Right now, she was the only one in this house!
Who… who could be knocking outside?
“Thump… thump… thump… thump…”
The knocking continued relentlessly. Cheng Sisi pulled the blanket over herself with one hand and covered her mouth with the other, not daring to make a single sound.
Suddenly, the eerie green light flashed outside the window again.
Startled, she shrank tightly against the headboard.
But soon, the green light vanished once more. At the same time, the knocking outside suddenly became rapid and violent.
“Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump…”
No longer slow and spaced out, the frantic pounding sounded like a death chant, driving Cheng Sisi to the brink of collapse. She finally couldn’t hold back her tears, but she still clamped her hand over her mouth, afraid that whatever was outside would hear her and break down the door.
After a while, the violent knocking gradually faded away.
But at that moment, the green light outside the window lit up again. This time, it wasn’t just a fleeting flash—it became a spotlight, fixed on her and unmoving.
“Ah—!”
Cheng Sisi truly lost her composure, especially after realizing she couldn’t turn on the lights in the room.
Frantically, she flipped the light switch on the wall beside her bed, but no matter how many times she tried, the lights wouldn’t come on.
She couldn’t take it anymore. She pulled the blanket over her head, hiding inside and sobbing quietly.
“Xinxin… A’si… Brother Jiang Zhuo…”
“Save me, I’m scared!”
“Brother Jiang Zhuo, Brother Jiang Zhuo…”
She hadn’t expected that the name she’d call out the most would be Jiang Zhuo.
Perhaps, deep down, among the three members of the Jiang family, she felt Jiang Zhuo was the most reliable. And indeed, he had helped her several times, getting her out of difficult situations.
She didn’t dare to peek out from under the blanket. Instead, she wished she could simply vanish on the spot, unwilling to face this terrifying scene.
After what felt like an eternity, the knocking outside gradually faded amidst her sobs until it disappeared completely.
She pricked up her ears, confirming that the knocking had stopped. Then, gathering her courage, she lifted a corner of the blanket and saw that the green light shining on her had vanished as well. She waited for about a minute, but it didn’t reappear.
So, she thought it was all over.
But just as she was slowly calming down, the knocking started again.
And this time, it wasn’t just one person knocking—it was a group of people, or perhaps… not people at all!
They pounded frantically on the door, yet made no sound other than the knocking, which only heightened the curiosity and terror.
And she remembered—when she had closed the door and come inside, she hadn’t locked it.
But they only knocked without entering, which inevitably made her think of supernatural things. Humans have an innate fear of ghosts and monsters, and most importantly, she was alone at home—that was what truly drove her to the brink of collapse.
She covered her ears, pressing them tightly.
The knocking outside grew louder, sounding as if it was about to break through the door!
Suddenly!
Amid the intense knocking, she heard a car horn from below. Unsure, she threw off the blanket and leaned in to listen carefully. Only when the “beep” sounded again did she finally confirm that Jiang Zhuo and the others had returned.
Without another thought, she immediately got out of bed and ran barefoot to the window.
Pushing the window open and looking down, she saw Jiang Zhuo’s car, but it seemed only Jiang Zhuo was inside.
But that didn’t matter. As long as someone had returned, it was the greatest salvation for her.
“Jiang Zhuo gege—!”
She shouted at the top of her lungs, leaning forward recklessly, looking extremely dangerous.
“Jiang Zhuo gege, you’re finally back!”
Jiang Zhuo noticed her immediately from downstairs. Under the glow of the car lights, she appeared unusually agitated, but it wasn’t joy—it was extreme fear and panic.
He didn’t even bother parking the car properly, hastily turning off the engine and getting out.
“Don’t move!”
He shouted at Cheng Sisi. From his angle, half of her body was leaning out the window, as if she might fall from the windowsill at any moment.
“Jiang Zhuo gege, come save me quickly! There’s a ghost, there’s a ghost in the house!”
Cheng Sisi grew more frantic with each shout, her body still tilting further outward, looking truly terrifying.
“I’m coming up right now, don’t move!” Jiang Zhuo gestured for her to go back inside, his footsteps never pausing as he rushed into the house.
Seeing Jiang Zhuo disappear into the unseen entrance downstairs meant he was coming up, but Cheng Sisi was still afraid—afraid something might happen to Jiang Zhuo, afraid the thing outside might harm him.
She turned to look at the dark room. The knocking had stopped without her noticing.
She waited quietly until she saw light seeping through the crack under the door from the hallway outside, and Jiang Zhuo’s voice echoed from beyond.
“Don’t be afraid, I’m here!”
He pushed the door open, bringing a beam of light with him.
Seeing him, Cheng Sisi finally relaxed. The intense tension gave way to weakness, making her legs give out as she collapsed to the floor.
“Sisi, it’s okay now!”
Jiang Zhuo rushed in, crouching beside her, pulling her into his arms and holding her tightly.
“It’s okay, it’s okay. Don’t be afraid, it’s okay.”
Jiang Zhuo kept comforting her, holding her tighter and tighter to give her strength.
But Cheng Sisi didn’t cry or make a fuss. Instead, her body trembled more and more violently, her face blank, as if her soul had left her body.
“Good girl, don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid!”
Jiang Zhuo picked her up, carrying her out of the dark room and striding into the brightly lit tea room living area.
He placed her on the tatami floor, then turned to fetch tissues, gently wiping her tears—slowly, carefully, with a tenderness as if afraid of hurting her.
“Sisi?”
He softly called her name, trying to pull her out of her terror.
“Look, I’m back. It’s all okay now.”
“Sisi?”
“Sisi, good girl, look at me.”
He cupped her face in his hands, gently brushing away the strands of hair that fell over her eyes, his thumb softly stroking her delicate skin, tenderly rousing her bit by bit.
“Jiang… Jiang Zhuo gege?”
She slowly spoke, another tear falling from her eyes, sliding down to the corner of her lips, lingering in the seam.
Jiang Zhuo’s eyes grew warm, stirred by desire at the sight of that glistening tear.
He wiped away the tear at the corner of her lips with the pad of his thumb, the moisture clinging to his fingertip, trembling as if about to fall.
“It’s me, don’t be afraid!”
He embraced her, pressing her face against his chest.
Then he raised his hand, bringing the tear on his fingertip—still too fresh to dry—to his lips.
It tasted a little salty.
But he wanted to taste more of it.
“Jiang Zhuo gege, just now… just now there was a ghost!”
Jiang Zhuo held her close, his broad hand large enough to cradle the back of her head entirely, patting her gently to comfort her.
“Sisi, there are no ghosts in this world.”
“There are!” she said, growing agitated. “There really are! Just now, something really knocked on my door, and a strange green light kept appearing at the window, shining right on me.”
“Jiang Zhuo gege, I’m not lying to you!”