After the woman appeared, Liu Xi and Lin Banxia, feeling guilty, stood by without daring to breathe. Fortunately, the woman didn't seem to have any intention of making things difficult for them. After saying what she said, she turned and left. This left Wang Jinqiao stunned on the spot. After a long while, he whispered to them, "What's going on? Is there something wrong with that girl's mind?"

"How should I know?" Liu Xi was on the verge of tears. He wiped his face, only to find the tip of his nose covered in cold sweat. "This is just too creepy."

Lin Banxia silently nodded beside him.

"Also, Brother Lin, did you really see a mouse in the van?" After calming down, Liu Xi also sensed something was off. He turned to look at Lin Banxia, his face full of suspicion.

Lin Banxia replied without batting an eye, "I did."

"Really?" Liu Xi was still skeptical.

"Really," Lin Banxia affirmed.

Seeing Lin Banxia's firm attitude, Liu Xi had to drop it. However, on the way back, Liu Xi smoked with a frown on his face the entire time. Lin Banxia sat beside him, taking a nap. It wasn't until they were almost back at the office that Liu Xi finally said, "Brother Lin, I'm going to a temple in a few days to ask for a safety charm. Do you want me to bring one back for you?"

"No need," said Lin Banxia. "I don't believe in that stuff."

"You still don't believe?" Liu Xi said. "But what happened tonight was too bizarre... especially that woman. Her smile made my skin crawl."

Lin Banxia said, "She... was a bit strange."

Indeed, she had been crying so sorrowfully at first, but who would have thought that after just a few hours, she would start smiling upon seeing her family's bodies? Could it be that in her grief, she had a sudden enlightenment?

Chatting, the two entered their workplace, planning to take a shower, change, and leave. For their line of work, unless there were special circumstances, each person would typically only take one call a night. After they were done, they could pretty much get off work.

Lin Banxia also went to take a shower. Afterward, he changed into his own clothes and called Ji Leshui while drying his hair.

But although the call went through, no one answered, and the worry in his heart grew.

After work, Lin Banxia thought he would first pack Ji Leshui's luggage and take it directly to him, and at the same time, check on Ji Leshui's situation.

Taking a night bus that only ran in the early morning, Lin Banxia got off at the bus stop near his residential complex. After walking for about five or six minutes, he finally arrived at his doorstep.

He hadn't noticed before Ji Leshui mentioned it, but now after observing for a few days, he realized that there really weren't many people living in their complex. Apart from the streetlights, there were almost no other lights on. Walking alone on the road, the only thing that echoed in his ears was the sound of his own footsteps.

But at this moment, Lin Banxia wasn't afraid of the silence; rather, he was more afraid of hearing something. He entered the elevator and went straight to his apartment door. Just as he was about to take out his keys to open the door, he suddenly noticed that the doorplate hanging on his door was crooked.

The doorplate was black, with the four numbers "1303" written in gold foil font. It hung crookedly on the door, a real eyesore. Lin Banxia reached out, wanting to straighten the doorplate, but the moment his fingertips touched its edge, he realized the texture was wrong and immediately pulled his hand back.

The doorplate, which should have been cold with a metallic texture, was actually radiating a warmth like human skin. And its feel reminded Lin Banxia of his next-door neighbor's black box...

Lin Banxia stared at the doorplate for a moment, then ignored it, took out his keys, and opened the door.

After the door opened, Lin Banxia entered the apartment and closed the door behind him. He then took Ji Leshui's suitcase from the bedroom and began to pack the clothes from his wardrobe. Ji Leshui's wardrobe was divided into two levels, upper and lower. The upper level was smaller and used for storing bedding, while the lower level held most of his everyday clothes. The suitcase wasn't big enough, so Lin Banxia could only fit most of the clothes. He looked at the remaining clothes, troubled. He thought for a moment, then took out his phone to call Ji Leshui again, wanting to ask about his situation.

"Ring ring ring~ Ring ring ring~" The moment Lin Banxia's call connected, a familiar ringtone sounded in his ear. At first, he thought he had misheard, but as the ringing grew louder, he looked up in disbelief.

The ringtone was coming from the wardrobe above his head.

And the call that Lin Banxia couldn't get through before was now connected. It was silent on the other end. Lin Banxia said "hello" in a low voice, and then, he heard his own voice coming from inside the wardrobe.

Lin Banxia was silent for a moment. His Adam's apple bobbed up and down as if processing the situation. About half a minute later, he moved, slowly climbing onto the bed beside him. Taking a light breath, he opened the top level of the wardrobe.

With a soft creak, the wardrobe door opened, and Lin Banxia saw Ji Leshui curled up in a ball inside.

Ji Leshui was 173 cm tall, a normal adult male. Logically, it should have been impossible for him to curl up inside the wardrobe, but the situation before him defied common sense. Ji Leshui's eyes were open, his pupils seemingly dilated. He stared blankly at Lin Banxia, his body still trembling slightly.

"Leshui, Leshui!" Lin Banxia was truly anxious this time. He reached out and painstakingly pulled Ji Leshui out of the wardrobe.

Ji Leshui didn't move at all, like a stiff puppet, allowing Lin Banxia to move him. It wasn't until he was completely pulled out by Lin Banxia that he began to sob quietly like a wronged child. Lin Banxia held his shoulders, nervously checking if he was injured.

Fortunately, apart from the fright, his body was perfectly fine, with no external injuries.

"When did you come back? Why were you in there?" Lin Banxia helped him to the living room. He was about to pour him a cup of hot water to calm his nerves, but Ji Leshui was so scared out of his wits that he clung tightly to Lin Banxia, refusing to let go. Lin Banxia had no choice but to give up.

"I don't know, I don't know," Ji Leshui said in despair. "I don't know when I came back... By the time I was conscious, I was already in the wardrobe. I couldn't move, I couldn't move..."

Lin Banxia said, "Don't rush, speak slowly, take your time."

With a trembling voice, Ji Leshui recounted what he had experienced in detail.

It turned out that after the nightmare, he had gone to work in a daze. But because his mind was not in it, he made one mistake after another at work, was scolded by his superior, and sent straight home. Ji Leshui returned to his new rental apartment in low spirits, but when he opened the door, what he saw was the living room of Lin Banxia's home.

At that moment, Ji Leshui was scared silly. He turned and fled, running and running. He felt as if he had run into a twisted tunnel, his ears filled with the wails of a woman. He ran and ran, ran and ran, not daring to stop for a moment. Just when he thought he was about to die from exhaustion, he finally saw a door belonging to his new rental. This time, he opened the door and finally found his new home.

Ji Leshui wept with joy, rushed into his home, and slammed the door shut. But moments after the door closed, a knocking sound came from outside. Before Ji Leshui dared to look, he heard a woman screaming from the other side of the door.

He was instantly frightened out of his wits, scrambling into the bedroom. He couldn't quite remember what happened next, only vaguely feeling that he had entered a dark, narrow space, unable to move.

The piercing sound of a suona horn rang in his ears, everything around him was swaying, people were whispering, people were wailing, until a man's voice shouted, "Lower the coffin—"

Ji Leshui's breathing instantly became difficult. He wanted to call for help, but couldn't utter a single word. A rustling sound came from above his head, like someone shoveling dirt onto him, spadeful after spadeful, intending to bury him completely in endless darkness.

At this point, Ji Leshui broke down crying. He grabbed Lin Banxia's clothes like a child who had been bullied to his limit. "What do I do, what do I do, Banxia, I can't move out, I can't move out!!!!"

Lin Banxia repeatedly comforted him, but he also knew that such comfort was just a drop in the bucket for Ji Leshui. His friend's mind was on the verge of collapse; just a little more stimulation could drive him into madness. In the end, this matter had started with Lin Banxia. If he hadn't invited Ji Leshui to live here, Ji Leshui wouldn't have been scared so badly.

Lin Banxia remembered his next-door neighbor's warning and thought that he must know something. He soothed Ji Leshui's emotions and decided to pay him another visit later.

Ji Leshui had already been drained of most of his energy by fear. Now, after crying and shouting for so long, he quickly became weak. But even when he was too sleepy to keep his eyes open, he refused to let go of the corner of Lin Banxia's shirt, terrified that he would return to that horrifying "coffin."

Lin Banxia had no choice but to stay with him, looking at his pale face and his brow that remained tightly furrowed even in sleep.

The sky was gloomy, the wind outside howled, and the light in the room was dim, with only the faint sound from the television.

Lin Banxia leaned against the sofa with Ji Leshui lying beside him. Having worked all night, he was also a bit tired. As dawn approached, he dazedly fell into a dream.

He dreamed of his university days, when a classmate always liked to scare him, but never succeeded. Until one night, that classmate suddenly tapped him on the back from behind, trying to startle him. Naturally, he had no reaction. To his surprise, the classmate gave him a dejected look, sighed, and said, "That didn't scare you either, huh." Lin Banxia even laughed at the time, but who would have known that the next day, the class president would suddenly tell him that the classmate had died in a car accident the previous morning...

Died? But clearly, he had been joking with him just the night before...

As he dreamed, Lin Banxia suddenly woke up. The first thing he did upon opening his eyes was to look for Ji Leshui beside him. Seeing that Ji Leshui was still asleep, he let out a sigh of relief. He thought for a moment, then decided to wake Ji Leshui up and tell him that he was planning to visit the neighbor next door.

Hearing Lin Banxia's words, Ji Leshui asked in confusion, "Why are you going to see the neighbor?"

Lin Banxia said, "The neighbor might know something."

Ji Leshui: "Know something?" He didn't quite understand what Lin Banxia meant.

"Know something about this apartment," Lin Banxia said. "He seems strange, not like a normal person."

Ji Leshui: "How strange?"

Lin Banxia: "Stranger than me."

Ji Leshui struggled for a few seconds before giving up, "Well, that's pretty strange then."

Lin Banxia sighed and patted his friend's shoulder.

After a night of rest, Ji Leshui's spirits were finally a bit better, and he had the extra energy to joke with Lin Banxia. Lin Banxia had originally planned to visit the neighbor alone, but Ji Leshui absolutely refused to stay in the apartment. Helpless, the two of them decided to go together.

Lin Banxia arrived at the neighbor's door and knocked cautiously.

After waiting for a while, the door creaked open, and Song Qingluo's face appeared in the gap. He seemed to have just woken up. His slightly long black hair was a bit messy, and his face was still as pale as bloodless white porcelain.

"Mr. Song..." Lin Banxia said, "There's something I'd like to ask you about."

Song Qingluo's gaze moved to Ji Leshui, who was standing beside Lin Banxia. He said, "This is your roommate?"

Lin Banxia nodded. He was a bit afraid that Song Qingluo would refuse and was about to say a few more pleasantries, but to his surprise, after sizing up Ji Leshui with a critical eye, Song Qingluo ran a hand through his messy hair and said softly, "Come in."

Only then did the two of them cautiously enter, one after the other.

Just like Lin Banxia on his first visit, Ji Leshui was stunned by the large and small boxes in the room as soon as he entered. Although he didn't know what was inside the boxes, he felt an inexplicable sense of dread and stopped at a spot far away from them.

"Sit." Song Qingluo pointed to the sofa.

Lin Banxia sat down on the sofa and gestured with his eyes for Ji Leshui to come over as well. Ji Leshui shuffled over and reluctantly sat down next to Lin Banxia, whispering, "Mr. Song, what's inside all these boxes?"

Song Qingluo gave him a cold look and didn't answer.

Ji Leshui was instantly embarrassed. He said awkwardly, "Sorry, I didn't mean to offend, I just feel..." He had wanted to say that the boxes looked unsettling. But before the words came out, he immediately realized that saying so would be even more offensive than saying nothing, so he forced a change of subject, "I just feel they're a bit, a bit in the way."

Song Qingluo stood up, walked over to the sofa, and casually picked up a box. The box was about the size of a human head. After picking it up, Song Qingluo placed it on the table in front of them. He tilted his chin slightly at Ji Leshui, "Didn't you want to know what's inside? Want to try opening it?"

Ji Leshui's expression stiffened.

Lin Banxia wanted to help Ji Leshui out of the predicament, but before he could speak, Song Qingluo made a hushing gesture.

The box wasn't large and wasn't locked. It had a simple clasp that could be easily opened. With just a reach of the hand, the box could be opened. Ji Leshui was indeed curious about what was inside, but for some reason, when his hand touched the surface of the box, he felt a bone-chilling cold, as if he were being stared at by some terrifying beast.

Ji Leshui tried several times but could never open the box. A certain human instinct compelled him to stop. His fingertips slid across the soft surface of the box, touching it, yet he didn't dare to touch the clasp even once, as if the box before him wasn't a box, but a Pandora's Box. If he opened it, he would fall into a state of eternal damnation.

Unconsciously, Ji Leshui's face was covered in cold sweat. He finally gave up and cast a pleading look at Lin Banxia.

Lin Banxia asked in confusion, "Leshui? Are you okay?"

Ji Leshui forced a smile. "This... I'd better not open it. After all, it's Mr. Song's private property. To just open it like this..."

Song Qingluo said, "Your name is Lin Banxia, right? Do you dare to open it?"

Lin Banxia said, "Open it? This box?" As he spoke, he reached for the box. However, just as his hand touched the clasp, a terrified scream came from beside him. Ji Leshui suddenly shot out his hand, grabbing the fingers Lin Banxia was about to use to unlatch the clasp, and said, "No, no, you can't open it, Banxia, you can't open it—"

Lin Banxia was startled by Ji Leshui's reaction.

Song Qingluo's expression, however, remained unchanged, as if Ji Leshui's reaction was within his expectations. He took something out of his pocket and handed it to Ji Leshui. "Roll once?"

Ji Leshui's mind was already in a bit of a turmoil. After taking the objects from Song Qingluo's hand, he realized they were two dice of a special texture. Unlike ordinary six-sided dice, these dice each had ten sides, one black and one white, like two eyeballs, lying quietly in Ji Leshui's palm.

Ji Leshui said, "Roll... how do I roll?"

Song Qingluo: "Toss them on the table."

Ji Leshui swallowed, then carefully tossed them onto the table. The dice clattered and spun on the table for many circles before finally stopping steadily in the middle. The black die showed a 6, and the white die, a 9.

Song Qingluo said, "Again." With that, he handed the dice to Ji Leshui again.

Ji Leshui was a bit dazed, but he did as Song Qingluo said and rolled again. To his surprise, when the two dice stopped spinning and came to a rest on the table, the numbers hadn't changed at all. It was still a 6 on the black die and a 9 on the white.

Ji Leshui was dumbfounded, stammering, "Mr. Song, are these dice... loaded or something?"

Song Qingluo didn't answer, instead pointing to Lin Banxia, signaling for him to try as well.

Lin Banxia said "oh" and rolled the dice just like Ji Leshui had. But to everyone's surprise, when the dice were in his hands, they acted strangely. As if they had escaped the pull of gravity, they spun continuously, showing no signs of stopping.

As Ji Leshui watched, goosebumps broke out all over his body, and the way he looked at Song Qingluo was now tinged with terror.

Song Qingluo smoothly took the dice back and said to Ji Leshui, "Good thing it's not 100."

"One hundred? What do you mean?" Ji Leshui naturally didn't understand.

"The black die is the ones place, the white die is the tens place. This number represents the current level of your mental contamination." Song Qingluo tossed the dice into his pocket and said, "A normal person's mind will fall into disarray after witnessing an incomprehensible phenomenon. The higher the value, the more severe the disarray. You're at 96, just four points away from being full."

Ji Leshui said, "What about him, what's with him?" He pointed to his friend, Lin Banxia.

Lin Banxia sat obediently to the side, his hands on his knees. Being pointed at by Ji Leshui, he wore an innocent expression.

Song Qingluo glanced at Lin Banxia and said, "There are also special groups of people who can't comprehend strange phenomena even when they see them. Actually, there are quite a few people like this. We usually call them..."

Ji Leshui said, "What, what?"

Song Qingluo said, "Intellectually handicapped individuals."

Ji Leshui: "..."

Song Qingluo: "Colloquially, morons."

Ji Leshui: "..."

Lin Banxia: "..." 'Isn't that a bit much? I'm just a little slow to react, how did I become a moron.'

"The more spiritually sensitive a person is, the more likely they are to see those strange phenomena, and the more they see, the easier it is for them to go mad." The two dice rolled between Song Qingluo's long fingers as if they were a part of his body. "Under normal circumstances, spiritual sensitivity is linked to intelligence, so..." He glanced at Lin Banxia. For some reason, Lin Banxia actually saw a hint of pity and a sly smile in his eyes.

Ji Leshui immediately looked at his friend in cooperation and said tragically, "Lin Banxia, you've deceived me so cruelly! I've lived with you for so many years, and you were secretly a moron behind my back."

Lin Banxia forced a smile. "That's about enough from you."

Ji Leshui coughed a few times, suppressing his laughter.

Lin Banxia said, "Mr. Song, alright, now we know my friend is severely contaminated, and my moron status has been exposed. Can you tell us the solution now?"

Song Qingluo said, "There is, in fact, a method."

Lin Banxia said, "Such as?"

Song Qingluo said, "Such as moving."

"But didn't you say we can't move out?" Lin Banxia asked strangely, clearly remembering Song Qingluo's warning during his first visit.

Song Qingluo said, "Just moving anywhere won't work, of course."

Lin Banxia said, "Where should we move to then?"

Song Qingluo pointed to his own apartment.

Upon hearing this, Ji Leshui blurted out, "What, we have to live with you? But I have a girlfriend."

Lin Banxia: "What? You have a girlfriend?? When did you get one??"

Ji Leshui: "So you can be a moron but I can't get a girlfriend?"

Lin Banxia was so angry he laughed, rolling up his sleeves. "Ji Leshui, you're really pushing it. I'm gonna beat your damn head in today—"

Ji Leshui immediately offered a sincere apology, saying it wasn't that he didn't want to tell him, but it happened so suddenly that he hadn't found the chance. Then he looked shyly at Song Qingluo and said, "Mr. Song, isn't moving in together a bit abrupt?"

Song Qingluo said irritably, "Who wants to live with you? I just said moving in here is a solution. Did I say I'd let you move in?"

Ji Leshui: "Huh? How can you be like this?" But he reacted quickly, immediately thinking of something else, and put on a sincere smile. "Mr. Song, Mr. Song, saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda. Look at me, I've been tormented these past few days to the point of going crazy. Please, be kind and save me. I'll agree to any condition, okay? Look at my friend, he finally graduated and used all his savings to buy an apartment, only to run into this. If a normal person worked hard, they could get through it, but he's... not all there." He said, pointing to his head.

Lin Banxia: "..." 'Ji Leshui, you bastard, why are you so skilled at selling out your friends?'

The author has something to say:

Ji Leshui: Boss, help, I'm about to be scared silly!!

Song Qingluo: = =

Ji Leshui: I'm going to be scared to death!!!

Song Qingluo: = =

Ji Leshui: Your wife's house is about to be repossessed by the bank!!

Song Qingluo: Come, come, come, I'll find you a new place to live.

Ji Leshui: You two dog men!!!!

Lin Banxia: We're not dogs, we're just poor.