1 The Neighbor’s Smile

"Next, we interrupt the broadcast to report on several supernatural incidents in this city. Once again, I solemnly remind all citizens to pay attention to their personal safety and not to carelessly touch strangers or strange objects."

"On October 3rd, a homeless man on the overpass suddenly went crazy and killed three people who were on a marathon at night. According to witnesses, the scene was extremely bloody and there was no way that any sane person could have committed it!"

"On October 4th, a family of five who were camping outdoor were found to have drowned. When their bodies were fished out, all five of them had strange smiles on their faces. The cause of the drowning is still unknown!"

"On October 5th, an old man who was known to be critically ill had strangled his own granddaughter with a rope. After killing her, he ignited the furniture and caused a fire. A cult-like sacrificial pattern was found at the scene of the fire..."

As Xu Ning watched the broadcast on the television and news, he felt increasingly uneasy as he watched on.

He looked out of the window at the gloomy sky. It was as if there was a faint layer of blood-colored fog shrouding the city, he suddenly felt that it was hard for him to breathe.

Ever since the moon turned red for some reason a month ago, all kinds of supernatural incidents started occurring, and rumors were being spread across the internet. In the past few days, dozens of supernatural incidents had appeared all over the world.

There was a popular saying on the internet, "Hell has descended. The Devil wants to cleanse the human world."

Xu Ning collected his thoughts and looked at the goatskin mural on the wall beside the television. His expression was unusually solemn.

This goatskin mural was a family heirloom. It was something passed down from the ancestors.

In the memories that Xu Ning had received, this goatskin mural was clearly a landscape mural.

But...what about this mural in front of him?

It depicted a few half-naked girls with light cloths covering their bodies. They were surrounded by a big fluffy blanket. Some of them had faint red spots on their chests. They were crouching by the side of the bed, pretending to feed milk. It made one's body burn with lust.

Some of the graceful girls were rubbing their legs, and their eyes were half open and glazed. They looked at the man on the bed, and in their eyes, there was a look that seemed as if they wanted to swallow him whole..!

No matter how Xu Ning looked at such a lewd and bizarre goatskin mural, he was unable to connect it to the ancestral landscape mural in his memory.

"No matter how I look at it, I feel like with this thing hanging in my house. Sooner or later, disaster will come to my house. If the dozen or so beautiful little b*tches on that mural surround me, I'll definitely squeeze them dry in no time!"

Xu Ning felt that the changes in the mural had something to do with the frequent occurrence of supernatural events, and he felt inexplicably restless.

He subconsciously touched the ring on his right hand, and he felt much more at ease.

Xu Ning went to his computer, and opened his browser to look at the history, then he entered the local forum.

Currently, the internet was flooded with news about supernatural events. Even those who had not personally come into contact with supernatural events were feeling anxious at this moment.

[Old Bridge City District: A lonely old man drowned in a washbasin. There were no signs of struggle before his death!]

Xu Ning casually clicked open a post.

The time of the post was seven or eight days ago. Old Bridge City District was only more than thirty kilometers away from Xu Ning.

If it had been a month ago, there would have been a large number of atheists jumping out to claim that it was fake news.

However, looking at the comment section now, it was full of comments asking the people to pray to the Buddha so that they would not be visited by evil spirits.

"If praying to the gods was useful, then not so many people would have died!"

Xu Ning could not help but laugh, and he continued scrolling through the forum.

He scrolled all the way to the bottom of the forum, but he did not see any posts about the contents of the goatskin mural.

However, a post that had just popped up after the browser was refreshed immediately attracted Xu Ning's attention.

[The Scissor Demon, Old Madam Wu, has appeared in the Copper Seal Residential Area. Two murders have been committed. Please pay attention to this person!]

Xu Ning was shocked when he saw this. 'Copper Seal Residential Area?'

"Isn't this my old residential area? I know that old Madam Wu. She used to sell cloth shoes at the entrance of the residential area. It was said that when she was young, she was a beautiful tailor who was famous throughout the countryside. She was especially good at making women's wedding dresses!"

He felt a chill down his spine. Previously, he thought that supernatural incidents would not come to him so quickly. He had not expected that a similar supernatural incident had happened in the same residential area.

Xu Ning's face was extremely solemn as he clicked on the details of the post.

"At seven o'clock in the evening, Old Lady Wu, who sold cloth shoes in the Copper Seal Residential Area, suddenly went crazy and stabbed a passing girl to death with scissors!"

"According to witnesses, Old Lady Wu asked the girl for red dye and said that she wanted to make a big red wedding dress. The deceased ignored her and was subsequently pierced through the aorta by Old Lady Wu with scissors. The girl died of shock before the police arrived..."

Xu Ning jumped up from his chair.

"This is too much. Old Lady Wu actually used the girl's blood as dye and then knitted a red wedding dress? She was not part of an evil cult, was she?"

He was about to continue browsing and see what would happen next.

Dong dong dong...

Dong dong dong…

At this moment, there was an urgent knock on the door outside the living room.

Xu Ning was stunned when he heard the knock on the door. He frowned, stood up, and walked out of the room.

At this time, who would come looking for him?

After Xu Ning left, the post on his computer screen gradually turned blood red. Amidst the blood red, a strange smiling face appeared. In the end, it slowly disappeared, and the screen turned into the appearance of the desktop.

…

"Who is it?"

Xu Ning felt.

A somewhat familiar voice of an old man sounded from outside the door. "It's me, Little Xu."

"Uncle Zhang?"

Xu Ning looked through the peephole. Uncle Zhang was the old man who lived on the same floor across from him.

It was said that Uncle Zhang was a veteran who had truly participated in the war and killed people. However, he had no children and had been living in Copper Seal Residential Area ever since he retired. He was definitely an old resident.

"It's like this, Little Xu. Our neighborhood is under lockdown. The old men who usually play chess are all trapped at home and can't get out. I'm going to have a go with you."

The wariness in Xu Ning's heart was immediately reduced by more than half.

Uncle Zhang did not have many hobbies. One was fishing, and the other was playing chess. The old man's personality was very straightforward.

"Come on, old man, I'm no match for you. Since we're under lockdown, why don't we just stay at home?"

Although he was less worried, Xu Ning still had no intention of opening the door.

When Uncle Zhang saw that Xu Ning had not opened the door for a long time, he had gotten a little angry. "Little Xu, you little brat, don't tell me you don't even believe Uncle Zhang? You know that we have no children and no descendants. Even eating is boring."

When Xu Ning heard this, he hesitated for a moment.

This lonely old man was indeed pitiful. Moreover, he was a veteran who had been on the battlefield. He had been infected with a murderous aura. Most evil spirits would not be able to provoke him.

"Alright, young man, you're dawdling. Play two rounds of chess with the old man. I've cooked some ribs and brought them over for dinner!"

As the saying went, a distant relative was not as good as a close neighbor. If he had any problems in the future, he might have to ask Uncle Zhang for help.

At the thought of this, Xu Ning revealed a relieved smile. "Since Uncle Zhang has already said so much, sigh...that's fine too. You can just bring the chessboard over. I'll play two rounds with you!"

The doorknob turned and Xu Ning opened the security door.

"Uncle Zhang, inside, please..."

Before he could finish his sentence, Xu Ning's pupils dilated.

A bone-chilling wind blew from the corridor.

The air was filled with the stench of corpses, mixed with the nauseating smell of blood.

In the dim corridor, there was no neighbor Uncle Zhang standing there!

There was only a thin and weak old woman with a weird smile on her face, holding a pair of scissors that still had blood dripping from it.

The woman standing in front of him was Old Lady Wu, the murderess of the scissors case, whom he had just seen on the post!

"Hey, hehehe..."

The corners of Old Lady Wu's mouth curled up into a strange and sinister smile. "Young man, you're really cautious. It really wasn't easy to get you to open the door!"

Xu Ning's hair stood on end. He was so terrified that he wanted to close the door immediately.

However, no matter how hard he tried, the crack in the door seemed to be stuck. No matter how hard he tried, he could not close it.

Old Lady Wu took out a seven-foot-thick linen white cloth.

This was clearly the white cloth used to bury dead bodies in ancient times!

"Young man, I'm missing a red wedding dress and some dye. Lend me some. Don't worry...I'll return it after I use it!"