Chapter 20: Return to the Haunted House
Qin Liu couldn’t help but complain, looking at Liu Haoyu who was like a charlatan.
“I always feel like you’re very skilled.”
It has to be admitted that the way Liu Haoyu had presented himself previously exuded a mysterious aura. If he had worn a yellow Taoist robe, he might have been able to fool that young girl even more.
“Well…” Liu Haoyu simply shrugged. “After all, I am an exorcist.”
At this moment, however, Qin Liu was very interested in the jade gourd Liu Haoyu had given earlier.
“What’s the use of that jade gourd?”
“Just as I said, it can ward off disaster and resolve difficulties. For ordinary people wearing this, it provides some warning and guidance when encountering ghosts.”
As they exchanged words, the female college student from the noodle shop caught up to them.
“Master Exorcist! I almost forgot to ask for your contact information and name.”
Liu Haoyu, who looked like an immortal, glanced back at her and then said leisurely,
“Everyone in life is just a passerby. Asking for your name and mine is meaningless.” The greatest benefit of acting mysterious is to elevate one’s own prestige as much as possible, so that the other party trusts oneself unconditionally. This is somewhat similar to religion. And indeed, quite a few religious figures use this tactic to fool others, and there are not a few who even trick ignorant and superstitious women into bed. Of course, Liu Haoyu is not that kind of person. An Qinglian, at this moment, was like someone clinging to a last straw of hope, constantly asking Liu Haoyu,
“Master, Master, if I go and buy those evil-warding Eight Trigrams Mirrors and Buddha statues now, will they be useful? Or do those things need magical power to drive them?” If she only had the jade gourd, An Qinglian would not feel at ease at all. She was like someone suffering from a fear of insufficient firepower, wishing she could adorn herself with every evil-warding item she could think of. To this, Liu Haoyu merely cast a glance at An Qinglian.
“There are no gods or Buddhas in this world. Buddha statues are merely superstition. In this era, be careful not to believe in these illusory things.” Liu Haoyu’s words made An Qinglian’s mouth twitch. Her mind raced, and she even wondered if she had misheard.
“Superstition? But aren’t you a master of Taoism?”
“Heh heh…” Liu Haoyu waved his hand, but his humility made An Qinglian seem to understand something. Could it be that heavenly secrets cannot be revealed? So, she stopped questioning and changed the subject.
“Then how do I contact you?”
“If fate allows, we will meet again.” With that, Liu Haoyu’s figure disappeared into the alley.
—
That night, Liu Haoyu returned to the haunted house again. Compared to yesterday, he was no longer being tailed by police. the police seemed to have let him go. But regardless, tonight’s operation should proceed smoothly.
“Speaking of which…” Qin Liu’s voice appeared behind Liu Haoyu. Recalling what happened last night, she said, “That little ghost that was following the female college student last night, you killed it, right?”
“No, that was just its illusion, not its main body.” Compared to the weakling on the third floor, the granddaughter on the fourth floor was clearly stronger, with greater malice towards people. Although it had targeted An Qinglian, thanks to his jade gourd, she was temporarily safe. Tonight, with a dark and windy night, it was a great opportunity to explore the house.
As midnight struck, Liu Haoyu, taking advantage of the night, donned a gas mask and silently entered the house. Although this house was very grim, it was quite large, and people did live there. Hours before entering the house, Liu Haoyu had noticed that an old man with a hunched back lived on the first floor. His legs were not very agile, he was not only blind, but also seemed to be mute. The lights on the fifth floor had been on all night without stopping, but they were turned off during the day. It was unclear what the situation was. But what was certain was that someone did live in this building.
Liu Haoyu went up to the third floor and used the copied key to open the door. The room inside had not changed at all, it was as new as a bridal chamber.
“We’re back in this place again.” Qin Liu muttered. She felt that she couldn’t help much, and at best, she could only be a mascot to liven up the atmosphere. The main force for ghost hunting still depended on Liu Haoyu. “By the way, is there something wrong with that red basketball?” Yesterday night, when Liu Haoyu, the intruder and killer, entered An Qinglian’s home, he also brought back that strange child’s basketball. Qin Liu had not experienced An Qinglian’s nightmare last night, so she did not know about the abnormality of this basketball. She just felt something was off about it, but couldn’t quite pinpoint what.
To this, Liu Haoyu didn’t rush to explain. He took the basketball to the bedroom and placed it on the floor. Immediately, a foul smell of blood filled the air. To Qin Liu’s astonished gaze, the red child’s basketball on the ground began to change continuously until it turned into a human head covered in blood, with eyes wide open in death. The eyes of the human head were wide open, as if it wanted to pop out its eyeballs. Its expression was as if it had encountered something terrifying.
A talisman appeared in Liu Haoyu’s hand. He then pried open the head’s mouth and inserted the burning talisman into it. The talisman melted upon contact with the mouth, leaving no trace. But under Qin Liu’s gaze, the eyes of the human head began to roll. This scene startled her greatly, and she almost jumped onto Liu Haoyu. However, Liu Haoyu calmly said,
“Are you Qiao Siyi?” Now that the earth-bound spirit in the bedroom had obtained its head, it should be able to speak directly. As Liu Haoyu expected, the human head slightly opened its mouth, and its throat moved.
“Yes…” Her voice sounded as if it were leaking air, very strange. “What the heck! It can really talk?” Qin Liu looked at the human head in front of her in disbelief, feeling a little scared, but also a little curious.
“Are you the fierce ghost that died in the bedroom?”
“Yes…” The human head’s eyes were filled with venom. She repeated one sentence over and over again through gritted teeth.
“Why… why…” Because the corpse was chopped into mince, Qiao Siyi’s consciousness was very fragmented, and communicating was extremely difficult. But even so, Liu Haoyu had to try, to see if he could find out who the killer was from the victim.
“Who killed you? If you know the name, say the name, if you know the appearance, describe the appearance.”
“Name, I don’t know… appearance… yellow electrician’s uniform, one head taller than me…” The human head intermittently spoke some fragmented information, but for Liu Haoyu, this information was enough for the police to narrow down the scope of the suspect. He wrote down this information, then said to Qiao Siyi,
“Blood debt must be paid with blood. Don’t worry, the killer won’t get away with it for too long.” The human head on the ground did not respond. It slowly faded into an ethereal form and completely disappeared in the room. Liu Haoyu stood up from the ground and then said to Qin Liu,
“Let’s go, let’s go up to the fourth floor and take a look.”
“Okay… I hope there isn’t another old lady inviting us to eat dumplings.” Because of this incident, Qin Liu, who originally liked steamed dumplings very much, suddenly felt that dumplings were a bit difficult to swallow. This morning, she didn’t eat a single steamed dumpling and ate all of Liu Haoyu’s xiaolongbao.
“Probably not.” Liu Haoyu took out a candle. Since Qin Liu was present, the candle burned particularly brightly. In order to find clues in this house, Liu Haoyu said to Qin Liu,
“Qin Liu, go back into the Hong Yu.”
“Okay, okay.” Seeing Liu Haoyu’s serious expression, Qin Liu did not hesitate and returned into the Hong Yu. As soon as she got back into the Hong Yu, she couldn’t help but let out a big yawn. It had to be admitted that the feeling inside the Hong Yu was like soaking in a hot spring, making Qin Liu feel overwhelmingly sleepy.
And Liu Haoyu outside, holding a flashlight, began to walk upstairs. The fourth floor was where the old woman lived, but he had never been to the fifth floor. So this time, Liu Haoyu planned to go to the fifth floor and take a look. However, when he reached the stairwell leading from the fourth floor to the fifth floor, he found that all the lights there were off. This was completely different from the bright appearance from outside. The surroundings were deathly silent, and the air temperature seemed to have dropped to freezing point.
Liu Haoyu’s candle did not light up. He walked forward, climbing up the stairs. The fifth floor looked even more dilapidated. The rusty iron handrail was covered with a sticky black substance, and this dirt was covered with a thick layer of dust. The walls next to the stairwell were covered with graffiti drawn by children with red crayons, which made people feel physically uncomfortable. Upon closer inspection, many of these doodles were of little people, but the bodies of these little people were mostly only partially drawn, looking very eerie.
