File 023—New Year's Day Ghost Fetus (2)

"Maybe... maybe that wasn't a dream. I suddenly woke up in the middle of the night and checked the time. It was two in the morning. I just went to the bathroom and was getting ready to go back to sleep. But when I lay down, I suddenly felt that something was wrong. My husband should have been lying beside me. He snores—very lightly, but he snores. Yet at that time, he wasn't making a sound at all. I wanted to turn over and see what was wrong with him, but all at once, I couldn't move. It felt like sleep paralysis. I was lying flat on the bed and couldn't move. Everything around me was silent, without the slightest sound. I... I could hear my own heartbeat. It was so loud that my eardrums were ringing. Hah... hah..."

"And then?"

"Then I heard the sound of a door opening. It came from... from the entryway. Then there were footsteps, perfectly in sync with my heartbeat, as if... as if someone were stepping on my heart. My whole body went limp. I couldn't muster any strength at all, and I just stared at the bedroom door. Then a black shadow walked in. I couldn't see its face or its body—just a human-shaped shadow, with very loud footsteps. I... I was terrified. I watched that shadow walk to the bedside. It... it lifted my blanket, pulled up my nightgown, and pressed one hand against my stomach. I... sob... I couldn't react at all."

"So, you came into contact with it?"

"Yes. I did."

"What did it feel like?"

"Cold. So cold. Like a block of ice had been placed on my stomach, and that chill seeped right into my belly. My stomach hurt, but it wasn't the kind of pain caused by freezing. It was like... like a hand was gripping me, gripping my body from inside, holding on tight... I don't know why, but I thought of the child in my womb, and that strange thing that happened on New Year's Day. It felt as if there were two baby hands inside my stomach, clutching my *** as if they were telling me that I could never abort it. Sob... sob sob..."

"Miss Yu, if you need to, you can take a break before we continue."

"No, no, it's fine. Hah—I'll keep going."

"After you felt the pain, how did that shadow react?"

"It... I think it was laughing. The kind of laugh that mocked me. After I heard it laugh twice, I suddenly woke with a start. At that moment, I heard the toilet flushing and my husband snoring, as though I had just come back to bed after using the bathroom. I checked the time. It was 2:05, just enough time for a bathroom trip. I pushed my husband awake, but I didn't dare tell him what had happened. I only said I heard something at the door. He went to check, and it was securely locked. I didn't sleep at all peacefully that night, and I didn't dare touch my stomach, though the pain was gone. The next day... when I was changing clothes the next day, I saw this."

Rustle, rustle...

"A handprint?"

"Yes, a handprint. I saw this handprint the next day, and it still hasn't faded. That was when I started feeling that something was wrong. Maybe I had encountered a ghost..."

"Yes, you did indeed encounter a supernatural incident."

"Did anything else happen afterward?"

"I tried going to a temple. But the closer I got to one, the more my stomach hurt. It was still that feeling of being gripped **. Once, I gritted my teeth and forced myself to keep going, but I passed out from the pain halfway there and nearly got sent to the hospital. I also thought about going back to the hospital for an abortion, but it would hurt then too. I couldn't even make it to the hospital. I had no choice... I really had no choice... I'm so scared, so scared that this thing will... will just stay inside my stomach forever... Please help me! I'm begging you, please help me!"

"We will help you, but we also hope you will cooperate with our investigation."

"Can... can we keep this from my husband and family?"

"If they do not know the truth, then any attempt to probe indirectly under another pretext will undoubtedly face obstacles and affect both the progress and outcome of the investigation."

"But they can't find out! A ghost did that to me, and I'm pregnant with its child! I... I can't let them find out..."

"Please calm down, Miss Yu. We can promise not to tell them the truth, but if that affects the investigation, you will have to bear the consequences. It may even bring disaster upon your family. Can you accept that?"

"..."

"How about this? We'll keep it from your family for now and investigate other angles. If your situation changes, or if we uncover preliminary results, we'll contact you again and consider whether to tell them."

"Okay! Thank you!"

"Because there may be something harmful inside your body, we cannot act rashly. In our experience, before the fetus in your womb takes shape, you yourself will not be harmed. Please do not worry excessively, and do not take any extreme actions that might provoke this thing."

"Mm."

"May we make a record of your body? For example, the handprint on your abdomen and the current size of your abdomen. That will make it easier for us to monitor this thing."

"Okay."

Attached: one photograph of the handprint, one set of the client's physical records.

March 9, 2004. Analysis of the client's recording. Audio file 02320040309G.wav.

"...cannot allow us to fully understand your situation..."

click!

"Here. You can hear footsteps."

"Footsteps?"

click! click!

"...cannot allow us to fully understand your situation..."

"Yes, footsteps. You should all have been seated by then, right?"

"We were all seated. No one moved."

"But there are footsteps here. They sound like a man's footsteps—the sound of leather shoes. Clear and crisp."

"Didn't the boss sense anything at the time?"

"He did. The temperature in the room dropped. A ghost had clearly entered."

"Why didn't you deal with that ghost? One punch and you could've blown it up, and this would've been over!"

"There's another one in her stomach. How am I supposed to blow it up?"

"That's enough. Stop arguing. Don't disturb me while I'm working."

click!

"...after that, I got a little dizzy, a little muddled..."

click!

"This is laughter, also a man's voice."

click!

"...I'm pregnant. Sob..."

"What the hell is wrong with this ghost? It keeps laughing! Damn, I've got goosebumps!"

"Good thing we can't hear it."

"Tch!"

"...but I can't keep this child. There's absolutely no way I can keep it..."

click!

"Here..."

"What?"

click! click!

"But I can't keep this child. There's absolutely no way I can keep it."

click!

"There's speaking here. It's very faint."

Tap tap, tap tap tap tap...

"But... child... ah... aoh... I... not... bitch... can... keep... human... must... absolutely... kill... cannot... keep... abort... aoh..."

"I think... I heard something?"

"You heard it too?"

"A scream, and the words 'bitch' and 'kill'?"

"Yeah. I slowed the audio down and lowered the woman's voice, and the ghost's voice became clearer."

"This ghost seems pretty powerful. Even we can hear its voice."

"If it can make someone pregnant, how could it be weak?"

"If it isn't weak, why didn't it react to the boss? And how did it dare laugh?"

"Keep going."

"Oh."

click!

"...my stomach hurt badly..."

"Mm, it's still laughing."

"What kind of laugh?"

"The kind that's full of malice. Like... like it was very pleased with itself?"

"If that's the case, could it be someone connected to Yu Meng? For example, an ex-boyfriend?"