"That suitcase was always behind him, not too close, not too far, gliding along. But its speed wasn't slow at all, at least faster than A-Qiang was running."

"Just when A-Qiang felt he was about to be caught, suddenly, his left foot felt like it was grabbed by a hand. Immediately afterward, he lost his balance and fell to the ground."

"When he woke up, he was already lying in bed, in a hospital room."

"The nurse giving him the IV drip said that he had fainted and his friend had brought him over and even paid his medical bills."

"Hearing this, A-Qiang felt a mixture of lingering fear and gratitude. He didn't expect his friends to be so loyal."

"Since he was fine, it seemed that what happened last night was just a hallucination caused by his being overly nervous."

"A-Qiang comforted himself this way, then turned over and got out of bed, wanting to go out for a cigarette to calm down. But the moment he lifted the quilt, he froze."

"On his left ankle, a little above it, was a jet-black handprint."

"The handprint seemed to be imprinted directly into his bones. Each finger was very slender. His intuition told him it was a woman's hand, without a doubt!"

"And more importantly, this woman's hand only had four fingers!"

"A wave of chills exploded in A-Qiang's heart. His vision went black, and he fell off the bed."

"Before he could recover, a burst of hurried footsteps came from outside, and then several people dressed as doctors walked in."

"Their faces were terrible, and they immediately demanded that A-Qiang call his friend and explain what had happened."

"A-Qiang hadn't recovered from his fear when one of them, who looked like the leader, angrily threw a stack of money at him."

"The money looked fine at first glance, but upon closer inspection, the denominations printed on it were far greater than those of circulating currency, and the workmanship was very rough."

"This was paper money burned for the dead!"

"The leading doctor said that this was the money his friend, who brought him here last night, had paid for his medical expenses!"

"Fortunately, A-Qiang had some money on him and managed to scrape together enough for the medical bills. Only then did the hospital let him go. Otherwise, it seemed they would have pulled out the half-empty IV drip he was currently receiving."

"After finally seeing the doctors off, A-Qiang had time to call his friends. But after calling around, not a single one admitted to it."

"Everyone's story was surprisingly consistent. They didn't know anything about him fainting and were just about to call him to invite him out for drinks that night."

"Hanging up the phone, A-Qiang was stunned. If it wasn't these friends, then who else would be so kind as to send him to the hospital? Slowly, his gaze involuntarily drifted towards his left foot."

"A terrifying idea that he dared not think about, and even deliberately ignored, was slowly becoming a reality..."

"After getting out of bed, he realized that the leg with the handprint felt like it was frozen and he couldn't use it at all. So he dragged one leg, hobbling to the hospital's police station and demanding to see the surveillance video from the night before."

"The moment he saw himself appearing at the hospital gate in the video, A-Qiang felt terrible, because the surveillance footage only showed him alone."

"The time shown in the surveillance video was 2:46 AM. He was seen walking with his head down, stumbling, like a sleepwalker. His steps were also very strange, as if he was about to fall at any moment."

"And even more strangely, every time he was about to fall, his body would be righted by an unknown force, as if there was an invisible person standing next to him."

"Then the video jumped to the hospital's cashier. The cashier was yawning and talking to the air in front of her."

"Then she skillfully filled out the form, then reached out and made a receiving gesture. The next second, after she retracted her hand, she had several bills in her hand."

"Seeing this scene, A-Qiang was so frightened that his face turned pale. He stopped the duty officer, who was also stunned, and asked him to rewind the video."

"After several repeats, the video froze at the moment the cashier reached out to receive the money."

"A-Qiang gasped. He saw a hand suddenly appearing in front of the cashier."

"That hand was very white, almost transparent, not like a living person's hand. And more importantly, it only had four fingers, missing the middle one!"

"A-Qiang didn't remember how he got home. In any case, after he got home, he closed all the curtains and locked all the doors."

"Because of fear, he kept drinking, wanting to use alcohol to numb himself."

"He didn't know how long it had been when he woke up groggily, lying on the floor next to the bed. He heard a strange sound in his ear."

"The sound was coming from the bathroom, like someone was taking a shower inside."

"He had been separated from his ex-wife for some time. She hated him for drinking and gambling, and in a fit of anger, she took the child back to her parents' home."

"He was the only one living in this house."

"The bathroom door was ajar, and light shone through the gap. With the help of this little bit of light, A-Qiang's pupils contracted. He saw large patches of stains on the floor, like something rotten mixed with silt, dragged all the way, the traces finally stopping in front of the bathroom."

"A-Qiang was about to be driven crazy. Fueled by alcohol, he grabbed the kitchen knife he always kept with him and approached the bathroom with a ferocious look."

"Standing outside the door, the sound of the shower inside became clearer."

"There was a large bathtub in the bathroom. He could even imagine the person taking a bath in the bathtub."

"As the bathroom door was pushed open, the scene inside came into view. The bathroom was much darker than he had imagined. The floor was covered in water, mixed with silt, making it look filthy."

"A-Qiang didn't pay attention and stepped into the water. The feeling under his feet was very soft, not like the floor. If he had to describe it, it was like stepping into the silt at the bottom of a lake."

"He struggled to pull his foot out and found that it was wrapped in a lot of hair, all women's long hair."

"The next second, he suddenly realized that the sound of the water in the bathtub had stopped at some point."

"Because there was a shower curtain blocking it, he couldn't see behind it, but a blurry shadow was left on the shower curtain."

"It was a woman's shadow, with a very good figure. A-Qiang heard a faint rubbing sound. Combined with the up and down movement of the shadow, he could imagine that the woman behind the shower curtain was combing her hair."

"But slowly, A-Qiang's breathing became rapid. The sound of combing hair became faster and faster, and the woman's movements became more and more violent. A-Qiang heard the sound of hair, and even skin, being torn."

"Large patches of dark shadows fell off. The woman was combing off her scalp. Black liquid splashed, splattering on the shower curtain. The bloody scene looked like a slaughterhouse."