The sky wasn't completely dark yet, but this not-so-long alley was probably not well-constructed, causing the light here to always be much dimmer than other places.

Su Kun gripped his phone tightly, swallowing nervously as he looked at the less than 30-meter long path. Because the alley was short, there was only one dim yellow street lamp at the very end, flickering from the fluttering moths. This visual made it feel like there was an invisible person holding a paper lantern waiting on the other side, which was even worse than having no light at all.

He glanced back at the horizontal street behind him. The occasional passersby were sparse, but at least there were some human voices, giving him a bit more courage.

Taking a deep breath, he put on a calm face and stepped into the alley with an unhurried pace - this was the insight he gained from walking at night for many years. The more frantic the steps, the more frightening it was.

Running in a place like this would create echoes, as if many people were running behind you. Instead, keeping a steady pace would lessen the fear a bit. Moreover, over the years, Su Kun found that the calmer he was, the lower the chances of encountering ghosts seemed to be.

To avoid feeling empty on all sides, he deliberately walked close to the wall on the right. Having one side against a solid object gave him a little sense of security.

Speaking of which, it was really a bit cowardly for such a grown man to be so timid... Su Kun mocked himself in his mind as he walked forward.

But he seemed to have been like this since birth. He had tried countless methods to train his courage, but not only did they have no effect, he nearly lost his life. Moreover, his deadly ghost-encountering constitution further intensified his timidity. There were several times when he was suddenly frightened and felt half his soul float away, taking a long time to recover.

The dim yellow street lamp was getting closer and closer. He could even see the moths flapping their wings on the dust-covered lampshade.

Damn, almost there, just 10 more meters! After turning the corner out of the alley was the entrance to Guanyang New Town. That old man would definitely still be sitting at the gate fanning himself while watching his grandson!

Just as Su Kun thought this and was about to quicken his pace, when his foot was halfway down and hadn't landed yet, a faint voice suddenly came from behind: "Young man, young man?"

Su Kun stumbled: "..." It's not calling me it's definitely not calling me! Even if it was I won't respond, just give up on that idea! TAT

He stiffened for a second, lifting his foot that had gone weak, about to walk forward again, when he felt his arm being gently tugged.

Su Kun was dazed by this tug, his mind going blank and his limbs stiffening. He paused for a few seconds, then slowly turned his head, the movement so strained that a slight "click click" sound could be heard from his neck.

The instant he saw the person beside him clearly, Su Kun's mind was filled with just two huge characters: Holy shit!

Speak of the devil. He saw a slightly hunched old woman standing behind him to the side, not even reaching his shoulder in height. Her withered hand moved up along his arm and gently grasped the sleeve of his T-shirt.

She looked up at him, smiling, the wrinkles on her face distinct. Her voice was light and airy with a hint of a tremor, speaking with a heavy Li City dialect accent, clearly a native old person born and raised here.

"Young man, are you thirsty?" She leaned closer to Su Kun and asked.

Su Kun stared at her for a few seconds, a thread-like gasp escaping from his throat. His eyes rolled back and he slid down the wall like a sheet of paper.

The thin old woman: "..."

Seeing that Su Kun was about to pass out, the old woman squatted down, taking the opportunity to get even closer. She opened her mouth, seeming to want to say something more, but paused before making a sound.

She seemed to have particularly poor eyesight, moving her head even closer, nearly pressing against Su Kun before stopping. After looking for a few seconds, her expression turned a bit strange. She muttered something indistinctly, then straightened up, rubbed her lower back, and said to Su Kun on the ground: "Oh, this old woman saw wrong." Then she hurriedly left.

Su Kun's eyes nearly rolled back, but hearing her words allowed him to catch his breath a bit. He twitched the corner of his mouth and used his limp arms to brace himself against the wall to stand up. He saw the old woman tottering out of the alley quite quickly, turning a corner and disappearing from view.

"..." Su Kun expressionlessly turned around and floated out of the alley with unsteady steps, past the old gatekeeper, and to the bottom of his building. His mind was filled with self-hypnosis: That old woman had feet that old woman had feet that old woman had feet...

Damn it did that old woman actually have feet or not! TAT

He was so frightened by the old woman in the little dark alley that he didn't even glance at the trash can to see if the coffin was still there as he passed by. He went upstairs in a daze like this.

As he entered the door, Geng Zimo happened to come out of the kitchen with a bowl of something, the aroma of food from the bowl finally luring Su Kun's soul back. He stood at the entrance and looked at Geng Zimo in a daze for a while before saying: "Ah, you're back..."

Geng Zimo sat down on the single wooden sofa near the ceiling fan with the bowl and glanced at him, saying unhappily: "So I was texting with a ghost before, huh?"

"When did you get back?" Su Kun was choked by his words, warming his frightened little heart a bit. He asked while changing shoes, his voice still a bit weak.

"The road was jammed for a bit, I got back around the same time as you, just had time to boil a few frozen dumplings. What's wrong? Did the door pinch your throat? Your voice sounds frighteningly thin and shrill..."

Su Kun dragged his slippers and threw himself on the wooden sofa like a rag, his whole body limp and unmoving as if dead. After a long while, he raised his head with an anguished expression, clawing at Geng Zimo's leg with both hands: "I ran into a ghost again!" TAT It's the old ladies I fear the most!

Geng Zimo shook his long leg, using the end of his chopsticks to fastidiously pry off Su Kun's claws. "Put them down directly, don't get handsy."

Su Kun retracted his claws and recounted what happened in the little alley while lying half-dead on the sofa, emphasizing how much the old woman resembled his childhood nightmare, the huge impact it had on his psyche, and how strange her parting words were.

Geng Zimo ate the frozen dumplings while listening to the ghost story as a side dish. After finishing a bowl, he put the empty bowl on the coffee table, wiped his mouth with a tissue, and after staring at Su Kun who was eagerly waiting for his comments for a few seconds, he suddenly said, "Oh right, speaking of mentally unstable old ladies, I suddenly remembered that when I came back earlier, I saw that the coffin was no longer on the garbage pile."

After a moment of silence, Su Kun couldn't hold back anymore and angrily said, "Oh right my ass! Is there any common point between these two that can make people associate them! Where is the logic—you—what the fuck did you say?!" He roared halfway through before suddenly reacting to what Geng Zimo had said, and instantly flipped up from the sofa.

"That coffin is gone." Geng Zimo had an expression of "what's the big deal about this" on his face. He picked up the bowl and walked leisurely towards the kitchen, saying, "I guess it was cleared away by someone because it looked ominous."

"Oh—oh right, it was cleared away." Su Kun felt that he must have been too frightened, so he overreacted when he heard anything related to the coffin. He sat on the sofa and scratched his head, mocking himself in his heart: It was thrown on the garbage pile, it's normal for it to be cleared away. It couldn't have run back into its own room. The coffin doesn't have feet, hehe.

Back in the room where he lived, surrounded by familiar things and bright lights, and after talking so much with Geng Zimo, Su Kun felt that he had completely recovered from the shock of the old lady.

Plus, hearing that the coffin had been cleared away, his mood instantly improved. He picked a clean pair of underwear and a towel from the drying rack on the balcony, humming a tune out of tune and swaggered into the bathroom. He scrubbed himself well in the sound of rushing water, and pictured a beautiful picture of his future life in his mind.

It wasn't until Geng Zimo knocked on the door three times that he came out wearing only a pair of underwear, wiping his wet hair and walking towards his bedroom.

He turned on the light in the room, threw the towel and lay on his bed, squinting and rubbing against the cool mat a couple of times—going out today was like fighting a battle, and seeing the bed at this moment was almost like seeing his own father. Just as he closed his eyes and felt that he could fall asleep like this, he suddenly heard a slight clicking sound, so familiar that he almost thought he had traveled back to last night.

Su Kun suddenly opened his eyes and looked at the side of the bed with a trace of confused bewilderment.

"Holy shit!" TAT

Geng Zimo, who was passing by Su Kun's room to get clothes from the balcony, was so startled by this sudden howl that he almost slipped. He took a few steps back, twitched the corner of his mouth and poked his head into the room, saying, "I say, can you not be so startled, like singing an opera—" Before he could finish, he paused.

Because Su Kun had already rolled and crawled out of the room with a "howl", using both hands and feet, clinging to Geng Zimo's body like a sloth.

Brushing away his paws that almost clawed his face, Geng Zimo happened to see the brown inverted trapezoidal wooden object placed on the bedside table in the room, about the size of a shoe box, with a slightly arched top... It was exactly the coffin that had been thrown away!

Damn it, did this thing really grow feet?! Geng Zimo was very shocked, but this did not prevent him from trying to pry off the guy on his body who was not light at all.

But the more Su Kun was pried, the tighter he clung, refusing to let go. He stammered, "Geng, Geng, Geng Zimo, this, this, this must be a hallucination, right..."

Geng Zimo was almost suffocated by his grip, his face flushed red, and he said weakly, "Obviously not—cough cough, you fucking get off me, or I'll vomit on your face, believe it or not!"

And as he spoke, Su Kun clearly saw that the lid of the coffin was slowly being pushed open...