Chapter 4: Fierce Ghost, Fierce Ghost, What Time Is It (Part 4)

◎ Giving You a White Rose ◎

When a person is haunted by a ghost, there are ways to perform exorcisms or rituals.

But what if a ghost is haunted by a person?

That day, after Yu Qing fell asleep leaning on his shoulder, the slender ghost had no choice but to come out every time it rained and pretend to be a street tree. However, no matter how long he stood in the rain, he would still recall that strange sensation from time to time.

Logically speaking, as time went on, the slender ghost would spend countless years in this tale, and such memories should eventually fade away.

But every night, Yu Qing would appear like a lingering spirit.

They often walked the same path, one in front and one behind.

The slender ghost had long legs but walked slowly. Yu Qing had short legs but moved quickly. Every time they would arrive at the elevator at the same time.

To avoid her touching him, the slender ghost had no choice but to curl up and cling to the ceiling of the elevator.

However, the space was so small, and the ghost was so large, that every time Yu Qing pressed the elevator button, she would always make contact once or twice.

The ghost would then bare his teeth behind her, as if scalded by sunlight, furious.

There were two times when Yu Qing felt something was off and wanted to turn her head to see if there was something in the elevator. But the ghost would quickly shrink back into the darkness with a “whoosh.”

The ghost also tried to drive Yu Qing away.

For example, one night, on the wall at the entrance of the residential complex, a line of words written in black blood appeared:

Don’t / come / if / come / die

The word “die” was especially ferocious, and blood dripped down bit by bit.

Yu Qing passed by carrying takeout many times.

She didn’t notice the writing on the wall at all.

Or, for example, when walking in the dark, the slender ghost would suddenly approach Yu Qing, trying to scare her off with his blood-red eyes.

Yu Qing wasn’t entirely unaware.

Occasionally, she could feel someone glaring at her.

She looked up and saw two crimson dots in the night sky.

Yu Qing was very familiar with this thing: a surveillance camera.

The little delivery girl in a bright yellow rider’s uniform stopped.

She made a peace sign at the camera.

…

Time flashed forward into August. Unknowingly, Yu Qing had already been delivering food to customer 0511 for half a month.

Every night she would go pick up the order on time. The nearby shop owners gradually got used to this strange order and no longer poked their heads out to ask if there were ghosts in Huangquan Community. Every time they saw her, they would skillfully hand over the packaged bag.

Yu Qing earned between 80 and 130 yuan each day from delivering food, and with the 120 yuan delivery fee from the midnight order, she could earn up to 250 yuan a day if lucky.

The next quarter’s rent was still far off, but the increase in income was undoubtedly a pleasant thing.

Every morning, when she got up to cook noodles, Yu Qing would hum a little tune and fry a happy sunny-side-up egg for herself.

Life wouldn’t smile at people, but the rainbow after storm and lightning made people especially joyful.

She patiently remembered the preferences of that customer. The customer didn’t always order milk tea. Sometimes it was butter cookies, sometimes it was noodles with minced sauce. Yu Qing figured out a pattern: the customer only ordered from the nearest place shown on the delivery app.

She remembered he didn’t like spicy food, wanted less ice, and preferred 30% sweetness. When picking up the food, she would carefully check the receipt.

Every night before going to bed, Yu Qing would seriously make a wish: If only she could keep delivering forever.

However, very soon, on the first weekend of August, when picking up the order, the flower shop owner reminded her: “Qing Qing, the Ghost Festival is coming. Remember to check the date and don’t deliver food at night.”

The Ghost Festival was the so-called Day of the Hungry Ghosts.

In the past, the Ghost Festival was just one among many traditional holidays. But starting twenty years ago, on that day every year, a huge, bright ghost moon with reddened edges would appear in the sky. This unusual celestial phenomenon added quite a bit of horror to an already eerie holiday.

Whether one was superstitious or not, on this day, every household in Linchuan City would close their doors and windows. Few people wandered outside. Ever since she could remember, Yu Qing had a deep impression of the ghost moon. During school years, not only did they not have evening self-study on this day, even the teachers urged them to get home before dark.

Holding flowers, Yu Qing walked out with some hesitation:

If 0511 orders food that night, should she deliver it or not?

If not, then probably no one would take the order on such a special night.

With this worry in mind, Yu Qing planned to give the customer a heads-up when delivering today’s order.

Soon, night fell, and it began to rain again.

Yu Qing hurriedly rode her little electric scooter to Huangquan Community. But probably because the road was slippery in the rain and the scooter’s brakes weren’t working well, Yu Qing tried to steady the vehicle but still ended up flipping herself and the scooter into the green belt.

Fortunately, the noodles with minced sauce were intact. Yu Qing climbed out of the green belt. Her wrist and knees were only scraped and bleeding slightly.

Yu Qing didn’t pay much attention to those minor scrapes and limped toward Huangquan Community.

But she didn’t notice that the slowly seeping blood droplets had attracted countless greedy gazes.

Twenty years ago, the supernatural descended upon this world. Whenever the ghost moon hung high, the resentment in this urban legend would become extremely dense. The closer to the Ghost Festival, the hungrier all the resentful spirits in this tale would become. But apart from devouring each other, they could not find any other food. Flesh and blood became what they craved most.

The moment Yu Qing stepped inside, the scent of blood on her body began to spread.

The resentful spirits became restless. If it weren’t for the scent of that slender ghost still lingering on her, she would have been torn apart when passing by the bushes.

……

Today, the slender ghost appeared more than ten minutes earlier than usual.

The ghost moon was approaching, and his appetite had increased significantly. Even after devouring many resentful spirits, he was still very, very hungry, so he woke up earlier than usual.

Since he arrived earlier than Yu Qing today, the slender ghost intended to go in first and take the elevator.

But today, even after waiting for a long time, he did not hear the sound of Yu Qing’s footsteps.

She’s probably dead.

The slender ghost thought sluggishly, and his heavy footsteps instantly became much lighter.

After all, in this strange tale, death was as simple as eating or drinking water.

But when the elevator arrived, the ghost did not go up immediately.

It was as if he were waiting for something, listening closely to the rustling of the wind and grass around him.

Only when the sound of Yu Qing’s limping footsteps came did the ghost finally turn his head and step into the elevator.

However, just as he was about to press the close button, the ghost hand suddenly stopped.

The faceless face stared straight in Yu Qing’s direction.

The ghost did not eat people, and unlike the resentful spirits, he did not crave the blood and flesh of the living like a rabid dog, but the scent of blood from Yu Qing’s body still immediately caught his attention.

The ghost slowly shifted his gaze to Yu Qing’s scraped knee and arm.

The exposed wounds and the still-wet blood.

It smelled so good.

Yu Qing entered the elevator as usual.

Suddenly, she felt a strong gaze coming from above and to the side. It was like a large ferocious beast locking onto its prey. The pressure of that gaze weighed heavily on her, and the fine hairs on her body stood on end.

She instinctively stepped back two steps, only for her back to bump into a cold chest. There was another person in this elevator, right behind her, and he was staring at her with that strange gaze.

If it weren’t for having delivered food for half a month and being somewhat familiar with the customer’s figure, Yu Qing would have screamed on the spot. Yu Qing cautiously swallowed a mouthful of saliva and tentatively asked, “0511? Is that you?”

Yu Qing heard a very hoarse voice come from above her head, one that did not sound like a sound a normal person could make:

“Don’t come again.”

Because they were standing so close, Yu Qing felt a tingling sensation in her ears. Just as she was about to step farther away, the elevator, which had been going up, suddenly began plummeting down.

Before she had time to steady herself, the elevator shook violently, and then the door opened.

Yu Qing was grabbed by that cold ghost hand and, like a cat being picked up by the scruff, was easily and effortlessly thrown out of the elevator.

Yu Qing didn’t know that if she had been thrown out a few minutes later, she would have been eaten by the slender ghost. A living person like her wasn’t even enough to fill the gap between his teeth.

Originally, for a human and a ghost to coexist peacefully for half a month was already a miracle.

With a bang, the elevator doors closed.

Yu Qing thought that when he said “don’t come again,” he meant he would no longer place orders and wanted her to stop delivering.

She stood at the elevator entrance for a while, looked down at the well-protected delivery bag in her hands.

Good news: there’s a midnight snack, and it’s free.

Bad news: she fell down and lost a very important customer.

Yu Qing lingered in front of the elevator for quite a while.

She really wanted to catch up and say that this order was very, very important to her, but in the end, she did nothing. Whether he ordered or wanted her to deliver was the customer’s freedom. Yu Qing had only delivered food for half a month and couldn’t be said to have any relationship with the customer, let alone have any position to make requests.

Yu Qing hung her head and limped toward the exit of the complex.

The bright yellow delivery uniform on her seemed to have dulled quite a bit.

Yu Qing did not notice that in the darkness behind her, hungry resentful spirits stretched out their hands, and wildly growing weeds tried to entangle her calves. The already dangerous world of this strange tale seemed to have grown even more deranged overnight.

But there was always a slender ghost trailing behind her, slowly following.

So Yu Qing only felt that this road seemed just a little bit longer than usual.

……

The next day, the florist saw that Yu Qing was feeling down and pulled out an extra white rose from a bouquet to give her.

Yu Qing admired the pure, beautiful flower for a moment and suddenly thought of the customer 0511.

No matter what, Yu Qing had managed to save up a bit of money during this time.

She thought for a bit, borrowed a pair of scissors from the shop owner, squatted in a corner to cut ribbons, and tied a beautiful bow.

Late at night, the little electric scooter once again arrived at the complex.

After a series of knocks, a bouquet of white roses was left on the ground.

On the black card was a line of neat handwriting:

“Thank you for your care during this time. I wish you a pleasant life.”

A long time later, with a creak, the door opened.

That pale white rose lay quietly on the ground.

Compared to the tall ghostly figure, the rose was very, very small.

A large ghost hand picked up the rose. However, the moment the black ghost hand touched it, the white rose instantly withered. The pale petals lost all life and scattered in the night air as they spun and fell away.

Only a bare, empty flower stem remained.

……

After delivering the gift, Yu Qing sighed, held up her umbrella, and walked out of the complex. Her mood was still very low.

As she walked, the sound of rain above her head suddenly grew quieter.

She spun around in place.

Huh?

In the darkness, the slender ghost had been following behind her all along.

His body blocked most of the rain.

When Yu Qing, holding the umbrella, looked to the right, the ghost nonchalantly moved to the left.

When Yu Qing looked to the left, the ghost slowly shifted to hide on the right.

Yu Qing spun around once:

Why is it only above her head that the rain isn’t falling?