Apartment

Chapter 44: Apartment

The wind was strong in Ye City today. The sun, still visible in the morning, had now vanished completely.

Dark, inky clouds crowded the sky, heavy as if they might come crashing down. A vast shadow seemed to have fallen over Ye City.

A chill wind swept through the streets and alleys, and an uneasy atmosphere seemed to be spreading everywhere.

"Bai Yanliang, this can't be the student's home, can it?" Feng Xiuxue asked doubtfully, looking up at the building.

It was clearly a single-occupancy apartment building.

Bai Yanliang didn't even turn around at her question. He was already pushing open the glass door.

"If you want to go to Hao Bowen's home, turn around, take the No. 6 bus, and get off at Haiming Residential District."

Feng Xiuxue glared at his back and hurried after him.

After spending a little time with him, she'd decided that Bai Yanliang was completely heartless.

"Then whose home is this?" Feng Xiuxue asked, watching Bai Yanliang press the button for the thirteenth floor.

"Li Degang."

"Li Degang?" Feng Xiuxue asked, puzzled. "Who's Li Degang?"

"The deceased." Bai Yanliang glanced at her. She knew nothing about the case; she'd probably come along just to be a nuisance.

"Ding—"

The elevator arrived.

The two got off, and Bai Yanliang gazed silently at the tightly shut door.

He'd obtained Li Degang's personal information from the police. Naturally, they had already searched his home as well.

A bachelor nearing forty, Li Degang had led a rather dull private life.

"The door's locked. What do we do?" Feng Xiuxue asked, looking at Bai Yanliang. Though she sounded curious, she was mostly hoping to see him make a fool of himself.

That was what he got for being so sharp-tongued.

"Step aside."

Bai Yanliang didn't seem concerned. He nudged Feng Xiuxue to one side.

She slapped his hand away and snorted. "What are you doing? You know how to pick locks or—"

"Bang!"

Before Feng Xiuxue could finish, a loud crash rang out. Bai Yanliang had already kicked the door open.

"What were you saying?" Bai Yanliang looked at Feng Xiuxue in confusion. He thought he'd heard her say something.

Her expression cool, Feng Xiuxue replied flatly, "Nothing."

That bastard was practically a monster. He looked so slender, yet he was incredibly strong...

Bai Yanliang glanced at her and said nothing.

The two entered Li Degang's room, one after the other.

It was a small place, with very little inside.

The police had already searched it once. Any clues that might have been there were probably gone by now.

Feng Xiuxue followed behind Bai Yanliang. She was just about to pull the door shut when she suddenly heard footsteps outside.

Had the noise they'd made attracted another resident from the thirteenth floor?

Feng Xiuxue was still wondering when the footsteps outside grew closer.

Whoever it was... seemed about to appear.

"Tap... tap."

Two soft sounds: footsteps stopping.

Someone had stopped right outside, beside the doorway!

Feng Xiuxue's expression changed. She looked at Bai Yanliang and saw him staring intently at the entrance. He gave her a slight shake of his head.

Bai Yanliang had noticed something was wrong, too.

Or rather... things had been wrong from the very beginning.

It was quiet. More than quiet... utterly silent!

Since entering the apartment building, the two of them hadn't seen a single person. They hadn't even seen a doorman.

And even more strangely, there wasn't a sound anywhere in the building.

This apartment building was in the heart of the city. Even if everyone inside was quiet, surely they could at least hear the traffic outside?

But... there was nothing.

By the time Bai Yanliang finally realized something was wrong, the uncanny presence had already drawn near.

He'd been careless.

Perhaps his too-strange experiences in Mist Gathering had given Bai Yanliang the false impression that nothing too bizarre could happen in the real world.

But everything happening now had already disproved that assumption completely.

Feng Xiuxue wasn't a newcomer to Mist Gathering. By now, she was one of the more prominent names there. But... that didn't mean she was used to this kind of bizarre horror.

Anyone human—anyone without supernatural powers—would feel fear deep in their soul when faced with something unknown, indescribable, and impossible to comprehend. There was no such thing as simply getting used to it.

Perhaps only someone like Bai Yanliang, who was born with an emotional deficiency, could stay calm in a situation like this.

"Whew—"

The thing beside the doorway seemed to be panting.

Fine beads of sweat appeared on Feng Xiuxue's pale forehead.

She'd encountered situations even more uncanny than this, but... those had been in Mist Gathering. This place... was the real world!

A powerful fear rose from within her. In that instant, the world she'd always known suddenly felt so unfamiliar.

Just then, the thing outside the door moved!

"Tap..."

It took a step!

Something was about to appear! Bai Yanliang and Feng Xiuxue stared intently at the doorway...

But at that very moment!

Bai Yanliang and Feng Xiuxue suddenly opened their eyes!

What... was going on?

They were standing outside the apartment building, at the entrance. They hadn't gone inside, hadn't taken the elevator, and hadn't opened any doors!

"Just now..." Feng Xiuxue began, then startled herself with the sound of her own voice.

It was hoarse and dry, nothing like her usual voice.

Bai Yanliang nodded, though Feng Xiuxue hadn't finished her question.

"Did we actually go inside just now?" Feng Xiuxue clenched her fists instinctively, only to realize her palms were drenched in sweat.

This time, Bai Yanliang didn't answer her question.

The dark glass door looked like a gaping mouth, ready to swallow anyone who entered.

"Hey, Bai Yanliang, I'm asking you—"

Feng Xiuxue hadn't finished speaking when her eyes suddenly widened.

Bai Yanliang turned to her and asked calmly, "What's wrong?"

Feng Xiuxue stumbled backward again and again, stopping only when she was several meters away from Bai Yanliang.

Because the "person" beside her, speaking in Bai Yanliang's voice, didn't have Bai Yanliang's face at all!

It was the strange face of an unfamiliar man. He looked at her with an odd smile and asked, "What's wrong?"

A powerful fear surged through her again.

A ghost!

This time, she'd definitely run into a ghost!

Feng Xiuxue stared at him blankly, her pupils shrinking and widening. She was so terrified she couldn't speak.

Though this wasn't in Mist Gathering, it was the first time she'd felt her life was in such grave danger!

But at that very moment, Bai Yanliang saw something entirely different.

Feng Xiuxue suddenly stumbled away from him, her eyes filled with fear as she looked at him.

But... just three or four meters behind Feng Xiuxue stood a tall, thin monster, covered from head to toe in facial features!

"Don't move!"

Bai Yanliang shouted.