Something Supernatural?

Harmony Gardens Residential Complex, Xunyang City, Jiangxi Province, Huaxu Kingdom.

The damn complex had a nice name, but it was just low-rent housing.

There were three units per elevator, and Wu Zhong lived on the twentieth floor. Every morning when he left for work, he had to wait forever for the elevator.

He had even been late because of it. It was driving him crazy.

"Ding-dong." The elevator finally arrived.

Wu Zhong wearily scratched his medium-length hair and stepped inside.

A well-dressed man in a refined shirt was already inside. He lived upstairs, and Wu Zhong saw him at this time almost every day.

His surname seemed to be Li, but they were not close.

The two exchanged a glance and gave each other perfunctory nods.

Wu Zhong leaned against the corner of the elevator and, out of habit, pulled out his phone. He pretended to be busy, but really just aimlessly scrolled through the screen and checked the time.

"Tsk, why won't this door close?" The well-dressed man repeatedly pressed the close-door button, making it click rapidly as he grew more and more irritated.

But the elevator doors refused to cooperate and remained open.

Naturally, the elevator would not go down while they stayed open.

"Huh? Is it broken? Don't tell me I have to walk down twenty floors myself?" Sweat covered the shirted man's forehead.

"Brother Li, let me try..." Wu Zhong stepped over and frantically jabbed at the button too. This time, the elevator doors finally closed.

"A little slow, huh," Wu Zhong said, retreating into the corner again.

Brother Li shook his head. "This damn elevator's old. Who knows whether it's ever been serviced all these years. What the hell does the property management even do?"

"Yeah..." Wu Zhong played with his phone, making a vague sound as though agreeing with him.

Then the elevator stopped on the eighteenth floor. Another resident wanted to get in, but the elevator doors failed to open again.

The people inside and outside waited stupidly on opposite sides of the doors. Brother Li started hammering the open-door button. "Fuck, this damn elevator is going to get someone killed sooner or later."

Wu Zhong finally frowned. These were all bad signs.

The doors were opening and closing so sluggishly. It was terrifying. Surely he would not get trapped in the elevator today?

He had something urgent to do. He needed to get to the hospital quickly.

Wu Zhong immediately became anxious as well and stepped forward to hammer the open-door button.

The silver elevator doors slowly opened, and a middle-aged couple entered.

The woman immediately complained, "What the hell were you doing in there? Holding the doors shut so we couldn't get in? Did your family install this elevator?"

Brother Li glared at her. "We were trying to open the doors for you. Do you even know what happened?"

"If you weren't holding it, why wouldn't the doors open?" The more she talked, the more worked up she became.

Wu Zhong could not help saying, "Once it reaches a floor, the doors open automatically. Whatever we do inside doesn't affect that. At most, it affects when the doors close after opening."

"Uh, like right now... they won't close again."

Everyone looked at the open elevator doors, still wide apart without closing.

Brother Li shouted, "Exactly! This elevator is slow as hell to react. How is that my fault?"

The woman froze, then ran over and pressed the close-door button, but the doors did not react.

Her husband even tried pulling them apart with his hands, hooking his fingers into the doorframe as though that might trigger some sensor and make them close automatically.

Brother Li sneered. This time, he did not angrily hammer the buttons. He simply stood there with his hands in his pockets. "I told you it was malfunctioning..."

"Earlier, I had to work my ass off to get it open for you. I nearly wore my hands raw."

"Heh, go ahead and press it yourself. Put some strength into it!"

Wu Zhong looked down at his phone and waited silently. Both he and Brother Li thought the elevator doors would close after a while.

But after waiting, two minutes passed, and there was still no sign of the doors closing.

The middle-aged man was terrified and grabbed his wife. "Stop pressing it. This is creepy. Something's wrong with this elevator. Let's take the stairs."

"The eighteenth floor?" The woman frowned.

"Come on, come on. What if it falls?" The man dragged his wife out of the elevator in a flash, moving so quickly that he seemed afraid they would be crushed by the doors as they passed through the frame.

Brother Li frowned too. "It's over. It's completely broken."

He glanced at Wu Zhong. Seeing no response from him, he also darted out of the elevator.

The three of them took the stairs, leaving only Wu Zhong behind.

He was tired. Really tired. He did not want to climb stairs.

Wu Zhong casually pressed the close-door button twice and decided to wait a little longer.

Unexpectedly, the doors closed as soon as he pressed it, and the elevator resumed its descent.

Wu Zhong was a little stunned.

He raised his finger and examined it before silently laughing. Looks like I'm the one who's got the touch.

Then the elevator stopped on the sixteenth floor. It was the same as before—the doors did not open automatically.

Wu Zhong casually pressed the button once, and the doors opened smoothly, without any delay.

An old lady entered from outside. "Why did it stop on the eighteenth floor for so long?"

Wu Zhong blinked. "This elevator's malfunctioning. It reacts slowly..."

"But sometimes it works fine."

The old lady said nothing more. They continued downward, stopping intermittently on several floors.

This time, Wu Zhong stood near the controls. Every time the elevator stopped, he took the initiative to press the button, and the doors opened smoothly.

He deliberately tried pressing a little late, but the doors never opened automatically. Every single time, he had to press the button.

"This..." Wu Zhong felt that something was wrong, though he could not tell what.

A strange feeling lingered in his heart, but his long, dull life had left him numb, and he did not think much of it.

Because they had stopped for so long earlier, quite a few people were waiting downstairs.

More and more people squeezed in one after another.

Finally, on the fifth floor, two muscular men in tank tops forcibly shoved Wu Zhong aside.

Wu Zhong instinctively stepped back and gave up his position by the elevator controls.

A bad feeling rose in his heart. Sure enough, when the elevator reached the second floor, it stopped moving again.

Apparently, someone outside on the second floor had pressed the button to take the elevator, but the doors did not open automatically, leaving the elevator suspended there.

The muscular men grew irritated and hammered the open-door button until it banged loudly.

"What kind of garbage elevator is this?"

"Press the emergency call button!"

"Stop pushing!"

August was scorching hot, and the elevator's ventilation had always been bad. With so many people crammed inside, it was unbearably stuffy, and all sorts of smells mixed together.

Everyone became agitated. Wu Zhong was the calmest one there.

What if the elevator obediently opens as soon as I press the button? Wu Zhong thought.

But the idea was ridiculous. Besides, he had been squeezed toward the back, with the two muscular men blocking him, while people around him were all talking at once. So Wu Zhong never moved.

The muscular men soon got through to the security guards via the alarm, and the property management quickly said they would send someone to handle it.

Everyone waited in the elevator. At first, some found it novel and took out their phones to film it. Wu Zhong was one of them.

But as time passed, the atmosphere became increasingly oppressive. Though they lived in the same building, they did not actually know one another.

A renovation worker wearing a hard hat pulled out half a pack of Red Double Happiness cigarettes, but after a young man in a suit glared at him, he sheepishly put them away.

The oppressive atmosphere continued to build, and everyone shifted awkwardly.

Taking advantage of the moment, Wu Zhong slowly stretched his hand toward the buttons.

"Oh, for fuck's sake!" An auntie was the first to shout, then she wildly elbowed Wu Zhong to the side.

Wu Zhong, who had been about to secretly reach for the open-door button, recoiled in fright.

He later realized the auntie was only targeting the muscular men in front, telling them not to move around recklessly.

But since she had spoken, Wu Zhong did not dare make any move either.

Second by second, time passed. They had been trapped for over five minutes.

It did not sound like long, but in an enclosed space, it felt especially unbearable.

"What kind of property management is this? Why the fuck are they taking so long?" Someone began cursing.

Then one of the muscular men reached for the elevator doors. "Give me a hand. Let's pry them open!"

Someone was afraid. "Don't. Let's just wait for the repairman to deal with it."

"What are you scared of? Isn't this the second floor? It's not like you'll fall to your death." The muscular man did as he pleased, his tank top completely soaked through with sweat.

Yet even after exerting every ounce of strength, the elevator doors did not budge.

After a while, someone shouted from outside, followed by the sounds of people prying at the doors.

But it was useless. The doors remained shut.

"Call the fire department!"

"We did, we did. They'll be here soon. Please stay calm."

Even the repairman called by the property management could not open the elevator. Before long, the fire department arrived.

Two firefighters used tools to pry forcefully at the doors. They worked at it for a long time, but the silver metal panels did not move at all, as though welded shut.

They discussed it with the repairman and ruled out an ordinary wiring malfunction.

"It's not a wiring issue."

"Could something be jammed in the doors?"

"Possibly. We'll have to force it open."

"Where's the central control? Lower the elevator to the first floor first. We'll cut it open directly."

The fire department gave the order, and the property management fully cooperated. The elevator moved normally down to the first floor... except the doors still would not open.

The middle-aged couple and Brother Li emerged from the emergency stairwell. Seeing the scene, they silently congratulated themselves on taking the stairs.

They complained to the firefighters about the safety issues here, leaving the property management drenched in sweat.

The firefighters said nothing more, only, "Start cutting."

"Bzzzz!"

The firefighters quickly began sawing through the doors. To avoid hurting the people inside, they cut high up on the doors.

The piercing sound echoed continuously through the enclosed space, making everyone tense.

"People inside, be careful."

"Cover your ears, open your mouths, and close your eyes."

Hearing the instructions from outside, everyone in the elevator did as they were told.

Only Wu Zhong took the opportunity to squeeze forward. With a try-it-and-see attitude, he stretched out his hand to reach the open-door button.

Buzz... The elevator doors opened.

The firefighter sawing the door froze for a moment and hurriedly stopped.

"Okay, okay..."

They held the doorframe to keep the doors from closing again and rescued everyone inside.

Wu Zhong was the last one out, looking astonished. "How did it open?"

A firefighter actually answered him. "Something was probably jammed in the doors. We cut through it."

"Thank you, thank you..."

He led everyone in thanking the fire department, but inwardly, he felt strange.

A coincidence? It could only have been a coincidence, right?

It had to be that the firefighters happened to cut through whatever had jammed the doors.

It could not be that he had suddenly gained a superpower to control elevator doors, could it? That would be too fucking stupid.

Wu Zhong laughed at himself and did not dwell on it.

At that moment, the fire department began discussing the elevator's safety issues with the property management. Some residents stayed behind to continue cursing at the property management, while others hurried off to work.

"I need to get to the hospital."

Wu Zhong had no time to watch the commotion. He hurried out as well, casually shutting the security gate to the residential building behind him.

He rushed to catch a bus. While waiting, he checked the weather. The sky was dark and overcast.

The wind was strong, and the sea of clouds churned.

All the clouds and wind were racing in the direction of Mount Lu.

Jiujiang lay at the foot of Mount Lu, and he could even see part of the Mount Lu range with the naked eye.

Dark clouds covered that area, with flashes of lightning faintly visible. It was clearly pouring rain there.

"Damn it, didn't the forecast say there wouldn't be rain today? I didn't bring in the laundry."

"Forget it. I'll just wash it again later."

The bus arrived, and he hurriedly took it to First Hospital.

In the inpatient department, he came to his grandfather's bedside and asked the caregiver how things were going.

The caregiver was an old man too. Playing with his phone, he replied in dialect, "Nothing much. His condition's stable. It's just eating, drinking, using the toilet, that sort of thing."

Wu Zhong looked at his sleeping grandfather and the untouched food on the bedside table. "Why did he eat so little? He barely touched it."

The caregiver said flatly, "He can't eat much. After two bites, he says he's full."

Wu Zhong frowned. "You need to encourage him to eat. Feed him properly. When I feed him myself, he can eat half a bowl."

The caregiver hurriedly said, "What can I do if he won't eat? It's fine. He's been on a nutrient drip the whole time."

Wu Zhong said nothing. He wanted to care for his grandfather himself, but he truly had no time.

This was his only remaining family. Wu Zhong had lost his father when he was young. His mother had taken him to his grandfather's home to be raised, then died of depression a few years later.

His grandfather had raised him to adulthood, but just a couple of years after he finally began working, his grandfather suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and was hospitalized.

His condition was stable, but caring for him was exhausting. Someone had to tend to all his eating, drinking, and toileting.

The caregiver cost two hundred and fifty a day, or seven thousand five hundred a month. Including hospital fees and his own rent, he had to desperately earn over eight thousand every month, supplemented by his grandfather's pension, just to barely get by.

So he could not save money on the caregiver. If he cared for his grandfather himself, who would work? There was no one else in the family. Without income, they would be completely screwed.

For that reason, he worked insane amounts of overtime. Whenever there was no work, he took part-time jobs as a wake-up caller. He did not dare rest for even a day... Fortunately, his job paid more the more he worked.

Some said auto repair was dirty and exhausting, and that was true. But the trade really could make money. Compared to working in a factory, it was far better. In a factory, you might be busy all day long, yet your pay never seemed to rise.

"Uncle, it's time for the examination. Come on, let's push the hospital bed over together." Wu Zhong called to the caregiver.

The caregiver froze. "So early? The doctors aren't even at work yet."

Wu Zhong curled his lip. "We'll go line up first. The earlier we start, the earlier we finish. I still have work to get to."

The two of them pushed the hospital bed to the relevant floor and waited outside the MRI room.

Wu Zhong sat beside the bed and dozed off. He was exhausted.

They waited until after eight before the doctor arrived. Since he had been the first to line up at the window, quite a few hospital beds were queued behind him.

Once the examination began, it was over in minutes. Wu Zhong pushed his grandfather out and saw the long line behind them. He was glad he had come early and gotten it done right away. He hadn't wasted the money he'd spent hiring someone to wake him before seven.

Though he was unbearably sleepy, at least this would not delay him from getting to work.

He had no choice. His monthly income and expenses were stretched to the limit, so he had to squeeze every bit of time and living costs he could.

"The attending physician will come by at ten. Aren't you going to wait?" the caregiver asked.

Yawning, Wu Zhong said, "No. Whatever the results are, just send them to me on Green Bubble later. I'm going to work."

He hurried out of the hospital and took the bus.

The moment he got off, he saw a large crowd gathered inside his Harmony Gardens residential complex, apparently watching some excitement.

He was curious about what had happened in his own neighborhood, but he had no time. He hurriedly ran to work.

The place was neither particularly far nor particularly close. He reached the repair shop after ten minutes of running.

"Little Wu, why are you so late?" the boss asked with some concern, without any intention of blaming him. After all, Wu Zhong was a complete overtime maniac.

Wu Zhong still had to give a reason. "Oh, the elevator broke down... I got trapped inside..."

The boss burst out laughing. "You just make things up on the spot. Always acting so weird. Get to work."

Wu Zhong stayed silent. While getting chewed out by the boss, he swiftly changed into his work clothes and went over to his coworker Old Wang to start working.

"Engineer Wang, this car's throwing a P0172 fault code..."

"I know. I'm almost done." Old Wang tapped the deformed jack with a wrench.

Then he lowered his voice. "That excuse you gave for being late today was way too ridiculous, wasn't it?"

Wu Zhong sighed softly. "I really was trapped in the elevator. I have a video to prove it. Sigh, I hope they don't dock my pay."

"Haha, it's fine. You're a model worker. Even if you're late a few times, the boss wouldn't dare deduct your performance bonus." Old Wang shrugged.

Wu Zhong sighed. "Don't say that. If they really deduct it, I can't afford it."

"Get to work. The owner is coming to pick it up this morning."

He immediately immersed himself in work.

The two of them worked on a Buick. There was no major problem, only an excessively rich fuel mixture in the fuel system.

After fixing it, Wu Zhong got in, took it for a test drive, and came back without any issues. "All right, call the customer."

He parked the car, and there was nothing to do for the moment, so he and Old Wang smoked in the sun off to the side.

The pressure had gotten Wu Zhong hooked on cigarettes, but to save money, he never bought any himself. He always bummed cigarettes off coworkers, the boss, and even customers, and that was enough to keep him supplied.

Not long after, the owner arrived. He was a middle-aged man in a gray suit, and the moment he showed up, he was eager to drive the car away.

Wu Zhong went up and handed him the keys. The suited man beeped the unlock button and yanked hard on the door, about to get in.

However, the car door did not budge.

"What's going on? Is the door lock broken?"

The suited man repeatedly tried to open the door and pressed the lock button on the key again and again, but nothing worked. The door simply would not open.

"Didn't you say replacing the air filter was all it needed? How did you break my car door? Huh?"

The owner started shouting. The boss came over after hearing the commotion, frowning, while Old Wang looked utterly baffled.

Wu Zhong's heart skipped a beat. A strange sense of familiarity surged through him. The door was broken again?

"Good heavens! No way?"

"Am I cursed?"