MrBallen Podcast: Strange, Dark & Mysterious Stories
The Red Sandals (PODCAST EXCLUSIVE EPISODE)
02 Jun 2025
In 1984, in a small city in northeastern China, a security guard stood outside of a warehouse, working an overnight shift. The guard heard a noise coming from some bushes nearby, but he didn’t think much about it. This was a safe town, and usually the hardest part of his job was staying awake. But suddenly, two thieves in ski masks emerged from the bushes, and rushed the guard. They grabbed him, and slammed his head against the outside wall of the warehouse, and the guard fell to the ground in a daze. One of the thieves quickly gagged the guard, bound his hands and feet, and said he needed to keep his mouth shut if he wanted to stay alive. Terrified, and struggling to keep his eyes open, the guard watched as the two thieves opened the warehouse door and ran inside. This robbery would shake the local community, but it was nothing in comparison to the horrific crimes it would set off, and the gruesome discovery the police would soon make on the outskirts of town.For 100s more stories like these, check out our main YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallenIf you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballenSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Full Episode
In 1984, in a small city in northeastern China, a security guard stood outside of a warehouse working an overnight shift. The guard heard a noise coming from some bushes nearby, but he didn't think much of it, because this was a safe town, and usually the hardest part of his job was just staying awake. But suddenly, two thieves in ski masks emerged from those bushes and they rushed the guard.
They grabbed him and they slammed his head against the outside wall of the warehouse, and the guard fell to the ground in a daze. One of the thieves quickly gagged the guard, bound his hands and feet, and then told him he would need to keep his mouth shut if he wanted to stay alive. Terrified, the guard laid there and watched as these two thieves opened up the warehouse door and ran inside.
This robbery would shake the local community, but it was nothing in comparison to the horrific crimes it would set off and the gruesome discovery the police would soon make on the outskirts of town.
But before we get into that story, if you're a fan of the strange, dark, and mysterious delivered in story format, then you come to the right podcast because that's all we do and we upload twice a week, once on Monday and once on Thursday. So if that's of interest to you, please replace the cream inside the Follow Buttons Oreos with toothpaste. Okay, let's get into today's story.
On July 25th, 1984, a 35-year-old woman named Zhao Xiaolian stood in her doorway talking to an agitated man in Liaoyuan City in Northeastern China. The man was a friend of Zhao's husband, Li, and he kept pacing back and forth, and he was loud and very animated when he spoke.
Zhao glanced over her shoulder and saw her seven-year-old daughter drawing a picture at a small table in the front room, and Zhao turned and asked her husband's friend to please keep his voice down. The man nodded and then did lower his voice and then told Zhao everything was going to be okay. By the end of the night, she wouldn't have to worry or keep the secret she was hiding anymore.
She just needed to follow the instructions he had given her. The man then said goodbye and wished her luck. Zhao closed the door and just stood there in silence for a second. Then she forced a smile onto her face and turned and walked over to her daughter. Zhao was about 5 foot 3 inches tall, with black hair and dark brown eyes, and her daughter looked a lot like her.
Zhao told her daughter she could finish her drawing later, because for now, she was going to go stay with her uncle for a while. And right away, Zhao's daughter's face lit up and she ran to the door. Zhao followed her and slipped on her favorite pair of shoes. They were red sandals with a low heel. Then she took her daughter's hand and they both walked outside.
The pair made their way through the neighborhood that lay on the outskirts of the city, not far from the surrounding mountains. Streets were lined with small gray wooden houses, and Zhao basically knew everybody who lived in these houses. This was a neighborhood where multiple generations of families had grown up right alongside each other.
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