Strange Smell in the Air

Only I remained in the pavilion.

The dozen or so ghosts that had surrounded me earlier had all vanished without a trace.

There was still wave after wave of coldness behind me, and a strange smell lingered in the air.

I had a bad feeling that something terrifying might have appeared behind me.

Otherwise, that old man would not have worn such an expression.

I did not dare turn around right away, and I was so nervous that I broke out in a cold sweat.

I gripped the white porcelain bowl tightly.

I had heard people say before that if something unclean was standing behind you, you could not turn around immediately.

Because the three fires above your head would go out.

And the unclean thing would bite your neck at that moment.

I did not know whether it was true, but right now, I truly did not dare whip my head around.

But gradually, I realized that the smell in the air seemed somewhat familiar.

It was faint, but the more I smelled it, the more it resembled formaldehyde.

It also resembled that strange scent my ex-girlfriend Xiao Yu had carried.

My heart jolted, and a bold guess formed in my mind.

I asked instinctively:

"Xiao Yu, is that you?"

Although I already knew that Xiao Yu, whom I had been with for over a year, was not human.

Other than asking me for coins, Xiao Yu had never harmed me while we were together.

I did not know why she had wanted me to spend the coins, or why she had hurriedly broken up with me.

But at the very least, I had genuinely loved her when we were together.

I called out, but there was no response.

Instead, the coldness and that smell gradually weakened.

I could not be completely certain whether Xiao Yu had come.

All I could do was grip the white porcelain bowl tightly and nervously turn around bit by bit.

If anything strange really appeared, I could smack it with the bowl.

But when I slowly turned my head around.

I found nothing behind me. Aside from the swaying green willows by the lake, the empty path, the dim yellow streetlights, and the misty drizzle...

Forget Xiao Yu—there was not even a ghostly shadow in sight.

I stood in the empty pavilion, listening to the rain and staring wide-eyed as I constantly scanned my surroundings.

Other than the sounds of rain and wind, everything was deathly quiet.

After standing there nervously for a while, I finally sat weakly in the middle of the pavilion, holding that white porcelain bowl as I silently endured the torment.

It did not feel like long before another smell appeared in the air.

It was a fishy stench, like the smell of rotten fish and shrimp.

The moment that smell appeared, my expression changed drastically, and I hurriedly crouched down.

Because I had smelled it before. It was the same odor that had appeared when Zhang Qiang came looking for me.

I crouched in the pavilion, eyes wide as I inspected my surroundings, especially the lakeshore not far away.

Under the dim streetlights, I vaguely saw a figure slowly crawling out of the water.

It looked as though he was struggling greatly. The lake water seemed incredibly viscous, forcing him to use all his strength.

He crawled for quite a while before finally dragging himself out of the lake.

Then he stood by the shore, shook out his clothes, and began walking toward me.

He was nothing more than a dark shadow, and I could not see him clearly.

But as the figure drew closer, the fishy stench grew stronger and stronger.

And his build looked increasingly familiar.

I did not dare raise my head and simply remained crouched in the pavilion, watching.

After a while, he came closer.

He was soaked from head to toe, and his face was very pale, vastly different from the waxy yellow faces of those unclean things in the pavilion earlier.

When he came closer still, I saw his face clearly.

He had a large mouth, small eyes, and a broad, somewhat bloated face.

It was Zhang Qiang, my roommate who had drowned not long ago.

He walked toward the pavilion on tiptoe, limping as rain fell freely over him.

I was utterly surprised. Had this ghost not already come by earlier?

Why had he come back now? Had I been exposed?

I did not dare go out. It was still raining outside.

As I considered how to deal with what came next.

Zhang Qiang stopped walking.

He simply stood there, motionlessly staring at the pavilion.

Afraid he would see me, I turned my back to him and covered my face with my arm.

I watched him only from the corner of my eye.

He stood in the rain without moving or speaking.

But the fishy stench radiating from him grew ever stronger, making me nearly vomit several times.

After perhaps ten minutes, he suddenly said to me in the pavilion without any emotion:

"Jiang Ning, why are you not back in the dorm this late? The teacher told me to come get you!"

I was startled when I heard that.

I wondered whether he had recognized me.

But after hearing the second part, I narrowed my eyes slightly.

The teacher had told him to come get me?

What absurd nonsense.

You were already dead. What teacher could possibly send you to fetch me?

If I were dumb enough to listen to him, I would deserve to die.

I ignored him and continued crouching in the pavilion.

Compared with the words of Zhang Qiang, this Drowned Ghost, I trusted the delivery guy who had died in the car accident more.

Seeing that I did not answer, Zhang Qiang, standing outside the pavilion, suddenly took a few more steps toward me.

As he approached, my entire body tensed to the limit, and I clenched the white porcelain bowl in my hand.

If he recognized me, I would fight him.

It did not matter how fierce he was. I could not just surrender and let this bastard harm me.

Just as I was on high alert and ready to strike at any moment.

Zhang Qiang stopped at the entrance of the pavilion and tilted his head slightly.

Then he said to me somewhat woodenly:

"Oh! So you are a beggar.

I thought you were my roommate!"

After saying that, Zhang Qiang mechanically turned around.

Limping and walking on tiptoe, he headed back toward the lake.

And as he walked, he muttered:

"Where did he go? If I cannot find him, how am I supposed to explain it to the teacher when I go back? So annoying!"

His back gradually receded, and I could no longer hear him clearly.

I did not know what else he muttered to himself afterward...

But I could not shake the feeling.

Compared with last night, aside from that fishy stench, Zhang Qiang himself had become somewhat dull-witted.

It was as if he had not even figured out whether he was dead or not.