Das Dokument ist für die Welt eindeutig

Kapitel 1

Home of Spirits

Foreword

December 23rd, Christmas Eve. Frost fell last night, and it's chilly everywhere this morning. It's Saturday, so nobody wants to get up; everyone's staying snuggled in their warm blankets.

But the family on the first floor had been making a racket since early morning, constantly rattling and banging, waking everyone in the building and making them a little annoyed. When they went outside, they found three young girls cleaning the house; it was amazing how energetic they were in such cold weather.

I remember the first floor was supposed to be a family of three, and I've never heard of them moving or anything like that. How did it suddenly change hands?

The three girls were completely oblivious to the puzzled looks on the faces of the onlookers. They quickly cleaned up a lot of trash, dumped it into a large basket outside the door, and then slammed the door shut, leaving everyone stunned. Only restless laughter occasionally slipped out from the crack in the door!

"It's so cold! I'm freezing!" Vivi exclaimed, her hands red and swollen, unsure what to do with them. Qingyan busied himself placing cushions on the carpet so she could sit down, and then asked, "Rui! Is the water ready yet?"

"Alright, alright! Help yourselves." Rui'er was in the kitchen, which had been converted from a balcony, taking the hissing hot water off the stove and filling three large cups.

Five minutes later, the three of them, each with a cup of hot water in hand, sat down in the largest room, which served as their living room.

"That feels so good!" If she weren't holding a glass of water, Vivi would have loved to stretch and yawn.

"Rui, I absolutely love your parents! How could they be so kind as to give us the house?" Qingyan couldn't contain her joy.

“That’s right, I didn’t expect it either. They got another new house, and they’re reluctant to sell this one, so it’s a good deal for us.” Rui’er leaned back elegantly on the sofa.

"Wow! I never thought our dreams would come true. HOHOHO~~" the three of them exclaimed in unison.

With a soft hiss, the light flickered a few times and went out. The power was out, and the room immediately went dark. The three of them could barely see each other's faces.

"What's going on?" Qingyan complained under her breath as she flipped through the pages and pulled out the supplement of the previous day's Yangtze Evening Post—"Maintenance today," she announced loudly.

"Well, it's so cold, there's no hope of getting electricity." Rui'er rummaged through the drawer full of odds and ends, found a short candle, lit it, and held it in her hand.

"Let's go to the dining room. It's getting colder here, and there's nowhere to put the candles."

So everyone moved to the living room.

This is a two-bedroom, one-living-room house. Because it's on the first floor, you can enter through the gate, so the back door is usually kept closed and not used. The largest room serves as both a living room and study, while the smaller one is the bedroom for the three girls, where a folding bed has been temporarily set up. The living room is small, containing only a refrigerator and a table, and is used solely for dining. The cooking area is on a balcony, while the kitchen has been converted into a storage room.

The three sat down around the table. Because the candle wick was very short, the flame was small, and cold winds kept getting in, causing the flame to flicker and give a somewhat eerie feeling when it shone on people's faces.

"Say something, I'm so bored." Vivi is the most restless person.

“Let’s talk about spiritualism. Hmm?” Kiyohiko suggested.

“What is spiritualism?” Vivi asked.

"It's hard to explain. If you want a basic understanding, it's something mysterious and unknowable."

"That means ghosts! Do you understand?" Rui'er explained simply and clearly.

"It's alright, it's alright. Now that we're living together, I don't have to park the car by myself. You guys have agreed on this," Vivi said.

“Let me tell you, this is a true story,” Rui’er said solemnly.

"This is a true story from my neighbor's grandmother when I was a child. She was from Northeast China and farmed in the countryside when she was young. There were few people in her family, so she often went to the fields alone. It was probably winter, I don't know which year, but she was tired from working and decided to take a break when suddenly a fox ran up to her. The fox suddenly stood up on its hind legs like a human, wearing a flowery jacket, and said to her, 'Look, do I look like a human?' My grandmother didn't react for a moment, and surprisingly, she wasn't scared. After a moment of hesitation, she replied, 'Aren't you just a fox? Why are you pretending to be a human!' The fox shrieked, climbed down again, tore its clothes, and ran away like any other fox. Only then did my grandmother come to her senses, and she fell to the ground. She wanted to run away, but her legs were shaking so badly that she couldn't stand up. Fortunately, her family came later."

Kiyohiko was the first to sigh, "Oh! What a pity. That fox could have cultivated into a human, but now it's all over."

"What do you mean?" Vivi asked.

"Just like in the novel *Investiture of the Gods*, Bi Gan borrowed Jiang Ziya's talisman to cut open his chest and heart in the palace, but after leaving the palace, mounting his horse, and leaving the city, he was perfectly fine. He happened to see someone selling water spinach and asked, 'Water spinach can live without a heart, but what about a person without a heart?' The answer was, 'A person without a heart dies.' He immediately fell off his horse and died. That's the same principle."

"Really?!"

“Absolutely true!” Rui’er declared repeatedly.

The story itself was nothing special, but after listening to it and thinking about it carefully, the three of them felt a chill run down their spines. The phone rang inconveniently, startling all three of them into screaming. In the end, it was Ruier who picked up the receiver.

It turned out to be D, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"You scared us to death! Next time, let us know before you call!" Rui'er said, feigning anger. "Going out? Hmm, okay, anyway, we're out of power here. Let's meet at our usual spot."

Magpie Bridge Fairy

Reply [4]: "Let's go, let's go, lest we be scared to death by a fox." Vivi said as she put on her coat first, and soon the three of them went out.

D's father went on a business trip on Christmas Day, leaving only the mother and daughter. Rui'er and the others played until late before returning home, and nothing happened that night.

The next day is Christmas.

Kiyohiko had arranged to go shopping with others, so he got up at eight o'clock to avoid being late.

The sky was dark, as if it were about to snow, and you couldn't see anything inside without the lights on.

"Those two lazybones are probably still dreaming. Never mind them," she muttered as she walked toward the bathroom.

"Ah!" she suddenly screamed, but thankfully she quickly regained her composure.

"What are you doing standing here? You didn't even turn on the lights, it's terrifying!"

Ruier stood alone in the living room, lost in thought, looking bewildered. She only turned around and turned on the light when she saw Qingyan.

"Why are you up so early? Are you going out?" Qingyan turned on the tap and started washing his face.

“I saw my grandpa, he’s sitting right here.” Rui’er pointed to a chair in the living room facing the bathroom and said, “He has no legs, I can only see his upper body…” “Stop! You can’t talk about dreams before you’ve eaten breakfast!” Qingyan rubbed his nose hard. After washing his face, it was almost frozen solid, and even the air he breathed in was cold. Winter mornings are the most annoying.

"It's not a dream!" Rui'er emphasized again, "Absolutely not!"

"What are you talking about so early in the morning? It's so noisy." Vivi rubbed her eyes and went into the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

"It was probably around four o'clock. I glanced at the clock when I went to the bathroom. Because the bathroom light was too dim, I didn't close the door. When I got up, I saw my grandfather sitting here. But not in this chair, but in a wheelchair that we gave him when he was alive. It seemed like... there was someone else next to him," Rui'er said.

A loud thud came from the bathroom, and Vivi practically burst out: "What are you talking about?! A ghost?!"

"You big idiot! You even broke the basin, I can't stand you." Qingyan tidied up his things and laughed, "This is interesting, how long did it last?"

"It took about a minute. I wasn't scared at the time, but I couldn't fall asleep after I got into bed."

"W-what happened?" Vivi stammered.

"It's nothing, her grandfather missed her, it's normal for him to come back to visit." Qingyan started making breakfast with a lot of clattering noise.

Vivi was still worried: "No, you have to come with me to get dressed." She pulled Rui'er into the bedroom.

Despite Vivi's repeated protests, Qingyan and Ruier talked about this for the entire meal.

"Alright, it's almost nine o'clock, I have to go. What about you guys?" Qingyan glanced at the clock and prepared to leave.

“Me? I’m going to Tom’s (note: her boyfriend) place.” Rui Rui also had plans.

"What about me?" Vivi asked anxiously.

"Let's guard the house!" the two said together.

"No, no, after what you've said, how can I dare to stay home alone? I want to go out too."

"Whatever, but we can't take you with us."

"Don't be so cruel..."

While dealing with Weiwei's nagging, Ruier packed her backpack.

"Huh? Where's my pager?"

“Your grandfather took it,” Qingyan joked.

"It's really gone."

"Look again, things are always left lying around."

"Ah! I remember now, it must have been left at D's house. Let me call and ask." Rui'er said, picking up the phone.

"Hello, could you help me find D... What? She's in the hospital? She was taken there last night. You're back to pick up something now? Oh, it's alright, I forgot something. Don't worry about it. Just say hello to her for us, we'll go see her."

"D is sick and hospitalized!" Ruier announced, putting down the microphone.

"So fast? Is it an acute illness?"

"Wei, now that you're busy, go see her. We'll come back this afternoon. How about it?"

"Okay, that's settled."

...

Before noon, Kiyohiko received a page from Vivi.

"Rui, I can't reach her. Please come quickly, I can't hold on much longer, something terrible has happened," Weiwei said on the phone. Qingyan rushed to the hospital almost at breakneck speed!

"What happened?" she asked loudly as soon as she stepped into the ward. When she saw D sitting on the bed perfectly fine, with a normal complexion, she felt like she had been tricked.

"Huh?!" She stared at Vivi, who was pale and looked like a patient.

"Let me tell you, it was really terrifying, but I've recovered now." D brushed his hair back.

"After you left, my mom went to sleep first. I ate something and then wanted to take a shower. By the time I finished, it was already midnight. I was getting dressed in the bathroom when I glanced up and saw a cotton-like, white thing near the ceiling light. I didn't think much of it and even thought, 'I really shouldn't stay up too late; I'm even hallucinating.' But then I thought again, 'No, it can't be a hallucination!' So I looked up again, and the thing was still there, and it started spinning, falling down as it spun. My head went buzzing! Instinctively, I ran outside, and somehow I passed out. Later, my mom called an ambulance." D finished speaking in one breath, still sounding a little shaken.

"What did the doctor say during the examination?"

"There's nothing wrong with him, he's just been too frightened, I think so."

“I told her that Rui’er also saw a ghost this morning,” Vivi said.

Magpie Bridge Fairy

Reply [5]: "It's nothing, it's just temporary, it will pass." Qingyan comforted her. After a while, Ruier also came, and everyone talked for a while before going home.

"This is terrifying! I wonder who will be next," Vivi said, extremely distressed.

“Of course, it’s time for whoever is most afraid.” Kiyohiko deliberately tried to scare her.

"I want to go home!"

"Don't let her scare you. She won't do it," Rui'er advised.

"Let's not talk about ghosts anymore, or you'll scare me to death. I'll read comics, or rather, my Mitsui comics!" Vivi dove into the storage room.

Qingyan and Ruier went to the living room with smiles on their faces.

"Ah ...

"What is it, Miss!" Qingyan rushed over with a pen in hand and Ruier with a magazine to come to the rescue.

"A ghost!" Vivi screamed, covering her eyes.

"What the hell?! Where is it?"

"It's right up there, next to Fujima's portrait!"

"No, you see for yourself!"