Chapter Twenty: Hallucination

Wang Erjun's voice, so full of fear, was a clear sign to me that he had certainly seen something. I was terrified, clutching the window and scrambling upwards. Wang Erjun, below, gave me a forceful push. Perhaps it was the terror that unlocked some hidden strength within me, for I found myself climbing onto the window ledge with much less effort than before. "Hurry, pull me up."

His voice trembled; he was a heavyset man and, after several attempts, still failed to grasp the window. I lay across the ledge, bracing my back against the window frame, gripping his thick hand and hauling him upward with all my might.

"You damn fatso! Can't you eat a little less?"

I swore under my breath, feeling as though I were pulling up a pig. "I don't eat much at all—my size is genetic! Where did all your chicken go, you bastard? Put your back into it, or I'll never make it up!"

I summoned every ounce of strength I had, and only then did Wang Erjun manage to begin crawling into the window. At that moment, his face was etched with terror, his small eyes darting nervously toward the direction we'd come from.

A chill ran through me; I couldn't resist looking where he kept glancing. Wang Erjun shuddered and pleaded, "Pull me up—don't look." His voice was frantic, bordering on tears.

I gritted my teeth, mustering every bit of power to drag him upward. Yet the surge of dread compelled me, and I turned for a glance.

Just that single look sent a fresh wave of chills through my scalp. The panic I'd felt earlier now exploded within me.

Because, in the pouring rain, from the direction of the village chief's old house, a shadowy figure was slowly approaching us.

To say he was walking would be wrong; it was as if he were floating.

His body swayed in the rain, like a drunken man, blown whichever way the wind carried him.

I shuddered, losing all strength in my grasp. My back slid, and I crashed down into the house.

As I fell, I heard Wang Erjun's anguished scream.

With a heavy thud, I landed on the floor; fortunately, I happened to fall atop a rolled-up quilt, sparing me from injury.

My expression changed drastically—while I was unharmed, Wang Erjun was not so lucky! I scrambled to my feet, grabbing the window to climb back up.

But the more anxious I became, the less able I was to climb.

Sweat poured down my face; then I spotted a small stool beside me. I stepped onto it, finally reaching the window.

Wang Erjun was no longer beneath the window.

There was a conspicuous pit where he had landed hard.

Frustration gnawed at me; his muddled footprints were already being washed away by the rain, and he had run toward the side of my house.

Having lost my grip, he could only run in through the front door.

My fear persisted, even more intense than before. I turned to look back toward that same direction.

The swaying figure in the rain had vanished. I wasn't naive enough to believe he'd simply entered some random old house.

The only possibility was that he had gone after Wang Erjun.

And what made my heart tremble was the suspicion that the shadow was none other than the old chief himself.

How else could it be such a coincidence—Wang Erjun drags me out, and someone chases after us...

And he wasn’t walking, but floating in the rain...

---

The funeral specialist Liu was a living person; he couldn’t possibly float along like that.

My heart pounding, I pulled out the black donkey hoof, intending to rush out and help Wang Erjun.

I couldn't leave him to be killed by the chief's old father.

But just then, a