My Ghostly Husband Is Haunting My Phone

To hell with that! This place has got to be some bizarre entry directly into some infernal dimension, and I’d be a fool to stay here for another minute!

Tang Tian yanked on her bag. “No, thank you. I don’t like it here.”

Unfortunately, she was no match for the old lady, who, despite seeming gaunt and frail, managed to drag Tang Tian’s bag, and her with it, into the corridor and onto the stairwell. She walked forward with quick, lunging strides, with her bony hands clamped onto the bag, never pausing nor stumbling even with Tang Tian in tow.  

“Let—let go!” Tang Tian, on the other hand, stumbled forward against her will as she tried to maintain her balance, all while trying to free her bag from the old lady’s hand. She did not dare to wrench her bag backward too forcefully for fear of injuring the old lady. Before she knew it, she had begrudgingly let herself be dragged all the way up to the fourth floor. 

As she passed by the other apartments, she noticed that at least one door on either side of the landing on each floor was decorated with elegies, written on symmetrically-arranged twin pieces of white cloth, and had joss papers strewn across the floor. 

How could there be so many dead people in just one apartment building? Something is wrong here!

When they reached the fourth floor, the old lady stopped before a door that was numbered “402”. Luckily, there was no funeral decor to be seen around it. 

“Here we are.” 

A puff of musty air escaped as the old lady opened the door. It was an apartment with two bedrooms and a large living room, possibly about a few hundred square metres in area. The place was sparsely decorated, but seemed relatively clean, as the old lady had promised. 

Seeing that Tang Tian was no longer trying to get away, the old lady loosened her grip and let go of her.

Tang Tian stepped into the apartment and brushed her fingers lightly along the edge of a table. 

She wasn’t lying. Someone must come to clean here regularly. There’s barely any dust lying around, Tang Tian thought. 

The old lady had fallen silent after Tang Tian stepped into the apartment. The light from the doorway emphasised her still, gaunt silhouette as Tang Tian continued to explore.

Tang Tian had expected the place to be haunted by some kind of spectre, but after looking around, she did not notice anything out of the ordinary. There was plenty of space, as the living room extended into a wide balcony, as did each of the bedrooms, and the furniture was durable enough, including the wooden bedframes. All she needed was some bed sheets and blankets, then she could settle in. For the price, it was a better apartment than she had expected, but despite its many qualities, she was sure that it would not be sensible to stay here.

Tang Tian sucked in a deep breath, then turned to the old lady. “I’m not sure why you are so determined to bring me here for a viewing, but I still stand by my decision. I’m not renting this place.” This building screamed danger and survival was Tang Tian’s top priority. 

This entire area seemed oddly bizarre for a residential building. When she stood near the balcony, she noticed there was no one else walking around. Not only was there a noticeable lack of any sounds that indicated human activity, but she could not even hear the usual chirping of birds and the loud drone of cicadas that should have been ubiquitous during the summer. 

Somehow, this place reminded Tang Tian of the body fishers’ village and that strange path in the middle of the woods that, upon nightfall, had appeared out of nowhere. 

The old lady’s hunched figure turned to the balcony and she trod forward with slow, heavy steps. Her bleary eyes twitched bizarrely, and slowly shifted while she spoke. “Take a look. As you can see, there aren’t many living people in this area…”

The old lady lifted her bony thin arms and pointed towards the balcony in the opposite apartment. 

Tang Tian’s gaze followed her hands to the apartments on the other side of the building, which was only 5 metres apart. With her perfect eyesight, she could see the interior of the opposite apartment clearly. As she laid eyes upon the wall in the opposite living room, she saw a framed, black-and-white picture. 

It took a few seconds, but alarm bells went off in her head as soon she knew what she was looking at. 

It’s a portrait of the deceased!

“…On the other hand, quite a few dead people linger around here.” The old lady continued in her low, raspy voice, enunciating each word slowly.

At that moment, the sky dusked, and the streetlights lit up one after another. In the distance, lights from other apartment buildings flickered on as well. But here, in this courtyard with four large apartment buildings, only a few apartments were lit up. Everything else was shrouded in darkness.

Are there memorial tablets placed in all of those unoccupied apartments?! Tang Tian felt her skin crawl as realisation dawned on her. 

Abruptly, the silence was interrupted by the vibration of her mobile phone. Tang Tian looked down—it was that phone. A notification lit up on the screen. 

【 Congratulations on obtaining a special prize! 

A gift from the eccentric house owner!

“This house has been with me for sixty-odd years. Now that fate has brought you to it, I shall pass it on to you. You do not have to do anything else other than providing me with monthly offerings of incense sticks and joss papers. Do be generous.”】

Who says I’ll take up the offer? I do not want to stay here!

The mobile phone vibrated again. It was as if it could truly read her mind. Tang Tian glanced at the message that lit up the screen. 

【 It is best not to anger the eccentric old man. If you insist on refusing, you might just experience something frightening. Learn to accept kindness from others~】

Tang Tian’s expression was inscrutable as she turned off the phone. After taking in a deep breath, she said through gritted teeth, “Fine, I’ll stay!”

It’s just a residential area with more dead than the living. I’ve seen ghosts before, what’s there to be scared about here, right? 

The scrawny old lady nodded upon hearing Tang Tian’s words and left the apartment swiftly. Tang Tian stared at the spot where the old lady stood. 

That was quick. 

She ran out after her, asking, “W-wait! What about the rent? And contracts, and…”

The words died on her lips as she noticed that the corridor was empty. All she could see were a few joss papers, tossed into the air by the summer night’s breeze, twirling a few times before landing on the floor once again. 

“That old lady… was she even human?” Tang Tian muttered to herself as she gripped the key tightly in her hands, trying to tamp down the growing fear in her heart.