I quickly held back Zhang Xiaoman and shouted, "Be careful! There's something wrong with Lin Xue."
At my words, Zhang Xiaoman immediately stopped in her tracks. Gazing at Lin Xue's eerie expression, she was so frightened that she didn't know what to do.
"Lin Yuan, don't tell me this house is really haunted?" Zhang Xiaoman swallowed hard, then turned to look at me nervously, her face paling.
"What do you think? This is the haunted house your dad bought!" I said mournfully, keeping my eyes fixed on Lin Xue upstairs without daring to blink.
"Then save Lin Xue quickly—please! It's all my fault. I shouldn't have brought her to this kind of house to prank you. I was too selfish." Zhang Xiaoman's voice trembled with sobs, on the verge of tears.
I quickly made a shushing gesture, signaling her to be quiet—because at that moment, Lin Xue upstairs suddenly vanished, and only the "clack-clack-clack" of high heels echoed from the second floor.
"Hey, where'd Lin Xue go? She was just standing up there." After realizing Lin Xue had disappeared, Zhang Xiaoman grew even more anxious. But upon hearing the high-heel sounds, she scaredly clung to my arm: "Lin Xue was wearing white canvas shoes. Whose high heels are those? This is so creepy!"
"No, Lin Xue was wearing high heels—red ones!" I said firmly, for I'd noticed that detail earlier; the red high heels were too eye-catching.
"Impossible! Lin Xue has never liked wearing high heels. When we came here tonight, she was clearly in white canvas shoes—I'm sure of it." Zhang Xiaoman retorted.
I furrowed my brows and said gravely, "That means Lin Xue is really possessed!"
My words made Zhang Xiaoman shrink back, hugging my arm tighter. Her soft breasts pressed firmly against my elbow.
"There really are ghosts! Waaah, what do we do about Lin Xue? Go save her! Aren't you a sorcerer?" Zhang Xiaoman wailed.
"Hey! I'm not a sorcerer. I'm a genuine descendant of the Maoshan Ghost Taoist path." I retorted.
Zhang Xiaoman blinked: "Isn't that still a sorcerer?"
"Ugh, I can't be bothered with you!" I stopped bickering and stepped up the stairs toward the second floor. Zhang Xiaoman clung to me, insisting on coming to save Lin Xue—she wouldn't abandon her.
I curled my lip and muttered, "All you have going for you is your boobs. You're just in the way."
"Lin Yuan! What did you say?" Zhang Xiaoman suddenly shot me a glare.
"Er... I meant this house is eerie. We don't know what happened here before. We need to check the drawer in the middle room for information so we can figure out how to save Lin Xue." I quickly changed my tune.
"Then let's go! You go first, I'll cover you. Humph, don't argue—you think I don't know my dad hired you? Now I'm your boss." Zhang Xiaoman ordered domineeringly.
I rolled my eyes. I couldn't be bothered with this overbearing rich girl.
Clutching my peachwood sword, I cautiously pushed open the door to the middle room on the second floor.
The light in this room wasn't on, pitch-black all around. Just as I reached out to flip the switch, the light suddenly "popped" on by itself. Apart from the two of us, there was nothing in the room except a lone cabinet standing there.
"Hey, sorcerer, why did the light turn on by itself? Is it sound-activated?" Zhang Xiaoman said, clapping her hands at the light a few times. When it didn't respond, she stomped her feet several times, but still no reaction. That's when she fully realized what was happening, tightly grabbing my arm and shouting, "It's haunted, sorcerer!"
I shot her a withering look, then walked over and pulled out the cabinet. To my horror, inside lay a stillborn infant drenched in blood.
The sudden sight made my heart race and my stomach lurch with nausea. Zhang Xiaoman was even more terrified—she clung to me from behind, burying her face in my back.
"Hey, wife, even if we're alone, this is a bit too intimate," I teased deliberately, trying to cut through the room's dread. "I'm still feeling shy here."
"Shut up! Are there any documents in that cabinet? Grab them and let's get out! What kind of house is this, with a dead baby stashed inside?!" Zhang Xiaoman's voice trembled, clearly petrified.
I used my peachwood sword to push the stillborn aside, hoping to find the files Butler Li mentioned hidden beneath.
Just then, the infant's gooey eyes snapped open, fixing me with a fierce glare before it grinned hideously.
The stillborn infant had undeveloped facial features, looking extremely grotesque. Its body was covered in a sticky substance—whether amniotic fluid or something else, it was nauseating to behold.
"What's happening? Why aren't you saying anything?" When I stayed silent, Zhang Xiaoman craned her neck to peer into the cabinet. The moment she saw the scene, she let out a shriek—and to her horror, the infant mimicked her scream and lunged at her, leaving her face bloodless.
As the infant flew through the air, I grabbed its neck in a flash and pinned it to the floor. It thrashed wildly, emitting spine-chilling wails.
No stillborn could move, scream, or bite. This had to be an illusion cast by the house's ghost.
I quickly bit my middle finger—the digit with the strongest yang energy—and dabbed the dripping blood between my brows. This blood ritual clears the mind and dispels most demonic illusions.
When I opened my eyes again, there was no stillborn in my grasp—just a white kitten.
For fuck's sake—it was just a cat!
Then I performed the "Brow-Eye Dot" on Zhang Xiaoman. When she saw that what I held wasn't a stillborn but a white cat, she finally let out a long sigh of relief.
However, her compassion soon overflowed. Gazing at the white cat in my hands, she cooed "So cute!" repeatedly and tried to reach out to pet it, forgetting entirely where we were.
I quickly pushed her away. "White cats attract ghosts; black cats ward off evil. Never touch a white cat in a haunted house." With that, I released the kitten through the window.
After letting the cat go, I found a thick stack of documents in the drawer. Zhang Xiaoman immediately leaned in to explore the room's secrets with me.
The house's original owner was Chen Jian. When his wife was pregnant, he cheated on her. One day, his wife went into premature labor, but he was out carousing with his mistress. She died in this house without anyone to take her to the hospital, and the baby in her womb also perished.
Far from grieving, Chen Jian brought his mistress home on the seventh day after his wife's death. The next morning, the mistress was found hanged in the house. Her stomach had been cut open, stuffed with a bloody rag doll—a gruesome sight. It's said Chen Jian was driven mad by the horror. Even after hospital treatment, he now screams "Ghost!" at anyone he sees, then cowers under the bed crying, "Wife, I was wrong! Don't kill me! Spare me!"
Chen Jian's parents later sold the house. No one else dared to live there, but the old couple hid the deaths and sold the haunted house at a low price to Zhang Hu.
For a haunted house, it's not about money. Even if you gave it away for free, others might not dare to take it. Zhang Hu, who later learned the truth, realized he had suffered a silent loss, but since the house contract was already signed, he could only swallow the bitter pill with a grunt.
After reading the documents, I felt puzzled. With Zhang Hu's experience and influence, he shouldn't have been fooled by those two elderly people. Moreover, since Butler Li could investigate the information so thoroughly now, he must have looked into it before—how could he have mistakenly bought a haunted house without knowing?
Beyond this question, there's also why the female ghost only killed the mistress but not her husband. Was it out of love? Impossible. The female ghost died while pregnant, making her a vengeful spirit filled with deep resentment—she couldn't possibly retain any humanity.
I suddenly began to doubt the authenticity of these documents. Could Butler Li have made this up for me?
But one thing matched: the female ghost did die while pregnant, or else Lin Xue's stomach wouldn't have been so swollen. It seems Lin Xue was possessed by the ghost.
"This woman is so pitiful. Even though she became a vengeful spirit, it's all the man's fault. There's not a single good man! Bah, especially sorcerers!" After reading the papers, Zhang Xiaoman suddenly started cursing.
"Who are you indirectly insulting? Don't forget, your father is also a man!" I snorted coldly and said.
"You..." Zhang Xiaoman pointed at my nose, too angry to speak. "Hmph! If Lin Xue weren't counting on you to save her, I'd beat you to death right now!"
"You'd better remember that, young miss!" I retorted without backing down.
"Hurry up—what do we do next? If we don't save Lin Xue soon, she might be in danger! Waaah, my poor Xue'er—what if that female ghost mistakes her for the mistress and kills her too?!" Zhang Xiaoman pressed, her voice trembling.
I shook my head. If the ghost wanted to kill Lin Xue, she would have done it already; there's no reason to wait.
"Then what does she want?" Zhang Xiaoman furrowed her brows, confused.
I rested my chin in thought for a few minutes before saying, "If I'm not mistaken, she wants to use Lin Xue's body to give birth to her child."
"Give birth... as a ghost?" Zhang Xiaoman was too astonished to speak.
I nodded. The female ghost has mostly avenged her wrongs: the mistress is dead, and her unfaithful husband is driven mad. But since she hasn't moved on to reincarnate, she must still have unfinished business. The only thing left unfulfilled should be the child who died in her womb without being born.
Just then, the "clack-clack-clack" of high heels echoed again—loud and eerie. Zhang Xiaoman and I tensed up, staring fearfully at the door.