Stories on the Forum

I'll take a guess, you're reading a novel on your bed right now, probably lying on your side, and your phone might even be charging.

Yang Jian, who was in his third year of high school, was lying in his warm covers, idly scrolling through his phone. He casually clicked on a post, and many netizens were replying below.

"Holy crap, the OP is a genius, they guessed it perfectly."

"Heh, should I tell you guys I'm currently squatting on the toilet? Don't ask, my legs are numb."

"Get a tattoo of Zhou, and never be a wage slave again."

"Social, social."

Yang Jian closed the post and opened another one with a high view count. It started with this sentence:

"I'm a doctor at the Third Hospital of a certain province, and I have something to tell you all. Something terrifying happened at my hospital recently, and I'm so scared I don't dare go to work. I'm taking a leave of absence at home."

"Stop talking, I'm not buying shoes or adding you on WeChat."

"The OP must have been involved in a medical dispute. If not, I'll commit suicide by eating feces."

"Look, the third commenter is trying to scam free food and drinks again."

Yang Jian found the replies boring, so he clicked on "View original poster only."

The post immediately became clean, leaving only the post from the doctor who called himself: Lightning King.

He continued reading the post: The incident happened like this: last week, it was my turn for the night shift. Around midnight, an ambulance brought in an old man. The paramedics said the old man fell from the fifth floor. My colleague was temporarily unavailable, so I was the only one responsible for the diagnosis. At that moment, I was 100% certain that the old man had no signs of life; he was already dead.

Moreover, based on the characteristics of the old man's body and the temperature of his chest, I could determine that the old man definitely did not die from falling this evening.

Anyone with common sense knows that within ten hours of death, at normal room temperature, the body temperature drops about one degree per hour. After 24 hours, the body temperature will be close to the ambient temperature. However, the old man's body temperature, in my opinion, was at least ten degrees below normal, or even more, and the ambient temperature that night was twenty-two degrees.

At that time, I judged that the old man had been dead for more than a day.

Immediately, netizens commented:

"The OP's 'common sense' is terrifying. I kneel before the great one."

"Quickly check if the patient's shoes fell off. If they didn't, there's still a chance."

"Chilling. OP, update quickly, I've already hidden in my covers."

Yang Jian continued to scroll down:

Lightning King continued to post: Based on my experience watching over 300 episodes of Detective anime in junior high, I could immediately tell that the old man did not die in an accidental fall but was likely murdered. His body must have been stored in an ice cellar. I immediately reported the matter to the police.

However, what I want to talk about today is not this incident, but what happened afterward.

The post paused, with an update time of two hours later.

Sorry, someone just knocked on the door to inquire about the incident. It wasn't law enforcement, nor did they seem like reporters, but they had identification. Whatever, I'll ignore it.

It was probably around the morning of the next day.

I wasn't at work yet, but a colleague told me that the old man's body, which was brought in last night, had mysteriously disappeared from the morgue. The police were thoroughly investigating, suspecting the killer had stolen it. The commotion was quite significant, and all the hospital's surveillance footage was reviewed, but the missing old man's body was never found, nor was the killer.

I'm on duty again tonight.

However, the events of the day made me a little uneasy. A patient in the hospital said he had seen the old man's body, but it wasn't carried out by anyone; it walked out on its own. The patient even pointed out the exact route the old man took, and judging by the route, it did indeed come from the direction of the morgue.

I felt a little scared after hearing this, but thankfully, I'm an atheist and don't completely believe what that patient said.

Later, I heard from the head nurse that Dr. Fang from the neurology department was preparing to increase the patient's medication dosage, which somewhat eased my mind.

Indeed, it was correct not to believe the patient's words.

But what I want to talk about is not this, but something that happened while I was on duty tonight.

It was around two in the morning, I think. I was playing "Legend of Mir" in the emergency room. You guys can't imagine how fun that game is. If you're my brother, come and hack with me.

"Damn, OP, you're really something else."

"Where's the sincerity between people you promised? You hit me with a twist I didn't see coming."

"Social, social. I guessed the beginning, but not the end. But what I want to say is, third commenter, what about your promise to eat feces?"

A large number of netizens followed suit, and the forum was lively.

Yang Jian, lying in his covers, couldn't help but laugh and cry. Have advertisements become this sophisticated now?

But as he scrolled down further, something felt wrong.

Lightning King continued to post: Sorry, sorry, I'm really not advertising. It's just that something incredibly bizarre and supernatural really happened that night. You probably can't imagine it in your lifetime. At exactly a quarter past two in the morning, while I was playing games in the emergency room, I suddenly felt a chill, exactly like the feeling in the morgue. Goosebumps covered my body.

Then, guess what happened?

The old man who disappeared from the morgue yesterday appeared outside the emergency room at some point. He wasn't dead, and he was walking slowly, step by step, towards the hospital exit.

Good heavens, this is impossible! I personally saw that the old man was dead, and had been dead for more than a day. How could he have come back to life?

A prank? A reanimated corpse? A medical miracle?

I thought of many things in an instant, but perhaps because I'm usually in contact with corpses, I wasn't that scared. The most pressing matter was to take out my phone and take a picture to post on my Moments.

Picture below, proof with images, definitely not Photoshopped.

Yang Jian scrolled down again, and immediately a photo appeared before his eyes.

The photo was not blurry; on the contrary, it was very clear. Through the glass window of the emergency room, an old man was walking by outside.

The old man wore a black, retro-style, one-piece long gown. He was gaunt, with brown skin mottled with spots. From the angle of the photo, one of his eyes was visible – what a terrifying eye it was. Lifeless, hollow, devoid of any spirit, it held a chilling stillness.

The photograph itself didn't depict anything gory or frightening, but the aura emanating from the old man within it immediately made one's hair stand on end and their scalp tingle.

When one recalled that the doctor, known as Lightning King, had explicitly stated the old man was once a cold corpse, a sense of dread surged.

The more one looked at the photo, the more unsettling it became.

It felt like looking at a dead person, or even more so, like looking at a ghost.

"You scared me to death! This photo is so scary, I'm getting more frightened the more I look. Where did you find this, OP?"

"Why are there so many spots on the old man's hands? I have trypophobia."

"Those are rigor mortis spots. That means the old man was already a corpse."

"Halt, evil spirits retreat! Lam Ching-ying is here." A netizen posted a picture of a Taoist priest.

"Pfft, you're Lam Ching-ying? I'm a loli voice."

Regardless of the netizens' comments, Lightning King continued his post: The picture is real. I took it myself. Later, this old man walked out of the hospital. I don't know where he went, but if anyone lives in the same city as me, be careful. Although I'm an atheist, some things you just have to believe.

Wait, it sounds like someone's knocking on my door again. It's probably someone coming to take my statement. I'll be right back, I'll tell you what happened next later.

However, judging by the posting time, less than a minute had passed before Lightning King posted again: Damn it, damn it! It's that old man who ran out of the hospital. That thing is standing at my door, knocking. I saw it clearly through the peephole. What should I do now? I feel like I've provoked something I shouldn't have.

"OP is having fun with this, huh?"

"Holy crap, is this real? It can't be this creepy, right?"

"Report it to the police, quick! Call 110."

"OP, stop pretending. It's definitely fake. If it's not fake, I'll eat double the amount of my own feces."

"It's you again, the poop-eating boy. You still haven't paid up from last time?"

But then, Lightning King posted again: I reported it, but what now? That thing is still knocking. It doesn't look like it's leaving. Oh no, just now the lights in my living room suddenly went out. I'm too scared to go into the living room now.

I've locked my bedroom door. I've turned on every light I can, but the old man is still knocking.

At this point, the posts from this netizen named Lightning King were frantic, with less than thirty seconds between each message, and some words were misspelled.

It was clear that the doctor posting this was terrified and panicked.

Yang Jian also felt a chill run down his spine. Although he knew the story might be fake, the thought of the old man from the photo standing outside his door and knocking sent a shiver down his spine.

An old man who had died had come back to life and appeared at his doorstep, knocking. Anyone encountering this would be terrified.

But the posts didn't stop; they continued: No, it's not good. I hear footsteps in my living room. Oh God, I'm home alone. I suspect the old man who was knocking at the door earlier has come inside. He must have gone into the living room. What, what is going on? I didn't even hear him open the door. How did he get in?

The footsteps stopped outside my bedroom door.

That thing is knocking again. I have a bad feeling about this. I've recorded the sound now as evidence, and I'm leaving my phone number. If my number doesn't work, it means something has happened to me. Please, kind souls, report it to the police: 138

"Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock"

Below this was an audio file. When opened, a muffled, oppressive knocking sound could be heard.

Each knock felt like it was striking the listener's heart, making it almost impossible to breathe.

The posts paused here.

Yang Jian scrolled to the end and only saw the last line: The old man came in.