Afraid that Chi Shuyan wouldn’t believe him, Shi Ran expressed that he really had seen a particularly terrifying wet and bloated woman covered in livor mortis lying on Fang Yinglong back then.
Wei Panyang and Xiao Ningjin recalled something at the same time. After they came back from Swan Lake, Shi Ran had suddenly wanted to switch cars on the way back. Had he also seen something strange on Wang Yu?
Thinking of this, the two of them asked the question in unison.
Chi Shuyan sat on the side and listened curiously as she observed Shi Ran’s expression.
Shi Ran’s face turned white. He couldn’t help but think of Wang Yu’s death and what happened back then. He looked both grieved and terrified. He couldn’t help but look in Master Chi’s direction, and his face relaxed. He shook his head and replied, “No, I didn’t see anything on Wang Yu back then. Otherwise, would I have dared to take the same car to begin with?”
Wei Panyang and Xiao Ningjin were surprised, but Shi Ran went on, “However, I had the best relationship with Wang Yu back then. He liked people putting their arms around his shoulders, but when I put my arm around him that day, I felt something heavy pressing down on it!”
When Shi Ran said the last sentence, his face turned white again. His body trembled as he recalled what happened, and he continued, “At that time, I thought I was thinking too much, or I had played too much during the day. I didn’t think much of it until I happened to see five fingerprints on my arm! But Wang Yu hadn’t grabbed my arm, and I could also see that the fingerprints definitely weren’t his!”
Afraid that they wouldn’t believe him, Shi Ran even pulled up his sleeve and showed them the faded black handprint on his arm. He continued, “Although I didn’t think much of it at that time, I was scared out of my wits after I saw this handprint. However, it didn’t look this scary back then, and was just a little red.”
Xiao Ningjin and Wei Panyang already had goosebumps all over their bodies as they listened to Shi Ran. Seeing that there really was a black handprint on his arm, the two of them subconsciously shuddered.
Chi Shuyan also took a few glances at the handprint on Shi Ran’s arm. As for why it had faded, it was probably because of the talisman.
Shi Ran pressed his lips together. “Ningjin, Panyang, you should know what happened after that. Later, I was so scared that I didn’t dare take the car with Wang Yu, so I switched cars. We then returned to the hotel and split up. I had already agreed to room with Wang Yu before that. I was a little scared at that time, and deliberately went to your room to play for a while. I also asked you about ghosts and gods!”
At this point, Xiao Ningjin and Wei Panyang also remembered this, and how Shi Ran had seemed to deliberately ask this question back then. Unfortunately, they didn’t believe in superstitions at all, and were certain that there were no ghosts in this world. Not only did they convince Shi Ran, they also mocked him.
It wasn’t long before he returned to his room with a relaxed expression. Thinking this, Xiao Ningjin and Wei Panyang looked at each other with red faces and wiped their cold sweat. If Wang Yu was the first person that the ghost thing had targeted back then, then the person who was most in danger after Wang Yu was the person in closest proximity to him. When the two of them thought of how Shi Ran had ignorantly spent the night with that ghost thing in the same room, they shuddered violently and their limbs turned cold. Fortunately, that ghost thing hadn’t acted out back then.
Wei Panyang thought of how he had put his arm around Wang Yu’s shoulders a lot that night, which could be considered ‘intimate contact’ with that ghost thing. He broke out in a cold sweat and felt a chill run down his spine.
The more he thought about it, the more scared he became. He rubbed his arms hard and his face turned pale. Thinking back, he really had the urge to strangle himself.
After learning that the ghost thing had been dealt with, Shi Ran was a little braver than Wei Panyang. He took in Wei Panyang and Xiao Ningjin’s expressions before he sighed and continued, “They can’t be blamed for convincing me back then. It wasn’t just them; I personally didn’t believe in ghosts as well, until Wang Yu suddenly died. At that time, they were still sleeping, and I was the first person whom the police informed. When I went over, I saw Wang Yu’s bloated body being fished out of the water!”
At that point, Shi Ran choked and he paused. After a while, he found his voice again and continued, “At that time, my mind was blank. I couldn’t believe that Wang Yu had suddenly died by drowning in Swan Lake. I was full of despair. My relationship with Wang Yu had always been the best, and I couldn’t accept that anything had happened to him. Later, when the police were discussing Wang Yu’s drowning with the forensics team, I clearly heard them say that based on the livor mortis on Wang Yu, his body had been in Swan Lake for 13 hours. He died around 7pm the day before. At that time, my mind exploded. If Wang Yu really had died at 7pm the night before, then how did we get into the same car with him last night and talk to him? How could I have even roomed with him that night?”
At this point, Shi Ran was very agitated, and his eyes were filled with naked horror and fear. His face was even worse than that of a person who had just died.
One could see how big a blow and shock Wang Yu’s death had been for him.
On the side, Xiao Ningjin and Wei Panyang, who had been able to calm down earlier, sucked in cold breaths after listening to Shi Ran. They couldn’t remain calm no matter how much they wanted to. Their eyes almost popped out of their sockets, and their lips trembled in disbelief. They were anxious to speak, but their throats felt blocked.
Xiao Ningjin blurted out in horror, “What did you say? The forensics team said that Wang Yu died in the evening the day before?”
Xiao Ningjin’s hands trembled as he asked the question. Wei Panyang couldn’t speak, but his whole body shook. Didn’t that mean that when they went back that evening, Wang Yu had most likely already died by then, and was no longer human?
At that thought, they almost drowned in intense fear once more.
The blood drained from their faces and they looked like they were once again experiencing the shock and horror of seeing that ghost thing for the first time.
Shi Ran nodded slowly, then looked at Wei Panyang and continued, “Later on, when we left after meeting Master Chi, I actually saw a woman with boils all over her face lying on Fang Yinglong’s back! That was the first time I saw that ghost thing!”
