Li Mazi said that the female ghost had bewitched me. If he hadn’t acted fast and improvised, it would have been game over for all of us. 

Li Mazi would never miss any chance 

to brag

. He began to babble

 and headed toward

 Xiao Li. 

“Yeah, you really saved me this time.” I heaved a sigh of relief

 and complimented him.

Li Mazi contentedly raised 

a

 brow. “Of course, don

’t

 you know who your brother is?

”

I 

ignored him and

 turned to talk to Xiao Li. However, when I went to the sofa, there was no one there. Xiao Li 

had disappeared

. 

“Where’s Xiao Li?”

 asked

 Li

 Mazi in a shaky voice

.

“

Damn

, this place doesn’t feel right at all. Little 

Br

other Zhang, we should leave.” 

I

 rubbed 

my temples. I was completely lost. 

There 

are

 two souls in that room, and Xiao Li 

is gone

. 

T

his villa ha

s

 at least three departed souls. 

Were

 they a group? 

Also, is

 Xiao Li a human or a ghost?

At this instant, so many questions filled my brain.

Li Mazi pricked his ears toward the toilet. After a while, he 

said,

 “Little 

Br

other Zhang, it seems Xiao Li’s in the toilet.” 

After hearing

 Li Mazi, I lifted my head

 and looked 

at the toilet behind us. When we opened the toilet door, we saw Xiao Li crouching in a corner

. She was hugging 

her knees

, her 

face f

ull of fear

. 

“What happened?” 

I asked her 

without getting too

 close. Moreover, I was careful 

and

held

 a talisman in my hand. If she 

did something strange

, I

’d be

 prepared

. 

“A 

g

host… There’s a ghost! Th

e

 ghost looks exactly like me. She told me not to go out...” 

Xiao Li started to cry. I took out the ox tears I had prepared and smeared 

them

 on my eyelids. After the sour feeling 

was

 gone, I studied Xiao Li carefully. Her three Yang flames were still burning. 

M

y mind eased

, and

 I walked forward to lift her. 

There was nothing wrong with her, so t

he Xiao Li we met earlier was a ghost. I 

regretted accepting

 this case

 and really

 wanted to ignore it since it was beyond my 

capability

. 

However, my heart was softened when 

I saw 

Xiao Li 

crying

. After all, she

was 

a

 woman in need of help. 

I needed to prioritize the tasks. The urgent task to do 

first

 was to identify the ghost that had impersonated Xiao Li. Who was she, after all? 

I looked at Xiao Li

 and asked 

her to tell us what had happened to her. 

“I don’t know. That ghost has never shown up before. This is the first time I saw her. I went to the toilet and saw her,

but she didn’t want to harm me. She only told me not to leave the toilet. When you guys descended from the second floor, she disappeared

,

”

 said 

Xiao Li

 while shaking 

her head in fright. 

That ghost didn’t harm Xiao Li

. It 

seemed she wanted to protect her. 

I decided to ignore 

Yuan Datou

 for now. If the ghost told Xiao Li to stay in 

the

 toilet, there should be something hidden there. 

To verify my assumption, I asked them to leave

. Then, I 

switched off the lights

 and

 held 

a

 compass

, moving 

around the area. However, even after a few rounds, the compass 

needle

 was still.

“Why is this?” I 

frowned and mumbled 

to myself. 

Then, the situation suddenly changed. The compass

 needle 

moved fast then 

pointed upward

. 

I looked

 at the compass

 needle and

 sighed. Whenever the 

needle

pointed upward

, 

the

 phenomenon was 

called ‘Floating

 Needle.

’

 It meant that 

a 

departed spirit was here. Moreover, it was a 

kind

 one. 

In 

geomancy

, when this phenomenon happened, 

it meant th

e ancestor of the family or 

a

 House Protector was present in the house to protect the family. 

Since the ghost looked like Xiao Li, she 

had to

 be Xiao Li’s ancestor. 

I put the compass away and burned three incense

 sticks, placing 

them 

by

 the windowsill. Although there was no wind in this narrow toilet, the three incenses 

burned

 evenly

. The 

smoke 

surrounded 

me.

I took a step back and respectfully bowed to the smoke. When I lifted my head

, I

 saw the smoke 

create

the

 word

, ‘

Thank

 you

.

’

The ghost

 had thanked me for protecting Xiao Li. I gave a gentle nod

 and said

, “

Senior

, don’t worry! 

Since

 I accepted this case, I will take care of 

everything

.” 

After I said that, the words shook 

and

 slowly dispersed. 

After

I left

 the toilet, my perspective 

of the case changed. Even 

Xiao Li’s ancestor was persistent 

in protecting

 her. As such, 

b

eing an otherworldly merchant, what reason 

did

 I have to give up this case? 

“Little 

B

rother Zhang, should we leave or not?” Li Mazi hurri

edly asked. He h

adn’t 

gotten a hold of

 himself 

yet

. 

Xiao Li looked at me, worriedly. She was afraid that I would leave. 

“I

’ve

 decided to accept this case…” I answered. 

My words stunned Li Mazi. “Hey brother, are you 

okay

? 

Do you have

 a fever?” Li Mazi stammered

, reaching 

his hand to check my forehead. 

“Just

 g

o to watch 

the

 TV!” I smiled and pushed him away. “Xiao Li, you should sleep. I know 

how to 

deal with the departed souls. Tomorrow, we will arrange everything.” 

Xiao Li repeatedly thanked me. However, she lingered

 as she 

didn’t want to go to her room. I knew she was scared, so I told her that she could sleep on the sofa. 

It seemed she was really tired. She didn’t 

refuse and quickly drifted 

into sleep. 

“Did you find anything?” Li Mazi asked.

I smiled

 and told 

Li Mazi about the encounter with Xiao Li’s ancestor. Li Mazi 

became

 excited. 

“With this extra force, 

why would

 we be afraid of them? 

No

 wonder you suddenly became so bold. And, if that ghos

t wa

s Xiao Li’s ancestor, I’m sure she’s 

been here longer

 than those two ghosts upstairs. They were from the time of the resistance war, 

after all

. Maybe 

w

e don’t need to do anything. The ancestor will finish them.” 

“It’s not that simple.” I admired Li Mazi’s spiritual victory method.

“What do you mean?” asked Li Mazi. 

“If she didn’t 

let

 Xiao 

Li leave

 the toilet, it means she 

can

 only protect Xiao Li when she’s in the toilet! Moreover, 

the

 two ghosts upstairs have 

strong

 resentful energy, but they only

 stay inside 

the room. They didn’t chase after us. D

id the three parties reach an agreement of some sort?

” I imagined the possibilities

 as I explained my thoughts 

to Li Mazi. 

Li Mazi 

thought about it then

gave

 me a nod. “Do you have any solution to lure the two souls to the toilet? Actually, 

i

t’

ll also be

 good 

if we can

 get them downstairs.” 

“We can try. But we should sleep now.” I 

laid

 on the other sofa in the living room

 and closed 

my eyes. 

“Little 

B

rother Zhang, where should I sleep?” Li Mazi was 

dejected

. 

I then 

noticed 

that there were only two sofas in the living room. Xiao Li and I had occupied them all. 

If Li Mazi didn’t want to sleep with the two ghosts upstairs, he 

would have

 to lie on the floor. 

“Up to you. You can take the toilet.” I then closed my eyes

 and decided 

to ignore him. 

When I woke up the next morning, Xiao Li had prepared breakfast. She didn’t look bad. It seemed our presence had supported her a lot. 

After 

I washed

 my face, I noticed t

hat 

Li Mazi had disappeared. “Xiao Li, have you seen Li Mazi?” 

She shook her head. 

“Where 

could

 this fell

ow

have gone

?” I took out my phone to call him.

The ringtone resounded from underneath the sofa

, and 

Li Mazi crawled out 

right after, h

is face drowsy.

“What’s the matter?” he asked. 

“Nothing…” I was speechless. 

After breakfast, I called Yin Xinyue

 and told

 her that I

 was

 all right. Then, with a serious look, I called 

Senior Shu

. 

I was helpless

 and 

needed extra help. It would be nice if he could give me some 

ideas

. 

However

, 

the old man

 didn’t pick the call. In the end, I had to send him a threatening message

 that said 

that if he didn’t pick up the call, I would ask Chuyi to 

give

 him a call. 

Right after I sent the message, he called me. 

As soon as the line 

went

 through, 

Senior Shu

said,

“If you need something, tell me quickly. I’m going to play mahjong.” 

I 

laughed

. “I have something I want to ask you, 

Senior

.” 

“What

 is it

? Spit it ou

t 

quick

ly.

” 

Senior Shu

 was

 im

patient. 

“

I

t’s like this...” It was rare 

for him to give 

me a chance to talk. I carefully 

chose

 my words and told him the story. 

After I had 

finished

 talking, 

Senior Shu

 kept silent for quite a long time. 

I called him a few times, and 

he asked me to continue. 

I said, 

“Continue

 what?

 I’m done talking. 

Haven’t

 you been listening to me?” 

“

I

t’s something this trivial and you need my help? You b

ring 

shame to your grandfather!” 

Senior Shu

 said then hung up. 

I looked at the phone, feeling baffled. I thought 

about

 calling him another time

, but

 I refrained myself from doing so. 

It was because he said that

 I had shamed my grandfather

.

I’m not going to ask anybody! And don’t think that I can’t survive 

on my own

!

To my surprise

, 

Senior Shu

 then

sent me a message. “Hatred grows from the heart. If there’s no hatred, the spirit will leave.” 

Although what he told me wasn’t helpful at all, I could still feel his concern.

My heart warmed up. 

I put

 aside the thought of asking for external help

 and

 recalled the conversation 

between the

 two ghosts from yesterday. 

“Xiao Li, do you have any photos of the previous owner of this villa? 

I mean the 

mistress that 

Yuan Datou

 forced 

into

 committing 

suicide

.” 

Xiao Li thought. “Yes, I do.” 

She searched 

through

Yuan Datou

’s blog and found a photo of 

the

 mistress. At first glance, I knew the mistress was the ghost wearing the red cheongsam from yesterday! 

“Do you know her name?” 

“She was called Bai Xiya.” 

Last night, 

Yuan Datou

 had addressed the female ghost by the name 

‘

Xiya.

’ 

It 

seemed that

 the ghost not only had the same appearance 

as

 the mistress, but they also shared the same name. 

If she 

was

 a prostitute in the Eight Great 

Streets

 and had a

 relationship

 with the spirit, I guessed she wasn’t just an anonymous person. I 

decided

 to 

search

 for her name on the internet. 

I got many results. However, 

they

 were all 

junk

, like 

‘H

ow many people are there in the country with the name Bai Xiy

a?’ or ‘

Who 

was

 Bai Xiya’s husband?

’

There were many results 

like that. I couldn’t find the information I was looking for. 

I felt discouraged.

Li Mazi vowed that he 

w

ould find her. Then, he accessed a secret website...