Episode 3 Chapter 023 Someone Behind Me
He was talking about the scene where the elevator door opened and my mom and I stepped back. This time I saw it clearly. My mom and I’s shadows on the wall were a little different. There seemed to be an extra person in the middle of our shadows. It was very obvious. We were standing with our backs to the wall at the time, and we would not turn around to look at our own shadows. Now when I see it, I can’t help but feel a wave of fear.
After that, Shi Hu stopped the video and put away the notebook. I asked about the video of us going to the seventh floor. Shi Hu said that the surveillance camera failed to record it. Either the screen was black, or it skipped inexplicably. I just found it incredible, because I wanted to see when we came out of 721, was I carrying a paper man on my back or my dad? Because of this matter, I always felt confused in my heart, but I had no idea.
The reason why Shi Hu let me see these is to let me know my current situation. He said that Master Nan said the same thing yesterday. There is something wrong with the house I live in, and due to some of my own reasons, I attracted some things back to me. The combination of the two led to this situation.
When I heard that there was a problem with the house, I immediately thought of moving out, but Shi Hu shook his head and said that I had been misled too much by movies and TV dramas. Then he said seriously that even among those people who moved away and escaped in the movies, who really escaped in the end? He said that blindly hiding and escaping would not solve the problem, and this kind of drama has been entangled with you, and will follow you no matter where you go. Since it wants to harm you, it will not give up just because you move out.
So Shi Hu said that moving away to escape was the stupidest way, and asked me to give up the idea and not even think about it. He also said that for the time being we might be safer living at home. At least according to the current situation, the thing lurking in my house has not yet reached the point where it can harm us. If we move out rashly, he and Master Nan can't say for sure what might happen.
He was afraid that I would agree to do it privately, so he specifically told me to listen to him, otherwise there would be no room for change. And the reason why he told me privately was because he was afraid that my father and mother would have such thoughts, so it was better for them not to know these internal factors. I was already under a lot of fear, and I would not be able to bear it under their pressure.
I said I understood what he meant, and Shi Hu then told me to comfort my father and mother first, and not to let them have any other thoughts. I would wait until Master Nan came in the afternoon to see what he said, and we should not touch the paper man. He also had something else to deal with, so I had to go and deal with it first.
I didn't have any idea at the time, so I just asked casually what it was about. To be honest, it was just a casual question without thinking, and I didn't expect him to really tell me. To put it bluntly, it was just a polite remark like saying hello when meeting someone. But I didn't expect Shi Hu to really tell me. He said that the issue of the lost ashes of old man Liu at the funeral home has not been resolved. Before I came down, they said that they had some clues and he wanted to go over to take a look.
It was almost clear that Shi Hu was a policeman. I remembered that there was another person with him when he went to the funeral home, but I haven't seen him much since then. Shi Hu said that they were responsible for different matters and I would naturally see him in the future.
After Shi Hu left, I returned home. When I got home, my mother was already cooking and my father was helping. The depressing atmosphere when I left was completely gone, as if they had completely reconciled. When my mother saw me come back, she asked me why Shi Hu didn't come up with me. I said he had left first because of something and would come over with Master Nan in the afternoon.
I was just about to open my mouth to comfort them about what happened last night, but my mother started to comfort me first. She was afraid that I would be scared, and told me not to think too much about what happened last night. There is always a solution to everything. Besides, life and death and disasters are all part of fate, and maybe letting nature take its course is the solution.
Hearing my mother say this, I was a little overwhelmed, and then I felt relieved. Since my mother and the others had already thought it through, I didn't need to worry about it. So I nodded and asked my mother if there was anything I could help with. My mother said I should just go and sit down, and that my father would be there to help, and besides, I was clumsy and couldn't be of much help.
So I sat down on the sofa, and within a few minutes, I heard my phone ringing. I took it out and saw that it was Xiao Ma calling. I remembered his call last night, so I answered the phone. Xiao Ma's voice was completely different from last night. As soon as I picked up the phone, he said that it was getting harder and harder to call me. Was it because the signal was bad or I did it on purpose? Why couldn't I get through after calling all morning? Then he teased me that if my phone was broken, I should get it repaired. If it didn't work, I could get a new one. Anyway, I didn't care about that little money.
As the saying goes, the speaker may not mean it but the listener may take it seriously. But what he said surprised me a little, because my phone was on all morning. So I said, "No way." Xiao Ma said, "I don't believe it." He said, "Wait a minute, call me in person in front of me someday." After that, he asked me why I didn't come to work. I made the excuse that I was not feeling well, so Xiao Ma didn't say anything, but just asked me, "He slept so soundly last night, and he didn't hear me when I called him. Is there something urgent that I'm not asleep at four in the morning and calling him?"
When I heard it, I was puzzled. I said no. I didn't call him last night, but ...
Just as I was about to say the following words, I felt as if the phone was suddenly disconnected. I was about to call Xiao Ma, but suddenly I heard a hoarse voice from the other end of the phone: "Did you find it?"
The voice was so gloomy and hoarse, as if it had just crawled out of a coffin. It scared me, so I said, "Xiao Ma, whose voice is this?"
But there was no response from the other side. Instead, the voice continued to say, "Come to me when you find it."
I felt that these two sentences were simply incomprehensible, so I asked what he had found, but soon I heard Xiao Ma's "Hello" voice on the other end. I heard Xiao Ma's voice and asked in confusion what happened on his end just now and why someone else's voice suddenly appeared. Xiao Ma asked what someone else's voice was, and then he said that my phone might be really broken, why I couldn't hear anything while I was talking on the phone, and he thought I had hung up.
I felt a strange and eerie feeling spreading around me, and knew that the situation was a little unusual, so I didn't say much to Xiao Ma, but just said maybe, and continued the previous topic, saying that I didn't call him last night, and maybe he had seen it wrong. And in this situation, I thought Xiao Ma himself should not remember calling me, or finding the note next to the pillow, so I didn't mention it to her.
But as soon as I said this, Xiao Ma got excited on the other end. He asked me if I was confused. When he woke up in the morning, there was a missed call from me on his phone. He called me back at that time, but the call was not connected. Later, when he arrived at the company, he called me again. It was the same as before. He had called me no less than five or six times before this call. Xiao Ma is an impatient person, I know this. Since he said that, if I said again that I didn’t call, he would definitely get angry with me. So I could only say that I had a fever last night and might have dialed in a daze and didn’t remember, and asked him not to worry about it.
He asked about going to the hospital and so on. I said he forgot my parents were there and that someone was taking care of me and I was feeling much better now. Then he felt relieved and hung up the phone. After I hung up the phone, I felt like something was blocking my heart and it felt uncomfortable. It felt like this was spreading around with me as the center. Now even Xiao Ma had encountered such a thing without knowing it. I always felt that the reason why Xiao Ma was implicated was mostly because he was gossipy about Old Man Liu. I would like to know how his friend in the funeral home is doing now.
I didn't dare take a nap at noon, so I sat on the sofa with my dad, mom and others watching TV and chatting. I don't know if it was a coincidence or what, but my mom received a call from my eldest sister-in-law at home, saying that my eldest brother broke his leg and was in the hospital. My mom asked why he was so careless and how he fell. He said he was climbing the ladder and somehow fell down.
Hearing this, my mother was a little embarrassed. If it was a normal time, I would definitely persuade my parents to go back to see my eldest brother, but at this critical moment, coupled with what Shi Hu said to me this morning, I dare not say anything. My mother has already thought about going back, but she is worried about me. In her words, everyone is her flesh and blood, but...
I told my mother not to worry and that he should be fine in the hospital. Later, my mother also called my eldest brother, who said that he just had a broken bone and no other injuries were caused . The reason he called was that my sister-in-law had to take care of him and pick up the children from school, so she was too busy. He asked my mother if I had recovered and if I could come back to help take care of the children.
Later, my mother said that he should go back first and my father should stay here, but I was worried about my mother going alone. I said that I also wanted to go back to see my eldest brother, but the Public Security Bureau still had a ban and would not let me go. Otherwise, Shi Hu and Master Nan came in the afternoon and asked them what they said. They should be patient first. If everything is fine, he and my father should go back. I can handle it here. If I can go back, I will go with them.
Shi Hu and Master Nan really came in the afternoon. After they came, we talked about this matter before they said anything else. Shi Hu said that I definitely could not leave, and his tone did not leave any room for negotiation. I looked at Shi Hu and knew that he must have said that because of the corpse oil, so I did not ask any further questions. I asked, then what about dad and mom, Master Nan said that dad and mom were fine, but I just had to be careful on the way home, and it would be better to get a talisman or something.
After hearing Master Nan say this, I told my mom and dad that since everything was fine, they could go back without worry. I have Shi Hu and Master Nan here to help me, so there shouldn't be any problem.
My mother hesitated again and again, and finally listened to me. My father's presence has always been weak, and he didn't say anything. But I was still a little worried, so I asked implicitly, "Is it really okay for them to leave like this?"
Master Nan and Shi Hu naturally understood the reason why I asked the question. They both told me that it was okay as long as I didn't leave. Then, when my parents weren't paying attention, Shi Hu told me that as long as I didn't leave, these things would naturally not follow my parents and would not bother them anymore.
