CRACK—!
A bolt of lightning tore across the night sky, a blinding flash like a blade splitting the dark clouds, as torrential rain lashed the sleeping city. It was nearly midnight, and the vast old district was almost entirely shrouded in a curtain of rain and mist, the crackling patter the only sound to be heard.
Chen Mo crouched in front of an old building, staring at his taxi being pummeled by the downpour. Half an hour until midnight—on a rainy night like this, there shouldn't be much business. He clicked his tongue, pulled out a pack of Hongtashan cigarettes, and was about to leisurely light one when—
*Thump!*
A dull sound came from the building behind him, like something heavy hitting the ground. Chen Mo was startled, of course, and the cigarette fell from his lips, sizzling out in the puddle at his feet. He turned and peered into the stairwell, thinking he caught a glimpse of a figure darting past.
The building was eerily dark, the concrete floor caked with grime. The four-story structure seemed abandoned, with only the faint rustle of rats scurrying about. Chen Mo squinted, trying to make out what was inside, but through the narrow hallway, he could just barely see a square outline at the doorway of some room. It appeared to be open, facing inward.
That might not have been anything unusual, except near that object, on the floor, there seemed to be two strange glimmers, giving off a faint, oppressive aura.
"Anyone there?" Chen Mo shouted into the building, but only his echo answered. He stepped into the stairwell, a cold, rain-laced wind biting at his back, chilling him to the bone. He shivered, pulled out his phone to turn on the flashlight, and despite his fear, an irrepressible curiosity gnawed at him.
The abandoned floor felt hollow, with rainwater seeping through cracks in the walls, pattering onto the square object with a rhythmic *ding-dong*. Chen Mo's heartbeat quickened as he crept closer, and he saw it clearly—a large suitcase, black, about half a person's height.
Was that the sound he'd heard earlier, the suitcase being dropped?
The suitcase was open, and a rusty, metallic smell wafted out. Chen Mo crouched down, reached out, and touched the inner lining. A sticky sensation made him pause; he turned his hand over to look. This was... blood! That was the smell!
He stumbled back a few steps, only to notice drops of blood on the floor, trailing straight into the depths of the room. Chen Mo raised his phone, shining the light toward where the blood led. The light flickered a few times, then went dark.
"It had plenty of battery just a moment ago," Chen Mo muttered, glancing around as he pressed the power button a few times. The phone was as good as dead, offering not even a glimmer of light.
There it was again—that eerie, oppressive feeling, as if something was right behind him, yet it made no move. Through the hazy rain, the two faint glimmers in the room seemed to dim. Standing at the doorway, he could make out a vague shape, like something rolling on the floor. Though his phone was dead, he still had a lighter in his pocket. Chen Mo reached for it as he slowly stepped inside.
CRACK—another blinding flash of lightning lit up the window, briefly revealing scattered objects in the deeper part of the room. Then the world plunged back into darkness.
But that wasn't all—the entire room was strewn with dismembered limbs, stretching all the way to the suitcase, and a thick, coppery stench of blood assaulted his nose.
*Thump, thump, thump*—a sound suddenly came from behind him.
The woman's head on the floor, somehow, had rolled in a full circle, coming back into Chen Mo's view. The corners of her lips curled upward slightly. She seemed to be smiling...
"AHHH—!"
Chen Mo dropped the lighter and fled the stairwell without looking back. What had he just seen? A murder scene? A body dump?
He yanked open the car door, started the engine—all in one fluid motion. The taxi slowly pulled away from the old building, and Chen Mo let out a long breath, trying to calm his racing heart. Just then, the car radio crackled to life from static, and a host's gentle female voice began the opening lines.
"Have you ever heard of a fox's gratitude?"
"A starving fox, trying to steal food, accidentally fell into a water vat. A forest ranger found it, but instead of punishing it, he gave it a piece of meat and set it free back into the woods. From then on, the fox would visit the ranger's hut every few days, bringing frogs and sparrows. That's the folk tale of a fox repaying a kindness."
"Where there's a fox's gratitude, there's a vengeful ghost's revenge. For a resentful soul, death is not the end."
"This is the Strange Tales Radio Station, and I'm your host, Midnight Ghost Talk. Tonight, we'll bring you a true story of a vengeful ghost's revenge. Please turn off the lights, prick up your ears, and feel the terror rushing toward you."
Having just been through something like that, Chen Mo didn't dare listen to such a program. He reached to change the channel, but then froze. He never listened to the car radio at night—so when had he even turned it on?
A flash of lightning illuminated everything, and Chen Mo suddenly saw in the rearview mirror that a pale-faced male passenger had appeared in the back seat, sitting with his eyes closed, making no sound at all.
On the radio, the host's voice wove through the night, "To start today's program, we'll read a message from a female listener. She wants to say to the man she deeply loves—even though you killed me and abandoned me, I still won't leave..."
Chen Mo drove while keeping an eye on the passenger in the back. The man had now opened his eyes, looking puzzled by what he was hearing.
"I'll find you again. I can smell your scent... Come on, don't hide. Let's go home together..."
The female host's voice grew colder, each word deliberate, as if she were channeling the woman herself.
"What kind of crappy broadcast is this in the middle of the night?" the man in the back seat spoke up, his voice trembling yet strained, with a hint of suppressed menace. "Take me to the outskirts. You'll get your fare, and don't ask questions."
So he's human... Chen Mo relaxed a little. The guy must have gotten in while he was inside the building. But why would he show up at such a creepy scene?
"AAAAHHHHHHHH—!"
And that message on the radio—no matter how he heard it, it gave him an unsettling feeling. Chen Mo reached to change the frequency, but the broadcast suddenly turned shrill and eerie.
"Dear driver, thank you for helping me find my beloved again!"
Panicked, Chen Mo's foot bumped into something round and rolling. He glanced down, and his scalp went numb. Wasn't that the woman's head from before?! It had rolled right to his feet, still wearing that same creepy smile.
At the same time, the male passenger in the back seemed to suddenly see the horrifying things around him and let out a terrified scream.
Amid the man's frantic shrieks, Chen Mo slammed on the brakes. But he forgot—in the heavy rain of the deep night, the car had been speeding along. With a screech of tires, Chen Mo felt the vehicle jolt violently, and everything spun.
Just before losing consciousness, a voice seemed to echo in Chen Mo's mind.
"A taxi driver caught in a supernatural incident—can he escape this true horror story? Tonight, let's wait and see."