NHWSG chapter 85

But in this situation, questioning further was obviously not very realistic. Although Hu Huanyang was full of question marks, he couldn’t really ask such a stupid question like “what fate” outright. He could only quickly smile and laugh, diverting the topic.

“I’m just testing you.” Hu Huanyang said.

Zhang Jian didn’t seem suspicious. He smiled and handed a piece of milk candy to him. Then, as if feeling a bit embarrassed, he hastily said, “The client is still waiting,” and turned to leave.

Hu Huanyang looked at the packaging of the milk candy in his hand with a heavy expression, feeling a very bad premonition.

There’s a problem, Hu Huanyang thought, there might be a big problem.

He didn’t know what Zhang Jian’s understanding was, but just from those two sentences, he had guessed a lot from Zhang Jian.

A fox’s memory was good, and Hu Huanyang’s life experience was indeed very barren. Apart from staying with Xing Yingzhu after transforming, during his time as a fox, he almost always stayed in the mountains, with very few occasions to come out, let alone meeting people.

Zhang Jian was barely twenty years old in this life. For the past decade or so, he hadn’t left Mount Longhu, nor had he ventured beyond a twenty-kilometer radius of Xing Yingzhu’s place. It was impossible for them to have met.

But if we talk about the past… as a direct disciple of Mount Longhu, with such a prominent status, there must have been merits in his past life, not something as insignificant as animals or plants, most likely also a human. However, no matter how hard Hu Huanyang racked his brains, he couldn’t figure out where he might have had any interaction with this guy.

In the blink of an eye, he had a clue in his mind.

—He might have misunderstood something, Hu Huanyang thought, or mistaken me for someone else.

…This is going to be difficult, Hu Huanyang lamented. He wanted to clarify things with Zhang Jian, but since the other party didn’t bring it up, rushing to confront him would seem abrupt. Moreover, if it was a misunderstanding on Zhang Jian’s part, and Hu Huanyang was mistaken, their relationship would be ruined.

As a monster, Hu Huanyang didn’t want to offend orthodox disciples for no reason and cause trouble for himself.

But if one day Zhang Jian realized his mistake on his own… would he be angry and punish him?

Hu Huanyang scared himself with his own imagination, feeling a chill down his spine, quickly shaking his head, trying to shake away the bloody scenes that needed to be censored from his mind.

So in just an instant, he made a decision—regardless of who was mistaken for whom, since it was his misunderstanding, if Zhang Jian didn’t mention it, he would pretend not to know. After all… the responsibility wasn’t on him.

In his mind, Hu Huanyang found a way to comfort himself, feeling much lighter. He made a rash decision, pushing all the tangled thoughts into a corner of his mind, pretending to forget about this confusing memory and not think about it anymore.

He lifted his feet to catch up with Zhang Jian’s steps, as if nothing had happened just now.

This time, Zhang Jian was going to a private villa owned by a private boss. Zhang Jian didn’t specify the client’s exact identity, only mentioning that he was a relatively low-key CEO, but with considerable wealth, and his company was preparing to go public.

The client’s villa was located in a well-known wealthy area locally. The house cost over sixty million, with its own entrance and courtyard, luxurious decoration, and reportedly, a dedicated butler.

Regarding this, Hu Huanyang said he couldn’t imagine the life of a wealthy person.

As for why the client sought Zhang Jian’s help this time, according to Zhang Jian, it was because the client found that his newly purchased house was “haunted.” After living there for three days, he was so scared that he had no choice but to seek help through various channels, eventually finding his way to Mount Longhu, hoping to ask a “master” to take a look at his home.

Zhang Jian, although young, had already gained a reputation in the circle by following Zhang Chengde, so no one dared to underestimate him.

When they arrived at the villa area, it was just after ten o’clock at night. A middle-aged man of nearly fifty was lingering outside the main gate of the community. He was dressed in light gray sportswear, but his temperament and demeanor were good.

Hu Huan estimated that this was the so-called “client” of Zhang Jian.

Sure enough, as soon as the man saw Zhang Jian, his eyes lit up, and he hurriedly approached, shaking Zhang Jian’s hand vigorously.

“Young Master, you’ve had a hard journey.” The man said, “It’s late at night, and I appreciate you making the trip.”

“No trouble at all, it’s my duty. Just call me by my name.” Zhang Jian gestured to Hu Huanyang and said, “This is my assistant, surnamed Hu.”

“Hu Huanyang.” Zhang Jian whispered again, “This is Mr. Sun.”

“Hello, Mr. Sun.” Hu Huanyang said.

When it came to dealing with people, three Zhang Jians couldn’t match up to Hu Huanyang. He smiled politely, greeted him without any awkwardness, and obediently stood half a step behind Zhang Jian.

“All of you are talented individuals.” Mr. Sun said politely, “Young and promising.”

“My master didn’t tell me the specific situation before we came out, just mentioned that something seemed amiss in the house.” Zhang Jian cut to the chase, “Do you know what’s wrong?”

Mr. Sun glanced around, seeming a bit hesitant to discuss such matters in public. So he made a gesture of invitation and said, “My villa is in the innermost building. Let’s go inside and talk as we walk.”

“Okay.” Zhang Jian agreed.

This villa was newly developed three years ago and was still considered a new property in the area. About half of the units had been sold, and looking around, half of the houses had their lights off.

“I bought this house two years ago, but I’ve never lived here.” Mr. Sun said, “My wife and I have always lived in Yancheng. After all, the company is there, and everything is convenient. This house has been empty for a long time. We only started decorating it last year, intending to move our parents in together… But, just a month after the renovation was completed, my wife, child, and I came back to tidy up, and that’s when things went wrong.”

“What happened?” Zhang Jian asked. “Specifically, did you see anything unclean?”

Mr. Sun instinctively shrank back, hesitated for a moment, then didn’t say anything.

Not knowing if he was genuinely scared or struggling to speak, Zhang Jian waited for a couple of seconds before kindly saying, “You don’t need to be afraid. We’ve seen all sorts of things, even the most bizarre. Just tell me what you think is wrong, and I’ll take care of the rest.”

Hu Huanyang thought to himself, this conversation… isn’t very considerate. If someone didn’t know better, they might think he was intentionally scaring the other party.

He had now realized that Zhang Jian was able to easily command a five or six-figure consulting fee, which truly spoke to his competence. Otherwise, with his client communication skills, he probably would have been squeezed out of this profession long ago.

Mr. Sun also seemed embarrassed. He chuckled a few times, wiped the sweat off his forehead, and said with a forced smile, “Actually, to say we saw something… we didn’t. But it’s strange. Every night at eleven, water starts dripping from the ceiling. It started in a study room initially, but then it spread to the master bedroom.”

Zhang Jian exchanged a glance with Hu Huanyang.

This problem… sounded a bit strange. Since the family hadn’t experienced any misfortunes or encountered any unexpected incidents, let alone seeing anything strange at night, calling a feng shui master just because of some dripping water seemed a bit exaggerated.

“Although the consulting fee you offered is quite generous, I can’t in good conscience deceive you.” Zhang Jian said seriously. “Have you considered if there might be some structural issues with the building?”

“How could that be? I’ve considered everything you’ve said.” Mr. Sun said wryly. “We’ve hired more than a dozen construction teams, but none of them could find the source of the leak. Besides, it’s a standalone villa, and there’s no one living above us, so how could it be leaking? Moreover, the most important thing is, the water only appears after eleven at night and disappears before three in the morning.”

—With the time aspect, that does seem off, Zhang Jian thought.

“And initially, it was just dripping water, but later the water started dripping downwards.” Mr. Sun seemed still frightened. “Once my wife and I were sleeping in the bedroom, and the water dripped onto our faces. It had a fishy and bitter smell, and when I touched it, it felt like seawater.”

“Seawater?” Zhang Jian asked in confusion.

“It seems so, but I’m not entirely sure.” Mr. Sun said. “But it smells like it—”

As they spoke, they had arrived at the entrance of a villa. The villa was pitch black inside, with no lights on. Mr. Sun approached and unlocked the fingerprint lock while explaining, “This thing is really strange. My wife and child are scared, so they’ve moved out. I’m waiting for you to arrive before I leave too.”

“It’s right to move out in time.” Zhang Jian comforted him. “Encountering such things, ordinary people can’t handle it themselves. It’s best to stay away.”

“You’re right.” Mr. Sun sighed.

Mr. Sun led them into the house and turned on the lights.

This villa designed in recent years had three floors in total, each with a considerable area. However, the first floor was almost completely open-plan, with only a few different areas partitioned off and a double-height space.

The second floor was probably a working area like a study or reception room, and the third floor should be where the master bedroom was located.

Zhang Jian instinctively looked up and down at the house, feeling that it was much gloomier inside than outside, with cold winds whistling through, giving him goosebumps.

Mr. Sun, being an ordinary person, couldn’t feel anything and didn’t think much of it. He just seemed a bit wary of the inexplicable appearance of seawater, subconsciously looking around.

But Hu Huanyang frowned tightly as soon as he entered, subconsciously covering his nose and showing a very uncomfortable expression.

“What’s wrong?” Zhang Jian noticed his unusual behavior and asked, “Feeling unwell?”

“Don’t you smell it?” Hu Huanyang leaned close to his ear and whispered, “There’s the smell of dead things here.”

Hu Huanyang was a demon, with a much better sense of smell and perception than Zhang Jian. Zhang Jian almost instinctively believed his judgment and casually asked, “Can you be more specific?”

“In short, it’s a smell I don’t like.” Hu Huanyang said, “Besides the smell of dead things, there’s also scripture that makes me uncomfortable.”