Haunted House

"Sir, the spirits in this house are not to be trifled with. Are you really, truly, absolutely sure you want to buy this place?"

The speaker was an old man, well past fifty, with a hint of doubt in his eyes.

He worried that the man before him, who looked no older than twenty-five, would once again be scared half to death by the malevolent entities within the haunted house.

Of course, the old man wasn't concerned about the man's well-being; he was only worried that the fellow might go insane from fright and then demand compensation from him.

In response to the old man's words, the man silently lit a cigarette, adopting a world-weary and mature demeanor, and said.

"I'll take this one."

"If anything happens, don't blame me."

The old man produced a contract, densely packed with fine print.

Calling it a contract was a stretch; it was more like a disclaimer.

"Ten thousand… no, five thousand, it's yours."

A three-story mansion sold for five thousand yuan was beyond a bargain.

But precisely because it was so affordable, any normal person would have to consider whether the rumors about the haunted house were true.

However, it was clear that the man standing before the old man was not normal.

He counted out fifty Mao Zedong portraits, handed them to the old man, and then left the sales office with the contract.

The process had been streamlined to the extreme; the old man likely feared the man would change his mind.

After leaving the sales office, the man checked his luggage and various identification documents.

On one of the documents, the man's name was displayed.

"Liu Haoyu."

Just a simple, ordinary name.

Following the address indicated on the contract, Liu Haoyu soon arrived in front of the so-called "haunted house."

"No wonder it's only worth five thousand…"

Looking at the haunted house before him, Liu Haoyu couldn't help but feel speechless.

It was described as a mansion, but it was clearly a house from the last century, not only dilapidated but also extremely run-down.

He could even see numerous holes in the roof.

Coupled with its remote location, a full fifteen kilometers from the city center.

Liu Haoyu found it difficult to say whether the five thousand yuan was worth it.

"Whatever, as long as I have a place to stay."

With that, he walked into the house without any fear.

The moment he stepped inside, a chilling, musty scent assailed him.

Despite the outside temperature being over thirty degrees Celsius, it felt like the temperature had dropped by more than ten degrees inside, making him shiver.

Even Liu Haoyu couldn't help but quip.

"It's practically a summer resort."

This suggested he truly wasn't afraid of death.

The sun was already setting, and the already dim interior of the house had become even darker.

The worn wooden stairs creaked with every step, sounding as if they might break if too much force was applied.

After Liu Haoyu reached the second floor, the chilling sensation intensified, and he could faintly hear the sound of something moving on the wooden floorboards.

"Thump… thump…"

The sound was somewhat like someone walking in the hallway, and its source was just around the corner ahead.

As Liu Haoyu approached the corner, the sound ceased.

What greeted him was a deep, dark hallway.

Though he couldn't see anything, for some inexplicable reason, Liu Haoyu felt as if a face filled with malice and hatred was watching him from the darkness.

He looked back, but the staircase behind him had vanished, leaving only an endless hallway.

"A bit of a trick."

Liu Haoyu randomly chose a room. Although it was a random selection, upon entering, he discovered it appeared to be a young girl's boudoir.

The room was covered in dust and cobwebs, but thankfully, it was relatively intact, with no major holes, making it a livable space.

After tidying the place up a bit, Liu Haoyu lay down on the bed and slowly closed his eyes.

His consciousness gradually drifted away, and exhausted from a day of travel, Liu Haoyu soon fell asleep.

At midnight, perhaps in a dream, perhaps in reality.

In the midst of the profound silence, a rather untimely knocking sound suddenly echoed.

"Knock… knock… knock…"

The knocking at the door was slow and steady, yet it felt as if it pierced right through him.

Liu Haoyu opened his eyes and looked in the direction of the door.

No one was there, only the sound of knocking.

Soon, the knocking stopped.

Just as Liu Haoyu was about to fall back asleep, in the blink of an eye, he found a girl standing at his door.

The girl was wearing a bright red wedding dress and a pair of red embroidered shoes.

Her pupils were almost entirely white, and just meeting her gaze sent chills down his spine.

Even more terrifying, her slender fingers were dripping with fresh blood.

"Drip... drip..."

As the blood fell onto the floor, the girl slowly shuffled towards Liu Haoyu.

Just as she was about to reach the head of his bed, Liu Haoyu was startled awake.

The man sat up in bed.

He instinctively touched his neck.

Before waking, he had clearly felt something cold and clammy grip his neck.

It felt like a hand.

So, Liu Haoyu looked in the mirror, and sure enough, there were two bloody handprints on his neck.

And the terrifying sensation of being watched still lingered.

It was as if a vengeful spirit were waiting outside the door, ready to burst in and strangle him.

What was even more frightening was that every time Liu Haoyu closed his eyes, the vengeful spirit outside the door would step into the room and slowly approach him.

But when he opened his eyes, the vengeful spirit would instantly disappear.

No matter what Liu Haoyu did, he couldn't shake off this nightmare-like feeling.

After careful consideration, the man decided to open the door himself to see what was outside.

The room wasn't large, but every step Liu Haoyu took felt like a march into hell.

When he reached the door, he took a deep breath and slowly opened it.

There was nothing outside the room.

The intermittent knocking that had been echoing also ceased at that moment.

The red-clad bride girl who had been haunting Liu Haoyu's mind also vanished.

It was as if it had all been a dream, as if nothing had happened.

Except for... the pair of conspicuously placed red embroidered shoes outside the room.

They were the very shoes worn by the girl from his dream.

Liu Haoyu stared at the scene before him, frozen in place, as if terrified, for a full five seconds.

After five seconds, he silently picked up the embroidered shoes from the ground and walked back inside.

Then, inside the room, he created a small shrine and placed the pair of embroidered shoes within it.

After lighting a few sticks of incense and a few candles.

Liu Haoyu clasped his hands together, closed his eyes as if giving thanks for a divine blessing, and said.

"Thank you for the hospitality."

The gaze that had been fixed upon him seemed to freeze in astonishment upon hearing this.