Edited—

It turned out that although Jiang Xutao himself was in the business of dealing with haunted houses, he never actually lived in them. He only bought and sold them.

“I actually fear these things very much, but that day was truly too unfortunate.” Jiang Xutao smiled bitterly. “The water pipe in my home suddenly burst, flooding the entire house. At the time, I was afraid the furniture would get soaked and ruined, so I hurriedly found a relatively nearby house, planning to make do for a few nights until the water on the floor was dealt with, then move back.”

Everyone in the room listened to him speak. Lin Jue popped another pickled plum into her mouth, looking at Jiang Xutao with rather keen interest. “Didn’t you say you were only staying one night? How did you end up moving in afterward?”

Jiang Xutao said, “Sigh, I thought so too at the time. But who knew that the moment my daughter entered, she fell in love with the style of that house and insisted on staying a few more days there. At first, I was quite put off by it, but after staying several nights without anything happening, I figured I was probably just overthinking it…”

According to Jiang Xutao’s explanation, although he sold haunted houses, most of them actually didn’t have anything happen. It was just that some people couldn’t accept it psychologically. For example, some people absolutely had to avoid the fourth and fourteenth floors when buying a house, purely because they felt it was unlucky.

“Then what happened?” Zhou Jiayu asked.

“After that, we lived in that house for over a month, planning to wait until the floor at home, damaged by the water, was repaired before moving back.” When Jiang Xutao spoke to this point, the expression on his face grew tense. His body involuntarily straightened up. He reached out and heavily wiped the sweat from his face again. “Who knew that the strange occurrences in that house would begin.”

“What kind of strange occurrences?” Lin Jue said.

“That house has three floors, right? At first, I kept hearing someone running around inside, with loud thumping sounds on the rooftop.” Jiang Xutao said, “At first, I thought my daughter was being naughty. But I went upstairs several times and found my daughter sleeping in her room, not moving at all.”

Zhou Jiayu heard Jiang Xutao mention his daughter several times and was somewhat curious. “May I ask how old Mr. Jiang’s daughter is?”

“She’s eight years old, right at the mischievous age. My wife’s health isn’t good, so we only have this one…” It seemed Jiang Xutao really doted on his daughter. The moment he mentioned her, a smile floated into his eyes. But this smile was quickly covered by worry. He said, “She was also terribly frightened by these things.”

First came the sound of running. Then the doors in the house began opening on their own for no reason, as well as the lights, cabinets, and curtains. As Jiang Xutao recounted this, he kept rubbing his arms from time to time. One could see he was truly quite frightened—goosebumps kept popping up on his arms.

“It was as if there was someone living in the house that we couldn’t see.” Jiang Xutao said in a trembling voice. “No, not just one… There might be… several.”

Zhou Jiayu said, “Then what about not being able to move out?” When encountering a house with a situation like this, the first reaction was to move out. Jiang Xutao didn’t have economic problems; moving house was just a day’s work.

“After discovering there was something wrong with the house, our immediate thought was to move.” Jiang Xutao smiled bitterly. “That very night, we went to a nearby hotel to make do for the night. Who knew…”

“What happened?” Lin Jue leaned forward, her face full of curiosity.

“Who knew that after I fell asleep at night, I felt someone running around wildly in my room.” Jiang Xutao shuddered all over. “I couldn’t move at all at the time. I could feel that thing right beside me, even right by my ear, saying to go back. If I didn’t go back, it would kill my whole family.”

When he said this, he rolled up his sleeves. Zhou Jiayu saw that Jiang Xutao’s arms were covered in bluish-purple marks. Looking carefully, he discovered they were human handprints forcibly pinched into the flesh.

“…These handprints are a bit strange.” Zhou Jiayu noticed something. “Why do they only have four fingers?”

“Huh?” Lin Jue also leaned over. “They really do have four fingers.”

Jiang Xutao’s face was deathly pale. He didn’t dare move either, letting the few of them examine him.

“So you moved back?” Zhou Jiayu continued asking.

“No, at the time I went to a nearby temple, wanting to ask the master there for help. The master gave me a consecrated jade Buddha, but it was completely useless.” He took out the jade Buddha hanging around his neck.

Zhou Jiayu saw that the jade Buddha was indeed surrounded by faint auspicious energy. Only, this auspicious energy was truly too faint. If one didn’t look carefully, one couldn’t see it at all. Presumably its effect was also quite limited.

“We toughed it out for several nights outside, but really couldn’t endure it anymore. We could only return to that house.” Jiang Xutao said, “After going back, it got slightly better. At least there weren’t any more of these marks on my body.”

“Looks quite painful.” Lin Jue said. “Your daughter and the others have them too?”

Jiang Xutao nodded heavily, his eyes full of misery. “Miss Lin, I beg you to save us. If this continues, our whole family won’t be able to take it anymore. The things in that house are getting more and more rowdy…”

Lin Jue thought about it and said, “Alright, let’s go take a look. We’ll prepare our luggage today and set out tomorrow, okay?”

How would Jiang Xutao dare say no? He nodded repeatedly, then left happily.

After he left, Lin Po, the family head who hadn’t spoken much the whole time, asked curiously, “Aunt, why did you agree so readily this time?”

Lin Jue said, “Judging from his accent, Jiang Xutao is from S City, right?”

“Yeah.” Lin Po was baffled.

Lin Jue’s face was full of smiles. “It’s been cold recently. I’m afraid Guan’er is having a hard time staying here. Let’s go to S City for a vacation.”

Lin Po: “…” He was silent for three seconds. “If this Jiang Xutao were a northerner…”

Lin Jue laughed heartily. “I’m joking. Even if he were a northerner, I would definitely still help him.”

She said this, but Lin Po heard the underlying meaning. Helping was possible, but whether she would go personally or not—that was another matter. It was also thanks to Jiang Xutao’s good luck that he encountered Lin Jue. If he had encountered Lin Zhushui, he might not have even been let through the door.

Although they were going to see a haunted house, the room was still full of a cheerful atmosphere. The only one somewhat worried was Shen Yiqiong, who had started researching his sunscreen again.

The yellow weasel, seeing that they were about to abandon it again to go on vacation, got very unhappy and threw a little tantrum, crouching on the sofa and slapping the sofa cushions while chittering away.

Zhou Jiayu looked at it with a headache, saying what should they do? It was a protected animal and couldn’t be checked in as cargo.

The yellow weasel hmphed and hmph-ed, presenting its sleek, glossy rear end to Zhou Jiayu. Zhou Jiayu comforted it while also unable to resist reaching out and petting it…

The moment he touched it, the yellow weasel grabbed him with its claws, wearing an expression of you touched me, so you have to take responsibility.

Zhou Jiayu showed a helpless expression, feeling that he really was a bit like a scumbag who was heartless after getting what he wanted. He could only look toward Lin Jue. “Shibo, is there any way to bring Little Yellow over?”

Lin Jue said, “There is a way to bring him over. I’ll book a private jet. Little Yellow, you don’t get airsick, right?”

The yellow weasel patted its little chest with a kaka sound, indicating it didn’t get airsick.

Seeing that Little Yellow was going too, Xiao Zhi hugged him, looking like children about to go on vacation.

The next day, the group set out on time.

Although Lin Jue’s explanation to Jiang Xutao was that this trip was to take a look at the haunted house situation, in reality, as long as you opened her suitcase, you would discover that it was almost entirely full of vacation things. Not to mention all sorts of cosmetics, there were also vacation-specific sundresses and various swimsuits.

Lin Jue had someone transport Little Yellow over by private jet. She herself sat in business class with Jiang Xutao.

S City was close to the equator. The temperature was around twenty degrees all year round, very suitable for leisure vacation—especially during cold winter days.

The moment they got off the plane, the few of them changed out of their thick winter clothes, put on T-shirts and shorts, took out a map, and began researching where to play—completely exposing their true, ugly faces of being here for vacation.

Jiang Xutao saw this but didn’t dare say anything. He stood nearby and called out pitifully, “Miss Lin,” saying he had already arranged a car to take them to the house.

“Alright, then let’s handle the proper business first.” Lin Jue looked at her watch. “Didn’t you say those things only come out at night? Let’s eat a meal first, then see the situation.”

With Lin Zhushui not here, the atmosphere among the disciples instantly livened up. Everyone in the car happily discussed which seafood was more delicious and how to play after resolving the matter.

Zhou Jiayu also took Xiao Zhi out. When Xiao Zhi unfolded his body, Jiang Xutao, sitting in the passenger seat, stared at Xiao Zhi with wide eyes and asked tremblingly what this was.

Zhou Jiayu said, “This is my son. Cute, right?”

Jiang Xutao said he was cute against his conscience. Heaven knows his expression had already exposed his true inner thoughts. If Zhou Jiayu weren’t sitting right beside him, the first thing he would probably do was take out a lighter…

Dinner was eaten at Jiang Xutao’s home. They also met the wife and daughter Jiang Xutao had spoken of.

Jiang Xutao’s daughter was a very cute little girl. One could tell her family doted on her very much. She wore a cute little dress. Her round, fair face and beautiful eyes were especially likable.

“Yaya.” Jiang Xutao called her nickname. “Come quickly and call them uncle and auntie.”

Yaya hid behind her mother, looking at the newcomers timidly. Zhou Jiayu noticed that there seemed to be bluish-purple marks on her arms from being grabbed too. Only compared to Jiang Xutao, the marks on her hands were much fainter, seeming to have almost healed already.

“Yaya.” Jiang Xutao pulled her out from behind his wife. “Be good. Hurry up and call them.”

“Hello, uncles and aunties.” Yaya called out softly.

“Ah, good girl.” Lin Jue curved her eyes into a smile. “Let auntie see your arms, okay?”

Yaya hesitated for a while, then looked at her father. After receiving Jiang Xutao’s affirmative gaze, she stretched out her arm and let Lin Jue see the marks on it.

Lin Jue held her wrist, observing the handprints on it. “How long ago did these handprints appear?”

“They were pinched out when we moved out last month.” Jiang Xutao explained. “After coming back, they began to heal.”

Lin Jue pondered for a moment. “Let’s go into the house and take a look first.”

This haunted house was a standalone villa. Surrounding it was a garden lush with flowers and plants. In the courtyard were also some gardening sculptures carved into animal shapes. Not far from the courtyard was the boundless, azure sea, as well as fine white sand. If one didn’t mention this was a haunted house, it would probably look a bit like an amusement park that attracted children.

However, Zhou Jiayu still discovered some abnormalities around the house. The black energy above the roof seemed especially dense, almost like a cloud layer hanging over it. He looked up and discovered that the villa’s roof was pointed. Generally, this kind of roof had a very small attic.

“I’ve already prepared the meal. Everyone eat first.” Jiang Xutao was, after all, asking for help, so his attitude was quite courteous. “The matter of looking at the house… isn’t urgent for the moment.”

“That’s fine too.” Lin Jue saw that the sky was getting dark and didn’t insist. In any case, these things only came out at night. They couldn’t rush out a result in a short time either.

Dinner was a sumptuous seafood feast—fresh and delicious. Everyone ate very happily. Yaya, however, was a bit shy. While eating, she would glance over here from time to time, seeming quite unaccustomed to having strangers at home.

Jiang Xutao was afraid they would mind and explained that Yaya had a very introverted personality.

After eating, they began the proper business. Jiang Xutao first sent Yaya back to her bedroom, then came back downstairs to talk with them in detail.

“Mr. Jiang.” Lin Jue said, “There’s an important matter that you haven’t told us yet, right?”

Jiang Xutao said, “An important matter… Miss Lin, what do you mean?”

Lin Jue pointed upstairs. “Since it’s a haunted house, there must have been a murder case here. But from beginning to end, you never told us exactly what happened in this house that made it a haunted house.”

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

Lin Jue made a please go ahead gesture.

Jiang Xutao said, “To be honest, I bought this house from an old man at a very low price. For this location and this type of house, it was only three million.”

This villa was near a scenic area and was a sea-view house. Three million for this price was practically a steal.

“But this house is a haunted house famous far and wide.” Jiang Xutao had a cigarette in his mouth. “The previous twelve people who lived here all died in this house.” He raised his head, pointing at a crossbeam in the middle of the living room. “It was that beam. Husband and wife, grandfather and grandson—all hanged themselves on it.”

Zhou Jiayu raised his head and looked at the crossbeam but didn’t see anything.

“Not a single one of the twelve people was spared.” Jiang Xutao took out a document from his bosom and placed it before them. “The local newspapers all reported this matter at the time. Some newspapers even published pixelated pictures. You can take a look.” It seemed that after encountering this matter, he had also done quite a bit of homework. Zhou Jiayu picked up the document and discovered that every period of this house’s history, from its construction until now, was recorded in detail.

However, this house wasn’t very old. From the document, the twelve people Jiang Xutao spoke of were the house’s second owners.

The house’s first owners were a young couple. It was said that because they needed money, they sold this house and hurriedly left the area.

“All of these people committed suicide?” After reading the document, Lin Jue asked this.

“The police closed the case as such.” Jiang Xutao said in a small voice. “But privately, there seems to be a theory that they were killed by someone. After all, a whole family lining up to hang themselves…”

Lin Jue also looked at the crossbeam, a bit puzzled. “This crossbeam is so high. How did they get the rope up there? Even if they used a ladder, it would have to be a specially made one.”

“That’s also a suspicious point.” Jiang Xutao sighed. “But I’m in this business, so I can’t think too much about it. The more I think, the more afraid I get.”

That did make sense. Zhou Jiayu said, “Does this house really have buyers?”

Speaking to this point, Jiang Xutao was somewhat embarrassed. But given the current situation, he couldn’t hide it either. “I sell them all to out-of-towners. Haunted houses—aren’t they all psychological? If the buyer doesn’t know, then it isn’t a thing.”

Zhou Jiayu: “…”

Everyone looked at him with speechless gazes. Jiang Xutao could only smile apologetically. “Sorry, I know I was wrong. I won’t do this business anymore.” Matters of ghosts and gods truly couldn’t be joked about. Jiang Xutao said he didn’t believe, but the result was that just a few days after moving in, he encountered this kind of thing. It could be considered a kind of karmic retribution.

But according to his explanation, the profit from haunted houses was indeed frighteningly high. This house was acquired for three million and could be sold for twenty million. The allure within was enough to make one take risks despite the danger.

“Twelve people died. The things in this house might have some connection to these people.” Lin Jue also lit a cigarette. “But it’s hard to say. We have to see the situation first. These things come out every night?”

Jiang Xutao nodded.

Lin Jue said, “Then we’ll wait.”

Jiang Xutao’s expression was somewhat hesitant upon hearing this. Lin Jue asked him what was wrong.

Jiang Xutao said, “There are so many people in this house. Will those things be too scared to come out?”

After hearing these words, Lin Jue smiled and pointed at Zhou Jiayu sitting nearby. “With him here, there’s no need to worry about those things—not daring to come out.”

After all, with such delicious cheese placed before their eyes, it was hard for dirty things to resist this kind of temptation.

Zhou Jiayu was already used to it. Hearing Lin Jue’s words, he instead smiled. He picked up the document in Jiang Xutao’s hand and continued studying it. He discovered that when the twelve deceased people were hanged on the crossbeam, they had even been arranged in order from tallest to shortest. Although the photos had pixelated the deceased’s appearances, one could see their corpses suspended in midair… It seemed to be right above the position of the sofa.

Zhou Jiayu couldn’t resist looking up at the ceiling again.

Actually, this house’s ceiling was a bit strange. It was clearly a modern building, yet a completely out-of-place crossbeam ran across the ceiling. This crossbeam was wooden, displaying a kind of cinnabar red color, obtrusively spanning the center of the entire hall.

Zhou Jiayu had been at the Lin family for over a year now and had gained quite a bit of feng shui knowledge. He knew that one of the more taboo structures in a house was a crossbeam pressing down from above. If a person lived in this kind of structure for too long, their body would grow weak and their fortune would decline.

Lin Jue and the others had definitely also noticed there was a problem with this structure. They just didn’t know how much connection it had with the previous owner’s death.

While waiting, the few of them were a bit bored, so they turned on the TV and chatted while watching.

Compared to them, Jiang Xutao looked much more nervous, fidgeting on the sofa and casting glances upstairs from time to time.

Past eleven, Lin Jue looked at the time and said it was about time. After saying this, she took out an incense burner from her suitcase, then lit a red incense candle inside it.

After lighting the incense candle, Lin Jue took out a brush and cinnabar. After dipping it, she began walking around the corners of the house.

The few disciples watched from the side. Xiao Zhi lay on Zhou Jiayu’s shoulder and let out a leisurely yawn.

Midnight. The sky had already completely darkened. The moonlight was bright, but at the same time, cloud layers hung in the sky. Occasionally the moon would move behind the clouds. At these times, one could barely see anything outside.

Another half hour passed. The house was still completely silent. Jiang Xutao’s expression was a bit complicated. He said that normally by this time, the house would definitely have already started making noise. But today it was very quiet. Could it be that those things were too scared to appear?

Lin Jue didn’t speak. She looked at the time, then lit another stick of incense, saying to wait a bit more.

There was still no sound the entire time. Everyone was a bit sleepy. Zhou Jiayu leaned against the sofa and let out a yawn. He was on the verge of dozing off and about to fall asleep when, at this moment, a sharp doorbell rang out—ding ding ding.

The doorbell sound echoed in the silent house. Everyone’s expressions instantly grew grave. The one who reacted the most was Jiang Xutao, who was trembling all over as if electrocuted, his eyes full of terror.

Lin Jue extinguished the cigarette in her mouth and said, “Don’t be nervous, Mr. Jiang. What if it’s a person outside? Let’s first go see what the situation is.”

Who knew that Jiang Xutao would use a voice that was especially hoarse from being overly frightened and say, “B-but, I didn’t install a doorbell in my house.”

The moment he said this, everyone fell into silence.

Lin Jue made an “oh” sound, then tied her hair, which had been loose behind her, into a ponytail. “So they’ve come?”

That piercing doorbell at the entrance was still ringing. She directly stood up and headed toward the door.

Zhou Jiayu had always known that Lin Jue was bold. Now seeing her so calm in the face of change, he admired her even more in his heart. Although he was already almost used to encountering dirty things everywhere, when he heard Jiang Xutao say there was no doorbell in the house, his heart still uncontrollably thumped violently.

Lin Jue reached the door. Through the intercom system, she saw that there was indeed no one outside the door—only an empty courtyard shrouded in night. But the doorbell was still ringing, grating on people’s ears.

Lin Jue stood before the door, took out a very beautiful dagger from her pocket, and slashed at the air a few times. The doorbell sound instantly stopped.

However, the very next moment, the people in the house all heard a sound like a human running on the floor coming from above their heads.

Thump thump thump thump. This sound was too loud. Almost instantly, Zhou Jiayu could confirm that this sound was indeed coming from above their heads.

“Go to the second floor.” After saying this, Lin Jue headed to the second floor.

Zhou Jiayu was also planning to go when he suddenly noticed something abnormal. He seemed to faintly see… that a shadow had appeared on the ceiling of this house. The shapes of these shadows were very twisted, like people yet not like people, somewhat writhing on the white ceiling.

Zhou Jiayu’s footsteps paused slightly. He decided to go to the second floor first to see the situation before speaking.

After arriving on the second floor, that thump thump thump sound actually grew softer. However, the sound was indeed coming from beneath their feet.

“Miss Lin…” Jiang Xutao’s face was covered in cold sweat. He said, “W-what do we do?”

Lin Jue looked around in puzzlement. “Strange. How come after coming to the second floor, that thing’s aura has instead grown fainter…”

Hearing her words, Zhou Jiayu suddenly had a rather bad association. He let out a dry laugh and said, “Shibo, could it be that those things aren’t running on the second floor, but rather… running all over the ceiling of the first floor?”

Lin Jue’s eyes lit up. “Smart!!”

After Zhou Jiayu said this, he looked toward the stairwell, only to discover that the black shadows he had seen on the first-floor ceiling earlier seemed to be coming toward them along the corridor…

__

Author’s Note:

Jiang Xutao trembled as he looked at the haunted house.

The group looked at the haunted house and smoked indifferently, their minds full of seafood, even wanting to add some cheese.

Zhou Jiayu’s cold face: Sir isn’t even here. Who am I supposed to be scared for?