This is something that happened to my younger brother a long time ago.

My brother and I were close in age, and back when we lived with our parents, we shared a bedroom. Two guys cramped into a small room with almost no age difference—we got along terribly and were constantly fighting. Even so, we were brothers, and despite our bickering, I think we both shared an implicit bond: when push came to shove, we had each other's backs.

It happened right around the time my brother was about to turn twenty. Fully enjoying his college years, he had been out drinking with friends that night and stumbled home late. I was already asleep, but the noise woke me up; thinking nothing more than "he's finally home," I closed my eyes again.

Bzzzt... bzzzt...

The buzzing woke me up again. I immediately knew what it was: a cell phone vibrating. Mine hadn't made a sound, so it had to be his. But my brother was out cold from the alcohol and didn't make a move to answer it.

"Hey, your phone's ringing! Answer it, it's annoying!"

I shook him awake and urged him to get it. Groaning, he finally picked up his phone, but as soon as he looked at the screen, he blurted out, "Huh? 136? What is this?" He held the screen out to me, saying, "Bro, look at this." Sure enough, I saw it with my own eyes: an incoming call from "136."

"Is a number like that even possible?" my brother asked. "I don't know," I replied. "Just answer it, it's driving me crazy."

The phone had been vibrating for quite a while now. My brother put it to his ear.

"Hello? Huh? Well, I mean, don't ask me... Okay, hold on a second." He grabbed a pen and paper and started writing something down. "Okay, got it." The call ended.

"What was that about?" I asked. "They said they were giving me an address where someone had died and told me to go there," he replied. "It's not like I'm a cop or anything. But I jotted down the address anyway." It didn't make any sense, so we both decided to just go back to sleep.

The next morning, I woke up to find his notes sitting on the desk where he'd left them. Realizing it hadn't just been a dream, I checked my brother's phone, but there was no record of an incoming call from 136.

Left with nothing but questions, I did a little digging. It turned out that "136" was a paid landline service that reads back caller history. But it was impossible for 136 to place a call to you directly—it was strictly a service you dialed into. Next was the address he wrote down. According to the internet, it seemed to be a house in a remote, secluded area. I couldn't find any other details, and the mystery only deepened.

"It's not that far, so I'm gonna go check it out with a friend," my brother said, unable to let it go. I just gave him a casual "Sure," having no idea what was about to happen.

Late that afternoon, my brother called me. "Bro, things got bad. I'm at the police station right now." "What?! What happened?!" Our parents were still at work, so I went to the police station in their place. My brother and two of his friends were sitting there.

According to them, when they went to the address on the note, they found an abandoned house. Exploring inside out of curiosity, they found actual human bones, just as the phone call had said, so they called the police. They'd been brought in for questioning and couldn't be released without a guardian or adult family member, which is why I was summoned.

I considered telling the police the whole truth, but explaining that "a call came from 136 in the middle of the night, and when we went to the address given, we found a body" would obviously just make us look suspicious. So we aligned our story that my brother and his friends had stumbled upon it while exploring haunted spots. The police mentioned the body showed signs of hanging and had been dead for many years, and eventually, we were allowed to go home.

From that day on, something strange started happening to my brother. It began with him asking, "Did something weird just pop up on the TV screen?" This happened so often that whenever we watched TV together, I started recording the broadcasts so we could rewatch any strange moments... but nothing ever showed up on the recordings. My brother claimed he was seeing "what looked like the shadow of a woman."

We brought everything up with our parents once, but they flatly dismissed it, insisting such a thing was impossible. Before long, my brother began seeing the woman's shadow in everyday situations, too.

I was convinced this had to be the work of the spirit from the corpse in that abandoned house. I got an exorcism performed at a local shrine, bought a bunch of protective amulets, and stuffed them into all of my brother's belongings. I talked to my friends and tried every trick in the book.

But far from getting better, my brother's condition worsened. Terrified of the shadow, he refused to go outside, and because he claimed she appeared in mirrors, he wouldn't even step into the bathroom or washroom. Seeing how bad it had gotten, even our parents realized something was wrong and arranged for a spirit cleanser recommended through a personal connection.

On the day of the exorcism, three older women claiming to be spiritual mediums arrived at our house and got right to work. After a long session of chanting sutras, they finished and gave us their assessment.

"We finished the ritual... but unfortunately, it was unsuccessful. We are so sorry. We did everything we could, but while the spirit haunting him is projecting a powerful urge, we cannot decipher what it is. To put it simply, communication is impossible. There is no doubt she has a strong desire, and fulfilling it would likely allow her to pass on, but..."

Hearing that even an exorcism didn't work was a devastating blow. Was there really no way to save my brother? Tears welled up in my eyes from sheer grief.

Still, our family couldn't just give up. I decided to head to the police station to ask about the body that had been found.

At first, the police were firm about not giving out information, but seeing how persistently I pressed them, they finally gave in. They shared what they had. That said, even the police were at a loss with very little to go on. The body was a young woman. Due to the advanced state of decomposition over many years, details were uncertain, but the probable cause of death was asphyxiation from hanging. Anyone connected to the abandoned house had already passed away, leaving them with no leads to investigate.

As a last resort, I went to the abandoned house where the body was found. I had no idea if it would accomplish anything, but I hoped that talking to her directly at the scene might change something.

On the way, I bought incense and flowers. When I arrived at the scene, I lit the incense, set down the flowers, and prayed over and over: "Please, I beg you, rest in peace!"

Then, out of nowhere, I heard a woman's voice say, "Thank you."

To this day, I have never felt as terrified as I did at that moment. Letting out a silent shriek, I sprinted away from the abandoned house as fast as my legs could carry me.

And remarkably, my brother began to recover right after that. The woman's shadow completely disappeared, and today he's back to his usual, almost annoying, energetic self.

What follows is just my speculation. Maybe all that corpse wanted was for someone to perform a memorial offering for her. I don't know the exact circumstances, but after committing suicide, being left unfound for years meant her soul couldn't rest, trapping her in prolonged suffering. Somehow, my brother was chosen as her ray of hope to help her. Why him? That's probably something beyond human understanding.

I asked my brother if he could think of any connection, but he said he had no clue whatsoever. The only possible link he could recall was that he had once visited the area where the abandoned house was located for a college seminar project.