Phantom Skeleton Painting

After a night of tossing, Ji Leshui’s spirit had reached an extremely low level. Lin Banxia was worried about him and wanted to go to see the agent with him, but Ji Leshui refused.

“You don’t have to go with me, I can go alone. You haven’t slept all night, so you should find a place to rest.” Ji Leshui changed his clothes, took the key, and said to Lin Banxia, ​​”But don’t sleep here. I’m afraid something might happen to you if you are alone at home.”

“I’m fine.” Lin Banxia said, “You really don’t want me to accompany you?”

“No need.” Ji Leshui forced a smile, but the smile was particularly ugly. He might as well not smile at all, “I’m a grown man after all. Even if I’m afraid at night, why should I still be afraid during the day?” He put the key to the door in his pocket, nodded to Lin Banxia, ​​turned around and left.

Lin Banxia looked at his back with a complicated expression. At that time, he invited Ji Leshui to live here out of good intentions, thinking that he could help his friend save two thousand yuan in rent every month. He didn’t expect that after he had moved in for only a few days, something like this would happen.

That day was cloudy with a cold wind and none of the warmth of early spring.

The trees in the community were evergreens, which are luxuriant, but for some reason the shade of the trees gives off a chilly feeling. At first glance, the entire community looked like an old, faded photo, which made people feel uncomfortable.

After Ji Leshui left, Lin Banxia checked the glass window again. The glass window was clean and there was no trace of blood. It was as if everything he experienced last night was just a hallucination.

Lin Banxia stared at the window for a while but didn’t see anything strange. He happened to be hungry again, so he turned around and went into the kitchen to cook some noodles.

After he finished eating the noodles, he sat on the sofa and took a nap. Half asleep and half awake, he heard his cell phone ringing.

When he picked it up and looked at it, he found that it was from Ji Leshui.

“Hey, Leshui?” Lin Banxia asked, “What’s wrong?”

Ji Leshui’s voice was hoarse and full of despair. He said, “Ban Xia, get out of the house quickly. Don’t live there. How can anyone live there?”

Lin Banxia said: “What’s wrong?”

“I came out to meet with the agent and asked about the situation in that community.” Ji Leshui said, “He said no one lives in that community!!!”

“No one lives there? What do you mean?” Lin Banxia didn’t understand.

“The agent said that the cemeteries around here are too expensive. Some rich people choose a new community and buy a few buildings specifically for the use of storing jars for ashes. The community you bought in is not big and the location is remote. It is also close to mountains and rivers. Several buildings have been used…” Ji Leshui said, his voice trembled uncontrollably, “No wonder there is no one upstairs or downstairs. It turns out that the houses are filled with urns. We are the only living people living there.”

Lin Banxia was also stunned. He thought about whether something happened to this house for it to be so cheap, but the contract stipulated very clearly that if it was a haunted house, he could directly ask for compensation. He just never expected that this house was not a murder house, but the neighbors were houses full of urns.

“I’m looking at a house.” Ji Leshui whispered, “When it’s ready, you can move out from there…” After he finished speaking, he hung up the phone.

Lin Banxia looked at the darkened screen and didn’t make a sound for a long time. He looked around the living room and didn’t feel anything strange. Except that it was a little colder, it was just an ordinary living room. However, is it true, as Ji Leshui said, that this house is really uninhabitable? Lin Banxia thought for a long time, suddenly remembered something, then took his key, turned around and walked out.

Lin Banxia took two steps forward along the corridor and stopped in front of the door next door. He hesitated for a moment, raised his hand, and knocked on the door next door.

Dong-dong-dong, the clear knock on the door echoed in the corridor, but the door did not open.

Lin Banxia was a little disappointed. He had seen a family living next to them a few days ago. Although he did not see the head of the household himself, the door had indeed been opened. Could it be that the head of the household is not at home, or does not live in it, but only comes to visit occasionally?

Lin Banxia thought so and knocked a few more times. Unexpectedly, as soon as he put his hand on it, he heard a soft creak and the door in front of him opened.

Lin Banxia originally thought that the door was opened for him by the head of the household, but he saw no one through the door crack.

“Is there anyone there?” Lin Banxia called hesitantly, pushing the door handle, and opening the door in front of him. He also saw the outermost living room.

There was no one in the living room, not even a TV. There were only simple tables, chairs, and a sofa. It was even simpler than Lin Banxia’s house. Because there were so few things, Lin Banxia immediately saw the strange objects placed in the corner of the living room. There were many black boxes of different sizes, neatly placed in the corner like building blocks, some standing, some lying down, neatly arranged in the corner. On the far-left side of the box, stood a woman in red with her back to Lin Banxia. The woman was wearing a bright red, ancient wedding dress and an exaggerated phoenix crown. She looked very weird.

“Hello, your door is not closed.” Lin Banxia called into the house, trying to attract the owner’s attention.

The owner of the house was indifferent to Lin Banxia’s voice and still turned her back to him.

“Hello?” Lin Banxia felt a little strange, “Can you hear me?”

No response.

Wondering if something had happened, Lin Banxia hesitated for a moment, and then stepped into the house. As he walked, he called loudly, but no matter what he said, the woman in front of him with her back turned to him, gave no response.

Lin Banxia felt something ominous. When he walked behind the woman, he raised his hand and patted her shoulder gently and said, “Miss, are you… okay?”

The woman didn’t speak.

Lin Banxia leaned over, wanting to take a look at the woman’s face. However, as soon as he stretched his head forward, he heard a crunching sound, and the woman’s head fell from her neck. Gulu… It went rolling to Lin Banxia’s feet. The woman’s cheeks were heavily made up, the corners of her mouth were curved in a stiff arc, and her lifeless eyes were intertwined with Lin Banxia’s.

Lin Banxia was stunned for three seconds before he realized what had happened. However, these three seconds were enough for him to clearly see that the head under his feet was not a human head, but a plastic female model. This plastic mannequin was very lifelike and looked exactly like a human at first glance. As soon as her head fell off, the beautiful phoenix crown fell to the ground, and her long black hair which was extremely thick, covered the floor in front of him like a spider web.

Lin Banxia looked at the head at his feet for a moment, then bent down to pick it up, but as soon as his fingertips touched her skin, a soft and cold voice came from the door: “What are you doing?”

Lin Banxia looked up and saw the man he had met once in the elevator before.

Today, he did not carry a black box in his hand, and he also changed out of the black windbreaker. However, his face still did not look very good, and was pale without a trace of blood. He tilted his head and stared at Lin Banxia, ​​his voice as soft as the breeze: “What are you doing?” As he spoke, he stuffed the things in his hand into his side pocket. Lin Banxia noticed that they seemed to be two dice.

“Sorry!!” Lin Banxia straightened up immediately and explained, “I saw that your door was not closed… I thought something had happened, so I came in to take a look.”

The man looked at Lin Banxia with a strange look in his eyes, as if he was looking at and evaluating him. Lin Banxia was at a loss and did not dare to speak, so the atmosphere remained silent for a minute.

A minute later, the man spoke again and said something, but his words made Lin Banxia not quite understand. The man said: “After entering, there is nothing you want to do?”

Lin Banxia was confused: “What do you mean?”

The man frowned and suddenly strode in front of Lin Banxia. The distance was so close that the two people’s noses were almost touching. Lin Banxia was startled and did not dare to breathe. He just kept his eyes open, staring at the man with big eyes. From such a close distance, he could see almost every one of the man’s eyelashes clearly, and his eyes seemed different from those of ordinary people. They were so dark that the lines of his pupils could not be seen clearly, like the dark black sea.

The two looked at each other for a moment, and the man took a step back and crossed his arms: “Have you seen this model?”

Lin Banxia said: “Ah…? Look… I saw it.”

The man said: “You don’t have anything to do?”

Lin Banxia was confused: “Do? What?”

The man didn’t answer but asked: “You live next door, right?”

Lin Banxia said: “Yes…”

The man asked: “How long has it been since you moved in?”

Lin Banxia said: “One week.”

The man asked: “When are you going to move out?”

This question was really weird. Lin Banxia said: “I have no plans to move out…”

The man said, “Why don’t you move out?”

Lin Banxia thought for a while and said, “Because there are some sad reasons.”

The man was silent for a moment after hearing this. He might have thought that Lin Banxia had some touching story. There was a little more warmth in his voice: “What’s the sad reason?”

Lin Banxia faintly uttered one word: “I’m poor.”

The man: “…”

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.