Incendie mystérieux

Chapitre 71

As soon as Mr. Zhao unlocked the door, Xing Xiuwen frowned immediately. "It stinks!" The trash by the door looked like it hadn't been cleaned for days; no wonder it smelled so bad. She rushed to the window. Outside, the fog was still thick, and looking down, all she could see was a pristine white expanse, as if she were walking on clouds. However, within this seemingly idyllic scene, a chilling stench assaulted her nostrils. She couldn't help but sneeze.

"It stinks! The smell is even stronger than in the room!"

“There’s nothing we can do,” Xiao Liao shrugged. “It’s said that Yanzhen has the largest garbage disposal site in the province, and the Stinky Mansion happens to be right next to it—that’s why this extremely humane hotel is called the Stinky Mansion and why the rent is so cheap—besides, once you’ve stayed there long enough, the stench is nothing at all.”

He gradually grew impatient, and his words clearly implied, "If you don't like the smell, don't stay here. Go sleep on the streets!" Of course, he might not have meant it that way, but in Xing Xiuwen's heart, Xiao Liao's smile could no longer bring her any sense of security. She even felt that every action of his could not conceal his hatred for her.

She was always such a sensitive, obsessive, and overly imaginative woman.

So she went to bed early. Luckily, the furniture in the room was still clean, and the stench wasn't too strong; otherwise, just touching the dirt would have caused her whole body to itch and her skin to fester. The men were talking in low voices in the living room; she could only hear a buzzing reverberation. A moment later, something heavy pressed down on her, and she suddenly stretched out her arms, wrapping them tightly around him like vines.

“Don’t worry, Xiuwen,” the man teased her lips, “You’re safe here. No one can find us—the stinky mansion is our refuge.”

"It is also a prison for our entire lives, from which we can never escape," she replied with a touch of sorrow. "Look, a canary is still a canary, and I am merely jumping from one cage to another."

"Nonsense!" The man roughly silenced her with a kiss. "Don't compare me to that dead man! This stinking mansion is our Eden, where we will be forever ecstatic to the point of death."

Yes, it was ecstasy. As she received his caresses, she thought, even if corpses were buried deep within the land of Eden…

Short Story Collection: Horrifying Night Stories of the Stinky Mansion (2)

That night was spent in unimaginable frenzy. At three in the morning, the man, his body drenched in sweat, finally released her and turned to sleep. Xing Xiuwen, however, lay awake with empty eyes, her mind growing increasingly clear. "It must be this disgusting stench that's keeping me awake," she thought to herself. Once things quieted down, the pervasive stench gave her a headache, making it even harder to fall asleep. So she got up and went to the bathroom, deciding to take a shower.

Fortunately, the mansion had hot water available 24 hours a day. She adjusted the hot and cold water taps, and the warm water flowed gently, soothing her limp limbs. She closed her eyes, her mind gradually relaxing. Under the rush of water, the stench seemed less pungent. Perhaps Xiao Liao was right; once you got used to it, the stench wasn't so bad—in fact, compared to the perils outside, finding a refuge like this stinky mansion was enough for her, wasn't it?

She ran her hand along the curves of her body, her skin soft and firm, smooth as silk. "So beautiful," she exclaimed proudly. Not content, she turned and stepped out of the bathtub, wanting to admire her graceful figure in the mirror—but the moment she opened her eyes, she could hardly believe her eyes. Her mouth gaped open in disbelief, and she let out a sharp, piercing scream. She saw herself in the mirror, covered from head to toe in streaks of crimson blood, flowing down her curves. The showerhead sprayed blood mercilessly, soaking every part of her body, splattering the entire bathtub with droplets of blood.

A piercing scream nearly pierced the man's heart. A woman, covered in blood, clutched her head and lunged at her, screaming. A trail of bloody footprints followed behind her.

"Blood!" she cried out incoherently, "The bathtub is full of blood!"

She left in a hurry, so blood was still gushing from the showerhead, splashing blood into every corner of the bathtub before coalescing into a crimson vortex that flowed down the drain. The woman timidly clung to the man's back, while Mr. Zhao decisively turned off the faucet, then, with a stern face, began to lecture her harshly:

"Look at you, so wasteful! Remember to turn off the tap after you shower! Every drop of water and every unit of electricity used in this room will be on my tab. I don't have that much spare money for you to squander!"

To be fair, his criticism was a bit excessive. However, considering that he was woken up in the middle of the night while he was sound asleep, I won't blame him too much.

The woman was stunned. She stared at her naked body, stained crimson, and tears welled up in her eyes. The carpet beneath her was soaked with blood, and the bloodstains were growing larger.

"What are you standing there for?" The man grabbed her and lifted her up. "Dry yourself off and get into bed! Stop yelling!"

"But this blood..." The woman bit her lower lip, looking pitiful.

Mr. Zhao rolled his eyes impatiently. "I can't stand it! How many times do I have to tell you before you understand! This is the color of the hot water at that stinky mansion. Apparently, the main heating valve has accumulated too much rust, giving the water a rusty smell and a reddish color. But it doesn't affect its use—what blood? Women are just making a fuss over nothing! Liao Chengkai explained all this clearly before we even came to that stinky mansion!"

But you didn't warn me, how would I know… The woman reluctantly dried herself, the towel absorbing the “hot water” and turning bright red. Was it really because of the rust? She doubted it. With her sensitive nose, there was no reason she wouldn't smell the pungent rust. But then again, she didn't smell any blood either.

Perhaps it really is just water, ordinary hot water.

The next day, she got up early. The previous night's ordeal had given her a terrible headache, and she could barely close her eyes until dawn. She dared not brush her teeth in the blood-red bathroom again, and instead carried her toothbrush cup and face wash to the communal washroom. Along the way, all the doors were tightly closed, and the piles of trash outside indicated the activity level of the residents. Soon, a sign for the communal washroom appeared above her. Two rows of large mirrors faced each other on the walls of the washroom, below which were two rows of faucets and a long, communal sink. It was still early, and in the center of the washroom stood a woman in white with leg-length black hair, facing the mirror, slowly and meticulously combing her hair with a crescent-shaped comb. The comb was described so clearly because it was enormous; in the woman's hand, it looked like a watermelon knife. Only half of the long teeth were inside her hair; the other half stretched out in the air, moving slowly with her hand.

Xing Xiuwen shivered, perhaps from the cold. She kept her distance from the woman, turning her back to her as she chose a tap. "So many strange people in this stinky mansion," she thought to herself. "No wonder they say 'mind your own business'." She turned on the tap and frowned. Snow-white water, foamy like beer, immediately flooded her toothbrush cup. Had there been laundry detergent in the cup? She reluctantly washed the cup again and again, but the water continued to foam, filling the cup completely. Could there be too much bleach in the tap water? So she waited patiently. After more than half a minute, the foam finally disappeared one by one, but the water showed no sign of clearing up; it was as thick and white as milk.

"Hey, tap water...?" She suddenly looked up and gazed at her reflection in the mirror on the wall, but the woman combing her hair was nowhere to be seen. Only the illusion of mirror after mirror, layered upon layered in the mirrored world, remained. However, when she inadvertently turned around, she was instantly terrified—the woman combing her hair was standing right in front of her, still combing her hair!

She suddenly felt a chill run through her body.

She stole another glance in the mirror. There was nothing there—no comb as exaggerated as a watermelon knife, no woman, nothing at all! She felt her blood freeze. She wanted to scream, but her throat was so dry she couldn't utter a sound. The glass of milky-cold water sloshed in her toothbrush holder. She trembled violently, terrified that the woman would turn around and walk towards her.

"A ghost...!" she prayed desperately in her heart, "I have no grudge against you, no enmity with you, please have mercy and let me go..."

But fate is often unkind; the more guilty you are, the more likely you are to be possessed. The once quiet washroom was suddenly filled with heavy footsteps, and they were heading straight for her!

Short Story Collection: Horrifying Night Stories of the Stinky Mansion (3)

A hand rested on her shoulder.

"Aaaaaah!" she screamed, her voice so shrill that the man instinctively covered his ears.

"Mrs. Zhao, it's me, Xiao Liao." She finally opened her eyes, and Liao Chengkai's dark face was now displayed before her. Never before had Xing Xiuwen felt so happy to see him. She grabbed Xiao Liao's thick arm tightly, as if afraid he would run away if she wasn't careful, gripping it so hard it was almost digging into his flesh.

"That woman!" she exclaimed nervously, "A ghost!"

"Mrs. Zhao, what are you talking about?" Xiao Liao looked completely bewildered. "In broad daylight, where would there be ghosts?"

Xing Xiuwen pouted, "Look, it's the woman combing her hair behind you, see her?" She then pointed to the mirror, "But she's not in the mirror at all! What else could it be but a ghost?"

Xiao Liao glanced at her casually, then his expression suddenly changed drastically. Xing Xiuwen, who was leaning against him, seemed to sense the tremor in his heart as well. Xiao Liao lowered his head and whispered in her ear, "Follow me, and don't make a sound."

Then, slowly, very slowly, they walked out of the washroom. The rustling sound of combing hair continued, but neither of them had the courage to look back.

Upon entering Xiao Liao's room, Xing Xiuwen collapsed onto the sofa, her hand clutching her chest, her chest heaving: she was utterly terrified. Xiao Liao poured her a glass of water, and she was about to say thank you when she paused. The water was clearly as white as milk. Faced with her hesitant gaze, Xiao Liao felt a little embarrassed.

"There's nothing we can do about it; the water quality in Yanzhen is just like that. The water source is too polluted," he said, taking a sip of water and chewing slowly. "So the water plant uses a special bleaching powder. It doesn't look good, but the taste isn't too bad."

“This place is really strange…” Xing Xiuwen muttered to herself, “Not only the Stinky Mansion, but the people living there, Yanzhen, this place is strange everywhere.”

“For example, the heavy fog…” Xiao Liao plopped down next to Xing Xiuwen, casually placing his hand behind her back, “It’s shrouded in fog all year round, which is why it’s called ‘Smoke Town’.” He stared into her eyes and asked seriously, “Aren’t you scared?”

He suddenly closed the distance between them, his gaze becoming intense, making her feel feverish. Xing Xiuwen had always known she was a beauty, alluring to men, but wasn't Liao Chengkai being far too impatient? So she carefully created some distance and replied indifferently:

"With my husband here, I have nothing to be afraid of."

Xiao Liao snorted and laughed, "Then why were you holding me so tightly just now? Why didn't Mr. Zhao come to rescue you?"

Xing Xiuwen immediately got goosebumps. The thought of that eerie woman combing her hair sent shivers down her spine. Xiao Liao noticed her change and reached for her cup, taking her hand in the process.

"If I hadn't arrived in time, you would have been killed by that female ghost long ago..." He whispered in her ear, "Actually, I fell in love with you the first time I saw you, but unfortunately you are Old Zhao's lover... For you, I was infatuated and even offended my brothers. Do you think it was easy?"

He pinned her down.

"No..." she weakly protested.

“Xiuwen,” he said, mustering his courage, and addressed her by her name affectionately, “I know you’re not Lao Zhao’s wife and are still single. So what’s wrong with me pursuing you openly? Besides, Lao Zhao is a ruthless man who will devour you without a second thought. I can’t bear to watch you jump into a fire pit!”

The woman immediately became alert.

What do you mean by that?

Liao Chengkai chuckled; he lowered his head and kissed her cherry lips, and this time, Xing Xiuwen did not refuse. After a breathtakingly long French kiss, he wiped his lips, now bright red from the kiss, and said:

"Did he not tell you anything about the stinky mansion?"

The woman's thoughts drifted back to three days earlier. Back then, she had been hiding in the small hotel all day, like a frightened bird, when she suddenly saw Mr. Zhao, who had shaken off his usual dejected look, happily tell her that there was a good place to hide, called the Stinky Mansion...

“It’s a place that can accommodate everything, completely undisturbed by the outside world,” Mr. Zhao said. “It’s just that the rent is…”

However, she completely missed the last sentence. Solely focused on her own safety, she kept urging him to leave; now, looking back, perhaps she hadn't asked clearly enough at the time…

"Does not being able to pay rent mean I'll be evicted?" she asked Xiao Liao. "I have money! Enough money! Enough to feed and care for me for the rest of my life!"

“But that money now belongs to the Zhao family!” Xiao Liao pointed out incisively. “Do you think he’d be so kind as to spit out the meat he’d already eaten? Don’t even think about it!”

The woman fell silent. She remembered Mr. Zhao's unreasonable accusations against her for wasting water; the money he was so stingy actually belonged to her! Yet he had kept it for himself!

"The rent at that stinky mansion is exorbitant," Xiao Liao continued. "People like us practically live in those mansions all the time. How can we possibly go out and earn money? We basically all find work within those mansions. A beauty like you," he leered, his gaze sweeping over her body, "Old Zhao is definitely going to make a killing off you!"

"I……?"

"Absolutely stunning..." He reached out and put his arm around her slender waist, answering affectionately, "There are so many wealthy men in the mansion, they must be feeling stifled all day long. With a beauty like you by their side, they'd pay any price! Old Zhao can just wait to count his money!"

Xing Xiuwen's face suddenly darkened. "What exactly do you mean? Do you think I'm a prostitute?"

"Don't be angry, Xiuwen," Liao Chengkai said with a grin, "I was just worried about you! Like that woman in white just now..."

"She's just like you, moving in with her husband, only to have him gamble away everything they owned. They couldn't go out, and they had no money to pay rent, so she had to 'sell herself.' She had to earn the rent for both of them all by herself. Luckily, her husband died soon after, otherwise, hmph, I don't know how miserable she would have been!"

The woman's eyes widened as big as saucers. "She's not a ghost?"

Liao Chengkai opened his mouth wide and laughed silently, "Who's talking about ghosts! I'm just combing my hair!"

"But that mirror doesn't reflect her image! Didn't you see it too?"

Liao Chengkai cupped her face in his hands, "Silly! There's no reflection of either of us in the mirror."

“There are no mirrors at all! What’s hanging on the wall are paintings, two paintings that look like mirrors!” He laughed again, panting.

Anger gradually rose to the woman's face, making her even more beautiful with her rosy cheeks.

"You're lying to me? And you're pretending to be scared like you've seen a ghost?"

Her bud-like fists rained down on the man's chest, and Liao Chengkai laughed as he grabbed her arms and forcefully pulled her into his embrace. His smile was captivating.

"If it weren't for that, how could I be holding such a beautiful woman in my arms now?"

“Baby,” he breathed wildly in her ear, “will you come with me? Let’s cripple that heartless old Zhao.”

The woman closed her eyes. So he kissed her all the way down the soft curves of her skin.

Short Story Collection: Horrifying Night Stories of the Stinky Mansion (4)

At this moment of betrayal, Mr. Zhao was still fast asleep, a smug smile on his lips.

He met Xing Xiuwen at a disco. She was lounging on a leather seat, leisurely sipping her drink, her long, bare legs drawing everyone's attention. Compared to the young girls wildly shaking their hips on the dance floor, her oblivious attitude was undoubtedly more alluring. After careful observation, Mr. Zhao decided to make her his prize.

Her eyes were lonelier than fireworks.

She enjoyed the lively atmosphere of nightclubs but never actually danced in them; she dressed elegantly but was never extravagant; she loved seducing men, making them infatuated with her, enjoying being surrounded by men like a flower, yet rarely crossing the line. She wasn't short of money, but desperately lacked love and security. Having figured out her background, Mr. Zhao knew what to do. He orchestrated a "highway robbery," then made a heroic entrance to rescue her.

Without much persuasion, the woman obediently fell into his arms. She was born a woman as supple as a vine, only able to stand firm by clinging to a man, like a pillar. Before she was even 20, she was kept by a wealthy businessman, becoming his tenth mistress. The businessman bought her an apartment in the city and gave her 10,000 yuan a month for spending money—in exchange, she had to entertain him two days a week, using her youth and beauty to create a decadent "gentle haven" for him. Aside from that, she was lonely every day and every night, only able to pass the empty hours by drinking.

Mr. Zhao's appearance filled the void in her heart. Although he wasn't exactly handsome, he was dignified and strong, which alone made him a hundred times better than that old, wealthy businessman. Earning pocket money from her "father" on one hand and receiving passionate embraces from her strong lover on the other, Xing Xiuwen almost thought she was the happiest woman in the world for a while.

Mr. Zhao's eyes darted around violently; he must have been remembering that terrible night.

That night, amidst the wind and rain, as the two men huddled together for warmth, the door suddenly opened. The wealthy businessman stared in astonishment at the man and woman on the bed. A flash of lightning illuminated the three of them, as if lighting three clay or wooden statues. Moments later, the two men, one old and frail, the other young and strong, roared and began to fight. When Mr. Zhao finally staggered to his feet, his fingers twitching from the exertion, Xing Xiuwen realized that her benefactor was foaming at the mouth, a trickle of blood flowing from his lips. His head hung limply on his neck; he was already dead.

Mr. Zhao nearly crushed his throat.

Fortunately, the wealthy man seemed to have collected some debts before arriving, as his briefcase contained over 500,000 yuan in cash. Combined with Xing Xiuwen's own savings, the total came to nearly 600,000 yuan. With this money, Mr. Zhao took Xing Xiuwen's hand and promised to take her to the ends of the earth.

Of course, the money is now under Mr. Zhao's guardianship. Who told her to be so weak and incompetent! How could we let her control the finances! With her carefree and extravagant nature, she'd surely squander it all in no time!

They first stayed at a small hotel, but upon seeing the murder report in the newspaper, they immediately packed their bags and fled. They endured countless hours of fear and hardship along the way, until Mr. Zhao received an invitation from Liao Chengkai to seek refuge at the stinking mansion…

He secretly calculated that after deducting the rent and other necessary expenses for the stinky mansion, 600,000 yuan would be more than enough for him to live a carefree, idyllic life for five years. Besides, women were an excellent tool for making money; countless bachelors in the mansion coveted a beauty like Xing Xiuwen. As long as he planned properly, he wouldn't have to worry about a steady stream of money!

He laughed out loud in his dream.

When he woke up, Xing Xiuwen was sitting motionless on the sofa, coldly staring at his sleeping face. Her expression was utterly calm, as still as a lake on a windless day. Seeing him open his eyes, she held out her palm. "Give me the money, I want to leave?"

The man sat bolt upright in bed. "Go out? Where to?"

"Anywhere, as long as it's not that stinky mansion!" the woman roared, as if exploding. "It's filthy, it stinks, and it's full of weirdos! I can't stand being in a place like that!"

The man tried to comfort her, "Can't you just bear with it? We can go out after things calm down! We're in the eye of the storm right now, aren't we?" Seeing that the woman's emotions had eased somewhat, he raised his voice, "Besides, aren't you afraid of the police? We've broken the law, we're guilty of murder!"

"What's there to be afraid of?" the woman scoffed. "You're the one who killed him; it has nothing to do with me!"