Chapter 9: The Ghostly Guide

  I told Da Zhuang a few stories that Grandpa had told me years ago, at which point my throat was dry, so I picked up the cup to take a sip of water and then put it back on the office desk. Suddenly, there was a "ding" sound.

  "I'm telling you, Little Ke comrade, can't you stop clinking that cup on the table? It's late at night, and it's so noisy." Da Zhuang said with his eyes closed, puffing on a cigarette.

  But I didn't knock the water cup on the table, and the "dang dang" sound wasn't coming from the duty room. I looked at the wall clock and found it was already past 1:30.

  "Stop smoking, she's coming." I pushed Da Zhuang and asked him to get up quickly.

  "Hey, Xiao Ke comrade, stop messing with me, you're scaring me with that broken water cup on the table." As he said this, Da Zhuang opened his eyes and looked at me, but I hadn't even touched the water cup.

  Seeing that I didn't even have a water cup on the table to make noise, Da Zhuang's face couldn't help but leave cold sweat. "Damn it, that thing really came out."

  Listening to the clear 'tapping' sound in the corridor, Da Zhuang and I didn't make a single move, we just quietly stayed in the duty room and didn't go out. Heaven knows what would happen if we went out now. For unknown things, it's always best to prioritize self-protection.

  As the "thud" sound got closer and closer, my shirt was about to be soaked with cold sweat. Suddenly, the "thud" sound disappeared. At that moment, I stood by the wall next to the window with my back against it. When I realized the sound had stopped, I couldn't help but feel puzzled. But seeing Da Zhuang covering his mouth with one hand and pointing at the window beside me with a terrified expression, I couldn't help but turn my head in that direction.

  I didn't know what to expect, but I followed Da Zhuang's pointing direction and looked over. All I felt was a wave of dizziness, and in front of me was a pale woman's face with no hint of blood color. The woman's eyes were completely white. I immediately closed my eyes and refused to look at her again. My grandfather had once said that ghosts have ghostly eyes, which appear as white eyes. The most direct way for ghosts to harm people is by using their ghostly eyes to capture their souls. If you stare into a ghost's eyes for too long, you'll be captured by the ghost and won't even know how you died.

  Dazhuang then looked at me and closed his eyes, this kid also tightly closed his eyes.

  Although there was still a layer of window between me and that pale face, I could still feel the icy temperature, as if that pale face was stuck to my face. At this moment, I just wanted the ghost to leave quickly. If the ghost had any intention of coming in, I would definitely fight with her, but the latter was something I didn't want to happen.

  Half a response, the "dada" sound started again, this time the "dada" sound was getting farther and farther away, apparently the ghost was walking towards the distance.

  I took a deep breath, just now when that ghost was outside the window, I didn't even dare to breathe loudly, heaven knows if that ghost saw me breathing heavily and wouldn't get the idea of killing me to be their substitute, Grandfather said that if ghosts want to return to the world of the living as humans again, they must find a person in the world of the living to be their substitute, otherwise the ghost cannot return to the world of the living to continue being human.

  "Damn it, this is obviously a threat to us! Either we go out and fight her now, or we run away." As he spoke, Da Zhuang pulled out the dagger from his pocket. The dagger was very ancient and couldn't be made with modern craftsmanship. According to Da Zhuang, the dagger was originally obtained by my grandfather during a battle and later given to his grandfather.

  "What's the hurry, besides, we're not back this time to fight her to the death. I feel that this ghost isn't a malevolent one." I picked up the iron rod wrapped in black cloth from the corner of the bed. If I said I wasn't afraid of that ghost, it would be impossible. Anyone who sees something unknown will feel fear, unless they're extremely reckless.

  Looking back on the female ghost's actions, I don't think she is a vengeful spirit or a malevolent ghost. If she were, Da Zhuang and I wouldn't be having this conversation right now. Compared to thinking of her as a vengeful spirit, I believe she is more likely a wandering soul or a wronged soul. Besides these two possibilities, I couldn't think of anything else. If it's not because of an unfulfilled wish before death or being murdered and still existing in the mortal realm, then she would have already transformed from a ghost to a demon. As for the word "ghost", I am the least willing to hear or think about it. Grandfather said that ghosts and spirits are not the same thing. Compared to spirits, ghosts exist in the mortal realm for a limited time. However, for ghosts, the mortal realm is like their world. Our daytime is equivalent to their nighttime, and our nighttime is equivalent to their daytime. In the daytime, we are the rulers of the world, but at night, they are the kings. Compared to spirits, ghosts are countless times more formidable.

  "Damn, even if she wasn't a malicious person, she's worse than his mother who directly harms people. She can scare people to death!" Da Zhuang started scolding again.

  I motioned him to be quiet and leaned against the door to listen to the sounds outside.

  The "dang dang" sound had already faded away, I opened the door and walked out with an oil lamp, waving my hand to signal Big Strong to follow me. Big Strong came out carrying a flashlight he had taken from home for safety reasons.

  The two of us followed the sound, one in front and one behind, as we advanced through the corridor, which was now illuminated to an unknown multiple of its original brightness.

  "I say, Little Ke comrade, if that thing is really a malevolent entity, it's just toying with us, and after we're done being its playthings, it'll skin us alive. What a miserable death we'd suffer!" Da Zhuang whispered behind me.

  Don't worry, that's a lie, I'm actually very worried about whether the ghost will harm us or not. As for understanding this thing, I only got a rough idea from what my grandfather told me at the time, but I'm not an expert in this field after all. I just know it's a ghost, and nothing else, but before that, the ghost had several chances to kill me and Da Zhuang, but she didn't make any moves to kill us. Thinking of this, I paused for a moment and said "It should be fine, there were several times when she could have killed us, but she didn't touch us at all."

  "Let's keep going, or we'll get lost." I said, and then walked forward. After hearing my words, Da Zhuang thought for a moment and also felt that it was reasonable, so he followed behind me immediately.

  "Xiao Ke, wait a minute, help me get this stuff, I'll light a cigarette." He said, putting the dagger in my hand. At this time, I was holding an oil lamp with one hand and clamping an iron rod and a dagger with the other hand, looking as ridiculous as possible.

  Dazhuang pulled out a cigarette from his pocket, lit it up and put it in his mouth. "Damn, it's really refreshing! Little comrade, do you want one?" As he said that, he reached into his pocket again. Just then, Dazhuang's flashlight suddenly went out.