Chapter 4: The Old House Turns Haunted

No matter how life treated her, Xia Wuyou could always find a source of happiness for herself! Perhaps this was also her parents’ wish, which is why they gave her a name sounding like “carefree.” In the company, Xia Wuyou’s performance was considered quite good. Last year’s top performer only surpassed her by a single deal, yet because of this one deal, their supervisor regarded her as if she were miles behind.

“Tangdou, do you think our supervisor is going through a midlife crisis? Why does he look at me with such displeasure?”

At home, Xia Wuyou had an Alaskan Malamute named Tangdou—Beanie—a dog she had fallen for at first sight in the pet market. Although Tangdou had been with her since he was a pup, he seemed to have little sympathy for her frequent complaints. She hadn’t finished speaking when he turned his head, wagged his tail, and walked away. Really, who wants to be a long-term emotional dumping ground?

Strictly speaking, she was supposed to be on leave today and shouldn’t have been showing houses to clients. However, a new apartment complex had just started accepting tenants, leading to a surge in available listings and, in this prime location, a spike in business. Everyone was busy with the new units, so Uncle Tian’s old house had been left unattended for a while.

Still, she hadn’t forgotten about Uncle Tian. She decided to use her day off to work overtime and planned to take a high-quality client to see the old house.

But something strange happened when she called Uncle Tian to confirm the time—he seemed hesitant, almost as if he wanted to say something but held back. Xia Wuyou was puzzled; wasn’t he supposed to be in a hurry? Had he suddenly lost interest in moving to the retirement home?

After contacting her client and agreeing on a time and place, they set out together for Uncle Tian’s old house.

When they left, the weather was still bright and clear. But halfway there, an expanse of dark clouds rolled in overhead, and gusts of cold wind whipped up dust and pebbles from the roadside, pelting them mercilessly.

Cursing under her breath, Xia Wuyou pedaled her bicycle harder.

If only she’d taken a taxi. The client was already on their way, and it was too late to reschedule. She could only grit her teeth and keep going.

Fortunately, the sudden downpour didn’t strike until she’d rushed into the old house, sparing her from being drenched to the bone.

“Oh dear, Xia, what are you doing out in this weather? Come in, come in quickly, before you catch a cold!” Uncle Tian hurried over with a towel for her to dry off the raindrops.

“Uncle, has a gentleman arrived just now? He drove himself, so he should have gotten here before me,” Xia Wuyou asked while drying her hair, glancing around.

“He’s here, he’s here. The weather turned bad, so I let him look around on his own just in case he was in a hurry. He should be upstairs now.”

Uncle Tian led her upstairs. The previous times she’d come to view the house, it had always been on sunny days. Though the house was large and only one person lived there, it always felt bright and warm, full of gentle light. But today, perhaps because of the rain, the long, white curtains swayed uneasily in the wind, and a window not properly latched banged repeatedly. The old tabby cat, usually docile, was nowhere to be found but would occasionally let out a sudden, sharp cry.

“This weather is really odd. It was blazing sunshine just now, and now it’s all thunder and lightning. What’s gotten into it?” Xia Wuyou tried to lighten the mood.

“Exactly. That’s why I told you not to rush over,” Uncle Tian replied.

Xia Wuyou glanced back at him, just as she was about to speak, a pink flash of lightning lit up his face where a curtain, whipped by the wind, partially obscured it. In that instant, the kindly old man’s features seemed eerily sinister, as though there was another person behind those wrinkled eyes—frightening indeed.

“Uncle!” Xia Wuyou called out, feeling as if something was amiss around the house, wanting to make sure the man before her was still the same Uncle Tian she knew.

“These curtains have needed replacing for ages—too big, too long, hard to clean! But your aunt liked them, so I haven’t had the heart to change them,” Uncle Tian said, hastily pulling the curtain from his face and tying it back with a string.

Seeing nothing unusual about him, Xia Wuyou relaxed and continued upstairs. But they’d only gone a few steps when a man’s scream erupted from above. With a loud “Ah!” the client dashed down the stairs, shouting, “There’s a female ghost!”

“Sir, sir…” Xia Wuyou tried to catch him, but he shook her off with force.

She chased after him. Just as he was about to rush out the door, Xia Wuyou caught up and grabbed his arm.

“Sir, what’s wrong? What happened?”

“It’s haunted! This house has a ghost! What kind of company do you work for, bringing people to a haunted house? Don’t you fear retribution?” the client ranted, unwilling to stay another moment.

“I’m going to file a complaint against you!”

With that, the man disappeared into the pouring rain, leaving Xia Wuyou standing there in a daze.

“Uncle, what’s really going on? Did you notice something strange too?”

After the client left, Uncle Tian came downstairs. Seeing how things had turned out, he could no longer hide the truth, though for a moment, he didn’t know where to begin.

“Oh, Uncle, please just tell me—I’m dying of worry!” Xia Wuyou wrung her hands in anxiety at his hesitation.

“Don’t worry, Xia,” Uncle Tian said gently, pausing, his expression growing wistful as he gazed out the window. “Your aunt has come back. That’s why I asked you not to rush over when we spoke on the phone.”

Xia Wuyou looked at Uncle Tian in shock—not because of his words, but because, in a flash of lightning, she saw the figure of a woman covered in wounds standing behind him.

“Who are you?” Xia Wuyou asked in astonishment.

It was clear that this female ghost was not Uncle Tian’s late wife. The wounds on her body and the sorrow in her eyes suggested a complicated story of her own.

But unfortunately, although Xia Wuyou could see things others couldn’t, she was unable to communicate with them. All she could do was guess at their intentions from the expressions on their faces.