Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation
Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Fang Zheng watched the silent man who was sitting alone on the steps.
He did not approach him and walked into the guardhouse to gain better understanding of the situation instead.
There were two guards on duty in the guardhouse. They did not stop Fang Zheng from entering as he was a regular in the area.
“Captain Liu, what’s up with the man sitting out there?” Fang Zheng asked.
Captain Liu, who was in his forties, was a longtime security guard in the area. He knew that Fang Zheng was not a smoker and that was why he did not offer him a cigarette. He lit one himself and complained, “Sigh, don’t even talk about that weird guy. He’s still sitting there even after we told him to leave.
“It’s cold outside; even dogs know how to find shelter for themselves. That man will end up getting sick from the cold and we will be dragged into the problem.
“Since we couldn’t chase him off, we thought he was in some kind of trouble and offered to let him come into the guardhouse. Although the guardhouse is not as pleasant as a room with a heater, it’s still shelter. That guy was extremely stubborn and refused to come in. Old Zhang and I are stressing out about this issue.
“Both of us can only continue smoking to stay awake and widen our eyes like frogs. Look at Old Zhang and I, our eyes are turning red but we’re too afraid to even blink right now. We’ve been staring at that weird guy in case he causes any trouble.”
It was obvious that Captain Liu had had a bad night from this.
He was full of complaints.
However, complaints aside, both Captain Liu and Old Zhang were still honest men. They did not chase that man away nor cause him any trouble.
“That’s pretty odd. Did that man say anything about having troubles in life? Or is he experiencing any trauma? Does he need help?” Fang Zheng asked after giving it some thought.
“It gets weirder. We can’t get anything out of him. It’s as if he’s deaf and retarded; we can’t do anything about it,” Old Zhang replied. He had a Northwestern accent, coupled with a slight Sichuan lilt.
He continued talking while having a lit cigarette butt in his mouth.
Fang Zheng told them about how he met that man in the morning, while Captain Liu and Old Zhang told him about how others had mentioned similar occurrences happening to them.
He would sit alone on Wenzhuo Road in the morning.
At night, he would follow another resident in the area to its entrance and sit at the brightest entrance of the guardhouse. He had been sitting in the cold for four hours since 6.30pm and he shivered from the cold without having anything to drink.
Having nothing to eat or drink in this cold weather was a recipe for disaster. They were worried that if someone froze to death in front of the area, they would be responsible for his death.
As such, Captain Liu and Old Zhang were anxious about it. They smoked one cigarette after another to stay awake.
“Could it be that he was traumatized by something? For example, he could be afraid of going home as he owes money to loan sharks, or it could be he’s afraid of being hunted down by gangsters. Maybe that’s why he hides in crowded places? He seems like he’s spacing out and has lost his soul,” Fang Zheng said as he eyed the man who was still sitting outside the guardhouse.
“Aye, Fang Zheng. After thinking about it, you might be right.” Captain Liu hit his own lap as he thought over the likelihood of that possibility.
“Right, that could be why.” Old Zhang nodded.
“This isn’t a good idea anymore. You’re quite overworked and it would make it easier for accidents to happen. Why don’t I go ahead and check out what’s going on–if we’re still not getting anywhere, let’s call the police to take him away. We can’t keep waiting it out like this,” Fang Zheng said.
Both Captain Liu and Old Zhang did not object to it.
They could not be labelled cold-hearted. It was possible for something bad to happen and it was a threat to the safety of the area.
Fang Zheng opened the door and walked out of the guardhouse.
However, at that very moment, a phone rang out in the peaceful night.
Fang Zheng realized that it was not his phone; it belonged to the weird man who had been sitting on the steps outside the guardhouse.
The weird man, who had been silent and still, finally snapped out of it and picked up his phone slowly.
However!
Within the next second!
His eyes widened in fear! He stuttered as if terror had seeped into his bones and creeped up to his face. His eyes were clouded in horror and nearly popped out of his sockets.
His face was so pale, like all the blood had been drained out.
The hand he was holding the smartphone with was also shivering in fear.
“Please! Please! You have to save my mom! You have to!
“She’s here! She’s here!”
“She came to my house! She’s in my house! She’s next to my mom!”
All of a sudden, the man on the steps jumped on Fang Zheng as if he had gone mental. He stuttered in fear, grabbed Fang Zheng by his arm, and begged him desperately.
No one expected this to happen.
The weird man, who had been sitting still, jumped on Fang Zheng out of nowhere and continued clutching onto him. Both Captain Liu and Old Zhang rushed out of the guardhouse and brandished batons while yelling at the man, “What are you doing? Let go right now! Let go of Fang Zheng right now!”
The baton in Captain Liu’s hand was about to land on the arm the man was grabbing Fang Zheng with.
If it did land on his arm, it could break his bones.
However, Fang Zheng stopped Captain Liu and Old Zhang and the baton did not land on the arm.
The duo found the weird man crying. Tears were gushing out of his eyes, and his shoulders were shivering helplessly. He was stuttering and begging Fang Zheng to save his mother and was ready to give Fang Zheng anything he wanted in return. Anything at all—money or a house.
He also begged for Captain Liu and Old Zhang’s help as he continued yelling, “She’s here! She’s here!”
The man seemed absolutely terrified. His desperate cries pierced through the night and it sent chills down people’s spines.
Both Captain Liu and Old Zhang, who had rushed out of the guardhouse, did not use their batons on the man after hearing his desperate cries for help to save his family. It was as if they understood his pain.
No one realized that Fang Zheng’s body had not moved at all.
That man was clutching Fang Zheng, but it did not move him at all. It was as if Fang Zheng was a steady, metal pile.
From the man’s words, the trio finally understood what he was terrified of.
The woman he was referring to was not a person!
It was a ghost!
Captain Liu and Old Zhang were horrified. When horror stories were told at night, both men and ghosts would be listening to them…