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The old woman stared at him so openly, one hand touching his face, her expression reminiscent of long-lost lovers reunited. Her small eyes brimmed with emotions that were strikingly inconsistent with her age.
"Hey, what are you doing?" Ye Chenfeng shouted, startling the old woman into retreating as if shocked, causing her to stumble and fall to the ground. Seeing this, Ye Chenfeng hurriedly scrambled off the bed to help her up, anxiously asking, "Are you alright, ma'am?"
The old woman said nothing, her gaze stubborn yet sorrowful as she glanced at him before tremblingly walking out.
How did she get in? Ye Chenfeng was unsure whether he had closed the door earlier or not. He walked over to check the corridor, which was dim and empty; the old woman had vanished in an instant.
Who was this old woman? Unable to rest any longer, Ye Chenfeng got up to wash his face, preparing to inquire about her.
However, no one seemed to know where she had come from or even her name. Could it be that she had fallen from the sky?
As night fell repeatedly, Ye Chenfeng gazed at the dark sky, both hoping and dreading that the old woman might actually appear up there.
She continued to show up unexpectedly, either behind him or in his dorm room. She would return the shoe she had stolen, washed clean and presented with utmost respect, startling Ye Chenfeng once again.
The old woman had taken one shoe; the other was useless and had long been discarded. Now she returned this clean shoe, but it was still of no use.
"What do you mean by this, old lady? Please don’t bother me anymore!" The old woman clearly didn’t understand his words; instead, she looked at him with wide eyes. He wanted to push her away but felt a pang of guilt. So he spoke gently with a smile, "Please don’t come here; this isn’t a place for you."
Without a word, a murky tear spilled from her eye as she trembled and slowly walked out.
Watching her hunched figure leave, Ye Chenfeng's heart became chaotic. He recalled Ding Li's words: "When I grow old, will you despise me?"
Ding Li's words felt like a tightening spell, tormenting Ye Chenfeng at every moment.
Could the old lady have transformed into Ding Li?
Ye Chenfeng recalled the legend that Ding Li's mother had aged significantly, eventually succumbing to the deterioration of her body. The thought that the old lady might be Ding Li filled him with an inexplicable discomfort, a sense of panic that drove him to rush outside.
But there was still the shadow of the old lady outside; she was moving surprisingly fast.
During the day, he was troubled by thoughts of the old lady, and by night, Ye Chenfeng had a strange dream.
He dreamed that he was getting married.
From a distance, the bride looked lovely, petite in stature, dressed in a vibrant wedding gown, her face completely covered by a bright red veil adorned with auspicious characters.
With joy in his heart, Ye Chenfeng walked toward the bride.
What puzzled him was that there were no guests to celebrate the wedding. It was just him and the bride, standing apart from each other. The red carpet stretched out like blood, leading right up to her feet.
Holding a bouquet of fresh flowers, Ye Chenfeng approached the bride with overwhelming happiness.
One meter away, then one foot away, half a foot away.
The bride was right in front of him. Ye Chenfeng's heart raced with excitement and anxiety as he slowly lifted the veil—only to reveal an aged face full of wrinkles. She was none other than the old lady who appeared in his dormitory every day!
The shock jolted Ye Chenfeng awake from his dream.
He was drenched in sweat from head to toe. Outside, the wind had picked up. He got up to wash his face and saw the branches outside shaking vigorously, creaking against the window frame with a dull thud.
Ye Chenfeng tightly closed the window and suddenly noticed a figure standing quietly under the tree below. It was the old lady, holding a warm jacket in her arms, gazing up at his window.
After shutting the window, his heart continued to race.
The nightmare he had just experienced, along with the moment he saw the old lady, left Ye Chenfeng deeply shaken.
He had been daydreaming, tossing and turning all night, and only managed to fall asleep around three in the morning.
In dreams, hearing is controlled by the cerebellum.
Ye Chenfeng heard someone calling for him, and in a daze, he got out of bed and fumbled to put on his shoes before stepping outside. It was pitch black and very cold. He shrank his neck and perked up his ears to listen; the voice seemed to drift from east to west and then came back from a distance.
"Ye Feng... Ye Feng... come back quickly."
Ye Feng? Wasn't that Chen Peiling's boyfriend? The voice sounded aged and hoarse, leading Ye Chenfeng to conclude that it was an old man calling for Ye Feng.
It had been quite some time since he had heard anything about Ye Feng.
Had Ye Feng passed away or was he off doing something else? Ye Chenfeng paused, realizing that the voice was coming from the soccer field across the street. He hurried downstairs; there were only two floors, and this place wasn't far from the old Boys' Dormitory.
Any commotion at the soccer field could be heard from here.
What should have taken just a few minutes to descend felt like it took him an eternity.
Something strange was happening!
The word "strange" flashed through Ye Chenfeng's mind, causing him to stop in his tracks. He noticed a figure sitting in the dark corner of the staircase—an old man with disheveled gray-white hair.
The old man had his back to him, but it seemed as if he sensed Ye Chenfeng's approach. Slowly, he turned around to face him.
"Have you seen our Ye Feng?"
Although the staircase light was dim, Ye Chenfeng's night vision allowed him to see the old man's features clearly.
Wasn't she the elderly woman he encountered during the day?
It appeared she could speak. Yet every time he tried to engage her in conversation, she remained silent.
"I haven't seen him. Is Ye Feng your son?"
Upon hearing that he hadn't seen her son, the old woman turned away in disappointment, murmuring, "Child, no matter how bad I am, I'm still your mother. How could you be so cruel as to abandon us?"
Ye Chenfeng knew that Ye Feng had committed suicide, driven by his pursuit of Chen Peiling. As for the details of his death, he was unaware.
The fact that the old woman was related to Ye Feng surprised him.
Moreover, it was strange that she could speak now, unlike during their earlier encounter when she had seemed mute.
Finally seeing her able to talk, Ye Chenfeng impulsively followed her.
The further he walked down the staircase, the darker and colder it became. Just as the sun shone in the east while snow fell in the west, Ye Chenfeng felt as though he had stepped into a wintry realm—cold enough to make him shiver uncontrollably.
The old lady walked ahead intentionally, keeping a distance from Ye Chenfeng, never allowing him to catch up.
It was strange; despite her age, she managed to stay ahead of the much younger Ye Chenfeng.
Anyone with a clear mind would have stopped chasing her.
Yet Ye Chenfeng continued to pursue her, and not only that, he eventually caught up.
The old lady stood in the darkness, her small eyes deeply sunken in their sockets. They were a murky gray-brown now, almost bloodshot.
"Give me back my son... you are the one who killed him."
Before Ye Chenfeng could fully assess his surroundings, the old lady desperately reached out with her bony fingers and grabbed his throat. Her hands were icy cold and prickly, with an immense strength. He struggled to pry her fingers away but couldn't budge them even slightly.
Her fingernails were sharp, digging deep into his skin. Ye Chenfeng thrashed violently, kicking his legs, and immediately thought of the Ghost-Collecting Gourd. The thought of the gourd came to him because he sensed that this old lady was not ordinary; either she was possessed by something evil or she was a vengeful spirit herself.
He recalled how she had appeared in his dorm room right after his class during the day and vanished quickly afterward.
An elderly woman, no matter how strong she might be, couldn't possibly match his agility. So he thought about using the Ghost-Collecting Gourd against her, but just thinking about it didn't guarantee success; he needed to have the gourd in hand for it to be effective.
In that moment, Ye Chenfeng couldn't remember where he had left the Ghost-Collecting Gourd. The past few days had left him frazzled due to the old lady's antics and Ding Li's situation. He truly had no time to draw talismans or keep track of the gourd's whereabouts.
With no idea where the Ghost-Collecting Gourd was, Ye Chenfeng recited a spell: "Mummy Mummy Hush... Exorcise!" Suddenly, he felt his body relax, and everything around him faded like mist. The old lady disappeared, and he found himself back on the steel bed in his dorm room.
Another nightmare? Ye Chenfeng had never liked being in this dorm room; it seemed he was constantly haunted by visions of the old lady.
The old lady called out for Ye Feng in her dream. Who could she be to him?
Ye Chenfeng got up, finding himself alone in the dorm room. There was just one bed and a simple wooden cabinet; his most valuable possession was an old guitar. The guitar was covered in dust, and beneath the bed lay a chaotic pile of shoes.
He was puzzled by the old lady stealing shoes. Among all those pairs under the bed, she had chosen to take the Xtep Travel Shoes.
A mirror hung on the wall.
The mirror had been there since Ye Chenfeng moved into this dorm room.
He walked over to the mirror, glancing at his reflection in the middle of the night. He overlooked the oddity of this moment, but as he looked closer, he noticed that his complexion was far from good. He had approached the mirror because his neck felt a bit uncomfortable.
As he examined himself, he lifted his collar, revealing two distinct purple bruises on his neck.
Ye Chenfeng touched the bruises, recalling the scene from his dream. Suddenly, he froze as a chill ran from his tailbone up to the back of his head. Nervously, he turned around; the door to his dorm room was closed. There shouldn't be anyone who could come in while he was sleeping. Could it be that someone was hiding under the bed?
Underneath the bed lay several pairs of shoes. It wasn't impossible for someone to hide there; with a slight turn of their body, they could easily fit. Ye Chenfeng slowly crouched down, still replaying the scene from his dream in his mind.
In the dream, it was the old lady who had grabbed his neck. Could it really be that she was hiding under the bed?
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