.
He had just sat down when Zhang Yang called.
“We’ve lost contact with Teacher Shen. Student Jiang, what did you need? If you trust me, tell me first. I’ll see whether I can help you handle it.”
Even Zhang Yang couldn’t contact Shen Duo.
Jiang Ye’s heart sank a little further.
“Did Teacher Shen go somewhere dangerous? Do you have any countermeasures?”
“Well…” Zhang Yang sighed. “To tell you the truth, we can’t interfere in cases handled by the Special Biology Research Institute.”
“Then if Teacher Shen also goes missing, will you still look for him and my mother?”
“This isn’t a question of whether we will. It’s a question of whether we can. Whenever a case involves special organisms, it has to be transferred to the institute,” Zhang Yang said. “All the materials for your mother’s missing-persons case have already been handed over to Teacher Shen and the others. If they have no way, then there’s nothing we can do either. Be patient a little longer. Maybe the signal is just bad.”
Jiang Ye was silent for a while.
“Forget it. Captain Zhang, if you get in touch with Teacher Shen, please contact me.”
“Of course, of course. Teacher Shen told us to look after you. Don’t worry.”
Jiang Ye hung up and sat on the bed, his brows tightly furrowed.
Could Shen Duo have encountered the same situation as Xiao He and Xiao Liu?
He could not imagine it. Had even Shen Duo turned into one of those heh-heh-ing monsters?
If Shen Duo had met with misfortune, who else could help him find Mom?
Heavy with worry, he turned off the light and went to sleep. He had just pulled the blanket over himself when a WeChat message suddenly popped up.
Candy-Loving Witch: [Video]
He tapped open the video Jin Feize had sent. It was surveillance footage from his apartment.
The time stamp was from last night, when the female ghost had attacked.
Irritation rose in him. There was actually still a pinhole camera of Jin Feize’s that had slipped through the net. How many cameras had this bastard installed in his apartment?
In the video, Jiang Ye was sitting in the living room playing games. Suddenly, all the lights went out, and he ran to the balcony. The security door opened little by little. Red light seeped in through the crack.
He could not help holding his breath as he stared at the video.
The woman in red entered his apartment.
She stood in the living room for a long while, then shifted toward his bedroom.
The surveillance view switched. The scene became his bedroom.
The female ghost came through the door. Little by little, she folded her body, as if her bones had snapped, and crawled across the floor into the space beneath his bed.
After watching the video, cold sweat streamed down Jiang Ye’s body.
The female ghost had never left his apartment.
She had hidden under his bed.
The bedroom was pitch-black. Not the slightest sound could be heard, only his heavy breathing.
Perhaps it was psychological, but he felt the bedroom had become much colder than usual. His whole body seemed to be soaked in a vat of cold water, the chill running from the soles of his feet all the way to the crown of his head.
He propped himself up a little. His hair hung down, brushing past his ears, cold and faintly damp.
He opened the camera on his phone and carefully reached toward the edge of the bed.
The phone slowly lowered. The camera aimed beneath the bed.
With a click, the flash lit, and he took a photo under the bed.
He quickly pulled his hand back and stared at the picture.
The photo showed the space beneath his bed. Some miscellaneous items were piled there.
There was no female ghost.
She wasn’t under the bed. Where was she?
Had she already left, or…
He suddenly realized that his hair had grown much longer. It actually hung down to his shoulders.
A wave of cold shot straight through his spine. It felt as if a chunk of ice had been pressed against his chest.
He slowly raised his head, lifted his phone flashlight, and shone it toward the full-length mirror opposite him.
Reflected in the mirror were his pale cheeks.
And the female ghost pressed against his back.
His heart stopped beating in that instant.
He and the female ghost were sitting back-to-back.
A woman’s bleak sobbing sounded from inches away, low and mournful, making Jiang Ye’s scalp go numb.
He watched helplessly as the female ghost’s body remained completely still, while her head slowly turned.
The crackling sound of her neck twisting rang clearly beside his ear.
Ice-cold long hair brushed the back of his neck.
The female ghost’s head turned one hundred and eighty degrees.
A savage, bluish-purple face appeared in the mirror, its lips rotted, its teeth broken, its eyes rolled white.
Even though she had become like this, Jiang Ye could still recognize who she was.
She was not the woman from the fifth floor who had jumped to her death.
She was Liu Bei.
Her body had been taken, and she had returned in the form of a ghost.
Liu Bei stopped crying.
Her expression became hideously ferocious.