Chapter 5

(Collecting recommendations is still too few, these things are especially important during the new book period.)

"Knock knock!"

"Knock knock...!"

The nightmare-like knocking on the door continued, as if it would never stop until the door was broken open.

Xia Tianqi, drenched in cold sweat, leaned against the door. Then he turned around and cautiously focused his gaze on the peephole.

The blood-red color that had filled the peephole was gone, replaced by... a face that was right up close!

It was the face of an old woman, covered with countless disgusting pus-filled sores.

"Ah—!"

Xia Tianqi was so frightened that he fell to the ground. He was now certain that the "woman" in the peephole was definitely not human!

Because the view through the peephole is usually distant, it would be impossible for a face to be so close.

Unless... the woman had been living inside the peephole!

"Unless you break the door, I will never open it! If you have a grudge, find the right person to settle it with!"

Xia Tianqi remembered a classmate telling him that ghosts fear evil people. If you ever encounter a ghost, act fiercely and curse them to death, regardless of whether they are human or ghost.

With no other options, he decided to try this approach. If it weren't for his courage, anyone else would have been terrified by such a bizarre and terrifying situation.

It seemed that pretending to be an evil person worked, as the door, which had been shaking non-stop, finally became quiet. Xia Tianqi waited anxiously for a while before looking through the peephole again.

The "woman" in the peephole had disappeared, and the hallway seemed to have returned to normal, enveloped once again in darkness.

"Did it work?"

Even though everything seemed to have returned to normal, Xia Tianqi did not dare to let his guard down. To be safe, he moved all the furniture he could carry to block the door.

Just as Xia Tianqi, panting heavily, leaned against the wall, thinking everything was fine, a flushing sound suddenly came from the bathroom.

"Whoosh...!"

The sudden flushing sound made Xia Tianqi shiver involuntarily. The images of the corpses he had seen in the toilet last night, with their faces twisted in pain and covered in blood, flashed vividly in his mind.

"No—!"

Xia Tianqi did not want to die such a meaningless death. His colorful life had just begun, and he had not yet experienced luxury cars, mansions, or beautiful women. He was not willing to die here.

Dying in such a shabby rental apartment was bad enough, but if his body were to be stuffed into the toilet... Xia Tianqi felt he would lose all his dignity, even in death.

Rushing into the bathroom, Xia Tianqi looked down at the toilet, which was still making the flushing sound. He felt a strong sense of unease.

The originally white toilet had turned completely blood-red.

This bizarre scene completely distorted Xia Tianqi's worldview. Perhaps ghosts really do exist in this world!

He felt that from now on, if anyone told him that there were no ghosts, he would definitely make that person disappear as far as possible.

"Slam—!"

Trembling, he closed the toilet lid and loudly recited "Amitabha" as he returned to the bedroom. Once back, he immediately started rummaging through his luggage in a panic.

"Amulet... amulet... I remember I had a lot... where the hell are they?"

Xia Tianqi almost turned every piece of luggage upside down. Fortunately, his efforts paid off, and he found a canvas bag with a black "Kun" character from one of the boxes.

This bag was called a Kun Bag, and it contained the amulets his grandfather had given him, except for the ones he had lost. These items, which he had previously considered worthless, now seemed as valuable as a bag of gold.

Of course, that was only if the amulets really worked.

However, the current situation did not allow him to think much. After all, something seemed to be trying to climb out of the toilet.

Xia Tianqi hurriedly took the Kun Bag to the bathroom and, with a deep breath, lifted the toilet lid.

Xia Tianqi had only intended to throw a couple of amulets into the toilet to see if they would have any effect, but to his surprise, as soon as he lifted the lid, a pale arm suddenly reached out and grabbed his left shoulder.

"Ah—!"

A cold sensation instantly spread through his body, and Xia Tianqi let out a loud scream. Without hesitation, he grabbed a handful of amulets from the Kun Bag and threw them into the toilet.

As soon as the amulets entered the toilet, a green light emanated from it, and the hand that had grabbed Xia Tianqi's shoulder retracted as if it had been electrocuted.

Seeing that the amulets were effective, Xia Tianqi's heart, which had been pounding, finally calmed down. However, he did not dare to stay in the bathroom and quickly fled.

After escaping the bathroom, he had intended to place an amulet in every corner of the apartment, but to his great regret, he had only one amulet left in the Kun Bag due to his earlier actions.

The rest had been thrown into the toilet out of fear.

Fortunately, he still had one amulet left for protection.

Not knowing if the ghost would return, Xia Tianqi did not dare to sleep all night. However, nothing happened until morning, and he wondered if the amulet had worked.

The messy apartment was bathed in the warm morning light, as if nothing had happened.

Rubbing his cheeks, Xia Tianqi felt exhausted and sore, especially his left shoulder, which was in severe pain and had a deep, black handprint.

"Really hurts!"

Xia Tianqi carefully moved his left arm. Although it hurt, fortunately, it did not affect his movement.

Afterward, Xia Tianqi cautiously went to the bathroom. After a thorough inspection, he found that the toilet had returned to normal, with only a layer of ash, presumably from the amulets, floating on the surface.

Confirming that the bathroom was safe, Xia Tianqi went to the door and checked the peephole... only after ensuring that all threats were gone did he move the items blocking the door and leave the apartment with all his savings.

After leaving, the first thing Xia Tianqi did was to go to the nearest internet cafe.

Holding a bowl of hot noodles, Xia Tianqi found an empty computer and sat down.

His original plan was to go to the Xin Hua bookstore to retrieve his phone, but he realized that the police or someone else might have taken it. He decided to contact his grandfather online first.

Logging into his QQ, Xia Tianqi was pleasantly surprised to find his grandfather online. Without even eating the noodles, he quickly sent a voice message.

He thought his grandfather would be busy playing cards and ignore him, but to his surprise, the call was answered immediately. However, the person speaking was not his grandfather, but his mother.

"Tianqi, you naughty boy, what have you been up to lately? You didn't even call your beautiful mother. Tell me, did you find a girlfriend? You little rascal, you found a wife and forgot your mother... By the way, is she pretty? What's her figure like? Where is she from...?"

"Stop! Stop! Mom, I'm sorry for not keeping in touch with you recently. But right now, I need to find my grandfather!"

"Every time you say you'll change, but you never do! What do you need from your grandfather?"

"I'll definitely change next time." Xia Tianqi said, then hurriedly added:

"I need to talk to my grandfather. It's very urgent."

"What's so urgent?"

"My most beautiful mother..."

"Tsk, you have a secret and won't tell your mom, bad review! I don't want to talk to you. Your grandfather is not at home; he's on a trip."

"Ah? On a trip? Then why are you using his QQ?"

"Your grandfather asked me to help him level up his account."

"Alright, I'll call him when he's back."

"Your grandfather doesn't have a phone... By the way, did you lose your phone?"

Hearing his mother, Xia Tianqi suddenly remembered that his grandfather refused to use a phone due to radiation concerns. If anyone needed to contact him, they would use the home landline.

In other words, he could not rely on his grandfather for help anytime soon.

"Hey, you naughty boy, are you still listening?"

"Yes, I'm listening." Receiving this bad news, Xia Tianqi's mood instantly worsened, and he asked listlessly:

"How did you know I lost my phone?"

"Yesterday, a man called me, asking if I was your mother. He said to contact you to pick up your phone. He gave me a location, something called the Golden Office Building, 33rd floor. He said to go there to pick it up.

Do you know this place?"

Xia Tianqi, of course, knew the location. It was where he had gone for the job interview, so the man who called his mother was most likely the middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man having his phone did not surprise Xia Tianqi, as the bookstore staff or the police could have given it to him.

After some thought, Xia Tianqi decided he needed to go there again, at least to retrieve his belongings.

"Alright, Mom, I'll go get my phone. If Grandpa comes back, please let me know immediately..."

Ending the call with his mother, Xia Tianqi hurriedly ate a few bites of noodles and left the internet cafe. He then took a taxi to the Golden Office Building.

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