So it turned out that although Jiang Xutao dealt in haunted houses, he had never actually lived in one himself—his business was purely buying and reselling.

“I’m actually very afraid of that kind of stuff,” Jiang Xutao said with a bitter smile. “But that day was really just bad timing. A water pipe at home suddenly burst, and the whole place was flooded. I was afraid the furniture would be ruined, so I hurriedly found a nearby place to stay for a few nights—just until we got the water cleaned up and the floor fixed.”

Everyone in the room listened as he spoke. Lin Jue, nibbling on a pickled plum, watched him with growing interest. “Didn’t you say it was just for one night? Why did you end up moving in?”

Jiang Xutao sighed. “That was my plan too. But my daughter really liked the place the moment she stepped in—loved the decor and insisted on staying a few more days. I was uneasy at first, but nothing happened for the first few nights, so I figured maybe it was all in my head…”

According to Jiang, while the houses he dealt in were technically “haunted,” most had never actually experienced anything unusual—people just had superstitions. Some buyers, for example, refused to live on the 4th or 14th floors just because they considered the numbers unlucky.

“And then?” Zhou Jiayu asked.

“Then we stayed in that house for over a month, planning to move back after our original place was repaired.” At this point, Jiang Xutao’s face tensed, and he sat up straighter. He wiped his sweat-covered face again, his hand trembling. “That’s when the strange things started happening.”

“What kind of strange things?” Lin Jue asked.

“The house has three floors, right? At first, we kept hearing someone running around upstairs. Loud footsteps, thumping on the ceiling,” Jiang said. “I thought it was my daughter being naughty, but when I went up to check, she was always sound asleep in her room. She hadn’t moved at all.”

Zhou Jiayu noticed he mentioned his daughter several times and asked curiously, “If you don’t mind me asking—how old is your daughter?”

“She’s eight. Just the age to be mischievous. My wife’s health isn’t great, so we only have the one…” Jiang Xutao’s eyes softened with affection when he mentioned her, but the joy quickly faded under worry. “She’s been scared out of her wits by all this.”

At first, it was just the running sounds. Then doors started opening on their own, followed by lights, cabinets, and curtains moving on their own. As Jiang described it, he rubbed his arms repeatedly, clearly spooked. Goosebumps dotted his skin.

“It felt like there was someone living in the house with us—someone we couldn’t see.” Jiang’s voice trembled. “No, not just one… maybe several.”

Zhou Jiayu asked, “So what do you mean when you say you couldn’t move out?” Normally when a house starts acting up, the first thing you do is leave—and Jiang clearly wasn’t struggling financially. Moving would have taken one day, tops.

“As soon as we realized something was wrong with the house, we decided to move out right away,” Jiang said with a bitter laugh. “That very night, we went to a nearby hotel. But who could’ve guessed…”

“What happened?” Lin Jue leaned forward, clearly intrigued.

“That night, after I fell asleep… I felt someone running around in the hotel room,” Jiang shuddered. “I couldn’t move at all. I could feel the thing standing right next to me—whispering into my ear, telling me to go back. It said if I didn’t… it would kill my whole family.”

As he spoke, he rolled up his sleeve, revealing bruises all over his arm. Zhou Jiayu looked closer and saw that they were deep, purplish finger marks—clearly left by force.

“…These bruises are strange,” Zhou Jiayu said, noticing something. “Why are there only four fingers?”

“Huh?” Lin Jue leaned in too. “You’re right, only four fingers.”

Jiang Xutao turned pale and didn’t dare move, letting them examine his arm.

“So you went back to the house?” Zhou Jiayu asked.

“No, not right away. I went to a nearby temple to seek help from a monk. He gave me a consecrated jade Buddha to wear, but it didn’t help at all.” Jiang pulled out the jade Buddha hanging around his neck.

Zhou Jiayu saw that it did carry a faint aura of blessing, but it was so weak that you’d barely notice it unless you looked very closely—clearly, it offered little real protection.

“We held out for a few nights outside, but couldn’t take it anymore. In the end, we had to return to that house,” Jiang said. “Things got a bit better after that—at least I didn’t get any new bruises.”

“Looks painful,” Lin Jue remarked. “Did your daughter get them too?”

Jiang nodded vigorously, eyes filled with worry. “Miss Lin, please… help us. If this keeps up, our whole family will fall apart. The disturbances in that house are getting worse and worse…”

Lin Jue thought for a moment. “Alright, shall we go take a look? Let’s pack our things today and head out tomorrow—sound good?”

Jiang Xutao didn’t dare say no. He agreed immediately, visibly relieved as he left.

After he was gone, the usually quiet family head Lin Po asked curiously, “Aunt, why’d you agree to this one so easily?”

Lin Jue smiled. “That accent—he’s from S City, right?”

“Yeah…” Lin Po looked puzzled.

Lin Jue grinned. “It’s been cold lately. I thought it’d be nice for Guan’er to take a little vacation in S City.”

Lin Po: “…” He paused for three seconds. “What if Jiang Xutao were from the north?”

Lin Jue burst out laughing. “I’m just kidding! Of course I’d help him, even if he were from the north.”

She said that, but Lin Po heard the subtext loud and clear—helping was fine, but whether or not she’d go in person was another matter. Luckily for Jiang Xutao, he met Lin Jue. If it had been Lin Zhushui, he probably wouldn’t have even gotten through the door.

Even though they were going to investigate a haunted house, the atmosphere in the room remained cheerful. The only one feeling a little gloomy was Shen Yiqiong—he had started fussing with his sunscreen again.

The weasel wasn’t happy about being left behind. He jumped on the couch, slapped the cushions with his paws, and chattered angrily.

Zhou Jiayu, seeing him sulk, sighed. “What should we do? You’re a protected species—you can’t just be checked in as cargo.”

The weasel grunted in protest and turned his glossy, oiled-up rear toward Zhou Jiayu. Zhou Jiayu tried to comfort him, but couldn’t help petting him at the same time…

The moment his hand touched the fur, the weasel grabbed his wrist with a paw—his expression clearly said, You touched me, now you have to take responsibility.

Zhou Jiayu looked helpless. He really did feel like a heartless jerk, touching and ditching. So he turned to Lin Jue. “Shibo, is there a way to bring Xiao Huang along?”

Lin Jue said, “Sure, we can manage that. I’ll book a private plane. Xiao Huang, you’re not afraid of flying, are you?”

The weasel patted his little chest proudly, chattering to show that he wasn’t scared.

When Little Paper saw that the weasel was coming too, he hugged him tightly like an excited child about to go on vacation.

The next day, the group set off as scheduled.

While Lin Jue told Jiang Xutao that the purpose of this trip was to check out his haunted house, one only had to look inside her suitcase to see her real plans. Nearly everything inside was for vacation—makeup, of course, but also beach dresses and a variety of swimsuits.

She had Xiao Huang flown over on a private jet, while she and Jiang Xutao flew business class.

S City was close to the equator, with a year-round temperature of around 20°C (68°F)—perfect for a relaxing getaway, especially during the cold winter months.

As soon as they got off the plane, the group eagerly changed out of their heavy winter clothes into T-shirts and shorts. With a map in hand, they began studying where to go for fun—completely exposing the ugly truth: they were really here on vacation.

Jiang Xutao saw this but didn’t dare say anything. He simply looked at them pitifully and called out, “Miss Lin, I’ve arranged a car to take us to the house.”

“Alright, let’s take care of business first,” Lin Jue said, checking her watch. “Didn’t you say that thing only comes out at night? Let’s get a meal first, then we’ll check things out.”

With Lin Zhushui not around, the atmosphere among the disciples immediately lightened. On the ride over, they happily discussed which seafood spot was the tastiest and what they would do after the matter was settled.

Zhou Jiayu even took out Xiao Zhi. When the paper man unfolded itself, Jiang Xutao, sitting in the front passenger seat, stared in disbelief and asked nervously, “What… what is that?”

Zhou Jiayu replied, “That’s my son. Isn’t he cute?”

Jiang Xutao forced a smile and agreed, but his expression had already betrayed his true feelings. If Zhou Jiayu weren’t sitting beside him, his first instinct might’ve been to pull out a lighter…

Dinner was served at Jiang Xutao’s house, where they also met his wife and daughter.

His daughter was a cute little girl, clearly well-loved. She wore an adorable dress, her face round and fair with big pretty eyes—very likable.

“Yaya,” Jiang Xutao called her by her nickname, “come greet Uncle and Auntie.”

Yaya peeked out shyly from behind her mother, eyes cautiously watching the group. Zhou Jiayu noticed faint purplish marks on her arms that looked like bruises from being grabbed. Compared to Jiang Xutao’s, hers had faded significantly, almost healed.

“Yaya,” Jiang gently pulled her from behind her mother, “be good, say hello.”

“H-Hello, Uncle… Auntie,” Yaya said softly.

“Aw, what a good girl,” Lin Jue smiled, her eyes curving. “Come here and let Auntie see your arm, alright?”

Yaya hesitated, glanced at her father, and only when she saw him nod did she stretch out her arm to let Lin Jue examine the bruise.

Lin Jue held her wrist and looked closely. “How long has this been here?”

“She got it the month we moved out,” Jiang Xutao explained. “It started healing after we came back.”

Lin Jue thought for a moment. “Let’s take a look inside the house.”

The so-called haunted house was a single-story detached villa, surrounded by a lush garden filled with decorative topiary shaped like animals. Not far from the yard lay a vast expanse of blue sea and fine white sand. If one ignored the “haunted” label, the place actually looked like a dream vacation home for children.

However, Zhou Jiayu noticed some oddities. The roof seemed to be cloaked in an unusually thick layer of black energy—like a dark cloud hanging overhead. When he looked up, he saw the villa had a pointed roof, which usually meant there was a small attic.

“I’ve prepared food for everyone,” Jiang Xutao said politely, knowing he was asking for help. “The house… we don’t need to rush into it.”

“That works too.” Lin Jue noted it was getting dark and didn’t press further. After all, these things only came out at night—no point rushing it.

Dinner was a generous spread of fresh seafood—delicious and plentiful. Everyone enjoyed the meal, though Yaya remained timid, occasionally glancing at the unfamiliar guests, clearly unused to having strangers in the house.

Worried they’d mind, Jiang explained that Yaya was just very shy by nature.

After dinner, it was time to get to business. Jiang sent Yaya to her bedroom and then came back downstairs to talk.

“Mr. Jiang,” Lin Jue said, “there’s something important you’ve been keeping from us, isn’t there?”

Jiang Xutao replied, “Something important… Miss Lin, what do you mean?”

She pointed upstairs. “If this house is haunted, that means someone must’ve died here. But you never told us what exactly happened that made this place a haunted house.”

Jiang asked, “Miss Lin, do you mind if I smoke?”

She gestured for him to go ahead.

“To be honest,” he began, “I bought this house from an old man at a very low price. A house like this, in this kind of location, for only three million yuan.”

A seaside villa near a tourist area—for three million? It sounded like he’d practically stolen it.

“But this house is notorious as a haunted property,” Jiang said, lighting his cigarette. “Twelve people lived here before… and all twelve died in this house.” He raised his finger and pointed at a beam in the middle of the living room ceiling. “That beam—husband and wife, grandparents and grandchildren, all hanged themselves from it.”

Zhou Jiayu looked up at the beam, but saw nothing unusual.

“Not a single one of them survived.” Jiang took out a file and placed it in front of them. “The local newspapers all covered the story. Some even printed pixelated photos. You can take a look.”

It was clear he had done his research. Zhou Jiayu picked up the folder and found that it documented every part of the house’s history in detail.

The house wasn’t very old. According to the file, the twelve victims were the second owners. The original owners were a young couple who reportedly sold the house quickly and left town due to financial troubles.

“They all died by suicide?” Lin Jue asked after reviewing the file.

“That’s what the police concluded,” Jiang said quietly. “But privately, there’s talk that the whole family was murdered. After all… it’s hard to believe twelve people would line up to hang themselves one by one.”

Lin Jue looked up at the beam, puzzled. “It’s pretty high. Even with a ladder, they’d have needed a special setup to do that.”

“That’s another suspicious point,” Jiang sighed. “But I’m in this business—I can’t dwell on it too much. If I thought about it too hard, I’d never dare do it.”

Fair enough. Zhou Jiayu asked, “Did anyone actually buy this house from you?”

At that, Jiang looked embarrassed. But given the situation, he couldn’t hide it. “I always sell to people from out of town. Haunted houses are mostly a psychological issue. If the buyers don’t know, there’s no problem, right?”

Zhou Jiayu: “…”

Everyone stared at him in silence. Jiang Xutao gave an awkward laugh. “I’m sorry. I realize I was wrong. I won’t do this business again.”

Matters of ghosts and spirits really were not to be taken lightly. Jiang had claimed not to believe—but just a few days of living here had proved otherwise. Perhaps this was his karmic retribution.

That said, haunted houses were frighteningly profitable. Bought at three million, this house could fetch up to twenty million. The temptation was enough to make anyone take risks.

“Twelve dead… whatever’s in this house is probably tied to them,” Lin Jue said, lighting a cigarette. “But we can’t be sure yet. We’ll need to observe first. This stuff comes out every night?”

Jiang nodded.

“Then we wait.”

At this, Jiang looked like he wanted to say something. Lin Jue asked what was wrong.

Jiang hesitated. “With so many people here tonight… do you think it might scare the ghost off?”

Lin Jue chuckled and pointed at Zhou Jiayu. “With him here, don’t worry—the ghost won’t dare stay hidden.”

After all, with such a delicious treat right in front of it, it would be hard for any spirit to resist.

Zhou Jiayu was used to it by now. He even smiled when he heard Lin Jue’s comment. He picked up the file from Jiang and continued reading. He discovered that when the twelve people were found hanging from the beam, their bodies were arranged in order of height. Though the photos had the victims’ faces blurred, you could still see their corpses hanging… seemingly right above the sofa.

Zhou Jiayu couldn’t help but glance up at the ceiling again.

The ceiling of the house was strange. Although the building was modern, there was an old-fashioned wooden beam running across it—bright red and completely out of place, cutting right across the living room.

Over the past year, Zhou Jiayu had learned quite a bit about feng shui from the Lin family. One of the worst house designs was a “beam pressing down,” where beams hung low over living spaces. Such structures caused residents to suffer from declining health and misfortune over time.

The beam was definitely a problem. Lin Jue and the others had likely noticed it too—but how it related to the deaths of the previous owners remained to be seen.

With nothing to do but wait, the group passed the time watching TV and chatting.

Compared to the relaxed group, Jiang Xutao was a bundle of nerves. He sat restlessly on the sofa, repeatedly glancing upstairs.

At around eleven, Lin Jue checked the time. “Almost there,” she said.

Then she pulled out a small incense burner from her luggage and lit a red incense stick inside.

After lighting the incense, Lin Jue pulled out a brush and cinnabar ink, and began pacing around the corners of the house, dipping the brush as she went.

The disciples stood nearby, watching. Xiao Zhi lay lazily on Zhou Jiayu’s shoulder and let out a slow yawn.

By midnight, the sky was completely dark. The moon shone bright, but clouds drifted across it, and whenever the moon slipped behind them, the outside world became pitch black.

Another half hour passed, and the house remained utterly silent. Jiang Xutao’s expression grew complicated. He said that normally, by this time, strange happenings would have already begun—but tonight was eerily quiet. Maybe those things were too scared to show up.

Lin Jue didn’t respond. She glanced at the time, lit another stick of incense, and said, “Let’s wait a little longer.”

Still, nothing happened. Everyone was starting to feel sleepy. Zhou Jiayu leaned back against the sofa and yawned, on the verge of dozing off—when suddenly, a sharp doorbell rang out—Ding. Ding. Ding.

The sound echoed through the stillness of the house, instantly turning everyone’s expression grim. Jiang Xutao reacted the most violently—his entire body jerked like he’d been electrocuted, and fear filled his eyes.

Lin Jue stubbed out her cigarette and said calmly, “No need to panic, Mr. Jiang. It might just be a person. Let’s go check.”

But Jiang Xutao, in a voice hoarse with terror, stammered, “B-but… my house doesn’t have a doorbell…”

The moment he said that, silence fell.

“Oh?” Lin Jue raised an eyebrow. Then she casually tied her loose hair into a ponytail. “So it’s here already?”

The shrill ringing at the door hadn’t stopped. Lin Jue stood up and headed straight for the entrance.

Zhou Jiayu had always known Lin Jue was brave, but seeing her composed demeanor in this moment made him admire her even more. Though he was now fairly used to bumping into creepy things, when Jiang Xutao mentioned the doorbell didn’t exist, Zhou Jiayu’s heart still gave a sharp, involuntary jolt.

When Lin Jue reached the door, she checked the monitor—there was indeed no one outside. Just an empty garden bathed in night. Yet the doorbell kept ringing, its sharpness piercing.

She stood still for a moment, then pulled out a beautifully crafted dagger from her pocket and slashed a few times through the air.

Instantly, the doorbell stopped.

But the very next moment, everyone in the house heard it—the sound of someone running on the floor above them.

Thud thud thud thud. The noise was so loud that Zhou Jiayu immediately realized—it was definitely coming from overhead.

“Upstairs,” Lin Jue said, already heading up.

Zhou Jiayu was about to follow when something caught his attention—he seemed to faintly see… a shadow on the ceiling. The shapes were twisted, vaguely human but not quite, wriggling against the white ceiling surface.

He hesitated for a moment, then decided to check upstairs first.

When they reached the second floor, the thudding noise actually lessened—but it was still there, only now it seemed to be coming from beneath their feet.

“Miss Lin…” Jiang Xutao was drenched in cold sweat. “W-what do we do?”

Lin Jue glanced around, puzzled. “Strange… why is the presence fainter up here?”

As she spoke, Zhou Jiayu suddenly had a bad thought. He gave a dry laugh and said, “Shibo… could it be that the things weren’t running on the second floor—but were actually crawling around on the ceiling of the first floor?”

Lin Jue’s eyes lit up. “Smart!”

Just as Zhou Jiayu said this, he glanced down the staircase—and saw that the shadow he’d noticed earlier on the ceiling seemed to be slowly slithering down the corridor… heading straight for them.

---

Author’s Note:
Jiang Xutao: trembling in fear at the haunted house.
Everyone else: smoking indifferently in front of the haunted house, still thinking about seafood, maybe even adding cheese.
Zhou Jiayu (expressionless): Sir’s not here. Who am I supposed to pretend to be scared for?