“Auntie Sun, where did this business card come from?” He Yu asked.
Granny Sun, thinking he didn’t believe her, said, “Don’t look at how sketchy this name seems—they really know their stuff. I never got the chance to use it, so you take it. If you ever run into trouble, be sure to remember it!”
He Yu asked a couple more questions and learned that a long time ago, Granny Sun had accidentally encountered a paranormal incident, and because of that she’d had some contact with people from the Paranormal Affairs Bureau. He quietly let out a breath of relief.
That had startled him—he’d actually thought Granny Sun had a family member who worked at the Paranormal Affairs Bureau.
No big deal, though. The haunted house was no longer a haunted house, so there wouldn’t be anyone from the Paranormal Affairs Bureau coming to dig into his affairs, and he could keep disguising himself as an ordinary person.
He Yu went to find a renovation crew, and on the way passed by yesterday’s slope, unable to help frowning.
Yin-baleful qi had once again gathered at the bottom of the slope. He’d only cleared it yesterday—if it were simply because of the poor terrain, with loose, scattered yin-baleful qi being carried along by the flow of traffic and accumulating here, it would normally take at least a few months. For it to accumulate this fast meant there was a source nearby generating yin-baleful qi.
He casually cleared the bottom of the slope again, planning to go find the renovation crew first and trace the source back later when he had time. If it turned out to be something that might affect his salted fish lifestyle, then… he’d anonymously report it to the Paranormal Affairs Bureau!
Finding a renovation crew turned out to be quite a hassle, and He Yu spent almost the whole day before he finally got things more or less settled.
On the way back, He Yu came across an old man running a street stall. The stall sold rattan-woven items—rattan baskets, rattan crates, and the like—at reasonable prices. Besides these items, there were also some small rattan-woven animals, finely and delicately made, very cute.
The rattan strips used for the weaving seemed to come from some kind of plant he didn’t recognize, giving off a clean, crisp, plant-like scent.
He Yu liked what he saw, and after picking out a few vessels, pointed at the small animals and said, “I’ll take all of these too.”
The old man reminded him, “These aren’t like the baskets. They take a lot of effort to weave, so they’re not cheap.”
He Yu wasn’t short on money these days, so he generously took them all, then asked, “Can these be custom-made to order?”
The old man was very honest. “Depends on whether I know how. What did you want?”
“I haven’t decided yet. Let’s exchange contact info for now—I’ll come find you later if I need something.”
After exchanging contact information, He Yu carried his things over to Granny Sun’s place, gave her some of the rattan-woven vessels, and mooched a dinner off her while he was at it. After eating, on his way back and opening his door, he happened to run into a neighbor who was out for a walk downstairs.
This neighbor was a warm-hearted woman in her thirties. Seeing He Yu smile and greet her, she hesitated for a moment before asking, “Are you renting this place, or did you buy it?”
“Renting. Just moved in,” He Yu said.
The woman said quietly, “Don’t take this the wrong way, but this house isn’t good—you’d better find somewhere else to rent. You can ask around; about this house… the people nearby all know. The last several tenants all ended up leaving.”
The malevolent spirit on the other side of the door: …
He Yu was rather delighted. These days, a lot of people held to the principle of “better to avoid trouble than court it,” and would never say anything that might offend or sound unpleasant. He’d only been here two days, and already two people meeting him for the first time were willing to warn him—what wonderful neighbors!
“Could you tell me more?” He Yu asked earnestly.
He wanted to learn more about the ghost in the house too.
“Well then…” the woman hesitated, but her warm-heartedness and urge to share won out. “Let’s talk outside.”
There was a rest area outside, further from the haunted house’s entrance, which put the woman more at ease to talk. But the haunted house also had an abandoned courtyard, separated from the rest area by only a strip of greenery.
The woman’s surname was Wu, and she told her stories vividly and dramatically:
“Let me tell you, that house is really strange. I’ve lived here a long time, and I knew all the previous tenants—everything I’m telling you is exactly what they told me, not a word added.”
“There’s something hidden in that house’s back courtyard! Every single tenant told me the same thing—when walking in the courtyard, they’d often trip over something for no reason, but could never find what it was!
“And at night you often hear strange sounds, either against the door or against the window glass, a sound just like someone scratching with their fingernails!
“When people first rented that house, they all wanted to tidy up the courtyard properly, but afterward, none of them would go into the courtyard anymore.”
In the courtyard, next to an old tennis ball, several small plum-blossom-shaped footprints had been repeatedly stamped into the ground, as if something were anxiously pacing in place.
Sister Wu knew nothing about this, and continued, “The tenant before last was especially stubborn—dug up every single plant in the courtyard, turned over the soil, and then even set it on fire, trying to find out what was in the courtyard. In the end they found nothing at all. Isn’t that terrifying?”
“Really terrifying. What if it had started a fire!” He Yu nodded earnestly.
Sister Wu: …
Why couldn’t this kid grasp the point?
“Well, you’re right too,” Sister Wu said, moving on to another story. “And it’s not just the courtyard. The tenants before the previous one had a child, and there were lots of little toys and dolls and things like that in the house.”
“They told me the toys in the house were often not where they’d left them. At first, they thought the child was just being naughty and moving things around, and even scolded the kid for it. Later, they noticed that whenever the child was alone in an empty room, they’d always be talking to themselves, gesturing at the empty air, as if playing with someone.
“After that, that family moved out.”
In the haunted house, the plush doll lying at the courtyard gate eavesdropping lowered its head guiltily.
“And there’s more!” Sister Wu went on. “That house always had bad signal—phone calls kept cutting in and out, and you often couldn’t get through at all.”
“At first everyone thought it was just bad signal, but I heard from the tenant three before last, that it wasn’t only that,” Sister Wu said mysteriously. “Their family got a call from a ghost!”
“A ghost call?” He Yu asked curiously.
“They got a call from their grandfather, saying he missed them and asking them to come visit. When they went back, they found the old man had already quietly passed away. Afterward they checked, and there was no record of that call at all!” Sister Wu said.
The old-style telephone’s cord anxiously coiled itself, accidentally tying itself into a knot.
“And there’s also this—every single tenant said the faucet at home could never be shut off tight, no matter what brand of new faucet they switched to, it never worked. It would keep dripping in the middle of the night—so creepy!”
The malevolent spirit hiding behind the door together with the little plush doll: ….
He Yu nodded seriously in agreement. “This ghost really has no sense of public decency—how could it waste water resources like that?”
Sister Wu: ???
He Yu then asked, “Who lives in the unit upstairs? I heard a commotion up there last night.”
Sister Wu let out an “ay”: “That’s Xiao Guan upstairs, Guan Qiyan. She’s got it rough too. Raising a kid all by herself, and the kid has autism, can’t take care of themselves.”
After chatting with Sister Wu, He Yu went home to find the house had been cleaned up completely, looking brand new—now that the dust was gone, even the space itself seemed much brighter.
The malevolent spirit stood obediently off to the side. He looked like a man in his thirties, thin and gaunt, with messy, unkempt eyebrows that gave him a somewhat fierce look, yet he was forcing out a fawning smile, which made him look slick and strange.
“Not bad,” He Yu said, satisfied. “From now on, remember not to mess around with the faucet. Freshwater resources are precious—don’t waste them.”
“Understood. I won’t do it again,” the malevolent spirit said, bowing his head in deep, sorrowful repentance.
“What’s your name?” He Yu asked next.
“Chen Shi,” the malevolent spirit answered honestly.
“I’m planning to open a shop. From now on, cleaning duty is yours,” He Yu said.
Chen Shi’s face went slightly pale. He had already imagined all sorts of bloody, gruesome accidents, assuming that what He Yu meant by “cleaning” was cleaning up things like that.
“I’ve hired a renovation crew to come by—don’t go scaring them,” He Yu instructed. He put away the old-style telephone, the plush doll, and the old tennis ball.
Chen Shi nodded, his face pale. He absolutely wouldn’t dare!
After sorting out the renovation, He Yu took some time to go trace the source of the yin-baleful qi accumulating on the road.
The roads led in every direction, with traffic flowing back and forth, carrying all sorts of mixed energies with it. He Yu frowned, his gaze sharpening, and his irises suddenly turned pitch black, nearly indistinguishable from his pupils. In He Yu’s field of vision, the yin-baleful qi appeared as a bluish-black color. He Yu followed the intermittent trail of yin-baleful qi, tracking it all the way to its source.
The source was right there on the crosswalk in the middle of the road. Beside the road stood a warning sign prohibiting speeding, and on both sides were various storefronts—the plush toy shop currently under renovation stood conspicuously not far away.
He Yu: …
The ghost density around here is a bit high, huh.