Those Years When I Was an Exorcist - Chapter 3

I had never experienced anything like this before.

Two living, breathing men had vanished right before my eyes, disappearing without a trace.

Four surveillance monitors lined the table, covering nearly every floor from -1 to the seventh floor.

I switched between camera feeds until my eyes burned, but I still couldn’t find them.

I nearly drained the batteries of Seventh Brother and Brother Wei’s phones, but they stubbornly refused to answer.

I wanted to go look for them, but I couldn’t be in two places at once. What if they were colluding to target the gold counter? I wouldn’t be able to handle them alone.

The thought of facing these two—one trained in Iron Sand Palm, the other in Iron Head Technique—gave me a splitting headache.

I had military training and knew some grappling and combat techniques, but I’d never been in a real fight.

How could I possibly stand a chance against such martial arts masters?

What if they teamed up against me…?

God, I’m not even married yet! I haven’t even tasted a woman’s lips!

My mind raced, my eyes glued to the second-floor gold counter on the monitor.

I reasoned that if they were indeed plotting to steal valuables, this would be their target.

I considered calling the police, but it was all just speculation. After much deliberation, I decided to call Miss Chen first. But when I checked the time, it was already 2 a.m.

What if it was a false alarm?

Disturbing a beautiful woman’s sleep for no good reason would be terribly rude.

After more thought, I decided to go look for them myself, but I couldn’t leave the gold counter on the second floor unattended.

Torn between these options, I suddenly remembered that the second floor, being a separate level, had its own roller shutter door.

With this in mind, I immediately went upstairs, checked that all doors and windows were secured, lowered the roller shutter, and took the key with me.

Now, if anyone tried to break in, they’d have to pry open the shutter, creating enough noise for me to call the police.

As I finished securing the floor, I heard footsteps above—thump, thump, thump—as if someone was running back and forth.

Who could it be? Seventh Brother? Brother Wei? Could it be a thief?

Summoning my courage, I climbed to the third floor. It was pitch-black, so I flicked on my flashlight. No one was there.

“Seventh Brother? Brother Wei? Is that you?”

No one answered, but I distinctly heard a thump-thump sound. Someone was definitely there.

I fumbled for the light switch on the wall, but couldn’t find it.

This floor sold appliances. If it was a thief hiding behind refrigerators or washing machines, they’d be hard to spot.

I stationed myself by the door, the only exit. Since they weren’t answering, they must have ill intentions. If they wanted to escape, they’d have to come through here.

A sudden thought struck me. Spotting a pile of discarded cardboard boxes and thin wooden boards in the corner, I grabbed two appropriately sized pieces to protect my chest and back.

I secured them with my belt, covering them with my outer clothes so they wouldn’t be visible.

This makeshift armor gave me a sense of security, just in case.

It was a spur-of-the-moment decision. If those appliance packaging materials hadn’t been there, I wouldn’t have thought of it.

As it turned out, this decision proved to be remarkably wise.

Now armed and feeling more confident, I shouted, “Hey buddy, don’t say I didn’t give you a chance! Say ‘123’ and show yourself, or I’m closing the door!”

“1”

Empty silence. No response.

“2… 3!”

Before anyone could answer, I slammed the roller shutter door shut with a resounding crash, my bl00d boiling with excitement. Finally, the self-defense skills I’ve been practicing are going to come in handy, I thought.

I searched the entire area but found no trace of the intruder. Just as I was about to turn and leave, a light flashed behind me, and a commanding voice boomed, “Freeze! Hands up!”

The shout froze me in my tracks, my mind going blank.

Does he have a gun? I wondered.

Immediately afterward, a voice accompanied by music chimed in, “Show yourself, Little Darling!”

I turned to see a 52-inch Konka flat-screen TV had switched on, playing a cartoon.

How embarrassing! I’d been congratulating myself on being alone, but now I realized something was wrong. Why would the TV turn on by itself?

Without time to dwell on it, I rushed over to turn it off. That’s when I noticed the electrical panel on the wall. Flipping the switch lit up the entire floor.

Just then, a series of thumping sounds echoed through the room.

My nerves tightened again. Scanning the area, I traced the noise to the refrigerated display cases.

I sprinted over and circled the cases, but found no one.

Strange… I clearly heard the noise coming from this area. How could no one be here?

Just then, the thumping sound returned, this time unmistakable—it was coming from the two rows of refrigerators behind me.

My God, could someone be trapped inside a refrigerator?

I frantically began opening each refrigerator, one by one, until I reached a double-door Casarte model, as tall as me, that was plugged in and running.

None of the other refrigerators were powered on, but this one was.

But shouldn’t the door open from the inside if pushed?

As soon as my hand touched the door, the refrigerator shook violently, confirming my suspicions.

Might as well go all in. I yanked the door open, ready to smash it with my flashlight.

Whoever’s playing these tricks, locking themselves in a refrigerator for no reason, can’t be up to any good.

“Don’t hit me! Don’t hit me! It’s me…”

I stared in disbelief. It was Meng Wei, the man who had gone missing earlier. He was shivering violently, his hair and eyebrows covered in thick frost.

I froze in shock. “You… how did you get in there?”

Before I could finish the question, the 1.8-meter-tall, muscular man collapsed stiffly to the floor.

Only then did I notice the thick frost coating his entire body—he was completely frozen.

How could someone lock themselves in a refrigerator for no reason and freeze like this? If I’d been a minute later, Brother Wei would have become Brother Handsome.

I quickly helped him up, noticing for the first time that his entire body was nearly frozen solid. Touching him felt like touching a block of wood.

“Hey, Brother Wei, wake up! Open your eyes!”

I called out repeatedly. He trembled violently, trying to respond, but when he opened his mouth, a puff of white vapor escaped. With a groan, his eyes rolled back, his body stiffened, and his head slumped forward.

Terrified, I shoved him away and leaped to my feet.

He lay motionless on the floor, utterly silent. I cautiously nudged him with my foot, but there was no reaction whatsoever.

My head swam, my thoughts spiraling into chaos.

Oh God, what do I do now?

Should I call the police? This is way beyond my capabilities.

Just as I reached for my phone to dial 110, a terrifying thought struck me: If the police come, how will I explain this?

Officer, this man locked himself in the refrigerator, plugged it in, and froze to death.

If I tried to explain it that way, not only would the police never believe me, but I’d feel like I was insulting their intelligence.

But that’s exactly what happened!

What should I do?

If the police don’t believe me, will they suspect me?

I frantically looked around. My footprints were everywhere, my fingerprints…

I’m done for. Even I’m starting to suspect myself as the murderer. How could the police not?

Just as I was spiraling into panic, that damned big-screen TV beside me inexplicably turned on again.

A chilling harp melody filled the room. I glanced at the screen and saw four bl00d-red characters: Saw.

My gaze involuntarily drifted to the kitchen appliances. On the shelves hung a row of gleaming meat cleavers.

Could this be fate?

At that moment, Brother Wei on the floor groaned and, with remarkable timing, woke up. “Water… I need water!”

I wiped the sweat from my forehead, finally letting out a sigh of relief. I quickly knelt down and asked, “Brother Wei, why did you lock yourself in the fridge? Even if it’s hot, we have air conditioning. Men shouldn’t be so hard on themselves.”

Brother Wei slowly regained consciousness, his eyes fluttering open. When he saw it was me, his expression softened. He was about to explain when his face suddenly twisted in horror. “Why are you holding a meat cleaver…?”

I only then noticed I was still holding the kitchen knife and quickly hid it behind my back. “I couldn’t open the fridge door, so I grabbed the knife to pry it open!”

“Is that so?” Brother Wei asked skeptically, his gaze lingering on the open refrigerator door, droplets of water still clinging to its surface.

“You scared me half to death! The door probably wasn’t sealed properly, and the water froze it shut. No wonder I couldn’t budge it!”

His explanation made me wonder: Could this guy have been forced in here?

“Brother Wei, from what you’re saying, you didn’t hide in there voluntarily?”

“Am I crazy? Someone pushed me in! But you probably wouldn’t believe me if I told you…”

Brother Wei then recounted the entire incident. By the time he finished, my eyes were wide with disbelief.

According to his story, he had first gone down to the second basement level to begin his patrol. The place was pitch-black, and he couldn’t find the light switch anywhere.

This shopping mall had surveillance cameras on nearly every floor from the first basement level to the seventh floor, but inexplicably, the second basement level had none.

This wasn’t entirely unreasonable. The second basement level was essentially a storage area for miscellaneous items, with nothing particularly valuable stored there, so the lack of cameras wasn’t surprising.

Finding no switch and knowing this wasn’t a priority patrol area, he gave up and headed straight to the first basement level.

This was the parking lot, sparsely populated with cars. Yet, a bright red Ferrari and a brand-new Land Rover Range Rover stood out among the rest.

These two vehicles were undoubtedly expensive, likely belonging to the mall owner. He feared that even a minor scratch could cost him his entire fortune to repair.

As he inspected the cars, something bizarre happened.

Rounding the back of the Ferrari, he spotted a paper figure—a life-sized paper doll.

Encountering such a thing in the dead of night would terrify anyone. He recoiled, only to be struck hard on the head and immediately lose consciousness.

When he awoke, he found himself still in the parking lot, but the paper figure and the two luxury cars were gone.

Panic seized him. He frantically searched the area—those cars were worth millions!

At the same time, he realized this parking lot was different from the one he’d been in earlier. There was no exit, just a rectangular space with one end wider than the other.

Just then, my call came through. He answered, but before he could finish speaking, the call abruptly ended.

As he lowered his phone, a roller shutter door materialized on the opposite wall.

With a clattering sound, the door rolled open. He cautiously stepped through the mysterious portal.