Just as he peered through the crack in the door, trying to look into the bedroom, he realized that the girl seemed to have already lain down on the bed. Since the bed curtains blocked his view, Liu Haoyu could no longer see anything.
Although he found this rather regrettable, Liu Haoyu still forced himself to calm down.
He knew very well that if an exorcist could not control his desires, he might very well die to a Fierce Ghost's beauty trap.
Since ancient times, who knew how many exorcists had fallen in such illusions?
Naturally, Liu Haoyu could not repeat the mistakes of his predecessors.
He took a deep breath and decided to forcibly break through the dream.
Should I go in?
At that moment, Liu Haoyu was weighing his options.
But just as he was deliberating, he suddenly felt something pat his shoulder from behind.
To any exorcist, having someone touch them from behind was an extremely terrifying thing.
And the only one who could touch his back without being noticed...
There was only one at present.
Qin Liu?!
Liu Haoyu's body stiffened, and he immediately spun around.
Sure enough, a figure in a red wedding dress floated behind him. Liu Haoyu instinctively looked toward her face.
Unfortunately, the veil covered Qin Liu's face completely. The only part exposed was the lower half.
Yet from that small exposed portion, Liu Haoyu could still tell that Qin Liu had a very fine face shape.
It was just that he could not see the upper half of her face, so he had no idea what she truly looked like.
The two faced each other. At that moment, the corners of Qin Liu's mouth curved upward slightly.
That smile made Liu Haoyu feel a little creeped out.
Finally, she spoke.
"Does it look good?"
Before her voice had even faded, Liu Haoyu's consciousness seemed to plunge into a whirlpool. The entire world began spinning wildly.
The next moment, the man jolted awake from the dream.
He propped himself up and covered his slightly dizzy head.
After taking a while to recover, Liu Haoyu muttered,
"So... this is Qin Liu's room?"
As he spoke, he looked at the furnishings inside. Although much of it had already decayed and fallen into disrepair, it was indeed almost identical to the bedroom he had seen in his dream.
"So I took over her bed?"
Liu Haoyu grumbled inwardly. No wonder Qin Liu had tried every possible way to make him leave.
So that was what this was about.
The candle beside the bed was burning fiercely, which meant that something was wandering nearby—and very close to him.
The gloomy room grew colder and colder. The eerie silence was almost suffocating, while that inexplicable gaze remained fixed on Liu Haoyu.
Although he did not know what it was, there was no doubt that the greatest possibility was that Qin Liu was in the room.
Thus, the man sat up and calmly spoke.
"White stockings really suit you. Even though it was only a dream, I have to say, you looked absolutely perfect in those gartered white stockings. You were practically a work of art."
Seeing Liu Haoyu seriously appraise the way she looked in white stockings, the icy atmosphere in the room instantly became awkward.
Even so, Liu Haoyu remained calm and unflustered, speaking in that composed, mature tone.
"Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Liu Haoyu, and I'm just an ordinary Taoist priest. Of course, you can call me an exorcist too."
When they had met last time, the situation had been somewhat tense, so he had not properly explained why he had come.
This time, Liu Haoyu naturally would not let such a good opportunity pass.
"So, Miss Qin Liu, aren't you going to come out and introduce yourself?"
Long after Liu Haoyu finished speaking, no one in the room answered his question. The candle continued to burn. After the silence lasted nearly half a minute, a gentle and elegant voice rang out.
"I am the owner of this house—Qin Liu. The bed you slept in is mine, so please leave."
Qin Liu had many things she wanted to ask Liu Haoyu to help with, but out of pride, she still asserted her ownership of the house first.
Although he could hear her voice, Liu Haoyu still could not see Qin Liu.
For one thing, Liu Haoyu's spiritual sight was not especially strong.
For another, Qin Liu had deliberately hidden herself.
As the saying went, one should always guard against others. If Liu Haoyu really intended to exorcise her, she could at least hide quickly.
"Unfortunately, I've already bought this house. The procedure was proper, legal, and fully compliant, so there's nothing wrong with me living here."
Liu Haoyu spoke reasonably, addressing each matter as it arose.
"Besides, if I leave this place, I'll become a rootless drifter with nowhere to go. Surely a kind-hearted lady like you, Miss Qin Liu, wouldn't want to see me sleeping on the streets, would you?"
Qin Liu nearly choked to death on those words.
But just as Liu Haoyu had said, it was practically impossible to reclaim her house through normal means.
After all, the law protected people, not ghosts.
Even if Liu Haoyu destroyed her with a talisman, she would have no way to find a lawyer.
With no other choice, Qin Liu could only use another approach: reasoning with him.
Thus, she advised him,
"As an exorcist, you should understand, right?
The yin energy inside this house is extremely severe.
Even someone as full of yang energy as you would gradually grow weak from staying here too long because of the yin energy, until eventually you died.
So I only frighten people to make them leave this place.
At the same time, I am also telling you, esteemed Exorcist—
I am merely a harmless, nonviolent, law-abiding good ghost."
The yin energy Qin Liu mentioned was actually the dense resentment accumulated in this haunted house. Liu Haoyu answered with a calm expression.
"To be honest, I'm still somewhat amazed that your soul has remained so intact. You can actually communicate normally like a living person...
"But I also want to make something clear to you. This place is called a haunted house for a reason.
"For some unknown reason, the resentment here is extremely dense. It has even become almost tangible, to the point that even the nearby wandering ghosts and spirits dare not approach.
"If you continue staying in a place like this, you'll be affected by the resentment as well, and eventually become a Fierce Ghost that has lost all reason."
Liu Haoyu was not exaggerating. At least, according to common sense, that was exactly how things worked.
He had dealt with many supernatural incidents and encountered quite a few ghosts who had retained a small measure of awareness. Yet under the influence of resentment, almost all of them had transformed into monsters that killed and committed evil.
Liu Haoyu did not want Qin Liu, this young girl, to become a bloodthirsty Fierce Ghost like that.
Although the resentment inside the house had lessened somewhat because he often worshiped Qin Liu, that was only a drop in the bucket, not a long-term solution. He had to investigate the source of this resentment as soon as possible.
Thus, Liu Haoyu took a deep breath and got straight to the point.
"Miss Qin Liu, I'd like to ask you something. Do you know where the entrance to the basement of this house is?"
In response to Liu Haoyu's question came a voice tinged with confusion and a touch of cuteness.
"Huh? There's a basement too?"
Before you continue