The moment the door opened, a gust of through - wind blew by, and Feng Chengyuan caught a whiff of an extremely faint smell of blood.
The stench dissipated quickly, vanishing into the wind in the blink of an eye.
He turned to He Zhiping and asked, "Did you smell anything?"
He Zhiping was taken aback. "No... I didn't."
Feng Chengyuan was rather surprised. For some reason, ever since he came out of the spiritual consciousness last time, his perception of things had become much more sensitive than usual.
Yu Nian walked into the room and scanned the surroundings.
The furniture arrangement in Shi Ce's house, though not perfect, would by no means nurture a vengeful ghost. But that old ghost had been able to enter his dreams repeatedly and pester him. It must be lingering within a few miles of him.
She frowned and asked, "Who lives next door to your place?"
According to Shi Ce, although this area was a good location, the houses were all old buildings with a long history.
"The young couple in 401. The husband is a butcher. He leaves early and comes back late. His wife is pregnant and doesn't go out often. So I've only met them a few times and I'm not very familiar with them. As for 403..."
Shi Ce paused for a moment, seemingly hesitant. "Strangely enough, I don't think I've ever seen the neighbor in 403. But at midnight, I can always hear the sound of nailing coming from next door."
Yu Nian nodded thoughtfully. She pushed open the door and stopped at the stairwell.
Feng Chengyuan walked up to Yu Nian and asked, "What's wrong?"
"The yin energy at the stairwell is much stronger than in Shi Ce's house. If I'm not mistaken, someone must have died in 403, and it was a long time ago."
Ming Mingzhong was stunned, and a cold shiver ran down his spine. "Don't tell me the body is still in the house?"
Yu Nian said calmly, "There's no aura of a fierce corpse. It should have been cremated. But the vengeful energy is very strong. The soul should still be in the room."
Shi Ce's face contorted instantly. No one would feel comfortable knowing that there was a dead person living next door.
Shi Ce asked awkwardly, "So that old ghost is the owner of 403. But I have no grudges against him. Why doesn't he go straight to his son but come to me instead?"
"When a ghost sends dreams to someone, it will also shorten its own yin lifespan. It should be restricted in some way and unable to leave the place where it passed away. And your room is right next to 403. A wall is like nothing to a ghost. So even if there's nothing wrong with the feng shui of your house, it has been affected by 403 and has become an ominous house."
Shi Ce made a long face. "But there are people living in 401 too. Why doesn't the old ghost go after them but only pester me?"
Yu Nian replied, "One of the couple in 401 is a butcher, and the other is a pregnant woman. These two types of people have very special constitutions. Butchers kill livestock all year round and carry a murderous aura, so ghosts dare not approach them. Pregnant women play a very important role in reincarnation. They are responsible for bringing the reincarnated souls into the world, so they usually have three layers of golden light protecting their bodies, making it impossible for ghosts to get close. That's why the old ghost only sent dreams to you."
Shi Ce wanted to cry but had no tears. Was there anyone in the world more unjustly treated than him?
Feng Chengyuan thought for a moment. "So the top priority is to get the old ghost out of 403?"
Yu Nian patted his shoulder appreciatively.
Shi Ce looked a bit embarrassed. "But what can we do? Without the owner's permission, the property management can't open the door without authorization."
Yu Nian shook her head. "Even if we open the door, the old ghost's wish hasn't been fulfilled yet. He will still pester someone later. Instead of going back and forth like this, we might as well fulfill his wish first. Do you still remember the address the old ghost mentioned in your dream?"
Shi Ce quickly nodded. "I remember."
The old ghost had repeated this address in his dream hundreds of times. He could recite it backwards by now.
The group got in the car and reached their destination in no time.
According to the old ghost's description in his dream, Shi Ce walked up to a somewhat shabby door.
He summoned up his courage and knocked on the door. After a long time, a faint sound came from inside.
With a soft creak, the door opened a crack.
It was a middle - aged man with a stubbly beard. He leaned to one side, with his lower body hidden behind the door. A pair of dull eyes stared at them coldly.
"Who are you looking for?"
The man's voice was hoarse and unpleasant. Shi Ce was startled. He said awkwardly, "I'm looking for Zhao Bo."
The man's expression suddenly became strange. He sized Shi Ce up and down suspiciously. "I'm Zhao Bo. What do you want from me?"
Shi Ce was stunned. He didn't expect to find the old ghost's son so easily. A look of joy appeared on his face, and he told the man the whole story.
He thought Zhao Bo would invite them in, but Zhao Bo's face darkened instantly. He cursed, "Bullshit! My dad doesn't send dreams to me but to an outsider like you? Do you think I'll believe it? Get out, you liar!"
Seeing that Zhao Bo didn't believe him, Shi Ce rushed forward in a hurry to explain. But the door was slammed shut.
The edge of the iron door was extremely sharp. A sharp pain shot through, and Shi Ce quickly covered his nose.
With two soft "drips", two drops of nosebleed fell to the ground.
Shi Ce squatted down painfully, too frightened to say a word.
This Zhao Bo was indeed from the same family as the old ghost. They were both so unreasonable! Fortunately, Feng Chengyuan had pulled him just in time, or his cheek would have been cut.
Feng Chengyuan and Yu Nian exchanged a look. Then Feng Chengyuan raised his hand and knocked on the door again. After a few knocks, an extremely impatient voice came from inside. "You guys should leave quickly. I won't believe you."
Yu Nian stepped forward. She lowered her head and played with the beads on her hand, speaking casually.
"Normally, when people hear such things, they are usually first confused and then frightened. But you don't seem surprised at all. Instead, you're extremely resistant to this matter. Zhao Bo, are you feeling guilty about something?"
"You're talking nonsense!"
"Even if your end is near, you don't care at all?"
After hearing this, Zhao Bo inside the door got angry immediately. He cursed loudly, "Bah! Where did this yellow - haired girl come from, talking nonsense here? Standing in front of my door during the day and cursing me. Are you fucking crazy?"
Zhao Bo insulted Yu Nian, and each word was more offensive than the last.
Yu Nian remained calm all the time, showing no sign of anger on her face. She said calmly, "If you don't believe me, I'll do a divination for you."
"Go to hell! I don't need you to do a divination for me!"
Yu Nian curved her eyes. "Whether to do the divination is up to me, and whether to listen is up to you. You lost your mother at the age of three and were raised by your father. You dropped out of school and started a business at seventeen but ended up losing everything. You had a son at twenty - seven, but because you did too many immoral things when you were young, the child died before he was one year old. Your wife was depressed and passed away soon after. You're thirty - five now, alone and homeless. Even this house is rented. Am I right?"
There was a moment of silence inside the house. Then Zhao Bo's voice rang out again. "Do you think I'm a teenage kid? You can easily find out about these things by asking around! You're still too young to deceive me like this!"
Zhao Bo had a low - class attitude, and every sentence was full of swear words. Shi Ce looked at Yu Nian worriedly, but saw that Yu Nian remained expressionless. He admired Yu Nian's calmness even more.
On the contrary, Feng Chengyuan's face looked a bit unpleasant. "You'd better watch your mouth."
He kicked the door hard. Zhao Bo inside the house was startled. He caught a glimpse of Feng Chengyuan in the chaos. This guy obviously wasn't someone to be messed with, so he shut up awkwardly.
Yu Nian grabbed Feng Chengyuan and gave him a reassuring look. "Why get angry with a dying man?"
She paused for a moment, then looked at the closed door and said calmly, "The beam looms overhead, a car accident breaks your leg, vengeful energy entangles you, and you will die incurable. The first two things have already happened. Why don't you guess when the last two things will happen?"