Possession (6)

As Lin Banxia's classmate and best friend for several years, how could Ji Leshui not know what that expression on Lin Banxia's face meant! He gripped the rolling pin in his hands helplessly and said in a choked voice, "Banxia, you can't drop the ball now!!"

Lin Banxia gave Ji Leshui an innocent look, "I'll try my best."

Ji Leshui almost burst into tears.

Just as the two were talking, the elevator doors in front of them opened. After a light "ding," a pitch-black corridor was revealed. Ji Leshui hadn't expected that because no one lived here, the eighth floor would have no lights on. Fortunately, Lin Banxia, standing beside him, cleverly took out his phone and turned on the flashlight function. He whispered, "Let's go," and stepped out of the elevator first.

Ji Leshui was already regretting coming up. It would have been much better if he had just called the police. It was pitch black, and he couldn't see anything. Who knew what might happen...

Lin Banxia wasn't thinking as much as Ji Leshui and had already started searching for Song Qingluo.

The corridor was very dark. Aside from the faint light source from the phone, nothing could be seen. The footsteps of Lin Banxia and Ji Leshui echoed in the empty hallway. Hearing this sound, Ji Leshui felt a little panicked and whispered, "Banxia, let's lighten our steps so no one hears us."

Lin Banxia hummed in agreement. But though he agreed, his footsteps didn't lighten, still making "da da da" sounds. Ji Leshui felt uneasy, reached out to grab Lin Banxia, and said, "Banxia—"

Lin Banxia turned his head and said, "What?"

Ji Leshui's expression completely froze. Neither he nor Lin Banxia was walking anymore, but the "da da da" footsteps were still sounding, and the source was right beneath their feet. Ji Leshui slowly lowered his head, but the moment he did, the footsteps stopped.

Ji Leshui broke out in a cold sweat. Under Lin Banxia's confused gaze, he shakily took out his own phone, also turned on the flashlight, took a deep breath, forced himself to calm down, and then shone it behind him, looking at the long corridor floor.

Because no one had walked here for a long time, the corridor floor was covered in a thick layer of dust, which was particularly conspicuous on the white ground. Upon the dust were countless footprints. These footprints covered the entire hallway. Seeing so many footprints, Ji Leshui shivered, then slowly moved the light back in front of him. When he saw the path before him that he had yet to walk, goosebumps erupted all over him—the dust on the corridor ahead was still neatly covering the ground, which meant those things were walking forward along with him and Lin Banxia!!

Fear got stuck in Ji Leshui's throat. He whimpered a few times, then forced it back down.

Standing beside him, Lin Banxia still hadn't figured out the situation. He just saw Ji Leshui's face turn shades of green and purple, like a spice palette, and his body was shaking like a leaf as if he'd been electrocuted.

Lin Banxia asked strangely, "Are you okay?"

Ji Leshui's voice trembled, "I'm, I'm fine, don't mind me... let's... let's find the boss first."

Lin Banxia said okay.

Using the faint light from the phone, Lin Banxia carefully walked forward. Soon, at the end of the corridor, he found a door that was different from the others. The lock on that door had been violently broken, and it was now ajar. There were no lights on inside, and he could only barely make out the scene within by the not-so-bright moonlight.

Lin Banxia peeked through the crack in the door and vaguely saw the scene inside the room.

It was a simple, unfinished apartment, with a layout somewhat similar to the one Song Qingluo lived in. Against the living room wall, there seemed to be some furniture, but Lin Banxia couldn't see it clearly.

"Go in and take a look?" Lin Banxia suggested.

Ji Leshui nodded like a woodpecker. He was about to be driven mad by the strange footprints under his feet and couldn't wait to find a room to hide in.

The two carefully entered the living room, deliberately lightening their footsteps.

Ji Leshui followed behind Lin Banxia and also noticed the objects placed in the corner of the empty living room. He asked strangely, "Banxia, what is that?"

Before Lin Banxia could remind him, Ji Leshui shone his phone's light over there. It would have been better if he hadn't. The moment he did, Ji Leshui almost screamed. He saw a black cabinet there, and inside the cabinet were two neatly placed ceramic jars. In front of the ceramic jars were burnt-out incense and candles, and above the jars hung several neat funeral portraits.

Ji Leshui saw the portraits and his eyes widened in horror, "That... that... isn't that the woman who jumped from upstairs that night? How... how could she?"

Lin Banxia also saw the funeral portraits. On them, he too recognized the face he had seen before.

"What's going on?" Ji Leshui's voice trembled. "Where's the boss? Where is he?" A terrible thought popped into his head. "Banxia... you don't think... the thing I saw... wasn't Song Qingluo, do you?"

Lin Banxia was at a loss for words.

Ji Leshui said, "Could it be... that thing... deliberately lured us here."

Lin Banxia said, "Calm down, we brought weapons!"

Ji Leshui looked at his rolling pin and the clothes-drying pole in Lin Banxia's hand, and said with a sob, what the hell is the use of these, they're magical creatures, and all we have are physical attacks—

While the two were talking, the sound of a Peking opera aria came from the bedroom. The singer was an elderly woman, singing, "I am a person of the living world, separated by mountains, so why have you come here to the tower of Fengdu City..."

Ji Leshui's eyes widened. He said, "There's someone in the bedroom?"

Lin Banxia said, "I'll go take a look."

Both of their steps became more cautious. The bedroom had no door, but it was too dark inside to see clearly. Lin Banxia prepared himself mentally and aimed his light source inside. With the light, Lin Banxia saw that there really was someone in the bedroom. It was an old lady sitting in a rocking chair, with a beautiful tabby cat lying on her chest, sound asleep. On the table next to her was an old tape recorder, playing an incomprehensible opera tune. The melody was mournful, sounding like a funeral dirge upon first hearing.

Ji Leshui called out shakily, "Old lady? Is this your home?"

The old lady didn't react.

Lin Banxia said, "Old lady?" He slowly walked into the room and came before her.

Ji Leshui cautiously followed behind Lin Banxia. He could barely walk at this point, his entire body felt weak. When he finally reached the old lady, he controlled his trembling throat and whispered, "Old lady, are you home alone?"

Lin Banxia, who was in front, suddenly stopped moving.

Before Ji Leshui could react, he heard Lin Banxia say, "Let's go outside." He seemed to have understood something in a flash, but he couldn't pull his gaze back in time. He looked up and saw the cat on the old lady's chest, relishfully gnawing on her face.

Who knows how long the old lady had been dead. Most of her face had been eaten away, leaving only ghastly white bones exposed. He could even see the eyeball dangling out.

Ji Leshui's breath caught in his throat. He should have screamed, but extreme fear overwhelmed his sanity. He couldn't scream, only retreat clumsily until he was back in the living room, where he once again saw the funeral portraits on the cabinet.

It turned out there were three portraits in total: two young women and one old lady. In the black and white photos, the three of them wore stiff smiles, their lifeless eyes staring blankly at Ji Leshui.

"AH!!!!!!" Letting out a blood-curdling scream, Ji Leshui rushed out as if he'd gone mad.

Before Lin Banxia could react, he saw Ji Leshui dash out of the room. He hurried to follow, only to find that Ji Leshui was so terrified that he didn't even take the elevator and ran straight for the stairs.

The stairs were long and dark. Ji Leshui couldn't stop. He practically took three steps at a time, fleeing downwards like a madman.

The lack of oxygen from the strenuous exercise even caused him to have a terrifying hallucination that the old lady was right behind him, holding that well-fed tabby cat in her arms—

Ji Leshui was out of breath. The pitch-black stairwell forced him to slow down. He didn't know what floor he was on. What was not a very long distance had become an inescapable maze in his eyes.

Faster, faster, when I get downstairs, there will be lights. Ji Leshui thought this, forcing his stumbling legs onward.

When the first glimmer of light appeared before Ji Leshui's eyes, most of the strength in his body drained away. But the excited smile on his face disappeared before it could last for three seconds—a small mountain appeared between him and the light. That small mountain blocked the light completely. Ji Leshui took a moment to realize that, at some point, a tall person was standing in front of him.

He slowly looked up and saw a strange face. That face was covered in hair, making its features unclear. A pair of green eyes stared sinisterly at Ji Leshui.

Ji Leshui: "Ahhh!!!"

The person standing in front of Ji Leshui heard the scream, muttered something in a low voice, reached out, and lifted Ji Leshui up like a little chick. Fortunately, Ji Leshui hadn't completely lost his ability to resist. He reflexively swung his rolling pin, but the person's other free hand unhesitatingly grabbed it and slammed it against the nearby wall—with a crack, the rolling pin broke into two pieces.

Ji Leshui broke down again, crying, "Help me, Lin Banxia—" There's a dead person upstairs and a wild man downstairs, how is a normal person like him supposed to live through this.

The wild man, carrying Ji Leshui, turned and walked outside. The bright light made it hard for Ji Leshui to open his eyes for a moment. When his vision returned, he saw Song Qingluo, the one who was supposed to be rescued, looking at him with a frown and a puzzled expression.

"Boss—" When Ji Leshui saw Song Qingluo, it was like seeing a lifesaving straw. He struggled and reached out to him.

The tall wild man said, "You know him?"

"My neighbor," Song Qingluo said. "Put him down."

Ji Leshui's feet finally touched the ground. He hugged himself and sobbed, "Boss, what are you doing here? Lin Banxia and I thought you went up to the eighth floor—"

"Lin Banxia is on the eighth floor?" Song Qingluo's expression changed slightly. "You guys went up?"

"Yeah," Ji Leshui said. "And we saw a really scary dead person up there."

Song Qingluo and the wild man exchanged a look, then pressed the elevator button.

"Are you guys... going up again? But there's really a dead person up there?" Ji Leshui said in horror. "Shouldn't we call the police first?"

"Don't call the police yet. You wait down here, I'll explain to you later." The elevator doors opened with a ding, and Song Qingluo and the wild man were about to step inside. But Ji Leshui refused to be left alone no matter what. He would rather go back to the eighth floor than stay alone in the empty first-floor lobby. Who knew what other strange things might appear? His fragile nerves really couldn't take any more torment.

And so, Ji Leshui, who had just fled, returned to the eighth floor with two people in tow.

The author has something to say:

Lin Banxia: Eighty percent of the horror atmosphere is created by you.

Ji Leshui screams: But I'm scared!

Lin Banxia: What's there to be afraid of? Watch me whack it with my clothes-drying pole!!

Ji Leshui: Be my guest!!

Did anyone notice anything strange~