Translator: CinderTL
"He left work early that day to pick up his son from his mother-in-law's house, but little did he know..."
The man's voice suddenly choked with emotion. No one urged him on; they waited patiently for him to regain his composure.
"Whew..." The man rubbed his face, as if trying to steady himself.
"A Zhe probably left the bar around 9 PM that night, which was unusually early for him. And since he was picking up his son, he hadn't had a drink."
"By the time he got his son from his mother-in-law's house, it was already past 11 PM. The boy kept dozing off in the car, he was so tired."
"But the more he rushed, the more things went wrong. When they reached their apartment building, he realized he'd left the keys in the car."
"A Zhe lived in an old apartment complex where the elevator was always breaking down, so he preferred to run down the stairs. He told his son to wait by the door while he went to get the keys."
"Everything went smoothly. The whole trip took less than ten minutes. When he came back upstairs, his son was still standing obediently by the door."
"At first, A Zhe didn't notice anything strange. But as he got closer, he realized his son's eyes looked odd—a little glazed and unfocused."
"A Zhe frowned and called his son's name, but the boy didn't respond. He just kept staring intently at one spot." The man paused. "At the far end of the hallway."
"What was there?" the red-clad woman asked, clearly intrigued by the story.
The man shook his head, his weathered voice replying, "Nothing."
But it was clear that no one believed him. If the story were so ordinary, why would he have built up the suspense so dramatically?
"A Zhe didn't know why, but as he stared down the dark corridor, a primal sense of dread gripped him. His only thought was to escape the hallway and get the child into the room as quickly as possible."
"The door opened easily. A Zhe hurried inside, but when he turned back, he realized the child hadn't followed."
"A Zhe spun around and grabbed the child's arm, but the boy wrenched his hand away with surprising force. He stood frozen in the doorway, his face pale and vacant, as if possessed."
"After a few seconds, the child slowly turned to A Zhe and said, 'Someone won't let me leave. They told me to wait here!'"
"A Zhe was stunned, then furious. Assuming some passerby had frightened the child while he was gone, he rolled up his sleeves and demanded, 'Who was it?'"
"But then..." The man's voice faltered. "The child looked at him, his eyes filled with confusion, then raised his hand and pointed to the empty end of the corridor."
"Dad, he's standing right there!" the man said, mimicking a child's voice.
Jiang Cheng remained calm, but Fatty was deeply affected by the story's immersive details. When the man mentioned an invisible person standing at the end of the corridor, Fatty's heart skipped a beat.
Cold sweat began to bead on his forehead as a pale hand reached out—it was the female student, offering him a tissue.
"Thank you," Fatty said, taking the tissue. When their fingers brushed, he noticed her hand was icy cold, as if she'd just pulled it from ice water.
The man paused briefly before continuing his story: "A Zhe was startled by the child's words, but as an adult, he couldn't possibly believe such a thing after the initial shock.
"He was furious, convinced it was just a childish prank, and prepared to scold the boy. But before he could speak, they heard a knock at the door.
"It came from the end of the corridor.
"At first, it was soft, just a gentle tap-tap-tap. Then, as if the knocker grew impatient, the rhythm quickened, the sound growing louder and louder until it became a frantic, maniacal banging.
"A Zhe was completely dumbfounded. There were only the two of them in the corridor. How could there be a knock at the door?
"And right in the direction the child had pointed?"
The more A Zhe thought about it, the more terrified he became. His phone slipped from his grasp and clattered to the floor with a loud thud.
Immediately after the thud, the knocking abruptly stopped.
A Zhe felt an indescribable sensation—perhaps it was simply his sixth sense—as the temperature around him began to drop.
It was as if something icy and malevolent was approaching.
He tried to pull his child inside, but his legs refused to move. Not just his legs—his entire body had stiffened, leaving only his eyes able to dart around.
The most terrifying moment came when his child looked up at him and whispered, "Dad, he's watching you."
Desperate, A Zhe remembered a trick from a movie: he bit his tongue hard. The intense metallic tang of blood flooded his mouth, and to his relief, he felt a faint twitch in his fingertips.
He continued to struggle against the unnatural force, slowly regaining control of his body, inch by inch.
Just then, the child suddenly smiled, gazing toward the end of the hallway and chattering happily about something. After a moment, he looked back at A Zhe and said, "He's here."
Now fully in control of his body, A Zhe didn't dare linger. He grabbed his child and fled into the room in a few frantic strides.
He quickly locked the door and ran to the innermost bedroom.
Just as A Zhe darted inside, in the final split second before the door slammed shut, he glimpsed a shadow on the mottled wall of the dimly lit hallway. The shadow wavered and lurched toward him and his child—but there was no one in the hallway!
The storyteller's skill surpassed the previous ones, drawing most listeners into the tale. Only Jiang Cheng glanced sideways at his own shadow.
Huai Yi was also secretly watching Jiang Cheng's shadow. When he saw it tremble slightly, he recoiled in terror, holding his breath.
The short, stocky man exhaled and continued, "A Zhe didn't dare sleep that night. Every time he closed his eyes, the black shadow filled his mind."
"He huddled in the bedroom with his child, enduring the long night."
"Thankfully, nothing stirred outside. It wasn't until the neighbors' voices drifted in the next morning that A Zhe dared to open the door."
"As soon as he opened the door, he saw the neighbors from across the hall and next door clustered outside, whispering among themselves. When they spotted A Zhe, they jumped back in shock, their faces ashen as if they'd seen a ghost."
"The door across the hall was slightly ajar. The man bolted back inside and slammed it shut with a bang."
The woman lived next door. Seeing her own door closed, she darted downstairs without even waiting for A Zhe to greet her, abandoning her grocery basket.
Because of his previous work schedule, A Zhe had been working odd hours and rarely saw his neighbors. They weren't close, but even strangers shouldn't react like that.
Confused and annoyed, A Zhe strode over and knocked on the opposite door, determined to get an explanation.
He knocked for a long time, but there was no response—not even a sound. It was as if the house were empty. Finally, A Zhe lost his temper and pounded fiercely on the door.
Still, no one answered. But nearby, another door tucked away in the corner creaked open.
(End of the Chapter)
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