Chapter 38: The Household Spirit (Part Two)

During the release period of the new book, to coordinate with recommendations, there will only be one update recently~~~ Once the book is officially released, there will be a torrent of updates~ There are already drafts in stock.
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Wang Chenghao's face was as pale as a ghost, his lips trembling, his teeth chattering, his back pressed tight against the wall, sweat pouring from his forehead.

Behind the door... who was there?

Who... at four in the morning... would be scratching at the door?

He dared not speak, dared not ask.

The sound—scritch... scratch...—grew louder and louder behind the door, as if something was about to break through and step inside!

“Aaaahhh!!!” Wang Chenghao could no longer contain himself. At that moment, he didn’t even dare turn back. He dashed madly for the first floor.

The first floor was shrouded in darkness.

“Boss... Boss!!” he screamed at the top of his lungs. He needed light, needed noise! This damned inn was driving him insane!

By convention, the innkeeper should have been keeping watch by the door. But here, there was no one.

“Where is everyone... where is everyone!” He was on the verge of tears. There wasn’t a single response. The silence was as cold as a tomb. He couldn’t take it anymore—he ran to the entrance, desperate to open the door. But... the main door was already locked!

“Open up... open up!!” He pounded at the door with all his might, tears streaming down his face. But after only two blows, he suddenly froze.

He hadn’t stopped moving—no, his body, which had just calmed, began to tremble all over again. The hairs on his neck stood on end.

In the glass reflection of the door, he saw... that woman in the black dress... right behind him!

A ghastly pale face, eyes blood red, staring straight at him!

Suddenly, the lights blazed on. Caught off-guard, he shrieked as if the world were ending!

“Aaah! Help! There’s a ghost! A ghost!!”

“Guest.” The old man’s silhouette appeared in the darkness, holding up a lantern decades old. His voice echoed in the gloom like an owl at night. The lamplight illuminated his withered face, only deepening Wang Chenghao’s terror.

“Do you... want to go outside?”

“I want to leave! Turn on the lights! Let me out!!” Wang Chenghao pressed his back against the door, screaming.

The old man did not reply.

After a long pause, he finally said, “Go then... and never return...”

The sound of jangling keys rang out. Wang Chenghao, his voice choked with sobs, pleaded, “Sir, please turn on the lights! Turn them on first! I can’t take it anymore!”

“Is that so...” The old man’s voice grew even hoarser. “You... want the lights on?”

“Yes, yes! Please, hurry!”

Silence.

Three seconds later, with a click, the lights came on. Wang Chenghao glanced around, his eyes rolling back as he instantly fainted.

Blood...

On every wall, in every direction, there was blood!

...

These stains were of indeterminate age, already dried. Some were smeared into large X’s, some formed words. But that wasn’t the most terrifying thing. The most terrifying thing was... on the shelves behind the counter... stood rows and rows of spirit tablets!

At that very moment, a sudden bang echoed from the second floor. It was as if someone had kicked a door open.

The old man’s face changed, and then, wild-eyed, he charged upstairs. He saw... Qin Ye standing at the foot of the bed, just withdrawing his foot from the door.

“You!!” the old man screamed, lunging at Qin Ye in a frenzy.

The closer he got, the paler his face became, until at last... his wrinkled face seemed to split apart, his expression fierce and demonic.

But before he could get close, a surge of yin energy erupted from Qin Ye, denser and darker than his own, sending the old man flying back several meters with a cry of alarm!

“Is this really necessary?” Qin Ye frowned, shook his head, and didn’t spare the old man a glance. Instead, he looked around the room.

Inside, it was pitch black.

The curtains were drawn tight, but there were four candles burning—these candles... were placed atop a jet-black coffin!

“Mew~” A black cat leapt out from behind the door. Qin Ye glanced at it; the door behind had been scratched and gouged by its claws.

“Dead is dead. No matter what happened in life, there’s no more reason to linger.” He sighed, withdrew his gaze, grabbed the old man by the collar, and dragged him down to the first floor.

His grip was icy cold.

The old man had no warmth at all, nor... any weight.

Without the slightest pity, he gave the unconscious Wang Chenghao a not-too-gentle nudge to a sensitive spot, drawing a squeal like a pig’s cry. Wang Chenghao woke with a groan and, upon seeing the scene before him, nearly fainted again.

“Open your eyes wide.” Qin Ye tossed the old man aside and sat on the battered sofa. “This is your karmic tie; you must resolve it yourself.”

“M-mine?” Seeing Qin Ye, Wang Chenghao regained a bit of composure. In his mind, Qin Ye was like a miracle worker, a real-life Doraemon.

“Introduce yourself.” Qin Ye ignored him, nodding at the old man. “How long have you been dead? Why haven’t you dispersed?”

“H-he’s not human?” Wang Chenghao nearly jumped up, but Qin Ye pressed him down into the sofa, staring into his eyes. “Want to be my companion?”

Wang Chenghao blinked, then nodded fiercely.

“Then get used to all this.” Qin Ye turned away. “Let’s get started—I don’t have much patience.”

“Are you... a Messenger of the Underworld?” The old man’s voice drifted like a wraith. Qin Ye, a touch impatient, glanced at his phone. “Thirty-five minutes till five. At five sharp, I’ll take you on your way. Don’t waste time.”

“Yes...” The old man took a deep breath, then bowed his head to the floor. “Honored Messenger... forgive my rudeness!”

“My name... is Zhou Dongfang. I was forty-nine when I died. But I haven’t lingered here to kill or rob, I swear! This inn... has never claimed a single life!”

Qin Ye replied lazily, “Of course. If you hadn’t warned us away at the door, you’d have been scattered on the spot.”

“I was just curious.” He leaned forward. “Why won’t you disperse? Your form is so solid—humans can’t even tell what you are. Is this... a household guardian spirit?”

“Household guardian spirit?” Wang Chenghao asked, curious.

Patiently, Qin Ye explained, “A household guardian spirit isn’t an evil ghost. It’s someone who died with deep attachment, but no malice, and it’s related to their family. Heaven shows mercy and leaves them a thread of life, allowing them to watch over their home as a guardian spirit.”

“In general, these spirits never harm anyone—in fact, they desperately protect the family and home. Simply put, they’re benevolent earthbound spirits, retaining the intelligence they had in life. They’re nothing like the wandering, incoherent ghosts.”

Wang Chenghao nodded thoughtfully, then suddenly looked at Zhou Dongfang. “Wait! At first, he told us not to stay, but then he let us in! He must have wanted to rob and kill us! He’s not a good person!”

“Because... he couldn’t wait any longer...” Qin Ye gave the old man a complicated look. “Listen to his story... This is your karmic debt...”

...

Zhou Dongfang gazed at Wang Chenghao for a long moment, then spoke. “My wife and I... lived in Gu County for decades, all our lives. I was already getting on when my daughter was born.”

“My daughter... her name was Zhou Fangrong...” A trace of wistfulness appeared in his eyes, and a faint smile touched his lips. “She was beautiful, just like her name. In middle and high school, she was always the school beauty... But we were poor then, couldn’t afford anything nice. That was decades ago... the highway hadn’t even reached here, and our little inn barely scraped by each month...”

“After high school, my daughter changed. She started yearning for life outside. Of course... we understood... Gu County was too small. She was so bright and lovely, she deserved to see the world—not be trapped here like her parents, living out her days in this tiny place...”

His voice grew choked. “But I never imagined... when she left... it would be forever!!”

The words “forever” were bitten out with such agony that Wang Chenghao could feel the bottomless regret and hatred.

“She... went first to Donghai to work.”

“Donghai is a prosperous province, living costs are high. But Rongrong never asked us for money—instead, she sent money home every month.”

“We were so proud... boasted to everyone about our sensible daughter... Later, the money she sent grew and grew, from a few hundred, to a thousand, then ten thousand! Tens of thousands!”

“We were happy at first, until one day...” He began to tremble, tears streaming down his wrinkled cheeks. “My wife and I... we can never forget that day...”

“That day... we woke up to find notices posted everywhere—at all the important places in the county, at the schools Rongrong had attended, at the entrance to our complex, at the largest market... everywhere!”

He shook like a leaf in the wind, staring hard at Wang Chenghao. “The notice said... she seduced a company boss, became his mistress! Greedy and insatiable, demanded he marry her! Never stopped asking! In the end... he sued her. The company won... my daughter was convicted of extortion, received a suspended sentence!!!”

Boom!

Wang Chenghao shot to his feet, staring at Zhou Dongfang in disbelief.

“Sit down.” Qin Ye said calmly, “Listen till the end...”

“This is the final chapter of this karmic bond.”

Wang Chenghao’s mouth hung open, head shaking in disbelief, but he sat back down. The old man looked into his eyes and spoke with deep feeling, “I don’t believe it... I can’t believe my daughter would do such a thing! She was so bright, so beautiful, so ambitious—how could she ever have done that?”

“But... the court had ruled!”

“I nearly lost my mind... I called to scold her, told her to come home, but she didn’t answer. Her mother... had a heart attack on the spot, had to be hospitalized... She never knew. I never told her!”

Zhou Dongfang wept uncontrollably. “I was afraid... I was afraid that if I put more pressure on her, she’d do something foolish. I knew... she always seemed outgoing, but deep down she was sensitive... I sold our home without telling her, kept only this little roadside inn...”

“But... I believed in her, I believed that even if she’d done wrong, she could change. But in the entire county—no one gave her a chance!!”

He closed his eyes, his body shaking, as if reliving those hellish days. “Whore... the Zhou family raised a whore... a slut who spread her legs for men’s money... those were the nicer things people said... Even the men whose proposals we’d refused stood at the inn’s door every day, cursing!!”

“We didn’t dare go out, couldn’t lift our heads...” He pointed to his hair. “It all turned white back then. Her mother... died before me, crushed by endless abuse...”

With his eyes tightly shut, Zhou Dongfang’s eyelids quivered violently. “I... I can’t remember when I died... My last wish was to protect this home... Isn’t a man supposed to be the pillar of the family? I was useless in life... let me protect them in death...”

Qin Ye sighed deeply, gazing up at the black ceiling. “Then... why did you stay here?”

Zhou Dongfang opened his eyes and smiled at Qin Ye—a smile with the yearning and contentment of a child. “My daughter never sent word after that. I thought, maybe she’d send a letter someday, and... if I stayed here, I’d be here to see it...”

Wang Chenghao looked at Zhou Dongfang’s deeply wrinkled face, his throat tightening.

“The inn is right by the road... if she ever comes back someday... won’t I be the first to see her?”