I Am the Title

"Of course not. I never knocked on his door."

"When I told him I hadn't, he went quiet. He kept his mouth shut, and no matter how I asked, he wouldn't say another word."

"I could tell something was wrong, so my husband and I discussed taking him to the hospital. But he absolutely refused, shouting that he wasn't sick."

"My husband and I made a point of listening, but there were no knocks at night. Not a sound. Still, he insisted someone was knocking on his door, that someone was trying to hurt him..."

Zhao Meixiang let out a long sigh. She looked tired.

Gu Mian continued asking, "What happened after that? I heard Zhao Wen was eventually found in a hotel outside the neighborhood."

Zhao Meixiang nodded wearily. "After my brother came back, his personality changed completely. At first, he shut himself in and only came out to eat or use the bathroom."

"But later..."

She shuddered as she spoke. "But later, he started coming out all the time..."

Qing Huan asked in confusion, "Isn't that a good thing?"

"No." Zhao Meixiang shook her head. "He only came out late at night, when everything was quiet."

"That night... my husband and I were both asleep, but in the middle of the night, I suddenly needed to use the bathroom. I was just about to get out of bed when I—I saw..."

"I saw that the door had been pushed open a crack at some point. He was crouching outside, his whole face pressed against the gap, staring at me without blinking."

"I screamed in fright, and my husband woke up. He saw the person crouching outside the door at a glance, too."

"I was terrified. I asked my brother what he wanted, but he said nothing was wrong, then stood up and left..."

Qing Huan shuddered, looking frightened.

Zhao Meixiang continued, "But after that, I realized he was always watching us..."

"When I was in the living room, he'd open the door a crack and stare at me..."

"When I was in the kitchen, he'd crouch behind the kitchen door, peering through the gap at the bottom and watching me..."

"Even when I came home and opened the door, he'd press his face to the peephole and stare intently at me..."

"Once, he even hid in the wardrobe beside our bed. I heard a noise in the middle of the night, opened my eyes, and saw the wardrobe door ajar. His head was right above me, staring at me unblinkingly..."

Zhao Meixiang shuddered violently. "Eventually, my husband couldn't take it anymore. He shouted that he was going to kick my brother out, but my brother said we were trying to hurt him."

"Then he ran out... We couldn't catch up with him. Later... later, the police found him in a hotel..."

"They said his body had already decomposed when they found him, inside a hotel wardrobe."

"The staff couldn't find him, so they decided to clean the room and rent it out to someone else. But when they opened the wardrobe, he fell out. His eyes were still wide open..."

At that point, Zhao Meixiang could no longer hold back. She began sobbing softly.

Qing Huan shuddered, too. Anyone who encountered that Knocking Ghost... would eventually have a mental breakdown and end up like this, wouldn't they?

Gu Mian furrowed his brow slightly.

Qing Huan noticed and asked, "What's wrong, Doctor Gu?"

Gu Mian looked at Zhao Meixiang. "You said that later on, your brother Zhao Wen developed a habit of spying on people?"

"Later on..." Qing Huan swallowed. As expected of a doctor, he questioned people about supernatural incidents as if he were diagnosing an illness.

Zhao Meixiang nodded. "Yes. I don't know why, but he suddenly started acting that way..."

Gu Mian nodded thoughtfully. "I suspect your brother Zhao Wen developed symptoms of paranoid delusions later on. He thought you and your husband were the ones knocking on his door, so he kept watching you."

Zhao Meixiang looked confused. "Is... that so..."

"By the way," Gu Mian continued, "before this happened, had Zhao Wen experienced anything else strange? For example, exploring a haunted house or being frightened by something?"

Zhao Meixiang shook her head. "No. He was a very down-to-earth kid. Usually, he just worked at the factory. At most, he'd go out with friends, and he never went very far."

"Where did he work?"

"Nearby, at Mingliang Plastic Factory. It's still open. You can see it after a short walk."

With all his questions answered, Gu Mian didn't linger. He stood up and slung his chainsaw over his back. "Thank you for cooperating. We'll do our best to find out the true cause of Zhao Wen's death."

Then he left with Qing Huan.

As they came down from the apartment building, Qing Huan still looked a little confused. "Doctor Gu, we came to investigate the ghost that knocks on doors, but it seems like we haven't found any clues."

All they knew was that the Knocking Ghost had killed a man named Zhao Wen. They had no clues about the ghost itself.

"No," Gu Mian said, shaking his head. "Zhao Wen may have had nothing to do with me, but he had a lot to do with someone else."

Qing Huan looked puzzled. "Who?"

"Think about it. What were Zhao Wen's later symptoms?"

"Paranoid delusions, spying... Wait, spying? Was he the one following Yuwen Hao?"

Gu Mian nodded. "Most likely, he was the Peeping Ghost that followed Yuwen Hao. After Zhao Wen died under the curse, he became a fierce ghost himself and joined the curse."

A chill ran down Qing Huan's back. "That's terrifying. If everyone who dies under the curse becomes part of it, how many ghosts must there be?"

"I suspect that if we trace things back to the source, all the ghosts' deaths will lead to the same origin. Take Zhao Wen, for instance. He was killed by the Knocking Ghost, and the Knocking Ghost may have been killed by a ghost one level higher. If we keep tracing it back, the one at the very top will be the source of the curse we're looking for."

Gu Mian continued, "The source might be one of those five ghosts, or it might be somewhere else entirely. Either way, we first need to work out how the five ghosts killed one another."

Who killed whom? And who, in turn, killed someone else?

Qing Huan suddenly understood. "So the relationship we know about now is... the Peeping Ghost was killed by the Knocking Ghost. To trace it back, we need to go up one level and find out who killed the Knocking Ghost?"

Gu Mian nodded. "So let's figure out the relationships between the five ghosts first. We'll go to your place and find out how the ghost behind you died."

Qing Huan nodded and led Gu Mian toward his home.

It was already past noon. They were both hungry, so they bought some buns to eat on the way.

"It's almost two now," Gu Mian said, glancing at his phone. "We have to meet up at four, so we need to hurry."

Qing Huan nodded and quickened his pace.

Just after two, they arrived at Qing Huan's place.

It was another rundown apartment building. For some reason, there were so many dilapidated buildings in this area.

The landlord looked surprised to see Qing Huan, but quickly seemed to understand. He invited them both to sit down. "You think there's something wrong with the house, too?"