Chapter 6: The Raincoat
Tonight seemed darker than usual.
Under the dim yellow glow of the streetlights, Yu Fan stood in the middle of the crossroads, holding a bowl in one hand and chopsticks in the other, looking like a fool.
Li Mu quietly took two steps back, afraid that any passing pedestrians might think they knew each other.
Yu Fan had originally planned to strike the bowl right away to prove to Li Mu that ghosts didn’t exist. But the icy cold air around him made his heart feel strangely heavy, filling him with unease and restlessness.
His grandfather was a well-known shaman in the nearby villages, and since childhood, Yu Fan had been trained as his successor. Although he no longer believed in ghosts or spirits, there was a time when he had eagerly looked forward to the strange and mystical world his grandfather had described.
That childhood memory surfaced, and the playful look on his face faded. Taking a deep breath, he gently tapped the porcelain bowl.
“Ding~”
The crisp sound echoed through the empty streets.
Yu Fan instinctively turned to look at Li Mu behind him and explained, “According to my grandfather, you have to close your eyes and knock every five seconds. There should be no one around, and you need to do it for at least five minutes. Otherwise, something bad will happen.”
That was exactly what Li Mu had thought too.
“Then I’ll step away.” Without hesitation, Li Mu turned and walked directly towards the trees beside the street.
As soon as Li Mu was gone, Yu Fan knocked the bowl again.
Closing his eyes, he counted silently in his mind.
For some reason, the occasional passing cars had disappeared. He knew Li Mu was still nearby, watching him, yet an overwhelming sense of isolation and loneliness crept in, as if he were the only person left in the world.
The cold air became even sharper, and he could almost pinpoint where it was coming from.
“Ding~”
With his eyes tightly shut, Yu Fan’s other senses sharpened in the darkness. He could hear the wind howling, the leaves trembling, the distant sound of a car horn, and even the faint rustling of insects crawling nearby.
But then, it all stopped.
At some point, the wind had died down. The steady tapping of the bowl grew fainter and fainter until it vanished completely.
Darkness. Silence. His five senses felt like they had been stripped away.
Not knowing how much time had passed, Yu Fan seemed to sense two pitch-black tentacles wriggling towards him, finally climbing onto his arms and wrapping around them.
Then came a sharp, ear-piercing screech. Like nails scratching a chalkboard, or the creaking of an old, rotting wooden door.
Was the world… really haunted by ghosts?
No. It’s just in my head.
Just like when you get up at night to go to the bathroom and suddenly feel like something is chasing you from behind. It’s all just imagination.
Yu Fan tried to convince himself and continued counting.
But then, the two slimy tentacles separated from his arms and began crawling up his shoulders, his neck.
The tentacles curled gently, like the caress of a lover, brushing against his cheek before tightening around his throat.
The sharp noise in his ears turned into a low, fragmented hum, unsettling and relentless.
Behind him, he felt something cold press against his back. His face turned pale.
Was it… a person?
Even with his eyes closed, an image formed in his mind. A ghost with two writhing tendrils, tightening its grip around his neck, as if it wanted to strangle him to death.
No, this isn't right…
If this was just my mind playing tricks on me, then why did it feel so real?
Yu Fan swallowed hard.
Was there really someone behind him?
The thought sent an even stronger shiver down his spine.
And yet, something even colder, more chilling was slowly approaching from afar.
From within that cold presence, he could feel an invisible gaze fixed on his back. A gaze like that of a predator staring at its prey. Or perhaps… a gaze with no emotion at all.
His body trembled uncontrollably, and he had an overwhelming urge to open his eyes. But then, a memory surfaced, his grandfather's words from childhood.
"If you ever play these games and truly encounter a ghost, never stop."
His grandfather never told him what would happen if he stopped, but at this moment, Yu Fan couldn’t tell whether his senses were simply tricking him out of fear, or if there was really something moving around him.
Meanwhile, Li Mu, still boredly observing Yu Fan get teased by Lin Xi from the distant sidewalk, continued to watch.
Because suddenly, his attention was drawn to the end of the street.
That man… looked strange.
It wasn’t raining, yet an old man was walking slowly along the sidewalk, wearing a black raincoat with his head lowered. In his left hand, he held a dark object.
As the old man stepped under the streetlight, he seemed to notice Li Mu’s gaze and raised his head up.
A face covered in deep wrinkles.
A gentle smile.
Eyes as calm as still water, looking at Li Mu as if he were nothing more than a lifeless object.
That expression and gaze sent a wave of discomfort through Li Mu’s entire body. The sheer pressure from just that one glance made him feel an instinctive fear.
His arms were unnaturally long. Beneath the knee-length black raincoat, his thin, bony right hand stretched out, resembling a withered eagle’s claw. In his left hand, he held a dark, old kitchen knife, stained with dried reddish-brown marks.
Li Mu stumbled back a step. The air around him felt like it had suddenly dropped to Siberian winter levels. Even through his autumn-winter jacket, he could feel a biting cold that seeped into his bones.
The cold was so real, it wasn’t just the air, but something almost physical, spreading out like a white frost that he hadn’t even noticed before.
His heartbeat pounded wildly in his chest. His eyes widened, his legs shook, and he kept backing away.
There was no doubt in his mind, this old man was a ghost. And not just any ghost, something far more terrifying than Lin Xi.
The fear he had of Lin Xi came mostly from not knowing what she was. But once he understood that she was just a lovestruck idiot ghost, the fear faded away.
But this old man… If anyone ever pictured what a serial killer should look like, this was exactly it.
Compared to Lin Xi, this raincoat-wearing old man was far closer to the ghosts in horror movies.
That gentle smile on his face was unnaturally stiff, like the permanent expression of a puppet.
But the only good news was that this ghost didn’t seem too interested in Li Mu. After just a cold glance, he turned away and began walking toward Yu Fan.
"Yu Fan!"
Li Mu didn’t care about keeping up his usual cold and indifferent attitude anymore. He shouted at the top of his lungs.
“RUN! NOW!”
At the same time, Lin Xi had also noticed the raincoat ghost. She frantically slapped Yu Fan’s shoulder, her face turning pale with fear.
“STOP HITTING THAT BOWL, DAMN IT! THERE'S A GHOST! THERE’S A GHOST!”
Although Li Mu thought Lin Xi and the vengeful ghost might have a lot in common as they were of the same kind, it was clear that Lin Xi didn't think so.
“F***! F***! Yu Fan, STOP IT! ARE YOU AN IDIOT?!”** Lin Xi yelled, her voice panicked.
However, in Yu Fan's ears, he only heard Li Mu's shouts, followed by even sharper noises, and the tentacles behind him constantly striking him.
Yet, he didn’t move an inch. Eyes shut tight, he stayed still and methodically tapped the bowl, second by second.
Finally, five minutes had passed. He immediately stopped moving and opened his eyes.
What came into view was a big face, right in front of him.