The holiday enthusiasm had not yet faded. Beneath the Qingmeng Mountain, the area around Mulian Village was brightly lit. Even though night had fallen, tourists were still walking about, making it quite lively.
On the commercial street not far from the village, rows of neon lights were in business. Signs for "Xixiang BBQ," "Juewei blood-cake duck," and "Mulian Village Authentic Sour Barbel Grilled Fish" remained lit, dyeing the entire street in a neon glow.
——There were few people on the street, with only the occasional sound of a cat's elongated meow.
Compared to the bustling crowds of the previous period, it now seemed somewhat empty and desolate.
Once the out-of-town tourists left, some of the more remote inns and guesthouses became vacant. Many guesthouse owners timely put up signs for low-priced rooms to attract customers, not seeking to make a profit but merely to break even.
Wang Lan was a local who, along with her husband, managed such a local guesthouse. To earn more money, the couple worked in shifts—one on the day shift and one on the night shift—busy as spinning tops every day, hoping to save more money.
"Tick-tock, tick-tock..."
The hands of the old-fashioned clock hanging on the wall moved slowly, harmonizing with the pitter-patter of the rain that had started outside at some unknown time, making it exceptionally hypnotic.
Wang Lan, dozing off at the front desk, let out a yawn—it was nearly one in the morning. By rights, it was time for the shift change, but while a few scattered people walked past the hotel entrance, she hadn't seen a sign of her man.
He must have been delayed by something.
Thinking this, Wang Lan stood up to stretch. She inadvertently looked toward the hotel entrance, and her heart suddenly skipped a beat.
Standing before the transparent glass door was a thin, weak man with his head lowered. He didn't say a word, but his eyes were fixed intently on her. His eyes weren't large, his cheeks were bloated with flesh, and his skin was deathly pale—so white it was almost translucent, as if the fat beneath the skin was visible.
This is bad.
Wang Lan couldn't help but roll her eyes. In her many years of running a shop, she had seen all sorts of strange characters and was long since well-versed in the world. Moreover, the local police station often educated shop owners like them on the physical characteristics of drug addicts, and who would have thought she would encounter one today.
Wandering around outside in the middle of the night instead of going home, looking bloodless and listless...
Look at that eerie, greenish-white complexion; it was definitely due to long-term malnutrition and drug damage.
And those dull, numb eyes—his brain was likely fried from overusing.
Whose brat was this? His parents would be worried sick if they saw him.
So young, with perfectly good limbs—why couldn't he do something productive instead of ruining himself?
In the end, he had turned himself into something that was neither human nor ghost, and the state would have to pick up the pieces.
Wang Lan made up her mind. When her husband arrived, she would call the police and absolutely not let this man into the shop. Getting into trouble was a small matter, but if he scared the guests and someone posted it online, would she still be able to run her shop?
Just as this thought occurred to her, she saw the young man suddenly move slightly. He looked up at Wang Lan, a look of urgent pleading in his eyes.
Only then did Wang Lan see the young man's appearance clearly in the shadows:
He was in his early twenties, with a buzz cut and a dimple on his face. His eyes didn't look large because they were squeezed together by the fat on his face, and he was dripping with water from head to toe.
He looked just like a bloated corpse soaked in water from a horror movie.
For some reason, this thought suddenly surfaced in Wang Lan's mind.
But she only thought it for a moment. In her dozen years of running the shop, she had seen plenty of drunks, gamblers, and lechers. She even had experiences of running out in the middle of the night to catch bugs or swat mosquitoes after a guest's phone call.
——There were no real ghosts in this world.
Seeing that this boy was about the same age as her son, Wang Lan couldn't quite bear it. She quietly grabbed the stick she kept for self-defense during the night watch and called out boldly:
"Young man, where are your friends? Are you in some kind of trouble? Tell me. Look, I just run a small inn and can't help you much, and it's raining outside. It's not right for you to just stand there, is it?"
"I want to go home, it's so cold."
The young man shivered, and the water droplets on his head and clothes fell even faster with a pitter-patter. He opened his mouth and spoke with a sob:
"I fell into the river and drifted for a long time before I got ashore. It's so cold, I want to go home. Auntie, let me use your phone to call my home, please, please..."
Wang Lan was about to agree when she suddenly felt something was wrong.
Through the glass, she saw clearly that the cement of the street was clean. Not only was there no rain, there wasn't even a single speck of mud.
As for the sound of water she heard...
Wang Lan steadied herself, and her gaze slowly moved down, landing on the young man's large feet, which were bloated like radishes.
A trail of water seeped continuously from beneath his feet, gradually converging into a circle. Several strands of yellowish water plants were tangled around his soaked tracksuit pants, but what supported his entire body were not calves, but ghastly white bones with only a few shreds of flesh left from being gnawed.
"Drip-drop, drip-drop, drip-drop..."
Water kept seeping from the white bones, falling rapidly to the ground, creating the sound of rain.
"Auntie, I'm so cold, I want to go home. Please call my mom and dad... I drifted for a long time before I climbed up, please..."
The young man seemed unaware of his own abnormality. The mouth on his chubby face opened and closed, and yellow muddy water flowed out uncontrollably, landing on the transparent glass.
——That wasn't fat at all; he was bloated from being soaked in water.
Why hasn't that husband of mine arrived yet!
Wang Lan was terrified to the extreme. Her legs went weak, and her adrenaline surged, making her wish she could faint immediately.
"I'll call, I'll call for you right now. Your, your mom and dad's home number is..."
She felt she had never been this calm. She obediently held up her phone and shouted through the glass for the young man to give her the number. The other party was stunned for a moment, spat out a mouthful of yellow muddy water, and began to sob again:
"I can't remember. Help me call the police. I can't find the way home. Ask them to send me back..."
What kind of ghost asks someone to call 110!
Wang Lan was almost on the verge of crying out loud. Fortunately, she could still hold on. She tremblingly dialed the emergency number. When she heard the kind and gentle female voice after the call connected, she wailed directly:
"Help! Help! Lanhua Hotel on Xiping Street in Mulian Village! A ghost is asking me to call the police for him! Come quickly! If you come late, you won't see me anymore!"
The operator who had just connected the call: "..."
What are you saying?
Despite being half-dubious, the dutiful operator still dispatched police force. Wang Lan hung up the phone and turned to look at the male ghost, only to find the ghostly figure had vanished, leaving a large puddle of water on the spot.
A heart-wrenching sob still lingered in the air:
"Auntie, you're a good person. Let me tell you, there's a monster in the water. You can't live here anymore. Run away quickly. You can't live here anymore, run away quickly."
Wang Lan was filled with shock and doubt. She gripped her phone tightly, her eyes vacant, unable to come to her senses for a long time.
Rate on N.U.
