Geisterreich

Kapitel 2

Xu Xiaobing didn't say a word. She walked straight up to me, her dark eyes wide open, and held out her palm. On her palm were several long, glossy black hairs, a length neither she nor I possessed.

I breathed a sigh of relief: "Where did you find these hairs from?"

“On my bed.” Her voice trembled slightly, as if she suddenly couldn’t breathe.

"Oh," I said.

She stared at me blankly: "Don't you find it strange?"

"What's strange?"

"Another woman's hair was found on my bed."

"What's so strange about it?" In my opinion, beds are places where hair easily falls out, so finding a few strands occasionally is perfectly normal, even if it's not your own. However, after her repeated questioning, I also felt a little strange: why would someone else's hair be on Xu Xiaobing's bed?

“I’ve made the bed very clean, and the sheets and duvet cover were changed yesterday.” She stared into my eyes, as if seeking some kind of consensus, and the urge to cry reappeared on her face.

"Was it someone else's hair that floated up when you were hanging out to dry your bedding?" I speculated.

“What about the hair in the bathtub?” she continued.

"Could it be that the water backed up and washed someone else's hair into the bathtub?" I continued to speculate, and I felt my guess made a lot of sense. Xu Xiaobing looked at me with an incredulous expression and shook her head: "Are you really a girl?" This made me feel a little ashamed—maybe all girls are as easily startled as Xu Xiaobing? My courage and nerves are indeed a bit thick-skinned. Xu Xiaobing looked quite frightened and hadn't recovered yet. Without makeup, she looked a bit sloppy, even somewhat sleazy, which made me feel very sorry for her. Everyone has a hard time when they're away from home; she just needed some comfort.

So I patted her on the shoulder and put my arm around her: "Don't overthink it, it's just a few strands of hair."

She shook her head blankly, gave a wry smile, and stood up: "Come with me."

She led me through the living room to the bathroom, turned on the light, and, following her directions, I walked to the vanity. I looked at myself in the mirror—thankfully, I wasn't wearing makeup, and after a good night's sleep, my complexion looked quite good, much better than Xu Xiaobing's. Just as I was carefully examining myself in the mirror, Xu Xiaobing whispered, "Look at this comb."

That's when I noticed a delicate ox horn comb on the dressing table.

The comb was placed casually in front of the mirror, looking quite ordinary. What was unusual was that there were some red bloodstains on the comb and on the dressing table—they were bloodstains, of course, and although there were only a few drops, they were still quite glaring.

This isn't my comb, and I wasn't injured, so I immediately looked at Xu Xiaobing. She shook her head: "This isn't my comb, nor is it my blood."

So whose comb is this?

I felt like I wasn't fully awake yet, and I was a little confused. A few long, shiny black hairs were wrapped around the black horn comb, their ends hanging down from the vanity, moving in the bathroom without any wind, like tiny black snakes.

My imagination began to run wild, and a series of associations arose in my mind: murder, robbery, thief... scenes like these played out in my head like a movie.

"Don't you find it strange?" Xu Xiaobing asked again.

That is indeed a bit strange.

I banished those far-fetched associations from my mind and slowly recalled the bathroom I saw last night… The last time I saw the bathroom was after Xu Xiaobing woke me up in the middle of the night. I remember clearly that there was nothing on the bathroom vanity at that time, so the comb, the bloodstains, and the hair must have appeared after that. If that's the case, it almost completely rules out the landlord—it's hard to imagine the landlord going into the tenant's bathroom at midnight to comb their hair and leaving hair behind… So what exactly happened? I rolled my eyes and looked around the entire bathroom. Everything seemed normal, with nothing strange about it, except for the comb, which was inexplicable. I couldn't find anything else suspicious.

“Strange,” I replied to Xu Xiaobing, “Never mind that.” I started washing up. Xu Xiaobing stood behind me for a while, then walked away.

Less than two seconds after she walked away, I heard that scream I'd heard in my sleep again—it was indeed Xu Xiaobing. I rushed out with a mouthful of toothpaste foam in my mouth. Xu Xiaobing was standing in the middle of the living room, staring at something on the floor. Her whole body was taut like a bow, her head tilted back, but her eyes were still trying to look down, which made her look terrifying.

I followed her gaze down to the ground, and my heart skipped a beat.

There is a drop of blood on the ground.

No, not just one drop, but many drops of blood, lined up one by one, slowly extending in a certain direction.

I wiped my mouth with a towel and walked to the center of the living room. Here, with no sofa or other objects blocking my view, I saw the drops of blood stretching towards a certain room and disappearing at the doorway.

That was the third room besides the one Xu Xiaobing and I shared.

I straightened up and met Xu Xiaobing's fearful eyes. She murmured, "Are you scared now?"

I did not answer.

Should we be afraid?

We heard a sound of something being blown against the window by the wind, which made us both shudder.

A sudden burst of music startled me. Composing myself, I realized it was my phone alarm ringing. It was already eight o'clock. I walked to the third room, knocked, but received no answer. I pressed my ear against the door and listened for a while, but there was still no sound from inside.

“No one lives inside,” Xu Xiaobing said quietly.

“These bloodstains may have been there for a while,” I said.

Xu Xiaobing stood blankly in the middle of the living room, looking at me as if somewhat bewildered. I waited for a while, but she didn't say anything more. It was getting late, so I walked past her and continued washing up in the living room. When I came out after washing up, she was still standing there blankly.

"Don't worry, it's nothing," I comforted her as I packed my things. She seemed not to hear me, slowly hugging herself and sitting down on the sofa. I reminded her that we were going to be late, but she ignored me. It wasn't until I was about to leave the room that she suddenly said, "This isn't the first time."

"What?" I asked, turning around.

She fell silent again. I could only see her short-haired head resting on the sofa. A sliver of light shone from the opposite window, casting a faint shadow of her head onto the wall. This faint shadow evoked deep sympathy in me. The room seemed so large that I couldn't see her sharp eyes from behind; all I could see was her loneliness.

"Why don't you find a friend to keep you company, or go to work? Don't stay alone," I said.

She slowly shook her head: "I have no friends."

I was at a loss for words, and just stared at her blankly. As if sensing my gaze, she turned around, stared at me for a moment, and the panic and sorrow on her face suddenly vanished. She stubbornly turned her head to the side, as if she was angry about something. This anger made me feel awkward, so I quietly closed the door and went out.

The stairwell was still pitch black. After turning a corner and going down to the second floor, I could only see the general outline of the stairs. To avoid slipping and tumbling down the stairs, I took out my phone to illuminate the ground.

A cold wind blew in from my right, which puzzled me—there were no windows in the second-floor hallway, so where was this wind coming from? I suspected there were some cracks in this incredibly old building, so I shone my phone's light in the direction the wind was coming from. In the dim green light, I could vaguely see that the door to room 202 was ajar; someone was probably about to leave. I didn't pay much attention and went downstairs.

3

When I returned to Yunsheng Street, it was already past ten o'clock at night. As I got off the bus, a gust of cold wind blew, and I suddenly curled up. Using the lights shining from the houses on both sides, I recognized the building I rented and quickly went inside. The darkness of the stairwell rushed towards me, so I took out my newly bought flashlight and shone it brightly on the stairs before striding upstairs.

Lights shone from the rooms on the first and second floors, and the door to room 202 remained ajar, the glow of a television shining through the crack. I was soaked and freezing; by the time I reached room 302, I was almost numb with cold. I shone my flashlight into my bag, searching for my key, but hidden beneath a pile of odds and ends, the small brass key seemed to have vanished; I couldn't find it anywhere. Unable to withstand the cold any longer, I knocked on the door...

Light was coming from the room, so Xu Xiaobing must have returned. I knocked for a long time before she finally answered, "Open the door yourself."

"I didn't bring my keys," I said through clenched teeth.

She clicked her tongue impatiently inside the room, then footsteps sounded and the door opened. I didn't have time to notice her expression before I quickly darted into my room, grabbed a change of clothes, and ran to the bathroom.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Take a shower." I rushed into the bathroom, where the bathtub was already filled with hot water, and Xu Xiaobing's clothes were neatly arranged on the shelf next to it. I was stunned.

"I was just about to take a shower," she said, glancing at my soaking wet clothes. "You go ahead and shower first," she added, before taking her own clothes outside.

I thanked them profusely and jumped into the bathtub without hesitation. The warm water instantly enveloped me, and I couldn't help but sigh.

"Why are you so wet? It wasn't raining that hard today," Xu Xiaobing asked me loudly from the living room as she turned on the TV. I poured hot water on my shoulders while describing what had just happened to her.

I worked overtime at the company until 8 p.m. to finish my task. When I left, only Li Yuntong and I were left in the entire company. The company was some distance from the station, and we had to pass through a small park in between. Because we had been working so hard and concentrating so much, we were both very tired. When we arrived at the park, Li Yuntong suggested that we go to the lakeside to have a cup of hot coffee.

"We went to drink hot coffee because we were afraid of the cold, but it turned out to be even colder," I said.

“Go on,” Xu Xiaobing said.

Why aren't you reading today?

"It's the weekend today."

When Li Yuntong and I arrived at the lake, we found that the coffee kiosk was closed. Lights shone from the grass by the lake. I turned to leave, but Li Yuntong called me back.

"What's that?" he asked, pointing to the lake.

The lake was pitch black, even the reflected light was black, and I couldn't see anything.

"It looks like someone is swimming," he said.

"No way?" I opened my eyes wide and searched. The black surface of the lake was very calm, and I didn't see any moving objects. It was very quiet all around. The sound of cars on the road was filtered through the trees at the park entrance and became faint. I listened for a while, but I didn't hear any sound of water—which was indeed impossible. No one would swim in the cold water in early spring.

"Did you hear the sound of water?" Li Yuntong asked, holding her breath.

I shook my head.

"Someone's calling for help!" Li Yuntong listened for a while and then started running towards the lake. He ran around the lake embankment, his eyes searching the surface of the lake. I followed behind him, looking into the lake from any direction, but I didn't see anyone. When we reached a willow tree, Li Yuntong stopped and began to take off his clothes.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Save people, didn't you see?" He had already quickly taken off his coat and was pulling down his thick sweater.

I shaded my eyes with my hand and strained to see the lake, my eyes almost popping out of their sockets, but all I could see was a calm surface. Occasionally, a gentle breeze would blow, creating black ripples on the water, but I couldn't see anyone.

Li Yuntong had already taken off his sweater, leaving only his thermal underwear. He warmed up a bit and then jumped into the lake. There was no one else on the shore except me. I could only watch him swim. Fortunately, his swimming skills were quite good; he sliced through the dark lake water like a knife, drawing a straight line towards the center. I stared at him wide-eyed for two minutes before remembering my flashlight. I quickly shone the beam onto the lake, and Li Yuntong was clearly bathed in the light.

"Are you alright?" I asked loudly.

"Okay!" he said, panting. "Don't take the picture of me, take the picture of her!"

"Who?" I shone my flashlight haphazardly across the lake.

"The one who fell into the water!"

But I only saw Li Yuntong in the water; there was no one else. So after a few random sweeps, I shone my flashlight on him again. He had reached the center of the lake and was diving in and out, searching for something. Several times he seemed to have grabbed something, with one hand dragging in the water, but when I shone my flashlight on him, the hand would reappear, wet and grasping nothing.

"So what exactly did he see?" Xu Xiaobing interrupted my description impatiently.

"He didn't get out of the water for about ten minutes." I drained some of the water, which had cooled down, and added some hot water to the bathtub before continuing.

Li Yuntong struggled in the water until she was exhausted, and I watched from the shore, my heart pounding. I tried dipping my fingers into the lake water; it was icy cold, which filled me with genuine admiration for Li Yuntong—to be able to swim in water at this temperature for ten minutes was truly something no ordinary person could do.

Ten minutes later, he finally swam to the surface, his body stiff with cold. He grabbed his clothes and haphazardly put them on, trying to say something, but the sound of his teeth chattering was so loud that his voice was severely distorted and I couldn't understand him at all. Seeing that he was still shivering even after putting on all his clothes, I had no choice but to wrap my own cotton coat around him and rub his body vigorously. Several minutes later, he finally calmed down, and his first complete sentence was: "Call the police quickly!"

"Why?"

"That person hasn't been rescued yet!" He couldn't wait to start dialing the phone.

"Where is he?" I asked.

"Then," he said, pointing casually to the lake, and began talking to 110.

I still didn't see anyone fall into the water.

“Your eyesight isn’t good,” Xu Xiaobing asserted.

"That would be great if it were true." I sighed.

The police arrived quickly. Li Yuntong gestured and pointed to the lake. After hearing his explanation, the police immediately shone high-powered flashlights across the lake. The beams of more than ten flashlights illuminated the lake brilliantly. More than ten police officers, along with Li Yuntong and me, searched back and forth on the lake.

The person who fell into the water was still not seen.

"Where is she?" The police officer in charge looked at Li Yuntong suspiciously.

"There she is!" Li Yuntong stamped her feet anxiously. "She can't hold on any longer. If we don't save her now, it will be too late!"

"Did you see that?" the policeman asked the others.

Everyone shook their heads.

“It’s right there,” Li Yuntong said, as if she wanted to stretch her arms infinitely long, pointing towards a certain spot in the middle of the lake. “See it? See it? A woman, with pretty long hair…”

The police looked at him suspiciously, whispered among themselves for a while, then shone their flashlights again, while several speedboats searched the lake, but still found nothing. I initially thought it was because of the darkness that I hadn't seen the person who had fallen into the water, but now with so many people and speedboats searching together, it was almost impossible that they still couldn't see the person. The only explanation seemed to be that Li Yuntong had mistaken him. When the police finished their search, they were quite upset with Li Yuntong, but his soaked clothes were a big help, preventing him from being accused of making a false report. After a few words of reprimand, the police left. Li Yuntong initially tried to argue, but later stopped talking and just stared blankly at the lake.