After the Goddess’s Tragic Death, I Drew My Sword to Slay Ghosts

Back at the rental apartment, I shut the door behind me. Only then did the feeling of being watched finally fade away.

Ye Manman’s face vividly appeared in my mind. There were rumors that Yang Lei’s family was involved in shady businesses. It was highly likely that Yang Lei was behind Ye Manman’s abduction to Northern Myanmar! But there was no evidence.

If I hadn’t had a crush on Ye Manman, if Yang Lei hadn’t found out, maybe she wouldn’t have stood up for me. Perhaps none of this would have happened!

Now, even her mother had met a tragic end in a car accident. Even as a ghost, she couldn’t rest in peace because of her daughter.

Thinking about all this made me both sad and terrified.

Just then, there was a sudden knock on the door of the dormitory. I jumped in fright.

Then, I heard my roommate Fatty’s voice from outside: “Old Zhou, why did you lock the door? Did you bring a girl home? Damn, don’t you know to get a hotel room?”

Fatty was my roommate, working as a real estate intermediary. We shared a single room with two bunk beds. The lower bunks were for sleeping, and the upper bunks were for storing our belongings and miscellaneous items.

When I came back earlier, I was so scared that I instinctively locked the door.

I let out a sigh of relief and opened the door.

Fatty walked in, looking pale and unwell. He didn’t even wash up, just kicked off his shoes and collapsed onto his bed. He seemed exhausted.

Last time I heard, he had a troublesome client who insisted that the house Fatty sold was haunted. The client claimed to have seen a Woman in Red crawling in the living room at night.

The client demanded a refund. Fatty told me it was probably because the housing market had dropped significantly, and the client regretted the purchase and was looking for an excuse to back out.

To prove the house was fine, Fatty agreed to stay there for a month. If nothing happened, the client would stop causing trouble.

Tonight was supposed to be Fatty’s last night there. Why had he come back early?

Seeing him fall asleep instantly, I decided not to bother him. I took a shower and went to bed as well.

In the middle of the night, I was suddenly awakened by a strange noise. It sounded like fingernails scratching against glass or wood.

I opened my eyes groggily and saw Fatty on the opposite bed, seemingly having a nightmare. He was scratching the headboard with his hand.

“Scritch, scritch…”

I was about to wake him up when there was a knock on the door in the dark.

I checked my phone; it was 3 AM. Who would be knocking at this hour?

I was puzzled when I heard a familiar voice from outside: “Old Zhou, open the door!”

Fatty? How could it be Fatty’s voice?

“Why did you lock the door? Open up!” Fatty called from outside.

In the darkness, I got up from the bed, holding my breath. If Fatty was outside, who was sleeping on the opposite bed?

Was I dreaming?

I pinched my thigh hard. It hurt. I wasn’t dreaming.

Just then, the Fatty outside cursed, and my phone rang. The screen lit up, illuminating the small rental apartment.

In the dim light, I saw that the Fatty on the opposite bed was pale and bloodless. His hand, which had been scratching the headboard, had stopped. He lay there like a corpse.

The phone kept ringing. The caller ID showed: 136…0231.

The number ending in 0231 made my eyelid twitch. The person who ordered the hemostatic medicine and gauze had this number.

The Fatty outside was fake! It was the Old Lady!

What did she want? Why was she haunting me? Was she blaming me?

If it weren’t for that incident, maybe Ye Manman wouldn’t have…

My thoughts were in turmoil as I shakily answered the call. I wanted to see what she wanted from me.

“Hello.”

“Old Zhou, open the door.”

“You’re not Fatty. You’re Ye Manman’s mother,” I said, trying to suppress my fear.

There was silence on the other end. Then, Fatty’s voice turned into the Old Lady’s voice.

“Zhou Yi, open the door and come with me! I’m here to save you!”

Save me?

I was about to retort when she said sternly, “Do you know what’s sleeping in your dormitory?”

Instinctively, I looked at the opposite bed. What I saw almost made me wet myself.

The bed was empty. No one was there.

At the same time, I felt a chill on the back of my neck, as if someone was breathing down it. A faint, rotten smell, like a dead rat, wafted from behind me.

What was behind me?

My neck tightened, and I didn’t dare to turn around. Fighting my fear, I moved my eyes to the side, trying to see with my peripheral vision.

I caught a glimpse of something red and some black hair. Suddenly, a pale face appeared from my blind spot!

It was a woman’s face, covered in corpse spots…

“Ah!”

I screamed in terror, jumped out of bed, and ran to the door. As soon as I opened it, the Old Lady burning joss paper was right outside!

She was holding a fire pit, but the flames were green. The Old Lady didn’t look at me; she looked behind me. She grabbed a handful of ash from the fire pit and threw it behind me.

I heard a woman’s piercing scream from behind.

The Old Lady looked anxious and said, “She’s too powerful. Come with me! Someone can save you!”

I turned to see a black mist enveloping the room. In the mist, the Red-Dressed Female Ghost, her face covered in corpse spots, stared at me with gray eyes…

I immediately followed the Old Lady, running frantically.

“Faster, faster, she’s catching up!” the Old Lady urged, throwing ash behind us. Each time she did, her figure faded a little more.

I noticed something was wrong. “Auntie… what’s happening to your body?”

The Old Lady replied, “I’ve used too much energy. My ghost body is about to disappear. That woman is a vengeful ghost, and she’s after you!”

As she spoke, the Old Lady’s face lit up with joy. “We’re here!”

We stopped at a small bungalow area. Most of it was shrouded in darkness, except for a security booth with a light on.

The Old Lady pointed to the security booth. “Hide in there. The person inside can protect you!”

At that moment, I heard scratching sounds behind me. I turned to see the Red-Dressed Female Ghost closing in. She was crawling on all fours like a spider, lunging at me!

The Old Lady yelled, “I’ll fight you! Xiao Zhou! Take the gauze and hemostatic agent to the intersection! Manman will come for it! You must save her!”

The Old Lady charged at the Red-Dressed Female Ghost, screaming. The ghost extended her hand, her pale fingers sharp as knives, and tore the Old Lady apart!

“Get inside-!”

Before disappearing completely, the Old Lady shouted her final words.

Tears streamed down my face as I ran to the security booth.

As I burst inside, a young man eating instant noodles looked up at me, expressionless. He glanced at the Red-Dressed Female Ghost’s direction, then went back to eating his noodles without a word.