124: Chapter 124 East Meets West

Just as the Old Woman said, "It's probably because you've been working too hard lately and misheard," a hair-raising voice suddenly drifted into her ears.

"I was originally a daughter of the Song, but I loathe that heartless man for losing his conscience. He spoke of flowers blooming, the moon being full, and long lives for us both, yet the vast rivers and mountains are filled with so much sorrow..."

PS: Excerpt from the Peking Opera "Song of Everlasting Sorrow."

Peking opera—those who know, know. The singing style, with its long, drawn-out 'yi-yi-ya-ya' and constant trills, combined with the fact that 'Song of Everlasting Sorrow' depicts Han Yuniang's tragic emotions—that ethereal and resentful quality... tsk tsk. Just looking at the Old Woman, who was now like a cat with its fur standing on end, one could tell how explosive the effect of this track, specially arranged by An Xiaonuan, truly was.

"Aaaaah~~ A ghost!" An incredibly sharp howl shattered the silence of the night.

The sound clearly reached downstairs.

Chen Sheng and An Xiaonuan looked at each other and immediately grinned like weasels that had just stolen a chicken.

"Let's see if we can't scare them to death." Holding Chen Sheng's phone, An Xiaonuan decided to give them something big. First, she activated all the bone conduction speakers through the connected devices, then she turned the volume to the maximum, and finally, her finger tapped on 'Nuan Nuan's Selected Songs.'

Upstairs, after 'Song of Everlasting Sorrow' began to play, the Old Woman rushed out of the bathroom wailing. She ran with a clear goal toward the bedroom where her grandson was, while shouting instructions, "Quick, Yan'er, turn on all the lights in the house!"

The Old Woman rushed into the bedroom and scooped up her Good Grandson along with the thin quilt he was covered with. Just as she was about to rush out, she heard those strange sounds again.

"The bright moon sheds its light, as the yin wind blows through the willow alley.

It is a female ghost searching for her beloved.

Who would be willing to love a tragic Ghost Bride?

Accompanying the female ghost, secretly worshipping the moonlight in the deep of night.

The bright moon sheds its light, as a vengeful ghost drifts in the wind.

The night grows deeper, the mist grows colder.

Wandering souls tread everywhere upon the silent, lonely road.

Searching for a substitute, as the yin wind blows against the cold moonlight..."

PS: "Ghost Bride."

"Aaaaah~~" A scream, even sharper and longer than before, echoed far into the quiet night.

In the residential area, lights began to flicker back on in many dark rooms amidst a flurry of cursing.

"Which immoral bastard isn't sleeping in the middle of the night..."

"What the hell are you howling for? Did someone die or was your ancestral grave dug up? You might not want to sleep, but I have to work tomorrow, damn it."

"Dammit, raising a dog is annoying enough, now the dogs have stopped barking and the people have started, is that it?!"

On the 16th floor, Unit 3, in the apartment rented by the young couple, Chen Sheng and An Xiaonuan, the two of them heard the hysterical screams from upstairs again. They immediately broke into mischievous laughter, and An Xiaonuan even rolled around on the bed twice in silence.

"No! No! I'm laughing away all my merit." An Xiaonuan quickly fumbled for her phone and opened the Electronic Wooden Fish app. Soon, the 'thump, thump, thump' of the wooden fish being tapped echoed in the room.

"I'll go clean up the scene. Tap it a few times for me too." His laughter subsiding, Chen Sheng stood up with a smile and said.

An Xiaonuan silently gave Chen Sheng an "OK" sign... no, more accurately, it was a Lotus Hand gesture. At this moment, she had already entered Cyber Cultivation mode.

Meanwhile, on the 17th floor, Unit 3, when 'Ghost Bride' was played at full power, the prehistoric power within the Old Woman was instantly activated. Holding her Good Grandson, she charged out of the bedroom, out of the house, and into the elevator at a speed of 120 mph.

After rushing into the elevator, the Old Woman showed the same heroism she used when snatching eggs at the supermarket. She cradled her Good Grandson with one hand, while the other moved so fast it left afterimages, first pressing the button for the 1st floor, then frantically tapping the 'close door' button.

Tap tap tap tap...

It was as if she was terrified that if the doors closed a second late, something unimaginable would slip inside.

No, she was certain that if they closed a second late, a 'thing' would slip into the elevator.

While she was sprinting, she had glimpsed a dark shadow following her out of the corner of her eye more than once.

However, that 'thing' wasn't what she imagined. It was actually Yan He, who had been scared out of her wits seeing the Old Woman bolt out the door and had instinctively started running after her.

Yan He had wanted to slip into the elevator too, but the doors closed in the blink of an eye. This illogical scene made her scalp tingle instantly. The next second, her legs gave way, and she slumped onto the floor. A shrill "Mom~~" seemed to be forced out of her throat.

After the shout ended, Yan He's body gave a violent shudder, and a puddle appeared out of nowhere beneath her—the smell was truly something else.

But at this moment, Yan He didn't notice this at all, or rather, she no longer cared. Her vacant eyes were fixed on the elevator display, watching the numbers representing the floors as they constantly changed.

Creak~

Creak~

With a few faint "creaks," other residents on the 17th floor, whose curiosity had been piqued by the noise, quietly opened their doors.

A man poked his head out and whispered to a neighbor who was also peeking out, "What's the situation?"

"I just put on my clothes and came out, but I thought I heard someone screaming 'ghost' while I was in my room."

"Holy crap! Don't scare people in the middle of the night."

"Why would I scare you?" The neighbor stepped out of his door, looked around cautiously, and then leaned in close to the man to whisper, "I really heard it. Do you think we actually ran into one of those things?"

After saying this, the neighbor instinctively huddled his shoulders, feeling an inexplicable cold wind blowing against the back of his neck.

"Harmonious society!" the neighbor said, his expression suddenly becoming solemn.

"Harmonious society!" the man echoed.

Then the two looked at each other and said in unison, "Shall we take a look?"

The two of them laughed.

Although their faces still carried the instinctive fear of the unknown, their curiosity about it had already triumphed over everything.

"Going now?" the man asked softly.

"Let's go!" The neighbor nodded, but just as he stepped out, he quickly pulled his foot back. "Wait, let me grab some gear."

The neighbor vanished into his room like a gust of wind and ran back to the door just as quickly. Compared to before, however, he was now wearing a windbreaker and holding a high-powered flashlight.

But at this moment, the man's attention was entirely captured by the object in the neighbor's other hand.

The man's eyes lit up, and he instinctively swallowed. "Is that peach wood?"

The neighbor brandished the Peach Wood Sword in his hand boastfully. "How about it? After I bought it, I specifically took it to the Thousand Buddha Temple and had them keep it for seven days. It's a genuine consecrated item."

"Wait, why do you have something like that at home?" the man asked, puzzled.

The neighbor waved his hand and answered casually, "Me? I'm into Night Fishing."

With those words, everything that seemed illogical was explained.

"Shall we?" The neighbor was the first to step out of the door.

"Wait!" the man called out hurriedly.

"Now what?" The neighbor gave the man a determined look, then glanced at the gear in his hand, his eyes silently saying, "With this equipment, if you support me, I'll carry."

The man used his gaze to silently tell the neighbor to stay calm. "Just a moment, I'll grab some gear too."

The man also slipped into his room like a gust of wind and soon ran back to the door, straightening his collar. "Now we can go."

"Holy crap!" The neighbor looked at the transformed man and exclaimed in a hushed voice, "Your outfit is a bit of a cheat, isn't it?!"

The man, who was originally in his pajamas, now had a yellow robe (a yellow delivery uniform) on the inside, and a low-budget version of an incarnation of justice (a security uniform) draped on the outside. In his left hand, he held Jesus's instrument of torture (a cross crudely tied together with chopsticks), and in his right hand, he fiddled with two specially-prepared hidden weapons (two heads of garlic).

"I figured there are quite a few foreigners in this neighborhood. In case it's a Western thing, I'm adding some insurance," the man explained with feigned nonchalance, but the slight curl of his lips gave everything away.

Fortunately, the neighbor's attention was entirely captured by the man's getup, so he didn't notice that small detail. The neighbor pointed at the two highly clashing pieces of clothing on the man. "Why do you have two such unrelated things in your house?"

"Sigh!" the man explained plainly. "The industry hasn't been doing well these last two years, so I've been doing part-time delivery at night. I ended up meeting a lot of security guards who looked down their noses at everyone, acting like they were superior. I thought maybe the pay was high, so I went and found a part-time job as a security guard."

"Holy crap! You couldn't beat them, so you joined them!" The neighbor saw through to the essence and asked curiously, "So, how's the pay for a security guard?"

"Pah!" The man spat, his face full of disdain. "It's only a bit more than my part-time job, and every day you have to face the homeowners like a grandson. I've realized it now—those bastards are purely looking for a sense of balance from people like us. Dammit, if the security guards in our neighborhood were like that, I would've kicked them out long ago."

The man raised the cross. "With our blend of East and West, we'll sweep through everything."

...