Chapter 23: Night Raid

  Strictly speaking, this wasn't Su Tong's first encounter with a ghost, but how could such an experience possibly grant him immunity just because he had opened his eyes to something unpleasant once before? Su Tong's two eyes stared straight at the female ghost, and he almost couldn't feel the existence of his own feet, let alone move them.

  That female ghost was also standing there staring at Su Tong, a pair of black eyes that couldn't see any white pupils seemed to have a hint of greed in them. Su Tong noticed that on the hair held by the female ghost's hand, there seemed to be some white things on it, which would fall off from time to time. On the scalp, it seemed like something was moving. She took a closer look and found that they were actually some squirming white maggots. Not only on the scalp but also on the top of the female ghost's head, where there was only a little bit of skin and hair left. Su Tong felt her stomach churning.

  "Rotten...” The female ghost stared at Su Tong for a while, then lowered her eyes, and with a sorrowful tone, began to shake the long hair in her hand, as if trying to shake off all the maggots on it. "Once it's rotten, it won't be beautiful anymore... My hair used to be very beautiful, very beautiful."

  The female ghost's voice was hoarse and abnormal, so her muttering often sounded like she had a stuffy nose, sometimes light and sometimes heavy, sometimes big and sometimes small, revealing an inexplicable strangeness. Su Tong looked at the bunch of hair in her hand and quickly noticed that the female ghost's ten fingers were all missing their fingertips, just like the top of her head, which was covered in blood. She wore a grayish-white suit with several black characters printed on the left chest, arranged in a fan shape, but unfortunately, they were blurred by dried bloodstains, making it impossible to read what they said.

  The female ghost saw the maggots and couldn't shake them off, filled with pity, she stroked her hair, looked up at Su Tong, and suddenly smiled. She stretched out her blood-stained finger, which had lost its tip, and pointed at Su Tong: "Your hair is not bad either, mine's gone bad, I don't want it anymore, you give me your hair!"

  Su Tong was frightened, and subconsciously stretched out his hand to protect his head, fearing that the female ghost would pounce on him and tear at his hair in the next second. However, the female ghost did not pounce, but instead turned her body towards the bed, with a strange smile hanging on her face, and reached out her hand towards the bed.

  Su Tong's eyes widened as she cautiously peeked out, and she let out a sharp cry. She saw that on the bed that should have been empty, lay herself, in exactly the same posture as when she had just been woken up by the knocking sound. The only difference was that the self on the bed seemed to still be fast asleep, completely unaware of everything around her.

  Originally Su Tong thought that encountering a ghost in dreams or reality was the most terrifying thing, until now she finally understood that standing by the bed and seeing another self sleeping on the bed was even more terrifying.

  Su Tong stared wide-eyed as the female ghost reached out her hand to caress his hair, which was scattered on the bed behind him. He stood beside her, but his feet seemed nailed to the ground, unable to move. He felt like he was going crazy with anxiety. Just as the female ghost let go of his hair and began to stretch her hand towards his head, Su Tong's heart filled with despair.

  But at this moment, the female ghost's movements suddenly stopped, as if she was very vigilant, and suddenly shivered. She unwillingly stretched out her hand to touch Su Tong's hair on the bed, opened her mouth, and gave a strange smile, saying: "You're unlucky, you've got a tough one..."

  After saying that, the female ghost crouched down and slipped under the bed, disappearing from view.

  "Ah——!" Su Tong was so frightened that she let out a loud cry, and suddenly her body could move again. She sat up with a start, only to discover that she was still in bed, and the scene just now seemed like a realistic dream.

  She sprang out of bed and ran far away, her two eyes staring at the bed where she had just fallen asleep, fearing that the terrifying female ghost would suddenly crawl out from under the bed again, even though the bed was like all hotel beds, with a frame tightly attached to the floor, making it impossible for anyone to crawl inside.

  But if what just happened wasn't a dream, then what Su Tong needs to guard against isn't human.

  Su Tong was staring nervously at the small gap between the bed frame and the floor, holding his breath and watching intently, when suddenly there was another urgent knock on the door, startling Su Tong so much that he jumped up from where he was standing.

  Won't that nightmare happen again? She looked at the door of the room with fear, and walked towards it with a quiver, but when she reached the door, she didn't have the courage to stick her eyes on the peephole. She was afraid that if she took a look, there would be no one outside the door. She held the phone in her hand, which she had grabbed from the bedside in a hurry, and dialed Tang Wei's number. At this time, she didn't care what time it was, nor did she consider whether she would disturb Tang Wei's rest. There was only one thought in her mind: she was lucky to have met such a talented neighbor before, who had saved her from danger. Unfortunately, this time, the water from afar couldn't save the fire at home. She didn't dare to hope that he would come to her rescue again, even if it was just a temporary solution to teach her some self-defense skills over the phone. At least, someone should know what she had encountered, and that person must be someone who absolutely believed in her and wouldn't think she was mentally ill.

  Tang Ao's phone was connected, but no one answered. Su Tong was getting anxious when a shout came from outside the door.

  "Sū Tóng! It's me! Hurry up and open the door!"

  Su Tong was taken aback, and she recognized the voice as Zhang Min's. If it were any other time, Su Tong would have been annoyed to death if Zhang Min had come to her hotel room at night and knocked on the door. But now, after what had just happened, which was both unreal and terrifying, she felt that even hearing Zhang Min's voice made her feel a lot more at ease.

  However, with the attitude of being careful for a thousand years, she did not rush over to open the door immediately. Instead, she tiptoed to the edge of the door and took a peek through the peephole first. Seeing that Zhang Min was indeed standing outside, she finally let out a sigh of relief.

  Su Tong opened the door, thinking that at this time, even if she just stood at the door and said a few words to Zhang Min, it would be enough to boost her courage, or simply ask him if there were any empty rooms in his hotel or inn, and if so, she might as well move over and avoid being frightened here.

  She opened the door, and before she could even speak, Zhang Min took the initiative to come over, with a hasty look on his face, rushing into the room. Su Tong instinctively tried to block him, but failed, and was pushed aside by Zhang Min, who rushed straight to the window and plopped down in the armchair, grabbing a bottle of mineral water from the table, twisting off the cap, and gulping it all down in one swift motion, with incredible speed, as if he wasn't drinking at all, but rather tilting his head back, opening his throat, and pouring water into it. Normally, people would choke if they drank water at such a speed, Su Tong had never paid much attention to Zhang Min before, and didn't know if he always had this ability.

  Su Tong looked at him in surprise, not knowing why he suddenly ran over to find himself so late at night, and even got thirsty to this extent. He opened his mouth to ask: "Why are you coming over so late? Is there something going on?"

  "Late? Not late, right?" Zhang Min said with a smile to Su Tong, and then he twisted open another bottle of water on the table, tilted his head and drank half of it. "What time is it now? I was worried you'd be bored. This poor and remote place doesn't even have any nightlife, how boring! There's nothing good to watch on TV either. So I came all this way just to keep you company. My throat is parched from running here! Are you sleeping? If I had known you were sleeping, I should've come earlier, heh heh."

  Zhang Min's words were full of ambiguity, especially the last two dry laughs, which made Su Tong feel very disgusted. She regretted why she had gone to open the door just now. Originally, she thought that even a disgusting person was better than a ghost, but now she had to admit that this idea was wrong. People like Zhang Min were actually ghosts, and they were really disgusting.

  "I don't need you to come and keep me company, just go back." Su Tong's face was stern, he didn't move forward but stood at the head of the small corridor leading to the door, ready to open it and drive Zhang Min away if necessary.

  Zhang Min, however, was completely unbothered, smiling as he stared at Su Tong with a strange gaze that was different from his usual look. It didn't seem like one person looking at another, but rather like a hungry animal staring at a plate of food, its eyes fixed and unblinking, filled with longing and craving.

  "You don't need me to accompany you, and I also need you to accompany me. We've come all the way here, is it reasonable to just leave like this?" Zhang Min stood up, took two steps forward, and his piercing gaze swept back and forth over Su Tong's body, as if his eyes could produce hands that were gently stroking Su Tong's skin inch by inch.

  Su Tong also took two steps back, Zhang Min's strange gaze made her feel uncomfortable all over, although she had slept in the hotel with a not-so-ideal sanitary environment, so she was fully dressed from head to toe without any exposure, but Zhang Min's actions still gave her a deep sense of being offended, not only somewhat annoyed, but more of a feeling of disgust from the bottom of her heart.

  She could even guess from Zhang Min's dazed eyes that his mind was now turning with some despicable thoughts, and thinking of this, Su Tong felt even more disgusted.

  "Zhang Min, we are colleagues, and I hope you can give yourself some face and not do anything out of line. If you do, it will be a loss for everyone." Su Tong spoke up, warning Zhang Min with righteous words, hoping he could regain some sense at this moment and stop himself from doing something foolish.

  "Isn't that right, we're colleagues after all, so familiar with each other." Zhang Min's footsteps paused for a moment, then he walked a few steps forward, "If you can take advantage of your neighbor, why can't you take advantage of me?"

  "Fine, since you like staying here so much, then just stay by yourself." Su Tong knew that her advice was pointless, and at this time she didn't want to argue with Zhang Min about what "taking advantage of the neighbors" meant. In this situation, it wasn't very realistic to try to drive him away either. If she insisted on making him leave, and he got agitated and did something irrational, then she would be the one to suffer. This room was at the far end of the corridor, with storage rooms next door and across from it, and no one lived there. Even the window faced a shaded backyard, and not a single sound could be heard, let alone anyone passing by.

  So the best solution is to leave first and go outside where there is more open space, even if Zhang Min does something stupid, there are many ways to seek help.

  As soon as she finished speaking, Su Tong swiftly turned around and rushed towards the door, intending to open it and rush out. However, just as she had unlocked the door and opened it a crack, a strong force suddenly appeared on her shoulder, pulling her backward several steps before she could even grab the doorknob, causing her to heavily fall onto the ground.

  It hurts to death! Su Tong felt that her buttocks, which had landed first, were hurting as if they had split open. Her elbows had also collided with the bed frame and were throbbing in pain. However, this was not the time to be delicate. She struggled to get up, but at this moment, Zhang Min quickly straddled her body and pinned down her two hands.

  Su Tong struggled with all her might, but found that her struggles were in vain. Zhang Min's two hands gripped her tightly, like a pair of tiger clamps, and her wrists felt as if they were about to be crushed.

  "Zhang Min, don't be impulsive, calm down, let's talk, okay?" She begged, hoping to relax Zhang Min's nerves a bit first, and then find an opportunity to break free.

  "Stop pretending, okay? What's there to talk about? I've hinted at you so many times, why didn't you talk to me? You usually act like a decent person, but in the end, you don't even let go of the wild men next door. Weren't you still being arrogant this morning? Now you want to talk to me? You women are really cheap! Zhang Min glared at him with a pair of bloodshot eyes, gritting his teeth as he spoke, and then a strange, sinister smile appeared on his face. "Don't say so much nonsense, I don't believe it, after tonight, you'll still have the face to refuse me!"

  "Zhang Min, don't be like this, you've misunderstood me," Su Tong's heart was both anxious and resentful, but at this moment she couldn't say anything that would further provoke him. She could only struggle while still trying to persuade him, "I'm not the kind of casual woman you think I am. Don't do something stupid, let me go, and we'll just forget everything happened, okay?"

  "No way! I want it to happen, how can it not happen!" Zhang Min said as he leaned down to kiss Su Tong, but was dodged by her and only kissed her earlobe. "You're not a casual person, neither am I. If you follow me and get pregnant, I'll marry you!"

  Su Tong was also anxious, what calm and rational, what not to provoke the other side, at this moment has already forgotten everything, her two hands struggled to break free from Zhang Min's grip, while her knee used force, wanting to hit his vital parts. Zhang Min also discovered her movement, hurriedly dodged, this dodge gave Su Tong an opportunity, she pushed him away and rolled towards the door, but was caught again by Zhang Min who grabbed her hair and slammed her to the ground.

  Zhang Min glared with bloodshot eyes, his two hands pinched Su Tong's neck, and Su Tong felt he couldn't breathe, his consciousness becoming increasingly blurred.

  Just as she was about to fall into darkness, a loud crash sounded in her ear, and suddenly her body felt light, but she didn't have the strength to react or open her eyes to see what had happened. She tilted her head and fainted.