Ghost Says - Chapter 2.2

He finally discovered what the problem was.

Qiao Gang looked at the people in the pool and counted—

One… two… three… four… five… six… seven… eight…

Eight people in total.

When he first came in, besides himself, there were clearly nine people. Five were showering, and four were in the pool.

His position was near the door, so he could see everyone’s comings and goings clearly.

He was certain that no one had entered or left during this time.

Two people had left, so there should be seven remaining.

Yet there were eight people here…

Why was there an extra person?

… When did that person appear?

Among these… who exactly was the extra eighth person?

Qiao Gang felt as if a large hand was tightly squeezing his heart.

He swallowed dryly and recounted—

Maybe his eyes were playing tricks on him earlier, and he had miscounted…

That’s right, that must be it… Counting again would solve it.

He was just scaring himself. There must only be seven people here.

One… two… three… four… five… six… seven…

His finger trembled—

Eight…

His body, enveloped in hot water, could no longer feel any warmth…

That indescribable cold feeling seemed to be transmitted to him through the pool water.

That person was in this pool.

When did they appear? How did they appear in the bathing pool in front of everyone?

What did they want to do?

Qiao Gang stared at the water surface, as if at any moment a hand might reach out from the water…

He thought of Wen Dayong, and of Jian Xia.

Why were all the people dying around him? Was this really a coincidence?

Qiao Gang scanned each person in the pool one by one, trying to figure out who was the extra one.

They all looked ordinary and unremarkable.

He tried hard to clearly see each person’s face, attempting to find some differences among them.

He tried to memorize what each person looked like…

But in the end, he realized that no matter how many times he counted, he could only remember seven faces.

Only seven faces… where was the eighth person?

Why could he only see seven faces? He looked back and forth at everyone, counting silently in his mind—

Still only seven people…

Seven faces, but eight people.

Was something confusing his vision?

Or perhaps “it” didn’t want others to see “its” face?

Qiao Gang felt suffocated by the thoughts in his mind. He wanted to leave this place.

Escape this eerie place. Escape that eighth “person”.

But if he left now, would that “person” follow him? Was that “person” waiting for him to leave?

Waiting for him to be alone?

He dared not move, fearing his fears would become reality.

Perhaps it’s humans’ innate fear of the unknown, ingrained in everyone’s heart.

And Qiao Gang clearly knew that “it” was not harmless.

Two people had already died, hadn’t they? Jian Xia was dead, and maybe he would be next.

In the pool, at some point, even the sound of talking had stopped.

No sound, not even the sound of breathing could be heard.

If his eyes weren’t open, Qiao Gang would have thought there was no one here besides himself.

This strange atmosphere was finally broken—

A man stood up from the pool, said goodbye to the person next to him, and stepped out of the bath.

Qiao Gang breathed a sigh of relief. Trying not to look at the faces of the others, he followed that man out.

Maintaining some distance behind the man, Qiao Gang noticed the man’s skin looked unusually pale under the lights, though perhaps it was from soaking too long in the water.

His nerves, which had just started to calm, tensed up again in an instant.

How could he be sure the man in front of him wasn’t “it”?

What if this was just “its” plot to lure him out…

And now… there were only the two of “them” here.

Qiao Gang’s heart tightened a bit, and he slowed his pace behind the man.

In the changing room, he quickly found his locker and changed at a speed he’d never managed before, not even taking time to dry off completely.

As he left, the man still hadn’t finished changing and looked at him with some surprise. When their eyes met, the man smiled at him, revealing yellowed teeth.

Qiao Gang forced a smile back, realizing how stiff his facial muscles were.

Leaving the bathhouse, feeling the residual heat of the road under his feet, he finally felt like he had returned to the world of the living.

Qiao Gang didn’t sleep well all night and got up at dawn.

He had agreed to meet Xiao Yu at 8 AM. Seeing he had time, he changed clothes and went out for a morning run.

He jogged for half an hour, then did some stretching exercises.

Seeing some small food stalls already open on the street, he had breakfast before returning.

After packing some things at home and going out again, it was already about 7 AM.

Xiao Yu’s place was quite far, requiring over half an hour by bus.

As the bus started moving, the rhythmic motion made Qiao Gang feel drowsy.

He had barely slept last night, and now the swaying of the bus made sleepiness wash over him. Afraid of oversleeping, Qiao Gang took out his phone and set an alarm for 20 minutes later, then closed his eyes and leaned back against the seat.

When he woke up, it seemed the alarm hadn’t gone off yet. The bus was driving calmly on the highway.

It appeared some passengers had gotten on and off. Only a few were scattered about now.

Someone was sitting in front of Qiao Gang.

A man.

A well-groomed man.

Though his hairstyle was simple, it was clearly meticulously done. Jian Xia was like that – he’d spend half an hour on his hair before going out.

The scent of hair product wafting from him was the brand Jian Xia liked to use.

Because of these similarities, Qiao Gang felt some fondness toward the man sitting in front.

The bus seemed to be moving very slowly, the engine barely audible.

Outside the window was foggy – he could barely see a meter ahead. Perhaps this was why the driver was going so slowly.

It was very quiet inside the bus too. Everyone sat very straight, like schoolchildren listening to a lesson.

At first, Qiao Gang found this situation amusing, but it continued for a long time, unchanged.

No one moved. No one got off. The bus never stopped at any stations, just driving slowly and silently on the highway.

The stop where he should have arrived long ago seemed like it would never come.

Why hadn’t his alarm gone off?

Surely the time had passed…

Feeling uneasy, Qiao Gang took out his phone. It showed 7:15 AM.

The time hadn’t come yet, so of course the alarm hadn’t sounded.

His hand holding the phone trembled slightly. A chill crept up from his feet.

He remembered when he set the alarm, his phone had also shown 7:15 AM…

In other words, from when he fell asleep until he woke up, time hadn’t changed.

Was that possible?

Logically, of course not. But after his recent experiences, he knew not everything could be explained.

At that moment, he noticed the man’s ear in front of him.

On the cartilage of the ear was a small, delicate sapphire earring. Qiao Gang recognized that earring.

It was the one some ex-girlfriend had bought Jian Xia for his birthday. He had shown it off to Qiao Gang for a long time after putting it on.

Qiao Gang was certain – it was the exact one he used to wear!

Then… was the person sitting in front of him… Jian Xia?

Why had he come to find him? Was it because he died so horribly, wanting Qiao Gang to avenge him?

Why wasn’t he saying anything?

Knowing it was Jian Xia in front of him, Qiao Gang’s nervous, fearful feelings actually calmed down.

He and Jian Xia were good friends. He wouldn’t harm him! If he came to find him, he must want to tell him something!

Who was the murderer? Jian Xia, who killed you?

He had so many questions he wanted to ask, but when he tried to speak, he found he couldn’t make a sound. It was as if someone had suddenly turned off his voice.

No matter how hard he tried, not even the slightest sound came from his throat.

Suddenly, the person in front moved, turning their neck as if about to look back.

Qiao Gang stopped his movement, watching as Jian Xia’s face slowly turned around.

He immediately recalled the face he had seen… that face after his death.

A face distorted by fear and despair…

Was his appearance still like that now? Qiao Gang’s heart felt as if it were being lifted, suspended in mid-air.

Fortunately, his head only turned partway before stopping.

From Qiao Gang’s angle, he could only see the slightly pale profile of his face.

Then he spoke, very softly, barely audible unless one leaned in close.

“…go…leave…”

What? Qiao Gang couldn’t hear clearly and tried to lean his body forward.

“…you…quickly…go…leave…”

Before he could understand what it meant, the phone in his pocket suddenly began to vibrate.

Startled, Qiao Gang hurriedly took out his phone and turned it off. When he looked forward again, there was no one there anymore…

The bus seemed to have returned to normal. The bus that had only a few people in it moments ago was now filled with quite a few passengers, mostly students and office workers. Some were reading newspapers, some were eating breakfast, and others were chatting with classmates beside them. It wasn’t exactly noisy, but it was certainly not as quiet as it had been earlier.

Was everything just now… a dream?

Qiao Gang looked at his phone. The time displayed was 7:35.