Chapter01
It was the rainy season, and the entire city was shrouded in a continuous drizzle, but it was already dark by three in the afternoon. Cars occasionally passed by on the road, splashing water, and the occasional meow of a stray cat could be heard.
"Ding-ling-ling——" a shrill ring of the phone broke the silence.
Xie turned over, buried his face in the pillow and groaned, then reached out and fumbled to answer the phone.
The middle-aged man's deep voice rang in his ears: "Hello? Is this Xiao Xie? Are you in the house now?"
"Yes." Xie sat up from the bed, his voice hoarse and sticky, "Hello, what can I do for you?"
"Ah, it's nothing serious. Can you see if there's anything missing in the house? I won't come looking for you anymore. Just call me if you need anything."
"There's nothing missing." Xie rubbed his hair, picked up a T-shirt and put it on, then got out of bed to wash.
"Okay, then I won't bother you anymore. You can come to me if you need any help." The man's voice was trembling, as if he was afraid of something.
"Um."
The call was quickly disconnected, but Xie put the phone down. This was the first time he had received a call from the landlord since moving into the house.
Xie sighed softly. The man in the mirror had messy hair, dark circles under his eyes, and a listless expression. However, his appearance was outstanding, giving him a kind of decadent beauty.
In the past month, his life has undergone tremendous changes. First, his parents passed away, and he was trapped in the village. Then he was fired from his job and his rent was due. The continuous blows left Xie feeling a little breathless.
The only consolation was finding a haunted house with a rent two thousand dollars lower than the surrounding area. The house was located in the city center, with complete facilities around it, and there were almost no defects except that the previous tenant had died.
Life has to go on, but Xie is now unemployed. He spent a lot of money looking for a Taoist priest and was cheated several times. He hasn't had a good meal during this period.
Xie Que washed his face, picked up his phone, and prepared to go out for dinner. His neighborhood had only two households on the first floor. He wasn't interested in who his neighbors were, and he'd never considered greeting them. But that didn't mean he could accept having a neighbor covered in blood, looking like someone who'd just escaped.
Xie stood in front of the elevator door, looking at the other person calmly.
Jing Xiebai was obviously stunned. He didn't expect that there would be someone who was not afraid of death and would live in this well-known haunted house.
Not in a hurry to enter, Jing Xiebai leaned against the doorway, carefully examining Xie Que from head to toe. It would have been fine if he hadn't looked, but the sight startled Jing Xiebai. A thick, dark aura emanated from Xie Que, and behind him, a ghostly figure crouched on his back. If it weren't for the faint, almost extinguished fire on his shoulder, Jing Xiebai would have thought it was a ghost, so fearless it had set its sights on him.
"Are you okay?" Out of instinct as a ghost exorcist, Jing Xiebai asked, "Do you need a Taoist priest to take a look at you?"
However, Xie's face darkened, and he subconsciously thought that the other party was also a fake Taoist priest who was trying to cheat people out of money. He couldn't help but regret renting this house.
"No need." He smiled lightly at the other person as a greeting.
The elevator door just opened, but Xie walked in without paying any attention to Jing Xiebai behind him.
I have to say that although it is a haunted house, the surrounding facilities of the community are indeed good, and there are various restaurants to choose from.
However, given Xie Que's current financial situation, if he went in for a meal, he might not even be able to afford to live in the haunted house. Thinking of this, Xie Que's face changed slightly, and a trace of pain flashed in his eyes. He honestly found a roadside stall to eat a quick meal. He wanted to look for a job while eating, but he felt sorry for the data fee, so he had to finish his meal in a hurry, pay the bill and go home.
Although it hadn't been occupied for a long time, the house wasn't dirty. Xie charged his phone and used the time to give the house a quick clean. He didn't know if it was his imagination, but he felt like someone was watching him, and now there was no one else in the house except him.
No, there is a ghost in this house.
Xie's mouth twitched, and he pulled the curtains, sat down on the sofa with a numb look on his face, unplugged his newly charged mobile phone, skillfully entered the recruitment app to look for a job, and kept sending his resume to the HR.
After deducting the rent, he now only has 500 yuan left. If he doesn't find a job, he will have to sleep under the bridge.
Fortunately, Xie Que had a high level of education, so it was not difficult for him to find a job. He quickly found a job with a good salary.
After experiencing a series of events that had shaken his worldview in the previous month, Xie's expectations for the job had become much lower. Five minutes later, he and the other party had set a time for the interview.
Now that he had a job, Xie finally relaxed and smiled for the first time in a while.
Stretching himself up from the sofa, he planned to take another nap to make himself look more energetic.
"Knock, knock, knock."
Xie was halfway through stretching when he heard a knock on the door and froze in place.
He didn't have many friends, and now that he'd lost his job, his former colleagues had distanced themselves from him. Even the landlord had been communicating with Xie over the phone, seemingly unwilling to return to the haunted house. Why would someone come to see him so late at night?
Xie's mind went blank. He wanted to play dead and ignore the strange knocking sound, but the knocking sound not only did not stop but became louder and louder.
Xie stared at his front door, goose bumps forming all over his body. This stalemate wasn't going to work, so he took a deep breath, walked over to the door, and peered through the peephole.
The neighbor who was covered in blood before was now dressed up as a decent person and was knocking on the door impatiently.
…
Xie opened the door with a "clatter".
I'll move out when I make enough money, Xie thought numbly, looking at the face opposite him.
Jing Xiebai hadn't expected him to actually open the door for him. Seeing the regretful look on his face, he wanted to laugh. He curled his lips and chuckled softly, "Hello, new neighbor. How are you thinking about what I told you this afternoon?"
However, Xie was not sure what the other party was going to do. He lived in a haunted house and the neighbors all took a detour there, so why was he the only one who came to visit a haunted house?
Xie didn't move aside. He snorted and laughed, blocking the doorway: "Why don't you tell me why I want to invite a Taoist priest?"
He could not forget the blood-covered look on the other person's face, and although he did not show it, he was still a little scared in his heart.
Jing Xiebai seemed to have expected the other party to answer like this, and he didn't get angry. He took out a piece of talisman paper from his pocket.
"The ghost is following you. If you don't ask someone to exorcise it, you might really have to report to the King of Hell."
Xie Que's expression was blank for a moment, and then his face suddenly changed. He frowned and looked at the other person seriously.
The man was tall and straight, and even Xie Que, at 182cm tall, had to look up at him. His facial features were exquisite, deep and sharp, with a high nose, thin lips, and a pair of slightly upturned, slender, almond-shaped eyes. With a teardrop mole on his right eye, his cold expression gave off a very oppressive feeling.
After the man took off the bloody shirt, he looked unique even in the most ordinary shirt.
However, Xie recalled a series of strange things he had encountered recently. After hesitating for a long time, he finally chose to give in. He let the person in and got him a glass of water.
"Okay, now can you tell me how you knew that I was followed by a ghost?" Xie Que sat down at the other end of the sofa, his body tense, staring at Jing Xiebai with a vigilant look.
Jing Xiebai didn't care and smiled.
"Let me introduce myself. My name is Jing Xiebai, and I'm a ghost exorcist. This afternoon, I saw you covered in black energy and being followed by a ghost. Since we're neighbors after all, I came to knock on your door and offer to help you."
It would have been fine if he hadn't mentioned knocking on the door, but Xie became furious as soon as he mentioned it.
"Can't you just shout? Why do you have to keep knocking on the door?"
Facing Xie Que's angry questioning, Jing Xiebai not only did not feel embarrassed, but instead said with a face that deserved a beating: "I'm just teasing you. After all, your evil spirit is much more terrifying than my knocking on the door."
Xie Que wanted to curse a few more times, but when he thought of Jing Xiebai's words, he swallowed the curse words that were about to come out of his mouth.
"Xie Que, the Que of retreat." He gave his name.
Jing Xiebai nodded, leaned back on the sofa, and looked at Xie Que with a hint of inquiry in his eyes.
"You said that there is a black energy on my body? I was followed by a ghost?" Xie Que had no mood to chat slowly with Jing Xiebai. He was only concerned about the fact that he was followed by a ghost.
Jing Xiebai snapped his fingers at Xie Que, then looked behind Xie Que, waved and greeted the ghost whose face was covered in blood and whose original appearance could no longer be recognized.
Xie Que looked at Jing Xiebai's actions, and his face turned pale when he thought of the strange things that had happened during this period.
Jing Xiebai noticed his reaction, put away his playful expression, and spoke seriously.
"You're not the ghost in this haunted house. I estimate it's been following you for a month. Tell me in detail what you did a month ago."
Xie was silent for a few seconds and didn't say anything.
"Don't be afraid, I'm a legitimate exorcist with a certificate." Jing Xiebai took out the exorcist certificate from his pocket and handed it to Xie Que.
Xie took the document and looked at it carefully.
The ID card was quite old and the photo on it had faded a bit. It was indeed the man in front of him, but he looked a lot younger.
Xie Que had come into contact with many exorcists recently, but few dared to give him an exorcism certificate. He suddenly trusted Jing Xiebai a lot more. Thinking that the ghost was behind him and confirming the other party's identity, he honestly told him everything he had encountered during this period.
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