Chapter 2: The Beautiful Woman Bathing Next Door

“What does this mean?” Ji Yun frowned as he stared at the text message, still unable to grasp what was happening. Suddenly, a chill seized his heart.

“Knock! Knock! Knock!” Urgent knocking sounded from the door behind him, as if pounding directly on his heart. Ji Yun’s body trembled slightly with shock. The frantic rhythm carried a desperate, panicked undertone—someone outside seemed to be gripped by terror, desperate to get inside. Otherwise, they would die.

...

The abrupt knocking made Ji Yun whip around, fixing his gaze on the battered yellow-painted door. He glanced at the message’s warning again, then swallowed hard. This sudden upheaval froze his thoughts—he wanted to speak, but his throat felt clogged with cotton, choking back the question, “Who’s outside?”

What on earth was happening?

Ji Yun’s mind went blank for an instant. Thankfully, the knocking stopped as abruptly as it had begun, plunging the room back into deathly silence. All around, only Ji Yun’s own rough breathing and the patter of rain outside could be heard.

...

The buildings in Happy Community were old, and the doors were of an outdated double-layer style: a rusty iron gate on the outside, and a wooden door panel within, with no peephole. Without opening the door, Ji Yun had no way of knowing who was knocking. He stood frozen for several moments, the eerie atmosphere thickening, chilling his spine. A dead girlfriend, a strange text, the sudden knocking ... a string of bizarre events left Ji Yun’s mind spinning.

He didn’t open the door, nor did he attempt to ask who was outside. Instead, he held his phone, thought for a moment, and tapped on Shang Xiaoyu’s profile picture, replying: “Who are you?”

Whoever was on the other end—if they were using his ex-girlfriend’s account to send cryptic warnings, they must know something.

Was it a prank?

Suddenly, a thought popped into Ji Yun’s head. Maybe the rumors about his deceased girlfriend at school were started by whoever was at the other end of the phone.

But the other party didn’t respond. The “typing...” indicator flashed for a moment, then vanished. Read, but no reply.

Seeing this, Ji Yun felt a surge of anger: Was it amusing to joke about the dead?

He wasn’t about to waste time. His finger jabbed the screen, dialing a video call directly.

“Beep...beep...beep...”

The connecting tones sounded in the quiet night. Ji Yun was determined to see who was behind this charade.

However, what happened next was utterly unexpected.

“Ring...ring...ring...”

A ringtone suddenly echoed, not loud but unnaturally clear in the silent night—right outside the door. Very close. So close it seemed pressed against the door.

In an instant, Ji Yun felt his hair rise. He stared at his phone, then at the door in disbelief. Suddenly, he realized—the person holding the phone was outside his door.

He shot up from his chair. The ringtone cut off abruptly—the person outside had hung up.

Ji Yun was now completely bewildered. What was going on? He had attended Shang Xiaoyu’s funeral himself, seen her buried—there was no way the person outside could be his ex-girlfriend.

So someone had taken the dead “Shang Xiaoyu’s” phone and come looking for him? But even as a prank, this was going too far.

Wait! The person who knocked was definitely not the one with “Shang Xiaoyu’s” phone—otherwise, “they” wouldn’t have warned him not to open the door.

So, the one who knocked urgently, and the one who sent the message, were two different people?

Why were both outside his door? And why the frantic knocking? Why did it stop so suddenly?

Questions flooded his mind in waves.

...

His thoughts tangled in confusion, Ji Yun walked toward the door, wanting to listen quietly for any clue about what was outside. He could have simply opened the door to see, but his hand froze on the handle. The warning “Don’t open the door” hammered at his heart. If he opened it, some horror might await him.

Fortunately, all was quiet outside. It was as if nothing had happened, like a hallucination.

Ji Yun stood at the door for quite a while, feeling a tightness in his chest. He then realized he’d been holding his breath ever since he’d stood up. He opened his mouth and exhaled a long, heavy breath.

“Hoo...”

But before he could think further, the sound of water trickling suddenly reached his ear. Reflexively, he turned his head toward the bathroom.

It wasn’t the faucet in his own apartment, but from the neighbor's. Through the window covered with green floral paper, he saw into the next apartment...

A vivid, alluring scene rudely invaded his sight: a beautiful woman, naked, showering.

The tension in his mind was instantly washed away.

...

Old apartments from the last century were often built with square layouts. The place Ji Yun lived in had a small ventilation window outside the bathroom for better lighting, and so did the neighboring unit, Room 305. Thus, the bathrooms of both units faced each other directly.

The previous occupants of the neighboring unit were a retired elderly couple. Though not particularly close, they exchanged greetings when they met. With window paper for privacy, there should have been no issue. But somehow, a new female neighbor had moved in—Ji Yun had no recollection of her.

Apparently, the new neighbor hadn’t noticed the window was slightly ajar, allowing occupants next door to see inside. From Ji Yun’s vantage point, he could clearly glimpse the flawless figure under the shower’s hot water.

The apartments were small; the distance between them was only a few meters, giving an unobstructed view. He couldn’t see her face clearly, but her body was exceptional—her skin smooth and pale, her figure full without excess. Especially when she turned sideways, the hint of voluptuous curves was almost hypnotic, impossible to look away from.

Even without seeing her face, Ji Yun was certain she was a beautiful, mature woman, full of charm.

She seemed completely unaware of the exposure, tilting her head back beneath the shower as she washed her waist-length hair. The old tungsten bulb cast a dim yellow light over her bare body, illuminating droplets of water as they slid down her delicate skin. The misty steam lent her beauty an enchanting aura.

Peeping was wrong, especially since the neighbor could turn her head and meet his eyes at any moment. Ji Yun felt he should look away, but the seductive scene before him was like a dream, impossible to resist.

Before he could steal another glance, the worst happened—the woman seemed to sense his gaze, her body froze, and she began to turn, as if about to catch him watching.

Ji Yun’s eyes remained glazed, still entranced. Just then, a dark shadow flickered across the window glass. A cold gust swept in, chilling him to the bone.

The cool breeze was like a bucket of cold water, dousing his heated blood in an instant. Ji Yun suddenly realized—

Something was wrong! It was already summer, the temperature high, windows open—how could there be so much steam during a shower? It was like pouring hot water onto ice, billowing mist rising.

The thought struck him, and an icy chill instantly extinguished his desires. Perhaps because his family had run a coffin shop for generations, he’d heard more folk tales than most. Ji Yun suddenly realized his new neighbor might not be normal.

He’d encountered too many strange things tonight. Alarm bells rang in his mind. Even as the alluring sound of water continued, he dared not look again.

Still unsettled, Ji Yun glanced sideways, catching a glimpse in the reflection on the bathroom window glass—a shadow, the same one that had startled him moments before. It seemed that shadow had snapped him out of his daze. Judging by the angle, it was now standing in the corridor outside his own door, Room 304.

It looked like a human figure, standing there silently.

Just then, his phone vibrated again.

Shang Xiaoyu’s profile picture flashed: “Be careful of the one next door!”

Another warning.

Ji Yun’s face froze as he read, already guessing the truth; sweat beaded on his forehead. He replied: “Who are you, really?”

He had expected “Shang Xiaoyu” to ignore him again, but this time, a reply came quickly: “Entrusted by your parents, I’ve come to save your life. You were just ensnared by the neighbor’s ‘Jinpo’ soul-charming spell—you almost lost your life.”

The sender didn’t answer his question, but instead mentioned something even more unsettling.

Jinpo?

Ji Yun’s scalp prickled.

A ghost?

But more shocking than any supernatural being was the revelation that his parents were involved in all this.