Guai Dao Hu Zong Ren

  I arrived at Old Lady Huang's house with Hu Zongren around 10 pm. Normally, she would have been asleep by this time, but I had called her earlier to ask her to wait for us. I also informed Cai Jie that I would be a bit late getting home. On the way, Hu Zongren told me why we couldn't just ask Yang Zong about it tomorrow and instead had Old Lady Huang do some reconnaissance first. It was because we couldn't guarantee that Yang Zong would tell us the truth. I thought to myself that although Hu Zongren is rough around the edges, he can be quite meticulous at times. And with his skills and bravery, it's fortunate that he's my friend - if he were my enemy, it would be a real challenge to deal with him.

  I handed the strand of hair to Old Lady Huang, who still looked as if she didn't care. Hu Zongren and I were already used to it. Old Lady Huang's method of divination was nothing special, either she would need the person's birth date and name, or some personal belongings. I couldn't find out the name of the female deputy general manager who died suddenly from a heart attack, nor could I verify the exact time for now, all I had related to her was this strand of hair that I pulled off.

  The old woman took the strand of hair from my hand and walked to the wall to take down a tortoise shell hanging on the wall, throwing the hair into it. Then she took out her own red cloth wrapped cow horn divination, combined the two divinations and walked in front of the Bodhisattva, clasped her hands together and chanted for a while before walking over, tossing the two pieces of cow horn divination into the tortoise shell.

  She asked three divinations, and the divination symbols were all one yin and one yang. To put it simply, her cow horn divination actually involves splitting a cow horn in two from both ends. The round side is the yang symbol, and the flat side is the yin symbol. When asking for divination, throw them in, if they are facing up with the same sides, it means that there are two yin symbols or two yang symbols, which cannot be combined into a yin-yang pair, indicating that the lower yin will encounter obstacles at this time. Taking three divinations as the standard, if it is three pairs of yin and yang, it indicates that everything will go smoothly, which is also a protective measure taken by Huang Po Po before each delivery, entrusting herself to the Bodhisattvas she has given to her.

  The old woman looked at the divination and said, "Good luck, this time there is no obstacle. Moreover, the owner of this hair is even eagerly waiting for someone to listen to her story." Whether it's a grievance or a hidden story, let's talk about it when I get back. After finishing speaking, the old woman made a cup of special tea that she would drink every time before walking in the dark, and then started meditating with her eyes closed.

  Every time it's like this, Hu Zongren and I always have to quietly exit Old Lady Huang's room, but we won't go far, just lingering around the door. Because every time Old Lady Huang goes into a trance, someone needs to stay nearby to prevent her from getting stuck in the spiritual realm and unable to wake up, if that really happens, then one of us will have to give her tea. It's already very late, Old Lady Huang's adopted daughters have all gone to rest, this matter can only be handled by Hu Zongren or me.

  Hu Zongren told me that although he wasn't particularly close to Huang PoPo, because Fu Yunni had acknowledged Huang PoPo as her godmother, their relationship had become much closer. Ever since we resolved the dispute with Sha Wu Dao, Hu Zongren would often go to Huang PoPo's place to pick up Fu Yunni and take her home, and whenever he encountered any troubles recently, if Huang PoPo could help, he would ask for her assistance. So this time when we ran into a small problem, he immediately thought of Huang PoPo. Hu Zongren also told me that from the old man at the parking lot, he learned that the relationship between the female deputy general manager and Yang Zong wasn't very harmonious, because occasionally they would see them arguing while parking before taking the elevator.

  It wasn't until then that I realized why Hu Zongren wanted to find Old Lady Huang first. In fact, both of us knew in our hearts that the elevator female ghost we encountered now obviously had a very deep obsession, so it was also good to ask the old lady first.

  Time flew by quickly, and after Old Lady Huang woke up, she drank a mouthful of tea, seemingly having walked back quite fast. Myself and Hu Zongren heard the noise and went to the inner room, just about to ask Old Lady Huang something when she stretched out her palm towards us, as if saying "wait a bit". Hu Zongren and I both shut our mouths and didn't speak, only looking at Old Lady Huang. Old Lady Huang walked in front of the Bodhisattva, lit incense, and made a bow. While making the bow, she muttered to herself: "You've committed evil deeds... no wonder you haven't been walking well... after eating my incense, it's also time to put this down..."

  Although I didn't understand what she meant, but vaguely felt that Hu Zongren's guess was probably right, this woman is also a pitiful person in our eyes.

  It must be said that before Hu Zongren and I got along, his behavior was indeed quite reckless. Before that, the way he handled things was really too far apart from mine. He didn't have my patience or habit of getting to the bottom of everything, so he chose a more friendly approach when dealing with ghosts. He was more direct and rough, but after being together for a long time, I found that he also began to gradually understand how to be tolerant and sympathetic, rather than just taking shortcuts and acting rashly.

  To be honest, I'm still very pleased.

  After Grandma Huang finished her prayer, she beckoned to us and we followed her into the living room outside. She said that after going downstairs earlier, she didn't have to work hard to find that woman. She said that this woman was 42 years old, surnamed Weng, full name Weng Moumou, and was from Guizhou Province. When she was young, she hadn't read many books, so she came to Chongqing to work. Because she was studious and clever, she quickly accumulated a lot of connections and experience. In the 1990s, due to the impact of the financial storm, the company she had been working for could no longer operate. The boss gathered employees to eat a farewell dinner, and the company disappeared overnight. At that time, Ms. Weng was already not young, almost 30 years old, because she had been busy with work before, missed many suitors, plus her youth had suffered, so in all aspects, she seemed relatively strong, and many men also felt hesitant to approach her.

  The old lady sighed as she spoke, and I understood that she was speaking from the heart. Although the old lady had been single all her life, she was still a woman with rich emotions, easily empathizing with others' experiences. The old lady continued to say that Mrs. Weng watched herself grow older day by day, and her originally successful career suddenly collapsed, leaving her life and work without direction, and she was very depressed for a while. However, through a friend's introduction, she met someone who was then a small salesperson in a chemical company, two years younger than herself - that is, Mr. Yang. The old lady said that Mrs. Weng told her that at first, she thought he was honest and hardworking, so she had a good impression of him. As they came into contact with each other, the two quickly became lovers. During this period, Mrs. Weng did not work and lived off her savings, while Mr. Yang's income was also low, but the couple still managed to live frugally.

  Mrs. Weng said that after two years of dating, the two of them got their marriage certificate, but due to lack of money, they only had a small ceremony at both families' homes. Mr. Yang's parents were initially dissatisfied with Mrs. Weng because she was slightly older than their son, but it didn't affect the couple. Since Mr. Yang worked in the main urban area and his hometown was in a county in Chongqing, he rarely saw his parents, so they didn't mind. They continued living like this, and with Mrs. Weng's help, Mr. Yang's work started to take off quickly. As a result, the couple began to think about whether they could be their own bosses and start their own company.

  Madam Huang said that Mrs. Weng was a shrewd woman, so the couple spent several years with Mrs. Weng in charge of domestic finances and Mr. Yang responsible for negotiating business with clients. They managed to transform their two-person agency into a company with its own patented technology products. The company's employees grew from just the husband-and-wife team to dozens of office staff and hundreds of workers, becoming an enterprise with great growth potential. All this was achieved in less than 10 years.

  Mrs. Weng told Old Lady Huang that during this time, although their careers were going smoothly and they had made a lot of money, increasing their social status, the couple was not happy. This was because Mrs. Weng was born with a physical defect that made it impossible for her to have children with Mr. Yang. Old Lady Huang said with some emotion that Mrs. Weng was originally older than Mr. Yang, and on top of that, she couldn't bear children. Although Mr. Yang kept saying he didn't mind these things, this only gave her a strong sense of guilt. She began to regret not being able to give Mr. Yang a complete family. As time went by and their living conditions improved, Mr. Yang gradually forgot the promise he had made at first.

  Hu Zongren interrupted Huang's wife, asking how he could forget. From his tone, it seemed like he was a bit angry. Huang's wife said that men, especially those in the business world, rarely remember their wives who have been with them through thick and thin. Starting from 2008, Mr. Yang began to lose control of himself. At first, he just liked going to nightclubs because he had money and was mature, which made him attractive to young women. However, it never went beyond that and didn't develop into a physical relationship. Ms. Weng often heard from others that her husband, although not taking any action, had started to enjoy frequenting nightclubs. At first, she blamed herself for being incomplete as a woman, so she let her husband do as he pleased. But over time, Mr. Yang's boldness grew, and seeing his wife's permissiveness, he took it as a sign that she was okay with everything he did. He gradually started staying out all night, often finding excuses to go on business trips for ten days or half a month at a time. At first, he would still call home, but later on, he wouldn't even bother to make a phone call before leaving.

  Hu Zongren suddenly said, "Auntie, quickly give me a cup of your tea to drink." I asked him what he wanted to do and he said, "I want to calm down for a bit."