MLV Ch 5

Jiang Ye was extremely fast, reaching the first floor in less than ten seconds. Their house had an open-plan kitchen. When he got to the first floor, he saw Li Miaomiao sitting on the floor in the pitch-black kitchen, her face filled with terror, the flashlight from her phone illuminating the area in front of her. Jiang Ye followed the beam of light and saw that the refrigerator had been opened by Li Miaomiao. He saw the thing that had made her scream—a rotting human head.

Jiang Ye’s pupils constricted, and surprise flooded his heart. The head’s entire face was rotten, with broken teeth and decayed lips, making it incredibly hideous. It was covered in black hair, and its features were unrecognizable. Someone had killed a person in their house and hidden the head in the refrigerator. Judging by the degree of decomposition, it had been there for at least a few days. Li Miaomiao usually didn’t eat at home and wouldn’t have used the refrigerator, so she hadn’t noticed it until now.

He walked over and closed the refrigerator. Just as he was about to say they should call the police, a loud clatter came from upstairs, as if something had fallen to the ground. Jiang Ye immediately realized it was the aluminum folding ladder he had set up at the attic entrance in the ceiling. This was followed by the sound of thudding footsteps, very rapid, coming down the stairs.

Someone was coming down the stairs!

Could it be that a murderer was really hiding in the attic!?

Jiang Ye quickly pulled Li Miaomiao to her feet and rushed towards the entryway. Li Miaomiao was unsteady and stumbled as soon as she got up. The person upstairs was moving extremely fast and reached the second floor in an instant. Jiang Ye glanced at the distance, estimated they wouldn’t make it in time, turned off Li Miaomiao’s phone, and dragged her to hide under the kitchen counter.

Just as they had hidden, the footsteps reached the first-floor landing. The two of them cautiously peeked out to observe the top of the stairs. A towering figure appeared there. It was a man, wearing a dark green shirt and black suit pants, descending step by step.

Both Li Miaomiao and Jiang Ye recognized the man. It was Li Miaomiao’s father, Li Yi’an. Li Miaomiao had thought it was a murderer; the heart that had been in her throat dropped back into place. She got up, wanting to call out to her dad. But Jiang Ye felt something was wrong. The indescribable smell from before had grown much stronger. It was now at a nauseating level, and it was clearly coming from Li Yi’an.

As Li Miaomiao stood up, he acted with lightning speed, quickly pushing her down and covering her mouth.

In that brief delay, Li Yi’an finally reached the bottom of the stairs. By the dim, limited light, both Jiang Ye and Li Miaomiao got a clear look at him, and their pupils instantly shrank to pinpricks. The space above their father’s neck was completely empty. His chest was soaked with dark red blood, and he stood there, imposing and terrifying. His hand rested on the banister, and it was covered in a dense growth of long, black hair.

Jiang Ye could feel Li Miaomiao trembling. He kept his hand over her mouth and shook his head at her.

Tears welled up in Li Miaomiao’s eyes. Jiang Ye slowly released her. She clamped her own hand over her mouth, not making a single sound.

The headless Li Yi’an paced around the living room, seemingly looking for them. Could he hear without a head? Jiang Ye didn’t dare risk testing it, nor did he dare to make assumptions. A female ghost, a headless body… the events of the past two days had repeatedly shattered his worldview. With all these bizarre things appearing, it didn’t seem impossible for a headless corpse to be able to hear.

The most urgent task was to get out of this villa. Jiang Ye led Li Miaomiao, crawling on their hands and knees, silently making their way to the side of the wine cabinet. The headless corpse was walking near the coffee table, its back to them. Seizing the opportunity, Jiang Ye and Li Miaomiao quickly crossed the empty space behind the sofa and reached the entryway. Jiang Ye placed his hand on the handle of the security door. Just as he was about to open it, his WeChat suddenly buzzed. He looked down. It was a message from “Candy-Loving Witch”—

[Don’t open the door. There’s a ghost outside.]

In the silent darkness, the vibration of the phone was startlingly loud.

Jiang Ye froze. How could she know what was happening here? And what was outside the door? At the same time, a bigger question surfaced in his mind—

Could the headless corpse actually hear or not?

He and Li Miaomiao turned their heads at the same time, just in time to see the headless corpse standing silhouetted at the entrance. Even though it had no head, Jiang Ye could feel a sinister malice. The thick stench washed over him, and Jiang Ye almost gagged.

Candy-Loving Witch: [Go to the second floor. Climb out the east window.]

Jiang Ye took the initiative, rushing out and kicking the headless corpse in the chest, yelling at the same time, “Go to the second floor! Climb out of Mom and Dad’s bedroom window!”

Li Miaomiao covered her head and scrambled past the headless corpse. The corpse grabbed Jiang Ye’s leg and swung him like a hammer. Jiang Ye went flying and was slammed against the kitchen counter. He protected the back of his head with his hands as his back hit the marble countertop hard. It felt like his back was about to split open, but Jiang Ye didn’t dare to delay and quickly scrambled to his feet.

Li Miaomiao looked back from the stairs, her face filled with anxiety.

The headless corpse charged at Jiang Ye. Jiang Ye picked up a kitchen knife and swung it. The knife embedded itself in the corpse’s chest but didn’t slow it down at all. Jiang Ye then grabbed a sushi knife and threw it diagonally, aiming for its knee. The sushi knife struck its lower leg, and the headless corpse dropped to one knee.

Taking advantage of this, Jiang Ye bounded up the stairs, taking three steps at a time. With Li Miaomiao in front, the two of them quickly entered their parents’ room and shut the door. The moment they got inside, the door was battered as if by a cannonball, with loud thuds that made the entire wall tremble. Li Miaomiao pushed open the window and climbed out. The Li family’s villa was a common European-style house with red brick exterior walls and some nonsensical relief carvings. There was a raised decorative marble ledge around the window, which could just barely serve as a foothold.

The headless corpse pulled the kitchen knife from its chest and began hacking at the door with loud thumps. It was incredibly strong; the kitchen knife was like an axe in its hands, and it quickly smashed a large hole in the door. Li Miaomiao was frantic. She balanced on the tips of her toes on the marble ledge, inching her way to the right.

The phone vibrated again. Jiang Ye looked down at the message.

Candy-Loving Witch: [Go from the second floor to the garage. Take the Mustang.]

“Head towards the garage,” Jiang Ye told Li Miaomiao.

He also climbed out the window, stepping on the marble ledge and following behind Li Miaomiao. As they were about to pass over the porch, they saw that the corridor below was now filled with numerous headless corpses, all looking exactly like Li Yi’an. A chill ran through Jiang Ye. If they had opened the door just now, they would have been caught. Seeing the headless corpses below, Li Miaomiao’s legs went weak.

Jiang Ye whispered, “Try not to make any noise.”

Li Miaomiao nodded, took a deep breath, and held it as she moved forward. She moved with extreme care, passing silently above the headless corpses. Jiang Ye followed closely behind her. The two of them reached the area above the garage. Jiang Ye slid down a pillar first, followed by Li Miaomiao. Jiang Ye manually started the garage’s rolling shutter door. The door rattled up with a loud clatter. The noise was too loud. The two of them were on edge, and soon enough, they heard the sound of approaching footsteps from all directions.

The shutter door wasn’t even fully open yet, but the two of them had already ducked into the garage and were sprinting down the ramp. Their garage was a small parking lot, housing Li Yi’an’s collection of cars, which were professionally maintained every month. There were ten cars in total, lined up on both sides, polished to a brilliant shine. Li Miaomiao used to love showing off her dad’s cars, but now she secretly cursed him for buying so many for no good reason.

“Where is Dad’s Mustang?” Jiang Ye asked.

He noticed that the elevator light was on; the indicator showed it was descending. When had the power come back on? Was it the doing of those headless corpses?

Cold sweat dripped down Li Miaomiao’s face. 

“Mustang? What Mustang? Dad doesn’t raise horses!”

Jiang Ye’s mind raced. 

“Look for a Ford, a Ford Mustang!”

The two of them split up to search. The elevator indicator showed it had reached the 2nd floor. Li Miaomiao used her flashlight to check the car emblems. Audi, Bentley… no Ford.

The elevator reached floor -1, and the sound of footsteps could also be heard outside the garage. Jiang Ye found his stepfather’s “Mustang.” It was a ’69 Ford, with a long hood and a silver-gray body, its lines as smooth as an unsheathed sword. It was a classic muscle car; driving it felt like you were heading out for a life-or-death fight.

He called Li Miaomiao over. He opened the car door and got into the driver’s seat. The key was in the ignition, as if someone had already prepared this car for their escape. Li Miaomiao got into the passenger seat and buckled her seatbelt. The sound of the elevator door opening came from outside. Jiang Ye didn’t have time to wonder who had arranged this car. He turned the key, and the headlights flared on like blazing torches, illuminating the terrifying headless figure inside the elevator.

“Dad…” Li Miaomiao wanted to cry.

The headless corpse shot towards them like an arrow. Jiang Ye floored the accelerator. The engine roared like a beast, the ferocious power driving all four wheels. The sleeping Mustang awoke, ramming directly into the headless corpse. The corpse’s cannonball-like body smashed against the windshield, and a spiderweb of cracks spread across the glass. The headless corpse rolled off the hood. The Mustang nearly crashed into the Audi in front of it. Jiang Ye spun the steering wheel, drifting with a fishtail up the ramp. A dense crowd of headless corpses blocked the garage exit. Jiang Ye gritted his teeth and floored the accelerator again.

“Ge, when did you learn to drive?” Li Miaomiao gripped the handle above her head tightly.

Jiang Ye replied, “I didn’t.”

Li Miaomiao was shocked. 

“What—”

The Mustang plunged into the crowd of corpses, carving a bloody path. Many headless corpses were crushed under the car, dragged by the tires, leaving long streaks of blood. The remaining corpses scattered. The Mustang swerved left and right, scraping past a few roadside trees before sliding in an S-shape onto the main road and disappearing into the vast night.

They didn’t dare to slow down until they were on the cross-river bridge. Jiang Ye checked the road behind them through the rearview mirror. No pursuers.

Li Miaomiao kept calling their mom’s number, but no one answered.

Jiang Ye made a WeChat call to the Witch, but there was no answer.

Argos: [Who are you? How do you know about my family’s situation? What are those things in my house?]

Candy-Loving Witch: [You still haven’t told me, did you like the picture I sent you last time?]

Argos: [Answer me.]

Candy-Loving Witch: [Did you like it?]

Li Miaomiao said, “Ge, my phone is out of battery.”

Jiang Ye exited WeChat and tossed the phone to Li Miaomiao, telling her to call the police. 

“Tell them there’s a dead body and a murderer in our house. Tell them to bring a lot of people. Don’t mention the headless corpse.”

If they just said “headless corpse,” no one would believe them and would think they were making a false report.

Li Miaomiao nodded, holding back tears, and dialed 110. 

“Hello, I want to report a murder at 144 Tianlu Mansions, Maluan Mountain Avenue!”

The person on the other end asked, “Miss, please don’t panic. We have already dispatched police to Tianlu Mansions. Where are you now?”

Just as Li Miaomiao was about to answer, Jiang Ye frowned and gestured for her to stop talking.

“There’s only one person calling. Why did you use ‘you’ in the plural?” Jiang Ye asked.

There was a moment of silence on the other end, then, “Miss, don’t be afraid. Tell me your location, and we will help you.”

“Answer me. How did you know there was more than one person here?” Jiang Ye pressed.

“Miss, tell me your location.”

“Miss, tell me your location.”

“Miss, tell me your location.”

The person on the other end repeated this sentence coldly, their tone as flat as an AI. Li Miaomiao was about to pee her pants. Jiang Ye hung up the phone. The other party kept calling back Li Miaomiao’s phone. Jiang Ye turned it off directly.

“I swear I didn’t dial the wrong number!” Li Miaomiao said.

“Hypothesis 1: they’ve intercepted our communications. Hypothesis 2: they have an informant inside the police,” Jiang Ye said. 

“So going to the police station is not an option right now.”

“What on earth are those things!” Li Miaomiao asked, her voice trembling.

Jiang Ye was silent. He didn’t know what they were either.

“Ge, is Mom still alive?” Li Miaomiao’s face was as white as paper.

Jiang Ye stared at the wide open road outside the car. The light from the streetlamps swept across his grave face in flashes.

He didn’t know how to answer, because he didn’t know the answer either.

They couldn’t go to the police station. Although they could report it in person, and even if there was an informant at the station, it was impossible for everyone to be an informant. But the tricky part was that going to the police station would inevitably require taking the main central road, which was covered in surveillance cameras. They wouldn’t be able to hide their tracks and would likely be intercepted before they even reached the station.

Jiang Ye could only lie low for now and find a place to spend the night. He drove exclusively through the old streets. These places had no surveillance, so they could avoid the police’s traffic monitoring system. The roads in the old district were muddy, and Li Miaomiao was almost thrown up from the bumpy ride. Jiang Ye finally managed to drive the car to the back of his old apartment building. The road was very narrow. He scraped several utility poles, leaving the Ford Mustang covered in scratches, with a large dent in the hood. If his stepfather still had a head, he would probably disown him.

They had no relatives in the city, no one to turn to. The most dangerous place was the safest place. That gang of monsters probably wouldn’t expect them to dare to return to the vicinity of the apartment. But to be on the safe side, it was better not to go back into the apartment itself. He drove the car into a demolition site in the shantytown. It was deserted at night and relatively safe, a good place to leave the battered car.

Staying at a hotel required registering with an ID, and they would likely be found. However, Jiang Ye had a junior high classmate whose family owned a hotel nearby. They could stay there.

Li Miaomiao, usually so noisy, was uncharacteristically quiet, lost in a daze. Jiang Ye didn’t know if she was scared senseless or just too sad. Her face was pale, and she looked as lifeless as a paper doll. Jiang Ye parked the car in a secluded, dark spot, and taking the dazed Li Miaomiao with him, he found a phone booth and repeatedly dialed their mother’s number. The voice on the other end was always, “The number you have dialed is not answered.”

After dialing more than twenty times, Jiang Ye finally gave up.

“Ge,” Li Miaomiao said suddenly, “do you hate me?”

Jiang Ye frowned and asked, “Why would you think that?”

She started to sob. 

“Mom always favors me, and Dad is my real dad, so he likes me more too. You must hate me.”

She had been scared out of her wits before, but now it seemed her soul had finally returned, and her tears flowed like a floodgate had opened.

“I’m sorry,” she said, desperately wiping her tears. 

“I cry and want to talk when I’m scared, and I’m not very smart. Please don’t despise me.”

Jiang Ye slowly understood what she was afraid of. Her stepfather was gone, and their mother was missing. She was afraid he would abandon her.

“Li Miaomiao,” he said, “don’t be afraid. I’m here.”

She looked into his eyes, tears streaming silently. He had a pair of dark, deep eyes. When he focused on someone, it always had a calming effect. She gradually calmed down, stopped crying, and nodded vigorously.

They returned to the car together. Just as they were approaching, a loud thud suddenly came from the trunk.

Li Miaomiao, like a frightened bird, shot up and quickly hid behind Jiang Ye.

Another two thuds, “thud-thud,” were particularly abrupt in the silent night.

There was something in the trunk.