Chapter 2: Blood Bed

The Taoist is a creator of ghosts; we are neither on the same path nor do we share the same destination. It can be said that we are adversaries.

The figure on the bed lay motionless, with her cheek pressed down, as if frozen in place

Huo Jianguo: "To be precise, I am a ghost scholar; I study ghosts."

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The woman twitched the corner of her mouth and said: "Perhaps my name is indeed a kind of omen... to die, to die... Soon I will be dying..."

The woman pulled the pillow slightly and tilted her neck: "What did you just say... what is your name again?"

The entire bed appears to be suspended by ropes

There was also another person on the door, closely pressed against the door panel, dressed in black, with a straight posture, staring at him.

He closed the door

Two coat racks stand against the wall, one of which is bare, while the other is adorned with a complete set of clothing, and even has a pair of leather shoes underneath, resembling a hollowed-out person

The woman fell silent, suddenly closing her eyes. After a while, she said: "Don't... waste your efforts... just go..."

Qu Si suddenly raised his fist and struck it against the bed, shouting: "I hate it... I hate it..." As he continued to shout, it transformed into: "I hate you... I hate you..."

Huo Jianguo: "May I sit down?"

The woman hanging upside down from the ceiling vanished from Huo Jianguo's line of sight as if she had teleported

He should have thought of it earlier

After a long while, Huo Jian returned and said: "There are no chairs in your room"

Huo Jian returned with a slight frown: "Him? Who?"

The edge of the bed is somewhat cool, as if one has touched a piece of icy stone

But you do not resemble a Taoist at all

The television is covered with a black curtain, the wardrobe is covered with a black curtain, the dressing table is covered with a black curtain, and the writing desk is covered with a black curtain

Your name is also inauspicious

In the entire room, apart from the mirrors on the walls and the two clothing racks, the most striking feature is undoubtedly the large bed that stands against the southern wall

Money will be given as promised

The trembling voice made Huo Jianguo's heart quiver as well

The air seems to have become thin in an instant, making breathing somewhat difficult

The curtains are deep blue, tightly covering the windows, allowing not a single ray of sunlight to penetrate.

The silence in the room feels unreal

Each wall surrounding the area has several glass panes

The 'he' that Qu Si mentioned is not a person, but rather this bed

This is a built-in glass door

On the bedside, there is a blood-red wax figure, which has only the upper body and no lower body. The wax figure has an expressionless face, staring intently ahead

At this moment, the woman was lying on her back on the bed, her legs exposed, whiter than her face

He believes that this face must be a bloody mess, very terrifying

He hurriedly looked down at his watch; the number displayed on the respiratory locator in his right hand was 3

Huo Jian returned with a slight bow of his head

If there are really ghosts, I can do without money

Huo Jianguo asked in a low voice: "Who is he?"

The blood color in the woman's eyes rippled once again, her lips quivered slightly, and then she turned around, bending at the waist and arching her back, walking exceptionally slowly into the room

Her eye sockets are deeply sunken, and her pupils are filled with clearly visible blood vessels.

The bed is very large, resembling a three-person bed

Huo Jianguo: "Having saved you, she will naturally be well."

After a long while, the woman suddenly said: "Can you really exorcise ghosts? Aren't you a psychologist?"

Huo Jianguo suddenly became alert, his eyes wide open

It seems that the image of the woman hanging upside down on the ceiling just now was formed by the refraction of these glasses back and forth. Perhaps, just a moment ago, the woman was lying on this piece of glass on the ground, which was the door that Huo Jianguo had just opened.

Suddenly, her eyes widened, her mouth opened, and she pointed at Huo Jianguo with a face full of panic

Suddenly, the curtains shook once more, and a beam of sunlight streamed in, precisely illuminating the face of the blood-red wax figure. The face was a mix of dark red and black, with hollow eyes, originally expressionless, but in the moment the sunlight faded, its expression seemed to undergo some change

He held that object in the palm of his hand and quietly placed it before his eyes

Just as it fell, not even a second had passed, when suddenly, a loud noise erupted.

He touched the edge of the bed

With his intuition, he knew that this bed was anything but ordinary, but he could not yet determine whether it was the bed he was looking for

He even caught a whiff of the metallic scent of blood on the clots, and he suddenly realized that the strange odor he had encountered upon first entering the room might very well be the scent of the blood clots on the bed

Suddenly, the deep blue curtains fluttered slightly, and a ray of sunlight shone in, appearing for a moment before quickly vanishing.

Someone is knocking on the door with great force

Creak!

The crimson bed let out a muffled sound

Qu Si's expression also changed; she suddenly became somewhat sullen

There is nothing outside the door

The woman's face finally emerged from her long, dark hair. Her face was not significantly different from that of an ordinary person, except that her complexion was unusually pale, exhibiting a sickly whiteness

I have just arrived

Huo Jianguig turned around and surveyed the room

Huo Jiangu raised his hand and gently poked at his reflection on the door

There are not thousands, but there are still eight hundred

At that moment, he turned his head and glanced at the clothes rack that resembled a hollow figure, silently nodding. Then, he turned back and looked at the large crimson bed, his voice very low as he pointed to the bed and said, "Are you referring to the bed?"

Tears rolled down onto the bed, quickly disappearing from sight

He let out a long sigh and suddenly fell backward.

Huo Jianguo: "I believe that there are certainly ghosts in this world, and there are quite a few of them."

The door is open

Four red ropes are tied at one end to the bedpost, while the other end is tied to these four large nails

With a bang, he fell onto the bed, landing right next to Qu Si.

Four red ropes, each the thickness of a thumb, are tied to the corners of the bed. The ropes are tightly wound around the bed legs, with the other ends secured to a large nail on the wall

Qu Si's body suddenly trembled, her expression tensing in an instant. She tilted her head to glance at the red wax figure by the bedside and whispered, "How many ghosts have you exorcised before..."

The room is somewhat dim, somewhat damp, and one might even say it has a rather eerie atmosphere

He groped along the edge of the bed, which was uneven and bumpy, and the carved runes on it seemed to represent some kind of special language

At that moment, a sound of flushing came from the restroom downstairs, and soon after, the restroom door opened, and Douya walked out

The other him in the mirror also wore a look of panic as he ran towards him

"Regarding ... ... it is the bed ... ... not the ghost on the bed ... ... it is the bed ... ... the bed itself is a ghost ... ... "

Huo Jianguo suddenly felt a bit fatigued, and after his eyelids stuck together a few times, they unexpectedly narrowed into slits

Qu Si extended her finger, reaching into the air, then slowly let it drop, touching the edge of the bed. Her voice became even softer, as if she were gasping: "It is... it..."

That bed also seemed to move slightly

He took a deep breath, looked at Qu Si, gently patted the wooden bed, and said in a low voice: "Miss Qu, let us talk about this ghost."

Huo Jianguo lightly bit his teeth, fixating on that bed, and muttered to himself: "Bed ghost, interesting."

The loud noise came from outside the door

The woman's voice trembled, just like her expression

Unintentionally, with a "click!", a small object suddenly fell from his finger onto the bed.

Suddenly, he felt that the foot of the bed had transformed into a human foot, with several thick and strong toes sticking out and curling towards him

There are two large nails on the south wall and two large nails on the north wall

The woman opened her eyes and glanced at Huo Jiangu, seemingly a bit surprised. Her neck moved slightly, and then her expression suddenly turned somewhat sorrowful: "No one can cure him... you shouldn't waste your efforts... the psychologist who came a few days ago is almost going crazy... you should go save her first..."

He even feels a sense of anticipation

The red string in the air emitted a strange 'squeaking' sound, as if several mice were calling out simultaneously

Oh... your name is very inauspicious... it is like seeing a ghost...

There is a panel under the bed, and in the middle of the panel are two small cabinets, which are locked

The two of them merged in front of the door

Huo Jian returned in silence

A loud sound of "Gada!"

Huo Jianguo took a deep breath and said softly: "I am Huo Jianguo, introduced by Ye Qian."

The bed frame is crimson, darkening to a deep red, exactly like in the photograph, just as he had imagined it.

After the sound, there was a profound silence in the room

Unless what

Huo Jianguo leaped out of bed and ran towards the door.

Huo Jianguo finally sat on the bed

The door features a pane of glass, a very thin type that is almost tightly embedded within the door, resembling a layer of film

At that moment, he suddenly felt a strange force emanating from the bed, a force that was calling to him, driving him...

The woman slowly said: "The bed... is simply the largest chair."

Who are you

Unless ... ... he lets you sit ... ...

Her eye sockets were deeply sunken, and her eyeballs were filled with blood vessels. One of her hands rested on the door frame, while the other slowly lifted, curving and pointing towards Huo Jianguo

He stared blankly at the woman hanging from the ceiling in the room, waiting for her to reveal her face.

The blood vessels in her eyeball rippled for a moment, and then her gaze underwent some changes

Tears streamed from the corners of her eyes, though it was unclear whether they were tears of fear or tears of pain

The blood vessels in her eyes writhed incessantly, like restless and angry earthworms. She suddenly turned around, propping herself up on the bed, her hips raised in the air, and whispered: "It is it... that makes me live... and also makes me die... it is it... that torments me every night, preventing me from sleeping... it is it... it is it..."

Qu Si curled up her body, her shoulders raised, appearing exceptionally tense. She said softly, "Then you... have you... seen... him... or not..."

Huo Jianguo stood at the door, motionless

He encountered a hard object

Suddenly, he noticed that the grayish-white long robe, which had been arranged in a human shape on the sofa downstairs, was gone

Huo Jian returned and slightly shook his head, and upon looking again, the foot of the bed had returned to normal

During this period of silence, he meticulously observed the bed, noticing some peculiar patterns on the edge of the bed, which were engraved as if they were a mural.

Huo Jian returned, staring at her without blinking, his body upright, all his muscles tensed, and his right hand firmly gripping the handle of the black umbrella

He rushed out of the room, glanced left and right; the door to Douya's room was open, while the other room was tightly shut, and there was no one downstairs

Huo Jianguo stood at the head of the bed, intently gazing at the woman

That appears to be a blood clot, a coagulated blood clot

The woman seemed to have found a kindred spirit, her expression softened considerably. She looked at Huo Jianguo and said: "At first glance, I thought you were a serious scholar, but I didn't expect... that you actually do this... You are quite an odd person..."

After the muffled sound, the red string in the air twisted a few times, emitting a series of "squeaking" noises

Huo Jianguo glanced at the few red strings and followed them to the foot of the bed

There is a scent of medicine in the air, mingled with a faint fishy odor

This is a strange number

This room resembles a black hole, specifically designed to absorb light

Huo Jianguo turned his head, smiled slightly at Douya, and then stepped inside

Suddenly, the woman let out a faint low moan

Huo Jian returned and forcefully pulled open the door

The bean sprouts were贴在 the wall beside, gazing in astonishment at Huo Jiangu.

Huo Jian returned and, unable to control himself, unexpectedly sat down with a thud.

Upon entering, he was taken aback

"Not allowed ... ... unless ... ..."

The woman's eyes were fixed intently on Huo Jianguo

No, it refers to the back of Huo Jiangu's body

Whose idea is it ... ... does it matter

At this moment, with a creaking sound, the door slowly opened once again

After a few strikes, she suddenly lay down on the bed, pressing her entire body against the surface, her face also against the bed, her mouth twisted. With her mouth askew, she shouted loudly: "I do not hate you... I love you... I love you..."

Are you also here to treat my illness

Huo Jianguo's muscles suddenly relaxed all over his body

His heart thumped once

Huo Jian returned suddenly enlightened

The woman was momentarily taken aback, her pupils dilating instantly, and the fingers that were curved in mid-air suddenly froze.

Huo Jian returned a faint smile, still fixated on the wooden bed: "Only strange people can do strange things"

Inside the door stands a person, a woman, with her hair cascading down, dressed in white. Her white attire is irregularly adorned with some red spots, resembling individual red eyeballs, which are staring intently at Huo Jiangu.

The woman fell into silence

He saw countless versions of himself in the room, indistinct and swaying, each one staring at him.

Thus, calling me here was not your idea

My name is Huo Jianguo

Even on the ground, there is a pane of glass

Huo Jianguo took a light breath, placed the black umbrella on the nearby cabinet, approached the bedside, and reached out to touch.

Huo Jian returned, slightly taken aback.

The woman suddenly let out a long sigh, her legs twisted together: "You believe... that there are ghosts in this world... don't you?"

Douya stood downstairs, looking up at Huo Jiangu.

No, I am here to exorcise the spirits

Having said that, her legs moved slightly on the bed

The shadowy images within the room, of course, are all reflections cast by the glass

He did not move, not because he was afraid to move, but because he did not want to move

A sound emanated from within the door, deep and oppressive, slow like the worn and neglected gears of an old machine