Chapter 0051 Midnight Television
I gave a bitter smile: "If everyone could see ghosts, wouldn't the world fall into chaos!"
Ms. Bao's face turned pale with fright. She pulled the sofa cover over her head and trembled all over. Mr. Bao seemed less scared; perhaps hearing that the ghost was his own mother gave him a sense of familiarity. However, his son, Yangyang, screamed and clung tightly to Mr. Bao: "Dad, I'm scared! Grandma is dead, so why is she still walking around the house?"
I asked them how many times they had seen the couple. Ms. Bao thought for a moment: "About five or six times in the last half-year. The first time was when they were sitting on my bed in the master bedroom, and the second time was when one of them impersonated my husband and slept with me. My husband encountered them twice, too. When he came in and didn't turn on the lights, he saw the man and woman sitting side by side in the living room, with the TV on, showing nothing but static snow. When he turned on the light, the people were gone, and only the TV was still on. My son Yangyang has also seen them twice. Each time, both of them covered their noses with their hands. I don't know what that means."
"Besides these incidents, have there been any other anomalies in your lives recently?" I recalled the comments made by the middle-aged women in the community about "jumping off buildings and car crashes."
Ms. Bao said: "Don't even mention it. The three of us have been acting as if we're possessed. My husband drives his car, and even though he can see a vehicle coming from the opposite direction, he deliberately tries to crash into it. I stood by the window watering flowers, looked down a few times, and found myself climbing onto the windowsill, wanting to jump. If my son hadn't been home to pull me back... It has gotten so bad that none of us dare to go near the windows. Brother Tian, please help us solve this!"
I had gathered enough information. I went to the balcony to call Uncle Xie and explained the situation to him. Uncle Xie said: "Brother Tian, judging from my years of business experience, the haunting by the ghost of Mrs. Bao, the old lady, is not due to some Yangshidi (corpse-nurturing ground). It's because the house they live in is problematic. It's clearly a Homicide House (Xiong Zhai - an ominous house where someone died violently), and the old lady's death must also be related to the Homicide House."
"I know that too. Tell me something I don't know. The key is how to solve it," I asked.
Uncle Xie said: "Based on your description, the man and woman should be the root of the problem in the Homicide House. However, these two spirits haven't physically harmed the Bao family, which indicates their resentment isn't extreme; they are mainly just frightening them into a state of nervous breakdown. This makes it much easier to handle. You'd better stay at the client's home for a few days to carefully observe these two spirits. You need to figure out what they want—what their requests are. This will help us solve the problem. Also, try to find out what their relationship is, whether they were married, and if they had children. The more details you have, the better."
Hanging up the phone, I felt uneasy. Why did I choose this line of business? On one side, I was being affected by Sun Xicai's troubles, constantly bothered by a ghost, and on the other, I had to actively investigate what other ghosts were doing.
I told Ms. Bao that I needed to stay here for a few days to properly diagnose the problem. Both Ms. Bao and Mr. Bao were very happy; it seemed they were terrified by the ghosts in this house. Ms. Bao said: "No problem! We'll have to ask you to sleep in the second bedroom. Yangyang used to sleep there with his grandmother, but since the haunting started, he hasn't dared to sleep alone for a long time. Is that okay?" I agreed. Any place to sleep was fine; I couldn't be picky.
That evening, Mr. Bao's family of three invited me to dinner at a large hotel across from the community. They ordered many dishes, far more than we could eat. I suggested they order fewer, but Mr. Bao glared at me, saying I was looking down on him. During the meal, Mr. Bao gave me a red envelope, saying it was to cover my travel expenses and hard work. I thought that was quite sincere of him. Halfway through the meal, a soup never arrived. Mr. Bao called the waitress over. The waitress said she had misread the order and they hadn't ordered that dish. Mr. Bao flew into a rage and verbally abused the waitress. I despise people like that and couldn't help but intervene to calm him down. The manager came over to apologize and offered a 25% discount, which finally settled the matter.
During dinner, Mr. Bao asked me if I could see many ghosts and if there were any in the hotel. I said, "No. The hotel kitchen is a place where lives are taken and open flames are constantly used. Plus, the chefs carry heavy Sha Qi (malicious/negative energy), so ghosts dare not approach." Mr. Bao and his wife were full of admiration for me.
On the way back, as soon as we entered the community, we saw a plump, teddy bear-like small dog squatting at the community entrance, with the security guard and several residents standing nearby, looking at the dog and chatting. When these residents saw the three of us, they all turned to stare at Mr. Bao, their eyes filled with anger. I looked toward Mr. Bao and Ms. Bao. They also saw the dog and the residents but didn't say anything.
When we arrived at Ms. Bao's house, she used her key to open the door. The living room light wasn't on yet, but I saw two figures sitting on the sofa, covering their noses with their hands. Seeing people come in, the two figures slowly stood up and reluctantly walked into the master bedroom, as if clearing the space for the living. When the light was turned on and we entered, my heart pounded. I slowly pushed open the master bedroom door, but it was empty—nothing was inside. I finally let out a sigh of relief.
That night, I slept in the second bedroom with the door slightly ajar. I couldn't fall asleep at all. Recalling what Frank Fang had said earlier, I deeply regretted not having stored the Phra Ngang amulet containing the spirit in the amulet shop temporarily. But I couldn't figure out how Zheng Yonggui's spirit got from the amulet to possess Sun Xicai. Did he secretly wear that amulet?
While I was lost in thought, a light came from the living room, accompanied by a rustling sound. I quietly got up and peered into the living room. The TV had turned on somehow, but there was no signal—only a screen full of static snow. I bravely walked out of the bedroom and glanced at the sofa. No one was sitting there. I thought to myself, if ghosts want to watch TV, shouldn't I be able to see them?
Walking into the living room, I looked everywhere but saw no ghost figures. I picked up the remote control from the coffee table and turned off the TV. The living room returned to darkness. As soon as I turned around, I saw two figures standing silently behind me. I yelled "Ah!" in fear, dropping the remote control. The two figures were indeed a man and a woman: the man was tall and thin, wearing a white shirt and black trousers, and the woman wore a red slip nightgown with long hair.
I backed up a few steps and blinked. The living room was empty. But I suddenly had a strong feeling that someone was talking to me. Although I couldn't hear it, I could sense it. It felt like someone was saying to me, "Turn the TV on." I instinctively bent down, picked up the remote control, and turned the TV back on. I threw the remote control onto the coffee table and quickly ran back to the bedroom, locking the door behind me.
Just as I locked the door and turned around, I saw someone lying on the bed, facing away from me. From the figure's size, it seemed to be the old lady I saw during the day, Mr. Bao's mother. I froze, not daring to move. I slowly crept toward the light switch, reached out, and flipped the light on. The bed was instantly empty.
I was too scared to stay inside the room. With no choice, I unlocked the bedroom door and went out. Strangely, the TV, which was just showing static snow, had somehow turned off. The living room was completely silent. I was extremely sleepy and passed out on the sofa.
In a daze, I dreamed of the man and woman standing in front of me. Both covered their noses with their hands. The man said with a face full of anger, "What exactly are you here for?"
The woman, crying, said, "We didn't want to die like that. We still have important things to do. Please help us!"
When I woke up the next day, Mr. Bao and his son Yangyang were not home; only Ms. Bao was there. Ms. Bao thoughtfully prepared a Western-style breakfast of fried eggs, sandwiches, and milk. While eating, she said to me, "My husband took our son to the amusement park. There's something I want to talk to you about."
I asked her if there were any details she hadn't mentioned. Ms. Bao said, "Yesterday, I told you a lot about my husband and mother-in-law's bad reputation. That wasn't just idle chat, and it's not entirely irrelevant to this matter. Do you remember what I told you about buying the house yesterday?"
"Yes, I remember. You said a manager at a real estate agency strongly recommended this house to you, saying the owner was moving to Japan and urgently selling it at a low price, with no agency fee," I replied.
Ms. Bao said: "That's right. I sold the old house, didn't I? One day, the new owner contacted me about something, so I went back to the old community. I coincidentally ran into the mother of the girl we fought with over the slide, and she was chatting with a man. Since we were already enemies, I tried to avoid them. Just as I was about to slip away, guess who that man was?"