Chapter 126 Strange Things at the Nursing Home: Old Man Chen from the Temple...
The thought of 'whether this curse is caused by the main god or an evil god' had just crossed Zhou Fangdong's mind when the system notification sounded:
[Hint: This curse is unrelated to evil gods or the main deity. The situation is critical; the ghost that cursed the tenant must be found and eliminated, otherwise the curse will still erupt even if the tenant returns to the apartment.]
Zhou Fangdong immediately stood up straight.
He brought up his history of conversations with the system and carefully reviewed it from beginning to end.
We're doomed.
I thought that with Xiong Lei, an infinite flow player, and Lu Mingbian, a reliable adult, the two of them wouldn't have any problems even if they encountered supernatural events, but then a vengeful ghost curse suddenly appeared.
Judging from the fact that Xiong Lei was also afflicted by the curse, he probably didn't have any tools to detect or remove the curse.
This incident also served as a wake-up call for him. Although the supernatural props he distributed to ordinary tenants gave them the confidence to confront vengeful spirits head-on, the delayed onset of the curse was still unavoidable.
Among those supernatural items, only the [Red Thread of Fate] can grant immunity to curse damage.
Zhou Fangdong opened the system store and quickly browsed through it.
...There are no curse immunity talismans in the system shop interface, so it seems that collecting supernatural items will have to focus on removing curses in the future.
Zhou Fangdong teleported to the second floor and quickly walked back to the hidden room on the second floor.
He needs to use the ghost market portal to go to the paper shop to find Hou San.
This curse is neither from a supreme god nor an evil god. He cannot corrupt the instance with the ghosts in the tenant's room, nor can he directly use a slime body to impersonate an evil god's descent.
However, his true form only descent was brief, and he feared he wouldn't be able to find the ghost that cursed the tenants during that time.
If we make too much noise and the ghost hides, or even leaves the nursing home and hides in other parts of Linjiang City, it will be like looking for a needle in a haystack.
Zhou Fangdong sought out Hou San because Hou San possessed his shadow puppets, and he needed to ask Hou San to make a trip to the nursing home where Xiong Lei and Lu Mingbian resided.
The shadow puppets could handle 50% of his strength, which was enough. He used shadow puppets to resolve the Penghu Homeland incident.
*
While Zhou Fangdong was anxious about the curse on the tenants, Lu Mingbian and Xiong Lei were completely unaware that they were also cursed. They had just entered the nursing home and were looking for the caregivers in the courtyard.
This nursing home is located on the outskirts of the city, in the Linjiang District to the south.
Before the paranormal events occurred, this was a high-end nursing home known for its beautiful environment and river views.
However, after the paranormal events occurred, ordinary people began to migrate towards the city center. Although this nursing home on the outskirts of the city was not as desolate and dilapidated as the houses in the suburbs, it still seemed very deserted.
Originally, Lu Mingbian planned to take Xiong Lei to the city center to find the nursing home called 'Anxin', as Zhou Fangdong had requested.
But when she asked the law firm for leave, her supervisor mentioned a case and asked her to check it out on her way, without needing to ask for leave, just as a field trip.
Their law firm collaborates with non-profit organizations and often provides free legal services to clients facing financial difficulties or with special cases.
The case involved a non-profit organization that their law firm was collaborating with receiving an anonymous tip-off email yesterday. Based on a blurry photo attached to the email, it appeared to show a nursing home worker abusing an elderly person to death. Therefore, Lu Mingbian's teacher wanted her to investigate the nursing home in the Linjiang District in the south of the city to see if the allegations were true.
Xiong Lei had no objection to which nursing home they went to, so the two changed their plans and came to this nursing home.
As soon as they stepped through the gate, Lu Mingbian and Xiong Lei felt a dampness. Although it was the height of summer, the nursing home was incredibly cold and damp, as if it were in a completely different season from the outside world.
Having experienced paranormal events, the two, especially Xiong Lei who had been wandering through paranormal instances for many years, immediately noticed something was wrong and directly activated the dormant teddy bear.
Lu Mingbian was shocked to see the palm-sized teddy bear in Xiong Lei's arms suddenly grow to be taller than a person. She didn't say anything.
After all, most people who become tenants of Liwan Apartments have had some kind of extraordinary experience.
This nursing home has a large front yard, and both the main building and the support building are parallel to the riverbank, so residents can see the river view from inside the building.
Strangely, there were no security guards in the guard booth at the entrance, and the iron gate was wide open, as if they were not afraid that the elderly would get lost.
The elderly people sunbathing in the courtyard were also puzzled. They merely glanced at Lu Mingbian and his companion as they entered, before resuming their numb expressions.
Lu Mingbian took out her phone, and just as she was about to call the nursing home manager, an aunt in a caregiver uniform hurriedly ran out of the main building.
"I'm sorry, many caregivers have left recently, and we're short-staffed and a bit overwhelmed."
She wiped her hands with her apron, sized up the two people in front of her, and finally fixed her gaze on Lu Mingbian: "What brings you here? Are you family members of some elderly person?"
Lu Mingbian did not reveal his identity immediately, but said, "I want to find a nursing home for my elderly relatives. I heard that your place is good, so I came to take a look."
The aunt's expression immediately changed. She looked left and right, then leaned close to Lu Mingbian's ear and whispered, "Son, listen to your aunt's advice, this is not a good place. Don't send the elderly here."
"Why? What happened here?" Lu Mingbian asked, "You just said that all the caregivers have left and there's a shortage of manpower... Is it because something happened here?"
The aunt sighed, "After Grandpa Chen passed away, a lot of strange things happened here. Everyone was scared. Plus, so many people died, so of course everyone left."
Lu Mingbian recalled the blurry photo in the email and tentatively asked, "How did that Grandpa Chen die? Did he accidentally drown?"
The aunt's expression immediately turned serious, and she frowned as she looked Lu Mingbian up and down.
“Grandpa Chen died of old age, he didn’t drown.” She said, frowning and shaking her head. “You son, you never tell the truth. What are you doing here?”
Seeing this, Lu Mingbian stopped hiding his intentions and took out his lawyer's license, saying bluntly, "I am a public interest lawyer. Someone reported to the public interest organization we cooperate with that many elderly people here have drowned without cause, suspected of being abused by caregivers. So the law firm sent me here to investigate."
The caregiver's expression changed several times before she awkwardly smiled and said, "It's not abuse, it was an accident, all an accident... Let's go inside and talk."
The aunt led the two of them into the main building and to the family reception room.
During this time, Lu Mingbian noticed that the water in a decorative fountain near the main building was abnormal, appearing somewhat murky and black.
When they entered the main building, she found the interior even more damp. There were many mold spots in the corners, and the floor was wet, as if it had just been mopped. There was also a faint earthy smell in the air, like the smell of soil washed away by a heavy rain.
The two women settled down on the sofa in the family reception room, and a caregiver brought them a cup of tea.
Lu Mingbian didn't drink, but continued the previous topic: "Who is this Grandpa Chen you just mentioned? Why have strange things been happening so frequently since he passed away? What strange things have happened at the nursing home? Since you said that those drowned elderly people weren't abused by the caregivers, then what was the reason?"
The caregiver sat down opposite them and sighed again: "Grandpa Chen used to be the shaman of the local temple... Do you know Chen Shengwang? We used to worship him. Ever since the supernatural events broke out, the supervisory bureau has not allowed ordinary people to make offerings and sacrifices privately, for fear of violating taboos and bringing disaster. So all the temples in the city were closed. Grandpa Chen had no choice but to come to our nursing home to eat rice."
"To be honest, I don't know exactly what happened. My parents passed away a while ago, so I took leave to go back to the countryside to see them off. But while I was away, things changed in the neighborhood... First, Grandpa Chen passed away suddenly without any illness or pain, then some elderly people drowned inexplicably, and finally, all the caregivers who took care of the drowned elderly people also... Sigh."
“So many people died, the remaining caregivers were terrified and all ran away. When I came back, there were only three caregivers left in the ward, barely holding on. As a result, yesterday, even the old director was bedridden.” The aunt shook her head as she spoke. “I’m so old, I’ve lived enough anyway. My parents and children all died because of ghosts, so I just stayed here to help out.”
Lu Mingbian frowned: "This is clearly a paranormal event, why isn't it being reported to the Supervision Bureau?"
Upon hearing this, the aunt slapped her thigh and exclaimed, "Do you think I didn't ask for help? I reported it yesterday! Those people made such nice promises on the phone, saying 'It's on its way, it's on its way,' but then they turned around and said there was a major incident at the city hospital, and they all turned around and rushed to the hospital. They only said they would come today when it was late at night... I think they just think our place is remote and we're all elderly people, so they don't care whether we live or die."
Lu Mingbian knew about the incident at the hospital, and the fact that the people from the Supervision Bureau said they would be coming today was probably not a lie.
Although the unusual sight above Liwan Hospital yesterday could not be captured on camera, it has become a major event and gone viral online after many netizens corroborated each other's posts.
However, these stories about the nursing home are only the caregiver's side of the story, and she may be using supernatural events to cover up the fact that the caregiver abused the elderly.
There is definitely something wrong with this nursing home, but we cannot rule out the possibility that it was caused by a caregiver abusing an elderly person to death, leading to the elderly person's ghost returning to seek revenge.
Thinking of this, Lu Mingbian asked, "Could you tell me the room number of the drowned elderly man and the caregiver so I can investigate? You know, I was commissioned to investigate and need to submit some evidence to my superiors to prove that the elderly man's death was unrelated to the caregiver."
The aunt stared at Lu Mingbian for a long time before saying, "Even good firewood can't burn a rotten kettle. Don't blame me for not warning you, the deeper you get involved, the faster you'll die. After those old people passed away, the caregivers who were closest to them died next... If you continue your investigation, you might be the next one to be taken away."
Hearing her say that, Lu Mingbian subconsciously touched the key around his neck.
The landlord said her mother would protect her from ghosts through this key... She believed the landlord, and she believed her mother.
Lu Mingbian smiled at Auntie: "It's alright, this is my own decision, and I will bear the consequences myself. You just need to give me the room keys for the caregiver and the elderly person so I can investigate."
The aunt didn't say anything more, but silently took a few keys off her keychain and placed them on the coffee table.
"Here are the keys. Go find them yourself. I have other things to do. The elderly person's room is in this building, and the caregiver's room is in the support building next to the main building."
After saying that, the caregiver left the room.
After she left, Lu Mingbian said to Xiong Lei, "Wait here for me for a while, I'll be right back."
Xiong Lei stood up: "I'll go with you. I've solved many paranormal events and I can protect myself." Clearing many paranormal dungeons counts as solving paranormal events, no problem.
Moreover, he felt very unwell, as if he was being targeted by something... This feeling was like being given some kind of debuff by the main god when clearing a dungeon.
Lu Mingbian didn't want Xiong Lei, who looked like a high school student, to get involved, but then he thought that if it really was a supernatural event caused by a ghost seeking revenge, it would be better for the two of them to act together rather than be alone. So he took him along to search the room.
The old man's room had clearly been cleaned, but no useful information was found.
But when they searched the caregiver's room, they discovered an important clue.
The caregivers' rooms were even more damp, with moss growing on the walls.
No one helped clean up the rooms of the deceased caregivers. In one of the caregivers' rooms, they found a lot of colored paper used for crafts, as well as some money for the deceased and small silver pieces of paper.
Both the main building and the support building have canteens, so there's no need to cook in your room. However, the two of them found a worn-out rice sieve and a small bag of a mixture of salt and rice in the caregiver's rest room.
Most importantly, Lu Mingbian found several torn pages of notes in a drawer in the room of a caregiver surnamed Wang.
The above are the handwritings of two people. The text written with a brush is very blurry due to the dampness of the room and poor preservation. It can only be vaguely seen that it is related to "sending water evil", and lists some materials to be used and taboos during the ceremony.
The other handwriting was done with a ballpoint pen; although the writing was messy, it was still legible.
The handwriting in the ballpoint pen seemed to be someone venting in a panic, writing: 'Without Grandpa's protection, the nursing home is finished...', 'Try Grandpa Chen's method, why didn't it work?', 'If only Grandpa were still here...', 'They're all dead, all dead, all dead! Those old people were killed by ghosts!', 'We're next!'
Grandpa Chen, were these notes originally Grandpa Chen's?
As Lu Mingbian was reviewing the notes, a transparent figure stood up from the ground and slowly approached the two of them.
But Xiong Lei noticed its existence as soon as it appeared.
Instead of activating the teddy bear, Xiong Lei plucked off one of its ears and threw it over.
The bear's ears exploded like a small bomb, shattering the transparent figure.
Lu Mingbian also noticed the transparent figure, and his heart jumped.
Xiong Lei said in a deep voice, "We need to leave here quickly. There are really supernatural events here, and it's extremely dangerous... We can't stay in this nursing home any longer."
This is not a supernatural instance; there are no restrictions from the main god, and they can leave whenever they want.
Xiong Lei learned from Lu Mingbian that there are organizations in this world that specialize in handling paranormal events, and that it's best to leave such matters to professionals.
Lu Mingbian nodded solemnly and pulled Xiong Lei to walk quickly outside.
When the two returned to the courtyard, the caregiver was pushing the elderly people in the courtyard towards the main building.
Lu Mingbian paused for a moment: "Auntie, we'll be going now. If the people from the Supervision Bureau come later, let them investigate Grandpa Chen's room."
When the caregiver heard her mention Grandpa Chen's room, her face immediately tightened: "Good heavens, why are you having the investigators look for his room? Grandpa Chen died of old age, unlike those old people who mysteriously drowned! All the strange things in the nursing home happened after he passed away. His room is perfectly clean and has nothing to do with the strange things in the nursing home!"
“I don’t doubt that Grandpa Chen is the source of these strange events…” Lu Mingbian waved the few pages in his hand, “I found what appears to be his notes in the caregiver’s room.”
"Judging from these notes, after Grandpa Chen passed away, paranormal events occurred in the nursing home. For some reason, the caregivers did not report it to the supervisory bureau. Instead, in order to resolve the paranormal events, they privately performed a water-sending ritual... I suspect that the caregivers must have broken some taboo during the ritual, which caused the paranormal events in the nursing home to escalate."
After saying that, she handed the notebook to the aunt, "Keep these papers safe. Give them to the investigators when they arrive. We're leaving now."
She photographed all these notes as a way of giving an account to the charity.
It is now known that all the caregivers who had contact with the drowned elderly man are dead, and the notes also suggest that the man's death was most likely not caused by the caregivers.
As for whether the incident was caused by a caregiver abusing the elderly and leading to their death, or whether there were ghosts in the nursing home that reappeared after Grandpa Chen's passing... let's leave that to the Bureau of Supervision to investigate.
She's done everything she could, and now it's confirmed to be a paranormal event. Everyone has their own expertise, so it's best not to linger here.
Even knowing that he had the apartment key for protection, Lu Mingbian still felt inexplicably uneasy... The feeling of impending doom was like being targeted by some bloodthirsty beast.
Seeing that the two were really about to leave, the caregiver became anxious. She changed her previous admonishing manner and stopped them directly: "Don't rush off. Are these few pages of notes enough to explain? This isn't enough to confirm that the old man's death has nothing to do with the caregiver, is it? How about this, I'll personally accompany you to Grandpa Chen's room for a look."
Lu Mingbian looked at the tightly locked iron gate not far away, then at the caregiver blocking their way, and realized what was going on: "Did you write the complaint email? You deliberately brought outsiders to the nursing home to investigate..."
Xiong Lei realized what the woman was trying to do: "Are you helping the water ghost in the nursing home find a substitute??"
The caregiver remained as kind and gentle as ever: "What are you talking about? What do you mean by a stand-in? How could I possibly harm you? Come, come inside, I have something I want to tell you."
Just then, a fourth voice suddenly rang out in the courtyard.
"Oh my, tsk tsk tsk, look at how this has turned out, it sounds so eerie..."
The three people present were all startled and looked in the direction of the sound.
A man dressed in a loose suit, looking thin and bony, suddenly appeared in the courtyard. The large iron gate was locked, over three meters high, and had spikes on it. It was unclear how the man had managed to climb over it.
With his hands tucked into his loose sleeves and a kind smile on his face, he slowly walked over to the three of them.
As he took a small black paper figure out of his sleeve and held it between his fingers, he asked curiously, "Auntie, what are you going to talk about? Can we listen too?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com