Chapter 12 Night of Sacrifice (8)
“Old man,” Zhu Ming said, “I’m starting to think you’re more cunning than I initially thought.” She believed Xiao Cheng was genuinely clueless, happily following Old Xu’s lead.
But Old Xu was a shrewd one. He couldn’t have missed all the inconsistencies.
Old Xu stroked his beard, a little embarrassed. “Comrade, don’t think too badly of me. I know the meanings of the offerings, but many deities, besides their main duties, also have the power to exorcise evil. How would we know if it wouldn’t work without trying?”
Zhu Ming’s voice was cold. “You’re not the one taking the risk, so of course you don’t mind trying.”
Old Xu chuckled. “That’s where you’re wrong. Participants who complete the mission receive a reward from the previous instance. Our abilities might be suppressed, but the reward isn’t. If Miss A-Zou were in danger, the three of us wouldn’t stand idly by.”
“Really?” Zhu Ming challenged. “Well, A-Zou and I aren’t doing it. If you want to complete the mission with this ritual, find someone else. Look, there’s a perfect candidate right here. Miss Zhao seems like a good choice.”
Miss Zhao, of course, refused. “My hair is too short,” she mumbled.
Having stirred the pot, Zhu Ming waved the papers in her hand. “Besides, there’s a page missing.”
She tossed the papers to Xiao Cheng, who frantically flipped through them. “There are scraps of paper in the binding. Actually, I misspoke earlier. The ghost did take the key, but it was returned. It must have tampered with the clues in the basement while it had the key.”
“If the basement was a trap set by the ghost from the beginning,” Miss Zhao said, her lips pressed together, “then why would it need to alter the clues?”
“How would I know?” Zhu Ming retorted. “The missing page overlaps with the message on the back of the third page. So I suspect the real clue isn’t about summoning a deity with a ‘good woman,’ but something else entirely.”
“So this whole thing is a distraction from the real way to complete the mission?” Xiao Cheng murmured. “But there are no other clues. We’ve searched the entire villa—”
He stopped abruptly, realizing they hadn’t searched everywhere.
“Is the real solution in the housekeeper’s room or the storage room?” He scratched his head. “Isn’t the housekeeper a ghost? Are we supposed to raid a ghost’s lair? I wouldn’t mind trying, but we haven’t found a second key.”
All the doors had keyholes, but the guest rooms unlocked automatically. They had needed a key for the basement, so they would likely need one for the housekeeper’s room as well.
Speaking of keys, Yun Zouchuan suddenly spoke up. “I know where the key is.”
Zhu Ming raised an eyebrow. “Where?”
“On the housekeeper,” Yun Zouchuan replied. “I heard a strange sound when he was patrolling last night.”
A rattling, a metallic clinking—the sound of keys.
Xiao Cheng: “…That’s both good news and bad news.”
“Alright, let’s stop for now,” Old Xu said wearily. “Since Miss A-Zou and Miss Zhao are unwilling, we can’t force you. This is more dangerous for women anyway. It’s getting late. Let’s not continue this discussion here. If we can’t figure it out, we’ll try again tomorrow.”
Only Xiao Cheng seemed to agree. The others ignored him.
Yun Zouchuan’s lips tightened, her eyes wide. She kicked an incense burner, extinguishing the red candle and scattering the dates across the floor.
She was still furious.
She would try summoning a deity, but this… this was unacceptable.
If she had known, she would never have agreed!
A hand landed gently on her shoulder. Yun Zouchuan heard her boss scolding her, and a wave of grievance and helpless sorrow surged through her.
Seeing her on the verge of tears, Zhu Ming softened. “Hey, hey, don’t cry. It’s not like you actually gave birth to a ghost baby.”
Yun Zouchuan mumbled, “You know I’m stupid, and you still scold me.”
Zhu Ming sighed, pulling Yun Zouchuan into a hug and patting her back. “Alright, alright, don’t cry. I won’t scold you anymore.”
Yun Zouchuan sniffled, clutching Zhu Ming’s sleeve. “No, you have to promise me something.”
Zhu Ming: “Don’t worry, I’ll help you get revenge…”
Yun Zouchuan: “Give me a raise.”
Zhu Ming: “…In your dreams.”
She pushed Yun Zouchuan away and picked up the objects from the concrete platform. “Since the housekeeper can tamper with the clues, we should take these, just in case it tries something tonight.”
Old Xu stepped forward. “Comrade, wait. Let me keep these. They’re clearly connected to the ghosts. Lao Gao retrieved the key and died mysteriously. Taking these things into our rooms might be dangerous. I have ways to protect myself. I’ll take the risk, as an apology for asking you young ladies to participate in the ritual.”
Zhu Ming eyed him suspiciously. “And you won’t tamper with them? No, I need to examine them first.”
She shone her flashlight on the watch, while Yun Zouchuan examined the phone.
The watch revealed nothing unusual. Yun Zouchuan pressed the power button on the phone. “It’s on.”
Everyone: “???” Wait, shouldn’t the phone be dead, like the watch?
“I get it!” Xiao Cheng exclaimed, suddenly remembering Lao Gao’s complaints after his fight with Xiao Song. “If the watch isn’t waterproof, it would easily break and rust after falling into the water. So they haven’t been here for long.”
They had assumed both items were useless because they looked old and worn, and the note implied they had been there for a while.
Zhu Ming’s brow smoothed. She took the phone, praising Yun Zouchuan. “See? You learn from your mistakes. Almost fell for the trap, but now you’re thinking clearly.”
Yun Zouchuan was confused. “What are you praising me for? To investigate the phone, we have to turn it on, right?”
What did waterproofing and rust have to do with the phone?
Zhu Ming clicked her tongue. “Spoke too soon.” Sometimes, a simple approach was best.
The reason the phone still had power wasn’t important. What mattered was its contents.
They were eager to examine it, but the phone was locked with a four-digit passcode.
Four digits seemed easier than six, but without any clues, it was just as difficult. And they only had three attempts before the phone locked permanently.
Xiao Cheng said, “I’ll look at the papers again. Maybe there’s a clue.”
Miss Zhao said coldly, “Since we’re not performing the ritual tonight, I’m going back to my room.”
She turned and left, her footsteps hurried. Old Xu sighed, watching her go. “Let’s examine it during the day. We don’t want to run into the housekeeper.”
Zhu Ming stared at the phone screen, silent. Her black clothes and hair blended with the shadows of the basement. The screen’s glow illuminated half her face, making her expression unreadable.
Just as Old Xu and Xiao Cheng were about to leave, Zhu Ming suddenly smiled.
“I know the passcode. It’s… 1-0-0-1.”
A click. The phone unlocked.
Yun Zouchuan: “That was easy.”
Xiao Cheng stared at her, incredulous. “Easy?! How did you figure that out?!”
Zhu Ming began scrolling through the phone, searching for useful information. “It wasn’t that hard to guess. The four digits are a clue. And the phone belongs to the housekeeper. The housekeeper’s room has a sign, but it’s also numbered like the guest rooms. That’s suspicious. We had three tries. Why not?”
Xiao Cheng asked weakly, “The phone belongs to the housekeeper?”
Zhu Ming hummed in agreement. “There are two ghosts here: the housekeeper and the water ghost. Get it?”
Xiao Cheng: “Wait, let me think… I remember now! The one stabbed with the skewer and the one drowned in the pool are two different people! Two people died here!”
Zhu Ming: “Yes. The water ghost pretended to be affected by the skewer to make us think there was only one ghost, matching the story on the papers. But it was a clumsy disguise. Maybe ghosts lose some brain cells after death. It doesn’t matter. I just wonder why they didn’t just make up a story about two vengeful ghosts needing to be suppressed. Anyway, two ghosts, two personal belongings. The watch is the water ghost’s. The phone must be the housekeeper’s.”
Xiao Cheng’s eyes widened. “Why are these ghosts going through all this trouble?”
Zhu Ming handed the phone to Xiao Cheng and tossed the watch to Old Xu. “I don’t know, but it can’t be anything good.”
The phone contained little information. All the apps that required internet access were unusable. Only two things stood out: the contacts and the wallpaper.
There was only one contact, saved as “Xiao Yan,” with no phone number or other details.
The wallpaper was a picture of two hands clasped together, one male, one female, both wearing matching watches. The woman’s watch was identical to the rusted one they had found.
While there was no other evidence, it suggested a close relationship between the housekeeper and the water ghost.
But they still couldn’t access the housekeeper’s room or the storage room.
“Um…” Yun Zouchuan cleared her throat. “Since we have a phone, why don’t we try making a call?”
Zhu Ming considered this. “It’s an option, but it’s risky. We don’t know who will answer.”
Their hesitation was interrupted by a sudden, jarring sound. A shrill ringtone echoed through the silent basement, accompanied by the buzzing vibration of the phone.
Zhu Ming, Yun Zouchuan, and Xiao Cheng stared at the caller ID on the screen.
[Xiao Yan (Decline) (Answer)]
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