There was nothing under the bed.
Gu Mian stared beneath it for a long while before he was sure there really was nothing there. He didn't even see a single mouse.
When he looked up again, the others' expressions were even more exaggerated.
"You... How can you..." Yuwen Hao stared at Gu Mian and swallowed. "How are you not scared at all?"
Qing Huan clutched the blanket in his hands. "What do you expect from someone who stuck his head out in the middle of the night and yelled at a ghost?"
Yuwen Hao looked even more astonished at that.
Gu Mian glanced up at the clock on the wall. It was 1:05 a.m.
Then he turned to look at the others, whose faces were deathly pale, and asked, "Where's Lin Yue'er?"
Gu Mian had noticed Lin Yue'er was missing as soon as he'd opened his eyes.
But the others only seemed to realize it just then, their eyes widening.
"That's right! Where's Lin Yue'er?" Yuwen Hao sprang to his feet.
He and Qing Huan had both been woken by Huang Yu, who was on watch. As soon as they'd woken up, they'd been distracted by the strange noise under the bed and hadn't noticed that someone was missing.
Huang Yu spoke, his face now ashen. "I... I dozed off while I was keeping watch. When I opened my eyes, Lin Yue'er was gone. I was just about to tell you when I heard the noise under Doctor Gu's bed..."
Everyone knew what had happened after that.
Huang Yu had woken the two of them. During all that time, no one had dared to say a word. Only now had they noticed that Lin Yue'er had disappeared.
The Under-the-bed Ghost had to be behind Lin Yue'er's disappearance. She was probably back in the apartment where she'd lived before.
"What a useless teammate." As he spoke, Gu Mian brushed off his white coat, picked up the chainsaw beside the bed, and slung it over his shoulder.
Huang Yu lowered his head and fell silent.
Yuwen Hao looked at Gu Mian as he stood up. "Doctor Gu, what are you going to do?"
"Obviously, I'm going to catch—cough, save her. What else?"
Yuwen Hao hesitated. He looked at Lin Yue'er's now-empty bed, then back at Gu Mian. "Lin Yue'er was taken by a ghost, right...?"
Wouldn't going after her be suicide?
Yuwen Hao didn't say the last part aloud, but the others understood what he meant.
Gu Mian replied knowingly, "If you're scared, you don't have to come. I can go by myself."
Yuwen Hao silently sat back down on the sofa.
Gu Mian didn't waste any time. He turned and headed for the door.
But then Huang Yu suddenly stood up and followed him. "Doctor Gu, I'll go with you..."
He spoke with his head bowed, looking as if his conscience was tormenting him. After all, Lin Yue'er was in danger because he hadn't kept a close enough watch.
Gu Mian glanced at Huang Yu's bowed head. "Come along if you want."
"Wait..." Qing Huan hurried over too. "Doctor, can I come with you?"
He wasn't particularly eager to save anyone. He just thought he'd be safer with Gu Mian.
Gu Mian nodded in agreement.
Seeing the others about to leave with Gu Mian, Yuwen Hao anxiously stood up. "Then I'll go too."
If all three of them left, he'd be the only one here by himself. Being alone at a time like this was the scariest thing of all.
In the end, all four of them set off together for Lin Yue'er's apartment.
It was October, and the weather had cooled down. The nights were a little cold.
The sky was pitch-black. A few streetlights stood along the road, casting a dim, pale glow and flickering from time to time.
The thick trees planted beside the street blocked the light, making the already dim streetlights even fainter. Their light cast the shadows of leaves across the ground like twisted hands.
The group hurried along the dark road. The greenery beside them rustled now and then, as if something alive were hiding inside.
A cold wind blew, and Huang Yu, who was dressed the most lightly, shivered.
"Hang in there," Gu Mian said, glancing at him. "We're almost at Lin Yue'er's apartment."
They couldn't get a ride. Taxis were scarce to begin with, and it was 2002. In the middle of the night, there wasn't even a car in sight.
Fortunately, Lin Yue'er's apartment wasn't far from their hotel. They could already see it up ahead.
Huang Yu nodded, hugging himself.
Just then, Yuwen Hao's pocket suddenly rang.
He quickly pulled out his phone. Its small screen glowed faintly in the dark. The caller ID showed the landline at Lin Yue'er's apartment.
"Hello?" Yuwen Hao answered at once. "Yue'er?"
Lin Yue'er's voice came through the phone, tinged with tears. "I... Where are you? I'm in the apartment now... I opened my eyes and suddenly found myself here..."
Yuwen Hao had put the call on speaker, so everyone could hear Lin Yue'er.
He tried to comfort her. "Don't be scared. We're on our way."
"You... Are all of you coming?"
"Yeah..."
Yuwen Hao was about to answer when Gu Mian suddenly pressed a hand over his mouth.
He looked at Gu Mian in surprise. The doctor said nothing, only shook his head.
Seeing that, Yuwen Hao hesitated before replying to the person on the other end. "No... Doctor Gu isn't coming. How are you doing?"
Only then did Gu Mian take his hand away.
Qing Huan looked at Gu Mian in confusion, but Gu Mian just shook his head, with no intention of explaining.
Lin Yue'er continued speaking, her voice very faint. "I... I don't know... I opened my eyes and found myself in the bed here. I didn't dare move... I called you right away..."
"Is there a sound under your bed?"
Lin Yue'er paused. "I don't think so... No! Wait! I hear it... There is..."
The four of them kept hurrying forward during the call. They had reached the apartment building.
Her voice still came through the phone. "Hurry over... I'm scared. Boo-hoo..."
"Don't be scared," Yuwen Hao said, gripping his phone tightly. "We'll be there soon."
She lived on the fourth floor, and the four of them had begun climbing the stairs.
Lin Yue'er kept talking. "I hear it... Something's moving under my bed. The noise is getting louder. It's coming out!"
As he hurried up the stairs, Yuwen Hao called out, "Can you get off the bed and run out?"
They were almost at the fourth floor.
"No..." Lin Yue'er's voice was choked with tears. "I don't dare move. I could only grab the phone on the bedside table and call you... Hurry over."
At those words, Qing Huan suddenly stopped, a strange expression appearing on his face.
The four of them had reached the fourth floor. Lin Yue'er's door was only a few steps away.
But Qing Huan stopped and refused to go any farther.
Yuwen Hao looked at him in confusion. "What's wrong?"
Qing Huan hesitated for several seconds, then looked at Lin Yue'er's door nearby and said uncertainly, "Didn't Lin Yue'er say this morning that her phone had fallen on the floor?"
And she'd said she hadn't even dared to pick it up, but had run straight out the door.
Lin Yue'er hadn't returned to the apartment all day. So who had picked up the phone from the floor and put it on the bedside table?
If it wasn't that, then the ghost had done it.
If it wasn't that... then she was lying!
Qing Huan's voice wasn't quiet. Whoever was on the other end had obviously heard him.
The voice fell silent for a moment. Then a rather grating laugh came through, and it was an entirely different voice.
At first, the laughter sounded muffled, as if it were coming from beneath a blanket.
Then it turned shrill, as though it were being squeezed straight out of someone's throat—like the croak of some uncanny frog.
The laughter was loud and piercing. Yuwen Hao and the others went deathly pale, nearly dropping the phone.
What was going on? Qing Huan's face was pale too. The person who'd called wasn't Lin Yue'er?
As the group stood there in a panic, Gu Mian snatched the phone and abruptly said into it—
"I'm at your door."
The laughter stopped dead.
Before you continue