The sound of bare footsteps echoed through the empty corridor, as if someone was walking barefoot on the floor.
Leo Liu was terrified, clutching his blanket tightly. He kept hoping his coworkers would return soon, but the footsteps sounded like they were right outside the door, pacing back and forth. Remembering what he'd just seen at the window, Leo reached out to turn on the desk lamp.
Once—no light. Twice—still nothing. The room was filled with a chilling coldness. Even under the covers, Leo felt cold, though it was the height of summer.
The footsteps in the corridor vanished. A cold sensation brushed against Leo's outstretched arm, sending goosebumps over his skin. He quickly pulled his hand back.
He stayed in the dorm like that until after 2 a.m., when his coworkers finally returned. Their noisy arrival immediately made Leo feel less afraid.
As soon as they came back, Leo told them what had happened. But his coworkers, already quite drunk, just laughed. Still stubborn, Leo reached for the board he'd removed earlier. But then, he sensed something strange—the board was nailed down tight. No matter how he tried, he couldn't pull it off.
By now, Leo was utterly exhausted. He pinched his cheeks, wondering if he was just dreaming, and lay down to sleep.
That night, Leo had a dream. He was in a dilapidated old mansion, surrounded by darkness. Fear gripped him. He wanted to escape, but no matter how he tried, he couldn't get out. A red figure kept chasing him, and he didn't dare look back.
He didn't wake until morning, finally breaking free from the dream. For a whole week afterward, Leo had the same dream every night, never able to wake up from it.
Eventually, after two weeks, Leo mustered his courage and went to The Old Tower. He felt a strange compulsion, as if someone wanted him to go inside. Almost as if possessed, Leo entered The Old Tower.
Everything inside was exactly as Leo had seen in his dreams—the first floor, the second floor, and the third. He checked each level one by one. Even in broad daylight, The Old Tower felt chilling and haunted.
The floorboards were rotting from years of neglect. Dust-covered old furniture filled the rooms. In a bedroom on the third floor, Leo found a painting of the Lady in Red. Her face was missing from the canvas—the same red clothes as in his dream.
Maybe out of curiosity, Leo began investigating everything about The Old Tower, questioning neighbors and searching for clues. After a month, he finally learned a little: The Old Tower once belonged to a wealthy family, known for their kindness. But decades ago, something terrible happened one night.
The family's daughter vanished under mysterious circumstances. No matter how the family searched—or even the police—they never found her. She was their only child. Grieving, the couple eventually moved away, but every few years, they returned to see if their daughter had come back.
Leo became fascinated by the case. He kept gathering information and even took the faceless painting home. Strangely, from that day on, he stopped having those dreams.
One stormy night, thunder crashed and rain poured down. Suddenly, a bolt of lightning struck The Old Tower. In an instant, the old building was engulfed in flames and burned to ashes.
Many people went out to watch. The next day, Leo visited the site. After the fire was out, The Old Tower was gone. He felt a pang of regret.
That night, Leo dreamed again. In his dream, a faceless woman kept warning him to leave, to stay away from the area—over and over.
Leo woke up and ignored the warning, simply going back to work.
But on the seventh day after the mansion burned down, a bizarre murder occurred. At the site of the old mansion, a worker from a nearby shop died in a terrifying way—burned alive.
At first, none of this caused much of a stir. But then, a second and third person were found burned to death.
People in the area began to spread rumors—the ghost from The Old Tower was out, harming people.
Leo Liu never really believed any of it. Even though the woman in his dreams kept warning him to leave, he didn't listen.
One night, about six months into Leo's job, it was the Ghost Festival. The library closed early, and eight coworkers gathered to play cards. Just after 10 p.m., everyone went to bed.
No sooner had Leo fallen asleep than he felt dizzy and slipped into a dream. He saw flames everywhere—the library was on fire. He kept running, choking on thick smoke, barely able to breathe.
Out of the inferno walked the Lady in Red—stunningly beautiful, dressed in red. She told Leo the library would catch fire that night, and he had to leave immediately or he'd die.
Leo woke up in shock, realizing he'd only slept an hour. Unsure what to believe, he woke his coworkers and told them about the dream, but none of them believed him.
Unable to sleep, Leo kept thinking about the dream—it felt so real. He decided to get up and check. After turning on the corridor light, he headed downstairs. The stairwell was pitch black, but as he reached the hallway, he smelled smoke.
He rushed to the dorm, shouting that there was a fire. But when he reached the dorm, he found thick smoke everywhere. The wooden door was already charred. He yelled for help, surrounded by smoke, when suddenly, a cold hand grabbed him.
It was the Lady in Red from his dream. She pulled him through the flames, and Leo finally escaped. In front of him stood the entire library, engulfed in fire.
Afterward, Leo Liu immediately told the police what happened, but no one believed him. Leo was detained as a suspect in the arson case.
Leo had few friends and only a casual relationship with his coworkers. In those days, someone as gloomy as him—claiming to know about the fire beforehand and having visited The Old Tower many times—was repeatedly interrogated by the police.
No matter what he said, Leo couldn't explain himself. After his arrest, the murders stopped, so the police believed he was the main suspect.
Three months later, Leo's cell door opened. In walked a man in a gray coat, about thirty, scruffy and smoking. He introduced himself as Detective Stone from the Special Crimes Unit and said he needed to ask Leo some questions.
In the interrogation room, the man told Leo he could call him Detective Stone.
After hearing Leo's story, Detective Stone smiled lightly. An hour later, Leo was released. Before leaving, Detective Stone sternly warned him not to tell anyone about what happened.
After his release, Leo returned to the ruined library. He saw Detective Stone and some people in black uniforms searching the rubble. Many onlookers watched as they found a painting—the very one Leo had brought from The Old Tower, miraculously untouched by the fire.
Leo rented a cheap room to settle down and planned to look for a new job. But that night, he dreamed again—of the woman who'd led him through the flames. She cried, begging Leo to help her, insisting she wasn't the murderer.
The woman in the dream wept bitterly. The next morning, Leo, anxious and uneasy, went to the library ruins but couldn't find Old Stone. Though he didn't believe in ghosts, he still felt compelled to find Old Stone and his team.
After much searching, Leo found the hotel where Old Stone and his team were staying. He waited outside until he saw them preparing to leave, then hurried over.
After telling Detective Stone about his dream, Detective Stone asked Leo if he believed in ghosts. After hesitating, Leo nodded.
Then Detective Stone took out a small jar, sealed with two yellow talismans. He told Leo the ghost from his dream was inside.
Leo remembered seeing the ghost trapped in a dark place in his dream, unable to escape and begging for help.
At that point, Detective Stone made a proposal: Leo should take the jar to the ruins of The Old Tower at midnight. If nothing happened, Detective Stone would tell him everything.
That night at midnight, Leo did as instructed. Standing in the ruins of The Old Tower, shivering in the cold wind, he suddenly realized everything around him had disappeared.
He was alone in an empty field. Then, a ball of fire flared up, and a charred figure appeared before Leo. He screamed and tried to run, but the thing grabbed his neck.
Leo's whole body caught fire. The thing in front of him turned into a blazing mass, and Leo watched his own flesh burn, his body becoming a bloody, blackened mess.