The Old Security Guard

One remark from the driver sent Bun Head into a rage. He went up and slapped the driver across the face with a smack.

"Fuck you! It's bad enough my buddy's telling me ghost stories. Now you want in on it too? Drive!!"

Intimidated by Bun Head's ferocity, the driver didn't dare argue. He apologized, looking aggrieved, glanced out the window again, and drove off.

After that little incident, none of us said much for the rest of the ride.

It was past two in the morning when we reached Nanjing Road, but the place was still bustling.

The bright lights and revelry soon made us forget the unpleasantness on the way over, and the more we drank, the happier we got.

I knew how much influence Bun Head had in the development zone. His help and his wife's had been a huge part of finding Wang Dazhong last time.

I couldn't help asking:

"Buddy, you know a lot of people in the development zone. Could you help me ask around for someone else?"

Bun Head tossed his beer bottle under the table and said breezily:

"Forget a person. Even if you wanted to find a rat in the development zone, I could tell you which hole it lived in."

I knew how good Bun Head was at bragging. Smiling, I continued:

"Someone surnamed He. A very capable man who can subdue evil spirits."

Bun Head gulped down a big mouthful of beer, burped, and asked slowly:

"He what?"

I shook my head. "All I know is his surname's He and he's a man. Nothing else."

Bun Head rolled his eyes at that.

"There must be tens of thousands of people surnamed He in the development zone. How would I know which one you're looking for?"

He had a point. Old Wu had only told me this expert's surname was He. I had no idea what he looked like or what his full name was. Even if he stood right in front of me, I wouldn't recognize him.

But Old Liu had said he knew someone surnamed He in his circle. Considering Old Liu's abilities, they could very well be the same person.

Thinking of Old Liu, what I most needed to establish now was whether he had actually started the fire at 2386 ten years ago!

Half a building's worth of dead souls, hundreds of lives-it determined whether he was worth trusting at all!

I asked again:

"Then do you have any friends around Huaiyuan Road?"

Bun Head slapped the table and said:

"I've got friends all over Huaiyuan Road. Even the rats there know me!"

With that, he urged us to drink again and raised his glass.

We drank until dawn that night. By the time I opened my eyes, it was already one in the afternoon.

Drinking was one thing, but we couldn't let it hold up our actual business.

I hurriedly dragged the still-sleeping Bun Head and Little Six out of bed, and we headed straight for Huaiyuan Road.

Almost every time I had come looking for someone in this residential complex, it had been at night. Standing before the building in daylight, I felt it wasn't as frightening as before.

Bun Head found a friend nearby named Shunzi. He worked at the local police station and was fairly familiar with everything around here.

Shunzi wore a baseball cap. He was short and had a mole beside his mouth.

As soon as he met us, he began telling us about the fire at 2386 ten years earlier.

"Ten years ago, this building was a holdout against redevelopment. There was an urban construction project planned at the time, but the hundred-odd households here refused to move, no matter what. Less than a month later, a fire suddenly broke out, and everyone in half the building burned to death!"

At that, Bun Head curled his lip and said:

"Everyone in half the building burned to death? Then why are people still living here? Aren't they afraid it's haunted?"

Shunzi pushed up his cap and said:

"Brother Qiang, of course it's haunted. I'm the local beat cop, and we get calls every few days. But there's nothing we can do. The people living here are all poor. The things they report are all over the place, too. We've got a rule: we don't respond to any calls that come in after midnight!"

I asked:

"So how exactly did the fire start? Did they catch the person who set it?"

Shunzi nodded and said:

"The case file says a security guard here carelessly tossed away a cigarette butt and started the fire. He got ten years and was only just released!"

"Where's that guard living now? I'd like to see him!"

Shunzi's expression changed. Lowering his head, he said:

"Brother, you'd be better off not seeing him if you can avoid it. He's not right in the head. Originally, he got five years, but then he accidentally killed someone in prison and got another five. That made ten years altogether!"

I nodded and said:

"It's fine. I just want to ask him a few questions. Tell me where he lives!"

Shunzi gave Bun Head an awkward look. Only after Bun Head nodded did he give me the address.

We took the address and went looking for him.

The guard hadn't gone far after his release. He had found an abandoned warehouse at the dump near 2386 and made it his home.

The warehouse backed onto a hill, with mountains of garbage piled all around it. Apparently, the guard picked bottles out of the trash to sell during the day and slept in the warehouse at night. He was making a living off what was close at hand, in a way.

The warehouse covered a good two or three hundred square meters. Abandoned beside the dump, it drew no attention. We searched the dump for quite a while before spotting a hunched figure in ragged clothes, his back to us, turning over the garbage with a stick.

There was no one else nearby, only this scavenger. He had to be the old security guard.

Bun Head volunteered to go over. He clapped the guard on the shoulder and said:

"Hey, we've got a few questions for you!"

The guard didn't seem surprised. He slowly turned around.

Bun Head swore in fright and hastily backed away several steps.

The old guard only had half a face!!

The eye and nose on the left side of his face were intact, but the features on the other side had fused together. It was horrifying!

Clearly, he had suffered very serious burns too!

I sucked in a breath at the sight of him, but steeled myself and walked over to ask:

"Sir, I'm from Changxin Street. There's something I'd like to ask you about. Would that be all right?"

As I spoke, I took a hundred yuan out of my pocket and handed it to him.

The guard took the money, tucked it into his pocket, and said coldly:

"I'm busy during the day. If you want to talk, come at night!"

Bun Head bristled.

"Busy, my ass! That hundred yuan's worth a month of collecting bottles!"

The guard didn't answer. He turned back around and went on turning over the garbage.

Little Six was kindhearted. Seeing how pitiful the guard was, he took another hundred yuan from his pocket and was about to hand it over.

Bun Head hurriedly pulled him back.

"Enough. Can't you see he takes the money and does nothing? Giving him more? You might as well throw it away!"

Seeing how stubborn the guard was, I didn't press him any further. I called Little Six and Bun Head over, and we left for the time being.

At eight that evening, it was completely dark. After dinner, the three of us returned to the dump.

It was far from the residential complex and the busy streets. Apart from towering heaps of garbage and wild grass, there was nothing else around.

If Little Six and Bun Head hadn't been with me, I really wouldn't have dared come here at night.

The warehouse doors were half-open, and it was pitch-black inside. The three of us mustered our courage and entered by the light of our phones.

The moment we stepped inside, a foul stench hit us.

Bun Head covered his mouth and cursed:

"Fuck, what's that smell?"

The stench inside was overwhelming, making it impossible to stay long. I called out:

"Mr. Guard, are you in there?"

Only a few echoes from the empty warehouse answered me.

We shone our phones around. Broken bottles and battered cardboard littered the floor, leaving hardly anywhere to step.

Bun Head couldn't take it anymore and grumbled:

"Let's get out of here. We've come this far in and still haven't seen that bastard. If someone shuts the fucking doors on us, the three of us will stink to death in here!"

Bun Head had barely finished when there was a sudden clang!

The warehouse doors slammed tightly shut!!

We really had been shut in!!

There were no windows in the warehouse. Once the doors closed, it was so dark inside that we couldn't see our hands in front of our faces!

Little Six panicked too and shouted:

"Hey, don't close the doors! There are people in here!"

This place was deserted and remote, without a soul in sight. The only person we could think of who might have shut the warehouse doors was the old guard.

The three of us hurried over and pushed at the doors, only to find that someone had locked them as well.

My heart sank. The old guard didn't even know us, and we'd never wronged each other. What was he trying to do?

Bun Head took out his phone to call his underlings nearby.

Before he could dial, we suddenly heard the drip, drip of water from deep inside the warehouse.

Puzzled, Little Six said:

"It hasn't rained in ages. Where would water come from in a warehouse this dry?"

He had barely finished when I felt what seemed like a drop of water fall from the ceiling onto my face.

I hurriedly wiped it with my hand, and shuddered in fright.

Blood??

Little Six and Bun Head saw the blood I had wiped onto my hand too. Our hands trembling, we all raised our phones at once and shone them toward the warehouse ceiling.