Chapter 6 Spirit Incense

"master!"

Zhou Jiacheng, who was taken away by the police yesterday, peeked out from behind He Lihua, carrying something in his hand.

Seeing Chu Ci approach, he chuckled, "Master, thanks to you, I would have been in real trouble if it weren't for you."

He handed over what he was holding, saying, "This is just a small token of my appreciation; please accept it, Master!"

"Who told you to be so kind and helpful, going to help your ex-wife!" He Lihua pinched his soft flesh. "You deserve it!"

Zhou Jiacheng wasn't angry; he just kept groaning and begging for mercy, all while grinning.

Chu Ci waved his hand, "It was nothing, no need to thank me."

“That won’t do, Master.” He Lihua took the things from her husband’s hands and stuffed them into Chu Ci’s arms with a smile. “Hengxiang wife cakes, Vita chocolate milk, Yaofeng preserved plums, and Qihua egg rolls are all things that you young people love to eat!”

A large bag was stuffed into her arms. Chu Ci looked down and saw that all the items were from names she recognized.

She thought this was a strange world, but she was surprised to find so many brands she recognized.

This is getting stranger and stranger.

“I’ve accepted the gifts, but,” she pulled a red envelope from the bottom of the bag, “I’ll leave the money for now.”

"Master, you have helped our family so much. This is just a small token of our appreciation."

"I've received your kind gesture." Chu Ci shook the large bag of snacks.

He Lihua was still trying to persuade her to hand over the money when Chu Ci spoke up first: "How about you take me to see the house first?"

"Yes, let's look at houses first!"

He Lihua slapped her forehead, finally remembering the important matter.

She went upstairs with her husband and two nuns, and they went to the 15th floor as usual.

In the long and narrow corridor, there are about 8 households on each floor, and the "haunted house" is located in the innermost room on the 15th floor.

Halfway there, as they approached the haunted house, the two nuns became hesitant to go any further.

“Um, Master,” the two nuns huddled together, trembling, “we’ll wait for you here and won’t go over.”

"Yes, yes, we'll wait for you here."

He Lihua knew that the two of them were scared, but she was scared too!

“Master,” she grabbed Chu Ci’s arm, smiling a little embarrassedly, “how about I give you the room key and you go in by yourself, okay?”

Seeing her deathly pale face, Chu Ci lowered his eyes. "Has someone died in that house?"

"Not only have people died here, but they've died horribly!"

The two nuns huddled together behind them couldn't help but chime in.

"I only glanced at the scene when the police were arranging for the forensic doctor to collect the body, and I had nightmares for days afterward! A perfectly healthy young woman, and she was completely mutilated, her head and body a mess! It was terrifying!"

"That person was dismembered?" Chu Ci immediately realized.

"As expected of you, Master, you got it right right away!" He Lihua nodded repeatedly.

She was the first eyewitness to discover the crime scene, and even now, recalling the scene, she still feels lingering fear.

"Six months ago, I rented my house to a woman, and it turned out that she became my mistress! But being a mistress wasn't enough for her; she even went so far as to provoke the first wife and beat up the first wife's child in front of her!"

Even though the person was already dead, and she shouldn't be talking badly about them behind their back, He Lihua couldn't help but mutter a few more words.

"That man's first wife was already sick and wouldn't live for more than a few days, but she still went to his house to provoke him, saying that once she became the child's stepmother, she would sell the child to the red-light district!"

"What mother could tolerate such a thing! The first wife felt that she didn't have much time left anyway, so she wanted to protect her child one last time. She took an axe and a knife and came to the door, killing the woman on the spot."

"The police said she killed her lover, dismembered the body, and then committed suicide at the crime scene."

Chu Ci raised an eyebrow. "He committed suicide at the crime scene?"

“Yes!” He Lihua said with a bitter face, “Two people died in my house all at once. I rented it out at a low price afterward, but the tenant said that when he got up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, he saw two women in the mirror…”

She glanced at her husband and sighed, "Later, my husband and I didn't believe in ghosts and went to stay there. Although we didn't see any unclean things, we only stayed in the house for two days before one of us got into a car accident and the other encountered an elevator malfunction, and we almost lost our lives."

Chu Ci ignored her rambling; her mind was filled with the words "suicide at the crime scene."

Based on her many years of experience in handling cases, how could a mother who loves her child so much not even see her child one last time?

She held out her hand. "Give me the key, I'll go in and take a look myself."

Hearing that she didn't have to go in herself, He Lihua was delighted. "Great! Here's the key. Master, please be careful. We'll guard the door from the outside. Call us if anything seems amiss!"

"Master!" Zhou Jiacheng pulled a gleaming kitchen knife from his pocket. "I borrowed this knife from Pork Tiger downstairs. It has a strong aura of menace. Master, just give a shout, and I'll go in with the knife!"

Chu Ci nodded and used the key to open the door.

As soon as the door opened, the people behind her took a step back.

The heavy security door was opened a crack, and a musty smell, mixed with a faint stench of decay, wafted out through the gap.

It seems that He Lihua did not discover the two people immediately after their deaths, but only after their bodies began to decompose.

I opened the door wide, and a cold wind blew out, carrying with it the smells of mildew and the stench of death.

She went in expressionlessly, and as soon as she stepped in, she heard the system, which had been pretending to be dead, start to move.

[Important crime scene detected. Please determine the true cause of death for the two victims as soon as possible and notify their families.]

[Reward: Exorcising Bagua Mirror]

Chu Ci: "..."

As expected, these two cases were not simply cases of homicide and suicide.

She went inside and looked around, but the furniture and everything else were new, clearly indicating that the place had been renovated after the incident. Even if there was any useful evidence, it was probably completely destroyed.

Finding nothing, she went to the only bathroom in the house with a mirror.

The bathroom was empty and chilly, yet it carried a strange sense of oppression.

Standing in front of the mirror, she saw a face that looked exactly like hers from her previous life, but more than ten years younger.

She stared at the mirror for a while, but didn't see the ghost the previous tenant had mentioned; there was only her reflection in the mirror.

Just as she was about to give up, the system popped up again.

[We recommend the host use "Spirit Communication Incense"]

That was her reward for helping Zhou Jiacheng clear his name.

All rewards have been sent to your in-game inventory. Please check them as soon as possible.

A small golden arrow circled around her on the ground before pointing back at her.

Chu Ci: "?"

But she remembered that the reward for the beginner's mission was a table. How could such a small bag possibly fit a table?

I rummaged through the bag and only found two small black boxes.

Both boxes were about the size of a palm, and inside each lay a small black card, similar in material to a bank card.

The first card had the words "spirit table" written on it.

There was a picture drawn on it; it looked like an ordinary black and gold eight-immortal table.

Below is a line of small white text: "Performing a psychic session on this table will extend the psychic display by 2 seconds."

Another small card reads "Spirit Communication Incense," and features a drawing of a black mosquito coil. Below it, in small white print, is the explanation: "After lighting this incense, stand in front of a mirror to communicate with the deceased."

"Can one communicate with the deceased?"

Chu Ci held the card and looked at it several times, finally glancing at the mirror where she was all alone.

The familiar yet unfamiliar person in the mirror was also staring straight at her with the same look.

Stared at by those familiar eyes, she slowly tightened her grip on the card.

Having worked as a police officer for so many years, she has always been an atheist and has never seen a ghost.

She went outside and asked, "Does anyone have a lighter?"

Seeing her emerge unharmed, the people waiting outside were overjoyed, then a little confused, "A lighter?"

Without a second thought, Zhou Jiacheng offered up a lighter from his pocket, saying, "Master, I have one!"

He handed her the lighter, only to have his wife pinch him hard. "Didn't you tell me you'd quit smoking?!"

Zhou Jiacheng nodded obsequiously, but his wife grabbed his ear and started groaning.

Chu Ci took the lighter and returned to the mirror in the bathroom, staring intently at the small black card in her hand.

"System, how do I use this card?"

The system didn't respond, and went silent once again.

After these two tests, Chu Ci roughly understood.

This system is just a useless piece of junk that only issues tasks; you'd be better off relying on yourself.

She stared at the card in her hand for a while, thinking about how to turn it into a real object, when suddenly her hand felt heavy.

A plate of cold-feeling black mosquito coils appeared in her hand, while the black card had disappeared.

Subconsciously, she looked in the mirror.

Her palms were empty in the mirror; there were no mosquito coils inside.

Chu Ci: "..."

She took a deep breath, glanced at the mirror where only her reflection was visible, and lit the incense stick in her hand with a lighter.

The white smoke from the incense slowly filled the entire bathroom, and the heavy smell of gunpowder gradually diluted the persistent musty and stench of corpses that clung to her nose, instantly making her feel much more relaxed.

But this tranquility didn't last long; the light above the bathroom suddenly started flickering.

The bathroom is a dark bathroom; without the lights, it's completely dark.

As she looked up at the lamp, a soft "snap" sounded, and the overhead light went out, plunging the entire bathroom into darkness.

At the same time, a faint sigh appeared in her ear, a cold wind swept by, and it seemed that something was approaching from behind and pressing against her back.

The mirror was dark, but two more figures appeared.

The empty space on either side of her was gone; two figures embraced her from both sides, resting their heads on her shoulders, their gazes meeting hers in the mirror.

Chu Ci: "..."

Faced with such a horrifying scene, her breathing became increasingly slow.

While feeling terrified and tense, she also felt a strange sense of excitement.

This incense is great!

It would be even better if it could be mass-produced! Being able to directly communicate with the deceased would reduce so much workload for the police!

Seemingly sensing her excitement, the figures on either side stopped looking at the mirror and turned their heads to look at her.

His cold breath hit her face. "Help me, help my daughter..."

A note from the author:

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