The sudden scream shattered the villa's deathly stillness.
Everyone snapped their heads towards the second floor.
"What happened?!"
"I… I don't know!"
"Go check!"
They scrambled upstairs, converging on the source: the paralyzed woman's room.
Wang Yuning, who had carried up the meal, now sat huddled in a corner, knees drawn tight, trembling violently. The steaming food… lay scattered across the floor.
"What happened?" Ning Qiushui demanded.
Wang Yuning slowly raised a trembling finger, pointing towards the bed. "She… she… spoke just now!" she stammered.
All eyes followed her finger to the old woman lying motionless on the bed, staring blankly out the window.
Liu Chengfeng snorted. "That's it? Didn't you hear the mistress? Her mom's just paralyzed. Paralyzed ain't the same as comatose. Why wouldn't she talk?" He seized the opportunity to mock. "Thought you were tough? Scared shitless by a bedridden old lady?"
Wang Yuning, unusually, didn't retort. She just shivered in the corner, thoroughly spooked.
Ning Qiushui glanced at the silent old woman, then gestured for Liu Chengfeng to help clean the mess. He pulled Wang Yuning to her feet. "She spilled it, but I'm cleaning it up? Bullshit…" Liu Chengfeng grumbled under his breath. Yet, surprisingly obedient, he fetched towels from the bathroom and began wiping the floor. The contrast between his rough exterior and this compliance was jarring, but no one questioned it.
Once the room was restored to order, Ning Qiushui approached the bed. He studied the old woman's serene face for a moment, carefully tucked the blankets around her, then led the group out, closing the door softly behind them.
Back downstairs, the night outside was absolute. The stark fluorescent lights illuminated the foyer, yet an unsettling darkness seemed to cling to the air itself. Silence descended, thick and suffocating.
"Alright, Wang Yuning," Ning Qiushui said, settling onto the sofa opposite her and pouring himself a cup of hot tea. "Tell us. What did the old woman say to you?"
At the mention, Wang Yuning's already pale face drained further of color. Her knuckles whitened as she clutched her clothes. "I… I was feeding her," she began, voice tight. "She took one bite of the beef tenderloin… and just spat it out!"
Liu Chengfeng bristled. "What the hell? She spat it out? My cooking that bad?!"
"Liu Chengfeng," Ning Qiushui cut in, frowning. "Let her finish."
Liu Chengfeng muttered something unintelligible but fell silent.
Wang Yuning's eyes darted nervously, filled with dread. "I… I thought maybe it was too hot. So I tasted it myself… it wasn't. So I gave her another bite… and she spat it out again!" She swallowed hard. "And this time… this time she… she turned her head and looked right at me… and she said… she said…"
She faltered, struggling to form the words. Xue Guize's brows furrowed so deeply they could trap flies. "Well? What did she say?" he pressed impatiently.
Under his glare, Wang Yuning finally blurted out, her voice barely a whisper: "It was soft… I didn't hear clearly… but I think she said… 'The meat… the meat has no taste!' Yeah… 'The meat has no taste!'"
As if summoned by her words, a blinding flash of lightning seared the darkness outside, instantly followed by a thunderclap so violent it rattled the windows!
Everyone flinched. "Jesus! That thunder!" Beidao gasped.
Ning Qiushui strode to the window and yanked it open. A blast of cold, damp air carrying the scent of rain rushed in. "It's raining… heavy rain, strong wind…" He slammed the window shut, his expression grim. "It's already starting… The letter… it wasn't a prank after all." Unlike the others, Ning Qiushui had received a mysterious letter before boarding the bus. He hadn't shared this detail.
As murmurs about the 'tasteless meat' began to circulate, Ning Qiushui suddenly closed the window again, ensuring it was sealed tight against the storm. "Enough. If she won't eat, so be it. It's late. We should get some rest." His voice cut through the chatter. "We'll make her some meat porridge early tomorrow. Have you chosen your rooms?"
An uneasy silence followed his question.
"Do we… really have to sleep alone?" Yamo asked timidly, her eyes wide with residual fear.
Xue Guize responded, "We checked the rooms earlier. They're large, with double beds. Clean. Perfect for two people."
Yan Youping, her eyes still puffy from crying earlier, looked anxious. "But… but there are three of us girls!"
Xue Guize sighed. "The rooms are spacious. You girls are smaller. Squeezing together should be fine."
The three women exchanged uneasy glances. Sharing a bed with strangers was unappealing… but the palpable sense of danger clinging to the villa made solitude seem infinitely worse. They all felt it—the unnerving sensation of being watched from the shadows.
After turning off the downstairs lights, they ascended to the second floor. After a brief discussion:
Ning Qiushui and Liu Chengfeng took a room together first.
The three women chose the room farthest down the right corridor, away from the old woman.
The remaining two men (Xue Guize and Beidao) picked the room next to Ning Qiushui's.
Ning Qiushui seemed to emanate an inexplicable aura of safety.
Wang Yuning was the last to head to her room, still visibly shaken. By the time she gathered herself, the others had already disappeared behind their doors. The corridor stretched before her, long and empty. The light switch was back by the stairs—a single switch for the entire hall. Their chosen room lay at the far end, easily twenty meters away. Turning off the light meant walking that distance in pitch darkness.
Her gaze drifted to the open blinds at the corridor's end. Outside, the storm-lashed trees writhed like tortured demons in the wind, their branches clawing towards the window as if eager to snatch her away. A violent shiver wracked her body. She abandoned any thought of turning off the light, sprinted the last few meters to the room, wrenched open the door, and slammed it shut behind her, locking it with a resounding CLICK!
Thud!
...
Inside his room, Ning Qiushui peeled off his shirt, revealing a physique sculpted with defined, powerful muscle—explosive strength hidden beneath his usual clothing.
Liu Chengfeng, brushing his teeth, did a double-take. "Damn, Ning! Didn't see that comin'! Packin' some serious heat under there!" He grinned, waggling his eyebrows. "Abs like that? You'd be fightin' off sugar mamas left and right in any club!"
Ning Qiushui rolled his eyes, pulling a clean shirt on. "So, why are you sticking so close to me?"
Liu Chengfeng spat out his toothpaste, his playful expression fading into seriousness. "…You're sharp, kid. But I can't say yet. Not until… if… we get out of this Bloody Door alive. Then I'll tell you."
Ning Qiushui looked momentarily surprised, then gave a wry smile. "Mysterious."
Liu Chengfeng shook his head, changing the subject. "Anyway… about that old woman. You think she's… off?"
Ning Qiushui was silent for a long moment. The only sound was the drumming rain against the window. When he finally spoke, his voice was low and heavy.
"It's not just her, Liu Chengfeng. Something's deeply wrong with this entire family… maybe even with this whole villa complex."
Liu Chengfeng froze, toothbrush hovering near his mouth. "The… the villa complex? What's wrong with it?"
Ning Qiushui spoke, his voice low in the darkened room. "The mistress said only her family lives in this complex. But… I saw signs of recent habitation in many villas I passed. Traces from the last month or two. At least eight houses I saw clearly, and who knows how many more…" He paused, letting the implication sink in. "That means… people were living here, not long ago."
As Ning Qiushui's words registered, cold sweat prickled down Liu Chengfeng's spine. If Ning Qiushui's observations were correct… where had all those people gone?
Ning Qiushui paced to the window, hands shoved deep in his pockets, his expression grave. "Besides, people don't usually buy huge garden villas to live alone. So whoever lived here likely had families, friends… Even if they went out to work, the houses wouldn't be completely empty…"
He gestured sharply towards the glass. "But look out there. It seems like the only souls left in this entire complex… are us."
Following his pointed finger, Liu Chengfeng's gaze swept across the view. His blood ran cold. The dozen or so villas visible from their window… were utterly dark. Not a single light burned in any window!
"This…" Liu Chengfeng choked out, his face paling dramatically. "How… how is this possible?!"
Ning Qiushui's voice was chillingly calm. "Something happened here. Something… truly terrible."
He meticulously checked the window latch, ensuring not even a sliver of air could penetrate, then yanked the curtains shut with finality. He returned to his bed.
With the outside sealed off, a new, insidious presence filled the room—a faint but persistent stench. It clung to the air, a nauseating blend of decay and damp mold.
"What is that smell?" Liu Chengfeng asked, wrinkling his nose.
Remembering Xue Guize's earlier complaint, they searched the room, their noses leading them upwards. Their eyes locked onto the ceiling above them.
A viscous, yellowish-brown stain seeped through the wooden planks. The foul odor emanated powerfully from that spot.
"Holy shit…" Liu Chengfeng recoiled, gagging, and hastily dragged his bed away. "What is that?"
Ning Qiushui stood beneath the damp patch, squinting up at it for a long moment. When he finally spoke, his voice was deadly serious. "Liu Chengfeng… do you trust me?"
Liu Chengfeng was taken aback by the question but nodded without hesitation. "Yeah. I trust you."
Ning Qiushui met his eyes in the gloom. "Then listen carefully. Tonight… don't fall asleep. Keep the lights off. And no matter what you hear… ignore it. Don't react. Don't make a sound."
Liu Chengfeng's body tensed. "Kid… you think something's gonna happen tonight?"
Ning Qiushui remained silent for an agonizing stretch. Finally, the barest, almost imperceptible nod answered him.
Ning Qiushui reached out and switched off the light. The room plunged into an oppressive, suffocating darkness.
Liu Chengfeng lay rigid on his bed, his mind churning. He fought desperately against the encroaching tendrils of sleep, focusing on the silence, on the faint, revolting smell. But exhaustion was a relentless tide, and despite his terror, it gradually pulled him under…
He awoke with a jolt, his heart already pounding. A sound. A horrid, scraping sound. It came from outside their door.
Screeeech…
Screeeech…
It was the unmistakable, hair-raising sound of metal grating against metal. Sharp metal. Liu Chengfeng's mind, honed by years in the kitchen, instantly supplied the image: knives. Like knives being scraped together.
He shot upright in bed, hand instinctively flying towards the lamp switch. Then Ning Qiushui's urgent warning echoed in his mind. His hand froze, trembling, in mid-air.
"Ning… you there?" he breathed, his voice barely audible.
A sharp, silencing shhh hissed from beside him.
"Not a sound." Ning Qiushui's whisper was taut, strained, laced with a tremor Liu Chengfeng had never heard before. He was terrified too.
Light from the corridor bled in under their door, a thin, accusing line. As the dreadful scraping sound drew closer, a long, distorted shadow slid across the strip of light beneath the door…
The scraping stopped abruptly. Right outside their door.
Liu Chengfeng's heart hammered against his ribs like a trapped bird. He clenched his fists until his knuckles cracked, holding his breath until spots danced before his eyes.
What the hell is out there?
What happens if it comes in?
His mind went terrifyingly blank, wiped clean by raw panic.
Time stretched and warped. It could have been minutes, or mere seconds. Then, the shadow moved again. It glided away from their door, continuing down the corridor.
The awful scraping resumed—
Screeeech…
Screeeech…
It was the sound of a predator prowling. An executioner seeking his next victim. The scraping paused at the second door down the corridor… lingered… then moved again, stopping finally at the very last door at the far end. It paused there too… and then… silence. Utter, profound silence.
Ning Qiushui moved with the silence of a ghost. He slid off the bed, crept to the door, and pressed his ear against the narrow gap at the bottom. He listened. And listened.
Nothing. No sound. The thing… the presence… had vanished as abruptly as it appeared.
After what felt like an eternity, Ning Qiushui finally straightened up and returned to his bed, moving with the same unnerving quietness.
"Kid…" Liu Chengfeng whispered, his voice raw. "What… what was that outside?"
Ning Qiushui's voice was flat, hollow with residual fear. "Don't know. But it wasn't human."
He paused, letting the implication hang heavy in the fetid air. "It didn't make a sound when it moved."
Cold dread washed over Liu Chengfeng anew. Sweat beaded on his forehead despite the room's chill.
No… it can't be…
This villa…
Are there really… ghosts here?