Lin Banxia said in horror: “Uncle policeman, brother, why do I have to go to the police station now?”
The policeman held the handcuffs in his hand: “Why did you say he was lying on the ceiling?”
Lin Banxia: “Isn’t it like this in ghost movies?”
The policeman asked: “Which ghost movie?”
Lin Banxia named a series of ghost movies, which made the policemen stunned. After a while, he said quietly: “You have a wide range of interests.”
Lin Banxia: “Yes, I do.”
When he was in college, his roommates liked to watch horror movies. Every time a ghost came out, they were so frightened that their faces turned pale. Several of them were obviously 1.8-meter tall, strong men. They either covered their eyes or screamed. Some would even hide behind him, leaving Lin Banxia dumbfounded.
Listening to Lin Banxia’s innocent tone, the police calmed down a bit and asked some more questions about where he was last night and what his relationship was with Wang Jinqiao. Seeing that Lin Banxia answered calmly, he waved his hand to indicate that he was about to leave. However, he still said that if there were any clues, he must come to the police station to explain. Lin Banxia answered his questions one by one, greased the soles of his feet, and slipped away quickly.
Regardless of other things, Lin Banxia knew very well that the policeman’s expression when he took out the handcuffs was not a joke. He walked out and hurried home.
It was just dawn, so there were faint traces of human activity on the streets.
Lin Banxia came down from the bus, bought some breakfast at the bus stop, and walked home while eating. The coolness of early spring made him a little cold in his thin clothes, but the freshly fried spring rolls in his hands were warm, filled with glutinous rice and minced meat. The ham and the crispy skin were a perfect match.
Lin Banxia never had high requirements for food, so he was very satisfied. As he walked, he looked at the time. It was only after five o’clock, so Ji Leshui probably hadn’t gotten up yet.
In early spring, the sky was still brightening a little late. When he looked up, he saw that the entire community was dark, with only a few streetlamps that looked like fireflies remaining. In such an environment, the light source emitted from the windows easily attracted people’s attention.
Lin Banxia was chewing his spring rolls when he noticed a bright window in a building next to him.
Did anyone else live in this neighborhood? Lin Banxia was a little curious. He usually commuted to and from work at a special time. Not to mention meeting people in the community, he even saw very few lights on in the building. Thinking of this, his eyes involuntarily fell on the lighted window.
The floor where the window was located was not high, and you could clearly see a woman standing in front of the window silhouetted against the light. She seems to be looking out the window.
What is she looking at? As soon as this idea came to Lin Banxia’s mind, he saw another figure. The figure which was much taller than the woman and seemed to be holding an axe-shaped weapon in his hand, suddenly appeared behind the woman.
The woman didn’t notice it and still stood silently in front of the window, but the man behind her slowly raised the ax in his hand.
Lin Banxia stared, but before he could react, he saw the man raise the axe and drop it. The woman’s head was suddenly in another place, and the blood turned into dark spots and splashed on the window.
When Lin Banxia saw this scene, his first reaction was to call the police. He took out his mobile phone and was about to call 110 but saw that the light in the window suddenly went out. In the hazy morning light, a hand stained with blood pushed open the window. Seeing this, Lin Banxia took a step back reflexively.
Obviously, his move was right, because the next moment, the man threw a round sphere from the house. The sphere fell heavily on the path, and then rolled along the path with a rumble, all the way to Lin Banxia.
Lin Banxia lowered his head and clearly saw the appearance of the sphere. It was a woman’s head, neatly cut off from the neck, but even so, she still did not die. Her bleeding eyes stared at Lin Banxia, her mouth screaming miserably for help.
Lin Banxia was suddenly at a loss. Now he did not plan to call 110 but decided to call 120 directly. Looking at the situation, he didn’t know if he could save anything.
The woman suddenly began to scream, the scream was harsh and terrifying, like a neighing Shura.
Lin Banxia was stunned for three seconds and immediately said: “It’s okay, it’s okay. I’ll call 120 right away. Who is the murderer? Do you have any last words to say? Let’s talk about it together!” He quickly dialed 120 and quickly reported the situation here, speaking for a while.
The 120 operator was not as calm as him. After listening to Lin Banxia’s description, he cursed him as crazy and immediately hung up the phone.
Lin Banxia: “…” Sister, I’m sorry, it seems we can’t save you.
The woman was still screaming. This time, her eyes no longer looked at Lin Banxia, but fell behind Lin Banxia. Lin Banxia was aware of it, but before he could turn around, he felt a huge shadow covering him. He saw the shadow on the ground. Behind him, there was a tall figure. At this time, he raised a sharp ax and swung it down heavily towards him.
Lin Banxia ducked to the side and fell to the ground. When he looked back again, he found that the shadow behind him and the head on the ground had disappeared, leaving only an empty path. He raised his head and looked at the window, only to see the closed door and endless darkness.
Lin Banxia silently got up from the ground, patted the dirt on his knees, and went home.
When he arrived at home, Lin Banxia thought Song Qingluo was sleeping, but didn’t see anyone else, so he knocked on the door next door. After a while, Ji Leshui opened the door for him with a chicken coop on his head[1.].
“Did you sleep well?” Lin Banxia greeted him.
“Slept well.” Ji Leshui yawned.
“Would you like to come over for breakfast?” Lin Banxia asked.
“No, no.” When Ji Leshui heard that he was going next door, he immediately became energetic. He said, “You have worked all day, go to bed quickly.”
Lin Banxia hummed and said nonchalantly: “I seem to remember that one day you were frightened in the community. Did something happen to you?”
Ji Leshui thought about his experience that night, shivered very spinelessly, and said, “Why do you ask this?”
Lin Banxia said: “I just suddenly remembered it and asked.”
Ji Leshui scratched his head and told him in detail what he had encountered that day. When he mentioned that someone jumped out of the window, Lin Banxia asked him if he still remembered which window it was.
Ji Leshui said: “I remember, it’s the building next to us. I forgot the specific floor. It’s probably not high, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to see it so clearly.”
Lin Banxia said oh and asked him to go wash up and go to work.
Ji Leshui didn’t think much of it, said bye to Lin Banxia, then turned around and went into the house.
Lin Banxia returned to the house and took a hot bath before going to bed. Normally, if nothing happened at work, he would sleep for a while at night, but something like that happened last night. He was worried about Liu Xi’s condition and did not dare to fall asleep. Now he lay down on the bed and soon felt a strong weariness come over him. Lin Banxia closed his eyes, and within a moment, fell into a deep sleep.
Not knowing how long he had slept, Lin Banxia vaguely heard the sound of the door opening in the living room. He opened his eyes, looked at his phone and found that it was already noon. Lin Banxia slowly got up from the bed and saw Song Qingluo in the living room. Song Qingluo was followed by a strange man. He was wearing a hat, sunglasses, and a large mask. His whole body was covered tightly. Even his exposed fingers were covered by gloves, and almost no trace of his skin could be seen.
Lin Banxia suddenly stopped walking towards the living room. Song Qingluo saw him and said, “Let’s have lunch together?” He raised the bag in his hand, which was filled with the ingredients he had just bought.
Lin Banxia asked carefully: “Where have you been?”
Song Qingluo said: “I went out to do something.”
Lin Banxia: “Going alone?”
Song Qingluo looked at Lin Banxia suspiciously.
Lin Banxia said: “You…seem to be followed by someone.” He thought of the woman he had seen in the funeral parlor. It seemed that there was something invisible behind her. It was definitely not a person, but he didn’t know who it was. What.
Song Qingluo said: “Oh, I know, he is my friend.”
Lin Banxia breathed a sigh of relief. He pinched the corners of his eyes and said that he had been under a lot of pressure at work recently and that nothing looked like human…
Song Qingluo said: “But he can’t bask in the sun, so can you close the curtains?”
Lin Banxia’s nerves immediately tightened again, and he looked at Song Qingluo eagerly: “Can’t bask in the sun? Can he eat garlic?”
Song Qingluo: “…”
The man couldn’t hold it back and laughed.
Song Qingluo walked to the living room, closed the curtains, and said with a little helplessness in his tone, “What are you thinking about, are there still vampires in this world? I told you, there are no ghosts in the world.”
After the curtains were closed, the tightly wrapped man began to remove his equipment one by one, revealing his white skin and short snow-white hair. He seemed to have some foreign ancestry, and his pupils were not Black, and instead contained a hint of pink. At first glance, he looked like a beautiful elf that only appears in movies.
“Sorry, I have albinism.” He smiled and said, “I can’t shine in the sun. Are you not scared?”
Lin Banxia suddenly realized and apologized: “I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”
Song Qingluo said impatiently: “Hurry up, I have no intention of inviting you to lunch.”
The man had a very gentle temperament and was not angry when Song Qingluo said that. He turned around and carefully put down the backpack he was carrying, and then took out a box as thick as an arm from the backpack. The ones seen in Luo’s house looked exactly the same in terms of color and texture, with only slight differences in size.
“When will you test it?” the man asked slowly.
“Now.” Song Qingluo replied.
“Here?” The man seemed a little surprised. He glanced at Lin Banxia subconsciously, “Is he new here?”
“No.” Song Qingluo said.
The man was even more surprised. He said, “Aren’t you doing natural aging? Why are there irrelevant people around you?”
Song Qingluo spread his hands: “You have to ask them this question. Okay, Li Su, you go out first. I will inspect the goods and then talk to you.”
It turned out that this man’s name was Li Su, which was an ordinary name. After hearing this, Li Su put on the equipment one by one, gave Lin Banxia a meaningful look, and turned around to go out. Lin Banxia was a little restless and whispered: “Do you need me to go out too?”
Song Qingluo waved his hand and motioned for him to sit down.
Lin Banxia didn’t dare. He stood there at a loss. He almost felt as if he had witnessed an illegal transaction. If he kept looking at it, he might be killed and silenced.
Song Qingluo didn’t look at him. He lowered his long eyelashes and looked at the arm-sized box in front of him. There was a small lock hanging on the box. He first checked the box with a serious face, and after making sure that the box was not damaged, he took out the key and inserted it into the lock.
Lin Banxia was naturally curious about what was inside the box, but Song Qingluo’s expression made him so nervous that he didn’t dare to move while standing nearby.
Song Qingluo gently twisted his fingers, and the lock was removed. He did not rush to open the box but took out a pair of black gloves from his pocket and put them on tightly. Gloves on, he then started opening the box. Song Qingluo opened the lid of the box, and a strange smell overflowed from inside.
It was a fragrance that Lin Banxia had never smelled before. The first sniff seemed like grass and trees growing in the ice and snow, which made people feel refreshed. However, the scent soon changed, and the fresh fragrance became thick and sweet. There was even a hint of fishy smell hidden in it. Some memories that had been deliberately forgotten suddenly appeared in Lin Banxia’s mind. He saw the disgusting cabinet again and the big hands that kept slapping the cabinet door. The little child was not even knee-high and did not dare to cry. He just curled up into a ball, wishing that he could disappear from this world. However, the horrible slapping sound continued to stimulate the child’s nerves, as if telling him that he would never escape. He couldn’t live without that horrible hell.
Lin Banxia suddenly came back to his senses when he recalled this, and saw Song Qingluo sitting opposite him, with his hands folded, and his eyes as dark as the abyss, staring at him.
“Is it a happy memory?” Song Qingluo asked softly.
“No.” Lin Banxia said softly. He reluctantly wanted to smile, but he couldn’t lift the corners of his mouth.
Song Qingluo saw this and said softly: “Don’t smile if you don’t want to.”
Lin Banxia pursed his lips.
“I’m sorry.” Song Qingluo said, “I thought it would remind you of some happy things.” On his right, a lock was hung on the box again, but the color of the lock changed from white at the beginning, becoming as black as the box. He slowly took off his gloves, opened the window to ventilate the room for a while, then closed the curtains again, and called Li Su who was waiting outside.
“Okay.” Song Qingluo said.
“You…opened it in front of him?” Li Su looked at Song Qingluo in surprise.
Song Qingluo said: “Yeah.”
Li Su said: “How long?”
Song Qingluo took out an old pocket watch from the inner pocket of his clothes: “Seventeen seconds.”
“Really?” Li Su looked at Lin Banxia with his pale pink eyes, full of disbelief, “Where did you find this treasure? Is it so powerful? He…knows about you?”
Song Qingluo said: “I haven’t explained it yet.”
“Oh, remember to say hello over there early.” Li Su said, “I’m leaving first.”
“Go.” Song Qingluo nodded.
Li Su turned and walked away, leaving a room of silence.
Lin Banxia felt a little embarrassed and wanted to turn on the TV to listen to the sound, but Song Qingluo held Lin Banxia’s hand. His fingertips were soft and cold, just like his name, and felt like silk.
Song Qingluo asked: “Aren’t you curious?”
Lin Banxia said cautiously: “Won’t curiosity kill the cat?”
Song Qingluo said: “The salary is very high.”
Lin Banxia immediately became energetic: “How high is it?”
Song Qingluo: “You can pay off the mortgage quickly.”
Lin Banxia said carefully: “Then why do you live next door to me?”
Song Qingluo: “…”
Lin Banxia: “And it’s still a rented house…”
Song Qingluo thought to himself. Lin Banxia, Lin Banxia, you are so cruel with every word. He sighed and said that it was a long story, so he might as well not talk about it.
The two were silent for a while, then Lin Banxia tentatively asked: “Can you explain to me what natural aging is?”
Li Su mentioned this just now. He remembered that this word was used on some high-precision parts. For example, after a part is processed, because it changes its shape, it would have certain shape changes over time. This change has little effect on ordinary machinery, but if it is a high-precision machinery, it can easily lead to malfunction. Therefore, before use, these parts would be placed in a natural environment for a period of stress relief, which is called natural aging.
However, Song Qingluo was obviously not machine-processed, so what did Li Su mean by natural aging?
Song Qingluo said: “It literally means that there are many heretical things in this world, some good and some bad, but most of them are dangerous, so they need to be recycled and sealed before they cause danger. The act of sealing it will change them, so in order to avoid excessive rebound, we will conduct a period of natural aging before sealing it.” His voice was very soft, and his tone was casual, “Your house is an item that is undergoing natural aging.”
Lin Banxia was stunned: “Does this house have any origins? For example, someone died or something…”
Song Qingluo said: “There is nothing wrong with this house. It is a new community, and isn’t it already stated in the purchase contract?”
Lin Banxia thought: Yes, why?
“The problem is your house number.” Song Qingluo said, “You didn’t notice that your house number is different?”
Lin Banxia only remembered it after Song Qingluo reminded him. Indeed, once, when he was in a hurry to come back, he felt the house number felt very strange, just like human skin. He didn’t think much of it at the time, but now that he recalled it, it was a bit shocking.
“It’s so scary.” Lin Banxia sighed.
Song Qingluo thought that his expression was not convincing at all.
“That’s not right. Why do you do natural aging and buy and sell houses?” Lin Banxia felt aggrieved. “I finally bought this house, yet you put such a house number on it.”
Song Qingluo sighed and said, “That was an accident.” This was a community they specially selected. There were no people around and there were no residents, so it was not prone to danger. Unexpectedly, during the process, the person who was dealing with the homeowner suddenly had an accident. His life and death were still unknown. The matter of the house was delayed like this. Unexpectedly, Lin Banxia, the unlucky guy, wanted to take advantage of it, but before they could respond, he had already bought the house.
After knowing this situation, they hurriedly called Song Qingluo over and asked him to deal with the matter. Song Qingluo’s workload was very heavy, so he simply moved next door to Lin Banxia. He was still thinking about how to get in touch with Lin Banxia, but Lin Banxia came to the door on his own.
“Since there are no ghosts, what did Ji Leshui see?” Lin Banxia felt that he still had countless doubts in his head.
“That depends on what he was afraid of during that time.” Song Qingluo said, “You should be lucky that only the two of you live in this house.”
Lin Banxia said: “Why?”
Song Qingluo said: “Because in this house, fear will solidify, so you will also see what he is afraid of.”
Lin Banxia perked up: “Should I make him afraid of money?”
Song Qingluo: “…” Following the business genius Ji Leshui, it seems that Lin Banxia was also very good at making money.
Seeing Song Qingluo’s speechless expression, Lin Banxia laughed twice and said, “It’s a joke. Who is afraid of RMB?” He thought: “According to what you said before, as long as you move in, you can’t leave this house. So, is it possible to see terrifying hallucinations of entities outside?”
Song Qingluo said: “That’s not accurate. To be precise, you will only see it if you have the idea of moving out.”
Lin Banxia’s smile froze on his face.
Song Qingluo said: “What’s wrong with you?”
Lin Banxia said: “That…”
Song Qingluo: “?”
Lin Banxia: “I remembered that when I got off work yesterday, I seemed to have seen a hallucination.”
Song Qingluo looked at Lin Banxia in confusion: “Do you have any thoughts on moving out?”
“No, no,” Lin Banxia said innocently, “Absolutely not, and before being frightened by this house, Ji Leshui seemed to have seen it in the same place.”
Song Qingluo asked: “What did you see?”
Lin Banxia repeated the scene Ji Leshui saw that day. After repeating it, he suddenly felt a little scared and rubbed the goosebumps on his arms.
Song Qingluo: “What did you see this morning?”
Lin Banxia vividly recounted what he saw.
After listening to this, Song Qingluo had a complicated look on his face. He glanced at Lin Banxia’s goosebumps that didn’t seem to be fake, and said, “You… didn’t find the situation this morning scary?”
Lin Banxia shook his head honestly.
Song Qingluo thought, okay, Lin Banxia’s reaction was all due to fate. Only when fate comes, can he react.
The author has something to say:
Lin Banxia thought to himslef: I am afraid of RMB, afraid of RMB, afraid of RMB.
When I touched my wallet the next day, the money was gone.
Lin Banxia collapsed: Ahhhhhh, fear has become a reality! Song Qingluo, help me!
House number: Hou, you want to bully me for not reading enough?
I looked at the dog-gnawing clicks and fell into deep thought. Why on earth was this? Could it be that some titles are more tempting…
Translator’s comments:
- His hair is messy. Saying someone has a chicken coop on their head means that their hair looks like a bird’s nest.
Hey guys, I’m the translator for this novel. If you have any questions or thoughts feel free to comment and I’ll do my best to answer everything. If you notice any inconsistencies or errors, drop a comment and I will fix it. I am new to this, but I want to learn and give the best translation that I can to the readers. Thanks so much for reading Phantom Skeleton Painting, I hope that everyone enjoys the novel.
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