Insights Chapter 111: Strange Events

Chapter 111: Strange Events

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

Gu Yanchen first asked about the location they had previously rented, and Deng Anlu provided an address. She showed Gu Yanchen the photos she had taken before, along with screenshots of information from the internet. It was a very clean and stylish residence.

The walls were freshly painted white, the floor was light-colored wooden, there was a full-length mirror on the wall. A small bear tray was placed on the shoe cabinet at the entrance. The curtains were a milky coffee color, the computer desk and wardrobe were purchased together, and there was even a white woolen mat under the swivel chair. The overall decoration style was Nordic, with clean windows, bright tones, and a large wardrobe in the bedroom. This first impression was much more appealing to young people than those old-fashioned decorations.

Bai Meng asked, “How much is the rent for this place?”

Deng Anlu said, “The agent said we could apply for a student discount. For both of us, it’s 800 per person per month.”

In the prime location of Penang, at such a price, renting such an elevator apartment, the landlord and the agency were practically doing charity. But eight hundred a month was a bit luxurious for students. Only those from relatively well-off families would be able to afford it.

Hearing Deng Anlu mention that there were some abnormalities, Gu Yanchen first arranged for Lu Ying to take a team over to investigate, while he, Bai Meng, and Shen Junci continued their inquiries here.

“The apartment was great, and the price was particularly cheap, but when we lived there, we encountered some very strange things.”

Deng Anlu organized her thoughts and began, “Initially, Xia Tian’en and I went to see the apartment together. The agent first took us to see several particularly dilapidated ones, the kind that was completely uninhabitable. We weren’t satisfied, so they brought us to this one.”

Shen Junci, upon hearing this, glanced at Gu Yanchen. This was a typical trick of the agents. To make clients decide quickly on a property, they would deliberately show them some very run-down ones, and then quote high prices. This way, when they saw the later properties, the tenants would be more likely to accept them, thinking they got a great deal.

The apartment was on the sixth floor of an elevator building, and it was nicely decorated and looked new. The staff said this apartment was in high demand and we needed to decide quickly. They even said they had to take a call outside, claiming someone else wanted this apartment, and that someone was ready to put down a deposit. We were anxious at that time.”

The second trick appeared; there might not have been anyone actually competing for the apartment. If they were in a hurry, they fell into the agent’s trap.

“The two of us were very satisfied with this apartment, each having our own room. We got along well that evening, and soon signed the lease there…”

“But the next day, during the day when we were getting ready to move, we found that the apartment looked completely different from the night before. Only during the day could we see the outside clearly. There was a footprint on the window of the balcony in the room. It was a footprint facing inward, and it was a man’s footprint…”

An inward footprint indicated that someone had climbed in through the window.

Two girls living in the apartment, only to discover such a thing shortly after moving in, must have felt uneasy.

Deng Anlu sighed, “We only saw it clearly the next day. On the fifth floor on the side of the window sill, there was a rooftop, not far from the rooftop was where the air conditioner was placed. Even girls like us could climb up from the fifth floor. We quickly reported the security issue to the rental company, and they said they would install protective nets for us.”

Gu Yanchen asked, “Is the footprint still there?”

Deng Anlu said, “We wiped it off later because it looked scary. The protective nets were installed within a week. I thought it was safe then, but I didn’t expect it was just the beginning. Stranger things happened later… About a month after we moved in, it was probably around eight o’clock in the evening, I and a friend were coming back from supper, and suddenly in the darkness, I saw a man rummaging through the trash bins in the corridor. I watched from the side, not only was that man not afraid, but he also glared at me. Later, he took out a parcel from the trash. I remembered, Xia Tian’en had just thrown something down in the afternoon, I suspected it might be her parcel, so I went upstairs and told her about it.”

Bai Meng raised her head and said, “Could he be a garbage collector? There are elderly people in our neighborhood who like to pick up boxes and bottles.”

Deng Anlu said, “I thought he was a garbage collector at first, but his dress didn’t look like it. He wore leather shoes, and even his belt was a good brand. Usually, it’s mostly elderly people who pick up boxes, but that man was in his prime.”

Gu Yanchen asked, “Do you remember what the man looked like?”

Deng Anlu shook her head, “It was dark in the late evening, I couldn’t see clearly. He was probably in his thirties, but I only remembered he was a bit chubby. I was too scared at that time. Then, the next day, Xia Tian’en received a call from an unknown number… and even more terrifying things happened…”

Gu Yanchen asked, “What did the person say?”

“He… didn’t say anything.” Deng Anlu said, her face showing some unnatural expression, as if recalling the terrifying events of that time, “He said nothing, which made it even scarier. At first, Xia Tian’en thought it was just a simple prank call and hung up when it came, but later, it kept coming, and he would call from different numbers. Xia Tian’en got angry and cursed into the phone. But on the other end, there was breathing…”

“Breathing?” Gu Yanchen frowned.

Deng Anlu said, “Yes, it was a man’s, heavy breathing… There were strange noises on the phone… like a wild beast in the forest, staring at its prey… It’s disgusting.”

As she spoke, she couldn’t help but take a deep breath, and her legs began to tremble. Even just listening to the description would make one feel that this was a bizarre incident.

Gu Yanchen frowned, “Did you report to the police or tell anyone about this?”

“Report? How could we? Saying that we’re getting constant harassing calls?” Deng Anlu sighed bitterly, “We went to ask, and the police at the station just registered it and sent us home. Xia Tian’en was so scared that she changed her phone number early the next morning. Both of us were terrified by this incident. We didn’t dare to buy things online for a long time. We checked the trash multiple times before throwing it away and even covered up the numbers on the boxes before disposing them. In the following days, I started feeling like someone was constantly watching me, staring at me… That feeling terrified me, made me breathless. When I walked alone, I felt footsteps behind me, but when I turned around, there was no one there. When I went shopping, I felt someone watching me. I even felt… men passing by would give me malicious smiles…

“I felt like I was trapped in an airtight net, enveloped. I started to avoid walking alone, and after class, I would hold Xia Tian’en’s hand and rush home without daring to go out at night, returning to the apartment early. But even so, that feeling persisted. One evening after dinner, I couldn’t hold it in and talked to Xia Tian’en about recent events. Xia Tian’en said that she had encountered strange people at school when she was selecting elective courses, seemingly from other departments. During class, someone sat in the back and took pictures of her with their phone, and even pointed at her. Later, that man became even more audacious, trying to put his phone under her skirt. She and her classmates chased after him, but the man ran away.”

Bai Meng made a note of it, planning to go to Xia Tian’en’s school later to find out more.

Deng Anlu continued, “Xia Tian’en told me this example probably to console me, but after hearing it, I became even more scared. At that time, she was still smiling and comforting me, saying that many women have experienced similar things while growing up. Men with bad intentions, taking photos secretly, could be seen everywhere, on buses, on the streets. Xia Tian’en said I might be too sensitive, and that our recent experiences were just a bit unlucky. She said we should go to the temple to pray, and everything would be fine… But later…”

Deng Anlu paused here, biting her lip, seeming to struggle with whether to reveal more.

Gu Yanchen noticed her hesitation and said, “These things shouldn’t be taken lightly. They could be very helpful for our investigation.”

Bai Meng also reassured her, “We’ll keep it confidential for you.”

Only then did Deng Anlu continue, “I’m sure it wasn’t my imagination. We were indeed being watched by some people. There were some men around me and Xia Tian’en, occasionally staring at us. One day in June, I took the subway to a teacher’s house to pick up some materials. It was around three in the afternoon, and the train wasn’t crowded, but a man kept squeezing beside me. I felt uncomfortable, so I moved to another carriage, but the man followed. He kept brushing against me, and I felt very uneasy, breaking out in a cold sweat. I walked to the door of the train, ready to get off, and the man followed. When the train stopped, he seemed to be getting off, which finally relieved me. But just as the man was about to get off the train, he leaned close to my ear and said… he said… ‘You have a red mole on your chest.’ Then he got off.

“I was stunned at that moment, my whole body went weak. I really do have a red mole on my chest, but it’s in a very private place. I was wearing a dress that day, and maybe the neckline was a bit low, so he saw it… I felt sick and terrified at that moment.” Deng Anlu stopped here, obviously reluctant to recall more. She reached out and gripped her neckline tightly, trembling all over.

Gu Yanchen asked, “Can you describe what the man looked like?”

Deng Anlu shook her head, “I didn’t dare to lift my head at that time. I only remembered that he was tall.”

Shen Junci asked, “Did you tell Xia Tian’en about this?”

Deng Anlu said, “I didn’t go into detail because it was too difficult to talk about. I just mentioned to her that I encountered another pervert on the subway, reminding her to be careful. Now I’m thinking… could she have been killed by those men?”

Bai Meng asked, “Why didn’t you move out?”

Deng Anlu replied, “Initially, we didn’t think it was a problem with the house, but later we felt something wasn’t right. We had already paid rent for six months, and the agent refused to refund…”

Gu Yanchen asked, “But why did you eventually move out?”

Deng Anlu calmed herself and said, “The incident that made me determined to move out happened about half a month ago. It was raining that day, around eleven o’clock at night. I had finished washing up and was preparing to rest when suddenly I heard someone knocking on the door. Xia Tian’en and I were both there, so we asked who it was, but there was no response from outside. The knocking grew more urgent, even turning into frantic pounding. Then I heard the sound of the door handle being forced… very violent, very loud. I mustered the courage to walk to the door and look…”

Bai Meng stopped taking notes and asked, “What did you see?”

“I saw someone looking into the room through the peephole!” Deng Anlu said, her eyes filled with terror, still vividly recalling that horrifying scene.

Gu Yanchen asked, “Did you call the police?”

Deng Anlu shook her head, “We called the property management. They sent someone to check, but by then, there was no one outside the door. Later, they checked the surveillance footage and said it might have been a delivery person who got the wrong address. But from under the door, I retrieved this piece of paper.”

It was the note that said “Leave this place!”

All these things Deng Anlu mentioned seemed like everyday occurrences, things that might happen frequently, but when they occurred one after another, it felt eerie. Deng Anlu continued, “After that, I refused to stay there. I had nightmares every night. I persuaded Xia Tian’en to negotiate with the rental company together, asking to move out and find us another place or refund our money. But the rental company changed their attitude and kept refusing. They said we were making a big deal out of nothing, that it wasn’t their responsibility, and that the house had no safety issues. They also said they were renting it to us at a very cheap price, and if we terminated the lease, we wouldn’t find such a good place again. I was so angry that I didn’t even want the money back and just moved back to the dorm.”

Gu Yanchen then asked her, “Why didn’t Xia Tian’en move out?”

Deng Anlu replied, “I valued my life and left without demanding the deposit. Xia Tian’en was a bit reluctant to part with the money. She also has sleep problems. People talking or coughing in the dormitory kept her awake, and she couldn’t get used to wearing earplugs. So she refused to move back.”

Gu Yanchen asked, “Which company did you rent the house from?”

“DreamRentals,” Deng Anlu answered.

Bai Meng checked and said, “It’s one of those companies that rent houses from landlords, renovate them, and then rent them out.”

Such houses, even if problems arise, often lead to blame-shifting among the agent, landlord, and rental company, making it difficult to ascertain responsibility.

Shen Junci asked, “What about your rental contract?”

Deng Anlu said, “When we signed the contract, the agent said this price required special approval from their superiors. After the approval was stamped, they would give us the contract. They allowed us to move in first. We were in a hurry at the time, so we transferred the rent to the agent first. But later, they didn’t give us the contract despite my reminders. They just said it wouldn’t affect our stay. This time, when Xia Tian’en got into trouble, I wanted to ask the original agent about it again, but it seems like they’ve blacklisted me.”

Even the contract was missing. These girls lacked social experience.

Deng Anlu continued, “It was our first time renting a house, and we didn’t know a lot of things. We just checked some guides online at the last minute. I never thought there would be so many problems.”

Thinking of something, Deng Anlu added, “Oh, Xia Tian’en said that she might have her boyfriend come to stay with her. She said she wouldn’t be afraid if she was with her boyfriend.”

Bai Meng asked, “Who is her boyfriend? Is he a classmate from your school?”

Deng Anlu shook her head, “I don’t know him, and she hasn’t brought him around. It seems like they’ve just started dating. She said she would introduce him to me after they’ve been together for a while…”

After finishing the conversation, Gu Yanchen had Deng Anlu sign, and then he noted down her contact information.