Outside the door came a strange knocking; inside, a eerie text message appeared on his mobile.
This double onslaught relentlessly frayed Tian Shenglai’s nerves, making him even more on edge than he already was today.
What on earth is it? Will it ever stop?!
Perhaps because he’d been startled several times today, his fear was temporarily suppressed and anger took the upper hand. Tian Shenglai flung the door open and bellowed into the corridor: “Who is it? Knock, knock, knock—what on earth are you knocking for?! Don’t you have a door of your own?!”
With his roar, the motion-sensor lights in the corridor flickered on, revealing an old man in a white vest and black shorts, his back hunched and a battered hoe in his hand.
This was an old housing estate, with four flats per landing and a long corridor; there was another flat at the far end, whilst Tian Shenglai’s flat was situated in the middle. The moment he opened the door, not only did he see the old man, but the old man, startled by the noise, had also noticed him.
Before Tian Shenglai opened the door, the old man had been facing away from him, seemingly about to knock on the door at the far end of the corridor. But the moment Tian Shenglai opened the door, the old man turned his head instantly, revealing a face with dark, weathered skin and deep, criss-crossing wrinkles.
“Bang—”
Tian Shenglai immediately shut the door and patted his chest, still shaken.
There must be something wrong with this old man. In this day and age, who still wears clothes like that? What’s more, there were obvious mud stains on his legs. This wasn’t the countryside; there was no farmland anywhere nearby, and that hoe looked rather old-fashioned too.
He might well be a lunatic, which was why Tian Shenglai had acted on impulse and shut the door.
The very next moment, the familiar knocking sounded again—three more knocks, even and rhythmic.
Tian Shenglai was about to send a message to the property management to have them come and take the old man away, but just then, another text message popped up.
[Hello, guest. Aren’t you coming out yet? It’s getting dark; we really are about to finish work.]
Tian Shenglai turned to look at the sky outside; it was indeed beginning to grow dark.
He tentatively sent another text back to the unknown number.
[I’m home now.]
There was still no reply; the other party was like a robot, simply sending him one-sided messages.
“Knock, knock, knock.”
“Open the door! There’s something at your place.”
This time, the rhythmic knocking was followed by an aged voice.
Having had his nerves frayed time and again, Tian Shenglai was fed up. He shouted through the door: “Stop bothering me! I’ve already reported this to the property management! Knock one more time and I’ll call the police!”
Sure enough, it fell silent outside. Tian Shenglai didn’t waste any time; he immediately informed the estate management about the elderly person outside, instructing them to find out whose home it was and get the person back inside as soon as possible.
Turning on the lights in the apartment, Tian Shenglai made his way to the kitchen. He’d been hungry all day; whether it was a haunted house prank or whatever, he needed to eat first.
Tian Shenglai walked over to the fridge, took out some instant food to defrost, then went to the sink to wash a pan.
But the tap reflected a patch of red. The image was too blurry for him to make out what it was. He instinctively turned his head, only to meet the gaze of a figure dressed in a red cheongsam and high heels, along with those familiar, venomous eyes.
In the blink of an eye, the red figure vanished, and his home seemed empty once more.
Tian Shenglai leaned against the countertop. The tap was still running, and cold water splashed onto his hands. In that moment, his inner terror surged forth; he could think of nothing else and bolted straight out the door.
He couldn’t have been mistaken—it was a person in a red cheongsam, or perhaps a ghost.
As soon as he opened the door, however, Tian Shenglai tripped over the hoe by the entrance; that strange old man was sitting right there on his doorstep.
Tian Shenglai fell to the ground, his head hitting the floor. He scrambled to his feet in a panic, but felt a wave of dizziness wash over him.
“Did you see the thing in your house? I told you there was something there, but you wouldn’t believe me.” The old man slowly picked up his tattered hoe.
These words filled Tian Shenglai with a surge of hope. He clutched the old man’s wrinkled hand tightly, ignoring the icy chill emanating from him, and cried out in panic, “You understand these things? Please, save me!”
The old man patted Tian Shenglai’s shoulder soothingly. “Tell me about that thing in your house. ”
“She’s a woman in a red cheongsam, but I was in such a rush just now that I didn’t get a proper look. I only caught a glimpse of what looked like bloodstains on the red cheongsam.” Tian Shenglai tried to recall what he’d seen in those few brief seconds.
The old man produced a pipe from somewhere and puffed away at it. “Have you been to any strange places recently?”
“Strange places? Does a haunted house count?” Tian Shenglai thought of those strange text messages and blurted out, “I’ve also been getting loads of strange texts.”
Tian Shenglai took his mobile out of his pocket and showed the messages to the old man.
The old man glanced at them and a look of concern crossed his face. “That thing is very vicious. Do you know Liushu Village?”
Tian Shenglai paused for a moment, then shook his head to indicate he didn’t know.
The old man didn’t beat about the bush. “You can look it up online. There’s a bus that goes there. In Liushu Village, there’s a hundred-year-old willow tree. Go to their village and find a man called Zhang De. Ask him to carve a doorstop for you from that hundred-year-old willow and place it at your front door.”
“Should I go straight away?” Tian Shenglai asked urgently.
“You could go tomorrow, but I can’t guarantee you’ll still be alive by then,” the old man continued, puffing away on his pipe, the smoke obscuring his face.
“All right, I’ll go now.” The female ghost’s threat had steeled Tian Shenglai’s resolve.
“Go to the Hejin Bus Station; there’s a direct coach from there.” The old man pointed Tian Shenglai in the right direction before strolling slowly towards the stairs.
“Right, thank you, Old Man!”
Tian Shenglai hurried into the lift and frantically pressed the button for the ground floor.
A gust of wind blew in, and the crisp sound of high heels striking the ground echoed outside Tian Shenglai’s front door.
A figure appeared, clad in a red cheongsam yet with a sallow complexion; her almond-shaped eyes, bloodshot, fixed intently on the figure descending the stairs at a leisurely pace. Her voice was shrill: “Are you ruining my plans?”
The old man continued to descend the stairs at a leisurely pace, his voice calm: “Finders keepers.”
Inside the elevator, Tian Shenglai watched the numbers flicker anxiously. Soon, the ground floor was reached; he immediately rushed out of the lift, grabbed his mobile phone, and tried to hail a taxi to Hejin Bus Station.
Another text message popped up—
[Guest, do not trust anyone.]
However, Tian Shenglai, in his haste to get to Hejin Bus Station, paid no further attention to the message.
…………
Seeing that the text had been sent successfully, Lu Mian decided not to send the final one. She was going to work to minimum standards; having to send texts to people after work was one thing, but not only was she revealing her personal information, she wouldn’t even be reimbursed for the text charges. It was all her own fault for not thinking on her feet at the time.
Lu Mian began searching online for a new part-time job. As she scrolled through the listings, she didn’t find any work, but she did receive a message from Fang Qinian.
[Fang Qinian: Classmates, I’ve noticed something a bit off about this Liushu Village. I didn’t see the old man selling chickens, but the other villagers were incredibly enthusiastic about inviting me to their homes for a meal. They’ve just slaughtered a chicken, saying it’s to treat me. Would they normally be this hospitable?]