Ghosts Behind You

Volume 1: The World of the Spirit Hunters

1. Mysterious Death (1)

"Ma Guiping! Hurry up, they're about to leave!" Li Li shouted in front of the bathroom door. "You always remember to go to the bathroom when you're about to leave, it's so annoying!"

"You go first, tell them to wait a moment, I'll be right there," Ma Guiping said from inside the bathroom, his voice muffled through the door.

"Then hurry up, I'm going out first—don't forget to lock the door." Li Li said as she walked out of the hotel room, slamming the door shut. The clicking sound of her high heels on the hard marble floor gradually disappeared into the corridor.

"They even rush me to use the toilet, it's so annoying," Ma Guiping muttered to himself as he sat on the toilet. Ma Guiping and Li Li were a married couple, and they had come to this coastal city as part of a tour group organized by Ma Guiping's work unit. However, since the tour was paid for by the company, the unit leaders had chosen a remote and poorly equipped hotel for them to stay in. When they arrived, the hotel was completely empty.

After a flurry of settling in, the colleagues started clamoring to go swimming in the sea, and a chartered car was already waiting outside the hotel. If they missed the car, getting to the beach would be quite troublesome, so Li Li was very unhappy that Ma Guiping was going to the toilet at this time, but there was nothing she could do about it.

Ma Guiping didn't care about Li Li's dissatisfaction at all. Now that he was alone, he felt much more at peace. Everyone has to use the restroom sometimes, Ma Guiping thought. Going to the toilet now was definitely better than searching for one on the street. Besides, even if he missed the bus, he could just spend some money to find another one; there was no need to rush. Sigh, women can be quite annoying sometimes.

Ma Guiping and Li Li were staying in a standard room, which, besides the bedroom, only included a bathroom/shower. Ma Guiping sat on the toilet, facing the showerhead, idly watching the water slowly drip. Actually, Ma Guiping didn't like traveling. The thought of the constant movement during a trip filled him with a strange sense of dread. To put it bluntly, he was lazy. It was precisely because of his lack of exercise that Ma Guiping was rather overweight, though not to the point of affecting his health. In his own words, he was a nimble fat man. The reasons Ma Guiping decided to join this tour group, besides the fact that it was organized by his work unit and didn't cost him anything, were also because of the prospect of going to the seaside—after living inland for so long, seeing the sea felt quite nice.

Ma Guiping's stomach was still hurting, though not too badly, but he decided to sit a little longer. He stopped staring at the dripping showerhead and started looking at the tiles on his floor. Strangely, ever since he entered the bathroom, an indescribable feeling had been bothering him, like a piece of chewing gum that he couldn't shake off, sticking to the back of his head. Now, as he was almost finished relieving himself, this feeling resurfaced.

Ma Guiping had a similar feeling before. It was an experience of walking alone at night. Although it wasn't for very long, the pitch-black streets, the shadowy tree shadows, and the echoing sound of his own footsteps were unforgettable. It felt like… like someone was following him, coldly watching him. If he stopped, that person would approach him and grab him by the neck. This feeling accompanied him all the way until he entered his building and the motion-activated lights came on, which eased the feeling somewhat. Even so, in the dead of winter, it still left him drenched in a cold sweat. To be honest, it was a truly awful feeling.

But now that feeling seemed to have returned, even more intense and unrestrained. That cold gaze, even the unusual panting, lingered around him. It made him panic. He turned to look for toilet paper, but found nothing. He cursed, but the only response was a very soft, chuckle.

Ma Guiping recalled his usual practice of listening to music with headphones, where his exceptionally keen hearing, which he was so proud of, could easily detect even the faintest harmonies. The laughter that rang out at this moment did not escape his ears either—he was absolutely certain! Moreover, the laughter was unlike the directional laughter he usually heard; it was as if the sound from his high-fidelity headphones was surging in from all directions, making it impossible for him to discern where it was coming from.

A chilling sensation he had never felt before immediately spread from the top of his head down to his body, making Ma Guiping feel as if every hair on his head stood on end. A strong shiver ran through him, and he broke out in a cold sweat. Ignoring the lack of toilet paper, he grabbed a disposable towel, quickly cleaned himself up, and stood up to walk towards the door.

But the door wouldn't open.

2. Mysterious Death (2)

The bathroom door opens inwards, and the locking mechanism is only located on the inside. To lock the door, a key is required from the outside. Ordinary tenants have no need for or access to this key, and besides, Li Li certainly wouldn't have locked Ma Guiping inside the bathroom when she left. The fact that the door is unlocked from the inside but still can't be opened indicates a broken lock.

Ma Guiping, as if in disbelief, twisted the doorknob back and forth with all his might, making the door rattle loudly. But this damned door just wouldn't open. Perhaps it was deliberately messing with him, breaking the lock at this crucial moment. He tried to kick the door open, but it was an inward-opening door, and he figured he couldn't kick it open anyway.

Suddenly, Ma Guiping felt a cool breeze on the back of his neck, making him feel itchy, as if someone eating an ice pop was blowing on him. The breeze wasn't strong, but the icy temperature still chilled him down despite his sweaty brow. There was no one else in the bathroom, so where was the breeze coming from? There was indeed an exhaust fan in the small room, but it had long been broken due to disuse, and Ma Guiping hadn't felt any airflow at all while he was there. In other words, the cool breeze on his neck couldn't have come from anyone other than a person.

Ma Guiping didn't dare turn around for a moment. Large beads of sweat slowly rolled down his forehead.

It was utterly quiet all around. Ma Guiping could only hear his own heavy breathing. He deliberately took a deep breath, held it, and strained to hear anything behind him. There was no sound. There couldn't possibly be anyone else here who didn't know. But the aura he felt just now was too real; it couldn't possibly be his imagination.

Logically speaking, Li Li should have been impatient by now that Ma Guiping had been dawdling here for so long, especially with a whole carload of people waiting for him. Had they all left without waiting for him? But Li Li wasn't familiar with his colleagues; would she go to the beach alone? Probably not. She wouldn't go alone; she would definitely come back to find him. He wanted to leave as soon as possible.

Ma Guiping mustered his courage and slowly turned around. There was no one there; he was the only one in the bathroom. Although the lighting was dim, it was exactly the same as when he had entered. However, something was definitely off. Besides the laughter and the air currents, he felt uneasy all over. Ma Guiping felt his heart pounding, his eardrums throbbing, and he felt slightly dizzy. These uncomfortable feelings suddenly made the word "ghost" pop into his mind.

He didn't know how long he had been in this room, but it felt like a long time. However, ever since Li Li's voice disappeared in the corridor, he felt as if he had been isolated by this bathroom. Suddenly, it was as if everyone had forgotten about Ma Guiping's existence and left him to fend for himself here.

Ma Guiping leaned against the door, noticing that the tiles under his feet weren't perfectly square. Instead, one tile seemed to be slowly changing, the vertical grout lines appearing to curve, making that tile look rounder. The change gradually expanded, making Ma Guiping feel that the tiles under his feet, and even the tiles on the walls, were beginning to deform. The entire bathroom seemed to have lost its vertical lines, transforming into a crumbling, collapsing cave. From within the cave, it seemed as if a pair of blue eyes were watching him from afar. These weren't human eyes; they had curved, blade-like pupils. Aside from the eyes, he couldn't see its face or hear its voice.

As if receiving an order, he trembled as he pulled a cigarette and a lighter from his pocket. He didn't take out the cigarette, but instead lit the lighter.

His gaze lingered on the lighter, as if seeing its tiny flame for the first time. Ah, the flame was warm, flickering like a fluffy little chick; he really wanted to touch it.

Ma Guiping reached out a finger to touch the flame. He felt nothing anymore, watching as the flames slowly engulfed his entire body. Dressed in long sleeves and trousers, he was now a human torch. In the bright firelight, he heard his own sigh, as if his soul were leaving his body. He also heard a series of joyful laughs; this time, he recognized it as a woman's laughter. He looked towards the cave one last time, and his eyes slowly closed.

3. Entrusted

It was late at night when Li Hong received Li Li's call. She had just finished washing up and was getting ready for bed. When the phone rang, Li Hong inexplicably felt that this call was unusual. She hesitated for a moment before picking up the phone.

The call was from Li Li, who was in an unfamiliar city hundreds of miles away. She was crying uncontrollably. Li Hong comforted her while asking what had happened. After a long conversation, Li Hong finally understood. It turned out that Li Li's husband, Ma Guiping, had died mysteriously on the afternoon of the day he arrived at their tourist destination. The police investigation concluded that his body had spontaneously combusted. Only his right hand remained intact at the scene, which was confirmed to be Ma Guiping's. The rest of his body had been completely burned to ashes. Other flammable materials at the scene, such as towels, showed no signs of burning. In other words, Ma Guiping went to the toilet before leaving home that afternoon, and in the 15 minutes he stayed there, his body spontaneously combusted, leaving only his right hand.

Li Li simply couldn't believe such a conclusion, so she asked Li Hong, who worked in forensic medicine, to help investigate what exactly happened to Ma Guiping during the 15 minutes he was in the toilet.

After hanging up the phone, Li Hong found herself breathing heavily, her heart pounding, and her whole body covered in cold sweat as if she had just taken a shower—she was a little frightened. Although she hadn't been working as a forensic pathologist for very long and had been to many crime scenes, she had never encountered such a bizarre situation before.

Li Li was Li Hong's high school classmate; the two were inseparable best friends during their school years. However, she didn't have much of an impression of Ma Guiping, only remembering him as a short, chubby man who worked in computer sales. Li Hong had even attended their wedding. Hearing this devastating news, she was still shocked by Li Li's description. However, Li Li's description was frequently interrupted by crying, making it impossible to get a clear picture of the situation from the phone. It seemed that going to the scene in person was essential to uncover the truth.

Clearly, Li Hong didn't sleep well that night. The next morning, after asking for leave from work, Li Hong quickly packed her things and set off. She arrived at the scene in the afternoon.

The hotel where Ma Guiping's tour group stayed was a four-story building. Besides the main building, there was a small lake surrounding it, with two bridges connecting to gravel paths on either side. The lake water was flowing and not very deep, so the water quality appeared quite good. However, due to the lack of tourists and poor hotel maintenance, the bridges were rather dilapidated, with one wooden bridge even showing signs of being unsafe. Walking on these unlit paths and bridges at night, with few pedestrians, would give one a very unsafe feeling.

The main building's exterior is relatively better; the white walls, having been recently painted, still look quite grand. The main building's lobby is large and is used as a restaurant, with guest rooms on either side that appear identical from the outside. Ma Guiping and Li Li's room is on the first floor, the second room to the right after turning right from t

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