Falling In Love Inside An Urban Legend — Chapter 4.1

original novel: 在都市怪谈里谈恋爱[快穿]

author: 小生不知

mtl’d and edited by dogpotato. please leave a comment if there are any questions or errors!

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Chapter 4.1, Arc 1: Strange Sounds in the Morgue

The next morning.

Yao Ye got up from the bed with dark circles under his eyes. He sleepily brushed his teeth and washed his face, almost falling headfirst into the sink. He scrubbed his face hard with cold water to wake up.

“Phew—” 

He wiped the water from his face with a towel. Yao Ye’s teeth chattered from the cold, and his face was flushed pink. 

The water supply system of this apartment was absolutely terrible. The tap water was even colder than the water in the river outside, with a temperature of almost negative zero. With this kind of water temperature, it would not be surprising if the water pipes froze one day.

After washing up, Yao Ye hurriedly put on his clothes, picked up his briefcase, and left the house. It was almost seven o’clock. If he didn’t leave now, he would miss the earliest bus, and then he’d have to waste money on a taxi. 

Walking to the elevator in the middle of the corridor, Yao Ye pressed the button and waited for a while before the elevator arrived at his floor.

It couldn’t be helped; there were many office workers living in this apartment and most of them left at this hour so the elevator stopped at almost every floor.

Ding—

The elevator opened. A few office workers were already crowded inside. Yao Ye hurried into the elevator and stood facing the elevator doors.

While waiting for the elevator to close, he inadvertently glanced at the apartment diagonally opposite and caught sight of the door slowly opening. A familiar petite figure with long hair stood rigidly inside the door, staring in Yao Ye’s direction.

Clank—

The elevator doors closed and began moving downwards.

Yao Ye was frozen in place for a long time before muttering, “That apartment, isn’t it that bachelor’s…?”

Why was that junior high school student there?

Did she live there before? Had he been too busy and didn’t notice? Was she the bachelor’s sister?

Yao Ye wiped the cold sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand, his eyes a little dazed.

That girl, it should be… the same person, right?

Ding—The elevator stopped on the sixth floor, and Yao Ye was squeezed to the side by the influx of people. For some reason, he looked up at the elevator doors again. A familiar figure stood not far away from the entrance of the elevator.

It was… the same as last night.

Clank—

The elevator doors closed again. Yao Ye bit down hard on the knuckle of his left index finger, swallowing the scream in his throat.

Was he still dreaming?

Was he awake and just seeing things?

Ding—it was the fourth floor.

This time, Yao Ye’s face was so pale it was almost transparent. His black and white eyes shone with a frenetic light.

Because right in front of him, the figure of the black-haired junior high school student was getting clearer and clearer, so clear that Yao Ye could see the bright red lacerations on the girl’s neck and the blood constantly oozing out.

This time, he could no longer deceive himself…

He had encountered a ghost.

Ding—

The elevator arrived on the first floor, and everyone filed out. One black-haired young man was particularly quick. He stumbled out of the elevator and ran out of the apartment building without looking back. The others were startled, but seeing the panic on his pale face, just assumed he was about to be sick.

Huff! Huff! Huff!

The frightened Yao Ye didn’t dare to stop running along the street for a moment. Yesterday’s foot injury was already healed so it wasn’t very painful, but the cold morning air pouring into his lungs stung his fragile throat. The taste of rust soon flooded his mouth. 

There was a bus at the bus stop ahead: the No. 5 bus that Yao Ye usually took.

Yao Ye ran to the door of the bus at a hundred-meter sprint, scanned the code, and got on the bus. Seeing his face, the bus driver was shocked; Yao Ye really did not look okay at all. His skin was so white it could reflect light and his charming baby face was filled with distress. 

“Aigoo, are you okay, kid?”

The driver’s face showed concern as he looked at Yao Ye’s thin frame, worried that he would collapse right then and there.

Yao Ye was gasping heavily, barely catching his breath before he waved his hand and replied, “No, it’s nothing, phew! I was just going to be late. Mister, you don’t have to worry about me, let’s get going… Huff! Huff!”

Yao Ye arrived early, so the bus was not full. There were several empty seats to choose from. Coughing, Yao Ye weakly held his chest and sat down beside the window, feeling that his lungs were about to explode.

He didn’t know if it was because he was getting older, but he had never been so tired after running a kilometer in college. He was only 23 years old. Was it really time to start a regimen?

Yao Ye panted for a while, and the fierce pounding of his heart gradually calmed.

In order to escape, he had no choice but to run as fast as he could. 

He had felt a chill down his spine when he got out of the elevator just now. The figure of the junior high student last night had been haunting him, so he subconsciously fled from the apartment building with the strange feeling that he would be killed on the spot if he didn’t run.

Really, the whole building felt haunted.

Facing this unprecedented paranormal event, Yao Ye was at a loss. His agitated state of mind made him restless. He could only bite his knuckle to relieve his tension. The originally pale and slender index finger became covered in deep tooth marks.

Soon, the bus started moving. Yao Ye looked back through the window, both in anticipation of seeing something and in fear of what he would see.

Whoosh—

Wind swept through the bus window, bringing with it a burst of cold air. Yao Ye’s beautiful peach blossom eyes reflected a dark-haired girl standing silently behind the stop sign.

Sure enough, it was following him.

Yao Ye didn’t dare to look any further and hurriedly turned away. He covered his face with his hand and closed his eyes, trying to regain his composure.  

He felt like he was dreaming and just now completely lost all sense of reality.

After twenty-three years of a normal life, he suddenly discovered that there really were supernatural occurrences in this world. The impact was no less than the reshaping of his three views[1]. 

Yao Ye sat blankly in his seat. He suddenly wondered what he should do.

Can people fight ghosts? Now that he was being targeted by a ghost, will he die?

Why on earth was it him?

Just because he said a few unnecessary words yesterday? This female ghost was too petty.

Thinking of the female ghost’s student uniform, Yao Ye quickly took out his mobile phone and started searching for news about murders that occurred nearby. Even if he died, he wanted to be a ghost who understood or at least knew his killer’s identity. 

He clicked on the browser to search for the name of the apartment building. A series of articles popped up, the most conspicuous of which was undoubtedly a news headline.

#Gui City Third Junior High School female student suspected of committing suicide by jumping from a building, body found in tragic state#

Looking at the headline on the screen, Yao Ye hesitated, then clicked on it. He didn’t intend to offend the deceased; they should rest in peace and hopefully not blame him for this. 

After opening the page, a high-definition picture quickly loaded.

It was a half-body portrait shot of a delicate-looking young girl. Yao Ye’s pupils shrank slightly as he recognized her face—it was the female ghost. 

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[1] the three views refer to a person’s outlook on the world, values, and perspective on life; if they are shaken, it generally means that their fundamental understanding of themselves and/or the world around them has been overturned

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thoughts of dogpotato: happy valentine’s day! special quadruple release today~ enjoy!

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