Chapter 129: The Haunted House

What was she to do now? Liao Shuxia’s brow was knotted with worry. “And of all times, your father is not at home. I am terrified.”

“Don’t be afraid,” Lin Sangqian comforted her. “Worst comes to worst, you can sleep with us these next few nights.”

She knew all too well how much her mother feared such things.

Even now, she remembered how, when she was six, Liao Shuxia had somehow gotten hold of a horror film and insisted on dragging her and Lin Hongda to watch it together.

In the end, six-year-old her had felt nothing at all after seeing it, and Lin Hongda had even laughed through the whole thing, while Liao Shuxia herself had been frightened into screams.

If her father had been home, it would have been better. But he had to be away at a time like this.

Lin Wenyan and Lin Beitao came over as well to ask what had happened, and Liao Shuxia immediately repeated the tale with animated detail.

The two brothers exchanged looks. Lin Wenyan said, “Mother, the next time this happens, just wake us up.”

“Yes, I’m not afraid of ghosts or monsters or anything like that.”

“Don’t, don’t say that word!” Liao Shuxia shuddered the moment she heard it. She hurried back to her room and huddled inside.

Still, when she thought about it, even if her husband was not here, her sons and daughter were.

That thought made her feel much better.

When Lin Sangqian went out, she ran into Aunt Xia from the neighborhood.

A widow, she lived with her son and daughter-in-law. Her son worked outside the home, while she and her daughter-in-law occasionally earned a little money at home by doing laundry, mending, and sewing for others. Their life was fairly decent.

The Lin family had lived here for some time, and they were most familiar with Aunt Xia.

“Morning, Aunt Xia,” Lin Sangqian greeted her as she and the others loaded chicken feet onto the ox cart.

“Morning, girl,” Aunt Xia replied, forcing out a strained smile.

From the way she looked, Lin Sangqian could tell something was wrong, and asked, “Is something the matter?”

Aunt Xia looked around, then leaned closer to Lin Sangqian and asked in a low voice, “Girl, did you hear anything last night?”

“Hear what?” Lin Sangqian’s heart gave a small jump.

“Crying... a woman crying!” Aunt Xia’s face had turned a little pale. “I slept too much during the day yesterday and couldn’t fall asleep at night. Then, in the middle of the night, I heard someone crying.”

At first she had wanted to go wake her son and daughter-in-law in the other room, but she was afraid of disturbing their sleep, so she spent the whole night trembling by herself, only dozing off briefly at dawn.

Hearing this, Lin Sangqian’s expression darkened.

So Aunt Xia had heard it too. It seemed it truly was not merely her mother’s imagination.

“Don’t be scared,” Lin Sangqian said with a smile. “Maybe some girl from another household was upset over something and cried a little in the middle of the night. It’s nothing serious.”

“No, you don’t understand...” Aunt Xia swallowed, then cast a cautious glance into the Lin family’s courtyard. “Your courtyard... Ah! I shouldn’t have said that.”

“Auntie, if you have something to say, just say it plainly. What’s wrong with our courtyard?” Lin Sangqian asked, frowning.

Lately she had a little money on hand and had even been thinking of buying the place.

“Honestly, I should have told you sooner, but by then you had already moved in, and I was afraid of upsetting you,” Aunt Xia said carefully. “Your place is a cursed house!”

“...”

Lin Sangqian had never imagined that this was what Aunt Xia meant.

“In this courtyard, several people have died, and none of them died of old age or illness,” Aunt Xia said. “The first owners were a married couple, but not long after moving in, the man discovered his wife was cheating on him. While he was out, she even brought her lover home to fool around. In a rage, he killed them both.”

“The second owner was your landlord’s older brother, Mr. Yan. He was an especially cruel man, always beating his wife whenever he felt like it. A year ago, unable to endure the humiliation any longer, his wife hanged herself at home.”

Lin Sangqian suddenly remembered how, when they had first rented the courtyard, Mr. Yan had looked visibly relieved.

Could it be that this was why? Because he thought he had finally rented out the cursed house?

“That affair spread everywhere at the time. His older brother moved away and entrusted the house to Mr. Yan, telling him to sell it, but anyone who knew about it refused to buy.”

The Lin family had only just moved to town, and the man who introduced them to the place, Yang Shi, had only come to work in town less than a year earlier, so none of them had known about it.

“I see. Thank you, Auntie, for telling me all this,” Lin Sangqian said with a smile. “But I’ve never believed in ghosts or spirits, so don’t mention this to anyone else, especially my mother. She’s timid.”

“I know, but you should make up your minds soon. It’s better not to live in a cursed house like this. Who knows, maybe the wronged souls here sensed living people and came out to cause trouble.”

The more she spoke, the more eerie it sounded.

Lin Sangqian rather wanted to give Aunt Xia a proper lesson in prosperity, democracy, civilization, and harmony.

“Even if we do move, we’ll have to wait until my father comes home to discuss it,” she said. “Everything’s already packed. I’m leaving now, Aunt Xia.”

Aunt Xia agreed, watching as Lin Sangqian climbed onto the ox cart and left. She frowned, a trace of disappointment in her eyes.

...

Yet Lin Sangqian still could not shake off the matter of the crying and the courtyard. After the shop closed in the afternoon, she went to find Mr. Yan.

Mr. Yan worked as a bookkeeper in a large teahouse. When she reached the entrance, the attendant at the door looked her up and down and impatiently said, “Go away, go away! This isn’t a place for children to play!”

“I’m here to see someone,” Lin Sangqian said. “Could you please find—”

Before she could finish, the attendant cut her off in annoyance. “There’s no one here you’re looking for! Get lost, now, or I’ll hit you!”

Lin Sangqian was so angry she almost laughed.

What kind of person was this?

“How dare you speak like that?” Lin Wenyan, who had come with her, said darkly.

Only then did the attendant notice the sturdy young man standing behind the girl. His attitude softened slightly, though his expression remained reluctant. “Who are you looking for?”

“The bookkeeper here, Mr. Yan.”

The attendant’s eyes darted about. “We don’t have any bookkeeper surnamed Yan here. You’ve come to the wrong place. Hurry up and leave!”

“I didn’t come to the wrong place. I remember very clearly that he said he worked here as a bookkeeper,” Lin Sangqian said coldly.

Did he really think she could not see through him? This attendant was clearly making things difficult on purpose.

“I said there isn’t one, so there isn’t one. Can’t you understand plain speech?” the attendant snapped. “What, are you trying to cause trouble?”

As he spoke, he waved behind him, and several more attendants immediately came over.

He looked provocatively at Lin Wenyan, as if to say, We have plenty of people. We are not afraid of you.

At that moment, a carriage stopped in front of the door.

A man stepped down from it and, looking at the attendant, said coldly, “You certainly have a lot of nerve.”