After asking everything they needed to, Gu Mian and the others said goodbye to the old man and went their separate ways to question the residents near the plastic factory. They learned that the place had indeed once been a textile factory.
Yuwen Hao organized the information in his hands.
"Mingliang Plastic Factory used to be a wasteland. In 1978, the Reform and Opening-Up sparked a building boom, and Shenghong Textile Factory was established;
Then, in 1990, the reform of state-owned enterprises triggered a nationwide wave of layoffs. Quite a few factories couldn't weather it and went straight out of business;
Shenghong Textile Factory couldn't weather it either. It went bankrupt in 1991;
A year later, in 1992, someone bought the place, demolished the already small textile factory, and built a plastic factory. That's the Mingliang Plastic Factory we see today.
Mingliang Plastic Factory was completed that same year and immediately began operating, but just three years later, there was a fire. You know the one—the fire that burned Yu Hai to death."
Gu Mian nodded. They already knew what happened after that.
In 1995, a fire broke out at Mingliang Plastic Factory, and Yu Hai burned to death in that row of offices. Later, the offices were demolished and workshops were built in their place. Zhao Wen and Zhou Guanglei worked in those newly built workshops.
Yu Hai must have lingered on that land after his death, and so he latched on to Zhao Wen and Zhou Guohai, who came along later.
Yuwen Hao looked at the few sheets of paper in his hands again. "I found out that there might have been a fire at the old Shenghong Textile Factory, too. A woman died in it."
He hadn't managed to find out any details. It had happened more than ten years ago, and the residents nearby had changed many times since then. No one knew what had happened back then.
"I heard someone say that the textile factory built an apartment building for its employees back then, somewhere nearby. If it's still standing, we might be able to find some former employees of the factory." Yuwen Hao shrank his neck uneasily.
The sun hung high overhead, yet he felt cold all over. The feeling of being watched hadn't gone away—in fact, it had grown stronger.
Qing Huan kept looking back, too, with the uneasy feeling that something was pressed against his back.
Huang Yu was doing better. He didn't dare go near the phone, so he hadn't received any terrifying calls during the day.
Gu Mian looked at their pale faces. "Why are you two reacting so strongly today?"
Their faces hadn't been this pale yesterday.
Yuwen Hao shook his head slightly. "I'm scared. I can't see where it is, but I feel like it's very close. Like if I just close my eyes, when I open them again, it'll be right up against my face."
Qing Huan spoke slowly, too. "I feel the same way... I don't know why, but I feel like the thing behind us is moving faster today..."
As he spoke, he nervously looked back again. There was nothing behind him—nothing at all.
Seeing this, Gu Mian rubbed his chin. "It's probably because we're close to finding the source."
It seemed that finding the source of the curse really did help. Otherwise, the ghost following them wouldn't have sped up.
"Let's hurry and find that apartment building." Gu Mian glanced up at the blazing sun. "At this rate, you two will be wiped out tonight."
Yuwen Hao hurriedly pulled out a sheet of paper. "No one knew where the apartment building was, but one person who lived nearby said he still remembered a little. He drew me a map from memory. Take a look."
Gu Mian looked down at the map in his hand.
The map was ridiculously crude. It was covered in little boxes, which must have represented buildings.
A line wound its way between the boxes, ending at a small cross.
Gu Mian had drawn maps like this in elementary school.
He pointed to the largest box on the map. "This must be the plastic factory. The line starts here. Let's see... We need to head west first."
The sun was already beginning to sink in the west. The group didn't waste any time and hurried off in that direction.
On the way, Huang Yu asked, still uneasy, "If we find the source of the curse, what do we need to do?"
What could they do to stop the vengeful ghost from hunting them?
Yuwen Hao answered uncertainly, "I don't know, either. Maybe we have to pay our respects to the source, or fulfill some regret it had in life?"
It seemed Yuwen Hao had been deeply influenced by modern ghost stories.
The few ghost stories Gu Mian had read all followed the same formula: a ghost killed people, the protagonist survived, then investigated and uncovered the ghost's grievances. While being hunted by the vengeful ghost, the protagonist helped it get justice. The ghost was moved and went off to be reincarnated.
These were all very wholesome ghost stories. The less wholesome ones were usually taken down by some mysterious force and hit with a 404.
Gu Mian thought those wholesome ghost stories were completely unreliable and didn't fit reality.
If a ghost really wanted to kill him, there was no way he'd help it get justice. He'd do whatever it took to saw its head off.
I don't care what kind of terrible injustice you suffered in life. If you want to kill an innocent person like me, then I'm not going to let you off, either. That was Gu Mian's view.
The group followed the map for nearly half an hour, stopping and starting along the way to double-check which way to turn. At last, they stopped in front of an apartment building.
Yuwen Hao looked up at the building in front of them. "This should be the place."
It was a very old building, painted yellow, with a faint strip of pink along the roof. A sign hung above the entrance in the middle. It read "Hong Sheng Apartment."
It looked familiar. That's right—this was where Gu Mian lived.
Qing Huan was stunned, too. He'd been here with Gu Mian before, so he knew Gu Mian lived here.
Yuwen Hao looked at the two of them, puzzled by their odd expressions. "What's wrong with you?"
Gu Mian glanced at him. "I live here."
Yuwen Hao was clearly taken aback. He stared at him in disbelief. "You live here?"
"That's right. I live here."
As he spoke, Gu Mian walked into the building. He'd been to the landlord's place just yesterday, so he knew his way around by now.
When the white-haired landlady saw Gu Mian again, she looked a little surprised. "Xiao Gu, why are you back? And you've brought so many people with you..."
Before you continue