The next morning, when Lin Banxia woke up, he didn't see Song Qingluo, but he did see a spirited Ji Leshui getting ready for work.

Ji Leshui still didn't dare to enter the room, not even to knock on the door. Instead, he called Lin Banxia to meet outside.

The two chatted as they left the residential complex, bought breakfast at a nearby bus stop, and ate with relish. Lin Banxia asked Ji Leshui if he had seen anything last night. Ji Leshui shook his head, saying he had slept very well and hadn't seen anything. He just vaguely woke up once in the middle of the night and seemed to feel someone walking around in the living room, but he didn't feel scared and quickly fell back asleep.

Hearing this, Lin Banxia was instantly relieved. 'That Song Qingluo really does have some skills,' he thought.

Ji Leshui, however, seemed a bit worried. Chewing on a youtiao, he mumbled, "Brother Lin, what on earth is in that Song Qingluo's home? And why do I see all sorts of weird things in our apartment?"

Lin Banxia said, "I don't know either."

"It's a little scary when I think about it carefully," Ji Leshui said hesitantly. "Brother Lin, after this is over, you should move out with me. This house really isn't a place to live in for long."

Lin Banxia said, "I'll think about it."

Ji Leshui also knew a bit about Lin Banxia's situation, so upon hearing his tactful refusal, he sighed deeply and finally gave up on persuading him further.

The bus happened to arrive, and the two boarded their separate buses.

The working hours at Lin Banxia's unit were generally from ten in the morning to six the next morning, with one day on and one day off. If there wasn't much to do on a given day, he could slip away early.

When Lin Banxia arrived at his unit, he saw Liu Xi. But Liu Xi didn't greet him as usual. Instead, he was sitting in his seat with a grim expression, fiddling with his phone with his head down.

Lin Banxia walked over to him, patted his shoulder, and said, "You're so early today?"

"Holy crap!!!" Liu Xi was given a huge fright by Lin Banxia and nearly jumped out of his chair. He clutched his chest and said with wide eyes, "Brother Lin, don't scare me. Scaring people to death is a real thing."

Lin Banxia said, "What's wrong? Why are you so jumpy today?"

Liu Xi said, "You don't know yet, do you?"

Lin Banxia: "Know what?"

Liu Xi lowered his voice, "Wang Jinqiao is dead..."

Lin Banxia was stunned. He remembered seeing the man just the day before yesterday. Although that person had a bad temper, his work ability was very strong. How could he have died so suddenly? So he naturally asked, "How did he die?"

Liu Xi said, "I don't know. The police are investigating it right now. They said he was on night watch last night and suddenly died of a heart attack..."

Lin Banxia frowned upon hearing this.

"And it would be one thing if that was all." Liu Xi said in a low voice, "Do you remember the body we transported that day?"

Lin Banxia nodded.

Liu Xi said, "I heard through the grapevine... the body is missing."

Lin Banxia said in disbelief, "Missing? It's already at the funeral parlor, how can it go missing??"

Liu Xi slapped his thigh, "You can't believe it, can you? I think it's terrifying too!! It's already in the goddamn funeral parlor, who could possibly move the body away without anyone noticing?"

Lin Banxia: "There are so many surveillance cameras, didn't anyone call the police?"

Liu Xi said, "How could they not call the police!! After the body was found, the police went over immediately. The most, most, most bizarre thing is, after the police got there, they found that all the surveillance cameras that could see the crime scene were broken..."

Lin Banxia fell silent, feeling that this matter was too much of a coincidence. He once again recalled the sound he and Liu Xi had heard in the vehicle. It wasn't that he didn't want to tell Liu Xi what had happened, but some things were just too hard to explain. Was he supposed to tell Liu Xi that those bodies, shattered beyond recognition, were moving? Even if he said it, probably no one would believe him.

"Who would be so bored as to steal a body like that? We saw what the body looked like back then, what's the use of stealing it." Liu Xi rubbed the goosebumps on his arms, his face filled with dread. "Tell me, what the hell is going on?"

Lin Banxia shook his head, indicating that he didn't know either.

Liu Xi sighed.

The funeral parlor where Wang Jinqiao worked had a close partnership with their unit. After Wang Jinqiao's incident, the police also came over to investigate and questioned a few people who had been in contact with him. Lin Banxia was also questioned. He had nothing to hide and recounted the situation truthfully. The police didn't find any issues and went to question others.

Lin Banxia felt the room was a bit stuffy, so he called Liu Xi to go outside with him for a breath of fresh air.

Liu Xi was a heavy smoker. He lit a cigarette and was puffing away with relish. Lin Banxia was looking down, sending a WeChat message to Ji Leshui. Ji Leshui replied quickly, so it seemed there were no major problems today.

As Liu Xi was smoking, he suddenly said, "Hey? Look who that is?"

Lin Banxia looked up in the direction Liu Xi was facing and saw a slender figure standing by the police car not far away. It was the only woman who had survived the car accident that day. In just a day, she had become emaciated, with sunken cheeks and dark circles under her eyes. At this moment, she was looking over in their direction. Although they were far apart, her gloomy and cold gaze still made one feel uncomfortable.

Liu Xi's eyes met hers for a moment before he quickly and uncomfortably looked away. He lowered his head, feeling his scalp tingle, and said, "Brother Lin, this person is so scary."

But Lin Banxia next to him paid him no mind.

"Brother Lin?" Liu Xi glanced at Lin Banxia out of the corner of his eye, puzzled. He found Lin Banxia frowning, staring intently at the woman with a very strange expression, as if he had discovered something.

"Brother Lin?" Liu Xi called out again.

Only then did Lin Banxia come back to his senses and ask nonchalantly what was wrong.

"What did you see?" Liu Xi asked.

Lin Banxia said, "Nothing." After he spoke, he said he was going back and turned to return to the building. Of course he had seen something. The thing that had been following the woman, existing like a shadow, was no longer behind her—this time, it was clinging to her back in a distorted posture. Its head hung on the woman's shoulder, its long black hair mixing with the woman's, making it look at first glance as if one person had two heads.

As Lin Banxia was looking at it, the thing also raised its head and cast its gaze towards him. The gaze was lifeless, yet it seemed frenzied, making one feel very uncomfortable.

After Lin Banxia left, Liu Xi quickly followed him inside. The woman stood in place, staring at the spot where Lin Banxia and Liu Xi had disappeared for a long, long time.

After entering the building, Lin Banxia casually asked the police officer who was still taking notes why that family member was outside. The officer didn't even look up, saying that she hadn't been summoned by the police station. The woman insisted on coming to the funeral parlor and Lin Banxia's unit to check on the situation after hearing that her family member's body was missing. Since it wasn't against the law, the police couldn't stop her.

That did seem to make sense, Lin Banxia thought. If it were him and he found out his relative's body was missing, he would definitely search everywhere too.

But Liu Xi was somewhat restless. He had been agitated ever since he came back inside, frequently going to the window to peek outside, muttering to himself about why she hadn't left yet.

Lin Banxia said, "What are you looking at?"

"Why isn't she leaving yet?" Liu Xi rubbed his hands, a little nervous. "Every time I see her, I feel uncomfortable. Brother Lin, do you get that feeling?"

Lin Banxia said, "A little."

Liu Xi said, "More than a little..." He stood by the window, lit another cigarette, and muttered, "What did she come here for? It's not like the body went missing from our place."

Lin Banxia patted his shoulder reassuringly.

There was no work for the entire day. It wasn't until evening that they got a job. Someone had jumped from a building, and they needed to send two people over to clean up the scene.

Two colleagues on duty with Lin Banxia went, leaving only Lin Banxia and Liu Xi in the office.

Liu Xi leaned back in his seat, scrolling through videos on his phone. Lin Banxia had nothing to do, so he leaned back in his chair and dozed off.

The room was quiet, without a sound. As Lin Banxia was sleeping soundly, Liu Xi, sitting next to him, suddenly trembled violently. His next move was to let out a miserable scream and throw his phone away!

The phone landed right on the desk in front of Lin Banxia, and the noise woke him up instantly. He rubbed his drowsy eyes and said, baffled, "Liu Xi? What's wrong with you?" This phone was newly bought by Liu Xi, and he usually treated it like a treasure, with a case and a tempered glass screen protector. Why would he just throw it away today??

Lin Banxia picked up the phone, wanting to give it back to Liu Xi. But as soon as he held it out, Liu Xi jumped up as if he had seen a ghost, shouting, "No, no, no!!! Don't show it to me!!"

Lin Banxia: "What?"

Liu Xi said, "Look, look at the phone screen! The phone screen!!"

Lin Banxia flipped the phone over in confusion and saw that a video was paused on the screen. The video was high-definition, and one could tell at a glance that it was filmed indoors, with no scary content. But when he pressed the play button and watched carefully for three seconds, Lin Banxia understood the source of Liu Xi's terror.

This video was filmed by a surveillance camera at the funeral parlor.

In the video, a person was sitting on a chair, resting. Although it was a bit blurry, Lin Banxia could still identify him from his clothes and appearance—it was Wang Jinqiao, who had died suddenly at the funeral parlor last night.

Lin Banxia was slightly taken aback and said, "Isn't this the footage from the funeral parlor? How did it get on your phone?"

"I, I don't know," Liu Xi stammered. "And they said all their surveillance equipment was destroyed. How could this video appear on my phone??"

Lin Banxia pondered, "Should we call the police?"

Liu Xi said, "Call the police? But I can't explain it if I do. Will they arrest me directly??"

While the two were discussing, Wang Jinqiao in the video seemed to be attracted by some sound and stood up from his chair to look around.

Liu Xi's voice trembled, "What... what did he hear?"

Lin Banxia didn't speak. The two of them stared at the phone screen, quietly observing what would happen next.

The author has something to say:

Lin Banxia: Why does that woman's gaze make people feel uncomfortable?

Song Qingluo: Why is that?

Lin Banxia: Could it be...

Song Qingluo's encouraging gaze.

Lin Banxia: She looks down on poor people?

Song Qingluo: ...

Woman: I'm not, I didn't, don't talk nonsense.