Global Collapse

Chapter 41 Everyone seems very busy.

The landlord was a middle-aged man in his forties or fifties. He seemed very generous and never stopped talking.

"To be honest, I'm really wronged. My house used to be spotless, but two years ago two young men came to live here, and things haven't been peaceful since then."

"They said there were originally three people living together, but one of them didn't work nearby, so they separated. These two young men rented a double room here."

"One of them is named Li Dongqiang, and the other is named Wang Erwa."

"They were fine at first, but less than a month later, I saw their friend arrive, looking flustered and pale!"

"That friend hurriedly pulled the two young men away, as if he wanted them to stay at his place for a few days."

"They came back a few days later, chatting and laughing, as if nothing had happened."

"But two months later, I noticed they started acting strangely. Their faces were gloomy and miserable. When I asked them what was wrong, I found out that their panicked friend had died outside..."

Upon hearing this, Qinghuan became somewhat excited. The friend the landlord mentioned was very likely Zhao Wen!
"I heard their deaths were rather suspicious," the landlord said, shaking his head. "Ever since then, the two young men have been acting strangely too."

"I don't know what they did wrong, but ever since then they've been paranoid, always saying someone is spying on them."

"They ruined my perfectly good house! They nailed the windows shut with wooden planks! Not a single crack was left!"

"The ventilation window above the door is covered up completely with newspaper, and even the peephole is blocked with toilet paper. There's not a single crack left, you understand?"

Gu Mian nodded.

"But even that wasn't enough. Wang Erwa always felt that no matter where he went, someone was watching him from all directions, so he even went to see a shaman."

"That sorceress was unreliable too. She made him a really tall paper figure and had him carry it on his back, saying it would ward off disaster!"

"Then Wang Erwa stopped going out every day, spending his days carrying around a deathly white paper figure, which was quite frightening."

"And that Li Dongqiang is even less reliable than Wang Erwa. He feels like someone is watching him, so he desperately tries to squeeze into small spaces, just like a cat, you know?"

Gu Mian nodded.

"He initially hid in the closet, but the closet was too big, so he hid under the table, but there was also space under the table."

"Later, he actually squeezed himself into the small cabinet on the table. You know those small cabinets, right? Oh my! Even a child would have a hard time squeezing in, but this big man, over 1.7 meters tall, actually managed to squeeze in."

"I have no idea how he got himself in there. He was all curled up like that, and his skin was peeling off!"

"But he still thought the small cabinet was too big, and he even wanted to crawl into the sewer! Wouldn't that be fatal?"

"We tried our best to hold him back, but he got really angry and simply moved out of my place to another apartment not far away."

"Li Dongqiang moved away, but Wang Erwa stayed here. I keep an eye on him; I'm afraid he might suddenly do something rash one day."

"But even our best efforts couldn't keep him. Not long after Li Dongqiang moved away, Wang Erwa died in bed."

"When we saw his body, we saw that he had tied himself and the paper figure tightly together with a rope, as if the paper figure was an extension of his back."

"Ugh……"

The landlord sighed as he said this.

Qinghuan's face was extremely pale.

He was smart enough to guess who was following him—Wang Erwa.

The tall, twisted white figure behind him was Wang Erwa's paper doll. It was likely that when the paper doll made full contact with his back, it would be the end of his life.

Thinking of this, Qinghuan felt a chill run down her spine.

Gu Mian asked, "What about Li Dongqiang? Do you know which apartment he moved to?" The landlord thought for a moment, "I think it was Hejia Apartment, not far to the east. I heard he died later... It's really strange..."

The two exchanged a glance; it was Lin Yue'er's apartment.

It's 3:05 now, they still have time.

Immediately, they rushed to the nearby Hejia Apartment where Lin Yue'er lived.

It seems that Yuwen Hao and his two companions haven't found this place yet. The landlord here was a bit curious when they arrived.

"Hello," Gu Mian said to the landlord, "We are Lin Yue'er's friends. She seems to have encountered something evil here recently, and we wanted to ask you something."

The landlady was a young woman who seemed to be unmarried; the house was probably an heirloom.

She nodded readily: "What is it?"

"It was about two years ago. Do you remember a tenant named Li Dongqiang from two years ago?"

Upon hearing the name, the young woman reacted strongly, nodding vigorously: "I remember, of course I remember. Even though my dad hadn't given me the house here yet, I remember this person very clearly!"

"When this person came back then, I felt something was off. He seemed too nervous, like a fugitive."

"But there were no problems with his ID card, so we couldn't refuse him and let him pay to stay here."

"He paid six months' rent at once, which I found quite strange. Most tenants usually pay monthly, but he paid six months' rent all at once."

"At first I was puzzled, but then I understood why he paid for six months at once."

"He's sick! He's afraid we'll kick him out when his lease expires!"

"This person rarely goes out. When he does go out, he covers himself up completely, his head constantly darting around, as if afraid of being discovered."

"That's not all. What's even more problematic is that he has a peculiar habit: he likes to crawl into small places and stay there all day."

"He drilled through the entire house I rented to him, from the cabinets on the table to the shoe rack and the cupboards!"

"As you know, our industry isn't easy. If something happens to one house, the whole building suffers the consequences."

"He's so weird and scary, even my dad gets frightened by him, so we want him to move out."

"We gave him the money and compensated him for breach of contract, but he absolutely refused to move out. He insisted on staying here. My dad went to his place every few days to persuade him to leave."

"Until one day..."

"My dad went to look for him again, but he couldn't find him anywhere in the house."

"At first we thought he had gone out, but we waited for several days and didn't see him. It was summer then, and the smell was really strong, you know?"

"We didn't see him for several days, and then the house started to stink."

"My dad suspected he died in the house, so he searched everywhere he could think of, but he couldn't find him."

"A few days later, the house smelled worse and worse, it was absolutely unbearable, so we had no choice but to call the police."

"The police later found him under the bed..."

"There's only a gap of less than ten centimeters under the bed; I have no idea how he managed to squeeze in."

"The room was sealed off, and there was no one else besides him, but when we found him, he was huddled in the innermost part, as if... hiding from something."

Thank you to the well-behaved newbie and Lin Fenghan for the donations. (づ￣3￣)づ╭～
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(End of this chapter)