Chapter Seventy-Seven: Inviting Trouble

But the scene before him only deepened his confusion. The makeup room was completely empty—no one inside, just emptiness—but the lights were still on. After pushing the corpse aside, his uncle took out his phone and dialed the number of the veteran employee he had saved earlier that afternoon. After a moment, the call connected, but only a crackling, static noise came through, as if the line were busy. His uncle stared at his phone in puzzlement, thinking it was a bad signal, but he could see the signal was full—there shouldn’t have been any issue. Just as he was about to hang up, a voice suddenly came through. He quickly brought the phone back to his ear, about to speak, when the person on the other end cut in, “You little brat, are you looking to die? I told you not to answer the phone at night! Run! Run, now!”

Baffled, his uncle glanced at his phone again, making sure he hadn’t dialed the wrong number. He was about to reply when the static returned, and then, after a while, the voice changed. Now, it said, “Young man, please move aside. I want to go home.” His uncle stared at his phone, completely dumbfounded. Suddenly, he felt something move by his feet. Instinctively, he looked down—and what he saw nearly scared the soul out of him.

At this point, Qi Feng stopped abruptly, drawing everyone out of their rapt attention. The sudden pause annoyed the others, who began to protest: “Qi Feng, can’t you just finish the story? You’re breaking the mood here.”

“Yes, I was just getting into it. You totally caught me off guard!”

“Hey, hey, enough. Qi Feng, just keep going.” Hai Chao handed Qi Feng a glass of water. Qi Feng smiled in satisfaction, took a sip, and continued, “Guess what my uncle saw?”

Everyone shook their heads, urging him to go on. Qi Feng nodded and resumed, “When my uncle looked down, he discovered someone lying by his feet. It was the very corpse that had been brought in that afternoon. He was so terrified that he dropped his phone and bolted, hearing a chilling, sinister laugh behind him as he ran. Even more disturbing, all the lights on the third floor began to flicker. It was the first time he’d ever been so frightened—he ran nonstop from the third floor down to the first, only stopping to catch his breath once he reached the crowded area outside the funeral home. The next day, he quit his job. Later, he found out that the corpse delivered that afternoon had been killed in a car accident; both legs were crushed. He recounted the events of that night, but the staff at the funeral home just shrugged it off, as if it were nothing unusual. Instead, they scolded him for breaking the rules by answering and making calls in the middle of the night. My uncle didn’t bother to argue—he just packed his bags and returned to our hometown. Now he works on a construction site.”

With that, everyone snapped out of their daze and sat up straight. He Peng spoke first, “Qi Feng, that was a good one. You actually scared me just now.”

The others nodded in agreement. Qi Feng grinned sheepishly. He Peng continued, “Who knows how long the power will be out. Why don’t we keep telling stories, or play a game or something?”

Hai Chao blinked and asked, “A game? What kind of game?”

He Peng gave a mischievous smile. “You know what I mean.”

At that, Hai Chao caught on, drawing out a long “Ohhh” and nudged Qi Feng. Qi Feng, slow to realize, finally understood. The three of them turned toward the two girls. Chen Siqi was frozen with fright, while the other girl looked at the boys and said, “Play what? Go ahead, I’m in. You think I’m really scared?”

“Heh, Mei Juan, that’s the spirit. No wonder you’re from the northeast—I like your style. Feisty,” Hai Chao said.

Mei Juan rolled her eyes at him, “Oh, please, cut it out. Stop trying to take advantage of me. What’s the game? Spit it out.”

At that, Chen Siqi finally spoke, raising her hand timidly, “Can I sit this out? I... I’m scared!”

Everyone’s attention turned to Chen Siqi. He Peng waved dismissively, “It’s fine, Siqi. If you’re scared, just watch. We’ll play.”

Chen Siqi nodded, pushing her chair back to give the others more space. Once again, Mei Juan, now impatient, prodded, “He Peng, just tell us already. What are we playing? Stop dragging it out.”

“Four Corners. Have you heard of it?” He Peng began.

Everyone looked at him, puzzled. He Peng explained, “I saw this online the other day. The rules are: four people stand in the four corners of a room, each facing the wall. One person silently walks to another corner, gently taps the person there on the shoulder, and switches places with them. The person who was tapped then does the same, moving to another corner, tapping the next person, and so on. Everyone must move in the same direction—either clockwise or counterclockwise. If you reach an empty corner, you cough once, then move on to the next. According to the internet, after a while—maybe three rounds—you stop and continue facing the wall. Supposedly, you’ll find there’s still someone moving, and you’ll hear footsteps. I don’t really believe in this stuff. Do you dare to try?”

After a moment’s thought, Mei Juan, ever the bold northeasterner, declared, “What’s to be scared of? Let’s do it. Pick your corners.”

The others, seeing someone take the lead, nodded and agreed. Once everyone picked a corner, He Peng, facing the wall, called out, “No funny business, okay? Let’s follow the rules. Siqi, you watch and be the judge.”

Siqi murmured her assent, still frightened. He Peng set a timer on his phone—ten seconds until the game started. When the phone beeped, He Peng was first to walk over and tap Hai Chao’s shoulder, taking his place in the corner. Hai Chao then moved to Qi Feng, tapped him, and swapped places. Qi Feng went to Mei Juan, who then walked to where He Peng had started—now an empty corner—coughed, and began the next round. They completed two and a half rounds like this. Siqi, sitting by the window, suddenly felt a cold breeze blow in. She shivered involuntarily, hugging herself.

When the four in the game finished the third round, each stood motionless in a corner. A tense, unsettling silence followed. He Peng, thinking the game was a bust, was just about to speak when the unmistakable sound of footsteps echoed in the room—click, click, click. Goosebumps broke out on everyone’s arms; a chill crept down their spines. Mei Juan, still braver than most, whispered, “Is one of you still walking?”

He Peng replied in a low voice, “No. Qi Feng, Hai Chao, what about you?”

Both quietly confirmed they weren’t moving. Everyone grew more puzzled. But the young are young—what should have been fear turned instead to a rush of excitement.

A moment later, Chen Siqi, who’d been sitting at the back, suddenly screamed. Everyone whirled around to look at her. He Peng was the first to ask, “Siqi, what’s wrong?”

The group rushed over. Siqi, trembling all over, threw herself into Mei Juan’s arms and stammered, “Someone was walking behind you.”

The others looked around, confused, but saw nothing. Hai Chao asked, “Someone? Where? Are you sure you weren’t seeing things?”

“We’re not people, Hai Chao? Listen to yourself,” Qi Feng joked, nudging Hai Chao with his elbow. Hai Chao glared at him, but Siqi shouted, “I’m not talking about us—I mean someone else!”

“Someone else? Don’t be scared, Siqi. I’m here. It’s all right,” Mei Juan soothed, patting her on the back.

Siqi buried her head in Mei Juan’s arms, too afraid to look up, but then she cried out, “I saw her—I saw a sixth person! Mei Juan, I want to go home! I’m done, I can’t—”

Her words dissolved into sobs. Mei Juan kept comforting her, while Hai Chao counted the people in the room—there were only five. So who was Siqi’s sixth person?

“All right, all right, Siqi—we’ll go back. Come on, I’ll take you. Don’t be scared,” Mei Juan reassured her.

With that, Mei Juan turned to He Peng, “Tonight’s too boring anyway. Might as well go to bed. I’ll take Siqi back. You all keep playing if you want.”

Mei Juan wrapped a protective arm around the terrified Siqi and headed for the door. Just as they reached it, the lights in the main hall flickered back on. He Peng grinned, pointing at the lights, “Hey, power’s back! Let’s go play games!”

Hai Chao and Qi Feng nodded and started to run into the room, but the lights snapped off again, leaving only the white candle they’d lit earlier.

He Peng cursed in disappointment, “Damn it, what’s with this crappy wiring—on and off, on and off.”

Mei Juan rolled her eyes and ignored them, reaching for the doorknob. But before she could turn it, the door swung open by itself. She froze. Everyone else did too, turning to look.

Standing in the doorway was a woman with long hair, dressed in a red dress and high heels. Her head was bowed; she said nothing.

Mei Juan, unafraid, asked politely, “Hello, who are you looking for?”

The woman in red remained silent, deepening everyone’s confusion. Siqi clung to Mei Juan’s arm, head buried in her shoulder, and peeked at the woman through trembling fingers—then shrieked, letting go of Mei Juan and stumbling backward, nearly sobbing, “It’s her! It’s her! Help!”

Mei Juan glanced at the woman, then at Siqi, and was about to step forward when, suddenly, the woman in red reached out and grabbed Mei Juan by the throat.

The three boys froze in shock. Realizing this was their moment to be heroes, they rushed forward without a second thought. But they had no idea if this was a person or something else entirely. As soon as they reached Mei Juan, an invisible force slammed into them, hurling them backward. Tables, kettles, cups—everything fragile in the hall was shattered by their flying bodies.