Maybe Xiao Yi had taken too long to come back from throwing out the trash. Unable to sit still, Uncle Ye and Aunt Zhang grabbed a flashlight and went downstairs to look for her.
From a distance, Aunt Zhang saw Xiao Yi with Jiang Yue. The worry on her face instantly melted into a relieved smile. She tugged at Uncle Ye's sleeve. "Old Ye, let's wait over there for a bit. We shouldn't disturb the kids."
Jiang Yue had spotted the couple before Aunt Zhang ever noticed them.
"Uncle Ye, Xiao Yi's right here!"
His shout carried far enough for half the building to hear.
At that point, it would have been awkward for Uncle Ye and Aunt Zhang to keep pretending they hadn't seen them.
"Little Jiang, just get home?" Uncle Ye asked calmly. His daughter was still young, and he had no plans to match her up with anyone. But his standing in the family wasn't high enough for him to go against his wife.
Aunt Zhang was as warm as ever. "Xiao Yue, you're back! Why don't you come sit at our place? Xiao Yi, don't you have lots of schoolwork you want to ask Xiao Yue about?"
Xiao Yi had inherited her mother's cheerful, affectionate nature. She linked both arms around Jiang Yue's, holding him tight. It was practically a kidnapping; there was no way he could refuse.
Jiang Yue still had questions and concerns on his mind, but after a moment's thought, he decided to go along. He was already home, after all. Sitting at Uncle Ye's place for a few minutes wouldn't delay anything.
As soon as they got inside, Aunt Zhang firmly pressed Jiang Yue onto the sofa, then kept piling snacks and fruit onto the coffee table until there was no room left.
To be honest, Aunt Zhang's warmth touched him.
In this world, there weren't many people who genuinely cared about you. Someone willing to give you their whole heart without holding anything back was rarer still.
They were only neighbors, yet she treated him this well. Jiang Yue couldn't help but feel grateful.
"Uncle Ye, I'd like to talk to you alone for a couple of minutes."
What had happened earlier was truly bizarre, and Jiang Yue was worried the ghostly creature might have done something to Xiao Yi. If she suffered any lasting effects, the whole family could lose their peace—and might even be in danger of losing their lives.
Jiang Yue had no idea whether the Hundred Evils Immunity Halo had killed the ghostly creature just now.
"Honey, take Xiao Yi to the study for a bit. Your uncle and I need to talk."
Soon, only Jiang Yue and Uncle Ye were left in the living room.
Jiang Yue didn't speak right away. He rubbed his face with both hands.
After a long while, he finally raised his head and looked at Uncle Ye with a sincere expression.
"Uncle Ye, what I'm about to say might sound unbelievable. If you don't believe me, just chalk it up to a younger man talking nonsense."
Seeing how serious Jiang Yue was, Uncle Ye couldn't help but grow curious.
"Go ahead, Little Jiang. I'm an open-minded man."
"Just now, downstairs, Xiao Yi... she ran into something that shouldn't be there."
"Something that shouldn't be there?" Uncle Ye didn't immediately understand what he meant.
"You... you mean?"
"A supernatural entity." Jiang Yue's expression turned solemn.
"I was just coming back into the complex..." Jiang Yue recounted everything that had happened earlier, leaving nothing out except for the Hundred Evils Immunity Halo.
Uncle Ye's expression shifted repeatedly as Jiang Yue spoke. By the time he finished, Uncle Ye sat frozen like a wooden post, unable to say a word.
"Uncle Ye, that murder case today—the victim was in Building 8, Unit 2, right?"
"You mean the victim's resentment lingered and turned her into a ghost, and now she's wandering around the complex, hurting people? That... how could that be possible?"
That sort of thing was fine for television dramas, but few people with a proper scientific education could accept it calmly in real life.
"According to folk beliefs, it's called a ghost asking for directions. It does sound unbelievable, so I don't blame you for reacting this way. In theory, Xiao Yi should be fine if she didn't lead it to Building 8, Unit 2. But if she did..."
"What would happen?" Though Uncle Ye was still eighty percent unconvinced, he couldn't help asking.
"They'd be separated by life and death."
It was a cruel answer, but Jiang Yue had to be cruel this time.
"Uncle Ye, ask Xiao Yi whether the person who asked for directions touched her. Did she hold her hand, pat her shoulder, or put an arm around her waist?"
Even though he didn't fully believe it, Uncle Ye couldn't ignore how chilling Jiang Yue's account was. Asking Xiao Yi wouldn't cost them anything.
He hurried into the study and asked her a few questions.
When he returned to the living room, his face was noticeably more grave.
Xiao Yi had evidently told him many details that matched Jiang Yue's account exactly.
The older girl asking for directions, Building 8, Unit 2, the freezing chill, a gust of wind, her eyes suddenly squeezing shut—and when she opened them, the person asking for directions had vanished...
On a night like this, those details were undeniably eerie.
Most importantly, the spot where she'd met Jiang Yue was a fair distance from the entrance to their building. The trash bin was right by the unit entrance; there was no reason for her to have gone that far just to throw something away!
"Little Jiang, Xiao Yi said the person asking for directions... p-patted her on the shoulder."
Jiang Yue sprang to his feet, his expression darkening.
"Uncle Ye, hurry and have Aunt Zhang take Xiao Yi to a room. Get her to take off her clothes and check her whole body for any marks, especially the spot where she was touched."
Uncle Ye panicked too. Jiang Yue's sudden movement and expression had thoroughly frightened him.
He rushed back to the study to give them a few instructions, then hurried out again and paced anxiously around the living room.
No matter how strong a person was, when confronted with something so impossible to explain, fear always took over.
"Ah!"
Before long, Aunt Zhang and Xiao Yi both let out a scream.
"What is it? What happened?" Uncle Ye's voice trembled as he rushed toward the study.
"A handprint! A handprint... a bruise-black handprint!" Aunt Zhang's face had gone ashen, and the terror in her eyes made it seem as if she'd seen a ghost.
Jiang Yue didn't bother worrying about propriety and followed them into the study.
A bruise-black handprint was stamped on Xiao Yi's right shoulder, like a birthmark!
But unlike a birthmark, it carried an intense aura of death. An eerie aura seemed to cling to it, and one look was enough to fill anyone with nameless fear and send a chill down their spine!
"Old Ye, what is this?" Aunt Zhang was a woman, and she was already so shocked she could barely think straight.
Uncle Ye stepped forward with a rag and scrubbed the handprint hard.
It was no use.
The eerie print seemed to have seeped into her skin and flesh. It hadn't faded in the slightest.
No matter how staunch an atheist someone was, facing something so terrifying and strange could shake their convictions.
"Xiao Yi, you haven't gotten a tattoo, have you?"
Aunt Zhang glared at him. "What are you talking about? My daughter and I bathed together just yesterday. She's been right under my nose all day today. A tattoo? How could you even think of that? Xiao Yi's still so young!"
Xiao Yi had been confused before, but seeing how worried her parents were, she was finally starting to feel a little uneasy.
"Brother Jiang Yue, did Xiao Yi run into an evil spirit?"
"Yes, Xiao Yue, what exactly is going on?" Aunt Zhang was completely at a loss.
It was difficult for Jiang Yue to explain this clearly.
He'd only been dealing with these things for a few days longer than Uncle Ye and the others. When he was young, he had heard plenty of strange folk tales from his grandfather.
There were many folk stories about resentment turning into evil, but Jiang Yue had never witnessed anything like it himself.
Until...
He had experienced a ghostly wall just moments ago.
That pale, bloodless hand, the strange girl asking for directions, the timid, shy face hidden in the darkness...
"Uncle Ye, wait a moment. I need to make a call."
He found Officer Han's number in his contacts. It was late, but he didn't bother worrying about the time and called anyway.
Officer Han had been working around the clock for the past few days. He had just interrogated Sun Bin, the culprit in the New Moon Bay murder, and was now slumped wearily in his office chair, sorting through his thoughts.
When his phone rang and he saw it was Jiang Yue, he answered immediately.
"Officer Han, I want to confirm something. Was the victim in today's New Moon Bay case a girl from Star City No. 3 Middle School? Did she live in Building 8, Unit 2?"
"That's right. You should be able to find that out since it happened in your complex, shouldn't you?"
"Officer Han, I need your help with something important. Could you send me a photo of the victim? It doesn't have to be a crime scene photo. An ID photo or an ordinary photo would do!"
"Well..." Officer Han hesitated.
Even setting regulations aside, the dead deserved respect. Sharing a victim's photo didn't sit right with him.
"Officer Han, if I told you something even more terrifying than the Year Eater had appeared, would you still hesitate?"
"What?" The weariness vanished from Officer Han in an instant, and he sat bolt upright.
"Little Jiang, you're not joking, are you?" The fear left by the Year Eater hadn't even faded. If something even worse had shown up, Officer Han felt like he might lose it at any moment.
"Would I joke about something like this?" Jiang Yue sighed. "I'll wait for the photo."
After hanging up, Jiang Yue shifted the phone from his left hand to his right, then back again, visibly anxious.
Officer Han knew what mattered. A few dozen seconds later, he sent over an ID photo of the victim.
Jiang Yue opened it.
His expression changed instantly.
It was that very face!
Even in an ID photo, she had that distinct, timid, shy expression.
"Xiao Yi, come take a look. Is this the girl who asked you for directions?"
Even Xiao Yi, slow as she was to react, was clearly frightened by the atmosphere. She hesitantly glanced at Jiang Yue's phone.
"Ah! It's her!" Xiao Yi's little face turned deathly pale. She covered her eyes with both hands, screamed, and threw herself into her mother's arms.
The Ye family had overheard Jiang Yue's entire phone conversation with Officer Han, so they knew who was in the photo.
In a trembling voice, Uncle Ye asked, "Xiao Yi, look again. Was it her?"
Xiao Yi burrowed into her mother's arms, trembling uncontrollably. "I don't want to look! I don't want to look!"
"Old Ye, haven't you scared her enough already?!"
Jiang Yue's ear twitched. His expression changed at once. He raised one finger in a grave warning and pressed his other hand down through the air, signaling everyone to be quiet.
Through the security door, Jiang Yue heard the elevator open.
Then—
Knock, knock, knock...
The strange knocking came in turns—sometimes soft, sometimes loud.
It sounded like a naughty child playing around outside the door.
Everyone inside held their breath.
All three members of Uncle Ye's family wore expressions of terror.
They trembled like quails, their faces ashen, completely consumed by fear.
Their teeth chattered, and they didn't even dare look toward the door.
As if one glance that way would let an endless terror swallow them whole.
Their hearts were in their throats.
Knock, knock, knock...
The irregular knocking sounded again!
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