Mysterious Awakening

After a thorough exploration of the village, Miles and his group found nothing unusual. The quietness hung heavy in the air, a calm that felt oddly unsettling.

They had been reliably informed about paranormal activities in this location, and the Cockroach Club would not have sent them on a wild goose chase since deception was pointless and would only breed endless complications.

“There must be something off about this place. Perhaps, it’s just out of my vision without me realizing it. It wouldn’t hurt to inquire,” Miles contemplated.

Before he realized it, he had wandered to the fringes of the village, where an elderly man, well into his sixties, was engrossed in tending his vegetable garden.

Approaching the man, Miles initiated a conversation, “Good day, sir. You seem engrossed in your gardening.”

The old man spared him a glance and resumed his work, seemingly unperturbed.

“Sir, I’m a visitor from the city. I noticed an eerie quietness here and a funeral at the village entrance. Has something happened?” Miles ventured.

“Get lost!” The man’s response was brusque.

Miles remained undeterred, his lips twitching slightly at the old man’s impoliteness, “Sir, do you have any idea how the young man at the entrance met his end? He looked full of life. It’s tragic he passed on so prematurely.”

“Get lost!” The old man reiterated, his voice firm and unyielding, echoing like a relentless hammer striking an anvil.

“Can’t we have a civil conversation, sir? Or is that the only phrase you’re familiar with?” Miles inquired.

“Leave me alone, you youngsters! Can’t you see I’m busy?” A disdainful squint accompanied the old man’s curt reply. His attitude was more than just rude; it bordered on the offensive.

After a moment of contemplation, Miles decided to change tactics. He pulled out a hundred dollars from his pocket, offering as bait, “How about a hundred dollars for answering three questions?”

At the sight of the money, the old man’s demeanor shifted. He swiftly abandoned his seedling, rushed over, and snatched the money from Miles, his face breaking into a cheerful grin, “Well, aren’t you a generous lad? Fire away, there’s nothing about Huanggang Village that I don’t know.”

The influence of money never failed to amaze.

Suppressing a sigh, Miles asked his first question, “Has Huanggang Village always been this desolate, or is it a recent phenomenon?”

“It’s always been this way. The younger generation has all moved to the city, leaving us elders here. The village only comes to life during festivals and holidays,” the old man explained.

“Has there been any unusual occurrences in Huanggang Village lately?” Miles queried further.

“Nothing out of the ordinary,” the old man responded, shaking his head.

Miles pressed on, “So who’s the person being mourned at the entrance of the village?”

“Not sure,” the old man shrugged. “I don’t recognize him. He’s probably a relative of someone in the village.”

This surprised Miles. A person had died, a funeral was happening, and yet this local elder didn’t recognize him. It contradicted the norms; in such small communities, news of a death usually travels fast.

“Actually, I’ve been meaning to ask: Have there been any reports of hauntings in Huanggang Village recently?” Miles decided to get to the point.

At the mention of a haunting, the old man hesitated, appearing puzzled, before rubbing his fingers together in a suggestive manner.

Miles realized he’d just asked his fourth question, and he hadn’t anticipated the old man being so strict. He handed him another hundred dollars.

Only then did the old man elaborate, “People in the village have been talking about hauntings for years. It’s been going on for decades, but nobody’s ever seen a ghost. You seem like a well-educated man. Is it that youngsters these days are into ghost stories?”

“Well, not necessarily, just a general curiosity,” Miles answered nonchalantly.

A pang of disappointment struck him.

It felt like he hadn’t obtained any significant information.

Could there actually be any supernatural activity in Huanggang Village?

“By the way, do you know of a place where I could stay for a few days? I intend to spend some time here,” Miles inquired.

“I have a spare room at my place. It’s a hundred dollars per night. Will you take it?” the old man suggested, swiftly transitioning into a business transaction with Miles.

Consequently, Miles found himself renting a room at the old man’s residence, at least for a while.

His host, Liu Genrong, was one of the few elderly residents remaining in the village. Liu had two sons living in Dachang City who only returned home for specific family matters. His wife had passed away the previous year.

“I’ll give it three days. If nothing unusual happens within that period, I’ll head back to Dachang City to settle the matter with Sun Lihong,” Miles resolved internally.

“If there truly are supernatural occurrences here and the ghost chooses to remain hidden, I won’t have the luxury of time to conduct a thorough search. After all, I can’t afford to spend too much time here.”

As these thoughts swirled in his mind, Miles retired to a room in Liu Genrong’s house, his sleep soon overtaken by a resurgence of the malevolent spirit’s unease.

He was tormented, his body immobilized as always, feeling as though an unknown entity was gradually asserting control.

The sensation was profoundly eerie, beyond any words.

Yet, in the midst of his restless sleep, a faint, raspy cough echoed from the house’s lower level.

“Cough, cough.”

The sound seemed to originate from Liu Genrong’s front door.

The noise immediately yanked Miles from his paralyzed state.

“Could this be… the same voice I heard this afternoon?”

“Hold on, something’s off. Someone’s walking up the stairs.” Miles’s face paled as he detected heavy footsteps from the staircase.

He was lodged on the second floor of Liu Genrong’s house, with Liu occupying the room next door.

In other words, the first floor was unoccupied.

Moreover, outside was pitch black, and the front door was securely locked. There shouldn’t be any chance of intrusion.

“Seriously, what rotten luck? At a time like this…” Cold sweat trickled down Miles’s forehead.

At this point, he was still paralyzed, unable to move a muscle.

“Thud, thud.”

Heavy footsteps reverberated from the stairwell, drawing nearer with every tap.

The rhythmic sound clearly indicated someone ascending to the second floor, deliberately taking one step at a time.

Whoever it was, they were moving incredibly slowly.

Miles tried to direct his gaze towards the door. Although he couldn’t move his head, he managed to shift his eyes slightly.

But his view was hindered.

The absence of any external light meant he couldn’t see the door at all.

All of a sudden, the pounding footsteps on the stairs halted.

Whatever it was, the person or thing had reached the second floor.

At this point, Miles was less worried about how this entity entered the house or where it had come from. His primary concern was whether it was targeting him or Liu Genrong.

There was, of course, a chance that its presence was random.

Given the simplistic layout of rural homes, with two rooms on the second floor facing each other, a random visit meant there was a fifty-fifty chance of being left undisturbed.

“Hang on, it doesn’t seem to have entered the room yet.”

Out of nowhere, he heard the footsteps just outside his door again.

It was as if someone was pacing back and forth in the darkness, the echoing footsteps creating an ominous rhythm.

“Cough, cough.”

The sound was reminiscent of someone on death’s doorstep, teetering between life and death.

It’s clear the entity outside had no intention of leaving.

Inside the room, Miles’s eyes were glued to the direction of the door, his nerves coiled tightly in dread of the unknown visitor entering.

In his current state, escape wasn’t an option. He was left with nothing but hope.

“It probably won’t come in.”

After some time, the absent sound of the door opening allowed Miles to exhale a whisper of relief.

He reassured himself that he couldn’t possibly be that unfortunate.

But recalling the merciless nature of the school ghost, he found it hard to completely let go of his anxiety.

What if, just what if, the entity outside didn’t need to physically open the door to unleash harm?

“No, that’s not possible. If there truly is a ghost outside and it possesses powers akin to the knocking ghost, there would be no survivors in this village. They would all have been killed by now,” Miles argued against his own fears.

However, right at that moment.

The pacing footsteps outside his door abruptly ceased.

“Creak.”

The chilling sound of the door opening echoed in the darkness.

Miles’s heart seized at the sound.

Was the entity that had been lingering outside about to enter?