Geisterreich

Kapitel 1

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Second type of death

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At night, all around is quiet, and through the window you can see the dense tree-lined avenue below. Across the avenue is an abandoned old house.

The door to the old house was locked with an iron lock, which was rusty and covered with white cobwebs.

The old house had been uninhabited for a long time. The carved door panels were covered with vines, the windowsills were covered with a thick layer of rust, and the front and back of the house were surrounded by weeds and wildflowers, making it look somewhat desolate.

That night, when everyone was asleep, I subconsciously glanced in the direction of the old house—just like the previous nights, the yellow lights were on there again.

A faint light, flickering like fireflies, illuminated the window of the old house, making it appear as if it were covered in water. A burning candle could be vaguely seen within the light.

Yes, no one has lived in the old house for a long time, and it probably hasn't had electricity for a long time either.

I stared at the house with a puzzled look, then opened the window—in the night sky, I could hear the voices of a woman and a child coming from the direction of the old house.

The old house seemed to have been reborn, as if new people had moved in.

But we all know that no one lives there. During the day, we often knock on the door, but no one ever answers.

They all say that ghosts live in that house. I don't believe in ghosts, but tonight, I did sit by the window from the afternoon, keeping a close eye on the house. My roommate and I took turns keeping watch, and neither of us noticed anyone entering the house.

No one was seen coming out.

It was February, winter, and darkness fell early. By 5 p.m., it was already quite dark. The old house stood there, dark and silent. Even with the lights flickering around it, it looked like a typical abandoned house, devoid of light and sound.

However, now, after midnight, while it is pitch black all around, the old house is lit up; while it is quiet all around, the old house is noisy.

Could the rumors about the old house being haunted be true?

Although I don't believe in ghosts and gods, I still felt a chill seep into my pores, and it seemed as if waves of unease were surging in the darkness, threatening to engulf me and the small room I was in.

1

It is said that the rain in Jiangnan is mostly gentle. It falls densely from the sky, like smoke and mist, and when it falls on you, it is like a spider web, seemingly there but not there, like a faint sadness and melancholy.

It was mid-March when the rain and mist came down. Winter had just passed, and the temperature was still low, but spring was already showing in the corners and along the walls. Buds were emerging from the treetops, and the streets seemed to have been renovated, radiating a fresh green. I dragged my suitcase along the street, the misty rain slowly wetting my coat. The chill seeped in from all directions, making me wrap myself tighter in my clothes.

There was a thin note in my jacket pocket, which I had taken out to look at for the fifth time—No. 6 Yunsheng Street—this address remained mysteriously on the paper, like a mysterious spell guiding me to some unfamiliar place.

The hastily written penmanship on the note had been blurred by the rain. I clutched it tightly in my hand and asked passersby for directions. It was late afternoon, and there weren't many people on the street. It was a quiet street, and I had even forgotten how I had found my way here. I only remembered that after my friend handed me the note, he hurriedly left. Before I could even get his phone number, his car had already driven away.

Finally, I ran into a passerby. He glanced at the address on the note, pointed in a direction, thanked me, and quickly dragged my suitcase on my way. It was getting dark. In early spring, darkness still falls very early, and I had no idea how far away that place was.

After walking for more than 20 minutes, I finally saw the sign for "Yunsheng Street," which made me breathe a sigh of relief—at least I wouldn't have to sleep on the street anymore.

Yunsheng Street was unusually quiet. The houses on both sides were quite old, standing darkly in the rain and mist. There wasn't a single person or car on the street, not even a single shop open. Finding No. 6 Yunsheng Street along the heavily worn pavement wasn't difficult. On a dilapidated three-story building, I found a dark green doorplate. Half of the characters for "Yunsheng Street" were missing, but only the characters for "No. 6" remained intact, which made me feel fortunate. I glanced at the building I would be renting. Enveloped in the rain and mist, it appeared blurry, its only impression being one of old age and filth. To avoid affecting my mood, I didn't dwell on its appearance and went straight into the dark stairwell.

The stairwell was thick with dust; a light step on it sent a gust of wind into my nostrils. The doors to the rooms on both sides of the first floor were tightly shut, and a large pile of briquettes sat inside the stairwell, a dilapidated bicycle lying askew on top of it. I looked at the stairs, a sense of unease creeping over me. These gray wooden stairs looked highly suspicious, as if they had been rotting for a long time. For a moment, I wavered, almost turning away immediately—however, considering my almost completely empty purse, I stopped myself and reluctantly continued upstairs.

As expected, the stairs began to sway slightly and creak, but no matter how loud the sound, no lights came on. I searched everywhere I could think of, but couldn't find the light switch. After the stairs turned a corner, everything went almost completely dark, with only some blurry outlines remaining.

The room was on the third floor.

The third floor was slightly brighter, and the door to the top floor was ajar, adding a little light to the dark hallway. Patches of peeling green paint hung from the doors of the two rooms, trembling slightly in the breeze blowing from the top floor. The room numbers were 301 and 302, but my friend hadn't told me which room he had rented for me. I tried to ask someone, but there was no one around.

I knocked on the door of room 301, but there was no response. I knocked twice more and loudly asked if anyone was home. I pressed my ear almost against the door to listen, but there was no sound. So I went to the door of room 302. I knocked twice, and the door opened. A short-haired girl stood in the doorway holding a calculator and looked me up and down.

"Excuse me, where is the landlord here?" I asked.

"Are you Jiang Ling?" The girl actually said my name, which surprised me. I immediately asked, "Are you the landlord?" She shook her head. Now I was even more puzzled. Just as I was about to ask again, she held out a hand: "Can I see your ID?"

"Huh? Why?" I was a little flustered by this sudden request.

"Let me verify your identity," she said.

My instinct was to refuse, but I involuntarily pulled out my ID card under her gaze. She looked at it carefully, handed it back to me, and stepped back, revealing the gap in front of the door: "Come in, this is the room you rented."

"Huh?" I still didn't know what had happened, and stood at the door hesitating, unsure whether I should go in.

"The landlord already told me that you'll be sharing this apartment with me from now on. Come on in," she said, urging me on. I had no choice but to drag my suitcase inside.

Although the exterior is old, the interior is quite nice. The walls are white, and it's a three-bedroom, one-living room apartment with a kitchen and bathroom. It's fully equipped with a TV, refrigerator, and air conditioner. My room has a bed that's about 80% new, and the bedding has been recently changed, which is great.

"My name is Xu Xiaobing, and I live in the room next to yours. We'll be friends from now on," she said with a faint smile, not particularly enthusiastic. I nodded nervously and quickly slipped into my room. Xu Xiaobing didn't follow me in, which relieved me.

Besides the bed, the room contained a large wardrobe, a desk, and a small wooden chair. I put my clothes and other important items in the wardrobe, sat down at the desk, and opened each drawer, but found nothing. It seemed the previous tenant had cleaned very thoroughly; there wasn't even much dust in the room. I just wiped it lightly, and it was spotless.

While washing the dishcloth, I ran into Xu Xiaobing in the kitchen. She was rinsing rice and cooking. I walked past her with my head down, and she called out to me.

“You can use the gas stove here to cook, and the kitchen utensils and dishes belong to the landlord,” she said.

"Hmm." I nodded, about to leave, but then stopped, thinking for a moment. "Who's staying in the other room?"

"No one lives here." She shook her head, making a loud splashing sound as she rinsed the rice.

“No one lives here.” She shook her head, making a loud splashing sound as she rinsed the rice. I felt hungry, so I picked up the thermos on the stove; it was full of hot water. I went back to my room, took out the instant noodles I had brought, made a bowl, and sat on the sofa in the living room, eating while watching TV. Xu Xiaobing was busy cooking, glancing at me every now and then. Feeling a little embarrassed, I said, “Is it not ready yet?”

"Hmm." Her expression seemed displeased, which puzzled me; I had no idea what I had done to offend her.

After going in and out a few more times, she suddenly said to me, "From now on, you'll have to boil your own water. This thermos is one I brought myself, not the landlord's." I was stunned for a moment, and quickly said, "I'm sorry, I thought..." Before I could finish speaking, she went into the kitchen, and the cleaver clattered loudly on the felt board.

Oh, I see. I shouldn't have used her boiled water.

After finishing my noodles, I took two apples, washed them, peeled them, and started eating them myself while offering one to her. She shook her head and refused. I put the apple in her clean bowl and said with a smile, "Don't be shy, I've already peeled it, I can't eat it all by myself." Then I went into my room to read.

Dusk had already filled the room. The light bulb, only about 40 watts, cast a dim, weak glow. Xu Xiaobing had the television blasting in the living room. I quietly closed the door and slowly turned the pages of the book. It was a traditional Chinese character book sent to me by a friend from Taiwan—Remarque's *The Spark of Life*. I'm not used to reading vertical text, especially in such dim light. After a few lines, my eyes started to ache. Remarque's unique writing made the early spring chill even more pronounced. The sky outside was hazy. I put in a few eye drops, intending to go out and watch TV. When I gently opened the door, I found Xu Xiaobing had already eaten and was eating an apple. After a moment's thought, I closed the door again.

After watching for about two hours, I looked up and stretched my neck. The television in the living room had stopped, and the rain outside was getting heavier, making a soft pattering sound. I went to the window and pressed my face against the cold glass to look outside. Yun Sheng Street was shrouded in a light rain. There were no streetlights, and the light shining from the rooms on both sides illuminated the street in patches of light and shadow. I stared at the rooms with lights on, and the shadows of people were reflected in the windows—men, women, the elderly, children. Each household was a different world, and those lights made those rooms seem incredibly warm.

I'm already starting to miss home.

I put down my book and went outside. The living room lights were off, and it was pitch black except for a sliver of light coming from Xu Xiaobing's room. I turned on the light, then turned on the TV, turned the volume down, and randomly flipped through the channels—I wasn't interested in any of them; I just wanted to hear some human voices.

Just as I changed a few channels, Xu Xiaobing's door opened, and she came out wearing an oversized old cotton coat, frowning as she said, "Keep the volume down." Then she closed the door again.

I turned the volume down and continued changing channels.

Xu Xiaobing came out again, and this time she walked straight up to me: "I'm preparing for an exam, could you please turn the volume down?"

"You adjust it." I handed her the remote control.

She pressed the button hard, turning the volume down a notch, and then there was no sound at all. She snorted, turned the volume back up, threw the remote on the sofa, and went back to her room.

I shook my head—actually, the sound had already faded to almost nothing, but she still found it noisy; she was probably just annoyed. Xu Xiaobing naturally had a face that suggested she was easily irritated. Although she was very pretty, she looked like someone you didn't want to mess with, and I didn't want to argue with her.

I watched until 11 o'clock before taking a shower and going to bed.

I've always been a good sleeper; once I lie down in bed, I'm almost completely unconscious. If Xu Xiaobing hadn't been banging on the door louder than thunder, I definitely wouldn't have woken up. After being woken by her, it took me a few minutes to realize where I was.

"What?" I didn't want to get up from the bed.

"Come out here for a second," Xu Xiaobing called out loudly.

"What is it?" I checked the time; it was already past three o'clock.

"Come out and we'll talk."

Left with no other choice, I put on my clothes and opened the door.

Xu Xiaobing's face startled me; it was deathly pale, and her eyes were so wide open that they seemed to encompass everything in their sockets. Her black pupils floated in the huge whites of her eyes, which gave me the creeps.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Have you used the bathroom?" she asked.

"I've used it."

"Did you use the bathtub?"

"No."

"Come with me." She pulled me towards the bathroom. Although I was wearing a cotton coat, my lower body was quite thin. A gust of wind blew through the living room, and I followed her shiveringly into the bathroom. The bathroom smelled of shower gel, the floor was wet, there were some leftover bubbles in the bathtub, and a few strands of long, black hair. I didn't notice anything unusual, but as soon as Xu Xiaobing entered the bathroom, she started to move very close to me, which puzzled me.

"Whose hair is that?" she asked, pointing to the hair in the bathtub.

The hair was about a foot and a half long. Xu Xiaobing had short hair, and mine was only long enough to tie into a ponytail. This long, shiny hair clearly didn't belong to either of us. I shook my head to indicate that I didn't know.

Xu Xiaobing was dressed very warmly, but she seemed even colder than me, shivering all over: "If it's not yours, and it's not mine, then whose is it?"

"I don't know, whatever." I yawned.

Don't you find this suspicious?

"I don't think so." I really didn't find anything suspicious. It's perfectly normal to find a few hairs in the bathroom; there's no need to make a fuss about it.

Xu Xiaobing stared at me with wide eyes, as if I were some kind of monster. After a long while, she said quietly, "I've never seen anyone like you before."

I've never seen anyone like you before, I thought to myself.

Xu Xiaobing seemed too lazy to talk to me anymore. I sensed that because I didn't share her fear, she felt no empathy. She ignored me, went back to her room alone, and slammed the door shut. I glanced at the bathroom again, rinsed my hair out of the bathtub, and felt my feet were almost numb from the cold, so I rinsed them with hot water.

Before turning off the light, I noticed that the mouthwash cups on the washstand were a bit crooked, so I straightened them one by one. There were three mouthwash cups in total: the red one belonged to Xu Xiaobing, the blue one was mine, and there was a yellow one, which might have been left by the previous tenant. I casually put the extra mouthwash cup into the cupboard and went to sleep.

Xu Xiaobing was sleeping restlessly next to me, tossing and turning, but I soon couldn't hear her anymore because I had fallen asleep.

2

I heard a scream.

A strange woman screamed like a siren in my ear. When I suddenly woke up from my dream, the scream was gone, leaving only a buzzing in my eardrums. The surroundings were unusually quiet, and translucent light shone in from the windowpane, making the objects in the room appear and disappear in the morning light. I couldn't tell if the scream was real or a scene from a dream; I only remembered that I did have a dream, dreaming about some people and some things, but I couldn't recall any of it.

It's seven o'clock in the morning, a little early to get up. I was just about to take a nap when there was a loud banging on the door. Xu Xiaobing's panicked voice called out to me from outside: "Jiang Ling, get up quickly!"

I covered my ears with the blanket, trying to pretend I couldn't hear her, but she kept knocking on the door. Just as I was about to protest, I suddenly heard her crying. This snapped me out of my daze. Without even getting dressed, I jumped out of bed barefoot and flung open the door.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

Xu Xiaobing stood at the door with her hair disheveled. After tossing and turning all night, her cool short hair was now completely messed up. She didn't seem to have washed up yet, and her body still bore the traces and scent of last night. She walked into my room in a daze, sat on the bed, lowered her head, and covered her face.

As I hurriedly dressed, I asked her what had happened, but she didn't say anything, only burying her head in her hands. It wasn't until I finished dressing and helped her from the bed to a chair to make the bed that she slowly reached out a hand to me.

"Look what I have in my hand." She stood behind me, slowly extending one hand towards me. I was making the bed at the time, and when I suddenly heard her say this in a low voice, I felt a chill run down my spine for some reason, and I was somewhat afraid to look at her hand.

"What is it?" I asked without turning around, my hands trembling as I held the blanket. I suddenly remembered the woman's scream I heard before I woke up—now that I think about it, the voice sounded a lot like Xu Xiaobing's.

"See for yourself." I felt her hand move forward a few inches, almost right in front of me. I could see it with just a slight tilt of my head.

But I just don't want to watch it.

"What is it?" I asked again. The bed was already made, and I pretended to smooth out the few wrinkles on it, feeling strange about my own reaction.