Qingtian Community is an old community that has undergone multiple renovations and upgrades, resulting in a somewhat chaotic arrangement of the apartment buildings.
Therefore, even though I have Li Huai's exact address, I cannot accurately locate his room in a short period of time.
However, Li Huai's address is quite interesting: Unit 14, Room 404.
Putting everything else aside, the price must be incredibly attractive, since no normal person would want to stay in a room with such an ominous connotation.
Considering his background, I can somewhat understand Li Huai's choice.
Since I'll encounter ghosts no matter where I stay, I might as well find a cheaper one.
After wandering around for a while, I couldn't find Li Huai, let alone the fourteenth building.
Just as I was feeling a bit helpless, I noticed several elderly women with white hair chatting and fanning themselves under the shade of a tree ahead.
I quickly went over to him.
"Grandmas, I'd like to ask, where is Building 14?"
Upon hearing my question, the old women stopped fanning themselves, exchanged glances, and their cloudy old eyes were filled with surprise.
I was a little confused, but I kept bending over and looked at the group of old women.
Judging from their reactions, something seems amiss with Building Fourteen? But they must know something.
"Ahem, young man, what are you looking for in Building Fourteen?"
An old woman coughed twice and hesitated before asking.
"I have a friend who lives there, and I've come to see him. Is there anything wrong with that, Grandma?"
Upon hearing my words, a hint of fear flashed in the eyes of the elderly women.
There was even an old woman who sat up shakily and left without saying goodbye.
"Young man, you can't talk nonsense. How could your friend possibly live in building fourteen? You must be teasing this old lady!"
An old woman tapped the stone bricks with her cane, making a dull "thump-thump" sound, and said with a serious expression.
"Gentlemen, my grandfather taught me manners from a young age. I have enough respect for you ladies, how could I possibly make fun of you?"
I looked directly into the eyes of the old woman who had spoken earlier, my expression sincere.
Seeing that I didn't seem to be lying, the old woman sat on the stone bench, leaning on her cane, and froze.
Another elderly woman spoke up with a firm voice:
"That means your friend is playing a trick on you. In short, your friend couldn't possibly live in building fourteen! Because building fourteen simply doesn't exist!"
Upon hearing this, I immediately frowned.
The probability of Luo Tianhe's information being wrong is extremely small, but these old ladies have no motive to deceive me, so what exactly is wrong?
Suddenly, I looked up at the elderly women in front of me:
"Wait a minute! I just saw fifteen buildings. The real estate developer can't have skipped this number just because it's considered unlucky!"
I remember seeing fifteen buildings very clearly because they looked very new.
Having discovered the blind spot, I felt I was close to the truth. Seeing that they all seemed reluctant to meddle, I took out a dozen or so red bills from my pocket and handed them to the old ladies.
"Grandma, take this money and buy some snacks for your grandchildren. Building 14 is really important to me. My friend wouldn't lie to me. I'm the kind of person who won't give up until I hit a wall. At least give me a reason."
Several elderly women couldn't resist the temptation of money. They took the money, held it above their heads, squinted in the sunlight, and examined it closely.
Then, with rough fingers, he deftly twirled the bill to confirm it was genuine, then tucked it into his inner lining and slowly opened his mouth:
"Oh young man, the child has no mother, it's a long story."
Money can move mountains. Seeing that the old ladies were obviously much more "enthusiastic," I was glad that I hadn't deposited the cash Luo Tianhe gave me into my card yet, otherwise I would have had a lot of trouble.
“These fourteen buildings existed before. The developer couldn’t have skipped number fourteen; there’s no reason for that.”
"However, Building 14 is very different from other apartment buildings. First of all, it is not as tall or big as other apartment buildings, it seems to be only two or three stories high."
“Young man, you can also tell that Qingtian Community is an old community. When it was built, Chinese people generally respected folk customs.”
"Fourteen is also pronounced as 'one fourteen,' which means 'one lifetime of death.' At the time, the developer invited a master to perform a ritual. The master's advice was to build no more than three stories, otherwise the evil energy of fourteen buildings with four stories would not be able to be suppressed."
The old woman began to tell her story in detail.
I listened carefully. The old woman's voice was a little hoarse, but it had a unique charm when she told these bizarre and strange stories, making people unable to help but be drawn in.
But according to her, even if there are fourteen buildings, there can't be four floors. What's the deal with the address Luo Tianhe gave me?
Could it be that he really made a mistake?
My brows furrowed into a deep frown as I pondered deeply.
"Oh, by the way, before this area was developed into a residential community, it was a mass grave."
Hearing this, I was surprised again.
I know about building schools and military camps on mass graves.
The yang energy of students and soldiers can suppress the yin energy of the local area, but what about the neighborhood?
Would anyone actually buy this kind of house?
Soon, I realized the flaw in my thinking. In those days, almost no one bought houses; the vast majority were allocated them.
The old woman paused for a moment, swallowed, and her tone became somewhat low:
“In our time, no one wanted to live in Building 14, even though the rooms there were more spacious than the other floors. It wasn’t until many years later that a businessman from out of town came.”
"Seeing that Building 14 was so unpopular and the price was so low, he simply bought the whole building and his whole family moved in."
"The fourteen buildings are low-rise with few rooms. To be honest, they are not much different from the self-built houses in the countryside. The developer even specially reserved a yard for it, but this businessman is from Shanxi and insisted on planting a locust tree in the yard."
Hearing this, I swallowed hard, feeling a chill run down my spine. I was afraid the main event was about to begin.
"Everyone was trying to persuade him, but he wouldn't listen or believe them. Well, if he believed those things, he wouldn't have chosen to buy fourteen buildings."
You can't reason with a damned devil.
I remembered my grandfather saying that the character "槐" (huái) contains the radical for "wood" and the character for "ghost," meaning it is naturally prone to attracting evil spirits. Its huge canopy and dense foliage can become a dwelling place for wandering ghosts and spirits.
This businessman's actions were tantamount to inviting the King of Hell to his home.
If this person ever gets a good ending, I'll eat the Taoist priest!
Sure enough, the old woman's voice became even lower and her tone began to tremble.
"It's incredibly strange that the locust tree grows so fast. It was just a sapling when I bought it, but it grew into a towering tree a year later."
"And that wealthy merchant family is even more bizarre!"
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