Chapter 17: Possession (Part Six)
As Lin Banxia’s long-time friend and sworn ally, how could Ji Leshui not recognize what that expression on Lin Banxia’s face meant? Helplessly gripping the rolling pin in his hand, he muttered in a hoarse voice, “Banxia, you can’t back out now!”
Lin Banxia glanced innocently at Ji Leshui, “I’ll do my best.”
Ji Leshui nearly burst into tears.
While they were talking, the elevator door in front of them opened. With a soft chime, it revealed a pitch-black hallway. Ji Leshui hadn’t anticipated that since no one lived on this floor, the lights on the eighth floor would be off. Fortunately, Lin Banxia, quick-witted as ever, took out his phone and turned on the flashlight. “Let’s go,” he whispered, stepping out of the elevator first.
By now, Ji Leshui was beginning to regret coming up. He should’ve just called the police instead. This was pitch-dark; they couldn’t see a thing. Who knew what might happen…
Unlike Ji Leshui, Lin Banxia didn’t think twice before beginning to search for any sign of Song Qingluo.
The hallway was dark; aside from the faint glow from their phones, they couldn’t see a thing. The sound of their footsteps echoed down the empty corridor, filling Ji Leshui with a creeping unease. He whispered, “Banxia, maybe we should walk a little quieter. We don’t want anyone hearing us.”
Lin Banxia hummed in agreement, but despite his reply, he didn’t actually lighten his steps, which continued to echo loudly. Ji Leshui, unsettled, reached out to tug on Lin Banxia. “Banxia—”
Lin Banxia turned back, “What is it?”
Ji Leshui’s face went rigid. They had both stopped moving, yet the echoing of footsteps continued, sounding as if it was coming from right below them. Ji Leshui slowly looked down, but the moment he did, the footsteps stopped.
A chill ran down his spine as he shakily pulled out his phone and switched on its flashlight. Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to calm down, then shone the light back down the long corridor floor.
Since no one had walked through this floor for a long time, a thick layer of dust covered the hallway, starkly visible on the white floor. And in that dust were countless footprints, scattered all across the corridor. Seeing the myriad footprints, Ji Leshui shivered, then gradually pointed his light forward. What he saw on the path ahead—the path they hadn’t walked yet—raised every hair on his body. The dust on the floor was still undisturbed, perfectly intact. Which meant that those things were following him and Lin Banxia.
Fear gripped Ji Leshui’s throat, and though he tried to cry out, he only managed a few strangled sounds before swallowing them down.
Lin Banxia, still unaware, looked at Ji Leshui in confusion, watching as his friend’s face turned from green to purple, like a mixed spice rack, his body shaking like a leaf.
“Are you okay?” Lin Banxia asked, puzzled.
Ji Leshui stammered, “N-no, I’m fine. Don’t worry about me… let’s… let’s just find the boss first.”
Lin Banxia nodded.
With the dim light from his phone, Lin Banxia cautiously walked forward until he noticed an unusual door at the end of the hallway. The lock had been broken, and it was half-open, revealing a dimly lit room inside. Moonlight barely illuminated the scene within.
Peering through the crack, Lin Banxia could make out the interior.
It was an unfinished room, similar in layout to Song Qingluo’s place. Something seemed to be arranged against the wall in the living room, though he couldn’t make out the details.
“Shall we go in and take a look?” Lin Banxia suggested.
Ji Leshui nodded vigorously; he was desperate to get away from those eerie footprints, ready to hide in any room they could find.
The two crept into the living room, deliberately softening their steps.
Following behind Lin Banxia, Ji Leshui also noticed the items tucked into the empty corner of the living room. “Banxia, what is that?” he asked curiously.
Before Lin Banxia could answer, Ji Leshui pointed his phone’s light towards the corner. The sight nearly made him scream. In the corner stood a black cabinet holding two neatly placed ceramic jars. In front of the jars lay the remnants of burnt incense, and above them, several black-and-white framed photos were hanging.
Ji Leshui’s eyes widened as he recognized one of the people in the photos. “This… isn’t this the woman who jumped off the building the other night? How… how could it be…?”
Lin Banxia, too, looked at the photos and recognized the face he had seen before.
“What’s going on?” Ji Leshui asked in a trembling voice. “Where’s the boss? Where did he go?” A terrifying thought dawned on him. “Banxia… could it be that the person I saw wasn’t actually Song Qingluo?”
Lin Banxia fell silent.
“Could it be that thing that tricked us into coming here?”
“Calm down,” Lin Banxia reassured him, “we brought weapons, remember?”
Ji Leshui glanced at his rolling pin and Lin Banxia’s clothes-drying pole, practically in tears as he muttered, “What good will these do? We’re dealing with supernatural beings, and all we have are… physical weapons!”
As they were speaking, a voice drifted over from the bedroom, a haunting tune sung by an elderly woman: “Though born in the realm of the living, you wander now to the gates of Fengdu…”
Ji Leshui’s eyes widened. “There’s someone in the bedroom?”
“I’ll go check,” Lin Banxia said.
They moved even more cautiously now. The bedroom had no door, just thick darkness obscuring the view. Steeling himself, Lin Banxia shone his flashlight inside. There, illuminated by the dim light, he saw an old woman sitting in a rocking chair, with a beautiful tabby cat sleeping on her chest. Beside her was an old tape recorder playing the eerie tune, each haunting note filling the room like a dirge.
Ji Leshui’s voice trembled as he called out, “Ma’am? Is this your home?”
The old woman didn’t respond.
Lin Banxia said, “Ma’am?” and cautiously approached her.
Ji Leshui followed, barely able to move as his legs felt like jelly. Finally reaching her, he forced down his fear and asked, “Are you here alone?”
Suddenly, Lin Banxia stopped in his tracks.
Ji Leshui hadn’t noticed yet when he heard Lin Banxia say, “Let’s get out of here.” Something dawned on Lin Banxia, though he hadn’t had the chance to pull his gaze away. As he looked up, he saw the cat on the old woman’s chest leisurely feasting on her face.
The old woman had been dead for who knew how long; most of her face was gone, leaving exposed bone and an eye dangling loosely from its socket.
Ji Leshui’s breath caught. He should have screamed, but overwhelming terror had shattered his sanity. He could only stumble backward, unable to look away from the eerie photos on the cabinet.
Now he saw there were three photos: two young women and one elderly woman. Each had a stiff smile and vacant, hollow eyes that seemed to stare straight at him.
“Aaaaaah!” Ji Leshui let out a blood-curdling scream and bolted out of the room.
Lin Banxia barely had time to react as he watched Ji Leshui dash out. Hurrying after him, he saw that Ji Leshui, now in full-blown panic, had even forsaken the elevator, opting for the stairs instead.
The stairwell was long and dark, and Ji Leshui couldn’t stop running. He practically flew down, terrified out of his mind.
The relentless exertion left him breathless, his mind playing tricks on him as if the old woman were right behind him, holding that well-fed tabby cat.
Barely able to breathe, Ji Leshui slowed down in the dark stairwell, uncertain which floor he was on. What should’ve been a short journey now seemed like an endless maze.
Just a bit further, he thought, desperately stumbling onward. He’d be safe once he reached the lights on the ground floor.
But just as he caught sight of the faint glow of light ahead, all his strength ebbed away—his triumphant smile disappeared in seconds. Between him and the light stood a hulking figure, blocking the exit. Blinking, he realized he was face-to-face with an enormous, shadowy shape.
As he looked up, his gaze met a monstrous face, covered in fur, with a pair of eerie, green eyes staring back at him.
Ji Leshui screamed again.
“Ah, ah, ah!!!!!!!!”
The person standing in front of Ji Leshui heard his scream and muttered something softly. With a swift motion, they grabbed Ji Leshui and lifted him like a chick. Fortunately, Ji Leshui hadn’t completely lost his ability to resist; he reflexively swung his rolling pin. To his surprise, the person effortlessly grasped the rolling pin with their other hand and swung it against the nearby wall—with a crack, the rolling pin shattered into two pieces.
Ji Leshui broke down again, crying out, “Help me, Lin Banxia—” There was a dead person upstairs and a wild person downstairs. How was he supposed to live as a normal person in this situation?
The wild person lifted Ji Leshui and turned to walk outside. The bright light momentarily blinded Ji Leshui, and when his vision cleared, he was astonished to see Song Qingluo, who should have been rescued, frowning in confusion at him.
“Big Boss—” Ji Leshui saw Song Qingluo as if he had found a lifeline, stretching out his hand desperately.
The tall wild person said, “Do you know him?”
“My neighbor,” Song Qingluo replied. “Put him down.”
Only then did Ji Leshui’s feet touch the ground. He sobbed, “Big boss, what are you doing here? Lin Banxia and I thought you went to the eighth floor—”
“Lin Banxia is on the eighth floor?” Song Qingluo’s expression changed slightly. “Did you go up?”
“Yeah,” Ji Leshui said. “We saw a terrifying corpse up there.”
Song Qingluo exchanged a glance with the wild person, then pressed the elevator button.
“What are you doing? Are you going back up? But there’s really a dead person up there?” Ji Leshui exclaimed in fear. “Shouldn’t we call the police first?”
“Don’t call the police yet. Wait here; I’ll explain later.” The elevator door opened with a ding, and Song Qingluo and the wild person were about to step in. Ji Leshui, however, couldn’t muster the courage to be alone. He would rather go back to the eighth floor than be alone in the empty first-floor corridor. Who knew what strange things might appear? His frayed nerves couldn’t take any more strain.
Thus, Ji Leshui, who had just fled, returned to the eighth floor with the two of them.
—
Author’s Note:
Lin Banxia: The terrifying atmosphere is eighty percent your fault.
Ji Leshui screamed: But I’m scared!
Lin Banxia: Scared of what? Watch me beat it with my drying rack!!
Ji Leshui: Please, go ahead!!
Did you notice anything strange?
