Wu Jian yawned again, "How long is this all going to take? Hey, aren’t you afraid of the ghosts coming for you if you don’t show up? You could just climb over the wall, you know. My guess is these people are too afraid to go in.”

​

I thought for a moment, shaking my head. I didn’t want to wait for the ghosts to come for me, no matter how good my reason for being absent was.

​

There seemed to be a group of news reporters in the distance. The police were trying to stop them, but the victim's relatives were calling the reporters over.

​

Wu Jian’s face was bitter. He hurriedly said, "I’ll go have a look." He hurried off.

​

The reporters and the victims’ relatives made things worse. One of the reporters, who was answering a call, was stopped by the policemen. It seemed that news of this event would be blocked.

​

I took out my phone and saw it was already 12 o 'clock. I probably wouldn’t get to work on time, but I couldn't just leave. If I left and those people also went away, then the ghosts might come after me. I decided I should go to them on my own accord after the commotion died down.

​

I don’t know when it happened, but the street lights became dim and the wind picked up, and the dead leaves on the ground shook, making a rustling sound. Since everyone was arguing, they didn't seem to notice it.

​

Standing on the side, I saw it, and other spectators seemed to notice it, too. Something was slowly withdrawing from the crowd.

​

I glanced at the gate of the ghost building. Brandishing a wooden sword, the Taoist priest went on chanting. I waited for that something to scare him.

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"Dang, dang, dang"

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A melodious bell rang, and everyone froze. Even the arguments stopped. When a woman was about to restart the altercation with the police, a sandy voice shouted, “Where did the bell come from?"

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The bell that made the sound must have been huge; it was obviously not the kind of sound mobile phones or media players could reproduce. However, there was no clock tower on that street. The hair on my back stood on end. My hands clapped together, my heart was silent. Sister Hua, you may frighten them, but please don’t frighten me.

​

The crowd in front of the ghost house was restless. Even the police looked panicky, but they stood strong and tried to calm everyone down. Perhaps because of the efforts of the police, or perhaps because there were many people, no one made a run for it even though everyone was pale-faced and scared.

​

All of a sudden, the Taoist priest in front of the ghost house cried out, startling everyone and drawing attention to himself.

​

The Taoist priest laughed and said, "There is no need to panic! They’re just a few little ghosts."

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Although I was startled by the cry of the Taoist priest, I could not bear to see the Taoist priest's affectation. I have to say, the Taoist's words made everyone feel safer.

​

At that moment, a man in a long gown looked down at the ground and said in a strange voice, "Is it true that there is an imp?"

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The Taoist priest laughed, "Of course." The preacher's voice came to an abrupt end when he looked at the speaker. I saw that the Taoist priest quiver and cautiously approach the man, stooping and looking to see what the man looked like from up close.

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The man's voice suddenly became distant and was now accompanied by a slight echo: "You want to see me."

​

He slowly raised his head. My vantage point wasn’t so good and I couldn't see the man’s face, but the monk let out a strange cry and fell over the altar, overturned on the ground. One of his feet had kicked the gate of the ghost house and fallen on the long weeds.

​

The crowd seemed to show no reaction. The Taoist screamed again. It seemed that one of his legs was being pulled by something invisible toward the ghost house. Although he tried to grab onto something to save himself, it was useless because of the insurmountable power of the invisible force.

​

People started to react. Suddenly, countless screams rang out and the crowd began to scatter, but the few policemen at the back of the crowd still tried to rush toward the Taoist, fighting through the throngs of people running for their lives. Before the police officers could get to him, the Taoist priest let out a desperate bellow that reverberated across the street, and disappeared, leaving behind only a few streaks of blood.

​

I felt cold all over, but held back the urge to escape. Others could run, but I had to come to work every day and couldn't run away.

​

The figure in the gown had disappeared. The police officers also ran to their squad cars, and disappeared with screeching tires and roaring engines. Finally, the street grew quiet. At that moment, my mobile phone rang. I reached for it, but saw a shadow blocking the street lamp in front of me. I looked up, and suddenly my whole body was frozen; I couldn't move a finger.

​

I saw the gown man standing in front of me, less than half a meter away. his metallic, gray face had two dark eye sockets with no eyeballs. Blood was slowly flowing from the eyes sockets. Instead of a nose there were only two holes, with a white worm crawling through them.

​

"You have a lot of nerve." The echoing voice sounded distant.

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I was self-composed. The little white worm made me think of Yan’er’s Xiao Pang, and my fear dissipated quite a bit.

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"I… I am the pim … uh, no, I mean I am a servant of the Fan House." In my shock, I almost said I was a pimp.

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The figure seemed to be surprised at my answer. He grabbed onto my shoulder, and before I could react, I felt a gust of wind and everything went bright.

​

I opened my eyes, which I did not remember closing. I was already in the Fan House, but today the Fan House had no guests; Sister Hua and a bunch of beautiful women were sitting around a table.

"Sister Hua!" I cried out as if meeting a loved one.

​

Sister Hua was stunned for a moment, seeing me come over, but ignored me, and said to the person in the long gown, "Yo, a guest is coming."

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The man smiled faintly. His face was not quite what it had been at first. He turned into a handsome, dignified, middle-aged man.

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The man smiled at Sister Hua and said, "I found an interesting man out there. Is he one of yours?"

Sister Hua looked at me and said, "Yes, but he missed work today."

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The long gown man let go of me, surprised. He took a long look at me, then walked over to an empty table, no longer paying attention to me. Well, sure enough, they both had pet worms. They had something in common.

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Sister Hua looked at me and said, "You skipped work today."

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I didn't know what punishment I would get for absenteeism, but I still had to say, ”Sister Hua, I wasn’t shirking work, I just couldn't get in. Don’t you know what happened outside?"

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Sister Hua impatiently waved her hand, “OK, OK, go serve food. Next time, just climb over the wall to get in, or you’ll be sorry."

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I nodded repeatedly. I saw a few plates on the counter with steaming hot meals, Lulu was beckoning to me with a cold face. It seemed to me that she was still angry.

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