Chapter 017: It may seem like I'm padding out the word count, but I genuinely am not.
Bai Ximing lit a calming incense stick in the room.
Before going to sleep, Bai Ximing would always take a bath and burn incense, refusing to let anyone sleep beside him. It's a habit he's nurtured over the years.
In his line of work, bathing helps cleanse any inadvertently acquired malevolent energies; burning incense keeps spirits from invading dreams. As for not having anyone beside him in bed, it's simple: ghosts can be dealt with, but humans can't. He won't let anyone approach him in his vulnerable state, not even his wife of many years.
He doesn't trust anyone.
After all that, Bai Ximing lay on a bed adorned with silk brocade, succumbing to a deep sleep.
Before long, a phone ring jolted him awake. Rising with an evident fierceness, his usual cultured and easy-going demeanor was nowhere in sight. He reached for the phone to answer but suddenly hesitated.
The caller ID read: Unknown Number.
Years of honed instincts kicked in, prompting a swift reaction. He immediately hung up and fetched a Yin-Yang mirror from the wall, placing the phone upon it.
The phone rang unabatedly again, but he suddenly breathed a sigh of relief.
If the call could still come through, it meant the caller wasn't a ghost. Perhaps it was an urgent matter from a boss who didn't wish to disclose their number. Without picking up the phone, he left it on the Yin-Yang mirror and pressed the speakerphone.
"Hello?" A mysterious female voice emerged from the line, accompanied by a faint, frictional noise, as though something was rubbing against the phone.
"What's the matter?" Bai Ximing curbed his irritation at being disturbed in the middle of the night, replying patiently. Such a call at this hour might indicate trouble with one of the influential figures under his influence.
The line was silent, save for that faint noise. Bai Ximing suddenly recognized the familiar sound. It was the sound of paper! As if a sheet was being rubbed against the phone's receiver.
Why would someone use a piece of paper to make a call?
"Hehe." A woman's laughter suddenly echoed from the phone, full of mirth. "If you're not dead, answer the phone, understand?"
Unfazed with the phone resting on the Yin-Yang mirror, Bai Ximing responded sternly, "Who are you? Why play such tricks?"
"If you're not dead, answer the phone, understand?" The woman continued, her voice emotionless, as if she could utter only that phrase.
Bai Ximing furrowed his brow, ended the call, and looked at the still burning calming incense stick.
Someone must be trying to frighten him on purpose.
After a brief reflection, Bai Ximing silenced his phone and turned it off, placing it in a drawer engraved with a lotus seat and Guanyin. He then covered it with the Yin-Yang mirror. As he set the mirror down, he froze – a hairline crack had appeared where the phone had been!
"Ding, ding-ding-ding..."
The bell, eerily reminiscent of a death knell, rang out again!
The drawer containing the phone slid open with a "grating" sound. The already muted and powered-off phone displayed: Unknown Number.
Without any hesitation, Bai Ximing grabbed the phone and, using the Yin-Yang mirror, smashed it to bits. He then tossed the remnants from the upper floor, watching countless parts flutter down into the night.
With not even ashes of the phone remaining, Bai Ximing turned around, replaced the calming incense with another. The new incense emitted an unpleasant burnt scent, yet he seemed to relish it, inhaling deeply before heading to his bed.
"Ding, ding-ding-ding..."
The ringing seemed to emanate from the drawer, then from the cabinet, under the bed, behind the curtains... from every corner of the room. The terrifying bell seemed to envelop Bai Ximing, as if phones were everywhere, or as if he were living inside a phone's speaker.
Each ring was sharper and more urgent than the last, as though tolling a death knell!
Bai Ximing suddenly clutched his chest, feeling his heart race in time with the ringing, accelerating to a dangerous pace. Cold sweat drenched his forehead.
Just as he feared he might suffer a heart attack, the ringing stopped. Bai Ximing gasped for air, nearly succumbing to the deadly toll of the bell.
"If you're not dead, answer the phone, do you understand?" The ominous voice echoed from every corner of the room. The caller, seemingly out of patience, seemed to have chosen to confront him directly, repeating the chilling phrase.
Simultaneously, the glass sealed with protective charms shattered, and the sacred statues within the room crumbled—
"If you're not dead, answer the phone, do you understand?"
"If you're not dead, answer the phone, do you understand?"
Bai Ximing abruptly fled his room, certain of the room's impending danger.
With trembling hands, he tried to unlock the main door of the Bai residence. Suddenly, the ringing of an old-fashioned decorative phone resounded. It sat on a shelf in the living room. He swiftly turned to face it.
The phone rang persistently, seemingly waiting for his response.
But that was clearly a phone from the
Republican era, with no connected line and long obsolete.
Phone from that era.
Bai Ximing collected himself, realizing that as long as the entity continued to call, it didn't mean immediate harm. If his household protections couldn't fend off this ghost, then he should take the initiative and ask the spirit what it truly desired.
He approached and picked up the phone.
The same chilling female voice from before echoed, "If you're not dead, answer the phone, do you understand?"
"What do you want?" Bai Ximing replied evenly.
At this moment, he discerned the subtle sound of rustling paper. Imagining the caller to be non-human, the mystery unraveled. The caller was using a paper phone – a call from the netherworld!
The repetitive message didn't halt, prompting Bai Ximing to further respond, "Do you want revenge? If you give me a name, I can end your adversary. If you crave the flesh and blood of the living, I can provide. A few lives, that I can easily procure."
From birth, Bai Ximing had been dealing with supernatural entities. Once he knew what the ghost desired, he was confident he could manipulate it. If not immediate control, he could at least lure it into a trap.
"Hee hee," a laughter emanated from the other end of the line. The voice then deliberately slowed its cadence, repeating, "If you're not dead... you must answer the phone... do you understand?"
Click.
The call ended.
Bai Ximing stood frozen, then gently set the phone down, collapsing, drained, onto the adjacent sofa.
From his experience, he sensed this ordeal was temporarily over. However, he was unprepared for such a formidable specter to target him, especially one whose phrases seemed oddly familiar.
Fatigued, he rubbed his face, intending to get some sleep. His taut nerves and racing heart strained his aging body. He needed rest.
"Ding, ding-ding-ding..."
Bai Ximing jerked around to stare at the phone.
A pale hand, its nails painted in bloody red, emerged from the receiver, resting atop the antique bronze handset, answering the call on his behalf.
"If you're not dead, answer the phone, do you understand?"
The night was far from over.
……
Sunlight spilled from the eaves, shattering upon the doorstep.
Chi Shen felt a sudden chill and instantly opened his eyes, feeling refreshed. Without hesitation, he tossed the red-clad ghost, who was folding the blanket into star shapes, under the bed. He turned to Ji Xingchen, asking, "What time is it?"
Ji Xingchen responded, "It's half-past seven. It's your first day at work; arriving half an hour early might leave a good impression on your seniors."
"A solid seven hours of sleep, not bad," Chi Shen remarked cheerfully. The pleasure of uninterrupted sleep, free from the threat of death and survival concerns, was something he hadn't experienced in a long while. The past couple of days had been restless due to various issues, but today, he finally felt rested.
"Ten minutes early will suffice," Chi Shen said, changing into clothes Ji Xingchen had picked out for him. "I trust that the seniors in my new company are magnanimous individuals. They won't hold a grudge over something so trivial."
Ji Xingchen didn't argue, merely adjusting his glasses and saying, "Alright."
After dressing and washing his face, Chi Shen, looking neat and tidy, prepared to head to work. On his way out, a thought struck him, and he turned to the red-clad ghost, asking, "Did you enjoy playing the telephone game?"
The red-clad ghost, waving her newly formed hands, revealed a joyful smile, a sentiment she hadn't shown since becoming a spirit. She nodded vigorously, exclaiming, "Fun!"
"I'm glad to hear that," Chi Shen replied with a gentle smile, stepping out into the crisp, bright autumn sunlight.
Ji Xingchen merged back into Chi Shen's shadow. A floral-dressed figure emerged from a corner, hesitated briefly, then decided to follow.
Meanwhile, in the main house of the Bai family, Bai Ximing sat in the living room, his face dark. The room resembled a plundered site, with most of the ritual tools shattered. An antique telephone, once a decoration piece, lay crushed to bits.
Bai Ran stood silently, not daring to utter a word. He had never seen Bai Ximing, his father in name, so openly infuriated. This was the first time he had witnessed such a loss of composure.
Bai Ran's adoptive mother and Chi Shen's biological mother, Mrs. Xu Xiuyin, also sat in the living room. One hand holding Bai Ran's, the other wiping away tears with a tissue, she lamented, "I told you not to bring that boy from a poor family back. Ran suffered because of it, and you didn't listen. Now our home is paying the price."
Old He paced the room with concern, muttering, "Who has the Bai family offended?"
"Call a family meeting!" Bai Ximing ordered, slapping the armrest of the sofa. Coughing twice from exhaustion after a sleepless night, he bitterly declared, "I'll capture that ghost, boil her alive, ensuring she won't even make it to hell!"
It dawned on him that he had uttered the same phrase to Chi Shen the previous night.
Since he never considered Chi Shen a threat, Bai Ximing had easily forgotten the condescending remark. But upon hearing it several times, he finally recalled its origin.
Yet he remained convinced that Chi Shen wasn't the culprit. Deeming Chi Shen incompetent, Bai Ximing believed some entity or spirit was using the young man to antagonize him. This person or ghost must be lurking in the shadows.
Clutching his newly delivered phone, he hovered his finger over Chi Shen's contact, contemplating for three seconds. Recalling the previous night's encounter, he quickly withdrew his hand, instructing the device to be taken away.
Although Chi Shen was Bai Ximing's biological son, he wasn't involved in the family meeting, nor was he informed. He simply headed to work as usual.
After a roadside breakfast, Chi Shen made his way to Tengfei Tower. The restful sleep had left him in high spirits, and he walked with a smile throughout the journey.
Beneath the soaring Tengfei Building, an acquaintance of Chi Shen is still present.
Yuan Yiping bought a can of coffee from a nearby convenience store, gulped down a few sips, and gazed at the Tengfei Building across the street.
A few days ago, someone called the police about strange footsteps in their home. Upon investigation, they found a low-level ghost had followed that person home. After offering the caller routine post-incident assistance, they traced the ghost back to the 14th floor of the Tengfei Building, specifically to the Le Dao Cultural Company.
The 14th floor was eerily unusual, so they opted for further investigation before taking any rash actions.
To his surprise, this morning, Yuan Yiping recognized someone.
Watching that handsome young man with sharp features smilingly walk into the Tengfei Building, a flash of sharpness appeared in Yuan Yiping's eyes.
A limping female ghost in a blue and white floral dress followed closely behind him, seemingly unbeknownst to the young man.
"That's just pitiful."
Yuan Yiping heard his colleague's voice saying, "Just a couple of days ago, he witnessed a corpse devoured by ghosts. Now he's being haunted. Even though he's a legitimate heir of the Bai family, his life seems worse than an unrelated apprentice. Such a tragedy."
Yuan Yiping tossed his coffee can into the trash bin, stood up from the convenience store's chair, and declared, "I'll help him."
*
Author's Note:
Don't bother counting, I only copy-pasted 8 times!
Due to certain reasons, tomorrow's noon update will be moved to 11 PM tonight. The day after will resume the usual 12 PM update!
Chapter 017: It may seem like I'm padding out the word count, but I genuinely am not.
Bai Ximing lit a calming incense stick in the room.
Before going to sleep, Bai Ximing would always take a bath and burn incense, refusing to let anyone sleep beside him. It's a habit he's nurtured over the years.
In his line of work, bathing helps cleanse any inadvertently acquired malevolent energies; burning incense keeps spirits from invading dreams. As for not having anyone beside him in bed, it's simple: ghosts can be dealt with, but humans can't. He won't let anyone approach him in his vulnerable state, not even his wife of many years.
He doesn't trust anyone.
After all that, Bai Ximing lay on a bed adorned with silk brocade, succumbing to a deep sleep.
Before long, a phone ring jolted him awake. Rising with an evident fierceness, his usual cultured and easy-going demeanor was nowhere in sight. He reached for the phone to answer but suddenly hesitated.
The caller ID read: Unknown Number.
Years of honed instincts kicked in, prompting a swift reaction. He immediately hung up and fetched a Yin-Yang mirror from the wall, placing the phone upon it.
The phone rang unabatedly again, but he suddenly breathed a sigh of relief.
If the call could still come through, it meant the caller wasn't a ghost. Perhaps it was an urgent matter from a boss who didn't wish to disclose their number. Without picking up the phone, he left it on the Yin-Yang mirror and pressed the speakerphone.
"Hello?" A mysterious female voice emerged from the line, accompanied by a faint, frictional noise, as though something was rubbing against the phone.
"What's the matter?" Bai Ximing curbed his irritation at being disturbed in the middle of the night, replying patiently. Such a call at this hour might indicate trouble with one of the influential figures under his influence.
The line was silent, save for that faint noise. Bai Ximing suddenly recognized the familiar sound. It was the sound of paper! As if a sheet was being rubbed against the phone's receiver.
Why would someone use a piece of paper to make a call?
"Hehe." A woman's laughter suddenly echoed from the phone, full of mirth. "If you're not dead, answer the phone, understand?"
Unfazed with the phone resting on the Yin-Yang mirror, Bai Ximing responded sternly, "Who are you? Why play such tricks?"
"If you're not dead, answer the phone, understand?" The woman continued, her voice emotionless, as if she could utter only that phrase.
Bai Ximing furrowed his brow, ended the call, and looked at the still burning calming incense stick.
Someone must be trying to frighten him on purpose.
After a brief reflection, Bai Ximing silenced his phone and turned it off, placing it in a drawer engraved with a lotus seat and Guanyin. He then covered it with the Yin-Yang mirror. As he set the mirror down, he froze – a hairline crack had appeared where the phone had been!
"Ding, ding-ding-ding..."
The bell, eerily reminiscent of a death knell, rang out again!
The drawer containing the phone slid open with a "grating" sound. The already muted and powered-off phone displayed: Unknown Number.
Without any hesitation, Bai Ximing grabbed the phone and, using the Yin-Yang mirror, smashed it to bits. He then tossed the remnants from the upper floor, watching countless parts flutter down into the night.
With not even ashes of the phone remaining, Bai Ximing turned around, replaced the calming incense with another. The new incense emitted an unpleasant burnt scent, yet he seemed to relish it, inhaling deeply before heading to his bed.
"Ding, ding-ding-ding..."
The ringing seemed to emanate from the drawer, then from the cabinet, under the bed, behind the curtains... from every corner of the room. The terrifying bell seemed to envelop Bai Ximing, as if phones were everywhere, or as if he were living inside a phone's speaker.
Each ring was sharper and more urgent than the last, as though tolling a death knell!
Bai Ximing suddenly clutched his chest, feeling his heart race in time with the ringing, accelerating to a dangerous pace. Cold sweat drenched his forehead.
Just as he feared he might suffer a heart attack, the ringing stopped. Bai Ximing gasped for air, nearly succumbing to the deadly toll of the bell.
"If you're not dead, answer the phone, do you understand?" The ominous voice echoed from every corner of the room. The caller, seemingly out of patience, seemed to have chosen to confront him directly, repeating the chilling phrase.
Simultaneously, the glass sealed with protective charms shattered, and the sacred statues within the room crumbled—
"If you're not dead, answer the phone, do you understand?"
"If you're not dead, answer the phone, do you understand?"
Bai Ximing abruptly fled his room, certain of the room's impending danger.
With trembling hands, he tried to unlock the main door of the Bai residence. Suddenly, the ringing of an old-fashioned decorative phone resounded. It sat on a shelf in the living room. He swiftly turned to face it.
The phone rang persistently, seemingly waiting for his response.
But that was clearly a phone from the
Republican era, with no connected line and long obsolete.
Phone from that era.
Bai Ximing collected himself, realizing that as long as the entity continued to call, it didn't mean immediate harm. If his household protections couldn't fend off this ghost, then he should take the initiative and ask the spirit what it truly desired.
He approached and picked up the phone.
The same chilling female voice from before echoed, "If you're not dead, answer the phone, do you understand?"
"What do you want?" Bai Ximing replied evenly.
At this moment, he discerned the subtle sound of rustling paper. Imagining the caller to be non-human, the mystery unraveled. The caller was using a paper phone – a call from the netherworld!
The repetitive message didn't halt, prompting Bai Ximing to further respond, "Do you want revenge? If you give me a name, I can end your adversary. If you crave the flesh and blood of the living, I can provide. A few lives, that I can easily procure."
From birth, Bai Ximing had been dealing with supernatural entities. Once he knew what the ghost desired, he was confident he could manipulate it. If not immediate control, he could at least lure it into a trap.
"Hee hee," a laughter emanated from the other end of the line. The voice then deliberately slowed its cadence, repeating, "If you're not dead... you must answer the phone... do you understand?"
Click.
The call ended.
Bai Ximing stood frozen, then gently set the phone down, collapsing, drained, onto the adjacent sofa.
From his experience, he sensed this ordeal was temporarily over. However, he was unprepared for such a formidable specter to target him, especially one whose phrases seemed oddly familiar.
Fatigued, he rubbed his face, intending to get some sleep. His taut nerves and racing heart strained his aging body. He needed rest.
"Ding, ding-ding-ding..."
Bai Ximing jerked around to stare at the phone.
A pale hand, its nails painted in bloody red, emerged from the receiver, resting atop the antique bronze handset, answering the call on his behalf.
"If you're not dead, answer the phone, do you understand?"
The night was far from over.
……
Sunlight spilled from the eaves, shattering upon the doorstep.
Chi Shen felt a sudden chill and instantly opened his eyes, feeling refreshed. Without hesitation, he tossed the red-clad ghost, who was folding the blanket into star shapes, under the bed. He turned to Ji Xingchen, asking, "What time is it?"
Ji Xingchen responded, "It's half-past seven. It's your first day at work; arriving half an hour early might leave a good impression on your seniors."
"A solid seven hours of sleep, not bad," Chi Shen remarked cheerfully. The pleasure of uninterrupted sleep, free from the threat of death and survival concerns, was something he hadn't experienced in a long while. The past couple of days had been restless due to various issues, but today, he finally felt rested.
"Ten minutes early will suffice," Chi Shen said, changing into clothes Ji Xingchen had picked out for him. "I trust that the seniors in my new company are magnanimous individuals. They won't hold a grudge over something so trivial."
Ji Xingchen didn't argue, merely adjusting his glasses and saying, "Alright."
After dressing and washing his face, Chi Shen, looking neat and tidy, prepared to head to work. On his way out, a thought struck him, and he turned to the red-clad ghost, asking, "Did you enjoy playing the telephone game?"
The red-clad ghost, waving her newly formed hands, revealed a joyful smile, a sentiment she hadn't shown since becoming a spirit. She nodded vigorously, exclaiming, "Fun!"
"I'm glad to hear that," Chi Shen replied with a gentle smile, stepping out into the crisp, bright autumn sunlight.
Ji Xingchen merged back into Chi Shen's shadow. A floral-dressed figure emerged from a corner, hesitated briefly, then decided to follow.
Meanwhile, in the main house of the Bai family, Bai Ximing sat in the living room, his face dark. The room resembled a plundered site, with most of the ritual tools shattered. An antique telephone, once a decoration piece, lay crushed to bits.
Bai Ran stood silently, not daring to utter a word. He had never seen Bai Ximing, his father in name, so openly infuriated. This was the first time he had witnessed such a loss of composure.
Bai Ran's adoptive mother and Chi Shen's biological mother, Mrs. Xu Xiuyin, also sat in the living room. One hand holding Bai Ran's, the other wiping away tears with a tissue, she lamented, "I told you not to bring that boy from a poor family back. Ran suffered because of it, and you didn't listen. Now our home is paying the price."
Old He paced the room with concern, muttering, "Who has the Bai family offended?"
"Call a family meeting!" Bai Ximing ordered, slapping the armrest of the sofa. Coughing twice from exhaustion after a sleepless night, he bitterly declared, "I'll capture that ghost, boil her alive, ensuring she won't even make it to hell!"
It dawned on him that he had uttered the same phrase to Chi Shen the previous night.
Since he never considered Chi Shen a threat, Bai Ximing had easily forgotten the condescending remark. But upon hearing it several times, he finally recalled its origin.
Yet he remained convinced that Chi Shen wasn't the culprit. Deeming Chi Shen incompetent, Bai Ximing believed some entity or spirit was using the young man to antagonize him. This person or ghost must be lurking in the shadows.
Clutching his newly delivered phone, he hovered his finger over Chi Shen's contact, contemplating for three seconds. Recalling the previous night's encounter, he quickly withdrew his hand, instructing the device to be taken away.
Although Chi Shen was Bai Ximing's biological son, he wasn't involved in the family meeting, nor was he informed. He simply headed to work as usual.
After a roadside breakfast, Chi Shen made his way to Tengfei Tower. The restful sleep had left him in high spirits, and he walked with a smile throughout the journey.
Beneath the soaring Tengfei Building, an acquaintance of Chi Shen is still present.
Yuan Yiping bought a can of coffee from a nearby convenience store, gulped down a few sips, and gazed at the Tengfei Building across the street.
A few days ago, someone called the police about strange footsteps in their home. Upon investigation, they found a low-level ghost had followed that person home. After offering the caller routine post-incident assistance, they traced the ghost back to the 14th floor of the Tengfei Building, specifically to the Le Dao Cultural Company.
The 14th floor was eerily unusual, so they opted for further investigation before taking any rash actions.
To his surprise, this morning, Yuan Yiping recognized someone.
Watching that handsome young man with sharp features smilingly walk into the Tengfei Building, a flash of sharpness appeared in Yuan Yiping's eyes.
A limping female ghost in a blue and white floral dress followed closely behind him, seemingly unbeknownst to the young man.
"That's just pitiful."
Yuan Yiping heard his colleague's voice saying, "Just a couple of days ago, he witnessed a corpse devoured by ghosts. Now he's being haunted. Even though he's a legitimate heir of the Bai family, his life seems worse than an unrelated apprentice. Such a tragedy."
Yuan Yiping tossed his coffee can into the trash bin, stood up from the convenience store's chair, and declared, "I'll help him."
*
Author's Note:
Don't bother counting, I only copy-pasted 8 times!
Due to certain reasons, tomorrow's noon update will be moved to 11 PM tonight. The day after will resume the usual 12 PM update!
