Demon Apartment - Chapter 28 - The Telephone

Dong Xie had grown somewhat numb to these eerie occurrences by now.

Yet, even so, the photo frame in his hand felt like a burning coal. He wanted to toss it away but feared missing some crucial detail within.

“Without exception… all the faces are blurred, only discernible as belonging to a very old man,” Dong Ning noted, her voice tinged with fear as she forced herself to examine each photo. “And regardless of the season, the clothes remain the same.”

Particularly the photo Zhao Long found first-it was clearly taken in summer, with the landlord’s family all in short sleeves, while the old man wore long sleeves!

“Oh… I hadn’t noticed that before,” Zhao Long admitted, impressed by Dong Ning’s attention to detail. Girls were indeed more observant.

“Upon closer inspection…” Dong Xie, prompted by Dong Ning’s mention of clothing, began to scrutinize the photos. “The clothes seem to be thick cotton, and from the collar, it’s clear there’s more underneath-definitely winter attire.”

Typically, who would pay attention to what an Evil Spirit was wearing? Most were too focused on its terrifying visage. But Dong Ning had noticed the incongruity between the clothing and the season, leading her to a hypothesis: “This Evil Spirit, when alive, likely died in winter! Those must be the clothes he wore at the time of his death!”

Winter?

Ge Qi examined each photo, hesitant to even touch them. After a while, he rubbed his head and said, “Even if we notice the clothing and season, what difference does it make? Does it matter if he died in winter or summer?”

By this point, Zhao Long and the others had begun to treat Ge Qi as if he were invisible. Aside from providing a lighter, he was practically useless. Such a person, even if he survived this Blood Letter, would likely meet his end soon enough.

“So then…”

Dong Ning pointed at the Evil Spirit in the photo, keeping her finger at least two centimeters away. “Could this person be the reason the fourth floor is sealed off?”

“Yeah… that’s possible,” Dong Xie agreed, having considered the same. “He might have been a resident on the fourth floor of Building 3! Meaning he died before December 30, 2009…”

Zhao Long pondered, “But when we asked the landlord, he claimed not to know why the fourth floor was sealed. And the landlord has been living here since at least ’09. Does he really not know?”

“Either ‘that dirty thing’ died even earlier, or… the landlord is lying.”

“We all signed contracts and moved in. Why would he need to lie?”

“The contracts were handled by the landlord’s son. The landlord is old and might not understand the penalties for breaching the contract. Besides, it’s easier to avoid trouble. It’s been so long, and if he lies, we can’t tell.”

“Before coming here, we searched for news online but found nothing…” Zhao Long sighed. “But it’s hard to say. This place is so remote. In ’09, news was mostly spread through print media, unlike now with smartphones. The news might not have been published online.”

Silence fell over the group.

The landlord might know the truth, but he wouldn’t return until the Blood Letter Task was over, and their phones were useless.

“Can the telephone work? Maybe it’s on a separate line?” Dong Ning suggested, unwilling to give up. “Try calling the landlord…”

Yet everyone remained silent.

Dong Xie rubbed his forehead, trying to hide his embarrassment. “Um, Ah Ning… the problem is, none of us memorized the landlord’s phone number…”

In this age of smartphones, memorizing numbers was unnecessary. Many couldn’t even recall their parents’ numbers, relying instead on their phones to store them.

Dong Ning’s face turned awkward. “None of you remembered the number? This is a matter of life and death!”

Zhao Long scratched his chin, also embarrassed. “Well… I didn’t expect the landlord to leave at night, and our phones to be unusable. I was counting on connecting with Mo Yuan and the others remotely… but I can’t remember any of their numbers either!”

Originally, Zhao Long had arranged for the residents to gather at Mo Yuan’s place to brainstorm. Perhaps the other two residents who had survived four Blood Letters would join as well, which gave him some confidence. He hadn’t anticipated things would turn out like this.

Dong Ning said nothing more, realizing she too had grown accustomed to not memorizing numbers in the smartphone era. It would have been prudent to have noted down a number.

Ge Qi shone the candle behind him and spotted a telephone on the cabinet in the living room.

Cautiously, he approached and picked up the receiver.

“Hmm… it actually works!”

Holding the receiver, Ge Qi strained to recall the landlord’s phone number. He had been present when the landlord’s son provided it during the contract signing.

“What was it… come on, remember!”

“Do you remember the number, Ge Qi?” Zhao Long asked, his voice filled with hope. “What is it?”

“I’m… I’m trying to remember…”

“Take your time!” Zhao Long’s tone became exceedingly polite. If Ge Qi could recall the number, it would be a huge relief.

But with the realization that the telephone was operational, a bold idea formed in Ge Qi’s mind.

He couldn’t remember the landlord’s number for the life of him.

“Or do you remember Mo Yuan’s number?”

Ignoring Zhao Long’s question, Ge Qi remained silent, extending his finger toward a particular number on the keypad.

Damn it! Just do it!

Every man for himself!

He knew that if he did this, everyone would see him as a despicable coward. But if he died, nothing else would matter. After his death, who cared about the chaos left behind?

Quickly, he dialed a number!

Dong Xie and Dong Ning, seeing him dial, were pleasantly surprised. They hadn’t expected Ge Qi to be of any use!

“Wait a minute…” Dong Ning sensed something was off. Though he faced away from them, it sounded like he only dialed three digits?

“Hello… yes, this is the Red Gold Road Black Butterfly Community, Building 3. There was a fight in Room 402 on the fourth floor, and someone shouted they were going to kill someone. Then it went silent. I’m afraid someone might be dead. Please come quickly!”

He rattled off the words at lightning speed. Hearing this, the others were dumbfounded.

“You!” Dong Xie grabbed Ge Qi by the collar, roaring, “Who did you call?”

“You need to come quickly!” Ge Qi hung up the phone and disconnected the line!

Dong Ning rushed over, furious. “Did you just… call 110¹?”

Footnote:

1. 110(110):China’s emergency phone number for police, like 911 in the US.