The air smelled of braised beef noodles.
The old lady had already vanished.
Outside, the red-clothed female ghost stared at me greedily, crawling toward me.
About ten meters away from the security booth,
she stopped.
It was as if she feared something.
Her face was filled with unease and hesitation.
The security guy, who had been eating instant noodles, finished every drop of the soup.
He looked at the red-clothed ghost outside, tilted his head in thought,
then opened the sliding window.
He tossed the disposable chopsticks in his hand toward the ghost.
The lightweight chopsticks, at that moment, flew like two arrows straight toward the ghost's chest.
The ghost couldn't dodge in time and let out a shrill scream.
She quickly stepped back a few paces,
her eyes glaring venomously at me and the security guy.
After a moment, she slowly retreated into the darkness and disappeared.
"She's gone. But once she's set her sights on you, she'll definitely come back."
the security guy said, eyeing me up and down.
I knew I'd met someone capable.
I hurried to ask, "Master, what should I do?"
He replied, "How did you manage to provoke such a fierce ghost?
And that old lady earlier—she was so weak,
yet she risked her soul dissipating to protect you… Interesting."
I thought of the old lady being torn to shreds by the ghost, and my eyes burned with emotion:
"I don't know. It all started when I accepted a delivery order…"
I told him everything: the delivery order, meeting the old lady and the punk,
Ye Manman's past, and what had happened with my roommate Fatty.
After listening, the security guy looked understanding:
"It seems that red-clothed fierce ghost was brought back by your roommate.
As for Ye Manman, if she died a tragic death abroad,
her ghost is likely still suffering, unable to find peace.
And that old lady—she risked her life to save you because she wants you to free her daughter."
Was Ye Manman's ghost still suffering overseas?
Recalling the old lady's description of her intestines spilling out, I clenched my fists tightly.
"How can I save Ye Manman? I'm just an ordinary person.
Master, you must have a way, right? Can you…?"
"No,"
the security guy cut me off coldly before I could finish.
I froze. "Why?"
He said, "Why should I help her?"
I bit my lip. "I can pay."
He raised an eyebrow. "Money? How much can you afford?"
I held up one finger. "Ten thousand."
He looked at me as if I were dismissing a beggar.
All the money I earned went to paying debts; ten thousand was my entire savings. But to save Ye Manman, I could swallow my pride and borrow more from relatives.
So I gritted my teeth. "Thirty thousand!"
He smiled. "You're barely keeping yourself alive, yet you want to save a wronged ghost in northern Myanmar? Aren't you afraid of dying?"
I said, "I am afraid. But if her ghost is still suffering, I have to save her! She's a good person."
This time, the security guy didn't speak. Instead, he looked out the window and said slowly:
"Dawn is almost here. Have you heard a saying?"
"What saying?"
He sat on a folding chair. "Humans have shadows. Ghosts don't."
At his words, I automatically looked at the ground.
I saw my own shadow.
But the security guy…
had no shadow.
I gasped, abruptly stepping back to the door and staring at him in terror.
Damn it!
All night long…
I hadn't met a single living person!
The security guy smiled, showing a row of white teeth. "To save her, you first have to see her."
As he smiled, a blinding white light flashed before my eyes.
"Young man, why are you sleeping here?"
I was woken up by a cleaning lady shaking me. I realized I was sleeping outside a run-down security booth.
It was six in the morning.
Behind the booth was an old, abandoned factory complex.
It was only two stories high, but it looked quite large.
The sign at the entrance was faded, with the words "Xinbei Pharmaceutical Factory No. 2" barely visible.
"Auntie, I'm… I'm fine."
Xinbei Pharmaceutical Factory No. 2 was over ten kilometers from my rental room.
It had closed down over twenty years ago.
For some reason, the buildings were still standing, not yet demolished.
Last night, following the old lady, I'd run over ten kilometers without realizing it?
And that security guy…
I looked at the dilapidated booth.
Inside was only an abandoned wooden table and a rusted folding chair.
That security guy had been a ghost too.
His smile flashed in my mind, along with his words: To save her, you first have to see her.
Was he hinting I should go to that crossroads to meet Ye Manman?
At that moment, the cleaning lady sighed:
"You must have drunk too much. Young people, you should take better care of yourselves.
Why sleep here of all places, at Xinbei No. 2 Factory?
This place is cursed, don't you know?"
I'd heard that something had happened at Xinbei Pharmaceutical Factory No. 2 over twenty years ago,
after which it had been abandoned. But I didn't know the details.
So I asked the auntie:
"Auntie, what do you mean this factory is cursed? Is it haunted?"
The cleaning lady, in her fifties or so, shushed me with a finger.
She lowered her voice: "You bet. There was an accident back then—some kind of leak, I think.
Lots of people died.
Oh, and there was a young security guard who ran in to save people.
He saved over ten, but he died in there.
This place gets creepy at night sometimes—you can hear crying.
People say it's the ones who burned to death back then."
My heart skipped a beat.
A young security guard who ran in to save people?
So the security guy I'd met last night was that rescuer.
He wasn't a bad person…
No, he wasn't a bad ghost.
The cleaning lady walked away.
I stood there, looking at the run-down booth, and bowed to it:
"Brother, thanks for saving me last night.
If I survive that red-clothed ghost, I'll bring offerings to thank you.
That way, when you eat instant noodles, you can add a sausage."
After bowing, I left Xinbei Pharmaceutical Factory No. 2.
I returned to my rental room nervously, only to find Fatty was home.
But this time, it was the real Fatty—
he was sitting in the sunlight eating watermelon.
Ghosts definitely can't stand sunlight.
Remembering the security guy saying the red-clothed fierce ghost was brought back by Fatty,
anger surged inside me.
"Fatty, what's the deal with that haunted house of yours?"
Since Fatty moved there, he'd barely come back to sleep at night. But he sometimes returned during the day to do laundry or take a shower—the landlord there wouldn't let him use their bathroom or washing machine.
Fatty ate while saying, "There's nothing wrong with it! No ghosts—they just regret buying it because house prices dropped and want a refund."
I froze. "You… stayed there a month and didn't run into anything weird?"
Fatty chuckled. "Nope, even met something nice.
Staying there, I run into the upstairs neighbor every morning on my way to work.
She's a total hottie, single, lives alone in a 240-square-meter place.
Total rich beauty! And she's super nice.
We meet in the elevator every day and chat.
Ugh, if I were rich, I'd definitely chase her.
Man, those curves—her chest, her butt, her waist… loves wearing red dresses, so damn hot."