Ominous House: The Ominous House, #1

By Queena Cotton

Not for the faint of heart!
People's expressions change when they talk about haunted houses. Behind every haunted house, there is a thrilling and secret story.
What on earth did I experience in the dead person's house...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Queena Cotton
• Release date: May 15, 2024
• ISBN: 9798223900658

Book preview

Ominous House

Chapter 1 Pick a fight

Do you know any haunted houses?

A haunted house is a house where someone has died a violent death.

Sudden death generally refers to unnatural death, such as accidental death, suicide, homicide, etc. People who die in this way are said to be unwilling to accept that their life span has not yet ended, and their ghosts usually linger after death.

Their ghosts will linger in their original residences, so strange things usually happen in such houses.

The owners of such houses usually sell them at a discount. In those years, I was forced to make a living and accidentally started a business of reselling haunted houses. I bought them at super low prices, processed them, and then sold them at high prices.

The income from reselling haunted houses was indeed considerable, and I made a lot of money in those years. However, the strange and bizarre things I encountered lingered like nightmares for several years after I quit. Thinking about it now still makes my back cold and I break out in a sweat.

Today I finally plucked up the courage to tell my story, and I also wanted to use this method to make a final break with my past.

My name is Wollaston, and I just graduated from college that year. I don't know what happened to me during the years I was in college, but I was always unlucky and failed in everything I did. After graduation, I tried to find a job but encountered many setbacks. Not only did I not make any money, but I also owed a lot of foreign debts.

My hometown is in the countryside. As the only person who passed the college entrance examination, I was sent out of the village with music and drums by the villagers. I was glorious for a while. But now I am the one who is in the worst situation. Those childhood friends who didn't pass the college entrance examination have come out to the society early and are now well- off and prosperous .

Due to my self-esteem, I seldom go back to my hometown, and I don’t want my parents to get anxious and angry because of me.

But self-esteem cannot be eaten. Just when I was overwhelmed and could hardly make ends meet, I suddenly received a call from Norton.

Speaking of me, Norton, I am absolutely a god.

The word God here does not mean magical God, but rather crazy God.

When Norton was young, he was a bit lazy and drank and gambled every day, so he was kicked out of the house by my grandfather. No one knew where he went. When he came back a few years later, he was wearing a dirty and torn Taoist robe and had become a half-baked Taoist priest. When he saw my grandfather, he didn't call him father, but called him donor, which almost made my grandfather angry. Later, my grandfather beat him out with a stick.

Norton didn't dare to go home, so he went to the town to set up a stall to tell fortunes.

But I am still alive today thanks to this unreliable Norton.

I was studying abroad that year, and suddenly I received a call that my grandfather was critically ill, so I asked for leave from school and rushed back home. When I got home, I found that there were many people gathered in front of my old house.

My aunt told me with red eyes that my grandfather was dying, but he refused to die because he wanted to see me for the last time.

I hurried to my grandfather's bedside, my nose was sore and tears started to flow. My grandfather, who used to be healthy and energetic, became unrecognizable to me. He lay on the bed with his eyes closed, weak and breathless. He kept mumbling my name.

When he heard that I was back, Grandpa's eyelids twitched and he opened his eyes. He raised his arm with difficulty and pointed to the door. Everyone understood what he meant and left the room except me.

I saw the skin on my grandfather's forehead moving and white stripes appeared. I could tell that it was the fair and tender skin that was usually hidden under the wrinkles and had not been ravaged by the years.

My grandfather kept his eyes on me and his Adam's apple moved as if he wanted to talk to me.

I quickly leaned over to listen more carefully.

At this time, I noticed that Grandpa's expression was very painful, and I heard a hissing sound from his throat, just like a flat tire. His face was swollen and red, and his chest rose and fell.

I had never experienced this before, and I wondered if Grandpa was going to die. I was extremely anxious and wanted to ask how Grandpa was doing.

Who knew that just as I opened my mouth, a breath of air suddenly came out of grandpa's throat.

This breath did not have the stench of other dying old people , but instead had a fresh fragrance. I opened my mouth, caught off guard. I inhaled the breath, and a stream of icy air flowed down my throat into my body and quickly spread throughout my body. At that moment, I felt like I had fallen into an ice cave, and my head was heavy and my body was as if it was filled with lead. I was so heavy that I could not stand up and sat down on the ground.

Everyone heard the noise and rushed in. Grandpa should have passed away by then, but although I could see them, I seemed to have lost consciousness, and the worst thing was that I didn't even have the strength to open my mouth to speak.

At this moment, Norton, who had not been home for a long time, suddenly appeared and shouted Yangzi was beaten, don't touch him.

Seeing my emergency, no one had any good solution. In addition, my grandfather had just passed away and the family was in chaos. They could only let Norton torture me.

Norton carried me to another room, found a broken bowl, and took out a handful of beans from his bag. I could see glutinous rice, black beans and so on in it, but I couldn't see anything else.

Norton put the beans in a broken bowl, and poured half a bowl of wine from his grandfather's wine gourd into it, then held the broken bowl and muttered for a long time, and finally struck a match to light the wine in the bowl, and the room was immediately filled with the aroma of grains and wine. Norton was not afraid of the heat, and put his hand into the bowl and stirred it for a long time, then pinched my earlobes and soles with his hands full of alcohol, then pried open my mouth and poured the wine that was still on fire into me.

Norton's dirty hands fiddled with the bowl of wine for a long time, and I felt very sick, but strangely, I had no strength at all and couldn't speak. After drinking the bowl of wine, I felt a warm current and my body felt much better.

Norton fumbled around in his arms, as if he was picking mud off his body, and after five minutes, he finally pulled out a needle from somewhere in his clothes. The needle was as thin as an ox hair and black, and it was unclear whether it was dirty or originally that color.

Norton held the needle, closed his eyes, and seemed to be gathering his strength, with sweat dripping down his face. At this time, his parents also gathered around, and seeing this situation, they were anxious but did not dare to disturb him.

Finally, Norton suddenly opened his eyes, stabbed the needle into the middle finger of his left hand, and then poked the needle into my forehead. He gritted his teeth and accumulated strength , as if he was picking something out.

The needle pierced the center of his brow, but there was no pain. At this moment, Norton seemed to have put all his strength into the needle. He supported himself on the kang with his left hand, pinched the needle with his right hand, and plucking it hard, his face flushed and his neck thickened, and finally plucking out a dark green thread. After the thread left his body, it instantly turned into white mist and disappeared, and the needle broke.

Only later did we learn that the last breath a person exhales before death is called disaster. This breath is the dirtiest and most poisonous thing accumulated in a person's life. If it falls on a flower, the flower will wither. If it accidentally sticks to the clothes, it will cause death. Suffering from a serious illness, being thrown in the face and not being able to recover even for a year or two, this is what people often say about suffering. A person like me who eats it directly into his stomach would definitely be dead if Norton wasn't there.

Even so, it took half a year for my body to gradually recover.

After this incident, the family's view of Norton has changed. People in the village have also seen that Norton is indeed capable. Therefore, if the family has any weddings, weddings, birthdays, etc., they will ask Norton to help organize it. But Norton's character is still a bit out of place in this family, and no one wants to talk to him. Only when I go home on vacation can I chat with him and talk.

One time, when I just got home, Norton suddenly came to me mysteriously and said, Nephew, please do Norton a favor. When it's done , you will benefit from it.

After listening to his story, I was almost angry. This unlucky Norton actually asked me to dig into a dead person's coffin for someone else.

Norton and I are only eight years apart in age, and Norton has a wild and unruly personality, so we often talk without restraint and without respect for one another. So after hearing what he said, I got mad What the hell am I helping you with ? You still know that I'm your nephew? Are you going to bury me alive?

Seeing that I was anxious, Norton hurriedly explained to me that it turned out that the old Liang in the village had suddenly fallen seriously ill and was in a coma, and was about to die. But the Liang family was one of the richest families in the surrounding villages, and it didn't matter if he died, he still had three sons, and there was no plan for how to divide the family property after his death. So his three sons found Norton and asked Norton to find a way to extend the life of the old Liang for another three days.

So Norton thought of a way to conceal the truth and asked me for help. He told me to get into the coffin, just for show, and the coffin was made of cardboard and covered with a layer of loose soil. I would lie in it for one night and they would take me out the next morning.

After listening to Norton, I replied angrily I won't help you, it's unlucky for a living person to crawl into a coffin.

Norton said, My silly nephew, are you still thinking about whether you are lucky or not? Although I have helped you to pick out the bad luck of your grandfather, your bad luck has not been eliminated. If you are not careful, you will be unlucky for the rest of your life. This method I thought of is also killing two birds with one stone. On the one hand, it helps the Liang family, and on the other hand, you lie in the coffin, separated by the Yin and Yang, even if you are a person who has died once, all the bad luck will be gone. When you crawl out of it tomorrow, I guarantee that you will be radiant, and you will be prosperous in the future, with good fortune, rapid advancement, and great wealth...

Norton spitted and counted on his fingers for a long time. Then he took out two thousand yuan and stuffed it into my hand, saying it was a deposit, and there would be more money if the deal was done.

I knew that the Liang family would give him a lot of money, and when he spoke so seriously, I was tempted and agreed without thinking.

Everything went smoothly under Norton's arrangement. That night, I got into the coffin that Norton had prepared. The coffin was in a grave dug in the back mountain. Except for the coffin and me, everything else was done according to normal funeral procedures. I lay in the coffin and heard the old man's three sons crying like three idiots and calling me dad. I almost laughed out loud.

But after they closed the coffin and covered it with a layer of loose soil, I felt a little regretful.

The coffin lid was closed, and it was pitch black inside, without a single ray of light. When a layer of loose soil was put on top, the surroundings became even more deadly quiet. I could clearly hear my own heartbeat...

Chapter 2 Reselling Haunted Houses

I really wanted to quit, push open the coffin lid and run out.

But it seems a bit unkind to take money from others to help them get rid of their misfortunes, and then ruin their lives right after they got in. What's more, the three sons are calling me dad, and if I run out, they will chop me to pieces .

So I just lay there, counting the time on my fingers.

I don’t know how much time passed, but I was so carefree that I actually fell asleep in a daze.

When I woke up, I had no idea what time it was, or how long it would take until dawn. The lid of the coffin was covered with dirt, but I could feel a cold wind blowing in from outside the coffin.

The wind blew on my body, and it hurt like a knife cutting me. Besides the sound of my own heartbeat, I could also hear rustling sounds coming from the four corners of the coffin.

After waiting for a while, something seemed to crawl up my body.

I reached over my body and grabbed a handful of things, which kept squirming in my palms.

Fuck! I yelled, my body was already covered with dense insects. I touched the insects and found that they all had hard shells and many thin legs, which was disgusting.

They were not afraid of people, and they came in from nowhere, more and more. Soon they crawled all over my body and kept crawling up my face. Some of them even tried to get in through my nostrils and ear holes .

My endurance finally reached its limit, and I screamed and stood up from the coffin .

Fortunately, the coffin was not a real coffin, and there was only a thin layer of loose soil on it, so I jumped out of the coffin smoothly.

It was dark outside, and the group had long since dispersed. I breathed a sigh of relief, and looked back at the coffin in the moonlight. Strangely, there were no bugs inside. Was what I just experienced just an illusion?

I was so confused that I didn't dare to lie down again, so I just ran back home.

After I got home, the coldness in my body had not faded away. I was still shivering even under the quilt. Soon I developed a high fever again, which made me dizzy and semi-comatose.

After a while, I vaguely saw Norton coming back with a bruised face and nose. His hair was like weeds, and his Taoist robe, which was already very torn, was torn into rags.

Norton saw my expression, sighed, and said, Nephew, as long as you don't move, this will be done. Now it's messed up...

I cursed weakly, Just pull a few more and you say it's easy. How about I put a bunch of bugs on you and see?

Norton shook his head and didn't argue with me. He just took out a few pills from his pocket and stuffed them into my mouth. The next morning, my fever was gone.

When I wanted to find Norton to ask about the situation, I found out that he had left his hometown overnight.

Later I found out that the old man died at night, probably when I climbed out of the coffin. Norton messed up and was beaten up by his three sons. I guess he was too embarrassed to stay at home, so he just ran away.

After that, I didn't hear from Norton again until I received a call from Norton.

Norton was very excited when he heard my voice on the phone. He told me that he had gone to the south to develop his business and had settled down in Shenzhen. He was now a Feng Shui consultant for several listed companies, earning tens of thousands of yuan a month. He couldn't handle it all by himself, so he wanted me to come over and help him. He wanted me to have a car, a house, and some girls to date.

I was really struggling, and Norton's phone call was like a lifeline. I had no choice but to hold on to it. Based on my understanding of Norton, there must be some exaggeration in his words. But I thought that no matter how true his words were, he would not be worse off than I am now, right? Later facts proved that I didn't know Norton well enough .

So I bought a hard seat and went south to Shenzhen to join Norton.

When I saw Norton at the station, I almost didn't recognize him.

In my memory, he was still wearing a ragged Taoist robe and looked poor and destitute. Now he was wearing a suit, a pair of gold-rimmed glasses, and his hair was shiny. When he saw me, he gave me a bear hug and shouted, My dear nephew, I finally meet you. You have helped Norton a lot...

I thought to myself, what does this have to do with anything? How can I help you when I just arrived?

I was carrying my luggage and saw Norton hailing a taxi. I felt a little confused. Isn't it said that he earns tens of thousands of yuan a month? How come he can't even afford a car?

My guess was soon verified. Norton directed the car and quickly left the city and drove towards the suburbs. After turning several corners, the taxi stopped in an old residential area.

Norton led the way and finally led me into a basement.

My intuition told me that I had been tricked by this unreliable Norton again. The basement was dark and damp, with a pungent musty smell. Norton's room was like a garbage dump, with cockroaches crawling everywhere. There were a pile of wine bottles and instant noodle boxes in the corner. I guess even mice wouldn't want to stay in this place, let alone a place for people to live.

I sneered and said, Norton, you are a Feng Shui consultant with a monthly salary of tens of thousands, and you are only provided with this dormitory?

Norton grinned, but before he could say anything, a group of people rushed in from outside.

This group of people all have bald heads, are shirtless and wear vests, and have various tattoos on their bodies. You can tell at first glance that they are not good people.

The fat black man in the lead glanced at me and said to Norton, Hey , Taoist Li, he is your nephew Wollaston? Shouldn't he pay back the money this time?

Norton stepped forward and said, Mandel, my nephew is new here. He is a college student and has a very active mind. Don't worry, we are here. I will definitely return your money with interest in a while.

The fat black man raised his eyebrows After a while? How much time has passed? I don't have that much patience. Your nephew is here today, so I'll give you some face. I'll come again in half a month. If you still don't pay me back, you and your nephew, be careful ...

Norton quickly agreed.

The fat black man waved his hand, and several of his men came up and held me down, and searched Norton and I and took away the only few hundred dollars we had.

The fat black man and the others walked away. I looked at Norton, still furious, and asked loudly, You are so fucking capable. You even cheated your own nephew. Did you borrow money from others to gamble again? Also, how did they know my name?

Norton didn't say anything, but took out a piece of paper from his bag and showed it to me.

I took it and saw that it was a loan contract. Norton had borrowed 300,000 yuan from someone. There were two borrowers, one was me and the other was Li Dongbin.

I pointed at the name and asked, Who is this Li Dongbin?

Norton smiled bitterly It's me.

Bullshit. Isn't your name Li Dagang?

Hehe, the name Li Dagang... doesn't sound very fairy-like. I changed my name to Li Dongbin a long time ago...

Fuck. Li Dagang, you are really good...

Nephew, it's Li Dongbin...

I waved my hands, Stop talking nonsense. Why did you borrow money under my name? Did I provoke you? No wonder you said I helped you a lot when I just got here. You are just trying to drag me into this.

Nephew, I've calculated that our horoscopes are compatible for wealth. We can only be successful if we are together...

Get out. I'll just trust you again and I'll be supported by you. I'm telling you, this contract is invalid if it's not signed by me personally. You can be your Feng Shui consultant here, I'm leaving... I was so angry that I was shaking all over. I ignored Norton and turned around to leave.

Nephew, you saw those people. They don't care whether the contract is valid or not. If you want to run away, they won't let you go.

I had just taken two steps when I heard Norton's words and couldn't help but stop again. What he said made sense. Those people looked like gangsters and they really didn't care about the means.

Norton saw me stop and said quickly Nephew, Norton is not lying to you. I really have a way to make a lot of money, and I asked you to come here to make a fortune together. By then, let alone the 300,000, 3 million will be no problem...

I turned around and looked at Norton. I felt angry and resentful, but also a little sorry for him. I guess the suit he was wearing was just a prop for him to save face.

Is there anything to eat? I'm hungry...

Norton nodded quickly, found a pot and put two packs of instant noodles in it, then handed me a pair of chopsticks Eat quickly, and listen to me while you eat...

I sneered and said, You're not going to ask me to crawl into a coffin again, are you?

Norton smiled and said, How could that be possible? I didn't think it through that time, but I've thought about it for a long time this time...

Norton briefly explained the whole story to me. I then realized that he borrowed the 300,000 yuan not for gambling, but because a little girl in the residential building had leukemia and would not survive without a bone marrow transplant, which cost more than 300,000 yuan. Norton had been in Shenzhen for a few years and did not have that much money, so he borrowed a loan shark to pay for the girl's surgery.

After Norton finished speaking, he was afraid that I didn't believe him, so he took out the hospital bill.

Only then did I start to look at Norton with a new eye, and said, Norton, your spirit is commendable, but isn't this a bit of a bad idea to borrow money at high interest rates? And you dragged me into this.

Norton waved his hand Nephew, I have no other way. Trust me once, I really have a way to make money, and you must help me to make it happen...

Seeing that Norton looked confident, I had no choice but to calm down and listen to him.

After listening to him, I realized that the method he was talking about was to resell haunted houses. According to him, the profit from this is quite considerable. If everything goes well, one sale can make 300,000 yuan.

I didn't take it seriously Why don't you pull a few punches? Last time you almost buried me alive, and this time you tricked me into reselling a haunted house. Everyone knows that the haunted house is haunted. Only an idiot would follow you. I haven't lived enough...

Norton's face flushed with anxiety, and he was afraid that I would leave. He pulled my sleeve and said, Nephew, have you been particularly unlucky these years? Have you always been unlucky?

He was right about that. Damn, I have been extremely unlucky these past few years . My girlfriend cheated on me, I made mistakes at work, I lost a lot of money in business...almost all the bad luck has happened to me.

Seeing that I didn't say anything, Norton continued, I told you that the bad breath of your grandfather, my father, will bring you bad luck for the rest of your life. I had thought of that plan last time, but you messed it up again. If you want to change your luck, just do as I say this time...

I squinted my eyes at him and asked, Do you have any idea?

Nonsense. Who are you, Norton? Li Dongbin. I'll take care of your business...

Chapter 3 Deserted Building on the Edge of the City

I was half-believing and half-doubting What method? If you still use the same method as last time, I would rather go with bad luck...

Don't worry, nephew. This method is actually to break into a haunted house, which is a good thing that kills two birds with one stone. This haunted house is full of resentment because of the sudden deaths of people. If the resentment of these wronged souls does not dissipate, even the ghost catcher will be helpless. So this haunted house and the outside world are two worlds of yin and yang. When you enter a haunted house, the bad energy in your body will be suppressed by the resentment in the haunted house. The greater the resentment, the weaker the bad energy. Over time, the bad energy in your body will naturally disappear. Norton explained.

Fuck it. As long as I don't get rid of the bad luck, I will have to keep selling this haunted house to you?

I can't say for sure. You have a lot of bad luck. I don't need to tell you. You know it better than anyone else. As for this haunted house, it's not as dangerous as you think. Don't you know what Norton is capable of? Just help me. Together, I'll make sure you have a good life.

I almost laughed out of anger, pointing to the house Norton, I'm not blind, you've already had no food to eat, and you want me to eat delicious food and drink spicy drinks?

Norton waved his hand You don't understand. I finally figured it out over the years. Our fates must be together to prosper each other. If we separate, we will be haunted by bad luck. So even though I didn't suffer any harm, I'm not much better than you.

I stared at Norton So this time...I will trust you for once?

In fact, I have no other way to go now. The money I have on me has been searched and I don’t even have the money to go back.

Norton slapped his thigh and said, That's right, nephew. I'm telling you, I've already set my sights on a house. If we can get this deal done, we can pay back the three hundred thousand in half a month. Stop eating, come with me, and let's go take a look at that house.

As he said that, Norton snatched the chopsticks from my hand, put on a bag, and pulled me out of the basement.

We got into the taxi and I whispered, Norton, we're all out of money, do you have any money left?

Norton winked at me Don't worry.

As he said this, Norton took off his shoes and took out two hundred yuan from under the insoles.

I covered my nose and said, Norton, you look like a Taoist priest, don't you?

Norton laughed and said, If you don't tell me, who will know?

The taxi left the suburbs and drove towards the city. It stopped at a rural-urban junction , with rows of houses in front. We should have passed by here when we came here, but I didn't pay much attention at the time.

Norton pointed at the houses and said, See? This is a village. The city has been expanding over the years, and the land here is becoming more and more valuable, and the housing prices are soaring. The house we want to build is inside.

Norton led me as he talked, all the way to a two-story building inside.

It was almost dusk when we arrived. The setting sun was shining on the gray building, and the roof of the building was covered with weeds, which made it look particularly lonely and desolate.

I expressed my feelings, and Norton nodded and said that this house had indeed been uninhabited for a long time. Without people, it naturally looked desolate.

After listening to Norton's introduction, I also learned the origin of this so-called haunted house.

This two-story building has been built for several years. The owner's surname is Chen, and his name is Chen Dafa. Chen Dafa went out to work when he was in his twenties. He was one of the first batch of people who went out to work. Chen Dafa spent most of his time working outside, and only his wife Li Ximei and Chen Dafa's mother, Mrs. Chen, were at home. Because Chen Dafa was smart and hardworking, he quickly made a lot of money and built this two-story building when he returned home. This made the villagers envious.

After the small building was built, Chen Dafa went out to work again. Then, the house started to have problems one after another.

It turns out that this Li Ximei is pretty and looks a bit like a foreigner. But she is very strong in the village, a fierce woman, or to put it bluntly, a shrew. She has always been bad to her mother-in-law, Old Lady Chen, and she orders her around, and sometimes even hits her. Everyone in the village sees it, but only Chen Dafa himself is kept in the dark. Before the two-story building was built, Li Ximei often did not give Old Lady Chen enough food. Now that she moved into the new house, it has become even worse. Li Ximei asked someone to build a low house on the side of the house with the remaining bricks and stones from building the house . Every day, she asked the old lady to clean the new house and let her live in the low house after finishing her work. The low house was windy on all sides and the shed could not shelter from the rain. The old lady's life was miserable.

Chen Dafa was working in another province with a construction team and had not been home for two years. But Li Ximei was pregnant.

Even a fool could see that Li Ximei was not a decent person and that the child could not be Chen Dafa's. The villagers were talking about the fact that Li Ximei had dated many men behind her back, and they were talking about it with details.

No one expected that the always humble old lady Chen would explode. She found Li Ximei and asked her why she didn't give birth to a son or daughter for the Chen family, but cheated on Chen Dafa and left a bastard. Li Ximei was used to being strong, so she would never listen to the accusations of old lady Chen. She claimed that Chen Dafa was not good at that, and she did this to leave a descendant for the Chen family. The two quarreled until midnight, and Li Ximei drove old lady Chen out of the house in a rage.

outside that day , and many people in the village saw that Old Lady Chen was soaking wet, her white hair was messy from the rain, and her eyes were fierce. Although she hadn't eaten enough for a few days, she didn't know where she got the strength from, she found a shovel in the village, and walked home angrily with it.

Old Lady Chen used a shovel to break the door open, broke in, and swung the shovel over, chopping off half of Li Ximei's head. The next day, people found Old Lady Chen hanged in the new building. In this way, including the child in Li Ximei's belly, three people died that night. A house like this where someone died suddenly is a haunted house, so naturally no one dared to get close to it.

Some people said that in the middle of the night, they could hear Li Ximei and Old Lady Chen arguing coming from the house. Others said that they saw Old Lady Chen hanging at the door with a head full of messy white hair, grinning and laughing.

After seeing this scene and hearing the sound, everyone fell seriously ill after returning home. From then on , no one dared to approach the deserted building, or even mention it.

Later, a homeless man who didn't know the inside story found that no one lived in the house, so he moved in. Who knew that a few days later , when a foul smell came out of the house, he was found dead inside. It is said that the homeless man's eyes were wide open, his mouth was wide open, and his tongue was hanging out long, as if he had seen something terrible and was scared to death.

The owner, Chen Dafa, wanted to take advantage of the relocation to sell the house. However, several people died in the house, and even though he lowered the price again and again, no one was interested. So the house remained abandoned.

Listening to Norton's introduction to the house, I felt a chill down my spine and my scalp tingling.

Looking at the two-story building in front of me, the windows on the second floor are blocked by thick curtains. I don't know if it's an illusion, but I always feel that there is a pair of resentful eyes staring at us behind the curtains.

I couldn't help but shudder.

Norton on the other side didn't take it seriously and continued, Nephew, I've already spoken to Chen Dafa on the phone. The land price is skyrocketing now, and he's eager to sell it. His offer is already very low. I'm sure I can lower the price by another 20%. When we're done, we can sell the house at a high price, and we'll make more than 300,000.

I sneered and said, Norton, that's easy for you to say. I'm afraid of the money. I can earn it but I can't spend it... Besides, you don't have more than 200 yuan in your pocket. No matter how low the house price is, I can't sell it to you for 200 yuan, right?

Norton glanced at me and said, Do you know what 'seam' means? When Chen Dafa heard that I was interested in this house, he immediately gave me the key. After we finish dealing with it, we can just find a buyer first. Don't worry about these. Let me tell you about the plan. We need to go to this house tonight to see what went wrong.

Ah? You mean to enter this house at night? I was shocked and asked, Can't you come during the day? Why do you have to come at night?

Norton waved his hand During the day? Not during the day. During the day, the Yang energy is strong and will cover up many things. Dealing with a haunted house is like treating a disease. Only the right medicine can be prescribed. We have to know where the problem lies before we can find a way to solve this evil situation.

I felt very nervous after hearing this, so I asked tentatively, Can I stay out and keep watch outside?

Norton glared at her It's not theft, what are you keeping secrets about? Besides, even if I'm keeping watch, I'm the one keeping watch, you should go in.

Why? I was stunned.

Have you heard of the tomb raider? The tomb robber...

What does this have to do with tomb robbing? I was very confused.

Our exploration of haunted houses is similar to tomb robbing. Tomb robbing requires coordination, and usually involves father and son. Because if it's not the father and son who go to rob the tomb, then once the tomb robber enters the ancient tomb and gets something priceless, the person watching outside is likely to kill him and keep the wealth for himself. And the rule left by the tomb robber's ancestor is that if a father and son go, the father must watch outside and let the son go in to rob the tomb, because the father will not hurt his son no matter how great the temptation is. Our broken haunted house also requires coordination. So I couldn't do it alone, so I asked you, my nephew, to come here. I thought, although we are not father and son, we are as close as father and son, right? I saved your life. So if we cooperate, we are halfway to success. I am your Norton, and I won't cheat you. What else are you afraid of?

I glanced at Norton and said, Haven't you cheated me enough? You've been talking for so long, are you telling me to let me enter this house alone?

As I said this, I glanced at the deserted building again . I found that a shadow had appeared on the second-floor window, staring at us intently...

Chapter 4 Visiting the House

I shuddered with fear and stared at the curtain. The shadow behind the curtain was almost certainly a human figure. But the figure just stood there, motionless, like a statue.

Norton probably didn't notice it. He continued what I said, How could Norton let you go in alone? I was just giving an example...

As Norton was talking, he noticed something strange in my direction, followed my gaze and asked in confusion Yoko, what are you looking at?

I pointed to the window and said, Look at the shadow behind the curtain. It has been so long and it has not moved at all.

Norton looked at the window, then at me, and asked, Where is the shadow? Wollaston, if you don't want to enter this house, you can't make up a lie to scare yourself...

I glared at Norton angrily and cursed, I made up a story about you , bah , bah, bah , I don't talk about people during the day and ghosts at night. I clearly...

What I didn’t expect was that when I turned my head and looked at the curtain again, the shadow had indeed magically disappeared.

I rubbed my eyes. Was I hallucinating again, or had the person behind the curtain left that place again?

Norton waved his hand Okay, stop looking. Even if there is a shadow, there is no need to be afraid. It means it is a person. You should know that ghosts have no shadows. Let me tell you about my plan...

After listening to Norton's explanation, I felt a little relieved. Indeed, it was better to have a person behind the curtain than a ghost. But at that time I didn't realize that in many cases, the human heart is often more terrifying than a ghost.

Norton took me all the way to the door of the deserted building and stopped.

As I approached the gate, I looked up and suddenly had a feeling in my heart.

At this time, the last ray of the setting sun in the sky also set, and the sky was completely dark. The small building in front of me gave me a particularly great pressure, a feeling of being crushed down and suffocated. Looking at the black painted door, it was like a tiger's mouth, waiting to swallow us up after we entered.

But I didn't dare tell Norton about this feeling, for fear that he would laugh at me for being timid. Since I agreed to work with him on this haunted house, I should just follow his instructions.

At this time, Norton looked around, took out the key and unlocked the door.

As the door creaked open, a long-forgotten smell wafted into the air.

You don't even need to go in to see; the smell is enough to tell you that no one has lived in this building for a long time.

Norton took out two high-intensity flashlights from his bag, handed one to me, and said, After you go in, don't shine them everywhere. Just follow me and light the road ahead.

I nodded, and Norton turned around and was about to go in, but then he seemed to remember something, took out something from the bag and stuffed it into my hand.

When I looked, it turned out to be a small puppet, a rag doll.

The rag doll was only the size of a palm and was made very crudely. It did not look like it was produced in a factory but rather like it was sewn by oneself.

I was very confused Why give me this?

Norton said, I'll explain this to you later. You hold this doll. If... I mean if you encounter an emergency, such as bumping into something, or hearing my command to run, you spit on this doll, throw it out, and run outside as fast as you can. Remember?

Norton is usually humorous, but when he explained these things to me, he was unusually serious. This made me nervous again after I had calmed down a little.

Norton saw my expression and waved his hand casually I'm just giving you insurance. Nothing will happen. Just follow me closely.

Because I had been cheated before, the more Norton promised, the less I believed him. But I was afraid there was no turning back. I gritted my teeth and nodded.

Norton turned on the flashlight and shone it along the doorway.

The light was strong enough to illuminate the place I was looking at. I could clearly see that the first floor was a living room, with furniture such as sofas and coffee tables still placed there. But when I stood outside and looked around, I didn't see the low house that Li Ximei had built for Old Lady Chen with discarded bricks and stones. I wondered if it was demolished afterwards or what happened?

Norton had already walked in, so I quickly turned on the flashlight and followed Norton in.

Although I didn't trust Norton very much, at this moment, he became the only person I could rely on. If it was just this empty house, I wouldn't be so scared. It was mainly because of Norton's previous introduction and the inexplicable shadow behind the curtain that made me feel uneasy.

I was thinking, since no one has lived in this house for a long time, how could there be a shadow? And now that I think about it, there is no light in the room, so even if there is a person standing behind the window, how could there be a shadow on the curtain?

But obviously I couldn't think of the answer to this question for the time being , because Norton had already walked to the middle of the living room, and I quickly followed him.

Once we entered the house, the strong smell of dampness became even stronger, almost suffocating. Another more obvious feeling was that the house was too cold.

In Shenzhen, the temperature difference between day and night is quite large, but the climate at this time is not cold enough to make people feel cold. But it is different in this room, it feels like entering an ice cellar.

After staying in the room for a while, my skin gradually adapted to the temperature and my body felt a little better.

After entering the house, Norton held a flashlight and moved slowly in front, shining the flashlight around from time to time.

As I had been told, I didn't dare walk around or take photos randomly, so I had to follow Norton's footsteps closely.

After following Norton around the first floor for a few times, he didn't seem to find anything special, but he did figure out the structure of the first floor.

The first floor is the living room and kitchen, as well as a bedroom and a bathroom. I guess that bedroom was prepared by Chen Dafa for his mother, but he didn't expect that Li Ximei didn't let the old lady live in it at all.

Norton looked very carefully, even shining a flashlight behind the toilet in the bathroom, but no one knew what he was looking for.

Finally, Norton calmed himself down, waved to me, and walked towards the stairs.

It seemed like he was going to the second floor to check, so I followed him there.

As a result, when I put one foot on the stairs, I suddenly felt something strange behind me. It was a special feeling. I didn't have eyes behind my head, but I could feel someone was looking at me from behind.

This may be the so-called sixth sense. I believe many people have had the same feeling as me.

The feeling was so strong at the time, so strong that I couldn't help but look back.

I shone the flashlight behind me, but there was no one there.

I breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that I was too nervous and really scared myself.

I turned around and wanted to follow Norton to the second floor, but I didn't expect that after just a short while, Norton was no longer on the stairs.

I was shocked and cursed him in my heart, saying that he was not very reliable. He really deserved my evaluation. You said you asked me to follow you, but you should pay attention to me. I am such a big person , but I didn't follow you. Didn't you notice? You actually left me down and went upstairs by yourself.

I hurried up the stairs, trying to catch up with Norton.

When I was halfway up the stairs, I realized something was wrong.

Because I listened carefully, and strangely, there were no footsteps on the second floor. The stairs under my feet were made of wood, and I recalled that I didn't seem to hear any footsteps on the stairs just now, which means that Norton might not have gone upstairs.

At this moment, the entire deserted building fell into dead silence.

It was as if my second uncle had disappeared in this deserted building. My heartbeat quickened rapidly, and I felt like it was going to jump out of my throat.

We got separated in such a house. I was so upset that I went down the stairs again and came back to the first floor.

I scanned the first floor and was surprised to find that light was coming through the crack in the door of the empty bedroom.

I stopped abruptly. This was totally unexpected. I had just been to that room with Norton, and there was only a wooden bed and a cabinet on the wall. There was nothing unusual at that time. How come there was light coming out of it just after we left?

To confirm what I saw, I squatted down and turned off the flashlight in my hand .

the light from the empty room continued to flicker. It looked like there was a candle burning inside, emitting flickering light.

I had a guess. Could it be that when I turned back just now, Norton suddenly thought of something and went back to the room? And I was so nervous that I didn't notice it?

I swallowed hard, touched the doll on my waist, and tried to calm myself down.

I turned on the flashlight again and walked towards the empty house involuntarily.

When I arrived at the door of the room, it was ajar, leaving only a crack.

The light flickered.

Although I was still very scared, my strong curiosity prompted me to reach out and push open the half-open door.

The door creaked and I pushed it open.

At the same time, I shone my flashlight inside. When the flashlight shone on the bed, a person really appeared on the bed.

Ah... I screamed and almost dropped the flashlight.

Although I had guessed that it was Norton who had returned, I was still frightened when I suddenly found someone on the bed.

Chapter 5 Falling Bodhisattva

It's me. Just when I subconsciously wanted to turn around and run, Norton's voice came in time.

Fuck, Norton, why didn't you tell me you were coming back? You scared me to death? I complained in a low voice.

I just thought of something, but I didn't have time to tell you. Norton explained briefly and got up from the bed.

What did you think of? I asked.

Come here and lie on this bed. Norton waved at me.

At this time, I found a candle lit on the floor of the room. The flickering light I saw must have come from the candle.

I didn't understand what was going on, so I just lay down on the wooden bed as I was told.

Wollaston, if the homeless man who died here was sleeping, which bed would he sleep in? Norton suddenly asked.

I didn't think much about it when I lay down as Norton instructed. But when Norton asked me this, I was startled.

According to normal logic, the homeless person lives in this small building just to find shelter, so there should be no need for him to live on the second floor. So for convenience, he will definitely choose to live in a room on this floor.

This means that the homeless man most likely died on this bed.

After figuring this out, I jumped up from the bed Fuck, Norton, what do you mean? Why are you letting me lie on this dead person's bed?

Norton curled his lips Look at your death, it's just a death, why are you so excited? Life and death are just two states of life in the world. Is death so scary?

I waved my hand Stop talking nonsense, tell me, what did you find?

Norton pointed to the bed So I asked you to lie down...

Seeing Norton's mysterious look, I plucked up my courage and lay down again.

Norton pointed at the cabinet opposite and blew out the candle. The room fell into darkness again.

Only then did I realize that when I lay on the bed, I was facing the cabinet and my eyes were directed there.

I understood what Norton meant. The homeless man was lying on the bed, and the first thing he saw was this cabinet. If there was any accident, it should have been caused by this cabinet. Norton must have suddenly thought of this and came back here to find out what was in this cabinet.

Norton held up the flashlight, looked at me, walked to the cabinet, and reached out to hold the handle of the cabinet.

I held my breath and watched Norton pull the cabinet door open.

We shone both flashlights at the same time, and a strange scene suddenly appeared inside the cabinet.

Inside the cabinet, there was a statue, only the size of a mineral water bottle. The statue's face was not as kind as the Bodhisattva in the temple, but rather had an evil look, somewhat similar to the Vajra in the temple, and the statue was holding a round bundle in its hand.

What was even more bizarre was that there was a rope hanging from the neck of the statue. The statue