Chapter 8: Fierce Ghost, Fierce Ghost, What Time Is It (Part 8)

◎ Red Apple and Entering the House ◎

After scaring Yu Qing, the slender ghost returned to its home on the 18th floor.

Before entering, the ghostly figure hesitated for a moment, looking at its own ferocious reflection under the moonlight.

In the past, it had encountered living people in this haunted place. Every living person would scream when they saw it, then run away madly. If it poked them, they would scream and collapse to the ground.

Thinking of how quiet and well-behaved Yu Qing was today,

Had she been scared silly?

It was indeed very scary.

It had scared Yu Qing downstairs into a state of relaxation.

These past few days, Yu Qing had been very tense.

After all, that road leading back to the living world had never appeared. Yu Qing guessed that she might never escape. No one could stay calm in such a perilous situation. She could only hide fearfully in Building 18, waiting for nightfall, waiting for that big guy who could eat her at any time to come feed her.

But tonight, after discovering that the slender ghost truly did not eat her, the heavy sense of crisis in Yu Qing’s heart vanished all at once.

Before going to sleep, Yu Qing thought carefully.

She realized that with her life safe, staying here was practically a dream-like life.

Every morning, she woke up naturally. After waking, she wandered around the community. In the evening, she made chicken soup and watched the slender ghost’s eating show. After a full meal, she slept without a care.

Although the quality of life was average and she was dirty every day, she had not stayed awake all night worrying about rent in a long time.

In the living world, Yu Qing worked from dawn to dusk, riding her little scooter until it smoked, delivering takeout in wind and rain. Yet no matter how hard she worked, it would take thirty years to pay off her debts, along with endless rent, utility bills, property fees, and parking fees.

Yu Qing realized.

Even though she had left the world of the living.

But it also seemed that she had lost her worries at the same time.

…

On the morning of the seventh day, Yu Qing pushed open the broken window.

The sky turned blue. The grass turned green. The gloomy wind turned into a gentle breeze.

Thinking that no ghost here would urge her to pay rent, Yu Qing walked back to the hall with light steps, looking at the ruins with eyes full of hope.

She had already started to settle into the present and look forward to the future.

In the past few days, Yu Qing had just laid down with a piece of clothing for padding. If she was going to stay here long-term, she could not keep sleeping in the middle of the ruins. Yu Qing rolled up her sleeves, moved away the construction debris, swept the dust clean, and tidied up a neat little corner. She found a small door panel, cleaned and dried it, then laid clothes on it, which barely counted as a small bed.

Yu Qing did not eat the live chicken. Instead, she tied a string to its leg.

During the day, she let the chicken out to eat bugs and earthworms. At night, she tied it in the hall to prevent it from being eaten by ghosts.

She started eagerly waiting for this chicken to lay eggs.

When the chicken laid eggs and the eggs hatched into chicks, Yu Qing would soon have a nest of chicks, and a stable source of protein would be secured.

Yu Qing wandered around the community every day these days and had already become familiar with the terrain. Near Building 18, there was a large greenbelt with very fertile soil, which could be completely cultivated to grow vegetables.

She planned to ask the big guy in a few days if he could bring her some vegetable seeds.

When she managed to grow some radishes and cabbages, she could even give them to him as a gift.

…

That night, after awakening in the dense forest, the slender ghost wandered for a while.

In this dense forest, there had once been many living people who went mad and hanged themselves from the trees. The resentful spirits they turned into would wander in the dense forest, unwilling to pass on, struggling to devour the flesh of the living. Only by being eaten by the slender ghost would they find true rest.

Normal people who stayed in this haunted place for a whole week would go insane even if they were not eaten by ghosts. Especially after realizing there was no hope of escape, many could not bear the mental torment and chose to end their lives.

The slender ghost seemed to see a small yellow figure swaying on a tree through the night.

Forget it. When this haunted place reopened again, just throw her out right away. After being so frightened, Yu Qing would surely never dare to step into this haunted place again in her life.

No one would come to bother him anymore.

He slowly walked toward Building 18.

He did not know that after being scared, Yu Qing had already decided to settle down below his building.

She not only started raising poultry in his Building 18 but also planned to divide his territory. She had already planned out which area below his building would be used to grow radishes and which area would be used to grow cabbages.

When the slender ghost returned to Building 18, Yu Qing was humming a little tune while cleaning.

The slender ghost watched as she walked past the window and even greeted the resentful spirit below, which had hair on both sides of its head.

The slender ghost: ?

He slowly stopped.

Yes, Yu Qing had already started to adapt to life here.

Every night, Yu Qing could see many strange-looking resentful spirits. Some had faces full of blood. Some had faces full of hair. Some had indistinguishable front and back. Some crawled all over the ground.

At first, it was very terrifying, but after seeing it enough times, she got used to it.

Moreover, in a sense, these neighbors were quite easy to get along with.

The old community where Yu Qing lived was a mix of all kinds of people. There was an old lady downstairs who liked to throw trash into the hallway. There were children running around screaming. Not to mention the noise, neighborhood disputes were especially frequent.

These resentful spirits looked scary, but they would not litter, make loud noises, or need her to maintain social relationships because every day the slender ghost would eat a batch of them. Every day, the neighbors were all new.

The slender ghost stared at the little yellow hat walking back and forth by the window.

The tall figure stood at the doorway for a long time and did not dare to go in.

Cautiously observing for a while.

Did she go crazy from fright?

During today’s meal, the slender ghost ate particularly slowly. He could barely swallow.

From time to time, he glanced toward the window.

When he returned to Building 18, the slender ghost leaned against the wall and looked. For the first time, he hoped to see Yu Qing making an outrageous demand.

But there was none. Yu Qing did not make any more requests (mainly because she had already listed them all). There were no new writings on the wall.

The ghost hand carefully placed today’s chicken in the corner and, for once, did not threaten her.

…

On the eighth day.

The first thing the slender ghost did after waking up was to check every tree in the dense forest.

After confirming that there was no Yu Qing hanging from any tree, he slowly walked toward Building 18.

Yu Qing had been very busy these past two days. In the morning, she had to get up early to walk the chicken. In the evening, she had to tidy up her new home. On top of that, the forty-nine-item list she had written was already complete. Yu Qing did not add any more requests on the wall.

But the wishing pool on the wall had begun to fulfill the wishes that the little yellow hat had made.

Yu Qing had no tools, and plucking feathers every day was very troublesome.

Today, the slender ghost brought back a chicken that had been completely cleaned.

Yu Qing picked up the chicken and found that there was a wrinkled red apple hidden underneath.

Yu Qing was stunned.

Today’s chicken was also particularly sour, as if it had been greatly frightened before death. The whole pot of chicken soup had a sour taste.

The apple also did not look fresh, as if it had been stored for a long time.

But Yu Qing was a little touched.

Ever since falling into huge debt, Yu Qing had been eating very simply to save money. Even deciding whether to add an egg required hesitation. When she was out early and back late, she would just grab a bun outside to make do for a meal. Being trapped in this haunted place for more than a week had been the most sumptuous eating she had done in half a year.

Through the window, she saw the slender ghost under the ghost moon.

He still looked as fierce and terrifying as before. The tall body cast shadows that seemed like dancing evil ghosts. He was also particularly fierce. The way he gnawed on resentful spirits looked like a horror movie come to life.

But Yu Qing seemed not afraid of him at all anymore.

She no longer hid as before upon seeing him but instead quietly peeked out and sat on the threshold.

She did not know if it was an illusion but it seemed she saw on the slender ghost’s head a… chicken feather.

Yu Qing thought she was hallucinating.

Noticing her gaze, the slender ghost glared at her with a gloomy and vicious look but perhaps due to some concern, he stopped halfway through the glare.

Yu Qing hugged the wrinkled apple and gave him a bright smile.

…

When the slender ghost came back, he found that the hall of Building 18 had become much cleaner and tidier.

He even saw Yu Qing’s small bed.

He leaned in and looked at the sleeping Yu Qing.

The cold ghost hand poked Yu Qing’s face.

For some inexplicable reason, he felt that Yu Qing seemed a bit smaller today.

She was already very small and now looked even more diminutive.

The slender ghost did not realize that this was probably because he had recently eaten too many resentful spirits and had grown bigger himself.

Could it be that she had grown thin from hunger?

One chicken was indeed too little.

He went to that wall, wanting to see what Yu Qing had requested today.

No request.

On the wall, there was only a big smiley face.

…

Time quickly passed to the ninth day.

As the saying goes, the sky is unpredictable. It seemed Yu Qing was living too comfortably in this haunted place. It began to rain. The rain in the haunted place was a bleak green. When it rained, the whole world seemed to be shrouded in a pale green filter.

The doors and windows here were in disrepair. When it rained, the water drifted inside. Yu Qing had to urgently move her temporary little nest away from the window.

The wind and rain were very strong. She could not light a fire, so lunch could not be heated.

As it neared dark, the rain grew heavier and heavier. The fierce wind poured in. The uneven floor in the hall soon began to accumulate water.

When it rained in this haunted place, it became extremely cold. The temperature suddenly dropped by dozens of degrees. Yu Qing had only a not-so-warm delivery uniform jacket. While awake during the day, it was still bearable but at night it was impossible to stay in this drafty place.

Yu Qing had to give up the idea of continuing to stay in the hall. After settling her only family member (the chicken), she began to climb upstairs, hoping to find a room to shelter from the wind and rain.

Twenty years had passed. Most rooms in this unfinished building had broken glass and doors. The situation was not much better than in the hall. In fact, the higher the floor, the stronger the wind and rain.

By the time she climbed to the 18th floor, panting, half of Yu Qing’s jacket was already soaked with rain.

The situation on the 18th floor was much better. The glass in the corridor was still intact. As soon as she entered, the sound of wind and rain disappeared. The temperature immediately rose.

But at the end of the corridor seemed to be the home of the slender ghost.

Yu Qing indeed was not that afraid of him anymore. But stepping into his territory without permission was still a very presumptuous act.

During this time, aside from communication through the wall and the daily threat of the chicken, the human and the ghost kept their distance, not interfering with each other, maintaining a half-acquainted relationship.

However, the rain outside seemed to be getting heavier.

If she caught a cold, it would be impossible to find fever medicine here.

…

“Extremely presumptuous, but I beg you, it is raining downstairs and I have no place to stay, may I temporarily live next door to you? Only that room’s window does not let in wind, I promise I will not make any noise to disturb you.”

Leaving this line of words, Yu Qing anxiously went back to pack her clothes and small bag.

It was very tiring climbing 18 floors during the day. Fortunately, at night the elevator lit up. Yu Qing arrived at the 18th floor.

However, Yu Qing did not know that although the slender ghost could compress his body, once he fell asleep, he would turn into a spread of black mist covering the floor, so not only room 444, but actually the entire 18th floor was his home.

She opened the door and entered the adjacent room 445, which was equivalent to entering deep into his lair, directly living in his bedroom.