Town Demon Museum

"Hello, this is Zhongzheng Street Police Station. How can I assist you?" "..." "Hello? Is there anything I can help you with?" "Are you currently in a situation where you can't speak freely?" "... No, I, I need help. I want to report an incident. Please save me! You must save me! Sob, sob, I'm so scared! Please save me!" "Ma'am, can you provide me with your specific address?" "My home is in Unit 3, Block 72, Rich Spring Residential Area on Zhongzheng Street. Please hurry, hurry up, or it'll be too late!!" "Alright, we have dispatched our nearest colleague to your location. Ma'am, please try to stay calm, and take care of yourself. Please keep the line connected, and can you tell us what has happened? Is it a robber or someone else threatening your safety?" "No, it's not a person. I... sob, sob, Officer, I encountered something unclean. I didn't mean to provoke it, but it keeps following me." "Unclean thing? Please calm down, ma'am." "Rest assured, our colleague is on the way. You must believe in science; there are no ghosts. Maybe you're just feeling a bit anxious lately, and your mind is playing tricks on you." "... No, it really is... it's an unclean thing. It's a pair of red embroidered shoes." "Red embroidered shoes?" "Yes, red, red embroidered shoes, like those from ancient times, the three-inch golden lotus shoes. I am a folk designer, and I design some niche clothing and accessories for certain shops. I had a creative block recently and couldn't come up with anything. So I went to Jiangnan for a vacation, trying to clear my mind. In a small shop, I saw those shoes. They were truly beautiful, like works of art, with intricate golden embroidery that captivated me... they were just so beautiful..." "Ma'am?" "Oh, I'm sorry, I got carried away again. Hoo, hoo, it's just that I feel like I'm bewitched." "It's okay. You mentioned the red embroidered shoes?" "Yes, the red embroidered shoes. That's right. I bought them and suddenly felt a surge of inspiration. I designed two new shoe models that day, and they are now selling like hotcakes on Taobao. I have a commission deal, so I was really happy at that time. I had some drinks, and then I had a dream... sob, sob..." "You don't need to recall that, ma'am. Please calm down. My colleague is on the way." "No, I want to continue. In my dream, I saw a woman, no, a female ghost. She just stared at me with her black hair hanging down, dripping with water, wearing a red dress, and she had those red embroidered shoes on her feet. She... she just kept staring at me without saying a word. The next day, I woke up and thought it was just a nightmare, but I dreamt of her again, and she was even closer to me..." "How close?" "At first, she was five meters away, then three meters, and recently, she was almost right in front of my face. Can you imagine that? I could see her eyes, her dripping hair, and the spots on her face... those were corpse spots. She's already dead! Dead! I woke up in fear, and when I got off the bed to get some water, I saw those red embroidered shoes right next to my bed, with the toes facing the bed." "Shoes on the bed, ghosts on the bed. She wants to harm me, she wants to harm me." "I clearly placed them in my studio, but they came over by themselves!" "... Ma'am, ma'am? Please calm down. It's possible that you accidentally placed them there and forgot about it." "I didn't forget. Yes, that day, it seems I couldn't find my slippers, so I wore those shoes?" "What did you do with the shoes?" "Do? I burned them. The elderly say that using fire can get rid of unclean things, so she wouldn't dare to come back. After that, I had a few days of peace, but just now, someone knocked on my door. I thought it was a food delivery, but I couldn't see anyone through the peephole. I saw those shoes standing at the doorstep, and the floor was wet." "It's her, she's back. She's coming for me! Police, please come quickly, why haven't you come yet? Sob, sob, sob... I heard the sound of the door opening, she's coming in!" "Ma'am, please stay calm. My colleague has already gone upstairs. Please keep yourself safe. Where are you right now? When he comes in, he'll take you out of there." "I'm hiding inside the closet behind the curtains in the inner room. Please come quickly." "...?" "Officer?" "..." "Officer, what's wrong with you? Don't scare me!" "..." "Turns out, you're here." The voice on the phone changed, causing the woman who had called for help to turn pale. Creak... The closet door slowly opened. Outside, a pair of small red embroidered shoes, dripping with water, stood there. "Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!" ... "Beep, beep, beep..." "Hello, this is Zhongzheng Street Police Station. How can I assist you?" "..." "Hello? Is there anything I can help you with?" "Are you currently in a situation where you can't speak freely?" The male police officer who answered the phone frowned slightly. Everyone in their police station was male, with no female colleagues. He turned to his surrounding colleagues and gestured: "No one is speaking; it seems the signal is being interfered with." "Send someone to check it out. We've been having quite a few incidents lately, so it won't take much effort to take a look." "Alright, let's check the location of the phone number owner." "Okay." "Found it." "Where?" "Unit 3, Block 72, Rich Spring Residential Area." ... The police found the landlord, took the keys, and opened the tightly locked door. They rushed into the house. No one responded to their calls, and after making a phone call, they heard a female voice singing: "On the eighteenth day of the first lunar month, an auspicious day, carry the sorghum." "Put on the red makeup, one foot, one grudge, hastily cut..." The music sounded somewhat eerie. The police entered the room, and then they all fell silent. Sitting on a red wooden stool was a woman dressed in red, the homeowner. Her long black hair hung down behind her, hands folded on her abdomen, and she wore three-inch golden lotus red embroidered shoes that were constantly dripping with blood. Drip, drip. Her black hair dripped water. ... Clang! Upon hearing the police sirens outside, Wei Yuan casually piled up the things he was looking at and let out a sigh of relief. "Done." This was the place where his grandfather used to live, right next to Rich Spring Residential Area. Walking a bit further would lead straight into the city. He had hoped that they would demolish this place long ago. He had already planned how to spend the money, but unfortunately, the authorities drew a line just a little alley away. The brothers who used to squat at the entrance, eating their meals with a bowl in hand, had tough times living here, and his grandfather was not happy about it. After he grew old, he moved to Uncle Wei Yuan's house to live. He passed away a couple of years ago, enjoying his final years. Now Wei Yuan, this younger generation, came to Quan City to find a job, and Uncle Wei Yuan gave him the keys. He could temporarily stay here until he found a job. It wouldn't be a problem to stay here permanently. After all, it was just a small house, not spacious, but because his grandfather had experienced poverty and hardship, he couldn't bear to throw anything away. Wei Yuan had finally cleaned it up, his back and waist sore, and found some things, such as several ancient coins, an old bronze waist token, and a few out-of-print old books. They weren't worth much, but they made for good collectibles. Wei Yuan absentmindedly fiddled with those things, preparing to take a bath. When he turned around, the police car had left again, and suddenly there was a clang sound from behind him. It was as if he had heard a low, fierce tiger roar, as if it had been provoked or alerted by something. Wei Yuan turned back, but there was nothing there. The side with the tiger head swallowing the token was now exposed. Wei Yuan was curious and examined the token closely. There were several words on it, written in either official script or seal script: "Great Han, Commandant of the Capital Guard." On the reverse side was a big character, "Wei." It seemed to be quite ancient. The token had turned a bit dark, but on closer inspection, it looked like a deep red, almost like dried blood. Wei, was it something left by their ancestors? Wei Yuan had doubts in his heart as he prepared to put the token down, but suddenly his finger stung, and he seemed to have been pricked by something. A drop of crimson blood fell onto the token. Because of the pain, he subconsciously let go, and the token fell onto the draft paper on the table. The ordinary draft paper unexpectedly revealed rows of solemn and murderous characters. "Disturbance and calamity arise; witchcraft and curses taint the Divine Land. This belongs to the Commandant of the Capital Guard of the Great Han." "Those who offend the Divine Land, even if they possess extraordinary strength and power, shall be hunted down and exterminated." Wei Yuan's eyes went blank, and unconsciously, he reached out to pick up the wanted order. However, as if it were burning, his fingertips felt an intense pain. He quickly withdrew his hand, and next to the characters on the wanted order, a pair of red embroidered shoes appeared, eerily lifelike, just like the wanted order itself.