I Sleepwalked

At two in the morning, I actually walked out of the master bedroom again, but I had absolutely no memory of it. The footage clearly showed that my eyes were closed as I came out.

I walked from the master bedroom into the living room, sat on the sofa like a puppet, then picked up the remote and turned on the TV.

The sound from the TV didn't make me open my eyes. I just sat there with them closed, "watching" TV until four in the morning.

At four, I suddenly collapsed onto the sofa, sprawled out as though I had fallen asleep.

At five, I jolted awake on the sofa, grabbed my phone, and ran out of the apartment.

From beginning to end, not a single cement shoeprint appeared in the surveillance footage.

After watching it, I was utterly dumbstruck. Even when my feet went numb from crouching, I didn't move.

I actually... I really had been sleepwalking. And the cement shoeprints hadn't existed at all...

"Have you been under too much pressure at work lately...?"

Meng Yifan swallowed and looked at me strangely.

But it wasn't anything else that had scared him. It was me.

"How about I give you a week off? Go somewhere, clear your head, then come back..."

"Or once it's light out, we could go to the hospital..."

I clawed at my scalp and said to Meng Yifan with complete seriousness, "I don't know when I started sleepwalking either, but I swear to you, I really saw those cement shoeprints. They were made by high heels. I don't understand why the camera didn't pick them up..."

Meng Yifan clearly didn't believe me. He remained convinced that work stress had made me hallucinate.

"How about this? We told the owner we'd stay for two nights, so I'll come sleep here with you tonight."

"If you can see those cement shoeprints, then I should be able to see them too. Sound good?"

Meng Yifan really was my best buddy. He was always considerate of my feelings.

I nodded and didn't refuse.

Although I had already developed an aversion to the apartment, I wanted to prove that I really had seen those cement shoeprints. Otherwise, I would have to admit that I needed to see a psychiatrist.

By the time we finished watching the footage, it was broad daylight, so Meng Yifan and I left for the time being.

After having breakfast outside, I returned to the shop for work as usual.

But I was distracted all day.

I kept wondering why the cement shoeprints had vanished into thin air.

And why had I suddenly started sleepwalking?

At eight that evening, Meng Yifan and I met up as arranged and returned to the apartment together.

We bought some late-night food and beer, then sat in the master bedroom, eating and chatting.

We talked about all sorts of things, from our childhood right up to the present.

Really, we weren't just childhood friends. Our fathers and grandfathers knew each other too. Our families had been friends for generations, so we were as close as brothers.

"Neither of us is sleeping tonight. Let's see what kind of weird shit happens."

Meng Yifan was brimming with swagger. "Never mind that I don't believe in any of that supernatural crap. Even if there really is a ghost, I'll kill it all over again!"

Half an hour later.

We both got drunk, collapsed onto the bed, and fell asleep.

We slept so well that we were both completely dead to the world.

But I felt as though I hadn't been asleep for long when, in my groggy haze, I heard knocking again.

This time, I didn't linger in bed. I sat bolt upright in fright and hurriedly shook Meng Yifan awake too. He had been sleeping like a pig.

"Wake up! Someone's knocking!"

Meng Yifan climbed out of bed, looking thoroughly annoyed and cursing under his breath. "Who the fuck knocks on someone's door in the middle of the night? Are they drunk?"

I quickly picked up the phone on the bed and checked it.

Midnight again...

A chill instantly crept up my back. I froze where I was and glanced toward the door.

Goddammit!

Don't tell me someone was looking for Li Xiumei again?