chapter 5
At this hour last night, a strange young woman came knocking on the door, saying she was looking for Li Xiumei.
Tonight, at the exact same time, someone knocked on the door again.
Meng Yifan and I exchanged glances and walked straight to the door, each peering out through the peephole.
Just as expected, it was that neurotic young woman again.
She actually came back!
At that moment, the girl was still knocking, but she didn’t say a word.
I told Meng Yifan, “She was the one who came looking for Li Xiumei last night.”
Meng Yifan, just as grumpy as I was after waking up, replied irritably, “You already told her last night that there’s no Li Xiumei here. Is she crazy?”
Before I could stop him, Meng Yifan simply opened the door.
The moment the door opened, my heart leapt into my throat. I had a feeling that something terrifying would happen as soon as the door was opened.
But clearly, I was overthinking it.
Nothing scary happened after the door opened.
The girl stood outside, with long jet-black hair, a pure face, and a graceful figure.
She was dressed exactly as she had been the night before-a black long dress and a pair of red high heels.
Even though nothing frightening happened, I still felt a chill run down my spine.
I’d already explained everything to her last night. Why did she come again tonight?
Meng Yifan didn’t think much of it and asked, his tone unfriendly, “Who are you looking for?”
The girl’s face was expressionless, her eyes unfocused, as she spoke: “I’m looking for Li Xiumei. Is Li Xiumei home?”
The exact same answer, word for word as last night.
It was as if she was repeating the previous night.
Meng Yifan put his hands on his hips and said, “Miss, you asked the same thing last night. There’s no one here by that name. Why are you back again?”
She reacted just as she had the night before, falling silent.
Meng Yifan, more impatient than me and eager to get back to sleep, said, “Don’t come again. There’s no one here you’re looking for. Stop disturbing people’s rest.”
With that, he tried to close the door.
But suddenly, the girl reached out her right hand and gripped the door tightly, refusing to let Meng Yifan close it.
Her sudden move startled me.
Meng Yifan looked at her in confusion, frowning, “What exactly do you want? Are you crazy? If you keep bothering us, I’ll call the police.”
The girl still said nothing, her right hand clutching the door, while her left hand slowly lifted.
I noticed her skin was extremely pale-whiter than a corpse that had been in the morgue for days.
Her left hand rose, pointing toward the master bedroom.
Instinctively, I glanced back at the master bedroom.
When I turned back, Meng Yifan was already cursing and forcibly closed the door.
“That woman must have mental issues.”
“Anyway, we’re only staying here for one night. Let’s go back to sleep.”
I quickly grabbed Meng Yifan, “How about we sleep in a different room?”
Why did that girl point toward the master bedroom just now?
And the Concrete Shoe Print I saw earlier also disappeared right at the master bedroom door.
The current owners had also felt something was wrong with the master bedroom, which was why they came to our agency to complain.
Even though I’m not superstitious, all these strange occurrences were making me uncomfortable.
So I wanted to sleep in a different room.
“Bro, those two only thought the master bedroom was problematic. If we don’t stay there, what’s the point of coming here?”
Meng Yifan looked at me, exasperated, “If we can’t prove the master bedroom is fine, not only do we lose the agency fee, but our shop’s reputation will suffer. You’ll be out nearly ten grand, Second-in-Command.”
Without giving me a chance to argue, he dragged me straight into the master bedroom.
This guy is totally carefree-his sleep quality is just as good as mine. He lay down and was out like a light.
I couldn’t settle down. After thinking it over, I got up and locked the master bedroom door from the inside before returning to bed to sleep.
If I were alone tonight, I wouldn’t dare sleep in this room no matter what.
But with a six-foot-tall guy lying next to me, I felt somewhat reassured.
Maybe it was the alcohol from earlier, but before long, I drifted off too.
There’s a strange state people experience when sleeping-when you wake up needing to pee, you think you’ve already gone to the bathroom, even remembering the act in your mind, but in reality, you haven’t gone, and the urge is still there.
That’s exactly how I felt now.
I couldn’t tell if I was dreaming or awake, but suddenly I heard a ‘clack-clack-clack’ sound…
It sounded like someone walking in high heels.
But I couldn’t tell if I was dreaming or if someone was actually walking around the room.
My mind was in a fog.
Besides that sound, I heard another noise.
This one was even stranger-like a cement worker plastering a wall, and it was happening right next to my ear.
Gradually, my mind cleared, and I caught another sound-a chilling one.
It was the TV!
The TV had turned on again!
I jolted awake, just like last night, instantly sitting up in fright.
I realized I’d been sleepwalking again.
The TV in the living room was playing a program, and the vanished Concrete Shoe Print had reappeared in its original spot.
A cold chill crept up my back, like a winter wind pinning me to the sofa.
But I couldn’t worry about being scared-I just wanted Meng Yifan to see it too, to prove I wasn’t lying.
But then I saw something even more terrifying.
Meng Yifan was also sitting in the living room-me on one side, him on the other.
He sat upright, eyes tightly shut, holding the TV remote in his hand.
He was ‘watching’ TV with his eyes closed.