NHWSG chapter 86

Mr. Sun, who was leading the way ahead, seemed to overhear their whispered conversation and turned around, asking, “Is something wrong?”

“We need to take another look.” Zhang Jian said.

It was still some time before midnight, so Zhang Jian walked around the villa, temporarily not finding any obvious abnormalities. He decided to sit in the living room with Mr. Sun, chatting and waiting for eleven o’clock.

Even with Zhang Jian present, Mr. Sun was still very wary of those strange occurrences, almost turning on every light he could see.

“To be honest, Young Master, before you, I also consulted several well-connected feng shui masters.” Mr. Sun sighed and said, “But it was all in vain. No matter how much they searched, they couldn’t find anything. They just kept telling me it might be a problem with the house’s water seepage, but couldn’t say anything else.”

Hu Huanyang thought to himself, of course they couldn’t blame it on the house’s quality. That would make them seem incompetent.

But then again, with such specific timing and strange water sources, to be able to lie with a straight face and claim it was just a leaking pipe, Hu Huanyang also admired their shamelessness.

“But I know what’s going on. The longer I stay in this house, the more eerie it feels. Every day when I come back, I can’t close my eyes, afraid that something will take my life in my dreams.” Mr. Sun sighed, “Fortunately, after my wife and child moved out, they said there were no strange occurrences in the hotel, otherwise, I would have gone crazy.”

Zhang Jian remained silent for a moment, not saying anything.

Hu Huanyang’s eyes flickered, hesitating for a moment, unsure if he should interject.

Normally, at this point, Zhang Jian should say a few words to ease the atmosphere and comfort the client. But apparently, Zhang Jian didn’t seem to have that intention at all. He just let the other party’s words fall to the ground without any response.

Having been in the live broadcasting industry for a long time, Hu Huanyang had developed an instinct for observing people and social interactions. Watching this scene unfold, he felt extremely awkward and wanted to go over and pull Zhang Jian aside to speak for him.

“Mr. Sun, you can relax for now.” Hu Huanyang smiled, subtly helping Zhang Jian out, saying, “Since he’s here, he must have a solution. You don’t need to worry too much.”

With this lifeline thrown to him, Mr. Sun’s complexion improved slightly. He was about to exchange a few more pleasantries with Zhang Jian when Hu Huanyang, quick-witted, intercepted.

“I see your villa is beautifully decorated, very tasteful, and there are many unique artworks.” Hu Huanyang said, “You must have put a lot of thought into it.”

“Yes, most of it was done by my wife.” Mr. Sun said, “I’m busy with work, but she likes to buy special things outside and bring them back. So she’s the one who decides on the style of the soft furnishings at home.”

Hu Huanyang smiled and nodded slightly, exchanging a few more pleasantries with Mr. Sun before gradually steering the conversation to a close.

Mr. Sun, having been diverted, forgot what he wanted to say to Zhang Jian and temporarily stopped thinking about it, remaining silent.

Hu Huanyang sighed inwardly, mentally patting himself on the back for his contribution.

Zhang Jian clearly had no intention of chatting. If he let Mr. Sun run to warm up to him and then cool him off, the atmosphere in this room would probably hit rock bottom in less than two sentences.

“Mr. Sun.” After about ten minutes, Zhang Jian spoke with a serious expression, “There are some things we need to go through standard procedures for, to avoid unnecessary detours. So I’d like to ask you a few questions, and I hope you’ll answer them truthfully—of course, if any of them offend you, I’ll apologize in advance.”

“Please ask.” Mr. Sun said.

“Have you ever made enemies, or done anything morally wrong?” Zhang Jian’s tone was not very polite, “Or indirectly caused someone’s death, for example.”

“Never.” Mr. Sun denied quickly, “Absolutely not, please rest assured. I’ve always conducted my business diligently and conscientiously, and I’ve never had any problems. Not even a single casualty on construction sites.”

“I know, it’s just a casual question to rule out other possibilities.” Zhang Jian said, “You don’t need—”

Before he could finish his sentence, he suddenly heard an extremely faint dripping sound. Zhang Jian’s expression suddenly became serious, and he turned his head to look in the direction of the second floor.

Mr. Sun, seeing him suddenly fall silent, was also startled and followed his gaze upward.

In just a moment, Mr. Sun himself was stunned.

It was barely past eleven o’clock, but the water stains on the ceiling had already spread rapidly, and the damp water vapor condensed into droplets, hanging there without falling.

Hu Huanyang had already covered his nose, frowning deeply and muttering, “It’s disgusting.”

The smell of dead things that had been present since they entered was now intensifying, mixed with the stench of decayed fish and shrimp from the deep sea. The combination of these odors was unbearable.

With his sensitive nose, Hu Huanyang felt dizzy after just a short while of smelling it, feeling like the smell was piercing his brain.

Moreover, if it were just the unpleasant smell, that would be one thing. The problem was that this smell was mixed with a very pure Buddhist aura.

That pure Buddhist aura, mixed in this rotten and eerie smell, seemed extremely absurd.

Hu Huanyang was troubled by this Buddhist aura, feeling a splitting headache and unable to stand steadily. He staggered and leaned on Zhang Jian’s shoulder.

“Hu Huanyang?” Zhang Jian was startled, quickly hugging his waist and patting his face, “What’s wrong?”

“There’s something—,” Hu Huanyang struggled uncomfortably, covering his head and burying it in the crook of Zhang Jian’s neck, whispering, “Seems to be some kind of dharma seal.”

Zhang Jian understood.

Whether it was Taoist talismans or Buddhist seals, they generally had little impact on humans. If one didn’t pay close attention, they wouldn’t notice much. But it was different for demons. In the demon realm, Hu Huanyang was just a fox who had recently transformed. He could come and go freely through Longhu Mountain because of the special treatment foxes received there. If he encountered something like a seal, naturally, he would feel uncomfortable.

“What’s wrong with this young man?” Mr. Sun asked tremblingly.

“Nothing, he has low blood sugar,” Zhang Jian casually replied.

Then he leaned close to Hu Huanyang’s ear and whispered soothingly. After that, he took out a blank talisman paper from his pocket, made a few strokes on it with his finger, and then, in the same position as he held Hu Huanyang, he tucked the talisman paper into Hu Huanyang’s pocket.

“No… can’t…” Hu Huanyang frowned, whispering, “I still feel like throwing up.”

Zhang Jian was at a loss. After a brief moment of hesitation, he simply took out a fruit knife from Mr. Sun’s coffee table, made a small cut on his own middle finger, and then smeared the blood on Hu Huanyang’s lips.

Hu Huanyang, feeling dizzy from the headache, instinctively licked his lips and tasted a hint of metallic rust.

Clearly, the blood of a legitimate successor was more effective than anything else, but it was also more precious. Hu Huanyang was slightly stunned, subconsciously turning to look at Zhang Jian.

“Feeling better?” Zhang Jian naturally tucked his hands into his pockets and said, “Let’s go upstairs then.”

Mr. Sun, on the side, was already dumbfounded. He wanted to speak up but was afraid of touching some taboo of these experts, so he could only endure, almost getting sick from the effort.

In just a short moment, water droplets were already falling from the ceiling. One drop landed on Mr. Sun’s forehead, making him shiver all over and involuntarily cry out.

“Young… young master!” Mr. Sun stuttered, “Look, the water is falling too fast today.”

Ignoring him, Zhang Jian pinched a handprint and, without wasting the wound on his hand, forcibly squeezed out some blood, wiped it on his own forehead.

With closed eyes, he muttered a mantra, then suddenly opened his eyes. A cold light seemed to flash in his eyes, and a faint layer of golden light covered his pupils.

In his eyes, the villa suddenly changed, as if the sky and the earth were turning upside down. The ceiling seemed to surge with waves, and dense seaweed plants hung from it, almost turning the entire room into a water curtain cave.

These seaweeds were attached to some chunks of decayed flesh, emitting waves of foul smell, as if remnants of corpses.

Zhang Jian’s brows furrowed tightly. After scanning the room, he suddenly turned his head and saw that Mr. Sun’s body was already covered with those disgusting seaweeds.

From his arms, waist, and thighs, almost every joint on his body was wrapped in seaweed. Even a piece was hanging in front of his eyes, slowly wriggling, trying to wrap around his neck.

However, Mr. Sun was completely unaware of this. He looked at Zhang Jian with a bewildered expression, his lips moving as if he wanted to say something.

In Zhang Jian’s sight, the seaweed entwining Mr. Sun’s body seemed to have penetrated into his flesh. Beneath the dark green seaweed shell, there were slightly raised veins, and dark red liquid flowed out from his body along the veins, flowing into the water area on the ceiling.

It was as if… those things were sucking Mr. Sun’s flesh and blood.

… This was even more serious than imagined, Zhang Jian thought.

Mr. Sun was an ordinary person who didn’t know what dirty things he had provoked. Logically speaking, if it was a ghost, it should have retreated long ago since he was present. Moreover, it shouldn’t have dared to come out and harm people so openly in front of him.

But if it wasn’t a ghost…

Zhang Jian subconsciously looked at Hu Huanyang, whispering to him, “Is it a demon?”

Hu Huanyang frowned, seemingly not understanding why he asked this, so he hesitated for a moment and shook his head.

Zhang Jian’s heart sank, sensing a bad feeling.

He faced Mr. Sun’s puzzled gaze, took out a talisman from his pocket, and slapped it on his chest, then turned his head and carefully examined the second and third floors via the staircase.

His gaze swept over two dark room doors, finally seeing a faint golden light through the crack of the last half-door.

“What’s in there?” Zhang Jian nodded towards the wooden cabinet in the corner of the room, asking coldly.