"Ah!" Wang Yan was so terrified that she threw her phone onto the floor. In that instant, she was overwhelmed by a mix of horror, fear, and sadness—she didn't even know what she was feeling anymore.
"Where did you go?" The call hadn't been disconnected yet. The funeral hall was noisy; it sounded like Liu Zhaodi's family members were surrounding Zhuo Ning, bombarded him with questions. Unable to focus on Wang Yan for the moment, Zhuo Ning hung up the phone.
Looking at her now-silent phone, she let out a sigh of relief and slumped onto the floor. A sense of absurdity washed over her: *Either I've actually lost my mind, or ghosts really do exist.* After waiting for a while longer and seeing that the phone didn't ring again, she decided to go out to the living room. She wanted to see if her roommates were there; a bit of mundane, everyday atmosphere might make her feel less afraid.
The apartment was a two-bedroom unit that she shared with a young married couple. The husband was here for his Master's degree, while the wife had come on a partner visa. Most of the time, the wife would be lying on the living room sofa, binge-watching dramas on her iPad. At this moment, Wang Yan felt incredibly lucky that she didn't live alone. Because of the exorbitant rent, she had chosen to share the apartment.
Wang Yan stepped out of her room. From her angle, she could see Michelle sitting on the sofa, leaning against the backrest with her iPad in hand. Perhaps she was wearing headphones, as there wasn't a single sound coming from the device. She called out, "Michelle," but the girl didn't turn around.
Wang Yan took two steps toward the sofa. As she drew closer, she froze. *Was Michelle's hair always this long?* Long black hair was draped loosely over her shoulders. Then, Wang Yan saw the iPad screen. The device wasn't unlocked; the screen wasn't even lit up. It was more like a dark, blurred mirror. But the reflection on that black screen wasn't Michelle's face. In the blur, it appeared to be the exact same face from the funeral portrait in the video call—it was Liu Zhaodi!