Chapter 3: Fierce Ghost, Fierce Ghost, What Time Is It (Part 3)

◎ The Ghost Gets Bullied ◎

As if heaven had heard her heartfelt wish, the next day, Yu Qing managed to grab that same order again.

When picking up the meal, the shop owner looked at Yu Qing with the gaze one would give a warrior and couldn’t help asking, “Aren’t you afraid?”

The haunting of Huangquan Community had a long-standing history. Five years ago, a corpse appeared on the road in front of the complex. By the time a passerby discovered it, only bones remained. An autopsy revealed that it was a wanted criminal on the run. The cause of death was strange: heart failure.

In other words, he had been scared to death.

Since then, at the stroke of midnight, a new order would appear on the delivery platform every night, originating from Huangquan Community. It even bore the black-and-white memorial photo of the dead fugitive. The nearby shop owners and delivery riders all knew the place was haunted. No one dared to take the order.

Hearing the shop owner’s question, Yu Qing thought for a moment and said, “Actually, the security in Huangquan Community is pretty good. It’s quite lively at night. The haunting stuff is probably just rumors that got out of hand.”

But Huangquan Community had been left unfinished twenty years ago. No one had ever lived there.

Lively? What kind of liveliness?

The shop owner felt a chill rise in his heart and just as he was about to call out to her,

Yu Qing had already put on her helmet and her figure slowly disappeared into the night.

…

Behind Huangquan Community was a dense, dark graveyard.

Since the arrival of the supernatural, the area had been filled with thick resentment. Trees could no longer grow there and eventually all withered. During the day, the slender ghost slept in the forest of dead trees. At midnight, it would return to Huangquan Community to begin a new day.

As always, at exactly midnight, the black mist lurking in the forest stretched and twisted into the shape of the tall ghost and began slowly walking toward Huangquan Community through the night.

This schedule almost perfectly matched Yu Qing’s delivery time. So while the ghostly figure was heading into the complex, Yu Qing appeared as well, swinging her delivery bag leisurely.

Today, Yu Qing didn’t wear her rain boots. Her steps made little noise. She also wore a black jacket that blended in well with the night. When the slender ghost didn’t compress its form, it stood a full four meters tall and completely failed to notice the inconspicuous Yu Qing.

Even if it caught the scent of a living human, it couldn’t associate it with Yu Qing. After all, it was already miraculous for a person to escape a haunted tale alive once. No one would expect her to return like she was visiting a neighbor.

Suddenly, the slender ghost heard a sigh come from near its feet.

It thought it was just an illusion.

But with every step it took, the sound of a sigh would follow.

The slender ghost looked down.

It saw the same familiar back of a head from the night before.

Why was it her again?

Yu Qing trudged through the weeds toward Building 18, not noticing that the tall figure behind her had stopped and was watching her intently, expression unfriendly.

Letting this little worm go last night had been a fluke. Would she be so lucky again tonight?

The slender ghost tilted its head.

…

The elevator in Building 18 was supposed to be just around the corner of the lobby.

However, when Yu Qing was about to take the elevator, she found that there was now a wall where the elevator should have been.

Yu Qing looked around in confusion, thinking she had gone the wrong way.

She walked around the lobby in circles.

When encountering a “ghost wall” illusion, smart people would conserve their strength and look for clues to escape. Foolish ones would just cry and vent their emotions.

Delivery riders would usually try calling the customer for help.

Of course, no one answered Yu Qing’s call, as the phone had long since rotted in the mud.

And besides, she was on the first floor, while the person she needed help from was on the eighteenth floor.

At that distance, even a ghost couldn’t hear her cry for help.

Yes, not only could he hear it, it was extremely loud. Every time this slender ghostly figure returned, the whole complex would fall into complete silence. Even the slightest sound would be amplified.

The slender ghost, having returned to his residence, closed his eyes and said, “Number ending 0511, are you there?”

He opened his eyes. “0511, sob sob, I think I got lost. Can you come down and pick me up?”

“……”

A thunderclap exploded, and lightning lit up the entire lobby.

A moment ago, the wall was bare, but now an elevator had suddenly appeared on it.

The elevator doors crashed open. The slender ghost appeared with an imposing air, and the entire lobby filled with eerie wind.

No matter how you looked at it, it was like a horror movie scene right before the big boss goes berserk.

In the corner, Yu Qing squatted weakly and helplessly.

Causing trouble for the customer while delivering food could easily get her a bad review. If she hadn’t been completely lost, Yu Qing wouldn’t have wanted to call the customer either.

Seeing that the delivery time was almost up and there was still no response from the customer’s end, she was so anxious she kept pacing in circles.

Suddenly, she heard a sound behind her.

In the darkness, a tall and blurry figure walked toward her step by step.

Yu Qing thought the customer didn’t want to deal with her. She didn’t expect that he would actually come downstairs to find her.

She froze for a moment and felt a bit touched.

Seeing that he was reaching out to pull her up, Yu Qing quickly reached her hand toward him:

“Thank you, thank you so much.”

The slender ghost who had wanted to grab her by the back of her neck and throw her out spinning three and a half times in midair: “……”

That fierce hand was just held by Yu Qing like that.

Yu Qing’s hand was small. The ghost’s hand was twice her size.

She was warm and soft. The ghost was cold like a block of ice.

But the moment they touched, the slender ghost instantly curled his fingers as if burned, pulling his hand back.

He had touched skeletons and corpses, had touched steel and concrete, had even touched withered flowers.

But since his birth, this was the first time he had felt the warmth of a living person.

Even after Yu Qing had walked far away, the terrifying ghost from the haunted tale slowly walked out, standing silently in the rain like a street tree.

The ghostly figure gloomily watched Yu Qing’s departing figure and stretched out his hand in the rain.

Trying to use the cold rain to wash away that strange sensation lingering on his hand.

At the gate of the residential complex, Yu Qing felt like someone was watching her. That gaze made the hairs on her back stand up.

She turned her head for a glance.

She vaguely seemed to see a strange street tree.

Yu Qing thought she was seeing things.

Why did that street tree look like it was praying for rain?

…

On the third day, Yu Qing was nervous all day.

Because she got lost yesterday and almost delivered late, she was worried the customer would block her. If she got blocked, she would never receive his order again.

Not until night fell and she received another order from Huangquan Community did Yu Qing finally let out a breath of relief.

Today was a bit different. Her electric scooter had run out of power, so she came by bus.

After delivering food to customer 0511, Yu Qing waited at the bus stop like she did when she came.

Through the curtain of rain, a bus came speeding toward her.

The door opened, and cold air rushed out from inside the bus, as chilly as a morgue.

Yu Qing didn’t notice that this bus was completely different from the one she came on.

In the middle of the night, the bus was somehow still full of people.

Yu Qing walked past the passengers who showed no expression and all had deathly faces.

Their complexions were dark, with heavy eye bags, puffed-up faces, and vacant eyes. A strong aura of resentment surrounded them.

Yu Qing glanced at them then quickly looked away. She didn’t scream, and even felt a little emotional.

Office workers pulling all-nighters until one in the morning looked like this.

All because of work.

Yu Qing passed this group of mango pits sucked dry by life and found a corner to sit down.

…

When you walk night roads too often, you’re bound to meet ghosts. Even if Yu Qing narrowly escaped death time and again, as long as she kept coming to Huangquan Community, there would be countless spectacular ways to die waiting for her.

This ghost bus bound for Huangquan Road, once boarded, would trap passengers in a loop of time.

Those who got on could only pass by familiar bus stops again and again, never able to get off, dying in fear and despair.

About two or three hours passed.

Seemed like the scare had gone on long enough.

In the rain, the slender ghost, who looked like a street tree, finally moved.

The rain fell pattering down, and the lights on the bus flickered and dimmed with a sizzle.

Blackness surged like a tide. The ghostly figure slowly stretched and grew tall, appearing in the last row of the bus. The moment he appeared, the already low temperature in the bus dropped even further, as if into an ice cave.

Time passed slowly.

But the expected scream never came. It was even unusually quiet.

Just as the ghost hand was about to reach out toward Yu Qing,

Yu Qing tilted to the side and fell over stiffly.

Of course, it wasn’t because she died. Yu Qing had just fallen asleep while sitting.

Dark circles under her eyes showed signs of extreme exhaustion. She leaned against him, her breathing light.

The breathing of a living person carried warmth, and it felt burning to him. It was a strange sensation, like a feather brushing against the neck.

That tall figure froze in place, like a big hard stone unable to move.

After a long while, he slowly shifted his “neck,” trying to move away from Yu Qing’s breathing. But the moment he moved, she happened to lean right onto his shoulder.

He had no choice but to stay stiff in that posture.

That ghost hand also hurriedly pulled back.

Her sleep didn’t seem very stable. Yu Qing shifted subconsciously.

The slender ghost curled up awkwardly, carefully shrinking his body to reduce their contact.

He turned his head to look at the rain outside the window.

So annoying.

…

Just like that, the ghost bus kept driving through the rainy night for who knows how long.

On the highway in Linchuan City, the bus passed one stop sign after another, circling again and again.

It was like being trapped in a time loop.

Yu Qing opened her eyes and found that she had unknowingly fallen asleep leaning against the bus window.

The bus had reached its stop.

She opened her umbrella and stepped into the silent rainy night.