Don't Go Out When It's Dark

The dragon was awakened on the second day of February. 

Centipedes, scorpions, venomous bugs, and snakes, startled. 

"I treat you as a friend and you try to become my mother?! Lin Jiabao, from now on our friendship is over!" 

"Here is the credit bill from last month, Tongtong. Isn't there a saying that a daughter should pay off her mother's debts?" The voice that spoke sounded loving but young, as if it belonged to a woman in her twenties. 

"Hah! Lin Jiabao, if you continue spouting such crap then this time I, Chen Tongtong, will really put an end to our friendship." 

It was around 11 o'clock when Fang Zheng arrived home. 

He heard noises drifting from the unit beside him as he slid his key into the keyhole. He felt nothing. 

The two university students, who normally stayed up late, were getting into one of their crazy fights again. 

Fang Zheng was used to it. 

He proceeded to unlock his door. 

Just as Fang Zheng was about to step into his house he heard a different set of noises. These sounds were from the house of his other neighbour. 

"What?! The footsteps appeared again in another case?

"This is the 16th missing person!"

The sound of brushing fabric could be heard; it was the sound of someone getting dressed. This sound was then followed by the sound of footsteps. Soon after that, a tall, beautiful, young policewoman, dressed in a neat uniform, rushed out of her home whilst on the phone with someone. 

The decisive sound of her footsteps coupled with the sharpness of her eyes indicated that she was a firm and strong policewoman. 

'The song of the sword sings of this cold-fingered woman! 

'She spends her life with her sword travelling across the world!' 

These comments had drifted through his mind when he had first seen her half a month ago, when she had first moved in. 

They nodded politely at each other; it was a sufficient greeting. The young policewoman lowered her voice and strode off, staying on her phone the entire time. 

"A missing person's case?"

'It looks like the same suspect committed the crime. There are already 16 people missing?' Fang Zheng knew that this would be a tough case to solve. 

"Don't go out when it's dark. Not in these times." 

The young policewoman had turned around to yell her warning at Fang Zheng. She looked serious. It did not look as if she was joking or trying to scare him. A civil servant would have no interest in practical jokes. 

"Don't go out when it's dark?"

"What?"

Before Fang Zheng could ask for an explanation, the policewoman had already entered the lift. 

Fang Zheng recalled the barrage of online posts about weird incidents. They had all been deleted mere seconds after they had been posted. It was as if they had never existed. 

Some professionals had managed to bypass the firewalls to look into posts of a similar nature in other countries. 

They too were soon blocked. 

Deep in thought, Fang Zheng swung his door open and stepped inside. He had a bad feeling about the future...

[Whenever someone talked about something that happened to them…

[Peculiar incidents that could not be explained or answered by science… 

[They would always be looked down upon and rejected. 

[I'm an atheist, but the story I'm telling today is something that I had experienced. 

[Believe it or not, there is nothing wrong in being wary of certain things.

[Nice to meet you. 

[My name is Li Sishui. This year I turn twenty, and I'm the only university student to have escaped from my village. 

[I lived in a poor village that can only be accessed by using a narrow mountain road. The incident happened on the 5th of March, the beginning of Spring. 

[On the 5th of March, the village was host to a wedding. Everywhere, lanterns and ribbons hung. It was a full day of feasting, drinking and celebration for the neighbours who attended. 

[It was supposed to be a normal day. 

[However, on that very day, a man, from a different family, fell to his death. He had been harvesting medicinal herbs in the mountains--half his head was gone. On the first night of his death, a family member had accidentally fallen asleep. It was just for a moment, but when he awoke, the body had vanished from the coffin. In its place was another body--the morning bride's. 

[She was naked; she was lying naked in the coffin. 

[The terrifying incident nearly scared the family into biting off their tongues and dying. The village wasn't big, with only a few dozen houses situated in the area. That night shocked everyone. The village head, the committee, and even the most respected centenarian paid a visit to the house.

[Ever the courageous one growing up, I had slipped behind my parents' backs when I was in primary school to have a swim at the local water tank. And during my time at university, I had learnt and seen many things. It was the reason why the prospect of seeing a dead body did not frighten me. I pushed through the crowd to catch a glimpse at the bride in the coffin. 

[BAM! It struck me then that I had never held a girl's hand, not even once, and it was also my first time seeing a woman's body. I blushed. My head was filled with her pale body. When I look back upon the incident, I realized that it was rather weird that she looked like she was asleep. Her peach shaped eyes were closed, and she looked clam as she laid in the coffin. It was as if she were asleep. 

[Nonetheless, weird things began to happen, one after the other, during the autopsy. No injuries were found on her body, and her skin was moist and supple. It was as if the body belonged to a living person. She did look dead, she looked like she was asleep. Regardless, she was definitely dead. 

[At that moment, a few brave young men who had been tasked with looking for the groom's family rushed into the crowd, looking terrified and anxious.]

The post ended where Fang Zheng had stopped. 

That was the only content available

'Maybe the post had exceeded the word limit. Most people chose to upload the rest on a second page to be refreshed.' Fang Zheng, used to encountering such problems, refreshed the page. A 404 error message popped up. 

[Do you guys think…ghosts exist in this world?

[I feel like I had just encountered one.

[I just got off a late shift at work, leaving the factory at around 10 o'clock at night. I felt cold as I waited for the cab that I had e-hailed. I was at a junction, and it was quiet with no one around. 

[There is a technology park in this area. I heard that it was built on a piece of land that used to be a mass grave. 

[As I was pondering over this, a weird old man, dressed like he was from the 60s or 70s, walked up to me and asked me for directions. 

[He felt cold, and standing next to him was like standing next to a freezer. 

[Before I could give him an answer, a young man materialized. He was standing across the road when he looked at me and said, "A dead person touching the ground, the living marrying the dead, an old dog foraging a graveyard and consuming the offerings left by the living, or a dead person asking for directions...do you know what it means to encounter any of these?"

[Before I could say anything, the young man said to me with a smile, "To borrow the breath of the living."

[At that moment my ride arrived. I told them that they were both crazy, before sliding into the car. I urged the driver to hurry and leave the two peculiar men. 

[As we were about to pull out of the street, I glanced at the rearview mirror, wanting to catch a glimpse of the junction. Both men had disappeared. 

[Now that I think of it, something was not right. What do you think?

[Had I encountered ghosts?]