The car wobbled and veered to a halt before a building, a six-storey structure reminiscent of the older houses of the nineties era where an entire family could own a whole building.
A woman stood blindfolded at the entrance door, holding a long stick. Hearing the sound of the car, she couldn’t help but laugh in delight, the car veered towards her direction, mimicking her unsteady stance.
The car moved at a snail’s pace, the woman struck the iron plate on the ground with her stick, resulting in a ’clang, clang, clang’ sound.
The driver, a man, leaned to one side, attentively listening to the sound. As the car drew nearer, the thump of her stick against the iron plate grew louder, whenever the plate was a certain distance from the woman, she would lift her stick and swing strongly.
The stick had struck the rear of the car, the driver heaved a sigh of relief. Only when the woman’s stick hit the car would it mean that they were now properly parked. They had parked here so as to ensure they would not see any of the monsters when they left the house, by blinding themselves. This was also the strategy they used to protect their lives.
However, with the blindfold on, finding the car would be a tricky task. If they parked haphazardly, finding the car next time would be impossible. Therefore, they could only park the car at one specific spot and locate it by feeling their way on their next trip.
"Alright, we’re here. Let’s get out of the car."
The man in the driver’s seat said, the others in the car quickly pulled up the cloth tied around their necks to cover their eyes, and delicately stepped out of the car.
Bai Xinran groped around with her hands until she felt a corner of the car, she then followed it, leaving the car. Once her hands no longer touched anything, a wave of unease washed over her her head swinging all around, as if searching for something.
For the first time, she had stepped out of the house blindfolded, like a blind person. This was a huge change for her, a person with a very normal, healthy body, not deaf nor mute. Despite this, there was no choice, she had to do it!
"Auntie, where are you?"
"I’m here, where are you? Come over here."
With a trembling voice, Bai Xinran asked. Everything she saw was pitch-black, a wave of fear spread within her. The reassuring voice of Qiongli came from the side, seemingly from the left.
Step by step, she cautiously moved to the left, Qiongli’s comforting and encouraging voice following her all the way.
"I can smell you, where are you?"
"Auntie Qiongli, I think I’m on your left..."
"On the left, right? Stretch out your hand, let me see if I can touch you."
"Just walk straight, it’ll feel strange for the first time. But after a few times, you’ll get used to it."
While the two were communicating, the man beside them made a sound. Judging by the distance from where his voice emanated, it seemed as if he was already at the door.
Bai Xinran stretched out her hand and waved it, unable to touch Qiongli. She took a step forward and this time, she touched something. It felt like a human body...
"Auntie, I’ve touched you!" she exclaimed in delight.
"What? Where are you? I didn’t feel anything!"
Bai Xinran was taken aback, her body trembling slightly. With disbelief, she moved her hand upwards a bit more.
"Who is it?" Qiongli hastily queried. She randomly groped about but found nothing.
Bai Xinran continued stretching her hand forwards, as she was feeling about, she noticed the figure in front of her bending down slowly. Then, she felt something sharp and rigid, it wasn’t just one but a row of such things!
"What...what is this?"
She moved her hand further up and felt another row of the same thing. At the same time, she felt the figure in front of her bending down with her actions, it seemed to be very tall, she only reached its waist...
Suddenly, she realised that what she had touched was not a person, but a ghost, as described in the survivors’ accounts.
A startlingly loud scream echoed throughout the street, jolting countless people.
"Xinran! What happened?!"
"Auntie, I...I, I...I touched a ghost! Ahh!"
Bai Xinran collapsed onto the ground, terror draining the color from her face. A gust of wind blew, carrying with it a sickening stench, she felt the monster bending its head towards hers.
In that moment, her entire body froze, wanting to move but not daring to. Cold sweat trickled down her forehead, drop by drop.
"Heh heh, gaga gaga...remove the cloth covering your eyes, beautiful girl. I’m very beautiful; don’t you want a look? Heh heh heh..."
A harsh, nasty voice echoed in her ear, a cold, slender hand touched her face and she could feel the unnaturally long and sharp nails on that hand gleaming with a terrifying cold light!
The three-word phrase flashed in her mind. She felt a strong wave of fear engulfing her, almost suffocating her.
Its voice seemed to have the power to bewitch, unknowingly, she found her hand inching towards her blindfold. Just as she was about to remove it, a man let out a roar of rage and fired his shotgun into the sky.
The gunshot was loud and abrupt, it appeared to have scared the monster which abruptly withdrew its hand from Bai Xinran’s face and also allowed her to snap out of her trance, a chill running down her spine.
The man was quick on his feet, even with a blindfold on. After firing a shot, he immediately rolled forward, grabbed Bai Xinran’s clothes by feeling his way, and then pulled her into the house.
"Foreign woman, throw your child forward!"
Hearing his voice, Qiongli hesitated, after a while, she didn’t throw the child. She was blindfolded, and facing other people who were also blindfolded, she didn’t trust them.
"Then hurry over here! Can you touch the car at your side?"
Qiongli reached out, brushed around, and felt the body of the car.
"Find the rearview mirror and run forward!"
Holding Nannan with one arm, Qiongli took a large stride forward. After a second, her hand touched the surface of the rearview mirror. She then decisively broke into a run, without caring whether she would run into a wall or not.
Fortunately, she bumped into a person, who pulled them both inside.
A chilling roar sounded from a distance, seemingly right outside the door.
The man holding the shotgun saw everyone enter the house, he was relieved. However, he didn’t stop his actions. He pointed his gun outwards and fired.
The sound of flesh being torn apart resonated, accompanied by dark green blood mixed with black and red clots splashing onto him. The door panel and the floor behind the door were all splattered with rotten flesh.
They had managed to survive this threat for now.
He slammed the door shut. When everyone removed their blindfolds, they saw the lump of rotten flesh and a few people curiously poked at it with their sticks.
"Why is that thing so gross?"
With Nannan in one arm, Qiongli looked down, then instinctively turned to the windows covered tightly with newspapers.
"I wonder if Li Henian is still alive?"