Global Collapse

Chapter 39 It’s almost Chinese New Year
The landlord, with his snow-white hair, had a glint in his eye.

Even though the old woman's eyes were no longer bright, Gu Mian could still see the emotion in her eyes.

The landlord hesitated before speaking, "I know, Xiao Gu, you probably think my house is haunted, but I can tell you, no one has ever died in this building, not a single one. But now that you mention the knocking, it reminds me of something..."

Qinghuan stared intently at her, waiting for what she would say next.

"A tenant did die two years ago, but not in my apartment. It was a man in his early thirties named Zhao Wen. He died unexpectedly outside."

“At the time, he was still renting my house when he was found dead in a hotel. It seemed he had starved to death, and his body was already rotting when he was found.”

Gu Mian asked, "What is the connection between the death of Zhao Wen and the knocking?"

The landlord then slowly began, "This brings us to why he rented my house but moved out."

"Zhao Wen was a spirited young man, only in his early thirties. He was quite active when he moved in, always running around visiting other people's homes."

"But it didn't even last a month before it started to break down. I don't know why, but I watched him become haggard and thin, and he no longer had the strength to walk around."

"Until one time he secretly asked me if anyone had died in the house I rented to him. Of course not, otherwise I wouldn't have hidden it from him."

"Then he told me that he always heard strange knocking sounds at the door in the middle of the night, but there was no one outside."

"Not long after, he invited a few of his friends to stay with him, but no one except him could hear the knocking. He couldn't sleep every night because of it. Later, he was probably terrified, so he rushed home without even returning the apartment. His home wasn't far from here."

"I didn't hear from him for a while after that."

"Less than two months later, I heard his neighbors talking about how the young man had died.

When the landlord got to this point, Qinghuan's expression became somewhat strange.

He stiffly twisted his neck to look at Gu Mian. So, the one who knocked on Dr. Gu's door last night really was a ghost? So, Dr. Gu really did curse at that ghost last night?
Gu Mian didn't pay much attention to it, and instead asked, "Do you think Zhao Wen's death is related to the knocking sound he mentioned?"

The landlord shook his head: "I don't know about that. It seems he went home and stayed there for a while. You can ask his family for details. I should still have his family's phone number... it was left when we registered the rental."

As she spoke, she stood up and walked to a table next to her, then took out a key to open a drawer.

At this moment, Gu Mian suddenly spoke up again: "By the way, is the room Zhao Wen lived in back then the same room I'm living in now?"

The landlord shook his head: "No, I haven't rented that house to anyone else since he died."

"Although I think the knocking sound was just his imagination, I didn't continue renting out that room. Anyway, my building is never fully rented out, so it doesn't matter if it stays empty."

"It wasn't until you came to see me today that I started to find it strange. Could it be that what Zhao Wen said was true..."

As the landlord spoke, he pulled a thick notebook out of his drawer.

It was a yellow-covered notebook with very thin paper, barely thicker than toilet paper. Several sheets of paper had fallen off and were then taped back together.

Wearing her reading glasses, she carefully flipped through the pages, stopping after a long while: "Found it, it has his home phone number..."

In 2002, a large number of people did not have personal mobile phones, but their homes generally had landlines.

Gu Mian copied down Zhao Wen's landline number, said goodbye to the landlord, and then left with Qing Huan.

Qinghuan followed closely behind Gu Mian: "Dr. Gu, was Zhao Wen killed by the ghost that knocked on the door?"

"should be."

"So, those of us targeted by those ghosts will all die like Zhao Wen...?"

Thinking of this, Qing Huan shuddered. Those ghosts had been killing people all along; he wondered which batch of people they were. Gu Mian patted his shoulder to comfort him, "Don't worry, I'm here..."

Qinghuan looked up at him, somewhat touched.

Gu Mian continued, "Anyway, as long as I don't die, we won't be wiped out."

"..."

The home phone at Zhao Wen's house was still in use. When Gu Mian called, a woman who wasn't young answered the phone.

"Hello?" a voice came from the other side.

"Hello," Gu Mian asked, "Is this Zhao Wen's house?"

Upon hearing this, the person on the other end paused for a few seconds before speaking with a hint of doubt: "You are..."

“We are from the Paranormal Events Investigation Bureau. We noticed that a few years ago, a person may have died in a paranormal event. That person is Zhao Wen. We hope you can assist us in the investigation.” Gu Mian paused for a moment: “Give me the money.”

Things went smoothly, and Gu Mian and her companion found Zhao Wen's home address without any obstacles.

Zhao Wen's home is not far from Gu Mian's Hongsheng Apartment, which is an hour's walk away. It is a somewhat old family building.

The house was small but very clean, and at the time there was only a woman who was close to forty years old at home.

She poured two glasses of water and handed them to the two people on the sofa.

"I am Zhao Wen's older sister, Zhao Meixiang." The woman looked at Gu Mian hesitantly: "Are you... a doctor?"

"Hmm," Gu Mian nodded, "Our members in the Paranormal Investigation Bureau all have their main jobs, so you don't need to worry about it too much."

Zhao Meixiang then turned her gaze back to her brother: "You're here to investigate my brother, right? Actually, you don't need to pay me. As his older sister, I've always wanted to find out why my brother died."

When Zhao Wen was mentioned, her face darkened, and she looked worried.

“I only had this one younger brother, and we were very close since we were little. I never expected him to leave so suddenly. After he passed away, my parents were also old, and they were so heartbroken that they passed away just two years later…”

As Zhao Meixiang spoke, she wiped away her tears: "Ask me anything you want, and I will tell you everything I know."

Since she said that, Gu Mian asked directly, "I heard from Zhao Wen's former landlord that for a while he could always hear knocking on the door. Did Zhao Wen mention it to you after he came back?"

Zhao Meixiang nodded: "He was working in a factory not far from my home at the time. I originally wanted him to live here, but he refused."

"I was already married by then, and it wasn't right for my younger brother to stay at home all the time, so he rented a place to live elsewhere."

"But he returned in a hurry after less than a month, without even bringing his luggage. When I asked him what happened, he wouldn't say, he just rushed into our empty house..."

"I was quite worried about him. The next day, when he didn't come out for a long time, I went to his room to look for him."

"When I went in, he was still under the covers, curled up in a tiny ball. I felt something was wrong, so I pulled back the covers, and then I saw that his face was deathly pale, and his eyes were wide open."

"I was startled and quickly asked him what was wrong. He looked up at me with a pale face and asked..."

Did you knock on my door yesterday?

Thank you to Lin Fenghan, Fairy, Huancheng Yueying, sty1999, Chidun, and the reader with the last four digits of their ID (5527) for their generous donations. (′‵)I L

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(End of this chapter)