Chapter 9 The Spirit Medium Incense Shop
Chu Ci: "..."
She was just about to rent it out when another murder occurred?
However, she has a Bagua mirror for exorcising evil spirits, so she's not afraid of ghosts.
He Lihua looked at her and tentatively asked, "Master, are you still renting out my house?"
In the past six months, a series of murders have occurred in their new building, causing property prices to plummet. Several nuns have cried until their eyes were swollen.
Several tenants even felt the place had bad feng shui and left overnight without even asking for their deposits back.
“Rent, of course!” Chu Ci nodded. “My grandma has trouble walking, and the elevator here will make it easier for her to get around. The size of the apartment is also just right… But, could you give me a discount?”
"Don't even mention cheapness, I'd even give you the room for free, Master!"
He Lihua felt relieved and smiled with relief.
With the master by her side, she had nothing to fear!
Ever since the body was found in the building yesterday, she has been feeling uneasy and can't sleep well, always afraid that there are ghosts floating around in the building.
Now that the master lives on the same floor as her, those ghosts won't dare to come!
Chu Ci had money, so naturally he couldn't stay in someone else's house for free.
After some negotiation, He Lihua settled on a very low rent.
Normally, the price of a private rental is around two thousand yuan.
But He Lihua wanted to thank her, and since no one dared to rent this haunted house, the rent for this house was about the same as that of public housing, only five hundred yuan.
After signing the contract and taking the keys, Chu Ci immediately hired people to help him move.
Moving from Kowloon city to Kwun Tong district incurs considerable moving costs.
The price had been agreed upon, but when those people saw that she lived in this building, they refused to go in no matter what.
"Hey Mi-mei, don't make things difficult for the brothers. The feng shui of this building is bad! How can a medium like you live in a place like this?"
The leader of the moving company looked at the building in front of him, his brows furrowed as if they were about to knot together.
"You all call me a 'foolish girl'!" Chu Ci patted his chest. "If a 'foolish girl' like me dares to live in a place like this, you're just moving some things, nothing will happen! Besides, murders happen every day in Hong Kong, what are you afraid of!"
"Even if there are murders in Hong Kong every day, we still can't go into haunted houses!"
The key point is that they don't believe in this "Ask Me" girl's abilities at all.
If she were truly capable, would she have offended Brother Qiang simply because she couldn't calculate it?
If it weren't for offending Brother Qiang, why would Mi Mei suddenly move when she and her grandmother have lived in Kowloon city for over ten years?
No matter what Chu Ci said, the group of people refused to go in, preferring to accept only half the payment rather than help carry the items inside.
Chu Ci had no choice, but luckily the building had an elevator. He gave them half of the payment and decided to carry the things up himself.
When He Lihua and her husband encountered her carrying things by herself, they came over and lent a hand.
When I helped carry the things into the house, I immediately noticed the Bagua mirror hanging inside the door, which was meant to ward off evil spirits.
As a native of Hong Kong, He Lihua has a discerning eye and immediately recognized that this Bagua mirror was no ordinary object.
"Master, do you sell this Bagua mirror? There's been some unrest in our building lately, and I'd like to buy one to hang in my home."
Chu Ci didn't even look up. "This is an heirloom, not for sale."
"Oh, it's a family heirloom! It's so well-preserved, I thought it was new!"
Zhou Jiacheng was incredibly simple-minded, and he happily joined in the fun.
Chu Ci choked on his saliva and coughed several times.
After moving everything upstairs, He Lihua wanted to help her tidy up, but Chu Ci declined, saying she would treat them to dinner another day.
After seeing the two people off, she tidied up the things she had brought and placed the "spirit communication table" that the system had rewarded her with next to the small altar.
I don't know what material this table is made of. It feels cold to the touch. Although it's wood, it's not as soft as ordinary wood. Instead, it has a metallic feel.
Even sitting next to him gives me a sense of clarity.
She had just placed the table in a suitable position when the system, which had been running idle, suddenly spoke up:
[External conditions are now suitable; the main quest for the Spirit Medium system is now officially open.]
[Phase 1: Spiritual Medium's Incense Shop]
Please hang the signboard in front of the store.
Chu Ci: "???"
In front of the store?
Where did she get her shop?!
The familiar golden arrows started extending from her feet, heading towards the door, and then climbing up the wall above the door frame.
The system seemed worried that she wouldn't notice, so it drew a golden dotted line above the door frame, indicating that she should hang the plaque inside the dotted line.
Chu Ci: "...Can you please stop being so unreasonable?!"
This is her home!
Who would run their own home like a temple for offering incense?
The death of one person in the building is enough to make those nuns weep for days. She opened an incense shop in the building to sell things related to the dead. Is she trying to drive those nuns to their deaths?
But the system is a piece of junk; it doesn't value the nuns' lives, let alone treat Chu Ci as a human being.
The words "Spiritual Medium" on the black plaque with gold lettering were extremely eye-catching, hanging in the room, urging Chu Ci to hang it up.
"No way!" Chu Ci refused. "If I dared to sell dead people's things in this building, those nuns could drown me with their spittle!"
She refused, and the garbage system didn't argue; it simply let the plaque float in the center of the room.
Chu Ci walked back and forth, nearly bumping into the signboard several times.
It's too dangerous to leave this thing here, and she's about to bring her grandmother over; it definitely can't stay floating here indefinitely.
Her eyes darted around, and she said with a smile, "System, since it's a shop, it's okay not to put up a sign, right?"
"How about we make a deal?" she said, her eyes crinkling. "You give me a little reward, and I'll work harder?"
That psychic incense is so useful! It allows you to communicate directly with the deceased, saving her a lot of trouble!
The system froze for a few seconds, but then actually reissued the task.
[External conditions are now suitable; the main quest for the Spirit Medium system is now officially open.]
[Phase 1: Spiritual Medium's Incense Shop]
Please hang the signboard in front of the store.
[Quest Reward: 1 Spirit Incense]
Yes!
Chu Ci cheered and, standing on a stool, hung up the plaque.
A plate of incense arrived as promised.
However, thinking about the nuns who would surround her later, she felt overwhelmed.
Forget it, the system is so easy to talk to. She'll take the plaque down when she can't stand the nuns surrounding and blocking her anymore.
He dusted off his hands and was about to go back inside when a voice called out from behind him, "Master, will you be staying with us from now on?"
She turned her head and saw the two nuns who had been following He Lihua all day.
"Yes, I rented the house." She smiled and pointed to the Bagua mirror above her head. "It's a family heirloom, used to ward off evil spirits. Would you like to come in and sit down? I'm planning to open a shop and do business in the future."
The two nuns exchanged a glance, clearly wanting to say something, but hesitated and finally swallowed their words with a smile.
"Master, we've come today because we need your help with something!"
One of the nuns smiled shyly, but her eyes held a hint of joy.
"Master, my daughter is getting married, and I would like to have her marriage fortune told. Is that alright?"
"Marriage?"
Chu Ci met the expectant gazes of the two nuns, and then thought about the plaque that had just been hung at the front of her house, and was speechless for a moment.
She's bound to a psychic system, not a fortune-telling system!
Just as she was about to refuse, she looked up and met the nun's eyes.
In an instant, the world spun around her, and several more images were crammed into her mind.
"Master! Master, are you alright?"
"Quickly, quickly, help the master inside to rest!"
Two nuns supported her from both sides and helped her to the spirit communication table.
"It's nothing," Chu Ci quickly waved her hand. "Auntie, is your son-in-law tall and thin, with fair skin, and a black mole on his chin?"
"Yes, yes, yes!" The nun's eyes widened, and she beamed with joy. "Master, you're amazing! You can describe my son-in-law's appearance even though you've never met him!"
She asked eagerly, "Master, I had my daughter and son-in-law's birth charts calculated, and they said they are a perfect match, a match made in heaven! Do you think their marriage will last?"
"They'll be very loving for a long time... Hmm!"
Chu Ci sat at the spirit communication table, her right elbow resting on the table. She was about to talk about what she had just seen when she touched the table and saw something new.
The scene was continuous, lasting only two seconds, but it made Chu Ci's face turn pale.
"No! They absolutely cannot be together!"
"Huh? Why!"
The nun's cheerful face suddenly fell.
"Master, don't lie to me! I had Grandma Hui in Kowloon City do a fortune telling, and she said my daughter and son-in-law are a match made in heaven, their birth charts are perfectly compatible. Their marriage will bring good fortune to each other!"
Chu Ci knew no one liked hearing this, so she patiently explained.
"Your son-in-law is a murderer, you can't marry him! If your daughter marries him, she'll be happy for the first two years, but once she discovers his secret, she won't survive!"
"ah?"
The nun's expression changed, and her heart pounded.
However, she had a good impression of her son-in-law, and her gaze toward Chu Ci carried a hint of suspicion.
She would definitely trust her son-in-law, who satisfies her, more than a medium she has only met twice.
"No way, Master! My son-in-law is a very good person! The first time he visited my husband and me, he brought us a ton of things. Besides, he has a happy family, a high-paying job, and a stable relationship with my daughter. How could he possibly kill someone?"
"That's right, Master, it's impossible, you must have miscalculated!"
The nun who accompanied her spoke up for her.
"I've met that young man. He's very handsome and polite. When he talks, his eyes are always on his girlfriend. He doesn't get angry even when his girlfriend scolds him. He's a rare good match and a perfect match for his daughter!"
With a friend speaking up for her, the nun's expression darkened even more, and she stood up and pulled her friend out.
She walked along complaining, "What kind of master is he? I think he's a fraud! My son-in-law is such a good person, and she actually called him a murderer!"
The nun walked to the door, saw the sign hanging there, and glared at Chu Ci. "Liar! You wait, you dare to deceive me, Abbess He, I'll make you pay the price!"
Chu Ci: "..."
This nun's face changes way too fast!
However, she had seen many people like this before, so she didn't take them to heart.
What she cares about now is the murderer son-in-law of the nun's family.
She had just seen this man stabbing people repeatedly with a knife, his face covered in splattered blood, and he was laughing maniacally.
Having made her judgment, she quickly closed the door and went to call the police.
But the police officers in the station, with their legs crossed and smoking, just scoffed at her report.
"You don't even know the criminal's name? Believe me, I'll charge you with making a false police report!"
"I..." Chu Ci knew he was in the wrong. "Officer, there was just a murder in our building. You have to go and check it out, don't you?"
The officer took a sip of coffee and slowly exhaled a puff of smoke.
“We officers are very busy. Do you think everyone is as free as you? Besides, murder cases are handled by the Major Crimes Unit, not me!”
Chu Ci: "..."
Her fists, clenched so tightly at her sides, made a cracking sound. It took her a long time to suppress the urge to throw a punch.
After leaving the police station, she sat by the roadside and drank three cups of herbal tea to calm her anger.
Fine, if the police won't cooperate, she'll do it herself.
Although she didn't have a gun on her, she was confident in her skills.
After leaving home, she didn't go back. Instead, she went directly to a hospital in Kowloon to pick up her grandmother.
Worried that taking the bus would be too crowded for her grandmother's already poor health, she opted to take a taxi.
When they got off the bus, Grandma was linked arm in arm with her, and as they walked, she touched her chest with heartache.
"You silly girl! Grandma can take the bus, why did you take a taxi? My goodness, that's expensive, enough for a proper meal!"
"If you get hit by a bus, that money will be enough for us to eat several meals," Chu Ci said, mimicking the original owner's tone.
Grandma was still worried, "Oh dear, it's just a chest pain. Just use some liniment to massage it, and you'll be fine after a few days of rest!"
Chu Ci helped Grandma walk towards the building, but when they were about to enter, Grandma refused to go any further.
"Aci, you...you rent a place like this?!"
She looked up and saw the towering building piercing the clouds.
It looks expensive!
She turned to look at her mentally challenged granddaughter and almost burst into tears.
"You silly child, how can the little money we've saved be enough to live in a house like this!"
They probably won't be able to stay for more than six months before they're evicted because they can't afford the rent!
Chu Ci opened her mouth to explain, but He Lihua suddenly rushed out from inside in a panic.
Seeing Chu Ci at the door, he ran towards her while shouting "Thank God!"
"Master, you must go and see! Those nuns are going to take down the plaque you hung on the door!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
