Basic ability: Dad and Mom delivering cake

Gao Ming jogged downstairs and returned home through the rain without even opening his umbrella.

He had had a very eventful day, far more exciting than working at Maximum-Security Prison.

After closing the door, Gao Ming laid his black-and-white photos out on the coffee table. "Once the Horror Game has completely merged with reality, will the people in these Posthumous Photographs be able to come back? But will the ones who come back still be themselves?"

His gaze shifted to Teacher Yao. Gao Ming was a little worried that the teacher might not be able to adapt to the environment on the other side. The next time he triggered a ghost story game, he planned to bring along the black-and-white photos of Zhao Xi and Teacher Yao.

The night was pitch-black, and rain poured down. Having gone hungry all day, Gao Ming opened the refrigerator, but he was reluctant to eat anything in his home. The first game had left him deeply traumatized.

"I'd better order delivery. Once the disaster fully breaks out, even if someone dares to deliver food, I won't dare to eat whatever turns up." After ordering on his phone, Gao Ming stared at its home screen and fell silent.

His phone's wallpaper was a photo taken in a residential complex on the far outskirts of Xinhu. He and his parents were sitting at a table, having a meal. He had taken time off in lieu that day to visit home.

His mother still had her apron on and was holding a freshly cooked dish. She seemed to have been nagging him at the time, saying that the downstairs neighbor planned to introduce him to someone once his job settled down.

While Gao Ming had his mother's attention, his father sneaked a glass of liquor.

Gao Ming himself had nodded helplessly in agreement, his attitude as perfunctory as could be.

It was a heartwarming photo to use as a phone wallpaper, yet Gao Ming grabbed his hair in distress.

All three people in the photo looked perfectly normal. The problem was, who had taken it?

The phone had been too far away for it to look like a timer shot. There seemed to have been a fourth person in the house that day, but Gao Ming could not remember who.

"The investigator said anomaly events cut off all communications, but during those three days I was trapped, I clearly received calls from Dad and Mom. Their voices and the way they spoke were exactly the same as always..." Gao Ming was genuinely afraid to follow that thought any further.

"Anomaly events started appearing in Xinhu six months ago. Does that mean someone else has been calling me all this time?"

Gao Ming knew his family very well. As a psychological counselor, he was skilled at seeing into people's minds. Fooling him would be extremely difficult.

The torrential rain had cut off the roads, making it impossible to get to Xinhu. Gao Ming clasped his hands together until his knuckles creaked.

After a long hesitation, Gao Ming picked up his phone and dialed that deeply familiar number.

The phone rang and rang. He was even more nervous than he had been inside the ghost story game.

"No one's answering?"

Gao Ming paced around the room. He called several times in a row, but no one picked up. "Why can't I suddenly get through?"

Sitting back down on the sofa, Gao Ming looked at the black-and-white family photo with the cake on the table and called home for the seventh time.

Beep, beep, beep...

The sound of raindrops striking the window gradually faded. A faint chill crept out of the shadows in the room like a little snake and slowly coiled around Gao Ming's ankles.

As he felt the temperature drop, he suddenly noticed out of the corner of his eye that one of the mothers in the black-and-white photo had begun to smile.

The ringing from his phone abruptly stopped. The call had connected.

"Hello?" Gao Ming sprang to his feet. He heard crackling static from the other end of the line, along with the sound of something heavy being dragged. Someone seemed to be approaching.

"Can you hear me? It's me, Gao Ming!"

The living room light began flickering as the static sounded. At that very moment, footsteps actually rang out in the corridor. Gao Ming felt the heat draining rapidly from his body.

"Who are you really?"

"Stay here..." His mother's faint voice drifted from the phone. More and more shadows began churning in the corners of the room, like the buried roots of a great tree breaking through the earth.

The temperature began dropping faster. Gao Ming wanted to hang up, but the voice on the other end was gradually becoming clearer.

"Stay here, stay here, stay here!!!"

The shrill voice nearly pierced Gao Ming's eardrums. If this continued, he might encounter those "dads" and "moms" again.

It felt as though invisible arms in the shadows had seized his body. Just as the shadows were about to swallow Gao Ming completely, a sudden knocking sounded at the door!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

"Food delivery!"

"Anyone home? Your food's here! Answer your phone!"

Some of the shadows crawled toward the front door. Gao Ming struggled with all his strength and finally managed to hang up.

The temperature in the room rose rapidly, and warm light returned. Gao Ming opened the living room door as fast as he could and rushed outside!

Before the delivery guy knocking on the door could react, Gao Ming plunged headfirst into the corridor, his clothes disheveled and his expression terrified, gasping for breath.

"When did the calls start getting replaced? Have I been talking to ghosts for the past six months?!" Gao Ming could still feel pain throughout his body. His hands trembled uncontrollably.

The Delivery Worker holding a bag of braised chicken with rice was stunned by the sight of him. Not daring to hurry him loudly, he stood in a corner and spoke cautiously. "Sir, your... your food's here."

"Sorry for the trouble." Gao Ming came to his senses and got up from the floor. His gaze was full of gratitude as he looked at the Delivery Worker. If not for that knocking, there was no telling what would have happened next. "What's your name? How long were you knocking? If I've held up your other deliveries, I can send you some money."

"My name's Su Mo. Just leave me a good review if you can." The Delivery Worker raised his hand to pass the braised chicken to Gao Ming, but Gao Ming reached into his pocket, took out two hundred yuan, and pressed it into his hand.

"Sir, what are you doing?"

"I can't let a good deed go unrewarded." Gao Ming searched his pockets a while longer before finally taking out his phone. "I don't use cash much. Here, add me as a contact, and I'll transfer you some money."

"That's really not necessary. I'm only five minutes late. There's no need." The Delivery Worker waved his hands repeatedly, trying to give both the braised chicken and the two hundred yuan back to Gao Ming.

"You deserve it." Having narrowly escaped death, Gao Ming was now overcome with lingering fear. "Did you see anything strange outside just now? Or hear any weird sounds?"

"No." The Delivery Worker shook his head blankly.

"It looks like as long as Ghost Dad and Ghost Mom haven't stepped out of the Posthumous Photograph, the 'summoning' can still be interrupted." Gao Ming opened his phone and checked the footage from his indoor security camera.

"Ghosts?" Unsure of what he had heard, the Delivery Worker looked at Gao Ming's phone screen with a little curiosity.

After a busy day, Gao Ming had returned home and made a call inside his apartment. But partway through the call, his entire body suddenly went rigid, and his hands and feet began to spasm.

Then he seemed to go mad, swinging both hands at empty air with a hideously contorted face!

Seeing this, the Delivery Worker's expression shifted subtly. His hands holding the braised chicken with rice and the two hundred yuan began trembling involuntarily—the man in front of him seemed to be possessed!

The sound-activated corridor light happened to go out just then. The eerie, cold glow of the phone screen lit Gao Ming's face as the two of them exchanged a look.

"Sir, please don't look at me like that. You're scaring me." The Delivery Worker was on the verge of tears. "I'm a student at a nearby university. This is my first time delivering food part-time. If I've been rude in any way, please don't take it to heart."

"Don't be scared. I'm a normal person."

"What normal person insists they're normal in the middle of a conversation?!"

The Delivery Worker was genuinely frightened. He had long heard that Lijing Apartments had bad feng shui and had been the site of numerous murders. Coming here today, he had found that it really did "live up to its reputation."

Before Gao Ming could explain any further, the Delivery Worker put down the braised chicken with rice and the money, then bolted downstairs.

"Are college students these days really that shy?"

Gao Ming picked up the food and money and returned to his apartment, thinking back over everything that had just happened.

"When I look at this Posthumous Photograph while calling home, Ghost Dad and Ghost Mom in the black-and-white Posthumous Photograph seem to change and step out of the shadows."

"That was terrifying, but if I use it properly, it might become a trump card."

An image flashed through Gao Ming's mind: during his final confrontation with Zhao Xi in the room, Dad and Mom had knocked and come in one after another, carrying cakes.

(End of chapter)