Chapter 42 "Which One?" (3)

  When I told my parents the next day that I was going out for a few more days, they absolutely refused to let me go, saying they were worried I would do something stupid. I repeatedly assured them that I would definitely return home safely, but they still wouldn't let me leave until I shouted: "Are you trying to drive me mad?!" Only then did the two of them release their grip on my hands and let me go.

  I didn't look back, and I don't know why my temper is so bad now. Now, I'm only worried about two things: one is the safety of Xiaohui, and the other is my own safety. I don't know who is manipulating everything behind the scenes. The only clue now is the address written on that piece of paper. Although I'm not sure if it will help me or not, this seems to be the only thing I can do for now.

  I've thought about giving up, this idea has been with me for a long time, but since Er Lang showed me those two letters signed as Chu Jiangshan and brought me to the old mansion in the deep mountains with that mysterious number, every time I think of giving up, different people appear around me, intentionally or unintentionally pushing me forward, then more mysteries and people emerge, disrupting my life. If I really want to live a peaceful life, perhaps the only way is to thoroughly investigate this matter and completely eliminate the fear in my heart.

  That address is in another city, and it takes a few hours to get there by car. After getting off the station, I took a taxi and told the driver the address, asking if he knew it. In my heart, I was still a bit worried, because after so many years, this place might have been demolished long ago. If that's the case, I would really lose my last clue.

  Luckily, the driver said he knew this place, which made me feel a bit relieved. However, the driver looked at me with a very strange gaze and asked, "What brings you here?"

  I noticed the driver's eyes were strange, and my heart skipped a beat. I casually said: "I'm going to visit an old friend, haven't been in touch for many years, no phone number, can only rely on this address, don't know if I can still find him."

  The master grunted, and I had been paying attention to his changing expression. It seemed like he wanted to say something, but in the end, he held back. So, I pretended to be casual and asked: "Master, is there any legend here? The scarier, the better, because I'm writing about horror."

  My intention was just to get familiar with the driver first, and then figure out why he looked like he wanted to say something but stopped himself. After all, this address is a completely unfamiliar place for me, and it came from Chu Jiangshan's small coffin, I always feel that this address and person have some unclear relationship with Chu Jiangshan, it's always good to understand more about it. As for why I used this topic to break the ice, it was purely out of professional habit.

  But contrary to my expectations, the driver immediately opened his mouth: "Then you've really come to the right place, go find your friend, he'll definitely tell you many such stories."

  My heart skipped a beat, I felt that there must be some story behind this, so I asked: "Why do you say that? Or Master, would you tell me first? After all these years, who knows if we can still find anyone. If no one tells me these stories, won't I have entered Baoshan empty-handed?"

  The master chuckled a few times, revealing a mysterious smile, and lowered his voice to say: "That place is evil, and many people have died inexplicably in the past few years."

  Every city has its own share of haunted places and the storylines are all similar, if it weren't for the address and name on that piece of paper being crucial to me, I wouldn't have been interested in such legends at all. Using some legends to write horror stories is already an old trick for me now.

  But the person I'm looking for lives in this place, which makes me nervous. I asked: "Can you please tell me more about it?"

  The driver looked a bit embarrassed, hesitated for a moment and said: "To be honest, I'm not very clear about the specifics either. It's just that these people all died under suspicious circumstances. I heard their facial expressions were terrifying, as if they had seen something extremely frightening.

  I felt even more tense and leaned forward: "Can you try to be as detailed as possible, such as where these people died and what happened when they were alive?"

  The driver thought for a moment, and told me about several places where people had accidents and some rumors circulating outside about the deceased's past, finally saying: "I don't know what the truth is, anyway, everyone says so, I don't know whether it's true or false."

  My whole body stiffened, I knew what the driver said must be true, because these people, these things, and these ways of dying I had all seen before, in those stories from Chujiang Mountain.

  I didn't think that the driver might also be a fan of Chu Jiangshan, and "bully" me as an outsider, so he would take his story to fool around with me. But I asked sideways, the driver had no idea there was such a supernatural writer as Chu Jiangshan. Thinking of those diaries in the coffin and all the inexplicable things that happened to Chu Jiangshan that I knew about, I was sure this time it wouldn't be someone pretending to be mysterious again, and Chu Jiangshan's work became a death prophecy book once more.

  The Dream Club once provided me with some writing material, and I wrote a very good horror story based on that material. In the end, what happened in the story also became true in real life in a strange way.

  I don't know if the person I'm going to see is still alive, and what kind of relationship this thing has. All the way, I was worried and didn't want to chat with the driver. The driver was also very obedient and didn't say much. Before long, the driver stopped the car and said: "We're here."

  I hastily looked up and ahead, this should be a place that is about to be renovated according to the plan. Many houses have a circle drawn on their outer walls with a big red cross inside, it seems that many people have already moved out, looking quite desolate. Seeing this scene in front of me, my heart sank, I'm afraid the person I'm looking for is no longer here.

  I handed the money to the driver, and since I was in a hurry to get off and find someone, I didn't even ask him for change. The driver was very grateful and said to me: "If you really write ghost stories, as long as you're not afraid, you can find someone here, I think it would be very scary if you wrote about him."

  I looked at the driver's serious face and became curious, asking: "What does this person do?"

  The driver's face showed some fear and said, "He can communicate with the dead."

  I let out an "oh" and thought that in many movies and TV shows, there are people who can supposedly communicate with the dead, known as "mediums". I've seen them when I was younger, my mom even found some so-called mediums to try and talk to my deceased grandfather. But to me, those things were just too fake, anyone with a basic understanding of psychology could tell that they're just saying vague stuff. Even if the driver's friend really did have this unbelievable ability, what's there to be afraid of?

  I couldn't help but reveal a hint of disappointment on my face, and the driver probably noticed it too, so he didn't continue speaking. I got off the car and walked forward, the address on the paper was indeed this small district in front of me, as for which specific building it was, that would be something only I could find out slowly by myself.

  The compound is not too big, and I easily found the address written on paper. Due to its geographical location, this building only has one unit. The house has a total of six floors. I saw that there was still a stainless steel protective window hanging outside the first-floor window, and my heart relaxed. The address I was looking for was still inhabited by someone, but then I started to get nervous again, not knowing if that person was still living here.

  I carefully pressed the doorbell, a middle-aged woman opened a crack in the door and cautiously sized me up, asking "Who are you looking for?"

  I accompanied Xia to report the name written on the paper, and the middle-aged woman said indifferently: "You've got the wrong person." After finishing speaking, she closed the door with a bang, as if it wasn't her family's door.

  I rubbed my nose in frustration, the address on the paper wasn't very detailed, it only said first floor but didn't specify whether it was room 101 or 102. I turned around and knocked on the door across from me, after just two knocks, I heard a noise behind me, and when I turned back around, it was the middle-aged woman from across the way opening her door again, with a look of vigilance and impatience: "That's also my house, there's no one you're looking for."

  It seems that they thought I was a thief, the situation is a bit awkward, I dryly laughed and said: "I'm really sorry, I came to find a friend of mine, we haven't been in touch for many years, he just told me he's on the first floor..."

  The middle-aged woman interrupted me: "I bought this house before it was even finished, this is the first floor, there has never been anyone like you said, if you don't leave I'll call the police."

  I shook my head helplessly, it seemed that this trip was doomed to fail. I said "sorry" to the middle-aged woman and turned around to leave. After walking a few steps, I suddenly heard someone say "hey" behind me. I turned back to see that it was the middle-aged woman. She looked at me turning back and hesitated for a moment before saying: "Are you looking for him?"

  My heart skipped a beat, it seems there's indeed something strange here. I hastily rushed forward and asked, "Who are you talking about?"

  The middle-aged woman's face suddenly showed a strange expression, pointing to the underground and saying: "We don't know what his name is, he just lives in the basement, but he's very strange, always saying that the basement is the first floor, and this first floor of mine is called the second floor by him."

  I noticed that the woman said "we" instead of "I", could it be that this person is very famous and many people know him? But I didn't have time to ask, because just then, I suddenly remembered Old Chu: Old Chu's house only had 7 floors, but he always thought he lived on the 8th floor. If you count the basement as the first floor, then isn't that exactly where he lives?