Chapter 111 Haunted House (ETL) Part 2
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Chapter 111: Another suicide!
Gu Ye sighed, having no more to say to these people. Then he noticed a car on the lawn next to the residential complex. “Why is that car parked there?”
Xie Cheng shook his head. “There’s nowhere to park it, right? The car isn’t important. What’s important is that I don’t think this is a normal fire, but I don’t sense any ghostly aura.”
“That ghost just now didn’t have much ghostly aura, did it?” Gu Ye also felt something was amiss. He returned to the shop entrance and picked up the divination plate from the ground. As soon as he picked it up, he felt something was wrong. There were several footprints on it, and the needle in the middle was crooked.
Gu Ye was immediately furious. “Who stepped on it?!”
Seeing that, Xie Cheng said sympathetically, “Consider it good that they didn’t pick it up and sell it for scrap. Give thanks to the dark skies. Go check and see if it still works.”
Gu Ye fiddled with the needle. “I’ll just make do. I’m afraid there might be some inaccuracies.”
Xie Cheng said helplessly, “Did that ghost do it on purpose? Why would he ram at your divination plate? Did he know it was a threat?”
“I don’t care!” Gu Ye’s face turned cold. “I spent 3000 yuan on it. I need him to compensate me.”
The price made Xie Cheng pause. “Why did you buy such a cheap divination plate? It doesn’t fit your style.”
“Nonsense. Back then, I didn’t even have pocket money. I was lucky to be able to buy a divination plate.” Gu Ye sneered. “The moment that ghost ran away, there was news of suicide. How can there be such a coincidence! I’m going to grab his tail and throw him onto the divination plate.”
Soon after, the firefighters finished putting out the fire and left. Gu Ye and Xie Cheng went to the neighborhood to take a look at the scene. Seeing the car parked by the entrance, Gu Ye stopped and said, “There’s a death aura.”
Xie Cheng nodded. “The owner died not long ago, and the car hasn’t changed hands yet.”
An auntie, observing Gu Ye and Xie Cheng’s interest in the car, said with a smile, “The owner is already dead. It was the second death in the community recently, and also the first one who set himself on fire.”
The auntie looked like someone who knew the truth. Gu Ye narrowed his eyes and asked with a smile, “Why did he commit suicide? Were his family relationships difficult?”
The auntie lamented, “He usually seemed so happy. I don’t know why he became so depressed. It’s such a shame.”
“Yes, it’s such a shame,” Gu Ye continued, “but he died without taking anyone else with him. That means the first family must have had bad relations. His mother took the 2 children with her when she died.”
“That’s not true,” the auntie corrected, waving her hand. “They had a great relationship. Their mother-in-law passed away a few years ago, and it wasn’t easy for the wife to raise 2 children. The man in that family often did the grocery shopping, cooked, and helped with the children. He was quite responsible. They had a wonderful relationship.”
Xie Cheng said admiringly, “You knew that too.”
“Heh, the neighborhood isn’t big; everyone knows about everyone’s problems. I also heard about it from others.” The auntie seemed quite talkative, able to engage in a long conversation with two strangers. “I think we should get a master to see if it is because the neighborhood’s feng shui is bad? Otherwise, why would so many people get into accidents, and all die in the same way?”
Gu Ye smiled. “The neighborhood’s feng shui is fine. Auntie, do you know who moved this car here?”
“I know. It was a firefighter.” It was clear from the auntie’s tone that she knew everything. “This car was a huge obstruction. It was blocking this lane that day. If it hadn’t been moved, the fire truck would have gotten in long ago, and those three people might not have died. So, for the owner of the car to commit suicide, it’s a kind of retribution for evil.” At this point, the auntie clapped her hands. “Oh, now that you mention it, oh my! Could it not be suicide? It’s that guy’s revenge?”
Gu Ye was startled by the auntie’s sudden movements and advised, “Don’t overthink it. Everything needs evidence.”
“That’s true.”
“Auntie, has this car been parked here for a long time?”
“Exactly a month. That day, the man was blocking traffic and arguing with the firefighters. The car was moved away, and he was arrested. He was detained for 15 days before being released. That night after he returned, he committed suicide.”
Listening to this timeline, Gu Ye thought about the time period shown in the surveillance footage of the haunted house and felt an eerie overlap.
The auntie’s words also gave Gu Ye and Xie Cheng a wake-up call. After she left, Gu Ye asked, “Why do so many people want to commit suicide? These people all have happy families, so why do they choose such a painful method as self-immolation? Was it revenge? Because the car was blocking the road, otherwise the first family might not have died. So this person was killed, and the burning was also the method chosen.”
“But who did it? Was it really the woman’s husband?”
“It’s hard to say. We both feel that hint of ghostly aura. It’s definitely not an illusion. There’s definitely a ghost involved in this case, but it’s strange that we can’t find it or sense it.”
As Gu Ye and Xie Cheng talked, they arrived at the building where the fire had occurred. Not many people were watching the scene now. The fire seemed to have started from the balcony, but it was small so the surrounding neighbors were not affected. Onlookers said a 50-year-old woman had died, and the police had already gone up.
Gu Ye looked up. “There must be something left at the crime scene. I want to go see if it’s a human, a ghost, or a human in cahoots with ghosts.”
Xie Cheng grabbed the corner of Gu Ye’s shirt and tugged. “Stop it! If we go now, we’ll probably be arrested as suspects. Who would believe you if you told the police that you suspect a ghost did it?”
Gu Ye thought for a moment and called Mu Jingfei. Unexpectedly, the call went through within 2 seconds before the other end hung up. Mu Jingfei texted him back: [I’m in a meeting. I’ll get back to you later.]
Gu Ye threw his hands up helplessly. “After a month of rest, nothing’s going my way. You must be poisonous.”
Hearing that, Xie Cheng was amused. “Who’s the poisonous one, me or you? I’ve never had a case this difficult before. Every time I’ve worked with you, it’s a major, difficult case. Stop the nonsense! Get your three-headed hellhound out and sense if there’s any ghostly aura.”
Gu Ye released Gou Ya and let it explore the house. It would be great if it could find the soul of the recently deceased.
However, Gou Ya ran around and came back, whimpering and circling Gu Ye anxiously.
Xie Cheng rubbed each of the 3 heads before asking, “What does this mean? What did they find?”
Gu Ye explained, “It said it seemed to be there, but also that it didn’t. It wasn’t sure if there was any ghost energy. Besides, there weren’t any newly deceased ghosts in the house upstairs.”
“How is that possible? The death energy is already spreading, so how can there be no new souls?” Xie Cheng had never encountered anything like this in his long career of ghost hunting. “Putting aside the issue of not being able to capture ghost energy, I can only think of one explanation for the lack of new souls.”
Gu Ye understood. “They’ve been eaten. The murderer was at the scene when the fire started.”
Gu Ye couldn’t help himself and pulled out the divination plate that had been stepped on several times, wanting to calculate the development of this matter.
Xie Cheng’s originally grim expression changed upon seeing Gu Ye’s divination plate. He couldn’t help but laugh. “Is it still usable? The needle looks like it’s been through a hair straightener.”
Gu Ye rolled his eyes. “Nonsense, I’ll just look at it vertically.”
After the first divination, Gu Ye was shocked. “Two more people have to die.”
“Holy crap! So ruthless? Do another calculation. Is a human involved this time?”
Gu Ye picked up the divination plate again, intending to calculate another one. The needle shook a few times before falling down and hitting Gu Ye’s foot.
Gu Ye twitched his lips. “It’s broken, it doesn’t work. Why did he hit my divination plate?”
Xie Cheng thought for a moment. “Do you think that ghost knows you? Does he know you’re a master? This divination plate is a threat to him?”
Gu Ye was at a loss for words. “That’s impossible. Am I that famous? Even a ghost would know me.”
Xie Cheng opened Weibo on his phone and showed Gu Ye his follower count. “30 million followers. Also, there are many who have seen you and know what you do, but haven’t followed you yet. Don’t underestimate the internet these days.”
Gu Ye felt tired inside; he was completely unaware of how he’d become so famous.
Patting Gu Ye’s shoulder, Xie Cheng comforted, “Forget it, let’s go back and buy another divination plate. This one doesn’t look sturdy.”
The two of them bought some snacks and sat on the curb for half an hour, pondering why the ghost lacked a ghostly aura. This was different from how Gu Ye usually helped ghosts conceal their presence.
“Forget it, I’m done thinking about it,” Xie Cheng patted the fragments from the fried dough sticks on his hands. “An elderly in the family is like a treasure. I’ll ask my master.”
Elder Tang was still awake at the moment. He was amused by the Gu Ye and Xie Cheng agonizing over this issue for so long. “I told you to read more, but you didn’t listen. Now you’re dumbfounded when you need the knowledge, right? I have a lot of notes here. Xie Cheng won’t read them, but Gu Ye can take a look and gain some experience.”
On the other side of the call, Gu Ye said embarrassedly, “No, you should keep them for Xie Cheng.”
There are still many barriers between sects. Some sects’ teachings are strictly confidential and cannot be secretly passed to outsiders. Gu Ye isn’t a disciple of Elder Tang, so how could he possibly have the nerve to read those precious notes?
Elder Tang said nonchalantly, “It doesn’t matter. The mystical arts have come to this point where we should pass on whatever we can. There aren’t many left anyway. If we keep gatekeeping the knowledge, it might be lost in one generation someday. Come and get them. I’ll have someone clean them up for you.”
Xie Cheng winked at Gu Ye, urging him to take everything away. Then Gu Ye can teach him back once he’d learned it. Xie Cheng truly couldn’t bear to read about everything.
Since the master and disciple had said so, Gu Ye no longer refused. “Thank you, Elder Tang. I’ll go get it.”
Elder Tang was finally satisfied. “I’ve encountered this situation before, where I couldn’t detect a ghost’s aura. When I was young, I once caught a man-eating demon. I tried several times but failed. Finally, a dozen people worked together to lure him into a house and finally captured him. Even when we caught him, he still didn’t have much ghost energy. We studied the demon and discovered that in his lifetime, this demon was carrying a precious jade Guanyin, an ancient jade heirloom. It has spiritual power. It blesses people and even protects them after death, blocking out all other auras.”
Xie Cheng’s first reaction was, “How valuable!”
Gu Ye took the phone speechlessly and got down to business, “If that’s the case, the ghost might have carried something similar with him before he died.”
“Very likely. This spiritual energy not only protects against external harm, but also prevents his ghostly aura from leaking out, making it undetectable.”
“Elder Tang, in that case, can the ghost come out during the day?”
“No. Remember this, the sun is the strongest and fiercest element. The world is supposed to be a harmonious union of yin and yang, black and white. Things that appear at night will never appear during the day. Otherwise, it will disrupt the order of heaven and earth, and Heaven will not tolerate it.”
Gu Ye nodded and took note. “I understand. This case isn’t like the past. We can’t just capture the perpetrator based on ghostly aura, so Xie Cheng might be a few days late. I’ll find someone to take care of you.”
“No need, don’t worry,” Elder Tang said with a smile. “I’m with Jiang Xu1, I’m fine.”
Gu Ye then handed the phone to Xie Cheng. After hanging up, the two of them discussed, “Do you think this whole thing is the work of the same ghost?”
Xie Cheng shook his head. “Not necessarily. The first family’s death was different from the subsequent ones.”
“I suspect the subsequent deaths are all connected to the first family. The ghost in the haunted house first appeared the day after the first family’s death. The scene of the ghost devouring a ‘person’ also occurred the night the self-immolating driver died.”
After Gu Ye finished speaking, Xie Cheng raised his hand. Gu Ye was stunned for a moment, then smiled and high-fived him. “Finally, we’ve figured it out. Let’s go check the first family’s information and see if this ghost is male or female, old or young.”
As Gu Ye and Xie Cheng stood up from the curb, they saw 2 familiar faces approaching. Gu Ye’s lips curled. “Brother Xiao Zhang, Brother Xiao Wang?”
Right on time, Gu Ye was worried about how to find the information, but now the information was delivered to his door.
Xie Cheng asked in surprise, “Why are you guys here?”
Seeing the young men, the 2 police officers were at a loss for words. “No way! You two are here. This means this matter is getting more difficult.” Behind them were two others, probably in their forties, who appeared composed. Seeing the youthful faces of Gu Ye and Xie Cheng, they were puzzled. “Who are these two?”
Xiao Wang introduced them, “Our consultants, hired by Captain Mu. And these 2 are our officer brothers from the local police station and are very familiar with this area. Let’s go take a look.”
Xiao Zhang whispered to Gu Ye from behind, “Do you think it wasn’t a natural death?”
Gu Ye smiled, “Don’t you think so too?”
“Yes, there’s no reason for them to commit suicide. The case has been transferred to our special case team. Captain Mu is busy in a meeting, so I don’t know when she’ll be here.”
Gu Ye smiled. It doesn’t matter anymore whether Sister Mu can come or not. What mattered was that they could go in and hunt ghosts openly!
Raw word count: 6558 (whole chapter)
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