Second type of death

Chapter 6

So what's the deal with this glass of ice water?

The unease grew stronger, and I slowly sat down on the sofa, subconsciously glancing down at the floor to see if I had worn another pair of slippers. But instead of slippers, I saw something else.

It was a long, jet-black strand of hair that shimmered like scattered gold under the light.

I touched my short ponytail and glanced at Xu Xiaobing's tightly closed door—this time, it definitely wasn't her who did it.

It was definitely not me who did it.

Who did it?

I slowly placed the ice water on the coffee table, picked up a strand of hair to examine it, and tried my best to suppress the chilling feeling rising in my heart. I could hear my blood pounding in my ears, making a gurgling sound, a spot on my forehead was throbbing violently, and my hands were trembling uncontrollably. Compared to my own reaction, the surroundings seemed too quiet. Xu Xiaobing remained silent, and the sound of the television… the sound of the television had stopped! Only then did I realize that the television had been turned off sometime during the night.

I don't remember ever turning off the TV.

This was another very small matter; if one didn't pay attention, it would simply pass by without affecting anyone's life or causing any panic. These past two days, such small incidents have been constantly occurring, like the bites of ants—not life-threatening, but still unpleasant to those who notice them. Now it's certain that they have nothing to do with Xu Xiaobing; it seems she wasn't lying.

How can I explain this? One or two things might be one thing, but so many things piling up… Could there really be something wrong with this house? I looked around. Perhaps it was just my imagination, but the lights seemed dimmer. A damp mist of rain seeped in through the open kitchen window, and a thin layer of steam seemed to hang in the room. I went to the bathroom—it was empty. The mirror was completely fogged up, obscuring my reflection. In the center of the mirror, I could vaguely make out some red stuff, which looked like words. I wiped away the steam, and as the mirror gradually brightened, the words written in lipstick slowly appeared: “You only realize how precious something is when you lose it!!!”

I involuntarily took a step back—I never use lipstick, so of course I didn't write this; and Xu Xiaobing, Xu Xiaobing couldn't have written it either, because before I came out of the bathroom, I looked in the mirror, and there were no words on the mirror at that time. After that, Xu Xiaobing and I started arguing, and neither of us came in.

Something really strange happened, I thought to myself.

Strange things are really happening!

Strange things are really happening!!

I chanted faster and faster in my mind, but my feet seemed rooted to the ground, frozen in place in front of the bathroom mirror. I was trembling all over, cold sweat pouring down my face, and finally, I couldn't help but shout, "Something really is happening!"

I heard the sound of a door opening, and I was finally able to move again. I ran out of the bathroom and found Xu Xiaobing standing at her door. We looked at each other for a few seconds, and I suddenly understood her fear and anger. I was also grateful that someone was there to face these strange things with me.

“Something really is happening,” I whispered to her.

She hadn't overcome her hostility towards me, standing coldly in the doorway, staring at me without saying a word. By this point, I knew it was all my fault. I had tried so hard to convince her that I suspected her of doing it. Under those circumstances, it was no wonder she was angry and behaving unfriendly. I walked towards her and said, "I'm sorry, it turns out what you said was true."

“It’s real,” she said. “And what did you see?”

I wiped my damp forehead and told her what had just happened. She clenched her fists, stared wide-eyed as I finished speaking, then went to the bathroom with me to take a look, before we slumped down on the sofa together.

Neither of us knew what to say, nor dared to say anything. It felt as if some strange entity was floating around us, constantly watching our every move. The only comfort was that we were pressed tightly together, and the warmth of each other's bodies made me feel that I wasn't alone.

"What should we do?" I asked in a low voice.

“I don’t know,” she bit her lip, “I should move out, but…”

"No money," I quickly added, and then we exchanged a wry smile.

We sat quietly for a long time, as if waiting for something to happen. But nothing happened.

7

We shared the same fear and doubt. Several times, while sitting on the sofa, I tried to discuss our current situation with her, but she stopped me each time. She was still afraid to discuss those things in the house. She believed that the thing that caused all these events was watching us, that our every move was being observed, and that if we said anything detrimental to it, terrible consequences would follow.

But I don't think so.

If there is something lurking around us, then no matter what, we can't completely avoid its gaze, and even if we go outside, we can't guarantee that it won't follow us.

My words made Xu Xiaobing waver, but what finally moved her was a very real issue—neither of us could afford to go out for coffee every day.

"Then what do you suggest we do?" she asked me, completely lacking any idea.

“I don’t know either,” I shook my head. “I think we should first figure out what’s going on—if something in the shadows really did all this, we should at least find out what it is, don’t you think?”

"Hmm." She widened her eyes, waiting for what would follow.

But I didn't follow up. In order not to disappoint her, I coughed and said, "Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated."

“But how can we know what it is?” As she said this, Xu Xiaobing subconsciously looked around, and I looked with her. After confirming that there was no movement around, she breathed a sigh of relief, and then, as if she had suddenly thought of something, she spoke faster: “Should we call a sorcerer back?”

Master?

I don't know what my expression was when I heard that word, but I always felt that although the strange things that happened in this room were numerous enough, they were far from serious enough to warrant calling a sorcerer. Just thinking about a sorcerer chanting incantations in a room filled with smoke seemed absurd to me, let alone a sorcerer with real magical power these days.

I don't know what my expression was when I heard that word, but I always felt that although the strange things that had happened in this room were numerous, they were far from serious enough to warrant hiring a sorcerer—the thought of a sorcerer chanting incantations amidst swirling smoke seemed incredibly exaggerated to me, not to mention how few sorcerers these days actually possessed any real power. When I said this, Xu Xiaobing felt the same way, and she raised another issue: the cost of hiring a sorcerer was something neither of us could afford at the moment… Mentioning money, we both sighed in unison.

“The poor have it tough,” I laughed. “If we had money, we could move to another place.”

"Actually, I've been working for three years. I started working before I even graduated, and I earn at least three thousand yuan a month." Xu Xiaobing didn't smile; she lowered her head and said somewhat dejectedly.

Three thousand yuan? I stared in astonishment. In Nancheng, a city with a relatively underdeveloped economy, that was quite a high monthly income. Before I could ask, Xu Xiaobing continued, "But I don't have a single penny in savings."

The conversation then turned to Xu Xiaobing herself. Perhaps the fear she had felt at the time had made her vulnerable, or perhaps the shared crisis made her feel that I was one of her kind. That very night, Xu Xiaobing talked to me a lot. I got up several times to pour her water, and as the night grew darker and the rain and fog thicker, I quietly closed the window. Aside from that, I didn't interrupt her. It seemed she hadn't spoken to anyone like this in a long time; her tone was calm yet continuous, and the images that had been swirling in her mind flowed out like threads. Listening to her words, I gradually forgot where I was and the fear surrounding us. A vague image of an orphanage appeared before my eyes—the one where Xu Xiaobing had grown up. From childhood to adulthood, she had always been alone, relying on herself for everything. She had taken out loans to pay off her university tuition, and after graduation, all her money went towards repaying those loans. She also mentioned a boy named Pei Xuan who had liked her since elementary school and was willing to help her repay her loans, but she felt nothing for him, thinking he was just a playboy.

“I don’t like immature boys like that,” she said, pursing her lips. “They’re naive, they don’t know how hard life is, and what good is money? If it were for money, I wouldn’t have had to work so hard for so long…”

After graduation, she found a job in Nancheng, earning over 5,000 yuan a month, which finally allowed her to improve her living conditions. That period was the most relaxed and carefree time of her life. Besides sending money home on time, she bought herself some nice clothes, learned to drink coffee and go to bars. She felt that life was getting better and was almost considered happy. However, this kind of life did not last long. Due to a work mistake, she caused the company to lose a considerable amount of money, and from then on, she was burdened with heavy debts, becoming poor again.

“It’s been three years. If it weren’t for the fact that I need to dress well for work here, I probably wouldn’t even buy clothes and cosmetics,” Xu Xiaobing said. “I’ll be done in just one more year…” She looked exhausted, as if she had walked a long way. She leaned her head against the back of the sofa and closed her eyes halfway.

"You're amazing," I exclaimed sincerely. She closed her eyes and gave a wry smile.

"What about Pei Xuan? Did you see him again after that?" I asked.

She shook her head: "He came to see me once, but I didn't see him, and we haven't been in contact since. He's probably married by now." She laughed, "I wonder if he's still as immature as ever?"

I laughed along with them.

"Do you have a boyfriend?" she suddenly asked me.

I shook my head: "And you?"

She didn't answer me, but looked at me and laughed, "I don't like associating with immature people. You're too immature, you know that?"

"Oh." I didn't know what to say.

“You’re like a child; you’ve never suffered anything,” she said dismissively. “Is your family also very poor?”

"I wouldn't call myself poor, but I don't want to rely on my family," I said, unable to suppress a laugh. "If I relied on myself, I'd be very poor..."

These words made her laugh, but after laughing, she sighed: "You still have a way out, you can go home if things really don't work out, but I can't."

I nodded, feeling sorry for her, and somewhat understanding why she always acted so heavily armed.

Perhaps my eyes betrayed my feelings, because Xu Xiaobing suddenly pushed me: "Can you please stop looking at me like that? I'm getting embarrassed."

"I admire you," I said sincerely.

"Alright, alright, that's so childish." You could tell she was very happy.

The atmosphere suddenly became relaxed, and we chatted for a while longer about all sorts of things. Suddenly, a wave of drowsiness washed over me, and I checked the time. It was already 12 o'clock.

"It's so late? Go to sleep," she said.

“But those things…” I said hesitantly, now it was my turn to feel uneasy.

“Let’s discuss it tomorrow,” Xu Xiaobing said with a yawn. Seeing my uneasy expression, she added, “I’ve lived here for a month, and apart from these strange things, nothing else scary has happened. You don’t need to be too afraid.” I stared at her blankly, feeling that her attitude had become a little strange—when I didn’t believe these things, she seemed so scared, but now, she seemed completely unconcerned.

"Aren't you very scared?" I said.

“Yes, I was very scared,” she said, “but now that you believe in this kind of thing, for some reason, I’m not so scared anymore.”

Huh? I opened my mouth wide, somewhat confused, yet somehow understanding. Just as she was about to enter the room, I suddenly remembered something and quickly called out to her.

"What is it?" She turned around and looked at me.

I briefly recounted the story of west Chu Yang Guan. She listened silently, but when I mentioned that west Chu Yang Guan could see what clothes I was wearing, she gasped. When I continued, saying that Xi Chu Yang Guan believed three people lived in the house, she finally screamed and lunged at me. I could clearly see that her fair face was now roughened by goosebumps. I regretted telling her this, but I had to tell someone, and she was the best choice, the only one who would believe me.

"Really?" she asked me, her voice trembling.

“Really, you can check the chat history if you don’t believe me,” I said.

"Take a look." She pulled me into my room. As I turned on my computer, she searched the room thoroughly, even checking under the bed.

"What are you doing?" I asked, puzzled.

"Check if there are any security cameras."

No, I've already looked for it.

I turned on the computer and logged onto QQ, but none of my friends were online. I pulled up the chat history, and Xu Xiaobing read it carefully. She finally believed what I had said, and I experienced again the chilling feeling I had that day.

"Oh my god," Xu Xiaobing said softly. We sat in silence in front of the computer for a long time until QQ coughed, indicating someone wanted to become my QQ friend. Only then did we become active. Clicking on the message bar, the person requesting to join sent a message: "[Xu Xiaobing, Jiang Ling, I'm your roommate.]"

Roommate? When we realized what this meant, a wave of immense terror washed over us. Xu Xiaobing screamed, then quickly recovered, clutching her mouth tightly, trembling uncontrollably. She clung tightly to my waist, slowly turning around, her eyes darting around, searching the room for the unseen "roommate." I felt a chill run through me. Xu Xiaobing's arm was stiff, like an iron clamp binding me, making it hard to breathe. The room was cold and damp. We stared at each other for a while, then exchanged a glance before helping each other out of my room. We searched the living room, Xu Xiaobing's room, the bathroom, the kitchen—everywhere—but found nothing suspicious. This relieved me, but also left me somewhat disappointed.

"There's still one place we haven't searched," Xu Xiaobing said in a low voice. Her voice was so soft that I had to put my ear close to her mouth to barely hear what she was saying.

"Where?"

She stopped speaking, slowly raised her arm, pointed slightly towards the third room in the house, and then immediately lowered it.

The door to the third room was tightly shut; I'd never seen it open. If there really was someone else hiding inside—wasn't that possible? Was it possible that someone had been living with us all along, and we just didn't know? What if their schedule was completely opposite to ours? When we were at work or fast asleep, that was when they were out and about, and when we were inside, they were already resting… If such a person truly existed, then most of the mysteries could be solved. This idea excited me, and I was quite surprised: why hadn't I thought of this sooner? I glanced at Xu Xiaobing—why hadn't she thought of this sooner?

“I’ve always suspected there’s someone hiding in this room,” Xu Xiaobing said. “But I’ve never seen him. Several times, I’ve even gotten up in the middle of the night, tiptoed to the door, and peeked through the crack, but I saw nothing.” She shook her head repeatedly, seemingly convinced that no one was inside, at least not a “living person” like us. This thought made sense; after all, she had been living here for a month. Even if someone was deliberately avoiding her, it seemed unlikely that they could remain completely undetected for a whole month. As I was thinking this, Xu Xiaobing kept staring at me, then, as if remembering something, leaned close to my ear and said, “I once stayed inside for seven days straight, but I still didn’t see anyone else in this room. Those strange things kept happening, but there was just no one!”

Even if the other party is a ninja, it's probably impossible for them to hide under someone's nose for seven consecutive days without being discovered, right?

I slowly walked towards the door. After a couple of steps, I felt a chill on my right side. Xu Xiaobing, who had been standing close to my right, was now feeling the cold as she didn't follow. I glanced back at her; she looked at me pleadingly, her feet firmly planted on the ground, unwilling to move. Seeing her fear, I didn't force her. I didn't know what I might see through the crack in the door, but having Xu Xiaobing there to provide backup was better than both of us being in chaos.

The door was covered in dust. Peeking through the crack, I initially saw only darkness. But once my eyes adjusted, the streetlights streaming in through the open window allowed me to make out the outline of the room. The layout wasn't much different from my own room: a bed, a wardrobe, and a desk. On the desk, though far away and in shadow, was a square-shaped object—I could still tell it was a computer. This startled me, and my breathing became erratic. I steadied myself, pressed my chest, and carefully examined every corner of the room—no one was there. The blankets on the bed were piled up in a mess, making it impossible to tell if anyone was sleeping on them. I pressed my ear to the door for a long time, thinking I heard some breathing, yet also thinking I heard nothing.

A loud bang came from the door, and Xu Xiaobing screamed. Her eyes widened like those of a mental patient as she pointed at the door, screaming and backing away.

To me, the door appeared perfectly normal.

The less I could see, the more panicked I became, and my whole body went limp in waves: "What's wrong?"

She shook her head repeatedly, and after that one call, she couldn't utter a second one. She just pointed at me and the door, backing away. Although I didn't see anything, I felt as if I was enveloped by something transparent and terrifying, my scalp tingling. I hurriedly ran towards her.

"What's wrong?" I asked, grabbing her arm.

"Didn't you hear a sound?" she asked.

What was that noise?

"There was a loud bang, like something hit the door."

I calmed myself down: "Did you only hear one sound?"

"There was only one sound, but you didn't hear it."

“I heard you,” I couldn’t help but get annoyed. “My knee accidentally bumped into the door, don’t make such a fuss, okay? You scared me to death.”

Xu Xiaobing asked doubtfully, "Really?"

I stopped talking, walked over, and banged my knee against the door several times to dispel her doubts.