Opposite the mortuary: One day, more than ten of us, a bunch of friends, went to KTV to sing. Naturally, there had to be girls, but among them, one girl was quite unusual. She didn't talk, didn't sing, didn't drink, and I didn't even know whose friend she was—so boring, why come out if you're not going to join in? So I occasionally observed her (purely innocent observation). I noticed that aside from talking to one of my friends, she ignored everyone else. I didn't think much of it; we were out to have fun, if she wasn't playing, there were plenty of others.
When we were done and went out ready to part ways, I secretly glanced at her again. Whoa! Is this even human? Her face showed no vitality, no expression, and it felt eerie to look at her. Were it not daytime, I would have thought I ran into a ghost. I had been to a mortuary before and seen their manager, who often dealt with the dead. That manager's face was also pale, expressionless, and when speaking only his mouth moved—otherwise, he was no different from a corpse. So I concluded that this girl must often be entangled with unclean spirits.
To further confirm my thoughts, I decided to get closer to the girl. Luckily, I had a good relationship with her friend, so I took the opportunity to call her friend over and told her I wanted to meet that girl and asked for an introduction. She said with ill intent, “Kid, you're out of luck, she has a boyfriend!” I was speechless at the time. I told her to stop talking nonsense and quickly introduce me. I had serious business! Soon, she brought the girl over. I politely extended my right hand and said, “Hello, I'm Wang Jun. Pleased to meet you.” She also shook my hand politely, saying, “Zhang Ran.”
The moment our hands touched, I knew I had guessed correctly, because her hand was very cold, with almost no warmth at all. To further confirm my suspicion, I boldly asked, “Why is your hand so cold? Are you sick?” She said it was nothing, that she had always been frail and naturally cold since childhood, often needing IV drips. I figured I was overthinking, so we exchanged a few pleasantries, left phone numbers, and parted ways.
Until one day, it was Zhang Ran's birthday, and she invited us to celebrate at her home. I originally thought there would be many people, but unexpectedly, including her, there were only three of us.Her home is on the first floor, with three bedrooms and two living rooms, and the decor is pretty nice. However, the surrounding environment isn't very good. Next to the building is a hospital, and there is also a vacant lot nearby that hasn't been taken care of for a long time, with grass taller than a person. Since we arrived in the afternoon, we planned to have dinner before heading back, and because she tends to stay at home, we spent the entire afternoon chatting.
Zhang Ran told me that the house was very cheap when she bought it because it wasn't clean. The window in her bedroom faces directly toward the morgue window of the hospital, and next to the morgue is the vacant lot, with nothing but grass. Perhaps because of the morgue, her home is rarely peaceful at night. When she first moved in, on the very first night, she heard someone calling her name continuously, at one point calling the number of her toes, but she didn't dare respond. She also heard the clattering of pots and pans falling to the floor in the kitchen, and the bathroom light kept turning on and off. She didn't sleep all night and only felt a bit drowsy when the strange noises disappeared at dawn. In the morning, she checked the kitchen and bathroom, but nothing was wrong, and her family said nothing had happened, so she just treated it as if nothing occurred. Even now, several months later, such strange things almost happen every night, and she has gotten used to them. Now, if there's no electricity at night, she actually can't sleep.
We kept listening to Zhang Ran's stories and unconsciously, it was already time for dinner. We were too lazy to go out to eat, so we wanted to see if there was something nearby that we could buy. Zhang Ran said that there was a barbecue stall on the road near the hospital, which had almost everything and tasted quite good, so we could buy from there. Checking the time, it was past 10 p.m., and we could take the back gate of the community, which would be closer. There is a small path beside the hospital that leads to the back gate, but taking it would mean going past the morgue. The two girls looked at me eagerly, and I knew what they were thinking. I awkwardly cleared my throat and said, 'Don't expect me to go alone; if we go, we go together.' Just like that, we set off. After heading out, we ran quickly through the small path, and as we passed the morgue, I even deliberately looked inside. There was no movement, and I immediately felt braver.
When we got to the barbecue stall, we just ordered some things and rushed the vendor to cook quickly because the community back gate would lock at 11. If we didn't make it, we would have to take a much longer route. After waiting a long time, our food was finally cooked.Hurriedly paying for the things, we rushed back. I noticed it was just three minutes to 11; if we didn't hurry, we'd have to leave through the main gate. At that moment, we saw a girl in a white dress ahead, and it seemed like she was also planning to go back through the back gate of the community. I held them back and said, 'Do you see that girl ahead? She's definitely going through the small gate, so we don't need to rush. If she can get through, we can too. If she can't, it proves the gate is already locked; rushing won't help.' They agreed repeatedly, even mocking me, saying that a little girl dared to walk the small path alone, yet I, a grown man, didn't dare. My face flushed instantly, speechless and stunned.
Just as they were teasing me, we saw the girl enter through the small gate. 'Haha, so lucky, the gate isn't locked yet. Let's hurry back; otherwise, the barbecue will get cold and won't taste good.' But when we reached the small gate, the three of us were speechless—it was locked! We looked carefully all around; there wasn't a trace of the girl. Cold sweat ran all over us. The entire way from the barbecue stand to the small gate had no turns, and from the small gate to the intersection ahead was at least several dozen meters, so it was impossible for her to have gotten there so fast. Moreover, she had always been ahead of us. One person can be mistaken, but it's impossible for all three of us to be wrong! At that moment, we just wanted to eat quickly and then head home.
When we passed by the hospital, we saw some commotion at the entrance. After asking around, we learned that less than an hour earlier, a little girl had suddenly suffered a heart attack and died despite resuscitation efforts. Upon hearing this, the three of us immediately understood what had happened. No one dared to speak, and we didn't eat anything; I directly took a taxi home, while Zhang Ran stayed at another friend's place.
Since then, we have never mentioned this incident again, and even if we did, no one would believe it. Now, the hospital has been demolished, the empty land has been built over, and nothing unusual has happened to that family. May the little girl reincarnate peacefully!