The Shen family’s nightmare began first.
Late that night, Shen Jia woke up thirsty and went to the kitchen for a drink of water. He had just taken a sip when he noticed a rubber ball roll to his feet.
Confused, he wondered why there was a ball in the kitchen. Then he heard a little girl’s voice asking if he had seen her ball.
Still not sensing anything wrong, he nodded.
The moment he looked up, he saw a little girl standing right in front of him—holding her own severed head in her arms.
He screamed in terror.
The little girl kept walking closer, repeatedly asking whether anyone had seen her ball.
Panicking, Shen Jia grabbed the kitchen cleaver and started swinging it wildly.
Just then, Qiao Fengying had come downstairs after hearing the commotion.
The blade struck her across the neck.
It nearly chopped her head off.
She was rushed to the hospital in the middle of the night. Shen Jia refused to return home, insisting on staying at the hospital to look after her.
Shen Changhe didn’t believe a word about ghosts.
Even after Shen Jia repeatedly claimed the house was haunted, he dismissed it as nonsense.
Then, in the middle of the night, he felt a pair of icy-cold hands gently stroking his head.
“This is a nice ball… this is a nice ball…”
Terrified, he bolted downstairs.
But he missed a step and tumbled all the way down.
He wasn’t discovered until the following afternoon, when coworkers came looking after he failed to show up for work.
When they found him, both of his legs were broken. He had wet himself, and the stench of urine filled the room.
His eyes were vacant as he kept muttering,
“I’m not a ball… I’m not a ball…”
The Wu family didn’t fare any better during those three days.
After taking a bath one night, Jiang Siyun stood before the mirror applying face cream.
Suddenly, the reflection in the mirror changed.
The clothes she wore became a crimson dress.
The face inside the mirror smiled at her.
Terrified, she smashed the mirror with the cream jar.
As she tried to flee, her foot caught on a stool, sending her crashing face-first into the shattered glass.
Her entire body was covered in cuts like a human pincushion.
She fainted on the spot.
Wu Zhenshan’s turn came next.
Half asleep, he felt someone staring at him.
The instant he opened his eyes, he saw a long-haired woman in red hanging upside down from the ceiling like a spider.
She stared directly at him.
He screamed and leaped from the bed, sprinting toward the door.
The upside-down ghost chased after him across the ceiling.
Frightened beyond reason, he fled in blind panic.
Instead of falling down the stairs, he jumped straight out of the upstairs window.
Inside another bedroom, Shen Su and Wu Chengzu heard none of the commotion.
The newlyweds were too busy enjoying their wedding night.
Just as Wu Chengzu was thrusting passionately, he suddenly felt a pair of icy, delicate hands slowly caressing his back.
Before he could even remark on how soft Shen Su’s hands felt, he noticed the horrified expression on her face as she stared behind him.
He twisted his neck.
A woman in red stood there.
Blood tears streamed from her eyes as she opened a gaping, bloody mouth.
“Brother Chengzu… aren’t my hands nice and soft?”
“AHHH! A GHOST!”
His terrified scream echoed throughout the entire faculty compound.
Completely naked, Wu Chengzu jumped off the bed.
The female ghost followed behind him with a sinister grin, extending her deathly pale hand.
“Brother Chengzu… aren’t my hands nice and soft?”
“Don’t come any closer!”
Shen Su was equally terrified.
She instinctively ran after Wu Chengzu.
As they scrambled down the staircase together, Wu Chengzu shoved her aside in panic.
She tumbled all the way down the stairs.
When neighbors finally discovered the family the next morning…
Wu Chengzu and Shen Su were lying naked on the first-floor floor.
Wu Zhenshan, wearing only thin pajamas, lay unconscious nearby.
Upstairs, Jiang Siyun’s face and body were embedded with shattered glass. Blood covered the floor, making the scene horrifying to behold.
Fortunately, March in Beijing was still cold, but the faculty housing had central heating.
Otherwise, all four of them might have frozen to death overnight.
At the hospital, their injuries were assessed:
Shen Su had a broken neck and fractured arm.
Wu Chengzu had suffered a spinal injury.
Wu Zhenshan had broken both an arm and a leg.
Jiang Siyun’s face was so badly slashed that she was effectively disfigured.
The incident caused an enormous sensation throughout the faculty compound.
After all, every member of the Wu family had either gone insane or become delirious, each insisting over and over that they had seen ghosts.
Since it all happened in the middle of the night, even the neighbors couldn’t help but feel frightened.
For quite some time afterward, no one dared walk past the Shen family’s house.
Even after the Wu family was discharged from the hospital, they refused to return to the compound, renting another place instead.
As for the Shen family, they hurriedly moved back into Shen Changhe’s old assigned apartment.
Unfortunately, Qiao Fengying had previously lent that apartment to her nephew for his wedding.
Their sudden return led to a fierce family dispute.
But that was a story for another day.
Naturally, Shen Niao had no idea the two little ghosts she’d released had done such an outstanding job.
If she had known, she definitely would have offered them plenty of incense and joss paper as thanks.
Meanwhile…
After more than half a month, Wu Qingchuan’s mission finally came to an end.
After reporting his work, he returned to his quarters to wash up.
Fresh water was precious at sea.
Once they boarded the ship, no one bathed until the mission was over.
Wu Qingchuan liked being clean, but after years in the military, he’d long since stopped being fussy.
Given his rank, applying for family housing wouldn’t have been a problem.
But since he wasn’t married before, living alone in a family apartment felt wasteful, so he had continued staying in the barracks.
After finishing his wash and changing clothes, someone pounded heavily on his door.
The moment he opened it, Li Jianguo squeezed his head through the doorway with a mischievous grin.
“Your wife’s here looking for you!”
He wiggled his eyebrows.
“You brat! Earlier, when I asked whether your wife was pretty, you kept saying looks didn’t matter.”
“So you already knew your wife was a heavenly beauty and deliberately fooled me!”
Recalling Wu Qingchuan’s serious expression the other day, Li Jianguo almost wanted to spit at him.
The guy had definitely been pretending.
What a closet romantic.
After listening quietly, Wu Qingchuan frowned slightly before relaxing.
When he realized he wouldn’t make it back in time for the wedding, he had written Shen Su a letter.
He had gotten her address from his grandparents.
In the letter, he made his position perfectly clear.
He didn’t want a wife living far away.
If she truly intended to marry him, then she would have to come to Ya City.
Life there was undeniably difficult.
But all the other military wives had endured those hardships.
His wife couldn’t be someone who only wanted comfort and luxury.
Besides, Ya City needed more people willing to help build it.
He had also written that he had not yet submitted their marriage application to the military.
If Shen Su wasn’t willing to come, she only had to tell him, and the engagement between their two families would be canceled.
But now…
Shen Su had come.
She was waiting outside the military base.
Wu Qingchuan couldn’t help feeling a newfound respect for her.
She must be a comrade with exceptional ideological commitment.
As for Li Jianguo calling her a heavenly beauty…
Wu Qingchuan paid it little mind, assuming his friend was simply teasing him.
But when he and the eager-to-watch Li Jianguo arrived at the base entrance…
The young woman waiting there heard footsteps and turned around.
Her bright, sparkling eyes met his.
Wu Qingchuan’s steps halted.
…
This… was Shen Su?
Li Jianguo noticed him stop and looked back in confusion.
“Why’d you stop?”
“Nothing.”
Just as Wu Qingchuan was about to continue walking…
The beautiful “Shen Su” smiled sweetly.
Her red lips parted as she called softly,
“Brother Qingchuan~”