Chapter 003
At the end of the thought, maybe it was because I had just been discharged from the hospital, but my head was aching so much that I simply stopped thinking about it.
The car moved forward, stopping and starting, with a few people getting on and off. There was one more stop to go, and it was near my home.
I live outside the Second Ring Road, a little off the beaten track, and I rent a house. It's really hard to buy a house when you start working hard.
There were still a lot of people on the bus here, mostly office workers like me. Many more people got on at this stop, making the bus even more crowded.
Everyone was pushing and shoving each other to squeeze in, and many elderly people and children were squeezed hard.
An old lady with gray hair squeezed in beside me. Normally, I have a sense of public morality and it is common for me to give up my seat, but today I just don't have the energy to do so. I thought that no matter what I do, someone will get up and give up their seat. But after waiting for a long time, no one did anything.
I have a strange habit. For example, if I litter on the street or don't give up my seat to an elderly person, I always feel that people around me are staring at me and pointing fingers at me in their hearts. I don't know if this is paranoia or something like that.
After hesitating for a while, I couldn't help it. I thought I would be home soon anyway, so I stood up and said to the old lady, "Please sit here."
But the old lady didn't respond at all, as if she couldn't hear my voice. The young people standing next to her looked at me in confusion, which made me feel a little embarrassed.
Seeing me stand up, a boy next to me immediately sat down.
My little sense of justice suddenly exploded, and I shouted, "What are you doing? I gave this seat to the old man!"
He looked at me in surprise and suddenly cursed, "Idiot!"
I was about to get angry when the car suddenly slowed down, causing me to lose my balance and I quickly grabbed the handrail near the door.
I looked up and from my angle, I could just see the projection on the window. I was originally filled with anger, but suddenly I withered.
Because I suddenly realized that the old man standing next to me was not among the figures printed on the window!
I stood by the door, holding on to the handrail tightly, not daring to breathe. I stared at the projection on the glass. After a long while, I glanced at the old woman next to me. She was also motionless, not looking at me, as if she was in a trance.
I didn't dare to look at her any longer, for fear that she would suddenly notice me. I was filled with mixed feelings, and just hoped that the bus would stop soon.
But the more I waited, the slower time seemed to pass. This short stop felt like a long walk around the city. The people around me didn't . I suddenly felt strange. Am I the only one who could see this old man?
I thought about the young man’s reaction when he gave up his seat just now. It seemed that he really didn’t see there was an old man standing in front of him.
Could it be that all these horrible things that happened to me for no reason in the past two days were directed at me?
I didn't dare to think about it any further. I felt like I had fallen into an ice hole and my body couldn't help shaking.
At this moment, the bus braked suddenly again. I was so happy that it finally stopped!
As soon as the car door opened a crack, I jumped down, but I lost my balance and fell to the ground!
There were exclamations and some mocking laughter behind me. I didn't care about them. I hurriedly got up from the ground and turned my head to look, but I didn't stop.
But I regretted it when I saw it!
The old woman who seemed to be in a trance was now standing behind me, with her hands on her belly, staring at me with a dull look!
I rolled and crawled forward, and I don't know how many people's attention I attracted.
I think this is the most desperate thing I have ever done in my 20 years of life. When I was in high school, I felt that I was close to death after running 3,000 meters, but this time I clearly surpassed my previous speed and endurance. People can really burst out their potential at the critical moment of life and death. Although this is only the critical moment of life and death that I have identified.
Normally it takes me more than twenty minutes to get from the bus stop to my residence, but I didn’t expect that I only took seven or eight minutes by running all the way.
The house I rented was similar to the village in the city. Although it looked shabby from the outside, the facilities inside were quite good. I went around the remote alleys and came to the door. I took out the key with trembling hands and feet, but the more anxious I was, the harder it was to open the door. I cursed in my heart countless times.
I kept looking back and only breathed a sigh of relief when I couldn't see the old woman anymore.
As soon as I entered the door, I was completely exhausted. Although it was not as dangerous as the first time I encountered the paper man riding in the car with Lin Tian, my spirit had reached its limit after such a series of stimulations. If there was another one, I guess I would just lie on the ground and wait for death.
I ran into the kitchen and got a knife. I don't know when I heard that knives and other things have the function of warding off evil spirits.
It seems that some people who often suffer from sleep paralysis are said to prevent similar incidents from happening again if they put a knife under their pillow when they sleep at night.
I usually don't know much about these weird things. Now I'm just trying to save the situation, and I've basically used all the methods I can.
I placed garlic at the door of my room and hung a mirror behind the door. I don't know what it's for, but it seems to be played like this in horror movies I watched before.
After everything was arranged, I curled up in bed, covered myself tightly with the quilt, and put the knife next to the pillow so that I could reach it as long as I reached out.
I was always in a state of high tension, and any slight disturbance would make me panic.
I just hid under the quilt, sweating profusely but not moving a muscle.
But maybe because I was too tired that day, I fell asleep without realizing it.
I had a dream about the day of my mother's funeral.
Before the funeral, many relatives and friends came to visit. I knelt beside the coffin and greeted them one by one.
Then Lin Tian suddenly appeared behind me. He pulled me. I turned to look at him and saw that he was holding a paper man in his arms. He looked at me with a gloomy face and said, "Why are you kneeling? Your mother is not dead!"
I was just about to tell him to stop messing around, but he suddenly pointed at the coffin and said, "Look if you don't believe me."
I looked inside and suddenly found that the coffin lid had disappeared. But my mother was still lying in it, without any smell of decay. Her face was exactly the same as I remembered.
Lin Tian suddenly said again, I'm not asking you to look inside, I'm asking you to look at her.
I just felt puzzled and slowly raised my head. Suddenly, I found that there was another person on the other side of the coffin. Just like me just now, he was looking at the corpse in the coffin.
Seeing me look up, she slowly raised her face and smiled at me faintly.
I was stunned for a moment, and it took me a long time to shout, "Mom!"
My body jolted and I woke up immediately, only to find myself covered in cold sweat. I heaved a sigh of relief when I realized it was just a dream.
But at this moment, my cell phone suddenly rang! I was startled again.
I felt that my frightened look was a little ridiculous, so I wiped my face with both hands, trying to sober myself up and stop being so suspicious.
I picked up the phone and looked at the caller ID. It was Lin Tian calling.
I picked up the phone and asked what happened?
Lin Tian said I was outside your door and knocked for a long time but there was no response.
Only then did I realize that I could indeed hear Lin Tian’s voice through the wall.
I said wait. Then I hung up the phone and checked the time. I had slept all day. There were more than ten missed calls on my phone. It was from a colleague in the company.
As I went to open the door for Lin Tian, I wondered what this person wanted to talk to me about. Suddenly I remembered that the date of my leave had passed, and today was my day to go to work!
I cursed in my heart and even forgot about this matter. I didn’t know how to explain it to my company.
I opened the door and saw Lin Tian standing outside. He looked like he had taken stimulants and it seemed that he really didn't want to stay in the hospital any longer.
He walked in and asked me what I was doing. I almost knocked on the door, but I just hid at home and didn't make any noise.
I asked him what else I could do besides sleeping. Then I asked him why he came.
Lin Tian chuckled and said, My mother asked me to come.
When I heard this, I really felt like the sun rose from the west, and I kept shaking my head, refusing to believe it.
Lin Tian hurriedly explained, "My mom went to find a fortune teller from somewhere and told her about our situation. The fortune teller asked us to go see her and get rid of the evil spirits for us. My mom asked me to pick you up."
I thought to myself, based on Lin Tian’s fucking style, he must be afraid that something might happen to Lin Tian and me, so he wants to exorcise the evil spirit for me!
I thought so but didn't say it out loud. After thinking about it for a while, I agreed.
I didn't care about the work at the company. After all, compared to making money, life is more important.
I simply washed up, but I still felt a little unsure when I thought about going out.
Although staying at home is boring, it seems to be much safer.
Seeing that I looked strange, Lin Tian asked me if something had happened again.
I said a few vague words and didn't mention the ghost I encountered on my way home yesterday.
To be honest, although I have been working in this city for more than a year, the only person I can really count as a friend is Lin Tian. We have known each other since childhood, so I am also worried that if he finds out about my repeated encounters with ghosts, he will think that I am unclean like his mother and distance himself from me.
This is somewhat selfish. But encountering a ghost is different from other things. Everyone will be afraid, so I am worried that Lin Tian will keep his distance from me.
After I washed up, I put a small knife in my trouser pocket, the kind that many people hang on their key chains. It can give me some psychological comfort.
After we both went out, I saw Lin Tian's father's car parked opposite. I thought that maybe his father was also worried about him being alone with me, so he followed us.
I was wondering, Lin Tian seemed to see through my thoughts and said, "My car was damaged last time, but I wouldn't dare to drive it even if it wasn't damaged." So he just stole my dad's car.
Only then did I realize that the car had changed hands. I couldn't help but sigh that it was good to have a rich family, as I could change the car whenever I wanted.
Lin Tian stood beside the car and shouted, "Get in the car! What are you doing in a daze?"
I hurriedly ran to the passenger seat.
The car started and headed out of the city, and soon we were out of the Third Ring Road. I was a little bored, so I asked Lin Tian about exorcism.
Lin Tian said, I don't know much about it, my mother found the person, and she seems to be quite famous in those feudal and superstitious circles. It is said that she is a blind old woman, and everyone calls her Madam Nine.
I said, just by listening to the name you can tell it's not a serious thing, it's more like a charlatan in a horror movie.
Lin Tian smiled and said, "I would never bother with these people before, but I didn't expect that I would end up in trouble after running into a ghost. I don't know if it's me or you who's unlucky."
Hearing him say that, I felt a little embarrassed. It might be because Lin Tian’s mother had always called me unlucky, and after so many times, she naturally thought that it was my problem.
