Free Web NovelChapter 86: Chapter 4: Jiang Yang Encounters a Supernatural Event
Jiang Yang followed the crowd into the subway station, ready to catch the train back to his apartment.
Just then, his phone rang.
The caller was Wang Wenbo.
Jiang Yang had a vague impression of the man. Wang Wenbo was an ordinary resident of the Living Human Apartment who had completed two missions. What made him memorable was that he had graduated from a prestigious university in Shanghai with a degree in computer science and was later hired by a well-known tech giant.
Unlike the other residents, after entering the Living Human Apartment, this guy had somehow kept his job. Even when undertaking green-letter missions, he would request time off from his supervisor in advance. His meticulousness was almost bizarre.
When Gao Tian joined, he had discussed with Xia Ta that he needed a programmer to decipher some posts related to the apartment. Xia Ta had recommended Wang Wenbo as the professional for the job.
After their expedition to the fourth floor, Xia Ta had returned to her hometown. Before leaving, she had left a message for Jiang Yang, telling him to have Gao Tian contact Wang Wenbo once the man finished his big project and took his annual leave.
He never expected Wang Wenbo, that workaholic, to actually contact him first. It was a rare occurrence.
Jiang Yang answered the phone.
"This is Jiang Yang. What’s going on? Why the sudden call?"
On the other end of the line, Wang Wenbo’s anxious and somewhat hesitant voice came through.
"B-Brother Jiang Yang... Are you, are you guys free right now?"
"I’m at Jin Hai Mansion right now, at work like usual. But some strange supernatural phenomena have suddenly appeared in our building. I’m not sure if it’s dangerous yet, but it’s already disrupting the normal order of things."
"Calling the police was useless. You were the first person I thought of. Can you come over and help deal with this?"
Even though Jiang Yang was several years younger, Wang Wenbo still called him "Big Brother." His tone was pleading, almost fawning.
The situation at Jin Hai Mansion was probably more serious than he was letting on.
Jiang Yang stopped in his tracks on the platform. If he was going to Jin Hai Mansion, he would definitely have to change his route.
"First, don’t panic. Protect yourself and stay as far away from the source of the phenomenon as possible."
"Tell me exactly what’s happening over there. I’ll check my schedule and try to get there as soon as I can."
’Wang Wenbo is the "high-level talent" Gao Tian needs. I should help him out if I can.’
Strangely, Wang Wenbo’s voice became even more muffled and unclear.
"The situation is... a bit hard to describe in words. It would be best if you came to see for yourself."
"Of course, if you’re busy and can’t get away, then never mind. After all, this ’thing’... it hasn’t caused any casualties yet. Just one of the security guards went missing, and we don’t know if he’s dead or alive."
"But it is affecting my department’s project schedule for today, so it’d be best to deal with it as soon as possible. But of course, your schedule comes first..."
You could tell he was extremely anxious, choosing his words with great care.
Having gotten no useful information, Jiang Yang was about to press for more details when the other end suddenly and inexplicably hung up. When he tried calling back, he only got a busy signal.
"How bizarre."
Jiang Yang was annoyed by Wang Wenbo’s abrupt and nonsensical call.
But it seemed the man really had something he couldn’t talk about, and Jiang Yang couldn’t just leave him to die. He began to check the subway map on the platform, trying to see if he could get to Jin Hai Mansion by train.
If there were no connecting subway lines, he would have to take a taxi. ’Of course, I’ll make that kid reimburse me for the fare.’
Just as he was studying the map and calculating what time he could reach Jin Hai Mansion, something icy and cool, a drop, then another, landed on his face.
’Is it raining?’
That was Jiang Yang’s first reaction.
Then, he couldn’t help but chuckle.
’This is an underground subway platform. Where would rain come from?’
’It must be a leak from an air conditioning pipe or something.’
He instinctively reached up and wiped the liquid from his forehead. When he saw his palm covered in red blood, the smile vanished from his face.
Red blood, drop by drop, began to fall like rain from the ceiling of the underground platform, more than twenty meters below ground level.
’It’s raining in the subway station?’
’Is this a rain of blood?’
At the same time, the other passengers waiting for the train also realized something was wrong. Some scrambled for cover, trying to avoid being stained by the blood. Others screamed, asking if it was a supernatural event. The smarter ones tried to take the escalator, attempting to escape the platform where it had begun to rain blood.
In the distance, down the tunnel, a light rain of blood had already stained the subway tracks red.
A strange woman holding a white umbrella was slowly walking out of the tunnel meant for the trains.
She let the crimson blood fall onto her umbrella. The large canopy completely hid the upper half of her face, revealing only her bright red lips.
At first, people tried to leave the station, but they were slowly forced to turn back.
It was unclear what they had encountered at the top of the escalators, but judging from their expressions of disbelief, the entire platform was now sealed off. There was no escape.
Some of the braver—or more foolish—people approached the glass platform screen doors that separated the tunnel from the platform. They took out their phones and started recording the mysterious, tall woman emerging from the depths of the tunnel.
"What is this, some new variety show?"
"Are you some kind of caveman who doesn’t watch the news? This is a supernatural event! A supernatural event, you idiot! We’re in serious danger!"
"Should we call the police? Can anyone even get here?"
...
Jiang Yang slowly lowered his phone, watching the strange woman in the tunnel walk through the endless blood rain, drawing closer and closer to the spectators on the platform.
He cursed softly under his breath.
’Looks like I’ve been unintentionally dragged into a supernatural event,’ he thought. ’A wild one, unrelated to the Living Human Apartment’s green-letter missions.’
Jiang Yang didn’t think this particular supernatural event could kill him.
The worst-case scenario was that he would have to waste a black card here and return directly to the Living Human Apartment.
But with this interruption, he wouldn’t be able to make it to Jin Hai Mansion for now.
While observing the woman with the umbrella emerging from the tunnel, Jiang Yang ran in the opposite direction of the crowd, trying to put some distance between them. At the same time, he pulled out his phone and dialed Gao Tian.
’He should be at the Living Human Apartment right now.’ Based on Jiang Yang’s observations, Gao Tian had become a complete shut-in after returning from the fifth floor, not leaving the apartment for quite some time.
He seemed to recall Xia Ta mentioning something about a prophecy Yu Sheng made before they parted ways. It said that a fatal calamity awaited him, so Gao Tian had simply decided not to go out at all.
In any case, Jiang Yang never believed in such superstitious nonsense. There had been some crackpot fortune-teller in the apartment before who claimed he would die during his fifth green-letter mission.
As it turned out, that fortune-teller died on his very first mission.
He, on the other hand, had survived his fifth mission at Pagoda Primary School, albeit at the cost of his fiancée’s life.
Gao Tian answered in less than a second. The speed was so fast that Jiang Yang realized the other man had probably been about to call him.
Without giving Gao Tian a chance to react, he quickly explained the current situation, then sent over Jin Hai Mansion’s address and Wang Wenbo’s phone number. He hoped Gao Tian could go to Jin Hai Mansion in his place and check things out.
After all, Gao Tian had to find Wang Wenbo sooner or later. There was no time like the present. This was a perfect opportunity for him to handle the anomaly at Jin Hai Mansion and then have Wang Wenbo help restore the links he needed.
After listening to Jiang Yang’s explanation, Gao Tian was silent on the other end for a long moment.
"Brother Yang, I get the feeling your situation is the more dangerous one."
"What you’re describing... sounds a lot like a supernatural event known as the Rainy Woman."
"The danger level of that event is quite high. At first, I suspected it was just something made up by unemployed writers, but I never thought you’d run into the real thing."
Jiang Yang had heard bits and pieces about the Rainy Woman before but had never paid it much mind. He asked for details, and Gao Tian didn’t hold back, quickly recounting victims’ experiences from online accounts and the patterns of the Rainy Woman’s appearances.
Jiang Yang glanced at the tunnel opposite him again. The Rainy Woman was still strolling along the tracks, showing no intention of coming up to the platform just yet.
"From your description, this ghost prioritizes taking away people who have recorded it, right?"
"Her sudden appearance here probably means she’s come for a specific victim. The threat to everyone else isn’t that great."
"I’m observing her now to see how she kills. Worst case, I waste a black card and go straight back to the apartment..."
BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.
Jiang Yang hung up the phone.
It seemed something had changed in the subway station.
...
Gao Tian lay on the bed in his room.
’Now the ball is in my court.’
’Xia Ta is gone, Zhao Zhenjia is gone, and Jiang Yang is tied up with the Rainy Woman. I’m the only one left in the apartment who can go to Jin Hai Mansion and help Wang Wenbo.’
’But if I leave the apartment, will Yu Sheng’s prophecy of a fatal calamity come true?’
’Could it even be that the supernatural event Wang Wenbo was stammering about is a trap designed to kill me?’
’What if I don’t go? That’s the other option. Just stay holed up in the Living Human Apartment and pretend nothing happened?’
’On the other hand, Yu Sheng never said staying in the apartment would be completely safe.’
’Well then, there’s only one simple way to decide my next move.’
