Translator: Shewee
Chapter 3: Room 1303 (Part 3)
The shock was too much for Ji Leshui, and he fainted. Lin Banxia was startled, immediately crouching down to press on his philtrum and pat his forehead. Just as he was considering calling 911, Ji Leshui finally regained consciousness.
However, Ji Leshui’s state after waking up wasn’t good either. He sat huddled on the sofa, face pale, staring blankly at the window in the corner of the room.
Lin Banxia called his name softly a few times, and Ji Leshui finally responded, looking at Lin Banxia with pleading eyes. In a trembling voice, he asked, “Banxia, I’m still scared of that window. Are you sure it’s just a window?”
“Yes, it’s just a window,” Lin Banxia reassured his friend. He was worried that Ji Leshui still didn’t believe him, so he stood up and walked over to the window, opening the latch and pushing it open. The sound of the wind outside grew louder, and the cold gusts whipped against Lin Banxia’s face.
Outside, it was pitch black—no stars, no moon, just a dark sky, like a vast mouth ready to devour anything.
Lin Banxia turned to look at Ji Leshui.
Seeing Lin Banxia open the window startled Ji Leshui, who, in a shaky voice, begged him to close it, saying something might come inside.
Not wanting to upset him further, Lin Banxia nodded, closed the window, and latched it again. As he shut it, he noticed his fingers felt a bit sticky, but before he could investigate, the window was securely closed.
“See, there’s nothing there.” Lin Banxia moved closer to Ji Leshui, continuing to calm him down. “Could it be that you just saw it wrong? I’ll stay here with you. You have work tomorrow, so why don’t you get some sleep?”
Ji Leshui gave a bitter smile. “How could I be mistaken? This place feels haunted… Banxia, why did you even consider buying a place like this?”
“It was cheap and close to my workplace,” Lin Banxia replied. “I couldn’t afford anywhere else.”
Ji Leshui replied apologetically, “Sorry, that’s not what I meant…”
Lin Banxia smiled, “I know. Go rest; I’ll be here in the living room. Call me if you need anything.” His composed demeanor brought Ji Leshui some reassurance. Back in college, he’d always admired Lin Banxia’s nerve—nothing seemed to scare him, whether it was insects, wild animals, or even supernatural things. He always reacted calmly.
By now, it was close to 2 a.m., and Ji Leshui, having been frightened all night, was truly exhausted. He dragged himself to the bedroom and lay down, his tired eyes closing to the sound of the television playing in the living room.
After seeing Ji Leshui off to the bedroom, Lin Banxia quietly went to the bathroom. He hadn’t mentioned it earlier, but ever since he closed the window, his hand had felt sticky. When he looked down, he noticed his fingers were stained with a reddish residue.
At first, he thought it was paint, but in the bathroom, he raised his hand to his nose and sniffed, detecting a faint smell of blood.
Blood? Did Ji Leshui accidentally bump into the window? Lin Banxia turned on the faucet, rinsed off his hand, and walked back to the window.
This time, he didn’t push it open. Instead, he examined the window carefully. It had been too dark earlier to notice, but now he realized there were unusual markings on the glass. At first, they seemed like random lines, but on closer inspection, Lin Banxia recognized what they were.
They were bloody fingerprints, stark and red against the glass, like a pattern blended with the window’s design.
Lin Banxia frowned at the prints, went to the kitchen, and returned with a cloth.
He carefully opened the window, leaned out slightly, and began to wipe the outside of the glass. But as he wiped back and forth, he suddenly stopped. Pulling his hand back, he looked at the clean cloth and realized something crucial.
The bloody fingerprints weren’t on the outside of the window—they were inside.
Turning, he gazed around the room.
The room was brightly lit, and without much furniture, everything was visible at a glance. Normally, anyone who saw such things would panic, but Lin Banxia remained calm. He returned to the bathroom and thoroughly washed the cloth.
When he initially purchased this apartment, he had sensed something odd. The price had been suspiciously low; similar properties in the same area were thirty to forty thousand yuan more expensive. When he had asked the agent why the price was so cheap, they explained that the previous owner was eager to sell quickly and leave the country.
It was only on the day of the sale that Lin Banxia met the landlord. He was a middle-aged man with a strange demeanor—pale, frail, and muttering to himself, seeming mentally unstable.
After the sale, the landlord vanished, even leaving his belongings in the apartment. Now that Lin Banxia thought about it, the situation was indeed strange.
Closing the window, Lin Banxia returned to the sofa, adjusted the volume on the TV, and waited.
In the bedroom, Ji Leshui lay in the darkness, staring at the ceiling. As he stared, he felt an odd sense of dizziness, as though his body were caught in the center of a whirlpool, twisting and distorting. He closed his eyes, but the howling wind grew louder. Among the gusts, he suddenly heard a creak—the door of the wardrobe beside the bed had opened slightly.
The wardrobe, an old piece left behind by the previous owner, was a bit worn but still functional. However, the door had a habit of opening on its own.
On any other day, Ji Leshui might not have cared about it, but after the night’s events, his nerves couldn’t take any more.
As the wardrobe door creaked open, his skin prickled with goosebumps. He sat up straight, too scared to sleep.
“Banxia…” he called his friend’s name, hoping Lin Banxia would come into the bedroom and help him close the wardrobe door.
But when he called Lin Banxia’s name, the person outside didn’t respond. At that moment, Ji Leshui heard a strange sound—it seemed to come from inside the wardrobe.
It was a sticky, chewing sound, as if something inside the wardrobe was devouring a feast.
“Lin Banxia,” Ji Leshui’s voice carried a hint of tears. Though he was a grown man, he wanted to get up, but it felt as if all the strength in his body had been drained, leaving him immobile.
The chewing sound grew louder. Out of the corner of his eye, Ji Leshui noticed a blood-red eye peering greedily through the gap in the wardrobe. It seemed to have spotted him, sitting frozen on the bed, and let out a spine-chilling chuckle…
Ji Leshui opened his mouth, but it was as if his throat was tightly clenched. Summoning every ounce of his strength, he barely managed to utter two words: “Help me…”
“Click!” The bedroom light turned on.
The cold, stiffness, and fear receded like a tide. Ji Leshui looked up to see Lin Banxia standing beside the bed, watching him with concern. Lin Banxia’s mouth moved as if he was saying something, but Ji Leshui couldn’t hear a word. He was like a petrified statue, frozen in place, unable to make a single expression or utter a single word.
“Leshui?” Lin Banxia called, worried about his friend, whose face had turned deathly pale.
“Banxia…” Ji Leshui finally spoke, his voice as soft as a mosquito’s, trembling uncontrollably. “Banxia… I need to move out.”
Lin Banxia asked, “Alright, when?”
“As soon as possible,” Ji Leshui replied. “You should move out with me too. This place, this house… something’s really wrong here.”
Lin Banxia didn’t respond immediately. He sighed, sat down next to Ji Leshui, and placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder to steady his shaking body before saying, “Let me stay here a few more days to see.”
Ji Leshui asked, “Did you hear that sound?”
“What sound?” Lin Banxia inquired.
“Someone was eating something inside the wardrobe,” Ji Leshui said woodenly. “It was like… meat. Lots and lots of meat.”
Lin Banxia got up and checked the wardrobe. Of course, it was empty. Seeing Ji Leshui’s vacant expression, Lin Banxia couldn’t tell if he had truly heard something or if it was a side effect of his deteriorating mental state.
“If I keep staying here, I’m going to lose my mind.” Ji Leshui gripped Lin Banxia’s arm, pleading, “You shouldn’t stay here either. This place isn’t right—”
Lin Banxia replied, “I’ll help you find a new place.”
“Alright,” Ji Leshui agreed. “I won’t go to work tomorrow. I’ll start looking for a new place right away…”
Lin Banxia nodded.
Although Ji Leshui looked utterly exhausted, he dared not go back to sleep for the next few hours. Instead, he sat in the living room, watching TV with Lin Banxia.
Finally, at around six in the morning, the first light of dawn broke through.
Ji Leshui stared blankly at his phone, where listings for various rental properties filled the screen. By eight in the morning, he couldn’t wait any longer and began dialing numbers, arranging viewings with real estate agents.
While Ji Leshui was busy with this, Lin Banxia stayed by his side. He didn’t say much, only watched Ji Leshui’s unusually tense expression, with a trace of worry crossing his brow.
