Chapter 18
After the ghostly aura dissipated, the house returned to its original state.
The dust in the air was heavy and thick, carrying the musty smell of the yellowed and old wooden furniture. Even the footsteps sounded more deserted than elsewhere, giving the impression that no one had lived here for many years.
The wooden bed didn't even have a mattress; it was obvious and there was no need to search. Jiang Zhuochen walked over and circled it, then moved the bed aside. He peeked inside and found that the inner side of the bed, against the wall, was covered in scratch marks.
Jiang Zhuochen became suspicious. When he looked down to examine it more closely, he noticed that there was a darker area at the bottom of the dressing table.
"What did you see?" Xu Xing asked.
Jiang Zhuochen, still in that position, said, "Could you move that dressing table over there?"
Xu Xing moved it out as instructed, and Jiang Zhuochen walked over and squatted down, sticking half of his body inside.
He raised his hand and touched it. After confirming that there was something there, he pinched it with two fingers. Because it was stuffed too tightly, he couldn't pull it out all at once. He had to push the wooden board of the drawer upwards before he could take it out.
It was a dark red, semi-circular object. Jiang Zhuochen flipped it over and faced it out the window, discovering that the object was translucent.
Xu Xing stood next to Jiang Zhuochen and saw him lift the item up a little. The color in the afterglow seemed strangely familiar to him. He grabbed Jiang Zhuochen's wrist, leaned down and smelled it while the other looked confused, then rubbed it hard, and the color on the item faded.
He stared at a small red mark that had been wiped off his finger. "This is congealed blood. It must have been there a long time ago; the smell of rust has completely dissipated."
Jiang Zhuochen rubbed it hard, and sure enough, the color on the item could be wiped off.
Suddenly the room darkened, and the dormant ghostly energy surged back, engulfing the two of them. Jiang Zhuochen stood up and moved to Xu Xing's side.
The female ghost appeared in the air, her face contorted, her half-open mouth twitching slightly, her whole being unusually angry, as if she was desperately enduring something, staring intently at the object.
"Didn't I tell you not to meddle in other people's business? Give me back my jade pendant."
"So this is a jade pendant," Jiang Zhuochen realized.
He pinched the jade pendant between two fingers and rolled it back into his palm, not intending to return it. "You're angry because you saw it? Why?"
The female ghost's pupils gradually turned red, and her ghostly aura swirled restlessly around her. "Why? Is it any use saying all this now?"
"What if I can help you?" Jiang Zhuochen said.
"Help me?" the female ghost uttered softly, as if she had heard something ridiculous. "Help someone else get rid of me? Humans and ghosts are different. Don't think I don't know what you're up to."
"You've really misunderstood." The female ghost hasn't revealed her strength yet, so whether he can defeat her is another matter. He's not going to rush to his death. "I just accepted a commission."
We will only take action when necessary.
The female ghost reached out her hand to him, "No need. I'll handle my own affairs, even if it means turning to ashes."
Seeing the female ghost's stubbornness, Jiang Zhuochen put the jade pendant away. "I was entrusted with this task. Unless you stop causing trouble, I will investigate this matter thoroughly."
"Me, causing trouble?" The female ghost laughed disdainfully. "Fine, then investigate and see if you have the ability."
No sooner had he finished speaking than the female ghost attacked. Jiang Zhuochen stepped back, exclaiming in surprise, "Hey, hey, you didn't ask me to investigate, what are you doing?"
"Give me back my things, don't make me say it again."
"This won't do, this is an important clue." Jiang Zhuochen threw a few explosive talismans forward, and taking advantage of the momentary obstruction, he grabbed Xu Xing and ran out without looking back.
After completely shaking off the female ghost, Jiang Zhuochen went to the sink to wash the jade pendant clean. He touched the raised part and looked closely; it was the character '安' (An).
Where they live, the inscriptions on jade pendants often represent a person's name, so he wondered, "Is this her name?"
Xu Xing said, "Take it and ask the landlord. Maybe someone in his family has the character 'An' in their name."
"Um."
The two men knocked on Xu Cheng's door with the jade pendant in their hands, and the man opened the door to welcome them inside.
Xu Cheng asked, "Is there any new clue?"
Jiang Zhuochen asked bluntly, "Are there any women in your large family whose names contain the character 'An'?"
"To my knowledge, no."
Jiang Zhuochen took out the jade pendant, and halfway through handing it over, he met the surprised look in the other man's eyes. "It seems you recognize this jade pendant."
Xu Cheng took it, "This is not my great-grandmother's jade pendant... no, it's not."
Upon seeing the character "安" (peace/safety), Xu Cheng denied it, saying he had seen a similar jade pendant on his great-grandmother.
“Because my great-grandmother always carried it with her and I saw it a few times, it had the character ‘huan’ on it. I remember my great-grandmother’s name was Liu Hehuan.”
So Xu Cheng was completely baffled by this jade pendant that resembled his great-grandmother's yet was different.
Jiang Zhuochen frowned after hearing this, "I didn't see any jade pendant among the relics."
Xu Cheng scratched his head. "I couldn't find it when I was packing. It's probably missing."
The jade pendant that he always carried with him disappeared suddenly after his death.
Jiang Zhuochen hadn't connected his great-grandmother to the haunting before, but now he felt that many things were related to her.
Do you have any photos of your great-grandmother when she was young?
Xu Cheng replied apologetically, "No."
"Does your family look like your great-grandmother?" Jiang Zhuochen pressed.
Fortunately, we have an answer this time.
“Yes, they do.” Xu Cheng replied, “When I was little, I always heard the older folks say that my grandparents and great-aunts looked a lot like my great-grandmother. And you’ve seen photos of the younger generation too; they all have some degree of genetic inheritance.”
Jiang Zhuochen understood. The same jade pendant, a similar appearance, and the ghost appeared only a few days after his great-grandmother's death, so this female ghost must have an inescapable connection with his great-grandmother.
After saying goodbye to Xu Cheng, Xu Xing roughly understood who was responsible for the ghost story. Seeing that Jiang Zhuochen was still sorting things out, he quietly waited for his next move.
At night, Jiang Zhuochen intended to go to that room to find the female ghost, but suddenly the window frame shook violently. Jiang Zhuochen turned his head and sensed that a large area of ghostly energy was surrounding him from afar.
The world suddenly changed color, a dark and oppressive atmosphere that made it hard to breathe, clearly indicating that nothing good was about to happen.
"Go upstairs."
After speaking to Xu Xing, he turned around and noticed that the man's expression was off. His heart skipped a beat, and he suddenly had a premonition. "What's wrong with you?"
Xu Xing let out a breath, "The same as always."
Jiang Zhuochen's eyes lit up. Was his master's soul hidden within that surging ghostly aura? He couldn't wait any longer. "Are you alright? Why don't you rest here for a while? I can handle things outside by myself."
Xu Xing sneered inwardly at his appearance. It seemed he had wasted the past few days accompanying him, as Xu Xing was so pleased with his discomfort. At the same time, he couldn't help but feel annoyed.
"I'll be alone for a while."
"good."
With a crisp, decisive sound, Jiang Zhuochen quickly ran upstairs and kicked open the door.
The female ghost stood by the window, her face turning deathly pale, like an ice block that had never melted. The chilling aura she exuded sent shivers down one's spine, while her hands trembled slightly.
Such a massive depletion of her spiritual power was tantamount to overdrawing her life force, yet she was willing to risk her soul being scattered in order to use her ghostly energy to drive out her enemy.
Seeing this, Jiang Zhuochen shouted, "You're looking for that old man who just passed away, right?"
The female ghost paused for a moment, then said, "So what if I am? I told you I don't need anyone's help."
"Why are you looking for her?" Jiang Zhuochen asked. "People who die of old age don't immediately go to the underworld to be reincarnated after death. Have you trapped her soul?"
"Died of old age." The female ghost seemed to have heard the biggest joke in the world, and her anger intensified in the next instant. "What a fine 'died of old age'! I've waited all these years, does she think she can escape?!"
The way he gritted his teeth made it sound like he wanted to beat the ghost to ashes without leaving a trace.
"Perhaps you could calm down first?" Jiang Zhuochen tried to reason with him.
The female ghost said, word by word, "Don't get in my way!"
Her eyes were now bloodshot, and she was completely out of her mind. Jiang Zhuochen had a headache; this didn't seem like the kind of person he could question.
"If you don't want to die, get out of here!"
As the crimson light spread across her eyes, Jiang Zhuochen immediately raised his hands innocently and retreated to a place where the female ghost could not see him. The matter of his master's soul had to be temporarily put aside.
Fearing that the gathering ghostly energy might endanger those nearby, Jiang Zhuochen didn't go far and returned to Xu Xing's side to observe the female ghost's movements.
The female ghost remained silent, and no one else knew anything about her. He hadn't yet sorted out the grudges between the two dead ghosts, aside from his identity, and dared not rashly take sides.
If we can find Great-Grandma's ghost and understand the situation clearly, then standing by and doing nothing for now is the best option.
Xu Xing, on the other hand, had either gotten used to it or was feeling better; his complexion had returned to normal. A sudden pang of guilt made him take small, quick steps over. "Are you feeling better?"
That ingratiating face entered Xu Xing's field of vision. He stepped back slightly, but the other person moved closer, tilting their head as he did, then crouching down to stare straight up at him. Xu Xing was exasperated by this annoyance.
"Hmm." The intensity of the sensation gradually decreased and then stabilized, posing no significant threat to Xu Xing.
He flicked the other man's forehead with his finger, and Jiang Zhuochen immediately squatted down, letting out a cry of pain, and glared at him reproachfully.
How are things going on your end?
"Not good." Jiang Zhuochen pursed his lips, his head drooping listlessly. "He's so fierce, I can't get close to him and he doesn't want to talk, so I had to come back first."
"Oh?" Xu Xing asked, "Then why didn't you get into a fight?"
"Why fight all the time?" With such a large-scale fight, the female ghost has no worries, but Jiang Zhuochen still has to worry about the innocent people in this area. Does he have that much ability?
"reckless."
Xu Xing nodded in agreement, suppressing a laugh, without mentioning that describing Jiang Zhuochen's impulsive rush as reckless was an understatement.
Jiang Zhuochen stood by the window, keeping a close eye on the changes in the ghostly aura outside, making sure he could stop any dangerous situation immediately, and also to see what the female ghost was up to.
When the ghostly energy reached its peak, even the air itself slowed down. All was silent; every living thing in the vicinity was trapped in a nightmare.
Jiang Zhuochen frowned. If things continued like this, he would have to jump out before the two ghosts even made a move.
Suddenly, the ghostly energy began to stir, surging in from all directions towards one place. Sure enough, not long after, surrounded by the overwhelming ghostly energy, Great-Grandma's ghost was forced out.
The elderly man in the foreground looks much older than he does in the family photo, and there's no trace of his youthful appearance.
Jiang Zhuochen thought the female ghost would come out to reminisce, but he didn't expect her to severely injure the old man's ghost in an instant!
The old man was already dying and collapsed on the ground, but the female ghost upstairs remained silent, raising her hands in preparation for the next attack.
She went there to take someone's life.
A note from the author:
Everyone, there will be three consecutive updates over the next three days!
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