Chapter 46: The Incident

Several dozen minutes later, the two of them arrived at the entrance to a residential complex.

The complex was called West Mountain Maple Grove.

It was not particularly upscale, but because it was located near the university district, housing prices were still quite high.

Back then, Li Sanli’s father had practically emptied his savings to buy this apartment.

Its value had multiplied several times since then.

He never intended to sell it, however.

Once Li Sanli became independent, he simply handed it over to his son.

And Li Sanli promptly turned it into a love nest.

Now that they had reached the entrance, Li Sanli kept rubbing his hands together, his face full of hesitation and fear.

“Old Zhou, why don’t we just not go over there?”

“Brother Zhou, maybe we should wait a bit longer. I recently heard that a qigong master surnamed Ma is about to visit the city. Even if it bankrupts me, I’ll hire him to take a look...”

“Grandpa Zhou, Ancestor Zhou... Damn it, Zhou You, you bastard, stop right there!”

Seeing that persuasion was useless, Li Sanli became both angry and anxious.

He reached out, intending to grab Zhou You.

Instead, he stumbled and nearly fell flat on the ground.

Strange.

Had this guy always been this strong?

Only then did Zhou You turn around and say with a smile,

“What’s the big deal? You just wanted someone to look at the thing, right? What difference does it make if I go take a look?”

Li Sanli took a deep breath, then leaned close to Zhou You’s ear and whispered furiously,

“That thing is a vicious ghost. A vicious ghost that kills without blinking!”

“Even so, has it killed you?”

“...No.”

“Have you or your bed buddy suffered any harm?”

“She’s my girlfriend!”

“Fine. Have you or your girlfriend suffered any harm?”

“...No.”

“There you go.”

Zhou You spread his hands.

“You haven’t been hurt at all. The only master who ended up in the hospital got scared there by himself. That tells us the ghost isn’t particularly dangerous.”

“It’s currently broad daylight too.”

“If we’re just taking a look, what could go wrong?”

“Uh... I guess that makes sense?”

Taking advantage of Li Sanli’s hesitation, Zhou You continued,

“And to be honest, I did learn a trick or two from my grandfather. Maybe I can actually help.”

At last, that became the final straw.

Gritting his teeth, Li Sanli said,

“Fine. I’ll trust you this once. But let’s be clear. If anything happens, we’re running immediately. I can accept dying alongside my girlfriend, but I refuse to be buried together with a virgin.”

Did virgins steal your rice or something?

Zhou You rolled his eyes hard.

But he quickly let it go and instead rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

He had seen plenty of demons and ghosts inside scenarios.

But in reality...

Could ghosts actually exist?

Forget it.

He would take a look first.

Based on Li Sanli’s description, the ghost did not seem harmful.

At worst it lingered around and scared people.

And it was noon.

Even if something dangerous happened, he could always activate the Bone Jade Chime and drag Li Sanli away while running.

Li Sanli led Zhou You into a building.

The man first sneaked into the elevator, pressed the button for the floor, then looked around nervously as if he were committing a crime.

Only after confirming that nothing unusual was present did he force a laugh.

“Old Zhou, you’ve hidden this well from us. We’ve known each other for years, and I never once heard that you could exorcise ghosts and hunt evil spirits. If I’d known earlier, I would’ve...”

At that very moment, however, whether because of a power outage or something else, the elevator suddenly stopped.

The lights went out as well.

His words came to an abrupt halt.

A few seconds later, a bloodcurdling scream erupted.

It sounded like a young girl discovering a cockroach while eating.

Or a frail scholar finding a burly man pressed against him while bathing.

The scream was filled with profound and agonizing despair from beginning to end.

Even with Zhou You’s mental fortitude, the demonic assault on his ears immediately made him frown and clamp his hands over them.

After quite a while, the lights came back on.

There was no suddenly appearing female ghost.

No monster.

Only an emaciated former fat man curled into a ball in the corner of the elevator, still producing piercing soprano shrieks.

“Um...”

“AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!”

“Excuse me...”

“AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!”

“Listen...”

“AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!”

At last, Zhou You could not take it anymore.

He smacked the back of Li Sanli’s head.

Finally, the screaming stopped.

Pressing a hand against his aching temples, Zhou You said,

“No, seriously. What happened to you just now? It was only an elevator malfunction. Did you really need to scream like you were being murdered?”

“...Only an elevator malfunction?”

Li Sanli stared at him blankly for several seconds.

Then he finally realized what he had done and hurriedly climbed to his feet in embarrassment.

“So it was just an elevator malfunction.”

“I thought I’d run into a ghost...”

As Li Sanli spoke awkwardly, the broken elevator started moving again.

A dozen seconds later, it arrived at the correct floor.

By now, however, the man seemed thoroughly frightened.

He cautiously poked his head outside and looked around.

After confirming that nothing unusual was present, he finally let out a sigh of relief and said to Zhou You,

“Old Zhou, my apartment is at the very end.”

“Xuanxuan and I have moved into a hotel recently.”

“Other than those masters, nobody has entered the apartment for quite a while.”

Listening to his trembling voice, Zhou You looked down the corridor.

The area appeared to be in a shaded corner of the building.

The lighting was dim.

Although it was currently noon, everything still felt gloomy and indistinct.

It was as if something lurked in the shadows.

His gaze swept around casually.

Then he suddenly noticed a crude piece of paper lying in a corner.

It was a talisman.

Li Sanli noticed it as well and laughed awkwardly.

“Old Zhou, don’t mind that thing.”

“One of the masters left it behind.”

“He claimed to be a direct descendant of the Shangqing Sect.”

“Then he ran out of the apartment in less than ten minutes and left half his equipment behind.”

“If the man himself was that useless, the talisman probably isn’t worth much either. We should just throw it away.”

Zhou You did no such thing.

Instead, he carefully examined the yellow paper.

Then he neatly folded it and tucked it into his pocket before smiling.

“Alright. Take me inside and let me have a look.”

Li Sanli seemed somewhat puzzled.

But he said nothing.

Leading Zhou You deeper into the corridor, he stopped in front of a door.

He took out a key, inserted it into the lock, and prepared to turn it.

At that moment, a string of ringing sounds suddenly echoed out.

Li Sanli froze instantly.

As though sensing some overwhelming horror, he slowly raised his head and looked toward the source of the sound.

It was coming from Zhou You’s wrist.

Only then did he let out another sigh of relief.

“Oh, it’s your hand bell. Old Zhou, don’t scare me like that.”

“You know I’ve been timid ever since I was a kid.”

“You almost scared me unconscious just now...”

Li Sanli continued rambling as he picked up the key he had dropped and bent down to insert it into the lock once more.

Because of that, he failed to notice that Zhou You was also staring at the softly ringing bell on his wrist.

And the expression on his face was even stranger than Li Sanli’s.