Although the plum blossoms on the terrace were transplanted not long ago, they are already full of flower buds, swaying in the cold wind.
After dinner, Chi Shen hung up the lights he bought online. The Spring Festival was approaching, and he also planned to add a festive atmosphere to his home.
For places that were out of reach, he directed Ji Xingchen to float up and hang them. Soon, a string of lights was hung on the plum tree. Chi Shen turned on the lights and took a look. The style he chose was very simple, with small, drooping round bulbs in warm yellow. The effect was pretty good, creating an atmosphere without being eye-catching.
After hanging up the small light bulbs, Chi Shen cleaned up the dead chrysanthemums on the terrace. These chrysanthemums had been taken care of by Bai Wan and the female ghost in red before. Now that the two ghosts were gone, Chi Shen accidentally killed several of them, and he had no choice but to throw them away.
However, Gui Lian was still a little afraid of the plum tree that was soaked in Buddha's light. In the eyes of these ghosts, it seemed that the whole tree was glowing with golden light. While Chi Shen was doing this, Gui Lian was lying in the large water tank on the terrace and blowing bubbles. This tank was newly bought by Chi Shen. He planned to use it to raise fish after the winter. Because a child had drowned in this tank before, Gui Lian liked it very much.
When Chi Shen was hanging the lights, he was gurgling in the tank. When Chi Shen was throwing chrysanthemums, he was also gurgling in the tank.
It seemed that his ghost life was just gurgling and he had lost his dreams.
A lost little ghost floated past their building. The ghost's eyes followed the ghost and saw that the little ghost was scared away by the plum tree. He blew a few more bubbles out of boredom.
Before he knew how many hundredth bubble he had blew, the storage cabinet on the terrace suddenly moved. The long-rotten cabinet door moved slightly and opened, revealing a pair of pale hands.
The hands picked up the empty flowerpot that Chi Shen couldn't hold, stretched it out, and threw it into the trash can in the living room.
Then the hands took the broom from the corner of the terrace and swept the dirt on the terrace. After doing this, he put the broom back in the corner, and when he was about to close the cabinet door, he hesitated. Then the cabinet door was pushed open again, and a pale face poked out. A hand stretched out to the water tank and knocked on the water tank.
"I'm thinking about my ghost life, don't disturb me." Ghost Face said, and spit out a few bubbles while speaking.
The hands knocked on the water tank again, as if to comfort him.
Although he was told not to disturb him, Ghost Face continued to talk: "Ah, Auntie is gone, the silly female ghost is gone, even Huang Lingling is gone, Bai Wan is not here either... It's so deserted, this home has really become so deserted, it's too boring!"
The cabinet ghost knocked on the water tank twice.
Ghost Face continued, "Are you saying that they destroyed Chi Shen and Ji Xingchen's world of two? It's all fake. Let me tell you, I've been following them for so long, and every time you feel how close and in love they are, in the end they will tell the deceived person that it's all fake, just to hook you. There is no love between them at all, they are just using each other."
The closet ghost shook his head.
"Brother, don't disbelieve me. You didn't go out. If you go out, you will know that it is all bubbles..."
The closet ghost ignored him, retreated into his closet, and closed the door.
After a while, Chi Shen came back and saw that the terrace had been cleaned up. He smiled and thanked the cabinet ghost, then went back to the bedroom. It was late and it was time to go to bed.
Silence returned to the terrace, with only a ghost named Ghost Face looking up at the sky. However, there were not even stars in the city night, only clouds dyed red by the lights.
His pale face twisted for a moment, then quickly returned to normal.
"Where is my liberation?"
Ghostface was muttering to himself.
"I am suffering from the pain of drowning all the time. I hate water but I can't live without it... Even a fool can leave it, so what about me?"
No one answered, not even the ghost. Only the plum tree, quietly emitting Buddha's light in the middle of the night, accompanied him.
He sank to the bottom of the tank.
The past few days were relatively peaceful. Chi Shen went to get off work and came home as usual, but he no longer mentioned asking Ji Xingchen to help him with work. The enthusiasm of his colleagues also faded quickly. Sometimes they would talk to Chi Shen enthusiastically, but when they got a response from Chi Shen, they became cold, as if they had lost interest in Chi Shen, and some even began to be afraid of him again.
"A building caught fire. I heard that two elderly people and a child died. Let me show you the building. It was full of black smoke. It had been burning for a long time when the fire department arrived..."
In the evening, after dinner, Chi Shen continued to tinker with his small terrace, while Ji Xingchen was watching the news next to him. This time he clicked on a video shot by a netizen himself.
There is already the rudiments of a small garden here. Originally it looked like a chrysanthemum farm, but winter is almost over and all the chrysanthemums have withered. Also, because Chi Shen doesn't know how to take care of them and this place is really filled with yin energy, most of the chrysanthemums have died or been injured. But this has made room for other flowers.
The plum tree on the terrace is a little too big compared to the entire terrace. Although it is big, the ghosts in the house don't like it. But with this plum tree, the terrace looks like a garden. With the newly added large water tank in Chishen, and if two fish are raised in it, it will look even more like a garden.
Chi Shen was renovating the water tank today. He added a small trough on it and pumped water from the tank to create a water circulation. This made Gui Lian even happier. He preferred running water to stagnant water. As soon as Chi Shen put up the small trough, Gui Lian started jumping around the edge of the water tank.
Chi Shen thought he was causing trouble, so he drove him away. Gui Lian came over to watch the news with Ji Xingchen. At this moment, he glanced at the computer screen and said, "Isn't this black smoke from a fire? Why is this Yin Qi, and it's so thick that ordinary people can see it. Where is this? Are other places so dire?"
Ji Xingchen also glanced at it and said, "Hong Kong City."
Gui Lian was immediately choked. He thought for two seconds and then said, "It seems that the Special Security Bureau is really not doing well. Chi Shen should take care of it."
Ji Xingchen didn't say much to him. He just turned his head to look at Chi Shen. Chi Shen was still tinkering with his water circulation. He felt that there was something wrong with the instruction manual and was using his own method to modify it.
"Police cannot convict criminals when they have not committed any crime," said Ji Xingchen.
"What do you mean..." Ghost Face thought for a moment, and when Ji Xingchen closed the computer, he suddenly realized, "You understand, you're saying I'm stupid!"
Ji Xingchen glanced at the time, put away his computer and walked into the house: "No, I'm just stating a fact."
Watching Ji Xingchen leave, Gui Lian suddenly sighed.
Why does he feel so lonely even though there are ghosts everywhere?
At this moment, Chi Shen's cell phone rang. Gui Lian seemed to sense something and suddenly looked over. An ominous feeling emanated from the receiver of the phone. It was a call from a ghost.
Chi Shen calmly answered the phone, said a few words, and waved to Gui Lian: "I'm going out... Fortunately, today is Friday, so I don't have to go to work tomorrow."
Ghostface was a little confused: "Take me with you?"
"I'll take you to meet new friends. I hope you'll like them." Chi Shen said with a smile.
Chi Shen threw his tools beside the fish tank, washed his hands, put on his coat and set off.
"Bai Wan's call."
Chi Shen said as Ji Xingchen walked into his shadow.
"They're in a little trouble and we need to go help them."
An hour later, Chi Shen thanked the ghost driver with red stitches on his neck and got off the car inside an old residential building.
The ghost driver looked at the residential building and did not leave immediately. Instead, he looked at Chi Shen.
This abnormality naturally caught Chi Shen's attention. In the past, after the ghost driver dropped him off, he would want to step on the accelerator and run away at 250 mph. But today he didn't leave yet, so he naturally had something to say.
"Don't be shy, what do you want to say?"
The ghost driver stretched out his hand to straighten his neck uncomfortably, and said in a low voice: "This place is very weird. I have a colleague who came here to pick up passengers in the middle of the night and then disappeared."
Chi Shen nodded: "Is your colleague a human or a ghost?"
The ghost driver raised his head, blood seeping out from the stitches on his neck, staining his hands that were holding his neck red, and then flowing out from between his fingers: "It's the ghost who brought me into the industry."
It is nine o'clock in the evening, when every household is bustling with activity. This residential building is no exception. Warm lights are on in the windows, and the sound of the television, the noise of children, and even the sound of couples quarreling make this small place extremely full of life.
But this breath of life looks a little different from Ghost Face's perspective.
Ghosts always dislike crowded places, but here, Ghost Face not only disliked it, he wanted to run away on the spot.
In this old residential building full of the smell of fireworks, beyond the not-so-bright lights, there was a thick layer of black air covering it. That black air was even darker and more creepy than the one that Chi Shen had used to threaten the Special Security Bureau that night.
A cold wind blew from the residential building. People who got off work late at night wrapped themselves tightly in their down jackets and walked in. They felt that the wind seemed to blow into their bones, but when they walked into the residential building, they felt the warmth.
“Is this the little trouble you mentioned?!” The ghost face was about to be deformed, “This place is full of people and yin energy, it seems wrong no matter how you look at it!”
Chi Shen walked slowly into the residential building: "If it was right, I wouldn't come--"
He suddenly stopped and turned to look at Ji Xingchen.
Ji Xingchen stood at the entrance of the corridor, without moving, but looked up at a dark, unlit window upstairs.
"What's wrong?" Chi Shen asked.
Ji Xingchen retracted his gaze and looked at Chi Shen: "Sixth floor, 7-4, is my home."
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