It's Almost Chinese New Year

The landlord's eyes, white-haired and flickering, darted about.

Even though the old woman's eyes were no longer bright with age, Gu Mian could see the emotion within them.

The landlord hesitated before speaking, "I know, Xiao Gu, you probably think my apartment isn't clean. But I can tell you, no one has ever died in this building, not a single person. However, now that you mention the knocking, it does remind me of something..."

Qing Huan stared intently at her, waiting for her to continue.

"A tenant did die two years ago, but not in my apartment. He was a man in his early thirties, named Zhao Wen. It was an accidental death, he died somewhere else."

"He was still renting my place at the time, but he was found dead in an outside hotel. Apparently, he starved to death. When they found him, his body had already started to rot."

Gu Mian asked, "What does this dead Zhao Wen have to do with the knocking?"

The landlord slowly continued, "This is where it gets to why he rented my place but moved out."

"That Zhao Wen was a young, spirited fellow, only in his early thirties. He was quite active when he moved in, always hopping around visiting neighbors."

"But within a month, he declined. I don't know why, but I watched him become gaunt, lose a lot of weight, and lose the energy to move around."

"Until one time, he secretly asked me if someone had died in the apartment he rented from me. Of course, no one had. If someone had died, I wouldn't have kept it from him."

"Then he told me he always heard strange knocking sounds in the middle of the night, but when he looked outside, there was no one there."

"Not long after, he had some friends come over to stay with him, but besides him, no one else could hear the knocking. He couldn't sleep every night because of it. Later, he was probably terrified. He didn't even bother to break the lease, he just rushed back home. His home isn't too far from here."

"After that, there was a period of time where I didn't hear any news from him."

"Then, less than two months later, I heard his neighbors discussing that the young man had died. Sigh."

As the landlord spoke, Qing Huan's expression turned strange.

He stiffly turned his neck to look at Gu Mian. So the person knocking on Doctor Gu's door last night really was a ghost? And Doctor Gu really cursed out that ghost last night?

Gu Mian didn't pay much attention to that and continued to ask, "Do you think Zhao Wen's death has anything to do with the knocking he mentioned?"

The landlord shook her head. "I don't know about that. He seemed to have gone home to live for a while. You can ask his family for the specifics. I should still have his family's phone number... left when he registered to rent."

As she spoke, she stood up and walked towards a nearby table, then took out a key to open a drawer.

At this moment, Gu Mian suddenly spoke up, "Right, was the room Zhao Wen was renting the same as the one I'm in now?"

The landlord shook her head. "No, after he died, I never rented that apartment to anyone else again."

"Although I thought the knocking was his imagination, I didn't continue to rent out that room. Anyway, my building is never fully rented, so it doesn't matter if it's empty."

"It wasn't until you came to me today that I found it strange. Could it be that Zhao Wen's story was true..."

As the landlord spoke, she pulled out a thick notebook from the drawer.

It was a yellow-covered notebook with very thin pages, not much thicker than tissue paper. A few pages in the middle had come loose and were reattached with tape.

She put on her reading glasses and carefully flipped through it. After a while, she stopped. "Found it. Here's his home phone number..."

In '02, many people still didn't have personal mobile phones, but most homes had landlines.

Gu Mian jotted down Zhao Wen's landline number and said goodbye to the landlord, then left with Qing Huan.

Qing Huan followed closely behind Gu Mian. "Doctor Gu, so Zhao Wen was killed by the ghost who was knocking, right?"

"Probably."

"Then, are we, who are being targeted by those ghosts, going to die like Zhao Wen..."

Thinking of this, Qing Huan shivered. Those ghosts have been killing people all along. I wonder if we're the nth group of people to be cursed.

Gu Mian patted his shoulder to comfort him. "Don't worry, I'm here..."

Qing Huan looked up at him, a little touched.

Gu Mian continued, "As long as I don't die, we won't all be wiped out."

"..."

Zhao Wen's home phone number was still in use. When Gu Mian called, a woman who sounded not too young answered.

"Hello?" came the voice from the other end.

"Hello," Gu Mian said, "May I speak to the Zhao Wen residence?"

The other party clearly paused at the words. After a few seconds, she replied with a hint of suspicion, "Are you...?"

"We are from the Supernatural Investigation Bureau. We noticed that a deceased individual from a few years ago may have died due to supernatural events. That would be Zhao Wen. We hope you can assist us with our investigation." Gu Mian paused. "We'll pay."

Things went smoothly. Gu Mian and Qing Huan found Zhao Wen's home address without any obstacles.

Zhao Wen's home was not far from Hong Sheng Apartment where Gu Mian lived. It was about an hour's walk away, in an older staff housing complex.

The house was small but very clean. At the moment, only a woman nearing forty was home.

She poured two cups of water and handed them to the two on the sofa.

"I'm Zhao Wen's sister, Zhao Meixiang," the woman said, looking at Gu Mian hesitantly. "Are you... a doctor?"

"Yes," Gu Mian nodded. "All members of our Supernatural Investigation Bureau have other primary professions, so you don't need to pay too much attention to that."

Zhao Meixiang then shifted her gaze. "You're here to investigate my brother, aren't you? You don't actually need to pay. As his sister, I've always wanted to understand why my brother died."

Her expression turned somber as she spoke of Zhao Wen, her face etched with worry.

"He was my only younger brother. We were very close growing up. I never expected him to leave us so suddenly. After he passed, Mom and Dad were already old. They were heartbroken and followed him within these past two years..."

Zhao Meixiang wiped her tears as she spoke, "Ask whatever you want to ask. I'll tell you everything I know."

Since she offered, Gu Mian got straight to the point, "I heard from Zhao Wen's landlord back then that he could always hear knocking sounds. Did Zhao Wen mention anything to you after he came back?"

Zhao Meixiang nodded, "He was working at the factory at the time, not far from my place. I originally wanted him to live with me, but he refused."

"I was already married then, and it wasn't appropriate to have my own brother living with me, so he went out and rented a place to stay."

"But he didn't even live there for a month before he rushed back, without even bringing his luggage. I asked him what happened, but he wouldn't say anything. He just frantically moved into the empty room at our house..."

"I was quite worried about him. The next day, when he still hadn't come out after a long time, I went to his room to look for him."

"When I went in, he was still under the covers, curled up into a tiny ball. I felt something was wrong, so I pulled the covers off. Then I saw his face was deathly pale, his eyes wide open."

"I was startled and quickly asked him what was wrong. With a pale face, he looked up and asked me..."

"Did you knock on my door yesterday?"