Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Over the next few days, my face was constantly set in a grimace. I made a point of slamming doors and banging whatever was in my hands.

I wasn’t sure if my sheer hostility had suppressed him, but the ghost seemed to have behaved himself; he stopped coming out to scare me.

Instead, everything in my refrigerator began to spoil.

My food would turn inedible almost as soon as I brought it home.

Even the smell became bizarre. One bite, and my mouth would be filled with the thick, cloying scent of burning joss paper.

It seemed that after realizing he couldn’t scare me away, he had changed his strategy and intended to starve me out.

I packed all the inedible food into trash bags and set them outside the door.

I was standing in the doorway tying the bags shut, but just as I prepared to step back inside, the door slammed shut with a loud bang, as if someone had given it a violent shove from behind.

Caught off guard, I nearly had my nose smashed.

I looked down at the slippers on my feet, then patted my clothes, feeling my empty pockets.

I hadn’t even brought my phone.

I didn’t have a spare key either.

In the middle of the night, I had nowhere to go.

That ghost had finally found a way to kick me out of the house.

Not only did he have no ghostly ethics, he was kicking me while I was down!

I pounded on the door, shouting for him to open up and let me in.

Of course, he wasn’t going to let me back in just because I asked, so I decided I wouldn’t let him have a moment’s peace.

I pounded on the door for half an hour straight when, suddenly, the slow creak of a door opening reached my ears.

A door had opened, but it was the one next door.

If every room here really contained an Urn, then the room next door must be just like mine-inhabited by a ghost.

A pale foot slowly stepped over the threshold. I held my breath, my gaze gradually shifting upward.

What appeared wasn’t the ferocious, starving ghost I had imagined, but an Artsy Young Man with a small ponytail and a beard.

If not for his excessively pale skin, his lifeless eyes, and the deep, sunken shadows around his sockets, I would have almost mistaken him for a living person.

He walked up to me. At the same time, more and more ghosts began to appear in the hallway.

Some walked straight out of their doors, some drifted through the walls, some floated down from the ceiling, and others climbed the stairs step by step.

I leaned against the door in a panic, unsure of what they intended to do to me.

The Artsy Young Man at the front sniffed the air in front of me and asked, “A living person?”

A Mature Sister Ghost in her thirties frowned. “I felt like things haven’t been peaceful around here lately. So it was her.”

An Old Man Ghost said kindly, “Young lady, who told you to live here? Were you swindled?”

I nodded hurriedly. “Yes, Grandpa. The agent said the owner was on vacation abroad and asked him to help rent the place out. As soon as I moved in, I found… I found…”

Standing in front of these ghosts, who were the same kind as the one inside my apartment, I found it hard to continue.

The ghosts began to chatter among themselves, filled with righteous indignation. “It must have been that Xiao He!”

“Exactly! He really is a piece of work!”

“Do you all remember? Last year, when my son went on a business trip for a few months and left the keys with him, he brought a tenant in within days!”

“This young lady must have been tricked by him too! The apartments here were all bought by our families for us deceased to stay in. Who would rent them out? Besides, this family isn’t short on money at all.”

I listened, stunned. Had I really been scammed by the agent?

The Artsy Male Ghost next door didn’t speak; he just kept studying me. His gaze made my skin crawl.

The Artsy Male Ghost asked, “Are you dying?”

Silence fell instantly. Men, women, young, and old-they all stared at me.

I remained silent for a moment before lowering my head. “I have less than half a year left.”

Sympathy flickered in the Mature Sister Ghost’s eyes, and her tone became much friendlier. “No wonder you can see us.”

She looked at the door behind me. “I heard you banging for a long time. Are you locked out?”

The Old Man Ghost said unhappily, “That young fellow inside, how can he bully people like this!”

He took the lead, walking over and pounding loudly on the door. “Listen up, ghost inside! Open the door and let the girl in, now!”

The Artsy Male Ghost pointed at the apartment. “The one inside moved in recently. He’s a bit of a recluse and has a difficult personality. He rarely interacts with anyone in this building, but we’ll definitely help you.”

He turned and shouted toward the back, “Qiqi and Miaomiao!”

As soon as the words left his mouth, a pair of seven- or eight-year-old twins came skipping over. They giggled as their bodies passed through the wall without any resistance.

A moment later, there was a click from behind the door as the lock turned.

The twins opened the door for me from the inside before skipping back out.

The Mature Sister Ghost patted my shoulder. “Go on in. If he bullies you again, just let us know.”

“Thank you.” I bowed to them sincerely.

The group of ghosts watched me enter and then dispersed.

I looked out through the peephole. In just two seconds, there wasn’t a single shadow left in the hallway.