Chapter 78

Wang Tao suffered a mild concussion from the fall, but fortunately, it wasn’t serious. He woke up that night, and his entire demeanor became paranoid and panicked. He kept screaming that there were ghosts, ghosts chasing him, trying to kill him! The doctor administered a sedative, which finally calmed him down, and he fell into a deep sleep again.

After Wang Tao’s accident, his wife, who was sleeping at home, naturally rushed over upon receiving the news. Now, she was outside the hospital room, wiping her tears, and when faced with police questioning, she seemed clueless.

“I don’t know why my husband would go out in the middle of the night. I was half-asleep when he said he was going to the bathroom to smoke. Because I’m not in good health and he can’t quit smoking, he always goes out to smoke alone whenever he wants to, so I didn’t pay much attention and went back to sleep.”

“Did you hear any noise when your husband ran out?”

Wang Tao’s wife thought for a moment and said, “Maybe I was sleeping too deeply. The medicine I take has sleep-inducing ingredients, so I don’t know when he went out.”

“You’ve been married to your husband for years. Have you noticed anything strange about him?”

“Strange? No, my husband and I have always had a good relationship. He has a good temper, is upright, and has hardly ever raised his voice at me. He always accommodates me and follows my lead. He works very hard, and my parents have been very impressed with him over the years. They’re planning to hand over the company to us in a few years, and we’re preparing to have children. Officer, my husband is just simply injured and hospitalized, right? Why are you asking these questions?”

Jiang Tian exchanged a glance with the Captain, and Jiang Tian hinted, “Wang Tao keeps shouting that ghosts want to kill him. We don’t know why…”

Wang Tao’s wife stiffened a bit, fearfully saying, “Officer, how can there be ghosts in this world? My husband must have been confused from sleep and had a nightmare. How can you, as police officers, believe in such superstitions? I guess my husband is under too much pressure and too tense mentally, given the high expectations our family has for him.”

Jiang Tian suddenly realized and said, “Sorry for the disturbance.”

Wang Tao’s wife smiled warmly, her attitude still gentle, “No worries, thank you for helping bring my husband to the hospital. Otherwise, in this cold winter, who knows what might have happened.”

Jiang Tian and the Captain didn’t ask further questions, knowing that even if they did, they wouldn’t get anything useful. They decided to wait until tomorrow to visit Wang Tao again.

After watching the police leave, Wang Tao’s wife turned and entered the hospital room.

…

Outside the hospital, Jiang Tian and the Captain found Master Gu, who had just finished eating instant noodles at the 24-hour convenience store. They explained Wang Tao’s situation to her, noting that Wang Tao was indeed suspicious. He either knew clues about Xu Ying’s death or was the killer himself; he was definitely not as innocent as he appeared.

Gu Feiyin had already known this, as Wang Tao seemed to have mistaken her for Jumpy, constantly begging her not to kill him, nearly scaring him to death.

After recounting what happened when she went to find Wang Tao, Jiang Tian and the Captain fell silent, imagining the scene of a sinister long-haired woman crawling through the window, shivering in fear with their hair standing on end-no wonder Wang Tao was so terrified.

Jiang Tian wiped his sweat and whispered, “Master Gu, this can’t be used as evidence, and your actions count as trespassing. If Wang Tao finds out, he might turn around and sue you, which could land you in jail…”

Gu Feiyin: “…??!”

The Old Lady’s hunched back suddenly straightened, her eyes wide and rolling.

Gu Feiyin jumped in fright, pointing at the Old Lady beside her, “It’s not me, it’s her fault. She carried me up there. I had no choice, afraid of falling from the twentieth floor and dying, so I climbed through the window.”

Old Lady: “…”

Jiang Tian: “…”

Captain: “…”

Little ghosts: “…”

The Old Lady lowered her chin, turned around, and faced her back to them.

Of course, the most important thing now was how to bring Wang Tao out. His slip was exposed; they just needed to find the crucial evidence.

The Ghost Lady suddenly said, “Wang Tao’s wife is suspicious.”

Gu Feiyin was taken aback. She had no impression of Wang Tao’s wife, just someone who seemed frail, speaking weakly, as if she could pass away at any moment like a little friend.

“Wang Tao’s wife? That little friend named Sun Min? What’s wrong with her?”

The Ghost Lady snorted proudly, “I come from the inner chambers; those women’s thoughts can’t escape my eyes.”

Ghost Lady hadn’t noticed anything unusual about Wang Tao’s wife before. She only paid attention when Long Black Straight Hair led a whole houseful of little ghosts and chased after Wang Tao out the door. Although she enjoyed a good spectacle, she wasn’t the type to follow the crowd blindly-that would have been beneath her dignity. So, even though she was curious and wished she could sprout wings and fly outside, she still lounged about leisurely and sat until the very end.

It was then that she discovered Wang Tao’s wife, who’d seemed asleep, was actually awake. She quietly pulled back the covers, her frightened, restless eyes darting around-she must have heard Wang Tao’s pleas for mercy and screams, yet she forcibly pretended she knew nothing? And she also appeared utterly terrified. This was nothing like the loving couple they made themselves out to be. Anyone could see there was something wrong here.

“Yeah, yeah, I saw it too. I was just wondering why the bed kept shaking? I just didn’t think it had anything to do with Sun Min at the time.”

“No way, what’s with this couple? Are they teaming up against our Jumpy? Do they really think Jumpy has no one to back her up anymore?”

“Beat that scum to death!”

With that, Captain speculated, “Could it be that Sun Min had already noticed Wang Tao was suspicious? Or perhaps she already knew what Wang Tao had done, but since he’s her husband and she still had feelings for him, she didn’t want the family to break apart, so she helped Wang Tao hide it?”

Jiang Tian said, “That’s very likely. We can follow those two threads to investigate, and also check if anything happened between Sun Min and Ms. Xu Ying a few years ago.”

According to what’s known at present, Ms. Xu Ying and Wang Tao were in a romantic relationship before she went missing. Xu Ying’s roommate said their relationship wasn’t exactly harmonious at the time-they seemed to be having issues, but the roommate wasn’t sure exactly what caused the trouble. That could be left for now. As for Wang Tao and Sun Min, they were high school classmates, but attended different universities. It’s said that back in high school, Sun Min had a crush on Wang Tao but never confessed, and Wang Tao didn’t like Sun Min-at that time, he was interested in another girl.

The news that Wang Tao and Sun Min were getting married shocked their high school classmates. No one had expected Wang Tao would really end up with Sun Min!

Although Sun Min’s family was wealthy, she herself was quite plain. She’d been sickly and frail since childhood, with a thin, weak body, somewhat wide cheeks, smallish eyes, and a smattering of freckles on her face. Wang Tao, on the other hand, was tall and well-built. He had always excelled academically and loved playing basketball. Back in high school, he was a popular figure-many girls liked him. Sun Min was the least remarkable among them all.

These two, the most unlikely pair, actually got married-how could that not be a surprise?

Now, what they needed to do was dig out even more details.

……

Wang Tao finally woke up the next day. After waking, he was in poor spirits-his face was pale and bloodless, and a few white hairs had appeared on his head. He looked as if he’d aged ten years overnight.

Sun Min had the housekeeper stew chicken soup for him to nourish his body. Wang Tao had no appetite at all-after one sip, he didn’t touch it again. Sun Min asked, “What’s wrong? Not to your taste?”

Wang Tao glanced at Sun Min and shook his head. “No, just leave it. I’ll drink it later.”

Sun Min simply made a sound of acknowledgment and didn’t press further. “Then get some rest. The doctor said you still have a bit of a fever, so keep warm and don’t leave the hospital today. I need to see the doctor and pick up some medicine-I’ll come back tonight to stay with you.”

Wang Tao nodded. “Go ahead.”

Only after Sun Min left the hospital room did Wang Tao’s expression finally darken. Thinking of everything he’d experienced the night before, he couldn’t even tell if it had all just been a nightmare or if it was real.

He shivered unconsciously. No, Xu Ying was already dead, she was a corpse-if she couldn’t do anything when she was alive, could she really stir up any trouble after death?

But after Sun Min left the hospital room, she didn’t go to see a doctor or get medicine right away. Instead, she personally drove to a Daoist Temple.

“Are you confident you can catch her?” Sun Min asked. “As long as you can capture that ghost who’s stirring up trouble, no matter the price, I’m willing to pay.”

Daoist Li replied, “Don’t worry about that. As long as she dares to show up again, we’ll make sure her soul is scattered, never to reincarnate.”

Sun Min said, “Good. Here’s two hundred thousand. I’ll pay the other half after it’s done.”

Daoist Li happily accepted the check, repeatedly assuring her she would not be disappointed. Just a female ghost-what could she possibly do? He didn’t take her seriously at all.

The only ones who had ever frightened him were those little ghosts in the unfinished building. They’d not only ruined his reputation and cost him hundreds of thousands, but he’d also lost his business and had been beaten half to death by several Foremen, spending a long time recuperating in the Daoist Temple before finally recovering.

But going without clients for so long just wouldn’t do. After all, he needed to eat and maintain the Grand Master’s golden statue-it had been ages since he’d taken on such a big job. This was his chance to restore his reputation.

Sun Min added, “As long as you get it done, I’ll give you an extra fifty percent as a thank-you.”

They’d agreed on four hundred thousand, and with the extra fifty percent, that made six hundred thousand for this job!

Daoist Li was thrilled inside, though his face remained inscrutable. “Don’t worry, madam. I guarantee nothing will go wrong.”

Sun Min actually secretly invited a Taoist to catch ghosts? When this news spread back, the little ghosts were all in an uproar, chattering non-stop, wondering what Sun Min meant by this. Could it be that she was feeling guilty and wanted to kill the ghosts to silence them?

“Let the Taoist come if he wants. I’m not afraid of him. We all have Benevolent Ghost Certificates and are legal residents. Even a Taoist can’t just catch us.”

“Don’t flatter yourselves. They’re not after you; they’re after Jumpy.”

“Do they really want Jumpy to be completely destroyed?”

“No way, are they that vicious?”

… At this moment, Jumpy was still wearing her glittering beautiful clothes, gnawing on a candle absentmindedly.

The woman in red ghost hated scumbags the most. She flicked her long whip and said, “We absolutely cannot let their evil plans succeed. Where are Sun Min and the Taoist she invited now?”

It looks like they’ve gone to the hospital.

Then what are we waiting for? Let’s head to the hospital!

At this moment, Daoist Li had also arrived at the hospital with his two disciples. Sun Min and Wang Tao explained that he might have been hit by something evil last night, so they invited a well-known Taoist from the circle to exorcise it. Wang Tao had this intention in mind too, but he didn’t show it on his face, only displaying a helpless yet accepting demeanor, saying, “Alright, thank you for your trouble.”

Daoist Li instructed his two disciples to start setting up the ritual site. He himself walked around the ward with a composed demeanor. Of course, he couldn’t see any ghosts; otherwise, he wouldn’t be so calm. Although the Yin Energy in this room was quite heavy, isn’t that typical for hospitals? Hospitals deal with death every day, so it’s natural for the Yin Energy to be heavier than in other places.

He didn’t think much of it, as he was only dealing with a female ghost that wasn’t very formidable-he heard that the ghost had only been dead for a few years, had been quiet until recently when it was dug up and started causing trouble. Its level of skill was probably just like that, not a problem for him at all.

Once everything was ready, the incense and candles were lit, and Daoist Li took out a Talisman for exorcising and subduing ghosts. With a flick of his hand, the Talisman ignited without fire and finally turned into a wisp of blue smoke and disappeared.

Sun Min said, “You’ve been having nightmares recently, and you even sleepwalked last night. Maybe you accidentally bumped into something at night, so I invited Daoist Li to exorcise it for you. It should be fine after that. You won’t be angry with me for making this decision on my own, will you?”

Wang Tao replied, “No, I know you’re doing it for my good.”

Sun Min smiled and said, “That’s good.”

After burning a Talisman, Daoist Li took out a few more from his pocket, holding a peachwood sword as he paced back and forth in the ward. His demeanor looked increasingly mysterious, which reassured Sun Min that she had found the right person.

Who would have thought that at this moment, a cold wind blew over, causing the candle flames on the table to flicker and the incense smoke to swirl.

Sun Min and Wang Tao couldn’t help but shiver, hugging their arms. What was going on? Was the heating broken?

While they were still puzzled, they saw the awe-inspiring and mysterious Daoist Li staring wide-eyed at the window, his face turning pale with cold sweat pouring down. The peachwood sword in his hand fell to the ground with a “clatter,” and he himself seemed to wake up from a shock, staggering back a few steps, his legs giving way, causing him to fall directly to the ground.

Even his two disciples couldn’t keep up their cool demeanor anymore, quickly rushing over to try to help Daoist Li up. Unfortunately, Daoist Li was too heavy, and after pulling for a long time, they couldn’t lift him from the ground.

Sun Min and Wang Tao felt a chill in their hearts, looking towards the window, which was clearly empty, yet at this moment seemed to be blocked by something, isolating all vitality outside the window. Their faces turned pale as they urgently asked, “Daoist Li, what’s wrong? What did you see?”

Daoist Li pointed at the window, his voice trembling and somewhat aggrieved, “Didn’t you say there was only one female ghost? Why are there so many?!”

He was almost scared out of his mind! Last time, although he saw coffins flying in the sky, there were only a few, and he could escape by running fast. But this time, there were dozens! Men, women, old, young, some missing an arm, others missing an eye, all with pale faces and blood-red eyes, grinning and staring at him, excitedly and frantically pounding on the window, as if they would rush in the next second and tear him to pieces!

“Bang-”

“Bang! Bang bang!”

“Bang, bang, bang, bang!”

They were pounding on the window with force, and the window was extremely fragile. If he hadn’t had the foresight to stick two Talismans on the window, he might have been overwhelmed by these ghosts by now. Would he still have a life to live?

Sun Min and Wang Tao were also scared to death by Daoist Li’s sudden change. Wang Tao directly got off the hospital bed, grabbing Daoist Li and asking, “What are you talking about? What do you mean?”

Daoist Li suddenly pushed Wang Tao away, struggling to get up from the ground, trembling as he said, “I’m leaving, I’m leaving right now, I’m not doing this business with you…”

Sun Min exclaimed, “How can you leave? You took the money, you’re not allowed to leave!”

Daoist Li felt a pang of pain in his heart, saying angrily, “I don’t want your money. If I’m dead, what do I need so much money for? To buy myself a coffin?”

He didn’t care what Sun Min and Wang Tao thought. With so many ghosts outside, could he handle them? He had no hero complex; escaping was the priority.

He didn’t even want his tools, grabbing his two disciples and running.

But as soon as the hospital room door opened, Daoist Li’s hurried steps suddenly stopped. A woman in red ghost stood at the door, her stiff face showing a malicious smile, staring at him sinisterly.

Daoist Li’s legs almost gave way again, nearly kneeling on the ground.

Oh my, what’s with these ghosts? Someone save him!

Wang Tao and Sun Min were even more terrified. Although they couldn’t see the ghosts, they could feel the increasingly chilling atmosphere in the room. They even saw Daoist Li walk to the door and then slowly retreat, looking panic-stricken, as if there was some monstrous beast at the door. Suddenly, with a bang, the open door slammed shut!

In that instant, both Wang Tao and Sun Min felt that something strange had entered the hospital room. Wang Tao was so frightened that he fell back onto the bed, his teeth chattering.

Daoist Li was on the verge of tears. If he had known it would be like this, he would have preferred to rot away in the Daoist Temple rather than being beaten up by a room full of ghosts.

Sitting on the floor, he muttered quietly, “It’s not my fault, I was just performing some rituals to make a bit of money, I didn’t mean to harm you.”

The Headless Ghost said, “Even if you wanted to harm us, you should see if you’re qualified. Your little tricks are nothing compared to our landlord.”

The Armless Ghost said, “I despise people like you who would do anything for money. You should see what those two have done. They might be accomplices in murder. You helped murderers, be careful you don’t end up in a boiling pot after you die!”

The woman in red ghost scoffed, “Why bother talking to him? Tie him up and give him a beating. He won’t learn his lesson otherwise.”

Daoist Li cried out, “Don’t hit me, don’t hit me, they’re the murderers, not me. Go seek revenge on them!”

Hearing this, Sun Min and Wang Tao were both startled. They were scared but didn’t want to sit and wait for death. Together, they ran towards the door, trying to escape the eerie hospital room. However, to their disappointment, no matter how hard they tried, they couldn’t open the door.

Daoist Li whined pitifully, “Don’t waste your energy. There are a dozen ghosts blocking the door. You can’t get out. I suggest you admit your mistakes, or we’ll all die here!”

Sun Min and Wang Tao stepped back, not daring to approach the door again.

Sun Min was in a panic, breathing heavily, and shouted, “Stop pretending to be ghosts, I know you’re trying to deceive us!”

Daoist Li: “…Ah! Don’t hit me, don’t hit me. I’m not the one saying you’re deceiving people. If you want to hit someone, hit her!”

Sun Min: “…”

Wang Tao: “…”

The atmosphere in the room grew colder, with a strange Black Mist faintly spreading. Sun Min watched as a layer of crimson blood oozed from under the bed. The blood was thick, and she could smell a nauseating stench.

No, no, this must be an illusion, an illusion…

“Ah!” Wang Tao suddenly screamed and sat down on the floor. Sun Min hurried to help him, asking what was wrong. Wang Tao, terrified, said, “I’m so scared, is there really a ghost? Minmin, I’m sorry, I’ve dragged you into this.”

Wang Tao covered his face and began to cry, “It’s me, I killed her. Please spare Minmin, she has nothing to do with this! I beg you, don’t hurt her.”

Wang Tao’s words left Sun Min stunned. She had been scared before, but now her eyes reddened, and she began to cry, “No, it’s not true, you didn’t, don’t say that! We didn’t harm Xu Ying, she brought it on herself!”

“That afternoon, I arranged to meet her. We had an argument, and I accidentally pushed her to the ground. Her head hit a rock, and she died on the spot…” Wang Tao covered his face, speaking in despair, “I didn’t mean to, I didn’t want to kill her. It was an accident. Besides, I’m still young, only twenty-five. I haven’t even married or had children. I was afraid of being labeled a murderer, so I carried Xu Ying to the unfinished building. The workers were on strike that day, and there weren’t many people around. I sealed her with cement. It was me, I killed her.”

Sun Min looked at Wang Tao in shock, her mouth open to refute, but at that moment, the tightly closed door was kicked open from the outside. Several people walked in, and Jiang Tian stood at the door, saying, “I’ve heard your conversation just now.”

Wang Tao lay on the ground, his voice hoarse and filled with despair, “Yes, it was me… I killed Xu Ying. You can take me away.”

Sun Min’s face was covered in tears, and she shook her head frantically, “No, it’s not true…”

She watched as Wang Tao was handcuffed and dragged away by the police. She ran up, crazed, protecting Wang Tao, saying, “It wasn’t my husband who killed her, it was me!”

She still remembered the pain and jealousy she felt years ago when she found out about Wang Tao and Xu Ying. But she also knew that Wang Tao could never fall for her. Their relationship was limited to being classmates who could talk to each other.

But she didn’t expect that after Wang Tao graduated from university, he repeatedly hit walls in his job search. By coincidence, he submitted his resume to her family’s mall. Such a good opportunity was not to be missed, so she not only kept Wang Tao but also took care of him, and they became increasingly familiar. But at that time, Wang Tao was still with Xu Ying.

Sun Min always knew, but she didn’t think much of it. She had liked Wang Tao for several years, and just a few words with him could make her happy for days. But she forgot that the human heart is the hardest thing to satisfy. So later, she became increasingly unsatisfied, and her relationship with Wang Tao grew closer. During a colleague gathering, she kissed Wang Tao under the influence of alcohol…

From then on, she couldn’t tolerate Xu Ying.

That afternoon, she took Wang Tao’s phone and sent a message to Xu Ying, asking her to meet. She just wanted Xu Ying to retreat, to let her know that she was the woman who could help Wang Tao in his career. But Xu Ying was extremely indifferent, even mocking her, saying, “So what if you can help Wang Tao in his career? Even if he’s with you, he won’t love you, and you’re still a despicable mistress.”

She went crazy, rushed forward, and pushed Xu Ying to the ground. Xu Ying’s head hit a stone on the ground, which was sharp and pierced her skull. Soon, blood stained the ground, and Xu Ying was silent, not even breathing. She was terrified, didn’t dare to call the police or an ambulance, and fled in panic. When she got home, she was always afraid, afraid that the police would come knocking, but day after day passed, and she didn’t wait for the police. Instead, Wang Tao came to tell her that Xu Ying was missing, and then naturally, they ended up together and got married.

Sun Min always thought she was lucky, that Xu Ying’s body was either eaten by wild dogs, thrown into the river, or picked up by organ traffickers.

She considered countless possibilities but never thought that after Wang Tao knew Xu Ying had met her, he came over. However, he was late; Xu Ying was already dead, or maybe he saw her kill Xu Ying and helped bury the body after she left…

And now, he is willing to take the blame for murder for her. Xu Ying was wrong; Wang Tao does love her, and she can die in peace.

…

Xu Ying and Wang Tao were taken to the police station. Although both confessed, final investigation and confirmation were still needed. Daoist Li had his Daoist certificate revoked by the Daoist Association, and now he was no longer a legal Taoist. To become a Daoist again, he would have to take another exam. Daoist Li could only return to the Daoist Temple in disgrace to read books, watching sixty thousand yuan turn into bubbles.

The woman in red ghost said, “Sun Min killed, Wang Tao buried the body, these two are truly a perfect match.”

“Let them roam outside for so long, now it’s good, let them reflect well in jail.”

“Yes, yes, we can take care of them occasionally, let them bully our Jumpy.”

“Jumpy, Jumpy? Why aren’t you speaking?”

Jumpy was hanging from the ceiling, holding a candle and gnawing on it. Her eyes rolled around, and suddenly she fell from the ceiling, bouncing away directly.

Gu Feiyin watched her and said, “Where are you going? Visiting the prison?”

Neighbor Miss twisted her bouncing figure, turned her head, and looked at her with a sinister expression.

Gu Feiyin waved her hand, “Alright, alright, you go ahead.”

Neighbor Miss: “…”

She bounced directly to the police station.

Old Lady walked behind her, and the two passed through layers of walls, finally seeing Wang Tao, who was unkempt and in poor spirits, in a small enclosed room.

Neighbor Miss entered through the wall, her pale blue eyes staring at Wang Tao.

Wang Tao hung his head, suddenly curled his lips, and smiled strangely.

“Wang Tao, who killed me?”

“Wang Tao…”

“Wang Tao…”

In the enclosed room, Wang Tao suddenly raised his head, looked around cautiously, and then ran to the door, frantically banging on the iron door: “Help, help!”

“Someone come, let me out, I don’t want to be alone here!”

Wang Tao seemed to hear someone speaking in the room, a woman’s most resentful whisper, as if asking him why, why he killed her…

No, except for him, no one knew Xu Ying wasn’t dead at the time, not even Sun Min thought she killed Xu Ying. As long as he didn’t speak, no one would know.