"Captain Smith?" As soon as I heard this, I was taken aback, a bit surprised. I said, "Captain Smith, why is it you? Why are you using my friend's phone..."

Before I could finish, Captain Smith interrupted me and said directly, "Let's not talk about the phone for now. I'm asking you, where are you right now?"

I could vaguely tell that Captain Smith seemed to have something urgent, so I didn't dare to make small talk and quickly replied, "I'm on the way to John Thompson's house with Little Clark. What's wrong? Did you find something in your investigation?"

But on the other end of the line, Captain Smith was stunned, as if he was very surprised, and asked, "What? Who did you just say you're with?"

I said, "I'm with Little Clark, the one who picked up ghost money with me, William Clark."

Captain Smith seemed even more shocked. He said, "The William Clark you're talking about, is he the owner of this phone?"

I said yes, and also asked him how Little Clark's phone ended up with him.

Captain Smith said, "How is that possible? How could you possibly be with William Clark right now? Are you lying to me?"

Hearing this, I was the one who froze. I said, "Captain Smith, why would I lie to you? I'm really with Little Clark right now, on the way to John Thompson's place. Why did you call me? What's going on?"

"What's going on? The William Clark you're talking about is already dead. He committed suicide in his own rental room. The preliminary assessment is that he's been dead for a day. I'm at the scene of death right now."

Captain Smith's words nearly scared me to death. My hand shook, and I almost dropped my phone.

My first reaction was that I must have misheard. How could Little Clark be dead? Isn't he alive and well, right now riding the motorcycle with me?

I immediately said, "Captain Smith, what are you talking about? That can't be right. I'm sitting on the same motorcycle with Little Clark right now. Could you have made a mistake?"

On the other end, Captain Smith was panicking too. He said, "I don't think I could be mistaken. I have all the deceased's documents here, and this phone was taken from the body. I was trying to find the deceased's family in the phone and saw your name, so I called to confirm. How about this, I'll send you a photo of the deceased, and you see if it's him."

"Beep beep beep..." Captain Smith hung up, and I was left completely stunned, my heart filled with shock and fear. Because if what Captain Smith said was true, then who exactly is the person giving me a ride on the motorcycle?

"Ding"—my phone received an MMS, a photo sent by Captain Smith.

Chapter 5: Seeing a Ghost While Alive

With trembling hands, I tried to keep calm, then carefully reached out and tapped open the MMS. As soon as I saw it, my heart skipped a beat and I nearly peed myself in fright, because the person in the photo was Little Clark!

In the photo, Little Clark's death looked just like Old Smith's. Because it was a suicide, it was extremely terrifying and gruesome.

I recognized the deceased in the MMS at a glance. It was Little Clark, no doubt about it!

Holy shit! What the hell is going on here?!

I was nearly scared out of my mind. The news from Captain Smith hit me like a bolt from the blue, leaving me completely paralyzed.

If Little Clark is dead, then isn't the "Little Clark" in front of me a ghost?

At this thought, I didn't dare move at all, feeling a chill down my spine, my whole body covered in goosebumps, cold sweat pouring out...

No wonder Little Clark was acting so strange today, not saying a word—turns out he's a damn ghost!

I was so scared I couldn't sit still. How could I dare keep riding on his motorcycle? I immediately told him to stop; I wanted to get off.

But Little Clark didn't react at all, just kept driving the motorcycle, not even turning his head.

Seeing the motorcycle going faster and faster, I was scared out of my wits. I didn't need to think to know—he was here to take my life! Maybe I was about to get into an accident.

Seeing that Little Clark was completely ignoring me, I was so anxious I was about to cry. I shouted, "Damn it, stop the bike! Stop! You're already dead, don't come after me!"

"We came together, so we have to leave together. Old Smith is still waiting for us!" Little Clark slowly turned his head, grinned, and said in a chilling, ghostly voice.

As soon as I heard that, I really did pee myself. Especially when I saw his creepy grin, all my hair stood on end, because that's exactly how Old Smith looked when he died.

I shuddered in terror, almost falling off the motorcycle. At that moment, I was filled with fear and panic, yelling at Little Clark while dialing Captain Smith's number, hoping he could save me. Even though I knew Captain Smith probably couldn't save me, I couldn't think of any other way.

Just then, I suddenly saw a red-light intersection ahead, but Little Clark had no intention of stopping for the light. My heart leapt into my throat, and I had a strong feeling that something terrible was about to happen!

My heart tightened, and I couldn't care about anything else. Just as the motorcycle rushed toward the intersection, I jumped off, landing hard on the road—and then I knew nothing more...