502 Feared by Man and Ghost
Ironman and Yan Tang only snapped out of it when Han Fei walked past them. They looked at the messy bedroom and didn’t know what to say. “Was there a ghost that came out of the mirror earlier?”
“I think I get it now. The ghost was inside the mirror so she was hard to kill. Brother Youfu used himself as bait to lure the ghost out to kill her.”
“He didn’t kill her, he saved her.”
“Yes, you’re right.”
Han Fei had his neighbors absorb the Yin energy from the tapes. When Han Fei confirmed there was nothing useful left in the house, he prepared to leave. “Big Sister, how about you walk at the front?” Han Fei noticed something was wrong with Auntie Lee when he left the bedroom. He wanted to see if it was really Auntie Lee’s husband who was trapped at this Mirror Clinic.
Auntie Lee’s eyes were unfocused earlier but when she turned around and saw Han Fei body-slammed a ghost to the ground, she was startled and regained some senses. “His voice is still beside my ears, I believe…” The auntie turned to look at Han Fei, “He is telling me to stay away from you?”
Han Fei raised his brow. He felt quite wronged. Be it with Seaglass Cat or the ghost calling the Auntie, they saw Han Fei as someone very dangerous.
“We’re both players so I will not harm you. You need to be certain and don’t be misguided by the false voices.”
“You are all good kids. Without you, I wouldn’t be here, I understand that.” Auntie Lee was very reasonable. She looked at the 3 young men with appreciation. Walking out of the room, Auntie Lee took a few steps and stopped. She looked down the old corridor. “Were there mirrors there earlier?”
The other 3 looked down at the director the auntie was pointing. The mirrors that crowded the clinic shuffled out to stop at the corridor. It was like they had grown feet and moved when no one was looking. “I so wish to shatter all of them.” Han Fei could feel the waves of Yin energy from the urn. His neighbors would only do that when they were in presence of very dangerous things. When they entered the endless loop at the hotel, no neighbor gave Han Fei such a warning. “But it’s better for me to keep a low profile since we’re at another person’s territory.” After Han Fei removed the idea of smashing all the mirrors, the Yin energy from the urn weakened. “Do I look like someone who’d act without thinking? You guys are worried about me?” The man talked lovingly with the urn. This was scary but Ironman and Yan Tang had started to get used to it. Since the man had brought the urn to the clinic at midnight, talking to it didn’t seem that much of a stretch.
“The mirrors are moving. Pay attention to the people in the mirror, they seem to have come closer to the mirror surface. I think we should move faster or else something bad might happen.” Just as Yan Tang said that the weak light above them went out. Rapid footsteps came from upstairs like they were running for their lives.
“Let’s go upstairs to see.” Han Fei really appreciated Yan Tang’s talent. He hadn’t gained a profession but his talent was already such a big help. Stepping on the staircase with breaking cement, Han Fei came to the 2nd floor of the apartments. The doors along the corridor were open. There was no blood or anything strange on the floor.
“Why were there footsteps then?” He entered the room closest to the stairs. The room looked the same as the one downstairs but there was a pile of name cards scattered on the ground. Han Fei picked up a random card. The number was painted over by a red pen and the name was crossed off with a red pen too.
“The crossed-off cards mean that owners are dead?” Yan Tang squatted beside Han Fei. He picked up a few name cards. “Most of them are from moving companies and repairmen.” He turned to look around. “Nothing looks broken. Was the owner planning to move?” There were too few clues so Yan Tang couldn’t do much analysis.
“Let me try.” Han Fei found a special card among the rest. The card was new and there was no doodling on it. Han Fei took out Firefly’s phone and tried to call the number on the card. He didn’t think it would work but the call actually connected. However, it felt like the person’s voice didn’t come from the phone but echoed in his mind. “Please don’t hang up. Please.” A girl’s crying voice came from the phone.
“Are you in some kind of trouble?” Han Fei took out Rest in Peace and shot Ironman and Yan Tang a look to have them check the rest of the room.
“I was tricked. They trapped me inside a black room, I can’t breathe anymore…”
“Take your time, explain it slowly. Is there anything unique around you? If it’s too dark, then use your hands to touch around, see if you can find anything.” Han Fei was very patient.
“There is nothing around me. I haven’t seen light for a long time already, I am the only one here.” The girl then continued to cry.
“Do you remember how you were brought there?” Han Fei signed at Yan Tang. He wanted him to check the bedroom and the corridor.
“I remember that I got a call at midnight. It should be that call. It kept harassing me until I almost lost my mind!” The girl’s voice turned shrill.
“Why don’t you tell me everything you can remember? The more detailed you are, the more likely I can find you.” Han Fei comforted the girl.
“My father lost his job. Our original house was too expensive for us to rent anymore so we moved further away. The landlady was very nice, she gave us a discounted rental and even provided us with the furniture. We could move in directly.
“We were very happy. After staying here for a while, daddy found a new job and the family had an income again. But daddy had to work nights a lot more often. I stayed home alone at night and I would switch on all the lights, close the bedroom door and crawl in bed.
“At first, there was nothing but about 1 week later, the landline at home would ring every midnight, it was very punctual. Whenever I answered it, there was a child on the phone. He said if I don’t listen to his orders, I would die!
“I thought it was one of the children in the building playing pranks on me so I ignored him, but that only made it worse. I would get multiple calls every night. I was so mad that I removed the phone line but then it really scared me because the phone still rang even without being connected. No matter where I hid the phone, the ringing would echo in the house. The ringing shattered my soul. I couldn’t stand it anymore so I threw the phone out of the window.
“I thought that was the end but the ringing still continued inside the house.”
At this point, Yan Tang returned to Han Fei’s side. He made a sign with his hands, telling Han Fei that he couldn’t find any phone or girl in the room. Han Fei nodded and continued to chat with the girl. “Why was there ringing if you have thrown the phone out of the room?”
“I don’t know. I was afraid so I wrapped myself under the blanket. But it was pointless. The ringing echoed under the blanket.” The girl’s voice caught. “I really didn’t know what to do so I summoned my courage to look for the phone.” When the girl said that, Yan Tang and Han Fei both heard a phone ringing. The sudden ringing startled all the players.
“At first, the ringing started inside the bedroom.” Han Fei turned to the bedroom, the ringing also came from the bedroom. “Then the ringing became louder. I walked along the wooden bed. In the night, I perked up my ears to follow the ringing.” The girl’s voice was becoming smaller but she was still crying. Han Fei took out Rest in Peace and entered the bedroom with the other players. They walked along the bed until they reached a locked dresser.
“I walked and stopped before the dresser with uncertainty. The ringing seemed to come from inside the dresser. I suspected a child was hiding inside the dresser. With great anxiety, I slowly opened the dresser…” The girl’s voice became smaller but the ringing became louder. Han Fei couldn’t even hear what the girl was saying. Hugging the urn, Han Fei broke the lock on the dresser. He pulled the doors open.
The dresser had an aged mirror inside. The mirror was black except for a little girl holding a phone. Her pupilless eyes looked at Han Fei. “Thank you for saving me.” The girl’s mouth split open to reveal pouring blood. She spoke into the phone with a cruel voice, “It’s your turn to stay in this room.”
The darkness in the mirror gushed out. The girl extended her arms as she prepared to escape from the mirror. Darkness slammed at Han Fei but at that moment, the shadow underneath Han Fei’s foot moved. A giant anaconda leaped out. It opened its jaw to swallow the darkness that came out of the mirror. Then it bit on the mirror itself and slithered into the mirror!
The monster was a curious creation. It could even consume the space inside the mirror!
The narrow black room was dominated by the giant anaconda. The girl hugged the phone and curled at the corner. She shivered. At that moment, the phone in her embrace rang. She picked up the phone and a man’s chilling voice said, “If you don’t listen to my orders, you will die!”
The nightmare from years ago repeated itself. The girl dropped the phone and she turned to look out the mirror.
Outside the mirror, Han Fei was holding his phone, calling the girl again and again.
