Demons Beside You

“I’m at the entrance. You can come out now.” Chen Zhao was calling Laurent. “Does anyone live here? Why is it so dark?”

“Chen, I drank too much. Come help me out.”

“You sound normal though.”

“It’s true.”

“How come there’s no sound over there? Are all your friends drunk?”

“They’re chatting on the side. They’re all old. Do you want to hear them talk?”

“Whatever.”

Chen Zhao could only get out of his car and enter the neighborhood to pick Laurent up.

But as soon as he entered, he sensed something wrong.

There was a smell of rot in the air.

Suddenly, an evil spirit lunged at Chen Zhao with no warning.

Chen Zhao raised his leg without even blinking.

Ah!

The evil spirit let out a scream and was scattered by Chen Zhao’s kick.

Another one came. And another…

“F*ck, did I run into some evil spirit lair?”

He got rid of some evil spirits offhandedly. They were all average ones and weren’t threatening at all.

Chen Zhao basically killed one with each punch. There was no nonsense.

He could feel that there were still many eyes on him.

But they weren’t willing to come out. Clearly, they were afraid of Chen Zhao.

He didn’t think the surroundings were threatening.

It wasn’t only humans who bullied the weak and were afraid of the strong. Evil spirits were the same.

Obviously! Chen Zhao had killed a few evil spirits offhandedly. The others would be stupid to keep doing suicidal attacks.

Chen Zhao walked straight toward the address that Laurent had mentioned.

At the door, he looked inside.

There was candlelight in the room, so it should be here, right?

He knocked on the door.

Inside, Laurent heard the knock.

He looked at Pamela who said indifferently, “Go open the door. Your in-law is here.”

“He’s here? Didn’t you say—”

Suddenly, a gust of wind blew the candle out.

Laurent shuddered because he saw Pamela’s body was disappearing slowly.

Like the smoke dissipating from the candle.

“Pamela?”

Cold sweat beaded on Laurent’s forehead.

“Ah!”

He suddenly screamed and rushed to the door.

He saw Chen Zhao with his back to him.

“Chen, save me!”

Chen Zhao turned around. Instead of seeing Chen Zhao’s face, Laurent saw a terrifying face.

“Ah!” Laurent fainted from fear.

“F*ck. If I’d known, I wouldn’t have scared him.” Chen Zhao was annoyed.

He grabbed Laurent’s arm and started walking out.

Just then, a necklace fell out of his pocket.

Chen Zhao picked it up to look. Another key?

Was it the same as the other keys?

Or was it just a coincidence?

Whatever, he’d take it first.

Chen Zhao didn’t care if this was Laurent’s personal item.

Along the way, Laurent woke up in the backseat of the car.

“Where am I?”

The scene from before he fainted flashed through his mind.

He suddenly realized something.

“F*ck. Chen, did you try scaring me earlier?”

“Laurent, who were you with earlier?”

He suddenly turned green and his lips trembled.

“Chen, I… I think I met a ghost.”

Chen Zhao wasn’t too surprised at that. After all, the neighborhood wasn’t normal.

He met so many evil spirits with just a few steps. It would be even stranger if there was no problem.

“Tell me what happened.”

“I met up with a friend I haven’t seen in 20 years but when you came, she suddenly disappeared.”

“Oh, you saw a ghost.”

“You don’t believe me?” Laurent looked angrily at Chen Zhao who was driving.

“No, I believe you.”

“You don’t believe me. If you believed me, you wouldn’t be so calm now.”

“How do you think I should react?” Chen Zhao rolled his eyes.

“You didn’t see anything when you came?”

Laurent felt like Chen Zhao still didn’t believe him.

“Nope.”

Now, Laurent was even more annoyed.

He’d wanted to scare Chen Zhao.

But instead of scaring Chen Zhao, he was the one who got terrified.

Laurent suddenly felt depressed.

He felt around his pocket and took out a few old pictures.

“Are you crying?” Chen Zhao glanced in the rearview mirror and saw Laurent wiping at his tears.

“Chen, do you think someone would appear before you after they die?”

“Maybe.” The topic suddenly turned heavy. Chen Zhao saw that Laurent was truly sad. “Tell me about you and your friend.”

“You won’t believe me.”

“I’ll just take it as a story.”

Along the way, Laurent started reminiscing about the past.

“She said that there was an epidemic 12 years ago. Maybe she died then,” Laurent said gravely. “But it’s okay. I can still meet my old friend. No matter what she turned into, she’s still her.”

“I’ll tell Winnip.”

“You *sshole!”

…

Back home, Laurent was still feeling down, so he went to look at the lakeside night view.

Chen Zhao didn’t care. Being sentimental was his own business.

Chen Zhao didn’t plan on wallowing with him.

After showering, he went to his room. Fali wasn’t sleeping yet.

He went up and hugged Fali.

“Chen, I see Dad sitting at the side of the lake. Is he unhappy?”

“He might’ve run into a ghost.”

“Huh?”

“It’s okay. The ghost didn’t have bad intentions.”

Chen Zhao rubbed against Fali, stimulating her desire.

He didn’t think too much about it. He didn’t care about Laurent, anyway.

Just as he was about to do things with Fali, Laurent started rapping on the door.

Chen Zhao was instantly furious. When he opened the door, he saw Laurent’s furrowed expression.

“Chen, drink with me.”

“It’s one a.m.,” Chen Zhao said with a dark expression.

“I feel empty.”

“Do you want me to find you a girl? Since Winnip isn’t here.”

Fali: “…”

Chen Zhao looked back at her. Fali motioned for him to accompany her dad.

Chen Zhao was very angry. Should he find someone to kill Laurent?

That night, Laurent became very sentimental.

He drank the Purple Brew for the first time and started sobbing.

Chen Zhao just wanted to knock him out.

One night was already unbearable. How could he take more nights?

Fine, I give up.

Laurent drank until four a.m. before he was finally tired.

Chen Zhao tossed him onto the sofa and went back to his room to sleep.

But he heard knocking in the early morning again.

If Chen Zhao wasn’t hugging the man’s daughter at the moment, he would honestly kill him.

Chen Zhao opened the door with a dark expression and glared at the old man. “What?”

“Chen, I want to go there again. Go with me.”

“Are you crazy? You know there are ghosts and you still want to go? Go if you want, but don’t drag me along!”