Chapter 5: The Woman

The sudden twist caused Yang Xiao's eye to twitch, almost sending him into sudden death. The next second, his whole body shot up and he sprinted toward the door.

Fortunately, he was prepared. The door was simply closed, not deadbolted, and, thank heavens, not latched with one of those damned security chains. This greatly increased the speed at which he could open the door. Yang Xiao, having fled the room, ran wildly down the hotel corridor without the slightest relaxation because a continuous splashing sound echoed behind him.

The thing was actually pursuing him!

Yang Xiao had never run so fast in his life. The wind whooshed past his ears and the thing behind him was dreadfully fast. The distance between them was narrowing. At this crucial moment, Yang Xiao suddenly realized something—the hotel's corridor seemed far too long. He had run so far, yet there was still no end in sight.

As though a thought had been awakened, Yang Xiao quickly noticed more abnormalities. A layer of fog had unknowingly filled the corridor, a leaden fog, with everything obscured in the haze ahead, mingled with an indescribable, nauseating stench.

Moreover, despite the racket he had made, the corridor was eerily silent, not a sound to be heard. Were all the people behind these doors down the corridor dead?

Just then, the thing behind him suddenly sped up, as if it was about to pounce on Yang Xiao any second. The situation was extremely dire, but Yang Xiao abruptly stopped. His keen senses detected danger; the fog ahead was churning violently, as if hiding something.

A moment later, Yang Xiao's pupils contracted sharply, and he finally saw it clearly—at the end of the corridor stood an ancient gate.

It was the Feng Family's main gate from the script. Yang Xiao immediately recognized the origins of the gate; he had seen it on the cover of the invitation.

The gate was ten feet tall, a dark red all over, with a White Lantern hanging from bamboo poles on either side. A chill wind blew by, the White Lanterns swaying in the breeze, with the black characters on the lantern skin fading in and out of visibility within the fog.

The splashing noise from behind also disappeared. Yang Xiao, mustering his courage, turned around to find nothing but the comforting warm light shining down from the overhead lights.

When he turned back towards the end of the corridor, both the fog and the gate had vanished; the corridor was spotlessly clean, with a faint smell of disinfectant hanging in the air.

"Was it all... an illusion?"

Yang Xiao was somewhat dazed for a moment. The door to his room was open, with light spilling out from inside. He was only about ten meters from his room, yet in his memory, he had run for at least a hundred meters.

Similarly, there was no sign of wet footprints on the floor, not even a drop of water.

Apart from his own memory, there was no physical evidence to corroborate that something had been chasing him, just like what had happened in the rental house.

Recalling everything that had just happened, Yang Xiao knew it was definitely not an illusion. The gate at the end of the corridor a short while ago gave him an indescribable sense of crisis, and the purpose of the thing chasing him was very clear—to drive him through that gate, the Feng Family's gate. He was certain that once he entered that gate, he would never be able to return.

That thing must have latched onto him. Escape was impossible; hiding was useless. His only way out was Fengmen Town.

Gradually, the sounds of people returned to the surroundings, as if the stolen vitality was slowly coming back. Yang Xiao could hear distinctly the sound from the television set, and, beneath the masking of the TV, the occasional creaking of a bed shaking.

Right behind the door on his left hand, everything seemed so real.

Without choosing to go back to his own room, Yang Xiao stood his ground, because he couldn't be certain if all this was real or just another trap.

"Bang, bang, bang!"

As Yang Xiao pounded on the door forcefully, the sound of the rocking cradle from inside the room instantly ceased, followed by a rustling noise; moments later, a guilty-sounding male voice came from behind the door, "Who's there? Who is it?"

It sounded real, but Yang Xiao didn't respond, continuing to knock on the door, "Bang! Bang bang bang!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming; Officer, although I've only known my girlfriend for 20 minutes, I swear we're truly in love. Please, the organization must believe me, I'm a decent person!" The man opened the door a third of the way, revealing a pitiful face that was visibly nervous, his shirt buttons misaligned.

Yang Xiao gave the man a once-over, peered into the room through the crack of the door, then nodded apologetically, "Sorry, I got the wrong room."

The man was stunned for a moment, then his expression turned ferocious, his mouth opening in the stylized articulation of a traditional opera.

"There are plainclothes cops outside the hotel, the police will be here any minute," Yang Xiao whispered.

The operatic tirade abruptly stopped, and the man's look towards Yang Xiao took on a strange cast; after a moment, as if realizing something, the man immediately turned around. While he scolded the woman to hurry up and go, he grabbed his wallet, pulled out a Red Ticket, and handed it to Yang Xiao, "Brother, your hotel is really damn humane, I'll be sure to come back here!"

Seeing Yang Xiao unmoved, the man got the hint and pulled out two more Red Tickets, quickly stuffing them into Yang Xiao's pocket, "Buy yourself a few packs of smokes!"

It was settled now; Yang Xiao was sure this was real. However, he couldn't return to his room tonight. After the man and woman left, Yang Xiao found the hotel's front desk number on the booking website he had used earlier, made up a reason, called the staff up to his room, and only then went back to gather his things and descended to the lobby on the first floor.

The female receptionist who had come with him had intended to take the elevator, but Yang Xiao claimed he had claustrophobia, so everyone had to take the stairs instead.

Upon hearing that Yang Xiao's only request was to sit in the lobby for the night, the hotel staff were clearly taken aback; they had expected him to make a fuss about checking out.

"I'm not checking out; it's just too stuffy in my room, I don't like it," Yang Xiao said naturally, "You can go about your business."

Yang Xiao sat on the long couch, from his angle he could see the female receptionist opposite him, while not far behind and to the side was the security guard's night duty desk. Through the hotel's glass doors, he could also enjoy the city nightscape, with the passing vehicles and the colorful billboards of the shops across the street intermingling, giving him a sense of security.

As he calmed down, he began to slowly recall everything that had happened. Through the reflection of the computer screen, he saw a person standing on the couch. This time, he was certain it was a woman.

The woman was drenched, dressed in a disheveled skirt, her head lowered, long hair hanging down, obscuring her face, her body thin and hunched.

He thought that perhaps the woman couldn't harm him directly; her aim was only to drive him through that door, which was the real threat.

What was certain was that the woman was definitely associated with Fengmen Town and the Feng Family Old House.

At the same time, Yang Xiao also remembered the ethereal opera singing from the background of the video clip at the old flour mill site; that, too, seemed to be a woman.