The problems at No. 29 had become serious.
Because of the hair that appeared in the bathroom, He Jian accompanied me to report to the police, but ultimately the officers determined that the blood overflowing from the bathtub wasn’t human blood. They speculated that these things might have been dumped into the first-floor drainage by curious customers during the day, and due to consecutive rainy days in Yu Jiang recently, the old house’s drainage had problems, causing backflow to seep up to the second floor.
But regardless, this couldn’t explain the woman’s voice on the second floor.
Given that I’d already been to the police station once for feudal superstition, and to prevent them from asking me “How long has this situation been going on?”, I ultimately didn’t mention the voice. I only tentatively asked as we were leaving: “Officer, did No. 29… also have such strange incidents before?”
The officer glanced at us: “Aren’t you making a living off such strange incidents? And you’re still afraid of them?”
I was stumped, but He Jian immediately started acting pitiful: “Uncle policeman, just tell us about it. What exactly happened to that house before? Let us have some idea, okay?”
No wonder they say appearance-focused people grasp worldly truths – even the police officer’s attitude was obviously much better toward He Jian. He said helplessly, “To tell the truth, although No. 29 has had many accidents, you’re the first to actually come report to police.”
“I’m the first?”
“Yes… Although family members raised objections afterward, the fact is—”
The police officer looked at me seriously: “Previous residents never came to find us, right up until their final accidents occurred.”
Just like that, the route of reporting to police was declared a dead end.
That evening, as soon as business ended, I immediately entered Han Sha’s room and pestered him with sweet talk and persistent pleading, hoping he could think of another solution.
People are just this hopeless – after closing seven shops, I’d finally figured out how to run one successfully. Now, facing the daily revenue, I really couldn’t easily give up trying to save No. 29… At the very least, I had to struggle a bit more.
Han Sha was pestered by me until he had no choice. Finally he sighed: “Boss, how about I read your fortune one more time? It’s also possible you’re naturally unsuited for this kind of business.”
I never expected that to persuade me to give up, he’d even resort to mysticism. I said helplessly: “What era is this? My fate is in my hands, not heaven’s, Master Han! What exactly did you see last time…”
“Isn’t the reason you don’t get along with your father because he’s entangled in karmic sins?”
Suddenly, Han Sha coldly interrupted me: “Your father once committed sins for money, targeting someone very close to him. Don’t you understand all too clearly why I said your debts come from home, why you might be naturally unsuited to start fresh in business?”
“You…”
Realizing what Han Sha was talking about, cold sweat immediately broke out on my back.
Han Sha’s expression returned to indifference, almost gazing at me with a kind of compassion: “From the first time I read your bone structure, I knew why you’d failed seven times opening shops. In our profession, there’s something called private debts – parental debts are often the most impossible to settle clearly. The more they owe, the more you have to repay… Don’t you find it strange, boss? Your cakes clearly taste very good, but you still experienced so many failures before. This might not have been your problem from the beginning.”
After he finished speaking, my mind was almost completely blank.
I could say that since leaving home to start my business, I’d rarely thought about these past matters.
After all, no matter what I did, Mom wouldn’t come back. All I could do was give my utmost effort to fulfill her wish – letting more people taste her cakes.
Han Sha said softly: “Boss, I know you feel it’s a great pity – finally getting to this point but still encountering such things. But in my view, many things in the world have their predetermined fate. When you repeatedly hit walls, your destiny is already laid out before you.”
I opened my mouth. Although I wanted to argue, the fact that I’d previously closed seven failed shops was undeniable. At this moment, Han Sha seemed to see through my stubbornness and sighed low: “You’re the one paying to hire me. I can only say this much. As for this house… I’ll try again, but I can feel that soon I won’t be able to control it anymore.”
Han Sha ultimately agreed to perform one more ritual within his capabilities to try again, and this time, he was obviously getting serious.
Three days later, after business ended, Han Sha went upstairs early. His whole person looked murderous, with an extraordinary bearing.
Afterward, I also thought carefully about what Han Sha had said to me. From many perspectives, he really wasn’t wrong.
My dad wasn’t a good person – my sister and I had long reached consensus on this. However, precisely because of this, I absolutely wouldn’t walk my father’s old path again. I had to walk the path he wouldn’t let me walk.
So even if this shop couldn’t continue, I had to earn back the principal.
No matter what, when it came to the next shop, I couldn’t use my sister’s money anymore.
While calculating the day’s revenue, I made grand resolutions. At this rate of wealth accumulation, perhaps I could soon move to the front of Guan Yinli and compete with the cold shrimp vendors.
Speaking of adult happiness, isn’t it just beautiful daydreaming? After counting the money, my mood improved considerably. However, once upstairs, such comfort quickly dissipated.
Han Sha was in the bathroom holding a dagger, gesturing at his own hand as if about to cut. I rushed forward in one stride and held him down.
“What are you doing?”
I was shocked: “Didn’t you say we can’t casually shed blood here?”
Han Sha glanced at me coolly: “How else can we restrain it without luring it out? Since it likes blood, direct bloodletting would be fastest.”
In the moment I was stunned, Han Sha’s knife was about to greet his hand again. I thought to myself that paying someone a mere two hundred yuan red envelope and having them go this far was really excessive. Gritting my teeth, I said: “You need to go home to see your daughter every week. How would you explain injuries to her? If blood needs to be shed, it’s not your turn!”
Perhaps because I shouted with such authority, Han Sha was actually stunned on the spot. Seeing this, I snatched the knife from his hand and immediately called: “Xiao He! Come up here!”
“You…”
Han Sha’s eyes widened, obviously not expecting me to be so shameless. Before he could react, He Jian had already bounded to the bathroom doorway like a big wolfhound. I extended my hand: “Give me your hand!”
“Okay!”
He Jian obediently extended his hand, and I took a deep breath, pulling out the day’s revenue and slapping it magnificently into his palm.
“Go to that old hotpot restaurant in front and have them pack two portions of fresh duck blood.”
“Fresh?”
“The fresher the better. Don’t bring it back to me if it’s not red enough.”
“Understood!”
As He Jian disappeared at the stairway like flying, Han Sha couldn’t help rolling his eyes: “You think these vengeful spirits and evil ghosts are all stupid? They can’t tell human blood from duck blood?”
I shrugged: “What came out of the bathtub wasn’t human blood either, was it? If it can’t even create such a grand spectacle itself, why should we perform such elaborate ceremonies?”
Quite rarely, Han Sha was left speechless by me. After a long while, he said helplessly: “There were no guarantees of effectiveness to begin with. Now it will be even more discounted. You really need to be mentally prepared – there’s not much left I can do.”
Soon, He Jian returned carrying two bowls of duck blood.
Han Sha had him place the things in the bathtub. As we retreated to the doorway, he lit a talisman and began murmuring: “All beings form many grievances, deep grievances difficult to resolve. Grievances formed in one lifetime, unceasing retribution for three lifetimes. Today I transmit the wonderful dharma, to dissolve all karmic grievances. Listen with devoted heart to this recitation, and grudging enemies will naturally scatter and perish.”
Even as a layperson, I could tell this time Han Sha’s ritual was different from all previous ones.
He closed his eyes and kept his voice very low, repeating over and over until dense sweat seeped out on his forehead.
“All beings form many grievances…”
By the end of the recitation, Han Sha seemed to be enduring some pain I couldn’t see. His voice trembled more and more severely, until finally his legs gave way and he collapsed directly in front of the bathtub.
“Old Han!”
My heart jumped, remembering last time when he was nearly impaled on the peachwood sword. I wanted to go help, but Han Sha waved his hand in refusal.
“It’s not finished yet. Don’t come in.”
Han Sha’s voice already sounded very hoarse. He reluctantly picked up the San Qing Ling. Each time he shook it, he would recite identical incantations. After repeating three times, Han Sha tried to stand up, but just as he bent one leg, it was as if something heavily pressed down on him from behind!
“Cough…”
Han Sha stumbled, and the bell in his hand crashed into the bathtub with a clang. Immediately after, Han Sha’s face instantly turned white as paper. When I realized what had happened, my heart also went cold –
The big sister had smashed Han Sha’s bell.
That night’s ritual ultimately ended with Han Sha burning a full ten evil-dispelling talismans. At the very end, Han Sha tightly bound the second-floor bathroom door with red thread, instructing us that we couldn’t bathe in there tonight and had to wait seventy-two hours before opening the door.
Han Sha looked very weak, and Huangliang Yimeng welcomed its first night of needing to book hotel rooms for bathing.
I booked a three-hour room at a nearby budget hotel. By the time I finished bathing last, it was already past eleven o’clock. I walked slowly back to No. 29, enjoying the night breeze while sending voice messages to Bai Liu, incidentally attaching a photo of Han Sha performing the exorcism today.
At this point, obviously I couldn’t hide it from her anymore.
“Sis, big problems… The Daoist I hired had a 1v1 with the big sister in the house today and got his ritual implements smashed. He says my house is too evil and needs more professional people to look at it. Do you have connections in this area?”
After waiting a while, just as I reached the front door, Bai Liu’s voice message came: “What’s going on? What do you mean the house is too evil? Didn’t you tell me business has been very good recently?”
I thought to myself, for someone like me, isn’t very good business evil enough? I said helplessly: “Good business is good business, but the house is haunted! Sis, do you know these things get more excited with crowds? The more people come, the more ruckus at night. In just these two short weeks, not only did one of my shop’s young men get possessed, the bathtub got its period, and today my Daoist’s ritual implements got smashed…”
“Daoist? Still the same one from last time who was doing rituals when police came?”
“Who else? He’s my long-term employee. After today he’s completely exhausted.”
“…”
The voice message cut off for half a minute, then Bai Liu said very decisively: “How about this – why don’t you renovate?”
“Renovate?” I was stunned.
Bai Liu said: “Many so-called houses with bad feng shui actually just have structural problems, like poor lighting or stairs that are too steep. These can cause people living inside to develop psychological problems or have accidents.”
Putting it this way, I suddenly realized that No. 29’s overall structure was indeed quite problematic.
The second floor was too cramped, the stairs very steep, the corridor and bathroom didn’t even have windows, letting in no light during broad daylight. Shadows were everywhere – even if a living person stood there silently, they could startle you into a cold sweat.
Not only that, Manager Hu seemed to have mentioned that no one had renovated this house since the first landlord…
Bai Liu continued: “The four people who died before were all tenants. Tenants wanting to renovate a house need the landlord’s consent and have to spend a lot of money. Many people doing small businesses simply can’t spend this wasted money and don’t want the hassle. So the house’s problems get carried over, leading to more problems.”
…Truly worthy of being Yu Jiang’s Dong Mingzhu!
Suddenly, hope rose in my heart again. I unlocked the door and entered the house. Before I could even change shoes, a bone-chilling feeling suddenly crept up my spine. I jerked my head up – in a dark corner of the first floor, a shadow flashed by, actually heading upstairs.