Ghost Bride 2

Chapter 29

I didn't understand what she was talking about. She pointed to the ground, and I realized that I had kicked away the pile of trash she had just swept up.

"I'm sorry!" I tried to get rid of her and run away, but she grabbed me and wouldn't let go. "Kelibaichenli (Hekou dialect: This woman is awful)."

"I didn't mean to, please let go, I have an emergency!" But the language barrier is causing a lot of trouble.

The woman wouldn't let go of me until Da Senlin rushed over to the rescue: "What's going on?" I didn't expect him to speak the Hekou dialect. He managed to get rid of the woman in a few words, and at the end, he said, "Congratulations!"

I stared at him, wide-eyed: "What did you say?"

"Thank you." He smiled at me. He even had time to smile? I shouted, "I saw Mingyang!" But now, he had vanished from the market, disappeared without a trace. "It's over, lost again." I lamented, dejected.

The cleaning lady who was sweeping earlier turned around and yelled at me, "Hide your mess! Wait until it gets dark..."

I asked the Great Forest, "What did she say?"

"She told you not to worry, she'd find it soon."

"How can we not be anxious? If we miss someone, we'll lose our bearings again." I sighed heavily. The great forest remained silent.

But why doesn't Mingyang turn around when I call him?

He called that evening, and I watched as Da Senlin paced anxiously and restlessly in front of me: "I'm at the river mouth... Yes. I've already ordered people to set up outposts in Menglian, Zayu, and Dongxing. I'll let you know as soon as I find any trace of Mingyang... How could he possibly be stuck in the deep mountains and forests of Zayu... Alright! I'll go look for him again."

"What's wrong?" I asked him.

He hung up the phone: "Someone said they saw him in Zayu, let's go check it out."

"So you're not going to look here anymore?"

"Let's go to Zayu first!"

"But..." My intuition tells me that Mingyang is very, very close to us.

"Big Forest, who are you talking to on the phone?" I feel like there are still many things I don't know, and he's hiding them from me.

But he answered casually, "Lawyer."

I don't think that's right, it's not just lawyers, is it?

That night, I ran out of the hotel without saying goodbye. I sensed that Mingyang was nearby, and a certain familiar feeling was growing stronger in the air. I craned my neck to feel it, and in the darkness, it seemed as if someone was standing in the same posture on a seventh-floor balcony.

I looked up.

Thump! Thump! My heart is pounding.

The shadow on that balcony on North Street really looked like him. Like Mingyang.

A small river, like a waterway, is blocking my way. I'll go around it! I need to go around to the front to take a look!

As I ran, someone bumped into me—a child who ran away with their head down. When I reached the unassuming seven-story apartment building again, the lights were off. I had just seen that familiar figure…? Which apartment was it?

Oh my god! I can't believe I didn't remember! I slap my forehead: How stupid of me!

what to do?

The buildings around this one all look exactly the same, even the windows and balconies are cut from the same mold. How am I supposed to find it? Right! I should tell Big Forest that I saw someone who looks like Mingyang! Tell him!!

Section 72: The Dust Settles (9)

As I ran to the convenience store across the street to find a public phone, I rummaged through my bag—wait! There was a huge rip at the bottom of my backpack. My wallet was gone.

Oh no!

As I dialed the number, I secretly glanced at the shop owner, who was munching on sunflower seeds. She was also giving me a sidelong look. The line was constantly busy. Who was he talking to?

Finally, the call connected, and the voice on the other end was practically screaming: "Where have you been? Are you trying to drive me crazy at a time like this?"

I told him I saw someone who looked exactly like Mingyang in Dongzao Lane on North Street. He said, "Stand there and don't move, I'll be right there."

After hanging up the phone, I looked at the proprietress. Her expression was stiff as she held out her hand to me: "One yuan and twenty cents."

But... I don't have a single penny right now.

Suddenly, the window upstairs that had once shone with light lit up again, and that familiar figure approached the balcony once more, peering down. My heart raced again. Was it Mingyang? This time, I counted the height and width of the floors. I remembered: it was the third window from the west, on the seventh floor.

The figure turned around and was about to go back inside.

I'm going up to find him!

I don't want to hesitate for even a moment.

"Hey! Hey!" the shop owner yelled at me, "You haven't paid yet!"

Oh! I touched myself and found only a Doubie Chrono Classic ceramic pilot's watch from IWC. It was a gift from Mingyang, and it's quite valuable.

"Boss lady, keep this watch with you for now. If a young man dressed in black comes looking for me later, just tell him I've gone upstairs over there..." I took the watch off and placed it next to her public phone, then ran away.

"Hey! Don't go to that building! That building is unlucky..."

The landlady called after me, but I couldn't stop. That building is unlucky? Why is it unlucky? By the time I found out, it was too late.

Section 73: The "Ghost Building" at the River Estuary (1)

The "ghost building" at the river mouth

Standing in the stairwell on the sixth floor, before I could even step onto the seventh floor, I heard an unusual noise.

One sound, two sounds, three sounds...

I thought someone was knocking on the door, but it wasn't; the sound was more like the clanging of some kind of wooden box. There are motion-activated lights in the hallway; if someone knocked or made any noise, the lights should turn on! But it was still pitch black. I clapped my hands, but it remained dark. The light must be broken. I muttered to myself and continued climbing the stairs. Around the corner, I saw a pair of feet standing in front of a door on the seventh floor.

Oh! So someone really was knocking on the door! I breathed a sigh of relief. But when I turned the corner completely, I froze again.

No! To be precise, my legs went completely weak, and I was so cold that even the roots of my hair stood on end.

Who's knocking on the door?

There was a pair of feet standing in front of the door of the family on the seventh floor, but there was only half a leg above the feet, and nothing above that!

OMG!

I gripped the stair railing tightly; any later and I feared I would have fallen in fright.

What...what is this?

Suddenly, I felt something clinging to my hand as I gripped the railing.

Looking down again—

"ah!"

I screamed and moved closer to the wall.

In that backlit, bluish-gray shadow, a head lay on the back of my hand… just a head… gently climbing upwards, its bluish-white eyes still staring at me. I slapped my hands haphazardly, a chill running down my spine, as if that creature's chin had just been resting on the back of my hand.

I was so scared!

Looking up again, the pair of feet and one leg that were standing in front of the door are gone.

Suddenly, the lights on the sixth floor went out.

It was pitch black.

Is that head still in the shadows? I was so scared I was half-dead, and I leaned against the wall, gasping for breath.

Suddenly, the wall behind me began to move… The wall became very soft, like mud, and I felt as if I were about to sink into it. I quickly turned away from the wall. As my eyes adjusted to the dim moonlight, I saw something like a mist slowly appearing on the wall, the white paint gradually changing until the outline of a human face emerged. I gasped, and all the motion-activated lights below the sixth floor turned on.

My jaw hurts terribly, like it's being pricked with needles. I know it's a throbbing pain in my nerves caused by tension. But I can't suppress the pain, nor can I control my fear; my legs are shaking uncontrollably…

The wall softened like a sand table, and a phantom figure gradually emerged...

My mind is a complete mess; it feels like I've seen this face appear on the wall somewhere before...

She gradually materialized, smiled at me, her expression extremely eerie, like a gambler about to win a bet, with a twisted, bloodthirsty glint...

It's Xiao Yuan! Is she still following me?

The dim light in the hallway didn't help much.

I wanted to run, but my feet felt rooted to the spot, as if I were nailed to the ground.

what to do?

I was terrified!

Suddenly, the door on the seventh floor opened, and someone ran out, rushing down the stairs with a "thump, thump, thump," grabbed my arm, and ran upstairs, rushing into a room. With a "snap," they shut the ghost out of the room.

"Can this little door keep out ghosts?"

I was still incredibly nervous.

"There's a magic gate on this door, so ghosts can't get in." A voice that was all too familiar rang in my ears.

I turned to look at him, and my eyes suddenly lit up...

"Mingyang?" I excitedly grabbed his hand and jumped up.

He didn't react for a long time, looking at me hesitantly: "Mingyang?"

His bewildered expression dampened my overly excited tone, but—

"Winter Solstice!" An aged voice drifted out from inside, startling me completely.

Winter Solstice? Who is the Winter Solstice?

Even more strangely, Mingyang agreed and went to help the old man.

An old man with a gloomy, deeply lined face sat in a wheelchair by the French windows of the balcony, looking at me: "Were you looking out from the balcony just now, searching for this little girl?"

Mingyang nodded: "Yes! There's a voice in my head that keeps calling me, each one louder than the last, vibrating in my brain and causing a resonance."

The old man's eyebrows twitched slightly, and he stared at me for a long time: "What, does this child also have ghost eyes?"

I looked back at him in surprise, not knowing what was going on.

"Knock! Knock! Knock!" Someone knocked on the door, their voice urgent and anxious. "Ruoxi! Are you in there? Answer me!"

Is it a huge forest?!

I was pleasantly surprised and went to open the door.

"What are you doing?" Mingyang rushed over and blocked my hand.

"It's a great forest! A great forest!" I shouted at him, my voice urgent.

He looked at me like I was a stranger, completely unaware of what I was saying.

"It's Di Luo! Your brother! Your older brother!"