When Song Nanshi’s story came to an abrupt halt, my heartbeat also nearly came to an abrupt stop. Coming back to my senses, I discovered that my hand had unconsciously grabbed onto He Jian’s clothes.

I swallowed, feeling like I needed to intake some sugar, so I stealthily stole a chocolate peachwood sword stick and stuck it in my mouth, asking dryly, “Then what?”

Song Nanshi blinked: “Then my master didn’t understand at the time. After returning, the family members called again to tell them about their needs. My master specifically asked about what happened during the day, but the family members seemed completely unaware of this matter and couldn’t answer who had delivered the photos.”

Cold sweat broke out on my back. I could only gnaw on the chocolate stick like a hamster, when Han Sha said coolly, “Cursed sites are all like this. When the house isn’t clean, the things inside will lure innocent people, hoping they’ll step foot inside.”

“But why did your master’s master say that there might still be people inside?” He Jian suddenly asked.

Song Nanshi said, “Later my master asked again. The old master said it like this: a family of five outsiders who had just arrived, wanting to quickly find a suitable house would basically rely on introductions from local relatives. So why would they move into an unclean house without knowing anything about it? The relatives who helped them with the introduction – didn’t they know this house had problems?”

I was stunned, suddenly understanding what she meant, and another layer of sweat instantly broke out in my palms.

He Jian murmured, “They didn’t even take their original belongings, obviously they fled in a hurry. The suicide method was also very strange, it looked almost like some kind of ritual… not for dying, but for exorcising evil.”

Song Nanshi nodded, “My master thought so too. Because there was no autopsy, so my master as a mortician was the most direct person who could come into contact with the bodies. In other words, if there were any problems with the bodies, they would also be the last people who could notice something was wrong.”

“That is to say, if the suicide of this family of five was instigated by someone, then their relatives would be highly suspect. And because they were worried the mortician might discover problems, the other party might…”

I sucked in a breath of cold air, suddenly realizing why the old master back then had asked Old Liang what exactly was inside that door…

If things went badly, that trip to the door would be a one-way journey for Old Liang and the master.

In an instant, the entire first floor fell into dead silence. After a long while, Han Sha said coolly, “Having ghosts in one’s heart and ghost-spirit beliefs don’t conflict. So, does this have any similarities to the situation we’ve encountered?”

Song Nanshi looked at me seriously, “I’m not saying there are no ghosts in our house…”

My heart skipped a beat, “That sentence didn’t need to be said.”

Song Nanshi’s face reddened as she coughed, “What I mean is, from this case my master mentioned, if there are ghosts, then moving is useless. Before solving the haunted house problem itself, even if you move, these things will follow you. However, if there are no ghosts… if there are no ghosts, boss, why would you want to move?”

“…”

I was left speechless by Song Nanshi’s question.

I had previously always regarded that big sister in the bathroom as a stubborn holdout – I moved in but she still didn’t want to leave. But what if there was a possibility that she actually just wanted liberation too?

Now I’m still living in this house, which at least shows some sincerity, some intention to solve the problem. But if I directly handed the house over to someone else, wouldn’t that be like giving up completely when facing difficulties, from the big sister in the bathroom’s perspective?

I was startled, the more I thought about it, the more I felt Song Nanshi made sense.

After all, if the so-called professionals could solve the problem properly, that would be fine… The problem is, Han Sha was at least someone I had vetted, but what about others? This profession doesn’t have customer reviews where you can leave bad ratings.

Suddenly, the problem had circled back around. Sensing my wavering, Han Sha sighed, “Boss, if you want to gamble, taking your money I’ll naturally try to find a way to get you out safely. But the problem is if something like tonight happens again… being possessed isn’t child’s play. Not to mention the potential harm during possession, malevolent ghosts and evil spirits can have subsequent effects on the body afterward, possibly even causing sterility.”

He looked toward He Jian, but He Jian looked toward me, as if sterility had something to do with me. Obviously, after hearing both people’s words, this kid’s usually fearless face also showed a trace of panic.

My heart sank. Indeed, how could it not be related to me? I could gamble, but this kid, forget about marrying a wife, he doesn’t even have a girlfriend yet. If he became permanently unusable before even being opened, that would be a huge sin on my part.

This made me start hesitating again. He Jian grabbed my hand, looking pitiful, “Boss! What Sister Song and Brother Han said is right. You definitely have to solve the problem before you can leave. Otherwise, if I develop some lifelong disability later and this house gets sold to someone else, I won’t even have anywhere to complain…”

Good heavens, turns out this kid believed both sides.

I opened my mouth, “Then aren’t you afraid of being possessed by ghosts again?”

He Jian looked even more aggrieved, “Of course I’m scared, but even if I get possessed, it’s possession with after-sales service! A haunted house is a haunted house, but can having after-sales service or not having it be the same thing?”

I was momentarily speechless. At this point He Jian relentlessly grabbed my arm.

“Besides, we’re roommates. If problems arise later, don’t I still have you to pull me back?”

He Jian looked at me pleadingly, “Boss, this is my first job after college graduation. You have to take responsibility for me to the end!”

So—

I came back to my senses. Outside, the place was still packed with customers. He Jian was still young after all. After last night’s ordeal, he just had some extra dark circles under his eyes. At this moment he was nimbly taking numbers for new customers, looking not at all like someone who had been possessed, but rather glowing as if he were a male bodhisattva who had just successfully transcended tribulation.

Although I didn’t provide these people with five social insurances and one housing fund, clearly five social insurances and one housing fund couldn’t handle the current situation either. Last night Han Sha told me he could only do his best, try to suppress the big sister who became restless at night, but he couldn’t say how long he could hold out. If we wanted to completely solve this, we’d obviously have to start investigating the historical legacy issues of No. 29.

I secretly made up my mind. Although No. 29’s foundation had problematic components, fortunately it could still make money during the day. The next day’s business still sold over 140 portions. When settling accounts in the evening, looking at the income in my Alipay, I had only one thought left in my heart.

Haunt away! Everything can haunt!

If I could earn this much every day, I’d spend huge sums to burn a mansion for the big sister!

Regarding my money-obsessed nature, Han Sha was obviously helpless. The evening bell-ringing time was doubled, and he also added talisman-burning and sword-dancing services. After finishing, Han Sha walked up to me panting, “Boss, this really requires extra payment.”

No wonder they say when people have money in their pockets they become confident. Having earned seven thousand yuan in one day, I was no longer myself. Upon hearing this, I immediately sent him a big red envelope on WeChat. After Han Sha received the money, he sighed at me, his face written with “human weakness,” but ultimately said nothing and went straight back to his room.

Fortunately, the big sister really didn’t appear that night.

Before going to sleep, Bai Liu sent me a message asking about the past two days’ situation. After hesitating, I didn’t tell her about the house situation.

After all, for human affairs, my sister could help with her financial power, but the current situation was obviously beyond Bai Liu’s handling capabilities. Over the years, my sister had worried too much about me. Finally, the shop business was showing promise – I really couldn’t add to her troubles anymore.

After closing WeChat, I immediately started Googling the history of No. 29.

This matter was also somewhat strange. Logically, a house where four people died consecutively – this level of haunted house should be at the top of the food chain in the entire haunted circle. But why had I, as a native of Yu Jiang, never heard of this incident?

Even if I was timid, someone like my sister who was a horror movie fanatic had never heard of the famous deeds of Guan Yinli No. 29. This was really too beneath the dignity of a haunted house where four people died.

I tentatively changed several search keywords, but the real-time news that popped up was all about my shop, and the parts involving the haunted house were also those my sister had spread. Apart from knowing that four people died – one suicide and three accidents – there was no additional information.

Why was this the case?

The more I searched, the more puzzled I became. Just then He Jian pushed the door open after finishing his shower. He glanced at my phone and suddenly said, “Boss, you’re searching for No. 29? Didn’t those police officers tell you that day at the police station?”

“What?”

I was greatly shocked. Thinking about how this kid had been detained for a long time at the police station that day, I finally realized, “You were detained for so long that day – they were talking to you about this?”

He Jian nodded matter-of-factly, “I thought they told you guys too. About the history of No. 29, the Guan Yinli police station knows about it. That day I curiously asked an extra question, then the guy who came to question me said that actually they could understand you doing religious ceremonies. After all, ordinary people living in a house where four people died would always have some uneasiness in their hearts. But someone called to report it, saying the commotion was too loud, so they had to come handle it.”

I never expected the clue was right under my nose. I urgently asked, “So what did they say? How much do they know about the specific situation here?”

He Jian dried his wet hair and said, “They first reminded me that the stairs design at No. 29 wasn’t very good – particularly steep and made of wood. The wood had cracked due to moisture before, and the third tenant stepped on the wood when it suddenly broke, then lost footing and fell down the stairs to his death.”

This was something I’d never understood, “Wasn’t there also a previous tenant who died from falling? Since someone had already died from falling, why wasn’t the staircase repaired afterward?”

He Jian shrugged, “They didn’t go into such detail with me, but after the first tenant had an accident on the stairs, the landlord should have done some repairs. But maybe because Guan Yinli is near the river, Yu Jiang often rains with high humidity, so the wood inevitably still had problems.”

I calculated in my mind – first death by falling, second by gas poisoning, third by falling, fourth by wrist slashing. Just from the causes of death, there really weren’t too many commonalities. This was too inconsistent with horror movie conventions.

I couldn’t help feeling discouraged and asked again, “What else did they tell you?”

He Jian thought for a moment, “The police officer also told me that they also found it strange that this house kept having incidents, but the people who died before were indeed all accidents. The house owner also felt this place had bad feng shui. After two deaths, they seemed completely disheartened and fully entrusted the house to others.”

Then they encountered me, the sucker.

I rolled my eyes inwardly, feeling that the guy who sold me the house had probably been laughing in his sleep these past few days. I said irritably, “Did they tell you about earlier times? In my memory, the original Guan Yinli wasn’t this big. It was only in recent ten years that it gradually expanded to have this large commercial area at the back… This place must have originally been residential houses.”

I was after all a 28-year local of Yu Jiang and still had some memory of old Guan Yinli. In the past when my sister and I went clubbing, we couldn’t get to the No. 29 area. Hearing this, He Jian pondered for a moment and suddenly said, “It seems… they said the developer of Guan Yinli also believes in this stuff. After the incident at No. 29, the house owner initially didn’t think in this direction, but after the developer sent people to ask about the situation, they immediately had people come do religious ceremonies.”