I stared blankly at the screen for a few seconds. Which bastard had turned my QQ account into this mess?
I quickly thought of someone and dialed his number. As soon as he picked up, I blurted out, "Old Yao, you damn pervert! Why did you hack my QQ?"
"Serves you right for teaming up with outsiders to screw me over. Tomorrow, I'm posting your nudes all over the internet," came the reply.
"Hey, hey, let's talk this out. We can talk!" I knew Old Yao was shameless enough to pull off anything.
Turns out, he was still holding a grudge over the last case. Back then, Huang Xiaotao promised to share her full reward with him if he helped crack the case. But she only gave him ten bucks. Old Yao felt both his intelligence and feelings had been toyed with. He didn't dare involve the police, so he took it out on me.
Old Yao ranted like a shrew on the phone: "Ten bucks? You think I'm some pushover?"
I sighed, "There's a cause for every debt. Don't blame me!"
"Hmph. If not you, then who? Song Yang, you're finished. From today on, I'm going to get you good!" Old Yao threatened.
When Old Yao targets someone, things usually end badly. There was a moderator who once deleted Old Yao's posts; Old Yao hacked his computer and made ridiculous videos out of the guy's private photos, spreading them everywhere.
...
...
I didn't want to end up like that, so I soothed him, "Calm down. Here's the deal—I have something to investigate and need your help. This time, you won't be shortchanged."
Old Yao's tone changed immediately: "Alright, tell me!"
I asked him to dig up info on that haunted mansion. After we settled on a price, he said, "Wait for my message," and hung up.
I thought to myself, if only the police could recruit a genius like Old Yao, we wouldn't have to pay out of pocket every time we need intel.
Old Yao isn't just a hacker; his ability to find information is top-notch. Don't underestimate that skill—many think finding info just means typing keywords into Baidu, but getting precise, reliable intel is incredibly difficult. Real intelligence is often hidden behind layers of permissions.
I have no clue what SCI or ISTP means, but Old Yao knows all about it.
After a while, Old Yao sent me a message to log into QQ.
I logged in again and found my QQ back to normal. Old Yao had sent over some files.
I glanced through them and let out a shout—this was incredible! So much information in such a short time!
Apparently, over a decade ago, the mansion had a devastating fire—arson. The family living there was a trio: a young and beautiful wife, a paranoid husband, and their son. The husband was suspicious because of their age gap, always suspecting his wife of cheating.
Once, he heard about paternity tests and took his son for one. The results came back: no blood relation at all.
Enraged, the husband plotted revenge. He killed his son, cooked him into a meal, and tricked his wife into eating it. Then he told her what she had just eaten—her own child—and demanded to know the real father.
The wife went insane. The husband, furious, beat her up and went to bed. That same night, the wife doused the house with gasoline and set it ablaze. Both were burned alive inside. Witnesses claimed to have seen a woman engulfed in flames on the second floor, laughing maniacally—an utterly terrifying scene.
The mansion was later auctioned by the court. Houses where people died like this usually sell for cheap. Some bold speculators buy them to flip as "haunted houses."
They don't live there themselves but hire professionals called "haunted house testers." It's a mysterious job—the testers have guts and some basic ghost-banishing skills. After they stay a while, the house is cleansed and ready to be renovated and sold at a higher price.
But this mansion was different. Several testers were hired to cleanse it, but they all fled one after another. They reported hearing sounds like someone chewing beans in the kitchen, but on closer listen, it was the crackling of burning wood.
Sometimes, people saw a little boy bouncing a ball. Others spotted a woman walking around, covered in blisters and burns...
A few testers even got possessed. One night, someone hugged a ragged doll and wept like a woman. The others were so terrified they ran off screaming.
The owner quickly sold the place at a low price. It changed hands multiple times; some stayed there, but everyone said the house was cursed. At night, whole walls would burst into flames, and a woman's laughter echoed—replaying the horrific fire. Several owners were so scared they fled with their families in the middle of the night.
Currently, a real estate agency is selling the property. The owner remains anonymous, but Old Yao managed to track down their information.
After reading it, Old Yao's QQ avatar bounced impatiently, demanding payment. I sent him two thousand yuan. Two thousand for a dossier—still felt a bit steep.
At noon, Huang Xiaotao asked where I was. Wang Dali and I met her near the police station. She was full of energy, hands on hips, clearly pleased with the investigation's progress, and invited us to a nearby restaurant.
During lunch, Huang Xiaotao said the victims had been identified. The older one was called Lü Liang, the younger Liu Wei—they were uncle and nephew. Their jobs were unknown, but they had sizable bank savings and traveled all over the country.
I nodded knowingly, "Sounds like they were haunted house testers."
"What?" Huang Xiaotao blinked.
Wang Dali jumped in, "I know! I read a novel about this profession online. So it really exists."
"Art always imitates life," I said.
I told her everything Old Yao had dug up. Huang Xiaotao pondered, "The house replays the fire? Then this case might never find a killer."
I said, "Don't jump to conclusions. If even you, the task force leader, think that way, how can we solve it? I don't believe ghosts can hurt people—otherwise, this world wouldn't have so many villains."
"That's true," Huang Xiaotao nodded. "By the way, I sent Wang Yuanchao to investigate the house's background. Since you got intel so fast, I'll tell him to stop."
"No," I said firmly, "let Wang Yuanchao continue."
Wang Dali said, "Why investigate what's already been found? Isn't that wasting manpower?"
I explained, "Wang Yuanchao and Old Yao have different channels and will get different intel. It's like knowing a person—people around them have varied opinions. The more perspectives you gather, the clearer the picture. This mansion is crucial to the case, so extra manpower isn't too much."