"Grandpa, did you lock the door?"
Han Fei turned to the old man on the stairs. A kind expression appeared on his face but his hand reached into his pocket to grab the taser.
The old man did not seem to hear Han Fei. He was very old. His face was covered in age spots. One of his hands was behind his back and the other was holding an empty birdcage.
"Sir? Can you hear me? "Han Fei was about to approach the old man when the old man turned around and started to slowly move up the stairs.
As the old man moved up the stairs, Han Fei noticed two thin feathers on the old man's empty hand. He appeared to have used that hand to strangle the bird in the cage.
"What a strange man."
Most people's first reaction would be to stay away from such a strange old man but when Han Fei sensed something was off, he hurried up the stairs.
"Sir, do you mind if I help you home?"
Han Fei walked to the old man's side. When he reached out to hold the old man's arm, the old man's body visibly stiffened.
"I'm here to film. If I've caused you any trouble, I apologize."
Han Fei's every word was polite. Even though the old man was uncomfortable, he did not chase Han Fei away.
Han Fei escorted Han Fei to the 5th floor. The old man stopped at his own door. He turned to look at Han Fei and realized Han Fei did not show any intention of leaving.
"Sir, do you remember the author who lives on the 4th floor?"
Han Fei looked like he was not going to leave until the old man told him. The old man stopped at the door for a long time before he finally said, "He's dead. He died about 10 years ago."
The old man's voice was low. It sounded like his fingernails scratching on frosted glass. It was very uncomfortable.
"I know he's dead. Did he do anything strange before he died? You're all neighbours, you should know each other well, right? "
"It's been more than 10 years, I can't remember it clearly." The old man lowered his head slightly and his eyes avoided Han Fei's.
"Really?" Han Fei was a master actor, he had a good eye for people. This old man must know something. "Has anyone come here to ask about the Spider?"
"Yes." The old man's voice was weak.
"What did the person ask?"
"I can't remember."
"Do you have his contact?"
"He's also dead."
The air froze. The old man raised his head and pointed at the roof. "He jumped down from here. Back then, he was not afraid of anything, just like you. Then, he seemed to be haunted by something."
The old man's voice lowered, and there was fear in his murky eyes. "Those things really exist. Whether you believe it or not, do not go to the fourth floor after dark, or else the next person to jump off the building might be you."
"Grandpa … did you see something?" Han Fei was not only good at acting, he also studied psychology and had a wealth of 'clinical' experience. He could deduce many things from the old man's facial expression.
The old man, who had been avoiding Han Fei's eyes, slowly raised his head.
He stared at Han Fei's face and his cracked lips slowly parted to reveal his tawny teeth. Just as he was about to say something, the sound of a bell ringing came from one of the rooms on the 4th floor.
Almost as soon as the bell rang, the old man pushed open the door and rushed into the room as if something bad would happen if he was too slow.
Han Fei did not stop the old man. After the old man opened the door, he very naturally followed. He even helped the old man close the door.
"Uncle, what was that sound?" All the rooms on the 4th floor were unoccupied and all the doors were locked. What could have caused the bell to ring?
"It was the wind chime. Before the death of the previous author, the wind chime at his house would ring at dusk."
The old man stood at the living room door, holding the birdcage. He did not expect Han Fei to follow him into the room. Now he suspected that an unknown person had snuck into the crew because the young man before him did not look like an actor, be it the way he dressed or the way he carried himself.
"Really?" Han Fei memorized the information about the wind chime. His eyes slowly moved past the old man and looked into the room.
The small room was decorated with many altars. The altars were of different sizes and most of them were covered with black cloth. It was unclear what kind of god resided in them.
"Uncle, why do you have so many gods in your house? You can't just invite gods. "Han Fei had seen many things in the cryptic world so he knew a thing or two about these things.
"It's not that I want to invite any gods but there are always altars appearing inside this building. I don't know who placed them there. I saw them but I didn't dare leave them in the corridor so I brought them all home." Noticing that Han Fei had no intention of leaving, the old man sighed softly. "I really don't mean you any harm. I was staring at you earlier because I wanted to warn you not to get involved with that author. Everyone who gets involved with him will die an unexplainable death. Many strange occurrences in this building are related to him."
After entering his house, the old man became much bolder. He dared to speak loudly.
'Die an unexplainable death?' Han Fei was reminded of the Butterfly's usual modus operandi. He now suspected that the Butterfly had secretly murdered the people who wanted to investigate Spider.
If that was the case, then it meant that the Butterfly was afraid and Spider really did know the Butterfly's weakness!
"Looks like you really don't know anything." The old man shook his head. "About 10 years ago, many strange things happened around Northern Jiujiang Meat Packing Factory. Initially, the meat from their factory was incredibly fragrant and everyone loved to buy it. Then for some reason, there was a rumor that someone died inside the factory's pork processing equipment. That was why their meat was so delicious. "
"That's just a rumor, right?"
"Of course it is, but many people still felt disgusted by it so they stopped buying their meat." The old man glanced out the window. He could still see the abandoned factory downstairs. "After the sales dropped, the quality of the meat from Northern Jiujiang Meat Packing Factory started to deteriorate. A fishy smell started to appear in their meat."
"No one knew why the fishy smell appeared. In any case, their business was getting worse and worse. It was not until some time before they were shut down that their boss's partner suddenly disappeared."
"The police couldn't find him. In the end, when they checked the inventory of the factory's warehouse, they realized the number of live pigs that had been processed did not match up. There was an extra live pig."
"Perhaps it was just a coincidence, but someone with an ulterior motive spread the rumor. In the end, everyone felt that there was something wrong with the plant."
The old man sighed. "In the end, the meat packing factory closed and the boss became the first person to commit suicide. He jumped from the building and landed on his second-hand car that he had been driving for years. "
"He didn't even want to change his car, he was probably framed."
"Actually, everyone around him knew that he was innocent. Usually, everyone thought that he was a very good person, but who knew that he would end up like this in the end." After the old man sighed, his voice changed as if he couldn't speak too loudly. "The meat packing factory's boss was just the beginning. Ever since his death, the living quarters started to change."
"What's so strange about it?"
"At night, people would hear footsteps in the corridor and occasionally smell the smell of rotting meat. Many people thought it was the return of the dead boss."
The old man did not give Han Fei a chance to interrupt. He continued in one breath, "Everyone was afraid. At that time, some brave young people refused to believe it. They squatted down the corridor at night to investigate.
"After a few nights, they did not find the boss' spirit but they followed the smell to the author's room on the 4th floor. The smell appeared to originate from his room.
The author was a loner, he rarely left his house. When he did meet with outsiders, he would behave strangely. One moment, he would be passionate, the next, he would be cold, and the next, he would be as gentle as a woman.
"Everyone treated the author as a strange presence in this building, they rarely interacted with each other. Before this, they had minded their own business but now that something had happened, everyone started to suspect this strange man.
"Suspicion was one thing but no one had any evidence to prove it. The case eventually came to a standstill.
But in just 3 days, a man who squatted down the corridor to investigate the smell committed suicide inside the building. He died in the same way as the boss.
"The man was young and unmarried. He had no psychological problems but he just left like that.
"Even though the police at Northern Jiujiang ruled his death as a suicide, everyone believed it was the ghost of the boss.
"Those who had the ability prepared to move out while those who didn't came up with all sorts of ideas." The old man glanced at the altar around him. "At that time, many residents invited the expert over. After the expert heard from the neighbors about the author's death, he believed there was a ghost in the author's room so he wanted to enter the room to exorcise it.
"However, the author refused so the expert forced his way in. That afternoon, the expert finished his spell and said he had already dealt with the ghost of the boss. Under the warm invitation of the neighbors, he decided to stay for the night.
"They drank a lot of alcohol. In the middle of the night, the person who knew the ropes suddenly disappeared. The residents searched for him and found him hanging from the electric wire on the 2nd floor. He appeared to be drunk and fell from the 2nd floor balcony. His neck was entangled in the wire and he was hanged to death. "
The old man glanced at the setting sun. No matter how Han Fei urged him, he did not dare to continue. It was as if talking about these things after dark might attract the attention of something inside the building.
Seeing the old man's silence, Han Fei did not press him. He did remember that Director Zhang planned to gather everyone to discuss the script and the content of the script was based on Spider's personal experience.
'If we discuss the script in this building, will we trigger something?' Gripping the script in his hands, as much as Han Fei felt the pressure, there was a glimmer of anticipation in his eyes.
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