It was three in the morning, dark and windy.
During this time of year, even bustling metropolises would fall silent, let alone Linjiang City, which had just suffered a disaster. The city's night scene, which should have been dazzling with neon lights, was now incredibly dim, devoid of its lively hustle and bustle, with only scattered phosphorescence remaining, as if it were a tranquil scene found only in the deep sea.
The empty streets were completely silent, not even the chirping of insects; the extreme quietness inevitably sent chills down one's spine.
Happiness Apartment stands in the dim night, casting deep shadows under the sparse streetlights.
Wei Shanhai tiptoed to a streetlamp and looked at the apartment building not far away. He felt a strange sense of unease. After nightfall, Happiness Apartment seemed to be quietly isolated from its surroundings, as if... it didn't belong here, but came from another world, shrouded in an invisible veil.
He took out a lighter from his pocket and lit a cigarette. He often smoked one before taking action to relax.
Of course, he was very careful and would never litter cigarette butts, lest this trivial matter become a crucial clue to incriminate him.
He was a thief who had taught himself lock-picking skills. Coupled with his agility, he excelled at burglaries and had been doing it for over ten years with very few failures.
Two years ago, he scouted out a wealthy household, broke in through a window, and inadvertently stumbled upon a murder case—the husband and his mistress conspired to kill the wife and seize her assets.
He was just a thief; he'd never seen anything like this before. He was so scared he didn't dare utter a sound, afraid of getting himself into trouble.
Afterwards, Wei Shanhai quietly slipped away, not daring to stay in Linjiang City any longer. He fled to another place overnight and supported himself by working odd jobs, never stealing again.
After living in fear for two years, the case was closed. The deceased was ruled to have died accidentally, and no one discovered the husband and his mistress's conspiracy. Naturally, no one noticed that Wei Shanhai had been at the crime scene.
Over time, he reverted to his old ways. He was already idle and extravagant, and working was too slow to support his lifestyle. Unable to resist the temptation, he returned to his old ways.
Just a few days ago, a major event occurred: four cities, including Linjiang City, were locked down. The government did not give a direct response. Many media outlets reported it as a gas leak, but there were rumors that it was actually a ghost story, and many people died, but the news was suppressed.
Haunted?
Haha, this rumor is pretty outrageous.
Wei Shanhai didn't care about the truth; he was more concerned that those citizens whose entire families had died must still have many valuables left in their homes.
So he revisited the place and returned to Linjiang City.
His target this time was Happiness Apartments; he wanted to test the waters first.
I heard that most of the people in that apartment building died, and the rest gradually moved away from the city.
Wei Shanhai was highly skilled and daring. Tonight was the time he had chosen to make his move. His small satchel was full of his usual tools. After smoking a cigarette under the streetlights, he was in peak condition.
He turned and quickly walked to the back of the Happiness Apartment building, where there was a wall. He used his hands and feet to easily climb over it.
Entering through the main entrance was impossible, so he put on gloves and climbed up the pipes along the exterior wall of the apartment building. There was a broken window on the top floor, so he sneaked inside.
As soon as I entered the room, I was greeted by a rich aroma of wine.
Wei Shanhai rubbed his nose. Although the window was broken, the air in the room seemed stagnant and stuffy, like a pool of still water, with a lingering odor.
The smell was intoxicating. Wei Shanhai slowed his breathing. Due to the widely circulated rumors of a ghost story, the apartment was basically uninhabited. He swaggered around, using the faint light from his phone to see the furnishings inside.
It's a bit odd; it looks like it hasn't been tended to in a long time.
The fruit on the coffee table was all dry and rotten, with a layer of mold on its skin; unwashed dishes and chopsticks were haphazardly placed in the kitchen sink, and the floor and chairs were covered with a layer of dust; the water in the fish tank was empty, and the goldfish had long since died, belly up.
After searching around, Wei Shanhai only found a few cell phones. Just as he was about to pry open the door to check next door, something suddenly caught his attention.
There were a few simple line drawings, casually pasted on the wall. The first one from left to right was a tall building with many men and women standing on the street below. The overall scene was quite warm and cozy. The only jarring thing was that there were two black suns in the sky, like a pair of eerie eyes, mercilessly watching the people below.
Upon seeing the painting, Wei Shanhai felt a chill run down his spine for no apparent reason.
But he didn't think too much about it and looked directly at the second painting.
The second painting is rather strange. It's still the same building, and a person is leaning against a window on the top floor. From the open window, a large number of twisted black lines spread out and loosely wrap around the person.
The other images were even more obscure and difficult to understand, completely unrecognizable, and filled with an indescribable eeriness.
Wei Shanhai didn't understand what the painters were trying to express, but the metaphor was somewhat unsettling, especially since he had just climbed in through the top-floor window.
"Forget it, it's just a few paintings. I'm not that cowardly." He shook his head, burying his fear deep inside.
This household didn't have anything of value left, so Wei Shanhai felt he had to hurry and check with the other residents to see if there was anything he could find.
The good news is that the door wasn't locked and opened easily; the bad news is that the doors of all the other residents on the same floor were locked.
He could only pull out lock-picking tools, like opening a blind box, randomly picking one.
Creak--
After a series of chilling sounds, Wei Shanhai opened the door. The room was pitch black. He went in by the light of his phone and searched through drawers and cabinets. In no time, he found a small amount of cash, as well as jewelry and watches.
It was worth the trip tonight!
The aroma of the wine seemed to grow stronger, and Wei Shanhai became increasingly excited and jubilant, his greed surging even more intensely.
As I left the room, the door closed silently on its own, and a hideous human face gradually emerged on the pristine white wall.
It was a woman's face, her mouth agape in vain, her expression one of panic, as if she were sealed inside the wall. Soon, several more men and women appeared around her.
Wei Shanhai didn't witness this horrifying scene; this was his luck, or perhaps... his misfortune.
Driven by greed, he broke into another house, hoping to find more valuable items.
The moment the door was pushed open, a gust of cold wind rushed in.
Wei Shanhai jolted awake and looked up to see a painting being blown over. He easily caught it and discovered that there was half a person in the painting, with the lower body embedded in the wall and the upper body exposed. The face was covered with black lines, making it impossible to see the features.