Chapter Twenty: Knowing the Truth is More Frightening

  As I was on the phone, a white-clad ghost floated to the car window and scratched it with its long sharp claws, shattering the glass instantly. Guan Tingting let out a loud shriek of "Ah......" My phone fell into the car with a "slap", and I could still hear Tian Ji's voice on the other end saying "Hello...hello..."

  "Turn left... quick! Turn left..." I directed Lin Jie to drive the car into an alley.

  Lin Jie's driving skills were not bad, and with a sharp turn, he turned the car into the alley. The inertia of the car threw the white-clothed fierce ghost "bang" against the wall on the right side of the alley.

  The white-clad figure heavily crashed into the wall, but it was only for an instant. Then, with fluttering sleeves, she chased after him again.

  About fifty meters away from Lian Tian's paper shop, Lin Jie slammed on the brakes and stopped the car. "Get out!", I calmly called to them, leading the way running towards the paper shop while shouting: "There's a ghost, save us!"

  The door of Tianshi's paper shop suddenly opened, and Tianji followed his father out. I took them in like a lifesaver and escaped into the Tianshi paper shop.

  Oh no! Where's Qin Suer? I clearly saw her when we got off the car! My forehead is sweating cold sweat, why didn't she follow us into the store? I'm getting anxious and can't think carefully, that white-clothed fierce ghost has already caught up to the door of the store.

  The white-clothed fierce ghost slowly descended from the air, rushing towards Tian Dashi and Tian Ji with a gloomy smile: "Whoever blocks me will die!"

  That smile was indescribably ferocious, and it made me feel a chill run down my spine.

  "With my Taoist heart, I verify the six realms. The four images guard and hold, the Asura realm opens, the red lotus fire burns! ", At this point, Master Tian let out a loud shout: "Break!", He raised his hand, and a cluster of scarlet flames burst forth from his fingertips!

  The white-clothed fierce ghost let out a mournful cry and its entire body was instantly engulfed in flames.

  What's even more terrifying is that the white-robed fierce ghost who was set on fire seemed to have lost his mind and rushed towards Master Tian like a madman.

  "Hmph! You're overestimating yourself!" Tian Dashi succeeded with one strike, without any hesitation, and pulled out a string of pearls from his bosom, plucked off one, and threw it at the white-robed fierce ghost.

  The white-clothed fierce ghost let out another mournful cry, and the figure that had been charging forward came to a sudden stop. With a loud "thud", it fell to the ground in front of Tian Da Shi, writhing in agony like a ball of fire. In an instant, it turned into ashes and vanished without a trace.

  I was stunned and suddenly heard Lin Jie asking: "Shang Yu, what kind of bead is in Lao Dao's hand? Why is it so fierce?"

  Peach wood rosary! It must be a peach wood rosary! I heard Tian Ji mention it when I was in police school, his old man's peach wood rosary is extremely powerful, as long as it hits any ghost, the ghost will scatter and disappear!

  I remember asking Tianji at the time, but I didn't believe what he said. Tianji got anxious and told me that peach wood has the function of warding off evil spirits and is a sacred wood. The peach wood rosary in his father's hand had been infused with decades of Taoist teachings, making it even more extraordinary!

  I never thought that what I didn't believe in back then would really happen right before my eyes.

  I ran out of the Tian family's paper shop, pointing at the burnt marks on the ground and asked Master Tian: "Master Tian, is... is it dead?" To be honest, I didn't know how to express myself either, because a vengeful spirit was after all someone who had already died once, only to become a vengeful spirit due to lingering resentment.

  "Hmm, you're that police school classmate of Bo Guang, huh? Consider yourselves lucky." Master Tian gave us a cold glance before turning back to his own shop.

  I let out a long sigh of relief, barely escaping disaster. If it weren't for Tianji and his son tonight, then the four of us, including Qinsu'er, would have been done for.

  The pheasant pinched my shoulder with his hand and said, "Brother, I think you are born to attract ghosts. You will break off relationships, lose money, and lose your soul. The five elements lack three, wherever you live there will be ghosts. That rental house can't be lived in either, where you live is up to you to figure out."

  Damn it, here we go again! If it weren't for his old man saving our lives tonight, I'd be cursing him out again, that cheap mouth of his.

  Lin Jie walked over and said to me: "Shang Yu, it's so late, can you send us back home?"

  I thought so too, there's also Guan Tingting here, a girl who was scared to death tonight and must be exhausted. I called Lin Jie and Guan Tingting onto the car and bid farewell to Tian Ji.

  Lin Jie was still driving, I sat in the car smoking silently, Lin Jie drove very slowly.

  After a moment of silence, Guan Tingting smiled faintly, "Shang Yu, Su'er is your girlfriend, right? She's really good to you."

  I forced a smile, if things were really as she said, I'd be relieved. Although she could disregard my life and death, I always felt that she was far away from me, coming quietly, leaving quietly, like a ghost, with many secrets on her body.

  Gu Tingting saw that I wasn't speaking, and let out a sigh. "Shang Yu, you're worried about Su'er, aren't you? The White Robed Vengeful Spirit has already been eliminated by Master Tian, so don't be too anxious, Su'er will be fine." She comforted me.

  I handed her two sheets of paper, nodded, and thought of Qin Su'er, with a warm current surging in my heart.

  I bid farewell to White Ice and drove back to my rental apartment at the foot of Mei Mountain. It was already past 2 am.

  I turned on all the lights in every room, poured myself a glass of brandy, and buried my entire body in the sofa, savoring this rare moment of peace after the disaster.

  Qin Su'er this girl won't get into any trouble, will she? I took out my phone and dialed her number.

  "Life's road is long, with beautiful dreams like a winding path. The wind and frost hit my face, in the red dust, how many directions do beautiful dreams have? Searching for the core of infatuated love, the road follows people..."

  Qin Su'er's cell phone ringtone really makes me feel a little creepy. Every time I hear this tune, I think of the scholar Ning Caichen who met the female ghost Nie Xiaoqian in the Lanruo Temple.

  I am not Ning Caichen, she is not Nie Xiaoqian either. She doesn't have to make her ringtone so eerie and ghostly, making people feel chilled to the bone when they hear it in the middle of the night.

  "The user you are dialing is temporarily unavailable, please try again later." A voice prompt came from the phone.

  "This damned girl, why isn't she answering the phone?" I started to get a bit anxious. Just then, my cell phone beeped with an incoming text message.

  "Qin Su'er sent a message saying, 'Yu Ge, don't worry about me, I've returned to my hometown. Maybe in a few days or maybe half a month, but I'll come back to find you. Missing you!'"

  I dialed the number again, but it was still unreachable. Just like that, Qin Su'er vanished from the world, no matter how many times I called her phone, it just wouldn't go through, and I didn't even know where she lived.

  I've decided to move back to the Shen family's old mansion. Although it's also haunted, at least I'll have Shen Lan for company. After what happened, who in their right mind would still dare to live in that rental house at the foot of Mei Mountain?

  Fortunately, there were no major events in the criminal police team over the past few days, so I asked Team Leader Zhou for another three-day leave and returned to the old mansion to sort out my thoughts. Shen Lan saw me return to the old mansion without surprise or delight, only saying calmly: "Yu Ge, now that you're back, I can rest assured."

  At ease? Doesn't he also know that the old house is haunted? What's there to be at ease about now that I've moved back? Looking at his cheap appearance, I'm too lazy to bother with him.

  Locking myself in the room, I recall the midnight singing and heavy ghostly shadows in the old mansion, that mysterious woman who seemed to be beckoning me with an evil spirit. I call Old Man to ask if he knows anything about it? Or would he not tell me even if he does know? I'm not sure.

  Perhaps people have a certain quality, the more forbidden something is, the more they want to touch it. Just like little kids, you tell them not to play with mud, but they just can't help themselves and play with it gleefully.

  To investigate the secrets of my family's old mansion, I drove for two days and browsed through all the historical records in the county archives.

  Heaven does not disappoint those who work hard, I found such a news on an old newspaper: "Shen Garden Big Fire, Second Young Master Died in the Sea of Fire, Was He Murdered or Did He Commit Suicide?"

  I was shocked and my heart racing as I read the content which roughly said that Shen family's second young master, Shen Ye, was burned to death in a big fire at Shen Garden, but no cause could be found. What's strange is that after the big fire, Shen family's eldest daughter-in-law suddenly had a mental breakdown and was hospitalized. Rumors spread among the people that Shen family's eldest daughter-in-law, Hong Xiang, had an affair outside of marriage, things were exposed, she set the fire to kill someone, and finally couldn't escape the accusation of being guilty and mentally collapsed.

  I don't know whether these rumors are true or false at the time, but what really shocked me was that giant photo on the newspaper. The black and white photo showed a faintly smiling Shen Jiaer, who is now an unrecognizable, mysterious and inscrutable man. I had seen his photo in that half-century-old notebook before.

  The old lady of the Shen family is obviously that resentful woman, Shen Ye. Who is Shen Ye? Could he be my uncle or my paternal grandfather's brother? I forced a smile, but afterwards it was endless coldness. If this news on the old newspaper is true, then isn't our previous generation of Shens just a bunch of debauchees and murderers, with the aunt actively seducing her younger brother-in-law and even setting fires to kill people?

  A decades-old case, still unsolved, yet it has pulled me into this whirlpool from half a century ago.

  I don't know how I got back to the old mansion. Will the old man know about this? Or maybe he doesn't know either? And Shen Lan's mysterious father, Shen Rukuan, who is also almost half a century old, will he know too?

  Thinking of this, I loudly called out to Shen Lan, but unexpectedly he didn't respond even after half a day. Damn it, this Shen Lan is just like his old man, not a good egg either. From the day I saw him, he's been going out early and returning late, not seeing anyone all day long.

  I lay randomly on the bed with my eyes closed to rest, and I actually fell asleep. In my dream, it was all about that stunningly handsome man Shen Ye's mournful cries in the sea of flames! I wanted to walk closer to see his face clearly, but in an instant, I found out that the figure struggling in the fire was me!

  I woke up from my dream with a loud scream. My forehead was covered in sweat, damn it, it was too terrifying! I lit a cigarette and took a deep drag, maybe I shouldn't look any further, the result might be unpredictable, or even more shocking and desperate.

  Some things are more terrifying when you know the truth than when you don't. I've made up my mind, I won't investigate any further, heaven knows what will happen if I continue to dig deeper.