No, to be precise, it wasn't a thing, but a head, an incredibly terrifying head.

He appeared out of nowhere, staring intently at me with bloodshot eyes. The distance between us was only a door, no more than ten centimeters.

Actually, calling them eyes isn't quite accurate, because there are only two eye holes, surrounded by complete darkness, with something pulsating in the center that looks like blood or a crimson flame.

His face resembled withered old tree bark, or a skull, covered by a wrinkled, grayish-black human skin. To be more specific, the skin was covered with patches of lividity, making it extremely terrifying.

What terrifies me most is his mouth, which is now wearing a strange smile, with both lips turning bluish-purple and the corners of his mouth curving up slightly.

Suddenly, his mouth parted slightly, and a scarlet tongue covered with countless black dots slowly licked his upper lip, as if it had discovered some delicious food.

And the black marks on his neck—I finally understood what they meant. They must be marks left from hanging. Combined with those worn-out shoes, wasn't this the thing in the shack next to the courier station wall?

Is he a ghost or a zombie?

Whatever it is, it's all the same to me—the same fear, the same chilling feeling.

At that moment, I was trembling all over, my teeth were chattering, my face was pale, the muscles in my face were twitching, my forehead was covered in cold sweat, and my back was ice cold.

"A ghost!" I yelled. I don't know where the strength came from, but I suddenly exerted force with my hands on the ground and my whole body instantly sprang up. I tried to run backward, but before I could run a few steps, I crashed into the bed and fell to the ground with a thud.

The room is only so big, and because this dormitory room is on the first floor, there are no windows, only small blinds. There's that thing standing at the door, where else could I run to?

I can't escape at all.

The room was pitch black, amplifying the already terrifying atmosphere many times over.

I trembled as I reached out and turned on the light, then curled up on the bed and shouted, "What are you? Why are you targeting me?"

At this moment, I was devastated. I had already run away to live elsewhere, so why were they still bothering me? They had even tracked me down here. Did they really not intend to let me go?

What did I do to offend him? Why is he targeting me?

Although there was no sound outside at the moment, the thought of that terrifying thing, separated from me by only a thin wooden door, made my heart pound with anxiety. I was terrified that it would kick the door open or appear right in front of me through the door.

Just then, there was another knock on the door. "Knock knock knock knock!"

My nerves tightened once again. It was then that I suddenly remembered that there were four knocks on the door. When I was a child, I heard the old people in the village say that a person knocks on the door three times, while a ghost knocks on the door four times.

"Go away, I won't open the door for you," I shouted in a trembling voice towards the door.

I remembered the nightmare I had last night, in which this guy came looking for me. Was that a nightmare too?

Thinking of this, I raised my hand and slapped it hard against my left cheek.

"Smack!"

"hiss!"

I gasped in pain, tears welling in my eyes. The burning sensation on my face told me clearly that this was all real, not a dream.

"Knock knock knock knock!"

"Zuo Changming, open the door! I've been looking for you everywhere!"

A middle-aged man's weathered voice sounded from outside the door, ethereal and clear, as if it were in front of me, yet also behind me. The 40-watt incandescent light bulb in the room did not give me even the slightest sense of security.

“You…where…came from…go back to where you came from, I…I don’t…don’t know you, what…why are you looking for me?” My teeth were chattering wildly, and it was difficult for me to utter a single coherent sentence.

"Hehe, of course I want you to come with me..." The middle-aged voice rang out again from outside the door, "Can you come and open the door, or I'll just go in by myself."

"No, don't come any closer!" I yelled, pulling the blanket over my head.

"Creak!"

The door seemed to be opened, and then I heard that terrifying voice, "Zuo Changming, I'm in. Where are you?"

As soon as I finished speaking, I heard footsteps approaching from afar, as if they were walking towards me.

I knew hiding under the covers was pointless, but I didn't dare open my eyes to look at that terrifying thing. I could only grip the blanket tightly and shout in a hoarse voice, "Why won't you let me go? Why?"

"Hehe, I'll let you go, but who has ever let me go? Once I've drained you dry, I can leave."

"Why did you have to come to me of all those people?" My palms were sweaty, soaking the blanket, but I still held on tightly, afraid that if I let go, the blanket would be torn off.

"I came to tell you, there are only two days left, haha, only two days left, you are mine, you are mine, this is your destiny, you can't escape it, you can't escape it." A weathered voice rang in my ears, and even through the blanket, I could almost feel it. Right now, there was a dirty thing with a bark-like face in front of my bed, slowly moving closer and closer to my face.

I felt like my heart was about to burst from the tension. Maybe the evil thing wouldn't kill me, but I'd be scared to death first.

No, I absolutely cannot be scared to death like this. Just like Li Yunlong in Bright Sword said, even if I have to die, I want to die on the way to the front. Damn it, I might as well fight him to the death.

"You bastard, aren't you trying to harm me? I'll fight you to the death!" I suddenly roared, threw off the covers, sat up abruptly, didn't even look in front of me, clenched my fists, and punched forward with all my might.

My punch missed. There was nothing in front of me. The dormitory was empty. There was no dirt left. The wooden door at the entrance was still tightly closed.

Am I hallucinating?

Just then, there was another knock on the door.

"Knock knock knock!"

My heart tightened again. I clenched my fists, and with a death-defying determination, I was about to go over, open the door, and fight that filthy thing.

Just as I was halfway there, another voice rang out from outside the door, "Feng Liu, what's going on? Shouting like that in the middle of the night, have you gone crazy?"

I stopped abruptly upon hearing this. I recognized the voices outside; they were the security guards at the gate. I didn't say anything, but kept my fists clenched.

"Knock knock knock!"

Just then, there was another knock on the door.

This time I heard it clearly, only three sounds, which means that the person outside is a person, the security guard.

"Feng Liu, are you talking in your sleep? Can you keep your voice down? I can hear you from the security room."

Upon hearing this, I breathed a long sigh of relief; the person outside the door was undoubtedly the security guard.

"Uncle, I just had a nightmare and I was talking in my sleep," I said, pinching my nose.

"Keep your voice down when you talk in your sleep. Okay, I'm going back to rest now. Oh, by the way, next time you watch porn, remember to keep your voice down. I could hear you from the security room. Be mindful of your behavior."

"I understand." I blushed slightly and said awkwardly.

The security guard left, but I was still sitting blankly on the bed.

Was I really hallucinating?

I checked the time; it was 4 PM, and there were still two hours until dawn.

I didn't dare to go to sleep, so I took out my phone and played with it until dawn.

Looking through the blinds, I saw that it was already daylight outside. I quickly got up, tidied the bed, grabbed my things, opened the door, and went out.

As soon as I came out, what I saw made my face change drastically, and I unconsciously took a step back.