Just as Xiang Decai had said, at noon, he arranged an hour of private psychological counseling for Yan Junze.
The psychologist, Teacher Sun, was over fifty, with graying hair and a deep voice, speaking in an orderly manner.
It was impossible to tell if the counseling was effective or not, but Yan Junze, listening to that deep voice, felt drowsy and eventually fell asleep, failing to hear clearly what Teacher Sun actually talked about.
When he woke up, an hour and a half had passed. After coming to his senses, Yan Junze first panicked, then calmed down, as he noticed that Teacher Sun, sitting opposite him, was sleeping even more soundly than him, the rhythm of his snoring quite catchy.
Being able to put oneself to sleep during a counseling session was no small feat indeed.
In order not to disturb the teacher's sweet dreams, Yan Junze yawned and tiptoed out of the counseling room.
Once the day's classes were over, Zhou Dali surprisingly ran off and disappeared just as they ended.
Yan Junze knew this guy was afraid of being dragged along by him to tackle those frightening events.
However, online there were indeed some groups specializing in filming these supernatural videos and gaining a large following by uploading them to platforms.
When he got home, his parents weren't back yet.
Yan Junze had paid special attention to Building 5 on his way home and noticed a temporary sign had been erected stating: "This building is haunted, please do not stay alone inside. Residents on the 5th floor must lock their doors and windows as soon as they get home. If you see a thin woman with disheveled hair standing facing the wall, keep silent and leave immediately."
After quickly finishing his homework, Yan Junze leaned against the window, observing the comings and goings of Building 5.
Occasionally, he could see two or three people exiting the building, with hurried expressions, glancing back at Building 5, looking very shaken.
Yan Junze decided that he would resolve "The Old Woman Knocking at Mid-Night" tonight and, once he had enough energy points, he would definitely consider the Back-faced Woman of Building 5.
He had been charging his phone continuously, planning to use it to film the night's task, and after completing the task, he'd edit the footage and upload the final video to the "Open Your Eyes" platform.
If he could really earn money, he would consider buying a portable camera that could be mounted on the shoulder or chest.
Late in the evening, his parents came home one after another.
After hearing Li Man's report, Yan Daguo's face also looked gloomy; it seemed that supernatural incidents in this older neighborhood were all too common.
Even though the red-dressed little girl had disappeared, the issue of someone knocking at the door all night had still not been resolved.
Not only were the knocking incidents continuing, but now Building 5 nearby was the source of even more terrifying strangeness. Life was becoming unbearable.
During dinner, the couple couldn't help but give Yan Junze a stern warning. Activities like going out for a walk in the evening were strictly forbidden.
In fact, since the outbreak of the supernatural events, the streets of Shuntian City had become very quiet at night. Without important reasons, no one had the mood or the courage to go out.
To conserve his energy, Yan Junze climbed into bed at half-past eight. However, after having a face-to-face sleep with Teacher Sun, who was actually an outstanding hypnotist under the guise of a psychologist at noon, he couldn't fall asleep easily. He finally managed to doze off just after eleven o'clock.
At half-past one in the morning, his phone alarm went off. The alarm volume was so low Yan Junze had set it that he almost failed to wake up.
After getting dressed, he checked his phone to ensure the battery was fully charged.
This phone was a Great Capital model made entirely in Huaying, with excellent video quality. There was a slight blurriness in low light conditions, but it was still quite good. The battery was also durable. Yan Junze secured it with a blue strap taken from his student ID, hanging it around his neck with one end of the phone tucked into the pocket on his chest, leaving the camera exposed for filming.
Even before heading home in the afternoon, he had recorded his first video with his cellphone, which looked something like this.
Sitting at his desk, Yan Junze faced the camera, displaying the grief-stricken expression as if he had lost his parents, his child had gone missing, and his wife had been abducted, and he solemnly stated, "There's someone who knocks on my door at two o'clock every night, without fail, so tonight, I've decided to open the door when 'this person' knocks, to see what it really wants. I'll be alone throughout the process, and I'll record the whole thing. If I don't upload this video, whoever finds this phone must upload it for me. Uh, I am Night Traveling Puppy; please go to 'Open Your Eyes' video platform and search for YXDog to follow me, and witness the bubbling moments of strangeness together."
The last sentence seemed to be borrowing from the catchphrase "This is the moment to witness the miracle," and Yan Junze believed that even without the final advertisement, the content alone could still attract a bunch of netizens' attention.
At least a part of them would be curious.
He got up half an hour early just to prepare and after shaking off the drowsiness, Yan Junze opened the bedroom door. The plan was to wait by the living room door as soon as he saw the Old Woman Knocking at Mid-Night pass by his bedroom window.
Because if the door got knocked on repeatedly, his father, Yan Daguo, would definitely wake up again, and there was a very high chance he'd do as he did that day, stepping out of the bedroom and standing in the corridor to listen.
His own plans must not be discovered by Yan Daguo, at least, not before they were carried out.
With everything ready and after checking the time, Yan Junze stood between his open bedroom door and corridor outside the bedroom, tilting his head and staring at the window on the side closest to the public hallway.
As minutes and seconds passed by, Ke'er stayed perched on his back, showing no intention of leaving.
Suddenly, the voice-activated light outside lit up, and Yan Junze glanced at the time—right at two in the morning.
He felt for the old lady—it wasn't easy to be punctual, needing to come out a minute early.
Then a series of soft footsteps followed, and shortly after, a hunched figure appeared outside the window, moving very slowly; the footsteps were fragmented yet natural. If it weren't for the unusual silence around, these faint footsteps would not be clearly heard.
Yan Junze immediately set the Rewind starting point to the current moment, then set the endpoint to a half-hour later.
Since earning 500 energy points in the mission [Trapped in a Room with Zhang Tiantian], he could Rewind for at least 60 minutes now. Using 30 minutes should be enough.
Mainly because the task didn't mention any time constraints, so Yan Junze had to estimate the time himself.
Of course, if an irremediable emergency occurred within 30 minutes, he would not hesitate to initiate the Rewind to return to this point in time, and then decide whether to attempt a second time based on the difficulty of the unexpected situation.
After activating the phone's video recording and casually closing his bedroom door, Yan Junze hurried to the living room's entrance before the slow, shuffling steps reached the front door and stood watch there first.
He couldn't let the thing outside make too much noise knocking, as it would definitely wake his parents.
The plan was to open the door immediately upon the sound of the knock.
The scattered footsteps were getting closer, clearer and clearer. Yan Junze reached for the doorknob and unlocked the anti-theft catch.
Despite the chill from Ke'er's presence on his back, his palms were still sweaty. He unconsciously wiped them on his pants and then quickly grabbed the doorknob again, uncertain whether his hands might slip at the moment of opening the door.
The footsteps stopped outside the door for about two seconds. During this time, both inside and outside, there was a deadly silence.
Yan Junze dared not breathe. He could clearly hear his own heartbeat.
The next moment, the knocking sounded.
Thud...
As soon as the sound emerged, Yan Junze pressed the doorknob down, unlocking and opening the living room door.