Chapter Nineteen Night Watch

  "Ah! How could this be!" Su Tong was also startled, she had never thought that Tang Ao would knock on her family's door and pay such a huge price to do so, which made her feel extremely uneasy in her heart.

  "It's nothing, just a minor scratch. No big deal." Tang Ao shook his head nonchalantly and withdrew his hand, not making a fuss about it at all. "I'm showing you this to let you know that I didn't bring you back here to take risks. There are many suspicious signs in your home, for example, when I asked you earlier if your home feels colder than mine, you said yes. Think about it, same orientation, same floor, same season, why would the temperature of two houses be so different? Can you find a reasonable explanation?"

  Su Tong shook his head: "I couldn't find it, and I think this thing today is not a normal thing at all. If I still insist on being stubborn at this point, then I really have a problem with my brain."

  Only after she finished speaking did she realize that Tang Ao asked her this, he must have already had an answer in his heart: "Then do you know why it's so cold on my family's side?"

  "I suspect it's because your home has a heavy yin energy, including the unusual change in bath water temperature from hot to cold in a short time." Tang Ao was cautious with his words, but his attitude showed that he was quite certain about this explanation. "It's like when we bask in the sun during the day and feel warm, but at night after the sun sets, it feels cold. We Chinese emphasize yin and yang, where the sun represents yang and the moon represents yin. The sun brings us strong yang energy, making our body feel warm all over. On the other hand, at night when there's no sun, only the moon, it's a time of stronger yin energy, so people will feel cool. Your room feels chilly both day and night because something inside is emitting heavy yin energy, which occupies your space and suppresses the yang energy, making people feel cold. This is what we call 'yin liang' (coolness)."

  Su Tong suddenly enlightened, looked at Tang Ao's eyes and added a few more worshipful gazes: "Really didn't think that you, although doing home design, actually understand these things quite well. You originally said you were a yin-yang eye, I was thinking, even if you could see it, don't know how to solve it, also useless..."

  "Don't be afraid, we won't fight an unprepared battle. If I can open that door the first time, I can help you solve it the second time. Besides, today is just a visit to take a look, and we won't act rashly, so rest assured."

  Su Tong nodded nervously, and Tang Ao supported her, fearing that she would be so frightened that her legs would go weak and she wouldn't be able to walk steadily. The two of them left Tang Ao's house, and when they stood in front of Su Tong's own house, she felt an intense fear of going home for the first time. She held the key in her hand, shaking uncontrollably, and couldn't manage to insert it into the lock successfully. Tang Ao saw that she had been trying for a long time, so he took the key from Su Tong's hand and helped her insert it into the lock. Just as he was about to turn the key, his hand was grasped tightly by Su Tong again.

  "Wait! Don't be in a hurry, let me think about it again." Su Tong didn't want to appear so helpless either, but her two legs were completely out of control, like sieves, and the experiences she had when she was trapped in the house before seemed to float up before her eyes again, making her feel chilled to the bone.

  Tang Ao didn't force her either, stopping his action of opening the door and asked: "Alright, so you think, we're not in a hurry. However, before you make up your mind, I'd like to remind you to consider two things. First, if this matter isn't resolved tonight, where will you stay tonight? Second, assuming we don't go in ourselves and choose to seek help from others, do you think there's anyone else we can turn to for help?"

  Su Tong was also stunned by this question, yeah, if someone breaks in and steals, at least he can run to the police station to report it, and the police will solve it for him. But now? Should he rush into the police station and say that his home is haunted? If so, he would probably be taken as a troublemaker and thrown out, or worse, they would directly call the psychiatric hospital to ask if any patients were missing.

  In short, it's hard to say clearly, no matter how you say it.

  These days, fortune tellers under the bridge are as common as cow hair, but if you really want to find someone who is relatively good at this kind of unconventional thing, it's really hard to know where to start.

  After some thought, Su Tong realized that apart from Tang Ao, she really didn't have anyone else to rely on.

  "Then... let's just see, if it really doesn't work out, we'll withdraw! Is that okay?" She asked Tang Hao again, her voice unintentionally lowered, as if she was afraid of being overheard.

  Tang Ao looked at her tense appearance and couldn't help but laugh, nodding his head. He had originally wanted to tease Su Tong a bit to help her relax, but seeing how tense she was already, he worried that joking around now might be inappropriate and have the opposite effect. So he didn't say anything, instead grasping her hand again and twisting it around once more.

  The door opened, and as expected, a gust of cold wind blew in. Su Tong shivered and subconsciously took a step back, but Tang Hao stretched out a hand to her. At this moment, Su Tong didn't care about what was proper or not, whether she should be shy or not. She grasped Tang Hao's outstretched hand tightly with both of hers, following closely behind him like a little tail, and walked into the house. When Tang Hao turned around to close the door, Su Tong stopped him from doing so.

  "What if that thing closes the door and hides again? And what if it just walks away with the door open... is that possible?" She whispered to Tang Ao.

  "If that thing still intends to trap us, even if the gate is wide open, it will find a way to make us not see it. And besides, those things that didn't come in through the door won't leave by relying on the door either." Tang Xiao didn't want Su Tong to hold onto unrealistic fantasies, "So saying it's closed doesn't matter."

  Su Tong knew he was right, and no longer hesitated. Everything was left to Tang Ao's arrangement. He followed behind him, watching as he closed the door, then pulled out a small object that looked like a pocket watch from his pocket and began to slowly wander around the room. Su Tong held onto his hand, afraid that if they were separated for even a second, something unexpected would happen. At the same time, he couldn't help but feel a little curious, stretching his neck to try and get a clearer look at the object.

  After a closer look, she found that it was not actually a pocket watch. At first glance, it looked like a compass, but the things marked inside were much more complicated than a compass. There were many symbols densely packed together, which Su Tong couldn't understand.

  "This is a watch that I've modified, it was originally a pocket watch, but I found it very cheaply at the flea market. The movement inside was broken and couldn't be repaired, so I just took it apart and turned it into a small compass." Tang Ao didn't seem as tense as Su Tong, although his expression was serious, he tried to help her relax by chatting casually when he saw her curiosity about what he had in his hand.

  The compass was something Su Tong had heard of before, but she hadn't seen one yet. She only knew that it was a very precise thing and didn't seem like something you could easily whip up on your own. So when she heard this, she couldn't help but be a little surprised: "You can even make a compass yourself?"

  "I won't, then," Tang Ao shook his head. "I had one myself before, I don't know why I had it either. When I was getting rid of that broken pocket watch, I just thought the exterior looked good and the size was suitable, so I bought it back and installed it, and indeed it fit perfectly. This way, when others see it, they won't think it's strange."

  Su Tong nodded in agreement, she couldn't understand the compass thingy, but still nervously focused her gaze on it, looking at the compass and then at Tang Xiao, trying to gauge the situation from his reaction.

  After walking around in each room, Tang Ao and Su Tong returned to the living room. He gestured for Su Tong to sit down on the sofa, and he also sat down beside Su Tong.

  "What's up? Have you found anything?" Su Tong asked nervously as he looked around.

  Tang Ao nodded: "We humans have our own life magnetic field, and those things that are not considered living things also have their own magnetic fields. This small compass of mine is not used to sense the life magnetic field produced by living things, but it can sense the unique magnetic field of yin spirits. The more powerful the yin spirit, the stronger the magnetic field, and the heavier the yin energy, the stronger the reaction of the compass will be. So I took this thing and walked around your room just now, but didn't find anywhere with particularly heavy yin energy, which is very unusual."

  When Su Tong first heard that the yin energy wasn't too heavy, he had just let out a breath of relief and put his mind at ease. But after hearing the second half of the sentence, he suddenly became tense again: "Why is that? Didn't you just say that the compass didn't find anything unusual? Isn't that a good thing? How did it become not right instead?"

  "Because I can feel the fluctuations of yin energy in your house, and the compass has a slight response. However, as soon as I walk in that direction, the compass stops moving. This doesn't mean there's nothing unusual, but rather that the thing has some power and is very cunning, intentionally hiding itself so we can't detect it. Now it's nighttime, which means yin energy is dominant and yang energy is weak, making it its territory and giving us no advantage. It deliberately wants to hide, making it hard for us to find.

  That's why we can only try again during the day. If you can take a break tomorrow, preferably at noon when the sun is strongest and yang energy is at its peak, that would be best. This is also the time when all yin objects are weakest, so even if it's hiding, it will easily reveal itself. It's like trying to find a red bean in a bowl of green beans - the difficulty level drops significantly.

  Moreover, since it knows how to hide, this is actually good for us. As I broke its obstacle-creating spell outside the door and we fought with each other separated by the door, it realized that with its energy, it might not be able to defeat me. So it chose to hide, rest, and not make any rash moves."

  In such a situation, hearing such a reply from Tang Ao's mouth already made Su Tong feel overjoyed. She hurriedly agreed, saying: "I will definitely find a way to return before 12 o'clock tomorrow!"

  "Alright, I'll come find you then and we'll try to thoroughly resolve this matter."

  Two people finished discussing the topic, and suddenly they both fell silent. Tang Ao was thinking about something, Su Tong didn't know what it was, she only knew that after solving one problem, her mind had already thought of another difficult issue - how to spend the night. After struggling until now, it's almost midnight, even if she wanted to swallow her pride and go to Wang Li for help, it's no longer practical. Tang Ao has helped her a lot, but their relationship isn't deep enough yet. After tonight's events, Su Tong didn't worry about whether Tang Ao had any ulterior motives anymore, but how could she ask someone she just met, a young man, where she should sleep tonight? What to do is good now?!

  "Tonight..." Tang Ao finally spoke up, but his words were a bit hesitant and awkward. His pale face seemed to have a hint of shyness that was hard to detect. "If you're afraid, I can stay with you here. If you think it's not suitable, I understand too. We'll think of another way. It's definitely not okay for you to be alone in this situation. We don't know how that thing got into your house or why it's haunting you. Until we figure those things out, you can't take that risk."

  Su Tong really wanted to say that even if she let her take the risk, she herself didn't have the guts at the moment, but asking someone to stay and boost her courage was something she just couldn't bring herself to say.

  It was as if he had seen Su Tong's entanglement, and finally Tang Ao took the initiative to speak.

  "If you don't mind, I'll stay in your living room tonight and keep watch for a night. After all, my own studio has flexible hours, but you have to go to work tomorrow and need to rest tonight." He glanced at the time, already close to midnight, "With me here, nothing will happen, so don't worry."

  Normally, Su Tong would at least exchange pleasantries with others, but now she was a person who had almost lost her nerve, and didn't have the energy to be polite. She was afraid that if she said two more polite phrases, others would take it seriously and ask her to stay behind, which would really make her unable to cope.

  "I still have a spare quilt, I'll get it out for you to use." She could only think of helping Tang Ao settle in quickly now. Just now, Tang Ao's actions had added several points to her trust in this man, making her feel that as long as he was around, she really didn't need to worry about her own safety.

  Tang Ao nodded: "Then thank you."

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