Chapter 024: Nightmares Come True

That night, Li Tianque tossed and turned, unable to find any peace in his sleep.

In his dreams, he constantly felt a pair of eyes fixed on him, watching from the darkness. Gradually, this gaze sharpened, coalescing into the ghastly face of a woman—her skin deathly pale, long hair matted with blood. Her cheeks were sunken and colorless; her eyes bulged grotesquely, hanging askew in their sockets. Her lips curled back, revealing cracked skin and yellow pus, while one ear had fallen away entirely. From the deep, gaping cavity in her head, fat maggots crawled out. Her mouth, sticky with blood, slowly opened—then suddenly distended wider and wider...

"Help me... Help me..."

The woman's desperate scream pierced his soul, shrill and harrowing.

Li Tianque woke with a start from the nightmare. It was just past four in the morning, yet bright light already spilled into his bedroom from the hallway. Then, a man's frantic shouts rang out again:

"Help! Ah Que! Li Tianque! Wake up—come quick! My god, how could this happen..."

A jolt of terror shot through him. He sprang from bed, stumbling as he scrambled to his feet. He didn't bother with slippers, flinging open the door and rushing into the living room.

The stench of blood hit him full in the face. The scene before him made his insides churn; tears welled in his eyes as he nearly retched.

In the kitchen, Wu Xiaonan lay in a pool of blood, still clad in her white nightdress. An exploded can of soda rested nearby, and the cutting board had been knocked to the floor. A kitchen knife was embedded upright in her skull; her eyes were tightly shut, blood spurting from the wound. It was impossible to tell if she was dead or alive.

Hu Jiangsheng held her tightly in his arms, both of them covered in blood. The phone lay discarded at his side, suggesting he had already called emergency services.

"Quick, quick—bring me towels, help stop the bleeding!" Hu Jiangsheng urged, trembling violently as he pressed his own clothes to the wound.

Anyone would be terrified facing such carnage, so it was no wonder Hu Jiangsheng was on the verge of panic.

"Okay... okay..." Li Tianque rushed to the bathroom, yanking down all the bath towels and hand towels he could find.

Together, the two wrapped Wu Xiaonan's head layer after layer, forming a triangle to stabilize the knife. Yet the blood quickly soaked through everything.

Neither of them had any medical training. They could only move Wu Xiaonan to the sofa and try to keep her head elevated.

They waited—how long, neither could say—until finally, the ambulance arrived.

Wu Xiaonan was lifted into the ambulance and rushed to the hospital. Li Tianque followed, his heart tormented by the blaring siren.

Throughout the journey, Hu Jiangsheng didn't utter a word of complaint to Li Tianque, but he was utterly shattered, refusing to leave Wu Xiaonan's side, eyes glistening with tears.

In the end, Wu Xiaonan died from massive blood loss, resuscitation unsuccessful.

As they left the hospital, Hu Jiangsheng shot Li Tianque a look of pure hatred.

A few days later, Hu Jiangsheng moved out of the rental apartment. The police questioned Li Tianque several more times at the station.

It was there that Li Tianque finally learned the details of the accidental death from the police:

That night, Wu Xiaonan had woken in the middle of the night, parched with thirst, and gone to the freezer for a can of soda. But the soda was frozen solid; when she opened it, the pressurized gas blew the tab off, slicing a deep gash across her face as the liquid sprayed everywhere.

Panicked, Wu Xiaonan slipped in the spilled soda. Instinctively, she reached for something to break her fall—her hand caught the edge of the cutting board. As she went down, the board toppled with her, and the kitchen knife lying atop it fell, striking her head.

Li Tianque recalled the ghostly figure he had seen—the wound on its face, the mark on its head from the knife—identical to the way Wu Xiaonan had died. No wonder the police suspected him; even he couldn't believe it himself, that he could somehow witness a person's state after death. It was more terrifying than any shamanic curse, as though he possessed the ability to foresee death itself.

But today, the police called again—not with a summons to the station, but to arrange a meeting at a café.

Li Tianque was surprised when he arrived.

Waiting for him in a booth was a man in his thirties, dressed most peculiarly.

This detective wore neither a uniform nor plainclothes, but a white silk Tang jacket—a striking sight. His hair was naturally curly, and, left unkempt for too long, looked wild and tousled. His eyes were bleary, sunken deep into his face, giving the impression of someone who spent every night gaming into the small hours—a far cry from the usual police vigor. His face was spattered with freckles.

"Here's my badge," the man said lazily, handing over his credentials with practiced ease.

Clearly, he was used to having his identity questioned. The name on the badge read Lü Mou.

"Fine," Li Tianque glanced at the badge. "Ask whatever you want."

The coffee arrived—just one cup. Lü Mou slid it over to Li Tianque, though he appeared to need the caffeine more.

"Here's the thing: your case technically isn’t mine..."

"Hold it," Li Tianque interrupted. "Let me be clear—I don’t have a case. I haven't committed any crime, and I have no idea why I keep seeing these bizarre things. I'm a victim myself!" He could not contain his agitation.

"Oh, no need to get worked up," Lü Mou replied mildly. "I'm not accusing you of anything. I'm just curious about your situation—that's why I'm here."

"Alright then, what do you want to know?"

Lü Mou propped his chin in his hand, lounging in a shaft of sunlight, and spoke slowly:

"When did you first start seeing these things?"

"Five days ago, when I was tutoring a student. That was the first time I saw one of these specters," Li Tianque answered truthfully.

"And how did you feel, the first time you saw it?"

"How else could I feel, other than terrified? Would you expect me to find these ghosts adorable?" Li Tianque was frustrated. He saw no point in cooperating with officers who didn't believe him.

"No, I meant—did you feel anything else, apart from fear?" Lü Mou asked softly.

Li Tianque was taken aback. Why ask that? What else could he possibly have felt, besides fear? Nothing else was possible.

"No—I was terrified. When I saw that figure about to jump from the building, I even tried to save them, but I failed," he replied.

Lü Mou's gaze drifted, unfocused, making Li Tianque think the man was half-absent. But his questions were unlike those of the regular investigators—utterly different.

"What I mean is... did it feel familiar to you?"

"Familiar?" Li Tianque stared in confusion. "No, I don’t think so... I’ve never seen a ghost like that before, never encountered anything so horrifying."

Lü Mou's eyes wandered for a moment, then fixed intently on Li Tianque.

"You’d best think again," he said, voice suddenly serious.