Xu Hongcai was sent to Yaocheng by the company and needed to work here for a year. He rented an old public house nearby, the rent is not expensive, it is very close to the company, the surrounding facilities are complete, but the house decoration is very bad, or the decoration many years ago, the furniture is also the old furniture many years ago, the water pipe is not very smooth, the bath time is long, the water will overflow the foot, the sound insulation is not good, you can hear the upstairs and downstairs, the movement of the neighbors.

Xu Hongcai doesn't care about these little problems.

He often needs to work overtime, and when he comes to Yaocheng for a year, the time he stays in the rented house is very limited, so limited that he originally wanted his wife to come over for a weekend reunion, but he quickly dispelled the idea, and even wanted to quit the house and share it with someone else to save some rent.

All he really needs is a bed and a place to take a shower, and renting a complete two-bedroom, one-living room, one-kitchen and one-bathroom house is completely unnecessary.

It's just that this thought only exists in Xu Hongcai's brain.

He really couldn't spare time to look at the property again, and it was impossible for him to find another tenant to share the rent.

After living like this for two months, it was closer to him when he was transferred back to his hometown, and he was even more lazy to change houses.

Not only did he not have time to change houses, but Xu Hongcai also had no time to communicate with his neighbors. In addition, he happened to work overtime in the past two days, and spent the night on the simple bed in the company, and did not return to the rental house at all, so he didn't know what happened to 204 next door to him.

As before, he returned to the rented house at almost eleven o'clock.

He didn't notice that the family next door didn't turn on the lights, and there was no movement in the house.

Of course, even if he noticed, he wouldn't be surprised.

He only vaguely remembered that 204 lived a family of three, and 202 lived three young people. Speaking of which, he will know this because he met the family of three in 204 when he was at work, and he also met with the three young people in 202. Everyone is an office worker, and they all work during the morning rush hour, and there is always a chance to meet them. But after work, the three neighbors rarely see each other.

Xu Hongcai didn't turn on the light in the living room, and directly followed the moonlight shining in from the balcony and touched the bathroom.

The bathroom of the old-fashioned public house is not separated from wet and dry, and the shower room is a very shallow pool, and a shower curtain is drawn, which is extremely simple. When renting a house, the landlord said that there was originally a bathtub in the bathroom, because of the problem of the sewer pipe, the bathtub was knocked out and the shower room was rebuilt, but as soon as the construction started, the landlord was going to move to a new house, and the house was used for rent, so naturally there was no need to bother to make a good shower room. If it weren't for the fact that the government was dealing with boarding houses, the landlord would still want to divide the good house into cubicles and rent it to more people.

Xu Hongcai didn't have too many complaints about the shower room.

He took off his clothes, turned on the hot water, and immersed himself in the warm stream.

Muscles relax.

This comfortable feeling made him let out a long breath.

Boom!

Xu Hongcai, who closed his eyes and enjoyed it, was startled and looked at the door of the bathroom.

There was only a knock on the door, and it didn't sound like a knock on his door.

Xu Hongcai relaxed again and stretched out his hand to the shampoo bottle on the side.

Whoa...... Whoa...... Tick...... Whoa......

Xu Hongcai stopped his movements and looked up at the unkempt head.

Gurgling – grunt.

The sound of air coming from the water pipes.

Whoa......

The hot water is sprayed out again.

Gollum –

The water is getting smaller again.

Xu Hongcai frowned, turned off the faucet, waited for a while, and turned it on again.

Gollum - Boom......

Hot water squirts out, with a scorching temperature.

"Hiss-" Xu Hongcai shrank up awkwardly, hurriedly grabbed the showerhead, and adjusted the temperature of the water.

Grunt, grunt......

The water is gone again.

Xu Hongcai's good mood was completely gone, and he scolded his mother in his heart.

This kind of thing reminded Xu Hong of his childhood.

His family's old house was like this, the water heater was unstable, the water supply was also unstable, and from time to time there would be an embarrassing incident of running out of water in the middle of the bath. In the summer, there will also be trouble with power outages.

However, he had not experienced this kind of trouble for a long time.

Xu Hongcai didn't have a good way, turned off the faucet, simply opened the shower curtain, and didn't take a shower.

He was a little glad he hadn't used the shampoo yet.

Stepping out of the shallow edge of the shallow pool in the shower, Xu Hong heard the sound of dripping water. He looked back and saw that there were a lot of water droplets spilling out of the showerhead. He pressed the faucet again, made sure it was closed, and left it alone.

Dry your body and put on your clothes.

Boom.

Xu Hongcai heard the knock on the door again.

Confused, he twisted open the bathroom door.

Bang la blah.

A lot of water suddenly gushed out of the showerhead, and he coughed violently like an elderly man with bronchitis.

Xu Hongcai only glanced back and continued to walk out.

If it does leak, you have to turn off the sluice.

He's about to go to sleep, and turning off the sluice won't bother him. I'm afraid that there is something wrong with the water pipes and it needs to be repaired. He didn't have time to find someone to fix it, and even contacting the landlord was a hassle.

The landlord said before that there had been problems with the water pipes before, and his attitude was very good when he said it, and bluntly said that if there was another problem with the water pipes, Xu Hong could contact him immediately to repair it......

Click, click...... Click......

Xu Hongcai's train of thought was interrupted.

The sound of his fingernails rubbing against the door panel struck him as strange.

He followed the sound to the entrance.

The voice didn't seem to come from outside his door.

He leaned in front of the cat's eyes and looked out.

There was no one at the door.

Click...... Click...... Boom!

It seems to be the movement in front of the door of the house next door.

Xu Hongcai judged like this, and prepared to go back to his room to sleep.

Boom! Bang bang! Boom! Boom!

The knocking became more intense, and the person knocking seemed to be impatient, as if he realized that the previous knock method could not open the door. He banged the door, as if he were slamming it with his fist.

Click-

Fingernails scratched at the door panel, as if they were about to scratch the door panel.

Xu Hongcai was taken aback.

With those sounds, the windows of his house seemed to shake, and the doors shook as if there had been an earthquake.

But this is not an earthquake.

Xu Hongcai didn't feel the shaking, and the furniture and sundries left by the landlord didn't shake either.

Zizi –

The light in the bathroom flickered twice, went off for a second, and then came back on.

The sound of water dripping from the restroom was heard again.

Xu Hongcai was shocked and worried.

He began to doubt his previous judgment.

Maybe it's not the door knocking next door, but the kind of vibrator being used downstairs and upstairs.

Xu Hongcai didn't know the specific appearance of the vibrator. He had only seen it somewhere, and some people complained that the people upstairs were bouncing and not stopping, and some people recommended the use of a vibrator. As the name suggests, it was supposed to be something that would cause the house to shake.

Xu Hongcai was skeptical about the quality of such a thing.

He had limited time to stay in the rented house, and he was unlikely to provoke any neighbors.

There is only the possibility of a bad neighbor provoking him.

Xu Hongcai put on his coat and opened the door angrily.

Whether this kind of thing happens upstairs or downstairs, he won't swallow his anger.

What's more, his house is like this, doors and windows, water pipes, and electric lights are all affected, and he doesn't believe that other neighbors will be completely affected. It's just that no one has come forward yet.

Xu Hongcai decided to solve this matter as soon as possible, so that he could rest early.

He brushed the door open, subconsciously looked at the stairs, and was still thinking about whether to go upstairs or downstairs to have a look, when he heard the knock on the door become extremely clear.

He followed the voice and looked over.

At the door of 204, a skinny ......man with long, gray-white messy hair wrapped in a rag wrapped in a rag Person...... Knocking the door.

Xu Hongcai couldn't see his face, only his green and bulging hands, and the yellowed pointed nails on his hands.

That person didn't seem to notice Xu Hongcai, and was still knocking on the door frantically.

He knocked on the door faster than before, and the door shook but never opened.

With his fierce movements, Xu Hong saw his face.

It was supposed to be a woman, a very old woman.

Her eyes were as gray as her hair, as if she had lost sight from some disease.

Her expression was hideous, hysterical, and could explode at any moment.

What is the outbreak?

Xu Hongcai thought so, and found that the other party's hand was pressing the door panel, stopped slamming the door, and his eyes moved, looking at himself.

Homicide.

Broke out, killed.

Xu Hongcai shook the spirit, retreated to the house without thinking, and hurriedly closed the door.

Squeak –

Xu Hongcai heard the screeching sound through the door panel.

He held his breath, grabbed the chain of the latch with trembling hands, and tried twice before he plugged it in.

Bang bang!

There was a knock at the door.

Xu Hongcai gasped.

Looking at the locked door, he was less afraid.

He leaned in front of the cat's eyes and looked out.

He saw a bulging face.

Those gray-white eyes were put very large by the cat's eyes.

The old woman outside seemed to be trying to keep her eyes on the cat's eyes.

Bang bang. Bang bang.

Zizi –

Xu Hongcai took a step back, saw the flashing light in the bathroom, and his heartbeat began to be disordered again.

He should have shouted angrily and asked what the madman outside was trying to do, but he couldn't open his mouth.

He instinctively refuses to communicate with the other person.

Xu Hong found the phone.

He wanted to call the police, but a big man, frightened by a thin old woman, was really a little ridiculous. If you call the police like this, the police may not care, right? He didn't feel like he was in danger.

The idea of "killing" just now only flashed through his mind.

Face to face with the other person can be dangerous. A madman may have a knife in his hand.

But what danger can there be through the door?

He was just being harassed.

Xu Hongcai thought about it and called the landlord.

When the landlord answered the phone, there was a sleepiness in his voice, "Hey, who's it?" ”

"I'm the one who rented your house, surnamed Xu."

"Oh...... Oh! Xiao Xu. What's the matter? Cracked water pipes? The landlord yawned and asked with concern.

"No, it's someone at my door, and an old woman is knocking on the door. I'll just ask you in advance, will anyone be looking for you here? If you don't know, I'll call the police. Xu Hongcai said.

The landlord was surprised, "Old woman? Anyone I know knows I've moved. They can't come to my house at night to look for me. You say there's an old woman knocking on the door? ”

"Well, they're all slamming on the door. There were also some problems with the water pipes in the shower room, there was also a problem with the electric lights, I don't know if it was the old woman who did something, or if it was out of order. Xu Hongcai said casually.

"The electricity meter is outside, and a few years ago, the neighborhood committee installed an external water pipe, which should be the sewer in the kitchen...... "The landlord was confused.

"Oh, then I'll call the police first. She's been banging on the door......"

"Are you finished? It's been knocking for a long time! If no one is there, don't knock! ”

Suddenly there was a young man's shouting outside the door.

The knocking stopped.

Xu Hongcai was stunned.

The landlord on the other end of the line seemed to hear something.

"It's me next door......" Xu Hongcai muttered.

The young man had only drunk this passage and stopped.

Boom!!

There was a loud bang, as if someone had slammed the door panel hard.

Bang bang, bang bang, bang bang......

Xu Hongcai shuddered.

He cautiously walked to the door and looked at the cat's eye again.

There was no one at his door.

He pressed his ear to the door panel.

The knock on the door was coming from next door.

Next door 202, which is the house where three young people live.

"It seems like a crazy person...... Xu Hongcai was still holding his mobile phone, and he said to the mobile phone, "I'd better call the police." She knocked on it one by one......"

The landlord repeatedly said yes, "Maybe Alzheimer's." There are a lot of elderly people in the community over there. You can call the police. ”

Xu Hongcai answered, hung up the phone, and turned to the police.

It's easy to call the police, and the police car comes quickly.

Almost as soon as the police car arrived, hearing the footsteps going upstairs, Xu Hongcai found that the knock on the door had stopped.

The police knocked on the door of 202 next door, and at the same time, Xu Hongcai's door was also knocked.

Xu Hongcai didn't open the door immediately, but after looking at the cat's eye, he was sure that it was a uniformed policeman who knocked on the door, so he relieved himself and opened the door.

The door to 202 next door also opened.

On both sides, there are equally nervous faces.

"You called the police? Both of them called the police and said there was a knock on your door? Two policemen called the two families together.

Xu Hongcai and the three young men nodded in unison.

"First I knocked on his door, but he didn't open it, and then he knocked on our door." The young man pointed at Xu Hongcai.

Xu Hongcai hurriedly said: "No, I knocked on the door of 204 next to me first, I opened the door and looked, and when she saw me, she came to knock on my door." "He was very wronged and confused. He looked at 204 next door, and saw that 204 still hadn't moved at all.

"You weren't home yesterday, were you?" The police questioned Xu Hongcai.

Xu Hongcai nodded honestly and said that he was working overtime, and he was puzzled.

"204 has called the police several times, saying that someone is harassing him, and he has entered the house and pushed his family down the stairs...... We knocked on your door before the police. The policeman said helplessly, looked at Xu Hongcai and the three young people, and asked, "You all see an old lady?" ”

Xu Hongcai was very surprised, and hurriedly said: "Yes." Before you came, you were knocking at the door. As soon as you came up, she stopped. Probably ran up...... Or ......" his gaze drifted to room 201.

This house has not moved.

Xu Hongcai didn't know who lived in 201.

Perhaps, 201 lives with an unsane old lady?

Thinking of what the police said about pushing people, Xu Hongcai felt a chill.

Fortunately, when he saw someone, he quickly hid back in the house. Otherwise, whether he is pushed, or the old woman is "pushed", it will be trouble.

The three young men were silent, secretly exchanging glances with each other.

The police immediately noticed their small movements, and they stood obediently like elementary school students, without saying what was going on.

"Then ask 201." Another police officer said.

As soon as 201 was knocked on the door, someone ran out.

What ran out was a bald old man, who looked to be sixty years old, and should have retired.

In the winter, he wiped his sweat and looked restless.

“…… I heard it, and also, the electricity in the house is not quite right, the TV has jumped several times, and the doors and windows are ......"

This is the same situation that Xu Hongcai encountered.

Xu Hongcai couldn't help but nodded.

The three young men looked at each other and whispered:

"Didn't we cut off the WIFI too?"

"The lights are skipped, too."

It seems that the situation is the same for all three.

The bald man looked at the meter box.

"You're going to find the power company for this." The police won't fix this, but they still checked the meter box and found no damage.

The bald man didn't seem to have hope for this, and when the police checked it, he lowered his head.

"Ahh

The two policemen made a quick decision and rushed upstairs.

The three young men craned their necks to look, pushed each other twice, and followed with great interest.

Xu Hongcai looked at the bald man.

Behind the bald man, an old aunt walked out of the door.

The old aunt was worried, "What's the matter?" I just heard...... Isn't it Aunt Zheng's ...... their family?"

"No, didn't their family stay in the hotel the day before yesterday?" The bald man replied and glanced at Xu Hongcai, "Let's go in quickly, don't look at the excitement." ”

"It's really the police!" Suddenly there was a shout from upstairs, "I opened the door and looked, it's a policeman!" In your uniform! As soon as I opened the door, I became an old woman! Malegobi! I want to ask what's going on! ”

Xu Hongcai leaned his neck and slowly grew his mouth.

Boom.

He hurriedly turned his head and saw that the door to 201 was closed.

The three young men ran so fast that they didn't bother to close the door, and the door of 202 was open.

Xu Hongcai's spare eyes saw the door of 202. He suddenly felt cold, he thought of what the couple said in 201, and thought of what the police said about 204 calling the police, and he felt more and more cold.

He took a step back, felt the door, and wanted to go back to the rented house, closing the door securely.

Squeak –

Xu Hong saw the door of 202 move.

The door seemed to be blown by the wind, slowly closing.

Xu Hongcai saw that there were a few fingers on the door panel.

Rough, wrinkled skin wrapped around the bones, and yellowed fingernails clasped the door as it slowly shut.

Click.

In the entire corridor on the second floor, only Xu Hongcai was left standing alone, and only the door behind him was open.

Xu Hongcai shuddered and glanced back at the entrance.

There is nothing strange behind him.

He trembled and grasped the doorknob, pulled it open a little, and looked behind it.

There was nothing behind the door either.

Xu Hongcai looked at the closed door of room 202 again.

Maybe...... Maybe there's an old lady living in 202?

Maybe this was a joke made by the three young men and the others?

Don't all young people nowadays like pranks? And very willing to spend the cost to do pranks. It seems that some bizarre pranks are very popular abroad......

Xu Hongcai thought wildly.

He heard footsteps.

The three young men went downstairs.

Xu Hongcai's face turned pale.

The three young men did not notice him, and when they went to the door, they found that the door was closed, and the three of them anxiously felt in their pockets. One of them thought of Xu Hongcai at this time, squinted at Xu Hongcai, and stopped talking.

The young man in the puffer jacket pulled out the key, "It's good that it's in your pocket." ”

The three of them breathed a sigh of relief.

They opened the door.

Xu Hongcai couldn't help but glance there.

Naturally, he didn't see anything.

The police also came down at this time.

They couldn't find the old woman, and it was not easy to check the whole building at night.

Xu Hongcai and the three young people were the policemen, the four of them were fine, and the one upstairs was only frightened, and he couldn't tell what he had encountered at all, so the police were ready to leave first.

“…… Stay safe. If you want to see that old lady again, call the police directly. It's okay to call our police station. We'll talk to your community security guards and ask them to keep an eye on the surveillance. Be careful when you go in and out. That old lady may ......" The police did not continue, only showed an expression, Xu Hongcai and the three young people could understand, "We will also tell your neighborhood committee." ”

Xu Hongcai nodded in reluctance.

The police left, and the three young men complained and entered the house.

Xu Hongcai was the only one left in the corridor.

He stood there for a moment before entering the room and closing the door.

He looked at the bedroom.

Both bedrooms are connected to 202 next door, which is separated by only one wall.

Xu Hongcai shuddered, took out the quilt from the bedroom, and simply lay down on the sofa.

He wasn't asleep.

The host called and asked about the follow-up.

“…… That, I want to ask," Xu Hongcai was entangled and asked, "Inside the building, next door 204, is it that someone has died?" ”

The landlord was surprised, "How do you ask this?" You ask this...... Uh......"

"It's dead, right?" Xu Hongcai asked firmly.

"It's dead. As I said, the house is an old house, and I have seen it for many years, and there are many old people now...... 204 It was his old woman who died, many years ago. The landlord replied, pausing, "That old woman, when she was alive, was quite ...... I like to stir things up......"

Therefore, it is not surprising that they will do such things as slamming the door in the middle of the night and pushing people downstairs...... Right?

Xu Hongcai thought blankly.