Phantom Skeleton Painting

After seeing someone jump from the window with his own eyes, Ji Leshui’s mental state was not very good for a while.

Lin Banxia also saw that he was frightened, so he got off the evening shift early for several days in a row. In order to comfort his friend, he even made several meals with Ji Leshui’s favorite food.

The neighbor who lived next door had been there for several days. Lin Banxia originally wanted to say hello to him, but the neighbor had been invisible for the past few days, so Lin Banxia had to give up.

Lin Banxia had to work the night shift again today. Although he was a little worried, he still had to leave Ji Leshui at home alone.

As soon as Lin Banxia left, Ji Leshui immediately turned on the TV to the maximum volume and huddled on the sofa without daring to move.

The twilight outside the window had faded and thick clouds had covered the moonlight and stars, leaving only a darkness that seemed to swallow people up.

The whistling, cold wind blew against the glass windows. If you listened carefully, you could faintly hear the shrill sound of the wind, like the wail of a dying human.

Ji Leshui began to feel cold again. This coldness followed him like a tarsal maggot from the first day he moved into this house. At first, he thought he was just paranoid, but as he lived there longer and longer, the coldness became more and more obvious.

Ji Leshui tightened the blanket covering his body and quietly scanned the dim living room with his peripheral vision. Probably because they had just moved in, they didn’t have many things in the house that belonged to them. Most of them were left to them by the previous owner.

There was only a TV, a table and a sofa in the living room. It was very simple. It would be fine if it only had these things, but what made Ji Leshui feel uncomfortable was a painting hanging in the corner of the living room.

There was something special about that painting. It was of a woman in a red dress that filled the entire frame. At first glance, she looked like she is staring ahead with a smile, but if you look closer, you would find that the woman’s face is blurred. It’s like blurred watercolor and cannot be seen clearly.

Ji Leshui has never liked this painting, but this was Lin Banxia’s house after all. He was just renting, so he was not too embarrassed to ask for it to be removed, so he reluctantly suppressed the discomfort in his heart.

Time passed little by little. Ji Leshui was wrapped in a blanket, listening to the howling wind outside the window becoming more and more shrill, and fell asleep on the sofa unknowingly. It’s just that this sleep was not sweet. Instead, it was mixed with some whisper-like murmurs. It seemed as if something was moving around him. His body was getting colder and colder, as if he was sleeping in an ice cellar.

Two soft thumps sounded abruptly in the silent room. Ji Leshui shivered violently. He was awakened from the cold by the sound. He took a few heavy breaths and looked at the TV in front of him. All he saw was a screen of sizzling white snowflakes.

There was another soft thump. This time Ji Leshui heard it clearly. The sound came from the door. Ji Leshui asked warily: “Who is it?!”

No response.

“Who is outside??” Although he felt something was wrong, Ji Leshui stood up, picked up the mop placed behind the toilet door, and walked to the door.

Dong Dong, Dong Dong, there were soft sounds as if someone was knocking on the door gently. Ji Leshui put his face against the door and looked through the peephole. Through the narrow glass window, he saw an empty corridor.

“Who?? Who is playing a prank??” In the past, Ji Leshui’s next move would have been to open the door, but the things he encountered these days made him a lot more cautious. Instead of opening the door, he took a few steps back before he walked towards the door. He kicked the door hard and shouted: “Who is outside?!”

The knocking stopped.

Ji Leshui cursed: “Don’t let me fucking catch you. If I catch you, I will beat you up!” As he said this, he cursed and returned to the living room, but just after taking two steps, Yu Guang noticed something, and his whole body instantly shook like chaff.

The living room was still the same as before, but there were a few less things than before. The painting hanging in the corner only left a gloomy darkness. The woman in the red dress, whose face seemed to have melted, had disappeared from the frame.

Did she disappear or leave? Where was she now? Ji Leshui turned his head stiffly and heard another thumping sound coming from the door, as if something was knocking on the door.

“Who is it? Who is it?” Ji Leshui’s voice became hoarse due to his extreme fear. He felt as if his body had turned to stone. Even the simplest movement such as walking was extremely difficult. Using his last strength, Ji Leshui slowly walked to the door and put his eyes on the peephole again.

“It’s me.” A familiar voice came from outside. Ji Leshui saw Lin Banxia’s face through the peephole. Lin Banxia said with a smile, “I don’t have the key, please open the door for me.”

Ji Lexui said: “Is it Banxia?”

“It’s me.” Lin Banxia said, “What’s wrong with you? Why is there no response after knocking on the door for so long?”

Ji Leshui said: “Is it really Banxia?” He swallowed and put his hand on the door handle, but suddenly remembered something and hissed, “Lin…Lin Banxia, never forgot to take his key…you are not Lin Banxia!​​ Who are you?”

‘Lin Banxia’s’ smile faded, and his cold eyes stared at Ji Leshui. His cheeks began to twist and deform like melted candles. As they continued to melt, his voice became sharp and ferocious. Like the shrill night wind, he screamed, “Let me out!!!”

Ji Leshui let out a howl-like scream. He staggered back, tripped over the mop in his hand and fell to the ground. He didn’t even bother to stand up, and rolled over to the sofa, his hands shaking and dialed a number.

“Help, help, Banxia, ​​help me!!!” Ji Leshui cried, like an emotionally out-of-control child, with only the mobile phone in his hand being his life-saving straw, “There is a ghost in this house. Help me!!! There are ghosts and demons!!!”

Lin Banxia, ​​who was still at work, received the call from Ji Leshui. He was slightly stunned and realized that the situation was not good. He said goodbye to his colleagues and planned to rush home immediately.

Seeing his unusual panic, his colleagues asked him strangely what was wrong.

“Something happened to the friend I live with.” Lin Banxia took off his gloves and whispered.

“Something happened?” His colleague said with a smile, “Is it haunted?”

Lin Banxia glanced at his colleague.

The colleague shrugged: “I didn’t mean to listen, but he was too loud.”

Lin Banxia said: “He has not been in good spirits recently.”

“Hey, there are no ghosts in this world.” His colleague said, “If there were ghosts, we wouldn’t be able to do this business.”

Lin Banxia smiled and said nothing. He went into the dressing room and changed into regular clothes, then went out and took a taxi. It only takes ten minutes to drive from his place of work to the community where he lived if there were no traffic jams. He called Ji Leshui along the way, but the phone kept showing that it was busy.

Lin Banxia was a little worried. Ji Leshui’s state had been a bit wrong since he moved in. A few days ago, he had hallucinations of someone jumping off the building. He thought the situation would be better today, but he didn’t expect to receive such a call…

After the taxi arrived at its destination, Lin Banxia ran straight towards his home. When he reached the elevator door, he took a breath. After pressing the floor button, he saw a man carrying a huge black box appear from outside.

This man looked very good. He was wearing a black windbreaker. It is unknown if it was because of the lighting, but his skin was almost transparent and white, and there is no trace of blood. The ends of his hair are a little long, covering his eyes slightly. He wore a black leather holster on his right hand and was carrying a black box.

When the man saw Lin Banxia, ​​he didn’t react and walked directly into the elevator. However, as soon as he entered, the elevator sounded a harsh overload warning.

Is this overloading? Lin Banxia was slightly stunned, weren’t there just two people? Is the box in the man’s hand worth the weight of several people?

Before Lin Banxia could react, the man impatiently reached out and wiped the hair on his forehead, turned around and walked out.

As soon as the man left, the warning sound stopped immediately. He stood outside the elevator and stared at Lin Banxia. The situation suddenly became awkward.

“Then…should I leave first?” Lin Banxia broke the silence.

The man nodded.

Lin Banxia pressed the floor button, and the elevator slowly closed between the two of them.

The thirteenth floor arrived soon. Lin Banxia hurriedly got off the elevator and ran home. As soon as he took out the key and opened the door, he heard sad sobs coming from the house.

“Leshui, Leshui??” Lin Banxia searched for a while before finding Ji Leshui who was almost collapsed in the corner behind the curtains of the bedroom, “Are you okay??”

Ji Leshui choked and trembled: “There are ghosts, there are ghosts.”

Lin Banxia said: “What happened?”

Ji Leshui said: “Someone knocked on the door…someone knocked on the door. I went to open the door, but there was no one outside…” He was incoherent and seemed to be on the verge of collapse. “Then I came back and saw that the people in the painting were gone. That painting, Banxia, Banxia, shall we throw away that painting? It’s too scary!!!”

Lin Banxia froze on the spot.

Seeing Lin Banxia’s lack of response, Ji Leshui thought he was reluctant to part with the painting and shouted at the top of his lungs: “Please, throw away the painting in the living room. As soon as I arrived in this room, I felt that there is something wrong with the painting, the woman inside ran out. I don’t know where she is now. Why are you so reluctant to part with that painting? Are you also bewitched by the painting??”

“But Leshui.” Lin Banxia looked at his crazy friend hesitantly and said with difficulty, “There…are no paintings hanging in our living room.”

Ji Leshui stayed still for a long time before saying hoarsely: “Isn’t there a painting in the corner of the living room?” He stood up staggeringly, walked to the living room, and pointed to a wall.

Lin Banxia said: “That…that’s not a painting, it’s a window.”

Ji Leshui let out a shrill howl and fainted in front of Lin Banxia.

 

Translator’s Notes:

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.