Lin Banxia had no choice but to turn and walk to the wardrobe. But before he could react, the wardrobe door creaked and opened by itself.

As the wardrobe door opened, its contents came into Lin Banxia's view. It was an altar.

On the altar were several lit red incense candles. Behind the candles were two ceramic jars. Lin Banxia had seen these jars often; they were the most common type found in funeral parlors—funeral urns. Other than the altar, Lin Banxia didn't find anything inside that could have made the sound. His gaze swept around and soon fell upon the inside of the wardrobe door, where he found a mess of bloody scratch marks. The marks were long and thick, enough to make one's scalp tingle.

Lin Banxia stared at the altar for half a minute, then silently raised his hand, closed the wardrobe door, and returned to the sofa as if nothing had happened, continuing to sit there in a daze.

At that moment, Song Qingluo finally came out of the kitchen, carrying several plates of hot dishes. He placed the dishes on the table, looked up at Lin Banxia, and gestured for him to come and eat.

Lin Banxia walked to the table and said, "I think I heard a sound coming from your wardrobe..."

Song Qingluo, setting out the bowls and chopsticks, replied without looking up, "Oh."

Lin Banxia asked cautiously, "Could it be rats or something?"

Song Qingluo said, "There are no rats in my home."

Lin Banxia said, "Then..."

Song Qingluo said, "Only funeral urns."

Lin Banxia: "..."

Song Qingluo said, "Logically speaking, funeral urns shouldn't make noise, right?"

Lin Banxia was speechless.

Perhaps Lin Banxia's astonished expression made Song Qingluo realize something was off with what he'd said. He mused, "But it's hard to say. The landlord left those urns. I haven't touched them, so I can't say for sure whether they make noise or not."

Lin Banxia felt a little dizzy. "The landlord left them?"

Song Qingluo said, "Yeah, the apartments upstairs, downstairs, and next door are all full of funeral urns. I felt a connection with the urns in this particular apartment, so I rented this one."

Lin Banxia thought the phrase "felt a connection" was used so brilliantly that it left him speechless.

As they talked, Song Qingluo handed a pair of chopsticks to Lin Banxia. Lin Banxia took the chopsticks and his bowl and began to eat silently.

Song Qingluo was a good cook. The few dishes he made were excellent in color, aroma, and taste. Lin Banxia enjoyed the meal, and while eating, he casually mentioned his reason for being there, saying that something seemed wrong with the building and that his roommate was planning to move out.

Lin Banxia talked, and Song Qingluo listened, but his attention wasn't on Lin Banxia. He seemed to be seriously contemplating something.

Seeing that he wasn't in the mood to chat, Lin Banxia also fell silent. The two finished their meal in this quiet atmosphere. Fortunately, the food tasted good, so it wasn't too much of an ordeal.

After finishing the meal, Lin Banxia felt it would be rude to bother him any longer, so he stood up to leave.

As he reached the door, he heard Song Qingluo say softly behind him, "Don't move."

Lin Banxia said in surprise, "Huh?"

"You can't move away." The statement was too strange. Lin Banxia wanted to ask more, but the door behind him slammed shut with a bang.

Lin Banxia stood stunned for a moment before turning to go back to his own apartment.

While Lin Banxia was investigating, Ji Leshui had already rented a suitable apartment. He was so desperate to move out that he had almost no requirements for the place, so he found a new home quickly. He called Lin Banxia to tell him he wouldn't be coming back that night and would be staying at the new place.

Lin Banxia knew he wasn't in a good state and didn't say much. Instead, he helped pack a change of clothes for him and delivered them to his new apartment.

"Banxia, you should stay here tonight too," Ji Leshui said. "I'm worried about you staying there alone."

"I'll be fine," Lin Banxia said. "You don't need to worry about me. I haven't seen anything strange yet."

Ji Leshui wanted to persuade him further, but seeing Lin Banxia's firm attitude, he gave up.

As dusk fell, Lin Banxia returned home alone. The apartment was just as it was the day before. After a simple wash-up, he fell into a deep sleep.

Ji Leshui lay on the sofa in his new apartment. Although it was a bit rough, his heart finally settled down. After being tormented all of last night and getting no rest during the day, Ji Leshui was now extremely sleepy. However, he was still afraid and didn't dare to turn off the living room light.

Lying on the sofa, Ji Leshui groggily closed his eyes. His consciousness soon sank into a deep slumber, and everything around him became silent.

Tick, tock, tick, tock. The soft ticking of a clock awoke Ji Leshui from his dream. He groggily opened his eyes and saw a black window, with a woman in a red dress standing in front of it.

A jolt ran through his body, and Ji Leshui instantly became wide awake. At first, he thought he was dreaming, but when he rubbed his eyes hard, shaking off the last bit of sleepiness, he realized he was not dreaming.

The same living room, the same TV show. He had somehow returned to the home he had fled, lying on the same sofa he had lain on last night. The TV was still playing the same repetitive program, the screen beginning to flicker, and a sharp static noise, like a wail, emanated from the TV in waves.

Ji Leshui trembled violently. He stiffened his neck and used his peripheral vision to look at the spot that should have been a window but which he had mistaken for a painting.

The woman who had been standing in front of the window was now sitting on the windowsill with her back to him, having pushed the window open. Her hair was extremely long, spread messily across the floor like a dense spiderweb.

Ji Leshui felt incredibly cold all over. He was frozen stiff, unable to move even a finger, let alone stand up and run away.

"Who... who are you?" Using all his strength, he finally managed to squeeze a few words out of his mouth. Ji Leshui was trembling like a leaf. He asked in despair, "Who are you?"

The woman began to laugh, a sharp and shrill sound like the wail of a vengeful ghost. She said, "I am you." With that, she leaped and jumped from the window.

But the next moment, her body slammed heavily onto the floor in front of Ji Leshui, like a smashed watermelon, completely shattered. Her head was also in pieces, only her eyes remained intact, staring maliciously at Ji Leshui on the sofa. Her red lips parted slightly: "You can't escape."

Ji Leshui let out a desperate howl. He wanted to get up and leave this place, but his body wouldn't move. The TV screen turned completely to white snow, and the shattered woman before him began to twist her limbs, trying to get up from the floor. But with all her bones broken, she could only drag herself across the floor in a contorted manner, inching closer and closer to Ji Leshui, step by step.

Ji Leshui could even smell the nauseating, metallic scent. He could no longer scream. Fear was like a stone, lodged heavily in his throat. His pupils dilated, and he couldn't even breathe.

The woman grinned. She leaned in and planted a bright red kiss on Ji Leshui's cheek, repeating her words once more: "Go back."

Following this curse-like whisper, Ji Leshui's mental defenses completely collapsed. His throat bobbed, his eyes rolled back, and he fainted.

When he woke up again, it was already bright daylight the next day.

When Ji Leshui first awoke, he didn't even dare to open his eyes. He peeked through the slits of his eyelids for a long time to confirm that he hadn't returned to the old apartment before leaving the sofa, trembling all over.

There was no woman, no window, and no previous room. It was as if everything last night had just been a dream.

Ji Leshui went into the bathroom and wretchedly turned on the water to wash his face. However, when he looked up at the mirror, he discovered a blood-red lip print on his right cheek.

Like an indelible cursed mark.

The author has something to say:

Song Qingluo: Why don't you run away?

Lin Banxia: Even if I run away and the ghost lets me go, the bank won't. I still have thirty years left on my mortgage.

Song Qingluo: ..................Right.