Chapter 33 - Mannequins

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

“Bro, what have you been busy with these few days? Have you forgotten about me? Why haven’t you called me? I’m so bored, can I go to your house? I’ll treat you to a spa at night, how about it?” In the shopping mall, Yang Jian received a call from Zhang Wei.

“It’s best not to go to my house. My dad might be there. I met him last night and he almost killed me. I’m working outside now,” Yang Jian said as he changed into his security uniform in the changing room.

“Didn’t I hear you say that your dad passed away?” Zhang Wei was puzzled.

Yang Jian said, “Yes, he has. That’s why I found a job that covers food and accommodation, not daring to stay at home all the time.”

“Damn, so your house is haunted,” Zhang Wei was shocked.

“Yes, it’s haunted, but the ghost wasn’t as scary as Grandpa Qian Wanhao. I managed to deal with it,” Yang Jian said. “Is there something you need me for?”

“It’s nothing. It’s just that I’ve been too bored staying at home for the past two days, so I wanted to visit you,” Zhang Wei wiped the cold sweat off his forehead, thank God he had made a phone call beforehand, “By the way, where are you working?”

“A shopping mall,” Yang Jian said.

Zhang Wei said, “Are you still short of people? Can I go too? School’s off and I have nothing to do at home, anyway.”

“It’s best you don’t. This place might be haunted too. I smelled the stench of corpses the moment I came in. I heard that someone went missing in the shopping mall, and the police have even set up a cordon, but the case hasn’t been solved. I guess the people who went missing in the shopping mall have already rotted, though the bodies aren’t found yet,” Yang Jian said.

“…”

“Can’t you find a more normal place to work? If you really don’t have a place to stay, you can stay at my house. The beds in my house are big and warm, and I can even provide food,” Zhang Wei said.

Yang Jian said, “Recently, Wang Shanshan has been acting a little strange. It seems that she has been saying that something is following her, so I think the ghost baby might be targeting her. Her father called me today. You have to be careful yourself since I’m not sure if the ghost baby will target other people. If you’re free, notify the group too.”

“Brother, let’s not talk about this anymore. I just bought a computer today. Come to my house and let’s play PUBG together. Can’t we just stay at home like this for the rest of our lives? It’s enough to have Anime and games. What’s the point of working? Worst comes to worst, I can support you,” Zhang Wei wanted to cry, but no tears came out.

What was wrong with this world? Why were there so many of those things everywhere?

It seemed that he could only cling tightly to his best friend.

“That won’t do. I still have things to do. Alright, let’s end it here. Anyway, you should be more careful,” Yang Jian hung up the phone.

He changed into his security uniform and walked out of the changing room.

“Why are you so slow?” Another young man who was outside said. His name was Liu Qiang, this year’s university graduate and had only recently started working in the mall.

“According to the rules, we currently have to patrol the entire mall five times a day. Once in the morning, once in the noon, once in the afternoon, and twice in the evening. It’s four in the afternoon now, so let’s start earlier,” Liu Qiang said.

Yang Jian followed him and said, “Are there only the two of us in the entire mall?”

“Yeah, just the two of us. There was one more in the past, but he went missing some time back. Since then, we haven’t been able to find anyone for the job, so I’m filling in for him,” Liu Qiang said.

Yang Jian said, “Missing? With so many missing person cases in this mall, why do you still dare to work here and not quit your job?”

“I’m from another city. I’m a fresh graduate and it’s not easy o get a job with a decent salary that covers food and accommodation, so I’m just doing it for now. Are you a high school student? Aren’t you still in school? It’s almost time for the college entrance exam too,” Liu Qiang asked.

“I’m taking a break from school and staying at home. I probably won’t be taking the college entrance exam,” Yang Jian said.

Liu Qiang didn’t ask any more questions, instead, he said, “Usually, I patrol from the fifth floor down. After walking around the parking lot at the bottom, the task will be considered completed. Since the power in the mall is out, the elevator can not operate, so we can only walk up.”

“You’ve worked here for so long, but you haven’t noticed anything wrong with this shopping mall?” Yang Jian turned on the flashlight and illuminated the surroundings.

“Something wrong?” Liu Qiang was stunned for a moment before saying, “I don’t think anything is wrong.”

“For example, have you smelled any strange smells in the shopping mall?” Yang Jian asked.

“Occasionally, but it should be that some frozen food in the freezer has gone bad. They’ll be cleaned up before the business starts again anyway,” Liu Qiang said.

Yang Jian said, “What I mean is, do you think there’s a possibility that this mall is haunted?”

Haunted?

Liu Qiang immediately laughed “You’re a high school student, why do you believe in such things? If it’s really haunted, why haven’t I encountered any ghosts after patrolling here for so many days? The boss, on the other hand, does believe in such existences and even went to look for a master. A while ago, a master came, but it didn’t have much effect. The boss thought that the master’s skills weren’t good enough, so he went out of town to hire a very famous master.”

“If it’s not haunted, then how do you explain all the missing person cases? For people to go missing in the mall, and the mall only being so big, if we can’t find them here, where would they be?” Yang Jian said.

“It’s not necessarily true that those people went missing in the mall. It’s just that the last video footages the police found when investigating the missing person cases were of those people in the mall. Maybe someone kidnapped or robbed them or something. After the mall was closed, the missing person cases never happened again,” Liu Qiang said.

“Wait,” Suddenly, Yang Jian’s expression changed and he stopped walking.

“Bro, what’s wrong?”

Yang Jian pointed to the front and said, “Didn’t you say that only the two of us are patrolling in the entire mall? What’s that?”

A figure was standing unmoving in the darkness like a mannequin.

Liu Qiang shone his flashlight on it, and it turned out the figure was just a mannequin.

“It’s just a mannequin, stop making a fuss over nothing,” As he spoke, he walked over, picked up the mannequin, and placed it in the shop nearby.

There were more than a dozen mannequins in the dark shop. They were all missing limbs, and none of them were perfect. The arrangement was also quite messy. It was obvious that no one had come to take care of them for a long time.

“It’s okay. Let’s go. We’re going to patrol the next lower level,” Said Liu Qiang.

Yang Jian asked, “Why was that mannequin in the middle of the road? Didn’t you see it when you were patrolling in the past?”

“I didn’t see it when I was patrolling in the afternoon. It’s also my first time seeing it there. Maybe Sister Li and the others used the mannequins to try the clothes. It’s not the first time they did that,” Said Liu Qiang.

“Huh…”

Yang Jian didn’t know if it was an illusion, but the smell of corpses he had smelled upstairs seemed to have gotten stronger.

When the two of them left, at the entrance of the shop that they had just passed by when patroling, a mannequin stood there again in the darkness, motionless. Its head seemed to be in the direction where Yang Jian and Liu Qiang disappeared.

Yang Jian and Liu Qiang walked around the mall, but nothing happened.

Perhaps he had guessed wrong. Perhaps the missing person cases were just normal criminal cases, and there was no supernatural incident involved.

It seems that it would not be easy for him to earn a million dollars from the mall owner.

Yang Jian pondered. He decided that he would stay here for the three-day probation period. If he didn’t get anything by then, he could just resign. He couldn’t waste his time here.

Just as he returned to the security room to rest after his patrol, his satellite positioning phone rang.

It was Wang Bin, Wang Shanshan’s father..