Chapter 1: Strange Phenomena in the Underworld

  It's not easy to hold on until nightfall, the streetlights illuminate the city like daylight, the cars under the lights flow endlessly like a river, and the red lanterns on the walls of the buildings on both sides tell the prosperity of the city. The city will not stop its noise just because it is night, people, rich or poor, are all living in anxiety.

  Xiong Lunbing was just coming out of a bar, he seemed drunk, and it was also midnight when he walked out of the bar.

  After Ruan Jiaoluo's death, he always came home very late, and during the day, except for work, he spent almost all his time in bars. This does not mean that Xiong Lengbing was heartbroken over his wife's innocent and tragic death and was drowning his sorrows in drink; on the contrary, his face looked as if he had just taken a refreshing spring bath, and he seemed to be in high spirits. Others did not understand why he was so pleased with himself because they were unaware of his situation.

  He said he was going home, but that's not quite accurate. To him, it wasn't a home anymore, just an empty house. After Ruan Jiaoluo died, every time he returned to the empty house, he couldn't help but feel a little scared.

  Where else could he go except for that cold room? So no matter how late it was, he had to return.

  He took off his suit and slung it over his shoulder, swaying back and forth as he stood at the entrance of the bar. The parking attendant drove an Audi sedan up to him, and he handed over a hundred yuan as a tip before getting in and driving away.

  He was very happy today, after two days of busy work, he finally signed a contract with a large company, bringing a big order to the company. He estimated that this business could bring him a reward of 300,000 yuan, so when he returned to Haizhou City, he came to the bar alone to celebrate.

  With the wine, he drove all the way, blowing in the autumn wind and singing along to songs, strolling around the streets before remembering to head home - the new house Ruan Jiaoluo had bought with him when they got married. The car pulled into the parking garage of their residential complex.

  He parked the car, got out in a daze, locked the door and walked unsteadily towards the elevator in the dimly lit underground parking lot, humming Andy Lau's song "Love You Ten Thousand Years" with satisfaction.

  Suddenly, several dim lights in the parking lot flickered constantly, flashing on and off, accompanied by a rustling sound. Such a scene made Xiong Lunbing somewhat bewildered, as he had never seen such a scene before, how could the lights be so erratic, like being affected by some kind of magnetic field.

  Xiong Lunbing hastily lifted his head and looked around, his brain suddenly clearing up a bit from the numbness caused by alcohol. Beads of sweat the size of beans instantly appeared on his forehead. His eyes wide with fear, he stood still for a moment, pretending to be nonchalant as he continued walking forward.

  He could have quickened his pace to catch the elevator, and he wanted to do so, but for some reason he couldn't quite explain, even to himself, he found his footsteps heavy, as if something was pulling his feet backwards with each step, while behind him, a chill wind blew in, seeping into his skin like cold air.

  He felt a little scared and suddenly became tense, he used to like watching horror movies and had seen many ghost films, now the parking lot seemed similar to some scenes of the ghost films he had watched, the lights flickered on and off, the wind blew from behind, making a word suddenly flash in his mind - Ghost!

  The mere thought of a ghost made him even more frightened, and the silence of the parking lot was like a layer of deathly air suffocating him. The more he feared, the more he felt something closing in on him from all sides. He seemed to hear someone calling his name, but he knew very well that he didn't know anyone in this neighborhood, not even his neighbors, so it was impossible for someone to be calling out to him. Besides, there wasn't a single person in this dimly lit parking lot at the moment.

  But he clearly heard someone calling his name.

  However, to ensure his brain was clear, although he was very scared, he pretended to be calm. He put on his clothes and looked around, but as soon as he did, his heart became even more fearful. The parking lot was empty and dark at all four corners, and if you stared for a little while, you would suspect that ghosts would crawl out of the dark corners with ferocious faces and sharp teeth, pouncing on him. So, even the most familiar cars parked in the parking lot seemed to him like they would suddenly open their big mouths and tear his body apart.

  "Hmm," he rolled his eyes, forcing a awkward smile to calm himself down, then muttered to himself, "Don't scare yourself, how can there be ghosts in this world?"

  "Really?" But as soon as he finished speaking, a cold and slightly trembling voice with an echo entered his ears. The voice was clear and distinct, and he was certain it wasn't an illusion, because he could hear the sound like a wolf's howl in the wilderness, or a rustling of pines in the deep mountains, piercingly cold and carrying a strong, lingering breath.

  As he heard the sound approaching, despite his fear, he couldn't help but look around everywhere, hoping to see a real person come out. He most wanted to see a living person; as long as one living person appeared, any sound he heard would be man-made, and then he wouldn't be afraid anymore. So, with his eyes swollen and congested from the invasion of alcohol, he searched like the searchlights on the Japanese devils' sentry posts that year, even carefully taking a second look at the dark corners that made him almost die of fright just by glancing at them once.

  However, the parking lot is completely deserted!

  If it's said that this dimly lit and cold underground parking lot had no vitality at all, then he might have really encountered a ghost. Thinking so in his heart, he suddenly let out a childish "mom" and rushed towards the elevator, stumbling and staggering. At this time, the heavy footsteps beneath him made him unable to care about anything else. After finally opening the elevator door, he swiftly slipped inside just as the doors were closing. When the elevator doors shut, a loud wail echoed from outside, like tearing apart the deep night sky, making the listener's hair stand on end.

  Because of the panic, he forgot to press the elevator button for several floors. He also didn't notice anything after entering the elevator. At this time, getting into the elevator finally made him feel a little safer.

  However, when he thought it was safest, there was originally a person standing in the elevator.

  This is a woman, a young woman, slender and tall with long hair down to her shoulders. The face of this person cannot be seen because she has her back to the door as well as to Xue Rengui.

  Xiong Lun stepped into the elevator and wiped the sweat from his face, his expression slightly relaxed. It was only then that he noticed the woman standing with her back to him.

  He let out a startled "ah" and then said: "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

  The woman didn't say a word, still with her back to him, without even a polite movement of her body.

  "Why aren't you speaking?" He furrowed his brow, trying to pull the woman up, hoping she could talk to him and alleviate some of the fear in his heart.

  "Did you hear that scream just now?" He shrugged his shoulders, trying to find something to say, perhaps if he said more, the woman would speak to him.

  However, the woman was unmoved.

  Xiong Lunbing saw the woman not speaking, so he shook his head. Suddenly, he remembered that even the elevator's floor buttons hadn't been pressed yet. He turned around to press the elevator button, but found that this woman had been here for a while, but also hadn't pressed the floor number.

  "What floor are you on?" asked Xiong Lunbing.

  "Whatever." The woman finally spoke up, but to Xiong Lin's ears, she might as well not have spoken at all. The simple three words sounded incredibly cold, a voice that could be described as icy and piercing, seeming to frost over the listener's small heart with a layer of ice crystals.

  Xiong Lun looked at the air conditioner in the elevator and thought the air inside was too cold.

  "Really?!?" Xiong Lun pointed at the button and asked in confusion. How can an elevator be casual? He thought to himself.

  He hesitated for a moment, pressed "3", closed his eyes and waited for the elevator to go up.

  After waiting for a while, he opened his eyes, but the elevator seemed to have not moved at all. This made him anxious again, as he had clearly pressed the button for the 3rd floor and the number "3" was still lit up. But why wasn't it moving? He lowered his head, pondering this inexplicable problem, while fear crept back into his heart once more.

  He got excited, kept pressing the elevator's up button, and finally, the elevator went up. From start to finish, the woman didn't react at all, nor did she turn her head back, her hair almost covering her entire face.

  He went up to the third floor, and after hesitating for a moment, Xiong Lun quickly walked out of the elevator. Just as he stepped out of the elevator, the woman finally turned around and revealed a cold smile behind him before "floating" out of the elevator.

  Xiong Lunbing was so scared in his heart that he didn't even care if the woman had left the elevator, and he hurriedly walked towards his home. He fumbled for the key from his pocket, hastily inserted it into the lock, but missed several times before finally opening the door, then quickly slipped inside and turned on the light.

  But just as he was about to close the door, the woman stood at the entrance and held her hand against the door to prevent Xiong Lengbing from closing it.

  Xiong Lun turned around and saw that the woman's face was pale and haggard. Her lips were dry and cracked, devoid of any color.

  "Who?!" Xiong Lunbing saw the woman and his eyes widened in shock, his whole body trembling. He took a few steps back, his face pale with surprise, just like the woman's.

  "Yes, it's me." The woman said coldly, "Unexpected, isn't it? I'll come looking for you!"

  "Are you human or ghost?" Xiong Lunbing retreated backwards and fell onto the sofa, his limbs still feeling icy cold.

  "What did you say?" The woman walked into the room lightly and closed the door with her hand, "Why do you want to kill me?" The woman said, getting angrier.

  "Qin Yin," Xiong Lunbing shook his head in a flurry, then struggled to get up and knelt on the ground, crying and saying, "I was wrong, Qin Yin, I'm sorry for you, I was blinded by greed and killed you. But do you know? These days I've been feeling guilty, I originally loved you so much, really, I loved you for ten thousand years. But really, I was wrong now, every day I'm filled with remorse. Forgive me, don't come looking for me again."

  "Hmph", Qin Yun sneered again, "You this wolf-hearted and dog-abdomened thing, you say you're remorseful, are you really remorseful? In the past, I loved you so much, you worked at my father's company, embezzled 1 million, I begged my father to forgive you. However, due to greed, in the end you hired someone to kill my father and smoothly took over as chairman using our relationship. After succeeding, you even killed me! You this hypocrite, I want you to pay with your life!"

  "But I was still kicked out by the board of directors, and I have received the punishment I deserved. Now I can only suffer in a company."

  "That's your wicked heart!" Qin Yin's eyes widened in anger, almost spitting fire.

  "Qin Yin, Qin Mei," Xiong Lunbing saw Qin Yin's furious look as if she was about to tear him apart, so he hastily begged for mercy, "I didn't kill your father, really!"

  "Shut up!" Qin Yin said loudly, "Do you think I'll believe you if you don't admit it? My dad in the underworld has already told me."

  "You love me so much, you won't let me die, right?" Xiong Lunbing saw that nothing could be hidden anymore, and he only hoped the woman would forgive him.

  "Rest assured," Qin Yin shouted loudly, her eyes suddenly rolling around before continuing, "Fine, I won't kill you, but you have to prove that what you said earlier is true. You said you were blaming yourself, didn't you? Let's see how sincere your self-blame is."

  "How can I prove it? As long as I can do it, I will definitely do it." Xiong Lunbing heard Qin Yin say this, and he felt that he had already grasped the opportunity to survive.

  "Write down everything you've done in detail and sign it." Qin said with a cold laugh.