I had just taken a few steps when the phone behind me suddenly rang again, making me shiver in fright.
Hadn't I unplugged the phone line? Why was it still ringing? Could this call be from a ghost?
I walked back to the phone, swallowed hard, and after a few seconds of hesitation, quickly picked it up.
"Hello, who is this?" I asked nervously.
There was no human voice on the other end, only a hissing interference sound that seemed eerie.
"Who the hell are you? A human or a ghost?" The sound was eerie, and this haunted house was indeed spooky. But then I remembered I was here to catch ghosts, so I suddenly felt less afraid.
Suddenly, the other end let out a "wow" shout, startling me so much that I almost dropped the phone, luckily I held it steady.
This sudden scare made my heart race, so I quickly hung up.
If a ghost came out, I could confront it directly, but being startled like this—before I even took action, I might be scared to death first!
Suddenly, at that moment, I noticed a dark shadow crouching under the opposite table.
I immediately grew alert and tried to crawl down to look under the table, wondering what exactly was crouching there.
But just as I crouched down, with a sudden "poof," all the lights in the house went out, and the surroundings fell into darkness again.
Thankfully, it wasn't as bad as I'd imagined—my eyes quickly adjusted to the dark. I saw a woman in a red dress crouching under the table, though the view was blurry.
At that moment, there was a sudden "wū wū" sound, and something rolled toward me. I instinctively picked it up, felt it with my hands, then brought it close to my eyes.
The thing was sticky, somewhat round—looking like a marble but smaller, and soft. It was covered in slime. I sniffed it a few times, then threw it away in horror, for I smelled the stench of blood.
Wait... could this be a human eyeball? The thought made me shiver involuntarily, my stomach churned, and I felt intensely nauseous.
"Heheh... I died so miserably! So miserably!" A shrill woman's voice echoed from under the table, as eerie and terrifying as a cat in heat, making my scalp tingle.
"Which demon is hiding under the table causing trouble!" I imitated the Taoist priests on TV and shouted, hoping to calm the situation.
With a "wū wū wū" sound, something else rolled out from under the table. This time, I saw a trail of blood spreading along the floor, and the object that rolled out was larger. Although it was dark, I could barely make out that it was a black human head.
I quickly took a few steps back and drew out my peachwood sword. This haunted house really did have a ghost! If someone bought this house, they'd surely be hunted down by this vengeful spirit. Even I felt cold sweat trickling down my back.
"If you have grievances, voice them; if not, leave immediately, or don't blame me, a descendant of the Maoshan Sect, for showing no mercy." This was a ceremonial phrase, similar to trash-talking before a fight—both to boost my own courage and warn the opponent, while also sounding more imposing.
"Heheh, heheh, idiot!" The ghost under the table let out a eerie sneer, even mocking me.
"Damn! This ghost is quite savvy—cursing in human words. I thought ghosts only spoke in eerie babble."
But this insult completely infuriated me. Although I was a greenhorn, I wouldn't let it demean me like this.
"The Daoist arts hold no great mystery; the Southern Stars pour into the Northern River. Write the number twenty-one to drive away all demons on earth." As I chanted the incantation, the yellow talisman in my hand ignited with a "poof."
"Go!" I hurled the flaming talisman under the table.
Upon landing, the talisman set both the area under the table and the entire table ablaze, crackling furiously.
This was no ordinary fire. As recorded in Maoshan Ghost Taoism, fire has two forms: Wen Huo (human fire) and Wu Huo (hell fire). Wen Huo is the everyday fire that can consume almost all things in the mortal world, yet it cannot burn objects from the spirit realm—hence, ghosts fear it not.
Wu Huo, conversely, exclusively burns things from the otherworld while leaving mortal-world objects unscarred. Though the table crackled wildly in the flames, it remained intact despite the fire's intensity—Wu Huo cannot damage anything of the living realm.
I used the yellow talisman and incantation to summon the Wu Huo (hell fire), intending to burn the ghost under the table to ashes. If I had used this trick on He Wei that day, there probably wouldn't have been so much trouble.
After burning for about a minute, the thing under the table finally seemed unable to bear it, letting out a shrill cry: "Ah! It's burning me! Help, help me!"
"Help? You're already a ghost—what life do you have to save?" I sneered. You called me an idiot, so I'll burn you until you can never be reborn.
But as soon as the words left my mouth, I felt something was off. This voice sounded so familiar... Where had I heard it before? Could this ghost in the house be someone I know?
"It's me, you big idiot Lin Yuan! I'm Zhang Xiaoman—save me quick! The fire is too big; I'm about to be burned to death! It's so hot, so hot!" As Zhang Xiaoman spoke, she rolled out from under the table. She was wearing a blood-red dress, with layers of thick white powder covering her face. If she walked down the street like this, she'd probably scare half the people to death.
Damn it—so this scheming woman was pretending to be a ghost! I thought it was a real ghost! This woman is truly cunning—she actually tried to scare me by pretending to be a ghost. Luckily, I'm no pushover, or I might have been scared half to death by her.
The fire couldn't harm anyone at all, so I wasn't in a hurry to put it out for her. Besides, I couldn't let this matter go; she had to learn a lesson.
With my arms crossed and a cold look on my face, I said, "Hehe, you pretended to be a ghost to scare me, and now you expect me to save you? Is your brain filled with shit?"
"Lin Yuan, you're despicable, shameless, a filthy bastard, a hateful country bumpkin! I curse your ancestors for eighteen generations! Fuck your grandpa!" When Zhang Xiaoman got anxious, she spewed swear words, which was completely out of character for a wealthy young lady—she was clearly really pissed off by me.
But I remained unmoved. "Ah, go ahead and keep cursing. Later, when I 'leave,' I reckon you'll turn into a piece of charcoal, hehe." After saying that, I made a show of pretending to leave.
In fact, Zhang Xiaoman was too flustered to notice that the fire couldn't harm her in the slightest. However, this fire was surprisingly persistent—it stayed ablaze even though it couldn't burn people.
"Don't—don't go! I... I apologize. It was my fault; I shouldn't have pretended to be a ghost to scare you. Please save me! I don't want to die!" As she spoke, Zhang Xiaoman rolled around on the ground, trying to put out the fire on her body. But this wasn't ordinary mortal fire (Wen Huo)—rolling around wouldn't put it out.
"It's too late to apologize now, unless you call me... husband." I chuckled, thinking that for the haughty Zhang Xiaoman, this should be the most severe punishment for her.
"Call your sister! Lin Yuan, you're too hateful! Even if I become a ghost, I won't let you off, hmph!" Zhang Xiaoman roared, but perhaps the fire was too hot, and her voice was laced with pain as she spoke.
"Oh, then remember to find me when you become a ghost." After saying that, I started walking upstairs, intending to check the information about this building. The butler Li had told me that the house's documents were placed in the drawer of a room on the second floor.
"Don't go! I'll call, I'll call... Husband, save me!" Zhang Xiaoman said these words through gritted teeth, her tone filled with resentment.
Well, I couldn't be bothered to argue with her anymore. I pressed my index finger and middle finger together, pointed at her, and chanted: "One incantation moves the heavenly court, one incantation startles ghosts and gods, one incantation clears heaven and earth—urgently, as per the divine decree!"
"It's too late to apologize now, unless you call me... husband." I chuckled, thinking that for the haughty Zhang Xiaoman, this should be the most severe punishment for her."Call your sister! Lin Yuan, you're too hateful! Even if I become a ghost, I won't let you off, hmph!" Zhang Xiaoman roared, but perhaps the fire was too hot, and her voice was laced with pain as she spoke."Oh, then remember to find me when you become a ghost." After saying that, I started walking upstairs, intending to check the information about this building. The butler Li had told me that the house's documents were placed in the drawer of a room on the second floor."Don't go! I'll call, I'll call... Husband, save me!" Zhang Xiaoman said these words through gritted teeth, her tone filled with resentment.Well, I couldn't be bothered to argue with her anymore. I pressed my index finger and middle finger together, pointed at her, and chanted: "One incantation moves the heavenly court, one incantation startles ghosts and gods, one incantation clears heaven and earth—urgently, as per the divine decree!"
With a "whoosh," the raging fire that had just ignited was extinguished in an instant, and the house that had been illuminated by the flames suddenly fell back into darkness.
"Lin... Yuan..." Suddenly, I saw a red figure stand up, and the two words burst out of her mouth like missiles, with a tone as if she wanted to skin me alive.
"Hey, wife, let's talk this out. This isn't my fault, honestly—you started pranking me first," I quickly said.
"Talk rationally? Who wants to talk rationally with you? This is the house my family bought, so I can do whatever I want here. Also, who's your wife, you pig?" Zhang Xiaoman cursed as she inched closer, as if ready to pounce on me at any moment.
Just then, with a "pop," the house lights came back on, flooding the surroundings with brightness. We both squinted for a moment, adapting to the darkness, as the light was blinding.
When I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was Zhang Xiaoman's furious face and her hands, which looked like cat claws. Before I could react, she lunged at me, scratching wildly.
"Lin Yuan, you despicable bastard! I'll scratch you to death today!" Zhang Xiaoman roared.
I quickly grabbed her hands and said, "Wait a second—if we're both here, who turned the lights on?"
Zhang Xiaoman froze at my words, taking a few seconds to react. "Lin Xue! Right, where's Lin Xue? She came with me. She was the one who turned off the lights earlier. We bought scary props to prank you together. She should have come to my rescue when I was yelling—this is strange."
After Zhang Xiaoman finished speaking, I suddenly looked up and saw a person standing on the corridor of the second floor. I widened my eyes and realized it was Lin Xue, but her expression looked strange, and her belly was swollen round like that of a pregnant woman.
Zhang Xiaoman followed my gaze and noticed Lin Xue too. She quickly shouted, "Xue'er, come down and fight this bastard with me! If we beat him to death, I'll take full responsibility—wait, why is your belly so big? It looks like you're pregnant!"
At the sound of Zhang Xiaoman's voice, Lin Xue showed no reaction at all. Her face was blank, and she just kept touching her round belly while staring up at the ceiling.
"Xue'er, what's wrong with you? Come down quickly! If you don't come down, I'll go up!" Zhang Xiaoman grew anxious at Lin Xue's state, forgetting about me and dashing toward the stairs.
I quickly held her back: "Don't go up—there's something wrong with Lin Xue."