Chapter 2 – Your obsession was awoken before you yourself. Your spirit recognized him, but you didn’t remember.
The rooms in the old dormitory only had one bedroom and one living room. The dining table was in the corner of the kitchen.
There was a dim yellow lamp hanging from the ceiling. There wasn’t any wind but the lamp creaked as it swung around.
“Little brother, how come you want to live here?”
The middle-aged man asked this with a laugh.
He was still drinking wine.
The middle-aged man looked at Lian Xi with a smile. The red and white eyeball rolled around in the bloody eye socket and the temperature in the room dropped sharply even though there was no wind.
However Lian Xi didn’t pay any attention to it. He looked down at the blackened braised meat on the table and after a moment of silence, his right hand slowly touched his left wrist.
There was a red string tied around his left wrist.
It was the kind of common red string that could be seen anywhere and was casually tied with a knot. A man’s wrist only had a thin red string tied. It looked a little bit strange. But if one was to look closer, there was also a tiny bronze bell strung on the red rope.
Not a traditional Chinese bell, but western church-style bell.
Like a smaller version of a bronze clock.
From the very beginning Lian Xi had worn this bell on his wrist but perhaps there was no knocker inside. His wrist had been moving this whole time but the bell had never sounded.
Lian Xi gently touched the bell and looked towards the middle-aged man.
The blood from his eye socket continued to seep and soon the man’s face was covered with blood.
“It’s cheap here.”
The middle-aged man nodded. “That’s right. It’s an old house so it’s cheap.”
Lian Xi: “Then why do you live here?”
The middle aged man was taken aback. “Why can’t I live here?” He behaved as though he’d heard a big joke. “This is my house, why can’t I live here?”
Lian Xi: “…..”
It made sense.
Perhaps the topic was too awkward so the room fell into dead silence again.
The corner’s of the middle-aged man’s mouth was raised and his eyes stared fixedly at Lian Xi. His head slowly lowered, going lower and lower. In the end his eyeline fell onto the pot of braised meat on the table. Suddenly his eyeballs trembled violently and he made a sharp noise from the back of his throat. The entire room began to shake. All the furniture in the room shook along with the noise made by the man.
“Ahhhhhhhhh!!”
Lian Xi lowered his eyes. He stabilized his shaking body and clutched the bell on his left wrist.
The room was still shaking and the harsh roar made by the middle aged man made the glass shake violently.
Seeing that the plate on the table was about to be shaken to the floor by the inhuman roar of horror, Lian Xi’s face became extremely cold. His fingers that were pinching the bell were white and there was a flash of darkened light from the bell.
At this time the doorbell rang.
Suddenly everything went back to being still.
The middle-aged man suddenly stopped roaring and all the furniture in the room stopped moving.
Lian Xi asked a soft question.
The middle aged man seemed to be possessed and looked as though he’d lost his soul. He sat dumbly on the chair, looking at the pot of roast meat on the table and said nothing.
Lian Xi sighed. He got up, planning to open the door. But the bell on his wrist shook twice, seeming to be berating him for giving up so suddenly.
Lian Xi: “Don’t make a fuss.” With these words, he pressed the bell on his wrist that didn’t make a noise and walked towards the front door.
“Who is it?”
“Xiao Lian, it’s me.”
Xiao Lian opened the door.
In the bright moonlight, the security guard with the glasses looked at him and smiled. He asked, “I was just passing by downstairs and heard some commotion from your place,so I came to take a look. What’s wrong?” As he spoke, he peeked into the room surreptitiously.
Old people often had this bad habit, they liked to be busy bodies. But he was disappointed. There was no woman in Lian Xi’s room. Not only was there no woman, there wasn’t even any man.
The doorman was disappointed. Then he remembered what his colleague had told him during that day about “live streaming”.
However Lian Xi was dressed neatly and he had also opened the door very quickly.
Ai, it looked like there was really no gossip to be had here!
At this time his nose twitched. “Smells so fragrant, did you make meat?”
Lian Xi’s gaze moved. He looked down at the short and skinny old man. After a few seconds he said, “Yes, roast meat.”
“Young fellow, you’re not a bad cook ah.”
“Do you want to try it?”
“Can I?”
“I can’t finish it by myself.”
Lian Xi turned his body and let the doorman uncle come inside.
After walking over to the table, the doorman looked at the chair which had been pulled aside and a cup of untouched wine on the table. He paused and said, “Xiao Lian, did you have a guest?”
Lian Xi: “No. It’s for the dead.”
The security guard: “…..”
Lian Xi: “My father died from drink driving.”
The security guard: “Oh, I see. Sorry, I didn’t mean to intrude, ah.”
This darling was paying a tribute to his dead dad!
The doorman walked over to the other side of the table and took a seat.
His appetite had already been aroused and his hands were ready. As soon as Lian Xi gave him a pair of chopsticks, he immediately excitedly picked up a piece of meat and put it in his mouth.
“Oh, it’s good! Xiao Lian, your skills are really good. If you can cook this well, why do you still buy takeout every day?”
“It’s more convenient.”
“Haha, then you should marry a wife and get her to cook for you every day! That’s the most convenient! How come you’re not eating?”
“I’m full. Eat as much as you like.”
The doorman uncle ate so much his entire mouth was covered in oil. He was no longer in any mood to pay attention to Lian Xi. He gobbled it all down like a pig.
Lian Xi drank some water and looked expressionlessly towards the other side of the table.
On the seat set in “tribute to the father who died of drink driving”, there sat a “person” that the doorman couldn’t see.
The middle aged man sat there stupidly, staring at the plate of meat.
The doorman ate in a frenzy. It seemed as though he had never in his life eaten such a delicious pot of meat. His eyes were red and his hands and feet trembled.
Once the entire plate of meat was consumed, the security guard sat back contendly and stupidly, his face full of oil.
After a long time, he gave a hiccup that was full of the smell of meat and rubbed his face. Finally he recovered his senses.
His eyes swept over the splash of brown blood stain on the wall and his lips moved. After some time, he looked at Lian Xi and, “Xiao Lian ah.”
“This is a haunted house, aren’t you scared?”
Lian Xi: “There’s a type of disease that’s even scarier than a ghost.”
“What type of disease?”
“The disease of being poor.”
The doorman laughed. He took off his glasses and said, “You’re very humorous.”
There were two seconds of silence.
“Do you know about the murder case in the fan factory’s dormitory building?”
“I know. It happened the year I was born.”
“Thinking about it now, it’s already been 23 years.”
“Why did you come to be the security guard here?”
The doorman looked at Lian Xi. “Become the security guard here?”
Lian Xi poured himself a cup of cooled boiled water. He held the glass and the bell on the red string on his wrist swayed gently. They looked at the other person and his gaze was calm. He said gently, “En. The salary isn’t high and it seems it doesn’t include food or accommodation. And in half a year this place will be demolished. Also, it seems you came here half a year ago to be the security guard?”
The doorman slowly smiled, exposing a mouth full of yellowed teeth. There was a thin piece of meat stuck between his teeth. “Why does there need to be a specific reason?”
Lian Xi: “That’s true.”
It seemed that he didn’t expect Lian Xi to accept this explanation so easily and the security guard uncle actually paused, surprised, for a few moments. Then he changed the subject, “That’s right, I found that when you return home, you often stop in the corridor for a few seconds. Right now you’re the only person living in this building. Haha, did you run into a ghost or something?”
Lian Xi: “Uncle, your observation skills are really acute.”
The doorman paused, then explained, “So many people have died here. You’re such a young kid living here all by himself, how can I not be worried?” He sighed and added, “But you’re pretty brave. I heard Old Liu say that since the murder case, you’re the only person who’s lived on the fourth floor of Building No 4. Even if other people are brave, they won’t live on the fourth floor.”
His eyes moved and he pointed at the blood stains on the wall. “Can’t you see? This is the blood of the old woman that died in this room before.”
Lian Xi raised his eyes and looked at him.
A strange sliver of oil began to fall from the corner doorman uncle’s mouth but he didn’t seem to notice it. He said in an intoxicated manner, “That old woman, she came out in the middle of the night to use the toilet. As soon as she came out of the toilet, she died. It was right here on this table. This very table.”
“There was also that young couple from 401 next to the stairs. The young couple had finished their meal and were lying down on the bed to sleep. The fireworks were so loud outside but they slept like pigs. Hehe, one knife for each of them…..”
“In 403, there was only a kid at home by himself. His parents had gone downstairs to set off fireworks. I pried open his door and hid inside the cupboard…..”
…..
“Oh right, 404, 404….”
“There’s also 404!”
He seemed to be possessed. The more he talked, the crazier he became. His mouth began to drip oil like mad. The oil flowed all over his body. Gradually the oil no longer flowed but turned into bright red blood, dripping all over his body.
But he couldn’t see it.
He was still talking.
His mood and manner was crazy.
Like he had been possessed.
“The woman from 404 liked to walk around in a white dress, she was so pretty. I only just touched her once and she glared at me. That kind of sensation on my hand, that gaze….”
“Hehehehe…..”
“Hehehehe….”
On one side of the table, the doorman uncle’s mouth dripped blood and he laughed excitedly and frantically.
On the other side, the middle-aged man had his head lowered and he stared foolishly at the empty pot of meat. He seemed to hear the security guard uncles’ words but at the same time not hear them.
There was a ka-da noise.
The security guard uncle and the middle aged man both seemed to wake up at the same time.
They both turned their heads and looked at Lian Xi at the same time.
Lian Xi put his glass back down on the table. He touched the bronze bell on his left wrist and it made a noise that was low and slow, as though it were travelling from ancient times, echoing with melancholy.
It was calm and peaceful and entered straight into people’s hearts.
He looked down at the glass cup on the table.
“Under ordinary circumstances, it’s impossible for a ghost to remain in the human world for 23 years and not be discovered.”
“I moved here a year ago and you appeared suddenly half a year ago.”
“Have you ever thought about why you suddenly appeared? Why did you suddenly change from a wandering ghost full of resentment, to your current appearance?”
The middle aged man slowly opened his mouth wide.
The doorman seemed to have woken up from a dream. He only now suddenly realized what he had been just saying. He took a deep shaky breath full of cold air and stared shocked at Lian Xi. Immediately his eyes became cold, like the stare of an insidious snake.
The doorman gritted his teeth and his fierce gaze swept around the kitchen and immediately fixated on the kitchen knife standing in the corner.
Lian Xi was still speaking.
“Your wife is dead, your daughter is dead too.”
“You are also dead.”
“The murderer killed them right before your eyes.”
“You hate, you’re full of resentment so you don’t want to leave. They have already reincarnated but only you refuse to leave.”
“But you already forgot everything. You don’t know why you are. You were wandering around in the world, muddled and confused.”
“Until one day…..”
“He came back.”
“Your obsession was awoken before you yourself. Your spirit recognized him, but you didn’t remember.”
The doorman uncle staggered into the kitchen. He pulled down the knife hanging from the wall. His pair of eyes which were hidden all day behind glasses now revealed a killing light. With a cold laugh he walked step by step towards Lian Xi. But Lian Xi didn’t turn around. He sat there and spoke calmly word by word.
“It’s been 23 years, he’s standing right before you.”
Lian Xi raised his head and looked at the male ghost who was trembling all over. He shook his wrist vigorously and the bronze made a deafening, crisp sound.
Peng!
“Chen JianJun, can you still not recognize him!”
“Ahhhhhhhh!!!”
“Ahhhhh, go and die!!!”
The doorman raised the kitchen knife and planned to slash violently towards the back of Lian Xi’s head. But before his hand could move, a bloody face suddenly rushed in front of him and stuck right next to his face!
The doorman uncle’s eyes were open and as round as saucers, shocked and horrified.
“You killed Fang Ling!”
“You killed Ting Ting!”
“You killed my wife and you killed my daughter!”
“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”
“You have to pay with your life for them, I’ll make you pay with your life!”
“Ghost ah!!!!!!”
The kitchen knife fell to the floor with a clanging noise.
Chapter 2 – Your obsession was awoken before you yourself. Your spirit recognized him, but you didn’t remember.
The rooms in the old dormitory only had one bedroom and one living room. The dining table was in the corner of the kitchen.
There was a dim yellow lamp hanging from the ceiling. There wasn’t any wind but the lamp creaked as it swung around.
“Little brother, how come you want to live here?”
The middle-aged man asked this with a laugh.
He was still drinking wine.
The middle-aged man looked at Lian Xi with a smile. The red and white eyeball rolled around in the bloody eye socket and the temperature in the room dropped sharply even though there was no wind.
However Lian Xi didn’t pay any attention to it. He looked down at the blackened braised meat on the table and after a moment of silence, his right hand slowly touched his left wrist.
There was a red string tied around his left wrist.
It was the kind of common red string that could be seen anywhere and was casually tied with a knot. A man’s wrist only had a thin red string tied. It looked a little bit strange. But if one was to look closer, there was also a tiny bronze bell strung on the red rope.
Not a traditional Chinese bell, but western church-style bell.
Like a smaller version of a bronze clock.
From the very beginning Lian Xi had worn this bell on his wrist but perhaps there was no knocker inside. His wrist had been moving this whole time but the bell had never sounded.
Lian Xi gently touched the bell and looked towards the middle-aged man.
The blood from his eye socket continued to seep and soon the man’s face was covered with blood.
“It’s cheap here.”
The middle-aged man nodded. “That’s right. It’s an old house so it’s cheap.”
Lian Xi: “Then why do you live here?”
The middle aged man was taken aback. “Why can’t I live here?” He behaved as though he’d heard a big joke. “This is my house, why can’t I live here?”
Lian Xi: “…..”
It made sense.
Perhaps the topic was too awkward so the room fell into dead silence again.
The corner’s of the middle-aged man’s mouth was raised and his eyes stared fixedly at Lian Xi. His head slowly lowered, going lower and lower. In the end his eyeline fell onto the pot of braised meat on the table. Suddenly his eyeballs trembled violently and he made a sharp noise from the back of his throat. The entire room began to shake. All the furniture in the room shook along with the noise made by the man.
“Ahhhhhhhhh!!”
Lian Xi lowered his eyes. He stabilized his shaking body and clutched the bell on his left wrist.
The room was still shaking and the harsh roar made by the middle aged man made the glass shake violently.
Seeing that the plate on the table was about to be shaken to the floor by the inhuman roar of horror, Lian Xi’s face became extremely cold. His fingers that were pinching the bell were white and there was a flash of darkened light from the bell.
At this time the doorbell rang.
Suddenly everything went back to being still.
The middle-aged man suddenly stopped roaring and all the furniture in the room stopped moving.
Lian Xi asked a soft question.
The middle aged man seemed to be possessed and looked as though he’d lost his soul. He sat dumbly on the chair, looking at the pot of roast meat on the table and said nothing.
Lian Xi sighed. He got up, planning to open the door. But the bell on his wrist shook twice, seeming to be berating him for giving up so suddenly.
Lian Xi: “Don’t make a fuss.” With these words, he pressed the bell on his wrist that didn’t make a noise and walked towards the front door.
“Who is it?”
“Xiao Lian, it’s me.”
Xiao Lian opened the door.
In the bright moonlight, the security guard with the glasses looked at him and smiled. He asked, “I was just passing by downstairs and heard some commotion from your place,so I came to take a look. What’s wrong?” As he spoke, he peeked into the room surreptitiously.
Old people often had this bad habit, they liked to be busy bodies. But he was disappointed. There was no woman in Lian Xi’s room. Not only was there no woman, there wasn’t even any man.
The doorman was disappointed. Then he remembered what his colleague had told him during that day about “live streaming”.
However Lian Xi was dressed neatly and he had also opened the door very quickly.
Ai, it looked like there was really no gossip to be had here!
At this time his nose twitched. “Smells so fragrant, did you make meat?”
Lian Xi’s gaze moved. He looked down at the short and skinny old man. After a few seconds he said, “Yes, roast meat.”
“Young fellow, you’re not a bad cook ah.”
“Do you want to try it?”
“Can I?”
“I can’t finish it by myself.”
Lian Xi turned his body and let the doorman uncle come inside.
After walking over to the table, the doorman looked at the chair which had been pulled aside and a cup of untouched wine on the table. He paused and said, “Xiao Lian, did you have a guest?”
Lian Xi: “No. It’s for the dead.”
The security guard: “…..”
Lian Xi: “My father died from drink driving.”
The security guard: “Oh, I see. Sorry, I didn’t mean to intrude, ah.”
This darling was paying a tribute to his dead dad!
The doorman walked over to the other side of the table and took a seat.
His appetite had already been aroused and his hands were ready. As soon as Lian Xi gave him a pair of chopsticks, he immediately excitedly picked up a piece of meat and put it in his mouth.
“Oh, it’s good! Xiao Lian, your skills are really good. If you can cook this well, why do you still buy takeout every day?”
“It’s more convenient.”
“Haha, then you should marry a wife and get her to cook for you every day! That’s the most convenient! How come you’re not eating?”
“I’m full. Eat as much as you like.”
The doorman uncle ate so much his entire mouth was covered in oil. He was no longer in any mood to pay attention to Lian Xi. He gobbled it all down like a pig.
Lian Xi drank some water and looked expressionlessly towards the other side of the table.
On the seat set in “tribute to the father who died of drink driving”, there sat a “person” that the doorman couldn’t see.
The middle aged man sat there stupidly, staring at the plate of meat.
The doorman ate in a frenzy. It seemed as though he had never in his life eaten such a delicious pot of meat. His eyes were red and his hands and feet trembled.
Once the entire plate of meat was consumed, the security guard sat back contendly and stupidly, his face full of oil.
After a long time, he gave a hiccup that was full of the smell of meat and rubbed his face. Finally he recovered his senses.
His eyes swept over the splash of brown blood stain on the wall and his lips moved. After some time, he looked at Lian Xi and, “Xiao Lian ah.”
“This is a haunted house, aren’t you scared?”
Lian Xi: “There’s a type of disease that’s even scarier than a ghost.”
“What type of disease?”
“The disease of being poor.”
The doorman laughed. He took off his glasses and said, “You’re very humorous.”
There were two seconds of silence.
“Do you know about the murder case in the fan factory’s dormitory building?”
“I know. It happened the year I was born.”
“Thinking about it now, it’s already been 23 years.”
“Why did you come to be the security guard here?”
The doorman looked at Lian Xi. “Become the security guard here?”
Lian Xi poured himself a cup of cooled boiled water. He held the glass and the bell on the red string on his wrist swayed gently. They looked at the other person and his gaze was calm. He said gently, “En. The salary isn’t high and it seems it doesn’t include food or accommodation. And in half a year this place will be demolished. Also, it seems you came here half a year ago to be the security guard?”
The doorman slowly smiled, exposing a mouth full of yellowed teeth. There was a thin piece of meat stuck between his teeth. “Why does there need to be a specific reason?”
Lian Xi: “That’s true.”
It seemed that he didn’t expect Lian Xi to accept this explanation so easily and the security guard uncle actually paused, surprised, for a few moments. Then he changed the subject, “That’s right, I found that when you return home, you often stop in the corridor for a few seconds. Right now you’re the only person living in this building. Haha, did you run into a ghost or something?”
Lian Xi: “Uncle, your observation skills are really acute.”
The doorman paused, then explained, “So many people have died here. You’re such a young kid living here all by himself, how can I not be worried?” He sighed and added, “But you’re pretty brave. I heard Old Liu say that since the murder case, you’re the only person who’s lived on the fourth floor of Building No 4. Even if other people are brave, they won’t live on the fourth floor.”
His eyes moved and he pointed at the blood stains on the wall. “Can’t you see? This is the blood of the old woman that died in this room before.”
Lian Xi raised his eyes and looked at him.
A strange sliver of oil began to fall from the corner doorman uncle’s mouth but he didn’t seem to notice it. He said in an intoxicated manner, “That old woman, she came out in the middle of the night to use the toilet. As soon as she came out of the toilet, she died. It was right here on this table. This very table.”
“There was also that young couple from 401 next to the stairs. The young couple had finished their meal and were lying down on the bed to sleep. The fireworks were so loud outside but they slept like pigs. Hehe, one knife for each of them…..”
“In 403, there was only a kid at home by himself. His parents had gone downstairs to set off fireworks. I pried open his door and hid inside the cupboard…..”
…..
“Oh right, 404, 404….”
“There’s also 404!”
He seemed to be possessed. The more he talked, the crazier he became. His mouth began to drip oil like mad. The oil flowed all over his body. Gradually the oil no longer flowed but turned into bright red blood, dripping all over his body.
But he couldn’t see it.
He was still talking.
His mood and manner was crazy.
Like he had been possessed.
“The woman from 404 liked to walk around in a white dress, she was so pretty. I only just touched her once and she glared at me. That kind of sensation on my hand, that gaze….”
“Hehehehe…..”
“Hehehehe….”
On one side of the table, the doorman uncle’s mouth dripped blood and he laughed excitedly and frantically.
On the other side, the middle-aged man had his head lowered and he stared foolishly at the empty pot of meat. He seemed to hear the security guard uncles’ words but at the same time not hear them.
There was a ka-da noise.
The security guard uncle and the middle aged man both seemed to wake up at the same time.
They both turned their heads and looked at Lian Xi at the same time.
Lian Xi put his glass back down on the table. He touched the bronze bell on his left wrist and it made a noise that was low and slow, as though it were travelling from ancient times, echoing with melancholy.
It was calm and peaceful and entered straight into people’s hearts.
He looked down at the glass cup on the table.
“Under ordinary circumstances, it’s impossible for a ghost to remain in the human world for 23 years and not be discovered.”
“I moved here a year ago and you appeared suddenly half a year ago.”
“Have you ever thought about why you suddenly appeared? Why did you suddenly change from a wandering ghost full of resentment, to your current appearance?”
The middle aged man slowly opened his mouth wide.
The doorman seemed to have woken up from a dream. He only now suddenly realized what he had been just saying. He took a deep shaky breath full of cold air and stared shocked at Lian Xi. Immediately his eyes became cold, like the stare of an insidious snake.
The doorman gritted his teeth and his fierce gaze swept around the kitchen and immediately fixated on the kitchen knife standing in the corner.
Lian Xi was still speaking.
“Your wife is dead, your daughter is dead too.”
“You are also dead.”
“The murderer killed them right before your eyes.”
“You hate, you’re full of resentment so you don’t want to leave. They have already reincarnated but only you refuse to leave.”
“But you already forgot everything. You don’t know why you are. You were wandering around in the world, muddled and confused.”
“Until one day…..”
“He came back.”
“Your obsession was awoken before you yourself. Your spirit recognized him, but you didn’t remember.”
The doorman uncle staggered into the kitchen. He pulled down the knife hanging from the wall. His pair of eyes which were hidden all day behind glasses now revealed a killing light. With a cold laugh he walked step by step towards Lian Xi. But Lian Xi didn’t turn around. He sat there and spoke calmly word by word.
“It’s been 23 years, he’s standing right before you.”
Lian Xi raised his head and looked at the male ghost who was trembling all over. He shook his wrist vigorously and the bronze made a deafening, crisp sound.
Peng!
“Chen JianJun, can you still not recognize him!”
“Ahhhhhhhh!!!”
“Ahhhhh, go and die!!!”
The doorman raised the kitchen knife and planned to slash violently towards the back of Lian Xi’s head. But before his hand could move, a bloody face suddenly rushed in front of him and stuck right next to his face!
The doorman uncle’s eyes were open and as round as saucers, shocked and horrified.
“You killed Fang Ling!”
“You killed Ting Ting!”
“You killed my wife and you killed my daughter!”
“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”
“You have to pay with your life for them, I’ll make you pay with your life!”
“Ghost ah!!!!!!”
The kitchen knife fell to the floor with a clanging noise.
