The deathly silent room offered safety only through the bright glow of three lights and the scattered illumination from the windows, like stars speckling the darkness.
The windows of the office faced the hillside, leaving the harbor out of view. Lu Li couldn’t tell when the encroaching darkness would reach this place. Time ticked by, second by second, until, suddenly, the lights in the room flickered.
All three sources of light flickered simultaneously. Before Lu Li could discern the cause, the room visibly began to darken.
The flames of the candelabra and oil lamp remained steady, but they no longer emitted warmth. Their illumination started to shrink, growing smaller and smaller until it barely extended a meter. The weakest flame on the candelabra quietly extinguished.
Dimness reasserted itself as the room’s dominant tone, the air thick with a murky, oppressive presence.
Lu Li understood: the darkness had reached this place.
Grabbing the oil lamp at his side, Lu Li approached the window.
In the glass, his calm face and pitch-black eyes, dark as the night, were reflected back at him.
A veil of mist seemed to shroud the outside world, as though something tangible was stirring beyond the walls. It was fog.
An eerie mist had engulfed the entire harbor and Belfast.
It seemed to dim the lights even further, but due to the mysterious bell that had rung over the city, every household had increased their illumination, preventing the darkness from swallowing them completely.
The hazy view of Belfast Harbor resembled a starfield, faint and flickering. Occasionally, a scream pierced the night, echoing from an unknown location.
Lu Li stepped back from the window, putting some distance between himself and the glass.
He had an uncanny sense that something had emerged on the streets below, moving within the mist.
On his fifth day here, Lu Li was finally face-to-face with the eerie and bizarre nature of this world.
He silently debated whether to call off tonight’s plans, but before the thought could settle, the room suddenly grew brighter.
Momentarily stunned, Lu Li shifted his gaze to the oil lamp. After observing it for a few seconds, he confirmed it wasn’t an illusion. The flame regained its warmth, and the light expanded outward once more.
Realizing something, Lu Li looked out the window. The hazy fog had vanished, and the buildings on the hillside became clear and illuminated once more.
From the black mist’s arrival to its departure, not even a minute had passed. The mysterious fog had risen from the deep sea and now retreated just as bizarrely—or perhaps it had simply moved elsewhere.
Did the six chimes of the bell correspond to sixty seconds? Lu Li couldn’t say, nor could he dwell on the thought, as new disturbances arose within the gallery.
Tap—tap—tap—
Wet, sticky footsteps echoed from the neighboring room, just a wall away.
The wooden walls were poorly soundproofed—very poorly. A few seconds later, the footsteps ceased. Listening carefully, Lu Li counted the seconds: one, two, three... rå
Bang—
The deafening sound of a door being kicked open reverberated down the corridor.
The impact shook the office, the source unmistakably coming from the neighboring room.
Tap—tap—tap—
“No, I haven’t.” Lu Li’s dark eyes didn’t waver as he met her gaze with calm composure.
He had shifted the pistol holster to his back, his hand firmly gripping the gun’s handle.
“Have... you... seen... my child...?” the ghostly woman repeated in the same hollow tone.
“No.” Lu Li’s voice remained steady, his expression unchanging.
His gaze briefly flicked over her dress. A white gown like that didn’t seem practical for work, but it fit the aesthetic of a ghost. Understandable.
“Have... you... seen... my child...?” she rasped again.
Lu Li’s lips pressed into a thin line, his brow furrowing slightly.
The letter hadn’t mentioned that this ghost would repeat the same question like a broken record. In fact, it hadn’t mentioned anything about encountering a ghostly infant, either.
Was the situation deviating from what had been described?
“I have,” Lu Li suddenly said, nodding. “Isn’t your child about this tall, this big, with dark red skin and an umbilical cord?”
As he described the ghostly infant he had thrown out the window, the woman’s eyes glowed brighter with crimson light.
Lu Li pointed toward the door, maintaining his calm tone. “Go out, turn right, and walk straight for two blocks. I saw your child there not long ago.”
Before taking this commission, Lu Li had memorized the location of the nearest police station, just in case.
The ghost stared blankly for a moment before turning away. Ignoring Lu Li, she vanished from the doorway, her wet footsteps receding into the distance.
He hoped she wouldn’t return.
Lu Li exhaled softly, then glanced to the side to find the statue cowering in the corner, facing inward, completely motionless.
He opened his mouth to ask it something, but his expression shifted as his dark eyes snapped toward the door.
A nauseating wave of malice and cold radiated into the office. Standing in the doorway was another ghost—a girl in a pale green lace dress, her eye sockets hollow and empty.
Her lace dress was stained with blood, a pungent metallic scent wafting from the fabric.
There was no doubt about it—another one had come.
Holding his breath, Lu Li remained silent, hoping that, as the letter suggested, this ghost still couldn’t see.
Surely his luck wouldn’t be that bad.
Right?
Probably.
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