Chapter 110 Haunted House (ETL) Part 2
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Chapter 110 Oh no! There’s another fire again!
The four of them took a small private room, ordered a few dishes, and ate while they chatted. Seeing Zhao Pengyu and Xia Xiang’s bewilderment at the things mentioned, Gu Ye explained, “Ling Ling came around that time. The owner knew some niche dark arts and could extract the souls of innocent children. Ling Ling absorbed a lot of resentment, developed her own spirit, and came home with me.”
Zhao Pengyu remembered Gu Ye’s words about Ling Ling being made of human skin. He hadn’t expected it to be true. Thinking of Ling Ling’s adorable side, both Zhao Pengyu and Xia Xiang picked up their chopsticks and continued eating. It didn’t seem that scary. With Gu Ye around, any terrifying event could go down well with a meal.
But Xia Xiang, still wanting to hear more, urged, “So what do you want from Gu Ye? Let’s keep talking while we eat.”
Wang Xueliang looked at the other 2 with admiration, thinking they were worthy of being a master’s friends; so accepting. He continued, “Ever since that livestream with you guys, I’ve become quite famous in the industry. Brother Shao1 also joined me, and we’ve been making money together. I do the livestream while he sells noodles. Sometimes I advertise for him, and our shop is booming. In short, we’ve made quite a bit of money over the past year or so. A while ago, we discussed it and jointly rented an underground plaza in a residential complex and converted it into a haunted house.”
Gu Ye nodded. “And then, something happened in the haunted house.”
“Yes!” Wang Xueliang said excitedly. “As expected of a master! You predicted it before I even told you.”
Xia Xiang laughed. Wang Xueliang had pretty much said it all; anyone with a normal mind could have guessed it.
Gu Ye smiled and said, “Go on.”
“Well, at first, our haunted house was doing pretty well, with most of the customers being my fans. But then something went wrong. People said there really was a ghost in my house, that it suddenly appeared and scared people. Word spread quickly, and many people said my job as a supernatural streamer has attracted real ghosts.”
Zhao Pengyu asked, “Isn’t it just a case of a competitor causing trouble?”
Wang Xueliang explained, “At first, I thought it was just a deliberate act by competitors, but more and more people were seeing ghosts. Then, I went to check it out, and it seemed like there really was something invisible going on. Just a few days ago, someone said the hanged ghost on the ceiling was eating people and casting shadows, which frightened a girl. Old Shao and I checked the surveillance footage, and we really saw… a ghostly shadow like it was eating people.” At this point, Wang Xueliang’s face darkened. “But we really can’t produce that special effect.”
Gu Ye frowned. “But I don’t see any ghostly aura around you. Is this really not malicious competition?”
“This…” Wang Xueliang said anxiously, “No, we saw the surveillance footage. It really looks like a ghost eating a person. And we have a row of hanged ghost props hanging from the haunted house. I know how many I bought, and there was one extra that night.”
Gu Ye took a sip of his soup. “Isn’t that a win?”
Even at this critical moment, Gu Ye still looked calm and composed. But Wang Xueliang, a huge man, was almost crying with anxiety. “Master, this is terrifying! I swear, I’m not lying.”
Gu Ye was puzzled. “But, you really don’t have any ghostly aura around you. Eh? That’s not right.” Gu Ye looked at the aura around Wang Xueliang and said curiously, “It seems like there’s a hint of it. That’s strange.”
Wang Xueliang was even more frightened by Gu Ye’s uncertainty. “Master, is there any hope for me?”
Gu Ye was amused. “Yes, but you smell strange. I haven’t seen that thing yet, so I’m not sure if it’s a ghost. It seems a bit ghostly, but you’re still alive, which means it doesn’t mean to harm you. Is the haunted house closed at the moment?”
“It’s closed. If any guests are hurt, we can’t afford the compensation.” Wang Xueliang said helplessly. “Some people actually did come here to see what that man-eating ghost looks like, but we don’t dare to make money. If it really eats people, we’ll have to close down, no matter how much money we have. These people have never seen a ghost, but I’ve seen it with you guys. Evil ghosts are terrifying.”
Gu Ye nodded. “I’ll go take a look. We’ll see.” He looked at Zhao Pengyu. “What classes are tomorrow?”
Zhao Pengyu raised an eyebrow. “Are you trying to take a leave again?”
Gu Ye smiled. “I’ve already learned all these lessons.”
Zhao Pengyu was puzzled. “When did you learn them?”
Gu Ye spread his hands. “Smart people can learn even in their dreams.”
“You’re not putting some kind of talisman on yourself, are you? Try it on me too. I want to be smart, too.”
Gu Ye smiled and said, “Do you know why my master never found a suitable disciple in his life, and only found my senior brother in an orphanage when he was old? It’s because my senior brother’s soul spiritual power is naturally 3 times higher than that of an average person, making him relatively quick to learn anything. It’s the same reason my senior brother came to me.”
Xia Xiang translated, “He says he’s smart naturally, there’s nothing he can do about it.”
Zhao Pengyu rolled his eyes in disdain. “I won’t ask for leave for you. Go on your own.”
Smiling, Gu Ye picked up his phone, calling Xie Cheng. “Bro, there’s work. Are you free tomorrow?”
Xie Cheng seemed to have just woken up. “I have to take my master to the hospital for a checkup tomorrow morning. I’ll be free in the afternoon. Where are we going?”
Hearing the question, Gu Ye turned to look at Wang Xueliang, who quickly said, “It’s in the capital, on the third ring road.”
Xie Cheng yawned after hearing this. “Okay. Gu Ye, go check out the situation first. Wait for me to arrive at night, and we’ll act together.”
After Gu Ye hung up the phone, he looked at Wang Xueliang and said, “I’ll go to your place tomorrow morning. I need to have a good sleep tonight.”
Wang Xueliang said gratefully, “Thank you, masters. How much do you want? Name your price.”
Gu Ye examined Wang Xueliang for a moment before saying. “100,000 yuan.”
“Okay, got it. I’ll prepare it for you when I get back.”
Zhao Pengyu said helplessly, “You could call for help, but then you should also call for leave. If you keep doing this, the teacher will summon you for a talk, and I won’t be able to help you.”
Gu Ye smiled and said, “Don’t worry. I’m a good student, and the teachers love me.”
After returning home, Gu Ye saw the fruit plate and snack offerings that Sister Hong Dou had just placed for the King of Hell. He silently reached out and took a piece of cantaloupe. While munching, he stared blankly at the King of Hell’s statue.
Hong Dou was afraid Gu Ye would say something disrespectful again, so she quickly pushed him out of the study and cut another plate of fruit for him.
Gu Ye tsk-ed and muttered, “Didn’t we agree on 2 months? You’re backing out after only 1 month. Humph, my fruit platter is bigger than yours.”
The whole family (of non-humans) looked at Gu Ye helplessly, as if he were a 3-year-old child. They were truly worried sick.
The next day, Gu Ye, having slept enough, went out to the address given by Wang Xueliang. It was past 11.00 am when he arrived. The haunted house was located outside a residential complex, consisting of a small storefront connected to a basement. Wang Xueliang hired someone to design a staircase connecting the upper and lower floors. The storefront served as a cashier’s office, while the haunted house was located in the basement.
There was also a small noodle shop nearby, run by Shao Dayong, which was doing very good business.
Upon hearing Gu Ye’s arrival, Shao Dayong ran over. Seeing Gu Ye, he excitedly shook his hand, “Master Gu, I didn’t expect to meet you again.”
Gu Ye smiled, “Business is good. Running a business with integrity has made you rich.”
Shao Dayong gratefully said, “Everyone’s been very supportive of my business. You must be hungry. Why don’t we go eat first?”
“Don’t worry, I’ll go check out the haunted house.”
“Alright,” Shao Dayong said politely, “You guys go ahead and check it out. I’ll go prepare lunch.”
Gu Ye smiled and nodded. Shao Dayong, who used to look so unsure and unlucky, has truly matured and gained more confidence. If his mother were still alive, she’d probably be very pleased.
Under Wang Xueliang’s guidance, Gu Ye descended into the basement haunted house. The air inside was somewhat stuffy and had a musty smell. The darkness only heightened the eerie atmosphere. At the moment, Wang Xueliang had turned on all the lights, muted the special effects and sounds, so the row of hanged ghosts hung from the ceiling like bacon. The ventilator blew, and they swayed, a truly fascinating sight. Gu Ye surveyed the place and smiled, “This place is quite large.”
“Yeah! Basements are much cheaper, but this still costs 800,000 yuan a year. Add in all the props and maintenance, and it’s a hefty daily expense.”
Gu Ye understood the meaning. “A day’s delay in business means a lot of lost profit.”
Wang Xueliang sighed. “That’s right. If we don’t open the door soon, we really can’t continue.”
After wandering around this eerie haunted house, Gu Ye still felt a sense of wonder. The ghostly presence was so minimal that it was practically undetectable. What kind of ghost could conceal its presence so well?
Seeing Gu Ye’s grave expression, Wang Xueliang asked bitterly, “Master Gu, have you spotted the ghost?”
Gu Ye shook his head. “He’s not here. There’s almost no ghostly aura. Is it really not a human?”
“It’s really not!” Wang Xueliang agitatedly slapped his own thigh. “I can’t just close my shop and stop earning money for the sake of deceiving you!”
Gu Ye said helplessly, “Maybe it won’t be visible during the day. Let’s check again at night.”
The two returned to the surface in vain. Gu Ye took a deep breath; the air down there was truly not very good. A dark underground place like that was naturally attractive to ghosts, and since it was a haunted house, there was a chance a ghost might have taken up residence there and been spotted. But ‘a ghost eating people’ was a bit more challenging. Was it intentional to scare people?
Thinking of this, Gu Ye called Xie Cheng. “Bring my divination plate when you come. I’m a little confused about this.”
Just as Gu Ye finished the call, he heard someone in the neighborhood across the street shout, “Oh no! Another fire!”
Many people stopped to watch, and passersby were buzzing with discussion, “Why is there another fire? Has the God of Fire descended? This is the 5th fire this month.”
“Could it be another suicide? Oh my god, there’s definitely something wrong with the feng shui in this neighborhood!”
Gu Ye raised an eyebrow. “The 5th case? Suicide?”
Looking sympathetic, Wang Xueliang explained, “Yeah, I don’t know what’s going on either. 5 fires have happened in that neighborhood in less than a month, and several people have committed suicide, all by self-immolation.”
Gu Ye frowned. “Choosing such a painful method as self-immolation to commit suicide—have they gone crazy?”
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Raw word count: 6252 (whole chapter)
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