Geisterreich

Kapitel 4

“That’s not it.” She shook her head. “I quickly remembered something that happened before we went to bed.”

"What's wrong?" I had lost all interest in this topic. It was just an ordinary thing that happened to someone who liked to make a fuss, but Xu Xiaobing was telling it like a story. I couldn't help but yawn. She seemed not to notice my expression and continued talking: "The lock on my room door is probably a bit rusty. It's always difficult to lock, especially that night. Because I was in a hurry to get to bed, I used the lock a little wrong and it scratched the back of my hand, scraping off some skin. If it weren't for this incident, I would definitely have thought that I hadn't closed the door properly. But when I saw the scratch on the back of my hand, I was finally sure that I had closed the door properly."

"Okay, okay, you closed the door, but maybe the wind blew it open again?" I was getting a little impatient. This little thing had been dragged on for so long. Are women just naturally nagging creatures? I secretly rejoiced that I didn't have that problem.

"What kind of wind could blow a locked door open?" she raised her voice angrily. "A typhoon?"

"That's true..." It doesn't seem like there's that much wind...

“I was terrified. I thought someone must have sneaked in. I was the only one renting the house, so whoever sneaked in must be a bad person. I huddled on the bed, too scared to move, and didn’t know what to do. After a long time, when I didn’t hear a sound, I slowly got out of bed and dialed 110 on my phone. I’ll call the police immediately if anything unusual happens.”

“I went into the living room and didn’t see anyone, but I noticed that the chair I used to block the doorway had been moved. My heart skipped a beat, and I quickly checked the lock on the door—as expected, it was unlocked. Someone had definitely come in. I panicked; cold sweat poured down my back. I didn’t know what to do. You know, I’m a stranger here, with no family or friends, and I rent this place all by myself. If I were murdered, I’m afraid no one would know until my body had decomposed.” She spoke hurriedly, making me secretly shudder as well—yes, if something really happened, probably no one would notice. Alone in a foreign land, everyone is lonely. Who goes missing, or who dies, is just a personal matter. We are all so ordinary; our disappearance won’t change history. Our existence is just a very small thing, so small that no one might even notice. This thought surged into my mind in an instant, making me feel a sense of kinship. I couldn’t help but pat her hand: “Yes, that’s why we need to protect ourselves even more.”

She nodded repeatedly, continuing in a bewildered tone, her eyes no longer looking at me, as if she could see that night through me again: "I was standing alone at the door, wanting to check the room, but I was afraid of running into the person who had already come in—if I hadn't seen him, maybe I could have survived, but if I had, he might have killed me. Don't they always report things like that on TV? I wanted to open the door and run out for help, but, you know, I closed door after door precisely because it was full of danger outside, and even more so in the dead of night… Besides, even if it were safe outside, where could I go for help? I don't know anyone. I've seen the neighbors here a few times, but I've never greeted them. At this point, even if I knocked on someone's door, no one would open it for me… I really don't know what to do…" She looked at me pleadingly, as if asking me for a solution. At this moment, I felt deep sympathy for her and also a deep sorrow. I didn't know where this sorrow came from. I only knew that when a person cannot feel safe in any situation, whether the door is closed or open, whether inside or outside, the world becomes a terrible place for that person.

"And then?" That was all I said.

"I opened the door anyway," she said. Before she could finish, I knew something was amiss, otherwise her expression wouldn't have suddenly lightened. "I opened the door, not knowing what to do, and just then, I heard footsteps coming from the rooftop. It was very quiet around me, and the sudden sound startled me. I felt the footsteps were coming straight at me. They were getting closer and closer. I wanted to retreat back into the room, but I didn't know who was inside. At that moment, although there were no scary people or things around, it was the scariest time of my life. Standing at the door felt like standing on the edge of a cliff—yes, that's exactly the feeling, standing on the edge of a cliff..."

"And then?" I interrupted her lyrical remarks.

She seemed somewhat displeased, frowning slightly: "Not long after the footsteps, a person came down the stairs leading to the rooftop. He was wearing white clothes, and he suddenly stepped from the darkness into the light, as if he had suddenly emerged from underground..."

"Didn't you already hear footsteps? You should have been prepared." I interrupted her again.

“You try it yourself? I was so scared I couldn’t even tell how close the footsteps were.” Her eyebrows almost stood on end as she stared at me for a few seconds until I lowered my head in remorse. Then she continued, “When he suddenly appeared, I screamed before I could even see his face clearly. Then I heard him scream, even louder than me. That actually calmed me down a bit. I stopped screaming and looked closely. It turned out he was just our neighbor who lived on the first floor. I was a little relieved, but still scared—these days, you can’t really trust even your neighbors, don’t you think?”

I nodded.

The man quickly stopped screaming. After recognizing me, he breathed a sigh of relief: "It's you! You scared me to death! What happened?" I hesitated, unsure whether to tell him that my door lock had been opened, but at that moment, I had no other choice but to tell him. After he heard what happened...

"The man stopped screaming quickly. After seeing it was me, he breathed a sigh of relief: 'It's you! You scared me to death! What happened?' I hesitated, unsure whether to tell him that the door lock had been opened, but at that moment, I had no other choice. After I told him, he immediately suggested coming inside to check. I didn't dare agree so readily. Seeing my hesitation, he assumed I was afraid of the person inside and patted his chest, saying, 'Don't be afraid, I'm here.' I didn't say anything, but what I was thinking was, 'You're a stranger too. How can I let a stranger into my house?' Sigh, what should I have done then?"

She asked me the same question again, and I couldn't answer it again. I could only express my deep sympathy and say, "You're so pitiful. If it were me, I wouldn't know what to do either."

She smiled. "Yes, we're all afraid of strangers. Luckily, someone else showed up. That person came up from downstairs; it was a woman, the man's wife. When they met, they both looked a little awkward. The woman said to the man with a stern face, 'Do you really want to sleep on the rooftop tonight?' The man smiled apologetically and told her what had happened in my room. She became interested and said, 'Did someone really come in? That's strange. I didn't see anyone come upstairs.' I didn't understand what she meant and stared blankly at her. She looked at me with a grin and said, 'After dinner, I've been knitting in the stairwell to prevent this good-for-nothing from sneaking in.'" She slipped out, glancing at her husband again. He shuddered. She smiled contentedly and said, "I've been sitting there all this time. Someone just wouldn't come down, wanting to enjoy the breeze on the rooftop?" Her husband quickly smiled apologetically. These were just their private conversations, which I didn't want to hear. Seeing them rambling on and on, and with the matter of what happened inside still on my mind, I decided to search the room myself while they were still at the door. Just as I was about to turn around, the woman slowly said, "I've been sitting there all this time, and I haven't seen anyone come upstairs or come downstairs. It's strange that someone entered your room."

"Huh?" Hearing this, I was also puzzled. "Impossible, right? Did she just not notice?"

Xu Xiaobing shook her head: "I asked her the same question, but she said she was sitting at the bottom of the stairs. You know, the stairs in our building are very narrow. She was sitting there like a woman guarding the pass, and no one could get through. Anyone coming upstairs had to get up and make way for her. Hearing her say that, I couldn't help but glance at her husband—if no one came up from downstairs, then it could only be someone from this building, or someone came down from the rooftop, and her husband was standing on the rooftop at the time… As I was thinking this, he quickly said: 'Absolutely no one came down from the rooftop!' He said that although he had gone up to the rooftop in a fit of pique, he had been keeping an eye on his wife's movements, hoping she would come up and call him downstairs. So he had been guarding the entrance to the rooftop, listening intently to the sounds in the stairwell, but after listening all night, not only did his wife not come upstairs, but no one else did either. There wasn't a single footstep in the stairwell…" At this point, she took another sip of coffee. I was getting a little impatient and lightly tapped the table, saying, "What happened next? There's no need to talk about the man and woman. Just tell me what happened next."

Despite my urging, she continued in her usual rambling style: "Hearing him say that, I suddenly got goosebumps and felt incredibly scared. Before I could even say what I was afraid of, the woman was already pointing at me with a surprised expression. In that situation, my first thought was that something must be behind me..." Her voice became faint, almost inaudible, so I had to pull my chair closer to her to hear what she was saying next: "...I immediately turned around, but there was nothing strange behind me. But I was still very scared, you..." Of course I know why—I definitely didn't open my door myself, and those two people can testify that no one came up from downstairs or down from the top floor—so what could have opened my door? I already found this very strange. I'm a very alert person. If someone entered my room from the outside, even if I couldn't hear anything in the living room, my bedroom door would still be open without me noticing. That's really odd. My room is so small, the door is practically next to the bed. Even someone who isn't very alert should feel it being opened, right?

"Hmm." I was so engrossed in listening that I kept urging her to continue.

"The woman spoke, and I realized she hadn't seen anything terrifying. She was just startled to see my face turn deathly pale and kept asking if I was feeling unwell. I initially disliked her, but hearing her question made me grateful, so I told her what I was afraid of. She immediately pulled me and her husband along, and the three of us searched the room together. She was incredibly brave; she stood guard at the door to prevent anyone from escaping, while her husband helped me search the house. Our rented apartment wasn't big, and we finished quickly, even checking under the bed. We didn't see a soul. Her husband even peeked through the crack in the locked door of the room, but found nothing. The less we found, the more frightened I became. The woman was very kind; seeing I was still scared, she told her husband to stand guard at the door while she accompanied me on another round of searches. Since we had already checked and knew no one was there, I focused my attention on other things. Guess what I found?" She held her breath, staring at me.

"What?" I stared at her, my eyes wide. Out of the corner of my left eye, I noticed a young waiter watching us intently. The music was still playing, and the lights seemed even dimmer.

"A woman's clothes." She spat out the words through gritted teeth, then suddenly hugged her arm as if she were shivering from the cold, continuing in a rapid-fire manner, "Look at my figure. I'm not short, but I'm still the height of a southern woman. And I never wear yellow clothes; they make my complexion look sallow. But the garment I found was hanging on the bathroom rack—a yellow jacket, probably the size for someone who's about 1.75 meters tall. I have a habit of thoroughly cleaning every new place I stay in, discarding everything left behind by previous guests. So I'm certain that this jacket wasn't in the bathroom before I went to bed." After hearing my explanation, the woman took the jacket down, examined it carefully, agreed to throw it away, chatted with me for a while, comforted me, and then left. I locked the door again and searched the room alone for a long time, feeling both expectant and afraid, not even knowing what I was looking for.

"So what did you find?"

“I didn’t find anything.” She shook her head. “In the days that followed, I found something strange in the room every day, just like what you saw yesterday and this morning. Sometimes it was hair, sometimes it was extra small items, sometimes things I clearly put here would mysteriously appear elsewhere, and even a few times, I found some people’s fingernails…” She spoke in a chilling tone, her eyes looking at me, yet seemingly not at me, lost in her own memories. “I always felt that something must have come in that day, it definitely was…”

"You're overthinking it," I said with a laugh. "If it's really that strange, then it must be a ghost."

When she heard the word "ghost," she trembled and stared at me in terror, as if I had spoken not a Chinese character, but a forbidden incantation.

“Actually, that’s what I thought too.” She brought her head so close to my forehead that it almost touched mine, and said in a barely audible voice, “But I didn’t dare say it out loud. I was afraid that if I said it in the house, that thing would…” She hesitated for a moment, but still didn’t say the word “ghost,” “…that thing heard it, so it asked you to come here to talk.”

I mimicked her, speaking in the same soft, deep tone, "But if there really is a ghost, wouldn't she have followed us here?"

She trembled slightly: "Don't talk nonsense."

I suppressed a laugh and said in the same tone, "Maybe she's right behind you, smelling the coffee..."

She shuddered violently, screamed, and ran away from her seat, quickly running behind me and peering in the direction of her seat—it was already late at night, and there were few customers in the café. Behind her seat was another table and an empty chair. The waiters stared at us in astonishment. A tall, thin boy walked over, slightly bowing, and asked, "Miss, is there anything I can help you with?"

Xu Xiaobing relaxed and returned to normal. "It's nothing." She waved to the boy, sat back down, and stared coldly at me. After the boy left, she spoke: "Is scaring people fun?"

I chuckled softly. If it weren't so quiet around me, I would have burst out laughing. Just thinking about how scared Xu Xiaobing was earlier made me laugh.

"How can you be so annoying?" Xu Xiaobing's expression didn't seem to be joking; her tone was so stern that I was stunned. The urge to laugh was still rising in my stomach, but I forcibly suppressed it. I looked at her closely—her face was as hard as an iron plate; she was genuinely angry. I felt awkward now, scratching my head and saying sheepishly, "Just kidding, don't be angry, haha."

"How can you joke like that?" She was genuinely angry, and there wasn't a hint of a smile on her face. I hadn't expected her to be so unable to take a joke. I gave a wry smile; the urge to laugh had vanished, replaced by a burning blush on my face. Luckily, the lighting in the café was dim, otherwise she would have definitely noticed how bright red my face was.

Seeing that I remained silent, Xu Xiaobing's anger seemed to subside somewhat, but her tone was still unfriendly: "You just moved in, so of course you can't understand—I've lived there alone for so long, and just thinking about it terrifies me. You might think it's a joke, but I'm really scared." Hearing her say this, I felt secretly ashamed. Although I still believed that talk of ghosts and spirits was nonsense, since her fear was real, it was indeed inappropriate for me to joke about such a fear. I said apologetically, "I'm sorry, I didn't expect you to be so scared."

"Don't you think it's scary?" She looked at me urgently, as if she wanted me to admit that it was indeed a scary thing.

"Honestly, I don't think so," I said. "If there really were a ghost, it should be able to pass through walls, so why would it need to open your door?"

She paused, and after a long while, slowly said, "If it's not a ghost, then what is it? It's definitely not human."

"Could it be that you're just having a mental breakdown..." I carefully chose my words, but I still couldn't help but anger her. She coldly interrupted me, saying, "You might as well just say I'm mentally ill." I smiled awkwardly and looked down to drink my coffee, only to find that the cup was empty. I could only clink the spoon against the inside of the cup, trying to break the awkward silence.

“You saw those things yourself, how can you say it was my hallucination?” she said sharply.

“I saw those things, but I didn’t see who did them,” I said.

“Yes!” She nodded emphatically.

“So, similarly,” I coughed—as if I were always going to say something that would only annoy her—and continued, “I didn’t see anything that wasn’t done by you.”

"What do you mean?" Her eyes were somewhat confused, but she quickly understood. Now, I finally understood what a dagger-like gaze felt like. She blocked my view with her dagger-like eyes, her face flushed red. I waited anxiously, regretting my words and also regretting renting this apartment. It wasn't because of Xu Xiaobing's so-called ghost stories, but because, judging from the current situation, these things were likely done by Xu Xiaobing herself, only she didn't remember them afterward—this should be a form of hysteria. I'm inherently afraid of people with abnormal mental states. Although Xu Xiaobing's behavior was normal for now, I didn't know what she would be like when she had an episode. Maybe I shouldn't have spoken to her like that. I silently slapped myself a few times in my heart. As Xu Xiaobing's face grew redder and her eyes widened—her eyes always seemed to stare like a mental patient's, with the black and white of her eyes separated—I looked at her helplessly, then glanced around. The waiters had stopped paying attention to us and were gathered around a small table, cracking sunflower seeds.

I gave Xu Xiaobing an awkward smile.

"I have nothing more to say to you. I've said everything I needed to say. You'll naturally find out if it was my fault later." After staring at me for a long time, she suddenly stood up, didn't say goodbye, and walked towards the door. As I stood up to leave as well, a waiter stopped me. I froze for a moment, and my face flushed red.

With no other option, I had to swallow my pride and shout at Xu Xiaobing's retreating back, "Xu Xiaobing, you haven't paid the bill yet!"

Xu Xiaobing turned around angrily and handed the waiter a banknote in a stabbing motion, which terrified me. Before she could say anything, I hurriedly walked out of the coffee shop. In the darkness, Xu Xiaobing's gaze, which was following closely behind me, still seemed to be piercing my back like a needle, making my back clench.

5

It was already 3 a.m. when I got home. Xu Xiaobing didn't say a word to me, slamming her door shut with a loud bang, like a punch coming straight at me. But that also made me breathe a sigh of relief. Because I had drunk coffee, I was wide awake, and since it was the weekend, I didn't want to lie down. I thought about turning on the TV, but I was afraid the noise would disturb Xu Xiaobing.

Poverty makes one lose ambition. I sighed. If I weren't so poor that I barely had money for food, I would have moved away immediately. However, given the current situation, I have no choice but to endure it.

Back in my room, I sat down at my desk to pick up a book, but unexpectedly found two square packages. They were right next to my desk, hidden from view by the bed, and I hadn't seen them when I came in. The recipient's name was on the packages, and upon seeing the delivery slip, I immediately clenched my fist in excitement. It was my computer, which I'd specially mailed from my old place because it was inconvenient to move. I hadn't expected it to arrive so quickly. The post office doesn't work at night, so Xu Xiaobing must have received it for me while I was away during the day. Thinking of this, I felt both grateful and guilty towards her. After a moment's thought, I went out and knocked on her door.

There was no reply, but I could hear movement inside the room; she seemed still angry. I cleared my throat and said loudly, "Xu Xiaobing, thank you for helping me retrieve my email."

There was still no answer.

I mustered up my courage and said again, "I'm getting a computer installed. Do you want to come and take a look? You can use it to access the internet."

There was still no answer.

Just as I was about to leave, the door suddenly opened, and Xu Xiaobing looked at me with a frown, one corner of her mouth slightly upturned: "What is it?"

I repeated what I had just said, and she once again gave me that mentally ill look—whenever she gave me that look, I felt that having big eyes wasn't actually a good thing, especially for a girl like Xu Xiaobing, whose naturally large eyes seemed designed specifically to scare people.

"There's mail in your room? Not received by you?" she asked repeatedly.

“Yes,” I nodded blankly, “didn’t you receive it for me?”

"No," she said, her gaze passing over me and looking behind me as if she had seen something. "Did he accept it?"

I quickly turned around, but saw nothing.

"Which 'him'?" I asked, puzzled.

“The one who left her long hair in the bathtub,” she whispered in my ear.

I glanced at her sideways but didn't say anything.

“I was at work all day yesterday, the postman won’t come after he gets off work,” she said as I turned to leave. “If you don’t believe me, you can come to my company and ask.” She shoved a business card into my hand and slammed the door shut. I casually stuffed the card into my pocket and went back to my room to install the computer.

The computer was installed quickly. After connecting the network cable and setting up the internet, it was almost four o'clock. The night outside was still deep, but the wind was gentle, not the kind that blows purely from the darkness, but carrying a faint scent of dawn. I opened QQ, wanting to chat with someone. At this time, most of my QQ friends' avatars were black and white, but to my surprise, there was actually one in color. So late—or rather, so early—and someone was still online; I was really lucky. Just as I was about to greet them, their avatar moved first, and after the beeping greeting sound, I opened the chat window.

[Long time no see.] The other person's profile picture is of a man wearing glasses.

[Hehe, long time no see.] Actually, I don't remember who he is at all. His online name is "Westward from Yangguan Pass." I clicked on his profile and looked at it. The content was very simple; his age and education are obviously not reliable. In the self-introduction section, there was a sentence: "At the end of time, with a turn, everything becomes nothingness." This sentence really suited my taste, but I still can't remember who he is. According to my habit, my QQ friends are all people I know in real life. I never add online friends. Maybe this friend is an acquaintance from the past who changed his online name.

"Why are you online so late?" he asked.

"Who are you?" I asked directly. "Have you changed your name?"

He remained silent for several minutes. I grew impatient and was about to ask again when he gave me a tearful, dark look: "[Don't you remember me?]"

I replied sheepishly, "[Yes.]"

[I am your best friend, a sworn brother.]

[Seriously, I haven't even experienced a life-or-death situation yet, how could I have such a deep friendship?]

[Are life and death the only truly important matters in this world?]

[What else is there?]

[And more importantly, for example, you've forgotten me.]

[Ha, ha, ha, if you never remember, what does forgetting count as forgetting?] I think this kind of conversation is a bit...

[Ha, ha, ha, I never remember, so what does forgetting count as forgetting?] I find this kind of conversation a bit boring; maybe the other person is just an online friend I added by accident.

[Never remember?] He repeated what I said.

"[Tell me who you are, or I'll delete you,]" I said. "[I don't add strangers.]"

[Think about it again.]

[I deleted him.] I said, having already opened my friends list, clicked on his name, and right-clicked, about to click "delete," when he quickly sent me: [Jiang Ling.]

My hand stopped. The other person knew my name, so they must know me, because I have never revealed my name online.

"Who are you? I'm getting angry if you don't tell me," I said.

He remained silent for several more minutes. Suddenly, I felt drowsy, yawned, and was about to turn off my phone when another message came in: [No. 6 Yunsheng Street, are you settling in alright?]

I don't know why, but when he asked that question, I suddenly felt a shiver run through my body, as if an electric current was rolling across my skin. Goosebumps appeared, and I could even feel my hair standing on end.

"[How did you know?]" I asked eagerly. I had only moved to No. 6 Yunsheng Street two days ago, and apart from the friend who helped me find the apartment, no other acquaintances knew I lived here. He was the first person I thought of, but then I realized that the friend who helped me find the apartment was currently injured in both hands and couldn't possibly type, let alone type so quickly.

"Are you Jia Yun?" I asked again, even though he couldn't type himself, he could ask someone else to type for him, or perhaps he gave my QQ number and address to someone else. I tried to think that way, but a voice inside me told me that the other person wasn't Jia Yun, and had nothing to do with Jia Yun at all.

"No," replied Xi Chuyangguan.

I don't understand why, but the fact that the other party knew my address filled me with a nameless panic. After thinking for a moment, I quickly dialed Jia Yun's cell phone number. The phone rang for a long time before he lazily answered, "Hello?" Just from his voice, anyone could tell that he wasn't Xi Chuyangguan; it was obvious that the person on the other end of the phone had just woken up.