Ghost Invasion

I shook my head: “I don’t know!”

“You don’t know?” He looked at me. I felt as if his gaze could penetrate me as he continued, “Is it that you don’t know, or that you don’t want to say, or that you don’t dare to say?”

Expressionless, I shook my head again: “I was asleep, so I don’t know anything!”

“You did it, right? Before, you were complaining about Hong Ning hara.s.sing you, and yesterday, you got into an argument with her?” He asked.

I shook my head again: “It’s not me! If you have evidence that proved I killed Hong Ning, I’m willing to submit to the law!” My point was very clear; it was did by ghosts, so how could they have evidence!

“If you don’t listen, I hope you can bear the consequences!” He stood up and left. I saw him say something to the prison guard outside, and then I was led away from the room, both my hands and feet in shackles. Suddenly, I wanted to laugh: did they really think I was a criminal?

“I demand visitors!” I yelled. I must get someone to prove my innocence. Huo Xiaojin can’t really be depended upon now, and as for the An family, I still didn’t completely believe what Yun Li said. Maybe she was just trying to create a division? I wanted to make sure myself!

The prison guard gave me a push: “Keep walking! Such a big thing has happened, so even if you want visitors you must at least wait until you get out of the detention room!”

I was caught off guard. So I got a detention! Sure enough, when I walked into the dark and wet hallway, I noticed that the sides were all small doors, with a tiny window on each. Occasionally, I could hear noises coming out from the doors, but it didn’t sound good.

Some sounded like muttering, others crazy, their voices piercing and pitiful.

I was pushed into a very small room. There was only one light above my head, and inside, except for a bed, there was only a sink and a toilet! I immediately panicked. The room was no larger than ten square meters, dark, wet, and scary. I pounded on the door: “When can I get out?”

The only answer I got was the crazy laughs coming from the hallway.

“Huo Xiaoran!” I called out his name dejectedly.

Nothing! Nothing happened, and he didn’t appear. I sat down on the hard bed, staring at the ceiling light. My life, from the day I married into the Huo family, had changed. Plots, hatred, plans; those people used anything to get what they want, and I saw ghosts…… Is this all just a dream?

Every time I quiet down, I would have this thought. Is this just a bad dream?

Then an empty, ethereal voice sounded by the door: “Thank you!”

I was frightened, and jumped onto the bed. Only now did I notice a woman in prison clothes standing by the door. Her hair was tied up in a ponytail, her face pale, and I could see the metal door through her body. I realized, that this was a ghost!

“You!” I was scared, because till now, all the ghosts I’ve met had come to find revenge!

“I’m leaving. I just wanted to thank you before I left! Thank you for letting me kill Hong Ning with my own hands!”

I saw that there seemed to be tears in her eyes. I squinted, and saw a blood red rope mark around her neck! With each thank you she said, her figure became more and more transparent, until she completely disappeared!

I didn’t understand. I lied down in the rare peace; time ticked by slowly, and I just kept sleeping. I don’t know what time it was when I woke up. Glancing towards the door, someone had put something in. when I picked it up, I found that it was food.

But was it consumable? I put it under my nose and sniffed. A sour, decayed smell came. I threw it to the ground, crying. Why was my life such a mess?

“Huo Xiaoran! I hate you!” I screamed, furious.

“Hate me? If not for you thinking yourself clever and sending me away, would you become like this? If you agreed to work with me from the beginning, would you have today?”

Unexpectedly, I saw him floating in the air and watching me. Except for crying, I didn’t know what else to say. He was right; if not for me thinking myself clever and trusting Matron w.a.n.g, how would I go to the hotel, and get framed.

“Yes! I thought I was clever and wanted to cut all relationships with you, but was it wrong? You are a ghost, yet I’m pregnant with your child; you are a ghost, yet I found out that I started caring about you; even though humans and ghost shouldn’t be together, I…… ” At the end, I was crying so hard I lost my voice. I buried my head into my knees, sobbing.

His cold hand touched my head, and he said gently, “Don’t worry! All the hurt and pain you’re going through right now, I will pay it back one by one. All you need to do is protect our child.”

I was very surprised. I thought he would scorn me, but his voice was warm, a warmness that comforted my heart.

“Huo Xiaoran!” I grabbed his hand. Actually, I was really thankful towards him. Even though I felt myself too lowly, with no right to say thank you, I still looked at him solemnly and said, “Thank you!”

But he shook his head: “What are you thanking me for? It is I who should thank you. Thank you for finally trusting me, thank you for deciding to give birth to our child after you found out. I should thank you; I destroyed your life. But believe me, I will give you a different kind of perfect life!”

I could only stare at him, unable to speak. I never knew he was such a warm person.

The good thing was, I wasn’t locked in that room for too long before I was let out. I was changed cells. When I went in, I saw that there were only two people inside, both rather old. When I walked in, their hospitality shocked me. The older woman handed me a cup of water: “Are you okay? Were you frightened?”

I first nodded dumbly then shook my head. She looked at me and said, “Poor child!” I wasn’t offended, because they really were about the same age as my mother.

“My last name is Li, so others all call me Sister Li. This is Sister Liu. Because we’re here for the longest, so our days go by okay.”

“Hong Ning died?” Sister Liu asked.

I nodded, not speaking. But Sister Liu suddenly slapped her thigh and exclaimed, “Finally! That neither man nor woman trouble finally died! Thank the heavens, thank the heavens!”

“I heard that Hong Ning didn’t die a death gruesome enough; that fatty was almost unrecognizable!” Sister Li sat down beside Sister Liu and whispered.

I kept my head down, my eyes on my cup. Right now, I can’t tell who’s friend or foe. Even though I really wanted to drink this water, I was scared; except for Huo Xiaoran, I don’t trust in anyone!

“Child! Have you heard? Hong Ning’s death was very suspicious!” Sister Liu looked at me curiously.

But I was surprised. “Suspicious?” I was worried if the weak woman said anything about me.

“I heard they took fingerprints, and do you know who the fingerprints belonged to?” She continued.

I shook my head, and Sister Li interrupted, “Don’t talk nonsense, little Xue died almost two years ago. If that was true, then wouldn’t there be ghosts!”

“You don’t know! Today, when I was working in the kitchen, the prison guard said so! The two were talking about it as if it was real. So scary!” Sister Liu was very excited.

I asked in a small voice: “Little Xue?”

Hearing me ask, Sister Liu started talking more expressively, like she was high on drugs: “Little Xue, was forced to death by Hong Ning. Everyone knows that. That poor girl! But wickedness does not go unrequited! Now little Xue came back for revenge. Hong Ning deserved to die!” After finishing, Sister Liu even spat onto the ground.

Hearing this, I remembered the female ghost I saw in the little dark room. Could that be the little Xue they were talking about?

“What, what does she look like?” I wanted to be sure.

Sister Liu jumped off from the bed and started going through her nightstand drawer. After some time, she put a picture in my hand and pointed towards a pretty, young girl: “That’s her. She was only nineteen at that time! What a pity!”

It’s her, it’s her that I saw in the little dark room. Seeing me stare, Sister Liu sat down besides me and continued, “When little Xue first came, she lived right in this cell. She was so nice! Sigh!” She sighed and shook her head, “Really, women just have hard lives!”

I looked in puzzlement, so Sister Liu crossed her legs and explained, “Little Xue was from the countryside. Heard that when she went to school she met her boyfriend, but that guy isn’t human! He tricked her into delivering drugs! So she came here, sentenced for five years. But her pretty face made her Hong Ning’s target!”

“Hong Ning killed her?” I asked.

“Not much different from killing her! Little Xue was hara.s.sed and bullied by Hong Ning so much she hung herself in the bathroom! A decent girl, gone just like that! Sigh!” This time, it was not Sister Liu who answered me, but Sister Li, who sat across from us.

Only now did I understand why when I saw her, there was a red line on her neck. Now that everything fit together, I relaxed, because the killing really had nothing to do with my child. So happy!

“Last night, did you really not see anything?” Aunt Liu took the picture from my hands and put it back in the drawer.

I didn’t answer, so she continued, “I heard, that that fatty died a very gruesome death. The whole room was dyed by her blood! Even more frightening, I heard the prison guard say, her body was covered in teeth marks! As if she was bitten to death by many people.”

Sister Li was listening carefully. I set the cup down on the table, and lied on my side on the bed. Sister Liu glanced at me, then asked Sister Li, “Do you know whose teeth marks they found on fatty?”