I was already scared out of my wits when someone suddenly tapped my shoulder, making me jump as if I had been electrocuted. Instinctively, I reached to feel what touched me, expecting it to be a human hand. Instead, I felt something bony.
Shining my flashlight on my shoulder, I saw a skeletal hand gripping me.
This wasn't some kung fu move from The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber. The skeletal hand I saw had no flesh. It reached out from the thick fog behind me, hinting at the kind of "person" standing there.
I was so scared I couldn't scream. My mouth opened and closed several times, but no sound came out.
Just as I was about to break down, the fog behind me stirred, and a cold voice said, "Why are you so late?"
The voice belonged to Zhang Yihan, who emerged from the fog wearing a white hazmat suit and holding a skeletal hand. She was entirely dressed in white, blending into the fog, which was why I only saw her skeletal hand.
"Oh my... Sister, you nearly scared me to death!" I almost cried with relief. Knowing it was just Zhang Yihan's prank helped calm my frayed nerves.
"You still have the nerve to talk? Do you know how long it took you to get here? Now that the fog is so thick, how are we supposed to get back?" Zhang Yihan scolded me.
"Senior Sister, the valley is shrouded in dense fog at night. I couldn't see the path and had to feel my way forward step by step," I explained, still shaken.
"Alright, let's go inside. Captain Zhao is waiting," she said, turning towards the house. As she walked away and disappeared into the fog, I hurried to catch up and grabbed her arm.
I had been so frightened earlier that I wasn't taking any chances. I didn't care if she accused me of taking advantage; I didn't want a repeat of what just happened.
"Look at you, such a coward!" Zhang Yihan teased, waving the skeletal hand at me.
Startled, I pulled back but kept my grip on her arm.
Luckily, she didn't push the joke further and led me into a room with a fire burning inside.
The house was old and dilapidated, with holes in the walls letting the wind through. It was no surprise, given that nobody had lived here for decades. The fire drove away much of the fog, making visibility inside much better. Seeing that Zhang Yihan and Captain Zhao had taken off their hazmat suits and gas masks, I followed suit. If they weren't wearing them, it must be safe.
Seeing my two colleagues, I finally relaxed. But just as I sat down by the fire, Captain Zhao asked a question that made my heart race again, "Xiao Zhang, did you find the corpse?"
"Corpse... what corpse?" I asked, my heart pounding.
"The body hanging from the beam in the house earlier today, didn't you see it?" Zhang Yihan shot me a look.
"Y-yes, I saw it..." I stammered, still unnerved.
"And you just left it hanging there? Didn't you think to take it down?" she scolded me.
I swallowed hard and didn't say anything. Who could blame me for being terrified? Alone in that creepy house with a hanging corpse, and those coffins and skeletons below? I was already brave to have not run away screaming.
"Do you know who that is?" she asked again. "That's Li Dapeng's mother!"
"What?" I exclaimed, almost dropping my jaw into the fire.
I couldn't understand why Li Dapeng's mother would hang herself here.
Captain Zhao then lit a cigarette and began recounting their story after we got separated.
It turned out they saw a figure by a path when we reached a fork and pursued it, not having time to call me. They slipped and fell into a pool below, luckily surviving. Zhao Mingzhu injured his leg, which turned out to be fractured.
They followed the stone path, saw my writing, and waited in the house for me. They took down the hanging body, recognizing Li Dapeng's mother from previous encounters.
When Captain Zhao mentioned the body disappearing before I arrived, I recalled tripping over it in the courtyard. The body I saw was that of an old woman with white hair and a bloated tongue.
"Uh... Captain, Senior Sister, I saw the body in the courtyard," I confessed.
"What? Why didn't you bring it in?" Zhang Yihan snapped.
"Why me? Why don't you go?" I protested, fearing another encounter with the corpse.
"Do you still want to work in our squad?" she demanded, waving the skeletal hand.
Captain Zhao intervened, "Xiao Zhang, go with Xiao Lin and check. Li Dapeng's mother hanging here is a crucial clue."
"Alright..." Zhang Yihan relented, grabbing her skeletal hand and motioning for me to follow.
We both donned our hazmat suits and gas masks and headed out.
Despite searching the entire courtyard, we couldn't find the body.
Frustrated, Zhang Yihan shouted, "Are you playing games with me?" She pointed the skeletal hand at me menacingly.
"Senior Sister, I swear I tripped over it," I pleaded.
Seeing my genuine fear, she calmed down, "Fine, let's return. We'll search again at dawn. You probably got the location wrong in the fog."
We returned to the house, and as we passed through the main hall, I instinctively shone my flashlight at the beam and saw the body hanging again.
"Ah!" I screamed and clung to Zhang Yihan.
"What's wrong with you?" she yelled, pushing me so hard that I fell backward, landing between two coffins.
Looking up, I saw Li Dapeng's mother's feet dangling above me. Her swollen tongue was moving slightly, and beneath her feet was a tipped-over stool, making it seem as if she had come back to hang herself again.
Screaming, I bolted back to the room.
After explaining to Captain Zhao, his expression darkened. When I mentioned the crippled old man I saw, Zhang Yihan gasped, "Xiao Lin, do you remember someone buying a house in Guo's village three years ago?"