La collection complète des cercueils fantômes de Yellow River

Chapitre 5

"I'm Jiang Ling. Are you chatting with me online right now?" I said hurriedly.

"What?" Jia Yun was clearly still not fully awake. "I was sleeping."

"Who did you give my address to? And my QQ number?" I asked.

Now he was fully awake. As expected, once he was awake, he didn't rush to answer my question. Instead, he scolded me, blaming me for disturbing his sweet dream. After he finished scolding me, he said unhappily, "Didn't I tell anyone? Did you think I was a woman?"

I was both amused and exasperated, and pressed further, "Want to swear a solemn oath?"

Jia Yun was furious. After cursing for a long time, she finally made a half-hearted vow and hung up the phone before I could say anything more.

News arrived again from the west beyond Yangguan Pass.

[You moved there alone the first day, and it was raining.] He sent a smiley face. [You were wearing a military green outfit that day, and your hair was in a ponytail.]

He's right, but how would he know that?

"How did you know?" I asked.

"You're wearing a white sweater and dark blue jeans." He didn't answer me, and continued.

Yes, he's right, but how would he know?

Especially this white sweater, which I wore under my cotton coat. I only took off the cotton coat after I came inside, so how could he have known? I subconsciously looked towards the window—the window was open a crack, letting in a little breeze, and the thick curtains covered everything, so no one could see me from outside.

So how did Xi Chuyangguan see me? If he didn't see me, he couldn't possibly know what I was wearing in the room. I even glanced at the top of the computer screen—even though I was certain I didn't have a webcam and wasn't video chatting with the other person, I couldn't help but examine it closely—of course, there was no webcam.

I felt a chill run through me, clutching my phone tightly, but I didn't know what to do.

I stared at my phone for a long time, the QQ notifications going off all around me, and colorful avatars from Xi Chu Yang Guan jumping around, but I didn't click on them.

I remembered what Xu Xiaobing had said.

I also thought of the small, but truly inexplicable things that happened in this house, including this computer.

It seems that something has gone off track. So far, it hasn't gone too far and hasn't affected my normal life yet. But what exactly is going on?

Could Xu Xiaobing's guess be true? Do ghosts really exist?

The thought of the word "ghost" sent a chill down my spine. I instinctively looked around the empty room, wondering what things we humans couldn't see: tiny dust particles, viruses, bacteria... and maybe even... ghosts?

The profile picture of "Westward from Yangguan" was still flashing. I calmed myself down, opened the chat window, and saw that he had said several things in a row:

[Why aren't you saying anything?]

[What are you doing?]

Are you three settling in well?

...

I didn't pay attention to the rest of what they said, but this one sentence made my heart skip a beat again: "Are the three of you getting used to living here?"

Why would he ask that?

[What three?] I sent him a message while checking his IP address. The address was in Nancheng, which is the city I'm currently in. In this city, besides Jia Yun and my colleagues, the only person I know is probably Xu Xiaobing.

Who exactly is this person?

I waited anxiously for their reply, filled with doubt.

[No. 6 Yunsheng Street, aren't you three living together?] West of Yangguan Road.

"[What?]" I think that's all I can say. I felt hot and cold all over, staring intently at the screen, wondering what kind of answer he would give.

But his profile picture suddenly went dark. I waited for a long time, but he never replied. I sent him several messages, but there was no response.

The internet was quiet, the screen was quiet, there were no QQ notification sounds or the sound of my typing, and the room was extremely quiet. Apart from the sound of blood surging in my eardrums, I could hear nothing else.

Outside the window, a rooster crowed from somewhere. It was 5 o'clock, and the night was getting darker.

I sat there blankly for a long time, then lay down on the bed, wrapped myself tightly in the blanket, and let my mind wander for a while before finally falling into a deep sleep.

6

When I woke up, it was already three in the afternoon. I hadn't eaten breakfast or lunch, and my stomach started growling incessantly. I lay in bed, my mind filled with the events of the previous night. Dim light filled the room, and there was a faint musty smell. The bedroom door was ajar, and the living room was silent; I wondered what Xu Xiaobing had gone to do. I lay in bed for a long time, as if by lying there, I could escape the unfamiliar city and the strange things that had happened there.

However, I couldn't lie there for long; even lying down, hunger made me dizzy and lightheaded. I began to slowly get dressed.

Strictly speaking, all of these things I encountered were insignificant. If it were just one or two, I wouldn't care at all. However, they all happened at the same time. After Xu Xiaobing said those words to me, I immediately encountered the "Westward Journey"—right here in this house, an unseen person was leaving traces of her existence from time to time, and on the other end of the network, someone I don't know clearly knows my every move. These things piled up, like a cloud of chaotic dust, making the air in this small house at No. 6 Yunsheng Street extremely turbid.

I drew back the thick curtains, and the room brightened considerably, though the light was still dim and not very strong, it possessed a delicate, resilient quality unique to spring. Air carrying the scent of rain and green branches drifted in from the window. On Yunsheng Street outside, people strolled in twos and threes. Across the street was a building even shorter than No. 6 Yunsheng Street, facing my room with a pointed roof, upon which a black bird hopped. From there, of course, it couldn't see anything into my room. I stared for a long time before the bird finally took flight.

How exactly did they see me when they went west out of Yangguan Pass?

This question has been nagging at me. I don't believe in ghosts, and even with these strange occurrences, I still don't believe it. I tend to explain my experiences through human intervention.

If it was caused by human intervention, then there are only two possibilities.

One possibility is that west Chuyangguan is someone connected to this house, and the reason he was able to see my hidden clothing is because there is a camera in this room.

The second possibility is Xu Xiaobing. If everything was done by Xu Xiaobing, she has many advantages and can do almost anything, except for my QQ number—but it's not impossible for her to do so.

The idea that there was a camera hidden in the room is as absurd as ghost stories, so the only reasonable explanation left is Xu Xiaobing.

Why did she do that?

If Xi Chu Yang Guan hadn't appeared, I would have thought everything that happened before was just Xu Xiaobing's own neuroticism. Even the things I witnessed, I secretly attributed to Xu Xiaobing, believing she was the one who did them, only to forget about them afterwards. Xi Chu Yang Guan's appearance truly surprised me. His words almost made me believe Xu Xiaobing, and I even felt genuine fear last night. People's minds are always a bit muddled in the dead of night, but after a long sleep, I felt very clear-headed. If Xu Xiaobing is indeed Xi Chu Yang Guan… what is her purpose?

No, that's not right. If Xu Xiaobing traveled west from Yangguan Pass, where would her computer be? There's no computer in her room...

My head started to ache, so I decided to stop thinking about it and observe Xu Xiaobing first.

I was a little disappointed that Xu Xiaobing wasn't home. Her room door was locked tight, and I knocked for a long time but no one answered.

Let's wait until she gets back. I'm almost certain she did it.

After eating a bowl of instant noodles, I felt energized and started looking for something fun to do. Go online? Thinking of leaving Yangguan Pass, I instinctively resisted the idea of the internet.

Let's go out and explore. This city is unfamiliar and new, and the best way for someone with no money in their pocket to understand a city is to take the No. 11 bus—walk on foot.

This exploration of the city took a long time, yet I still felt like I hadn't had enough.

Although Nancheng was an unfamiliar city, it shared many similarities with my hometown—a city even further south. The city, though large, wasn't particularly bustling; the streets were either old or under construction. Yunsheng Street was one of these old streets, and it wasn't as short as I'd imagined. It took me over two hours to walk along its winding path. After leaving the straight street where I lived, Yunsheng Street gradually came alive. Street vendors set up all sorts of stalls, the aroma of roasted sweet potatoes wafting from afar, and the woks selling local spicy stir-fries were scorching hot. For just one yuan, you could get two servings of fragrant and spicy vermicelli or dried tofu. What delighted me most was discovering a row of seven or eight bookstores along one side of the street. One of them, besides popular fantasy, martial arts, and romance novels, also had a considerable selection of contemporary literary works. As I browsed, I chatted with the owner. He enthusiastically recommended Yu Hua's *Brothers*, which I casually flipped through and then rented. I casually asked him where the library was, and he gave me a general idea, but I still didn't understand. So he drew a detailed map on a piece of paper. I took the map and book, then said goodbye. He smiled and walked out of the bookstore. Only then did I realize that the bookstore owner, who had been sitting the whole time, was actually in a wheelchair. Seeing my surprised look, he smiled, and I quickly smiled back, becoming more attentive to him. My gaze fell on the book he had been reading on his table—Lu Wenfu's essays. For some reason, I suddenly felt a sense of ease, and the green buds on the trees seemed to sprout even more. I waved to the owner and strode onward.

For dinner, I bought a bowl of grilled vermicelli and spicy cabbage from a roadside vendor. It only cost me one yuan, but I was full and satisfied. It was cheaper than instant noodles. Looks like I can use the little money I have left to get another library card.

Back at No. 6 Yunsheng Street, it was another long journey, leaving me exhausted but in a good mood. I heard the television as soon as I entered the door; Xu Xiaobing was already back and eating dinner. She didn't even look up when she saw me. I greeted her and then went into the bathroom.

There were a few more long strands of a woman's hair in the bathtub.

I remained calm and listened carefully. Xu Xiaobing seemed to have stopped chewing—what was she waiting for?

After using the toilet, I rinsed my hair out of the bathtub and then tidied it up in front of the mirror. Xu Xiaobing walked over at some point and whispered, "You saw it?"

“I saw it,” I said.

She stood there for a while, waiting for me to continue. I didn't say anything, dried my hands, poured a glass of hot water, and sat on the sofa to watch TV. The TV program was entertainment news, which I didn't like, but I figured I'd just watch it anyway. Xu Xiaobing said, "I didn't boil the water."

“Oh,” I said. Everything she did seemed designed to terrify me, which only reinforced my belief that she was creating a smokescreen. I thought that if I didn’t care about any of this, she couldn’t do anything to me.

My attitude displeased Xu Xiaobing. She gave me a cold look, a disgusted expression, and turned off the TV. I stared at her in astonishment, but she ignored me and went about clearing away the dishes.

I turned the TV back on and tuned it to CCTV-10.

"I want to read a book," she said, blocking my way.

"Hmm." I pretended not to understand her, but I was getting angry inside. This person had been very unfriendly to me from the start, which was bad enough, but she had to play tricks on me. Even though I don't like arguing with people, it seemed like this fight was inevitable.

Let them argue then. No one owes anyone anything, and no one needs to rely on anyone. Maybe after a big fight, she'll stop doing these superstitious things. I watched TV casually on the surface, but I was on high alert inside.

"Turn off the TV, it's too noisy," she commanded.

"Then I'll turn the volume down a bit." I lowered the TV volume.

"No, I can't concentrate on my book if there's any noise."

“Then you’ll have to figure it out yourself. The voice is already very low,” I said.

"How can you be like this?" she said, raising her voice.

"That's just how I am, so what?" My voice rose. "Do you want the whole world to revolve around you?"

She was furious, her face turning deathly pale: "How can you get along with people like this?"

I sneered, "That's exactly what I wanted to ask you."

"You're moving out tomorrow. I can't live with you," she said through gritted teeth.

“You can move if you want. I don’t have any money. Don’t think I enjoy living with you,” I said.

"I'll move! I'll move!" she yelled, waving her arms as she rushed into the room and then rushed out again, making a phone call right in front of me. Seeing her hands trembling violently with anger, I felt a pang of pity, but the words had already been spoken to this extent, and there was no way to take them back unless I was willing to always act according to her whims.

She was on her phone asking the other person to find her a new place. When they started talking about the price, she glanced at me, then ran into her room and slammed the door shut.

On the surface, I acted as if nothing was wrong, but inside I was also feeling terrible. Before I left, my mother told me that the world would treat me like an adult, and that I should be careful in everything I did and avoid arguing with others. It seems she was right; the world is indeed not as simple as I imagined. Even if you don't want to argue, sometimes you can't escape it. "Hell is other people"—that's so true. Before moving here, I had some fantasies about my life in the south of the city, hoping to meet a good friend. However, Xu Xiaobing seemed to have a natural aversion to me—people often form certain impressions of someone they meet for the first time, and unfortunately, Xu Xiaobing's impression of me wasn't good. I didn't understand why; this was the first time I'd encountered such a situation.

The sounds of things being smashed came from Xu Xiaobing's room. She was speaking in a low, rapid voice, and many small, hard objects were hitting the door like hailstones, making a loud thud. I remained silent, rapidly changing TV channels. Before my eyes was a screen full of fluorescent colors, but I had no idea what the images were showing.

Xu Xiaobing's voice grew louder and louder, until I could clearly hear what she was saying: "...Stubbornly refusing to leave, humph, with such a way of life, of course you have nowhere to go, and nowhere to go anyway? Do you think I don't know? What kind of person are you? Humph, why should I move out? I was here first! Humph, I'm really having the worst luck..." These words were clearly meant for me to hear. I continued to endure it, drinking water gulp after gulp, but my mouth grew drier and drier. Her words buzzed like flies, as if countless flies were buzzing around the entire room. I really wanted to tell her to shut up, but that would inevitably lead to an argument, and in this situation, she wouldn't reason at all, and arguing with an unreasonable person was my weakness. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore, gulped down the water in my glass, grabbed my two slippers, slammed them against her door, and shouted, "Want to fight? Come out and fight!"

The slippers slapped against the door and fell to the floor. Silence fell inside. I stared, waiting for her to come out.

But she didn't come out.

I waited for a while, and the anger that had been building up slowly subsided, followed by a feeling of shame. Fighting? This didn't seem like something a girl should do, especially over something so trivial. Xu Xiaobing must have been terrified; she probably thought I was a delinquent, otherwise she wouldn't have suddenly become so docile. I felt my face burning; I touched it, and it was as hot as fire. I was also surprised at myself; why was I so easily angered today? Usually, I wouldn't get involved in this kind of situation. In most cases, I remain silent when dealing with unreasonable people—since there's no reasoning, the only option besides silence is violence, and violence isn't legally recognized, so silence is the only and best choice. But today, I acted impulsively. This impulsiveness probably stemmed from my analysis of Xu Xiaobing. I was convinced that everything that happened in this house was Xu Xiaobing's doing. These underhanded tactics disgusted me deeply, especially given her terrible attitude. As I thought about it, the anger that had just been suppressed rose up again. I glanced at Xu Xiaobing's closed door and felt very sorry that she hadn't come out—I really wanted to have a fair fight with her, which would be much more comfortable than playing dirty tricks behind her back.

Out of anger, I felt my lips were so dry they were about to crack, so I took another sip of water—this sip was icy cold, and it made me shiver violently.

It's so cold, like ice water!

I stared in surprise at the water glass in my hand. The glass was full of water, and droplets of water clung to the glass. I felt the coolness on my fingers, and a sense of doubt crept over me. I took another sip of water.

Based on my years of experience drinking water, there is no doubt that this is a glass of ice water.

I remember pouring myself a glass of hot water, and I drank it all. As far as I can recall, I didn't get up to pour myself a glass of ice water.

Could it be that I'm so angry that I'm confused and don't even know what I've done?

I shook my head, laughing at myself. I got up to stand, but found my shoes were gone. They were still lying by Xu Xiaobing's door. I tiptoed over, put on my slippers, and was about to walk back to the sofa when I froze.

I remember it clearly; I drank the last sip of hot water almost at the same time I threw the shoes away, and after that, the shoes remained there untouched. So, when I went to pour the second glass of water, I was barefoot? A feeling of unease spread like ripples. I looked at the damp floor in the kitchen, then lifted my feet to look at the soles of my feet—not a single wet mark on my snow-white socks.

If I did indeed go to the kitchen barefoot to pour a glass of ice water, there's no reason my socks wouldn't be wet—in fact, I'm unlikely to do something so stupid unless I could walk on air.