Darkened Glabella

Hearing Liu Haoyu say that, Old Wang was naturally rendered speechless for quite a while.

However, he did not think much of it. Once Liu Haoyu had settled into the vehicle, he stepped on the gas.

Liu Haoyu had not bought much furniture, nor were any of the items particularly large, so a single van was enough to carry everything.

The neon lights of the city gradually receded into the distance, and soon, the van Old Wang was driving sped down the highway.

Since the sun had only just set, the temperature was still somewhat hot.

The two remained silent along the way, with only the roar of the engine filling their ears.

Yet for some reason, whenever Old Wang glanced at the rearview mirror, he saw Liu Haoyu counting that thick stack of spirit money.

There was something indescribably eerie about the scene. What normal person would count spirit money for no reason, just to see how many bills there were?

To ease the strange atmosphere, Old Wang cleared his throat and asked.

"Xiao Liu, why did you decide to buy that house?"

But after saying it, he suddenly felt that something was inappropriate, so he added.

"I'm not asking as a sales manager. I'm just asking out of curiosity as a passerby. If you don't want to answer, then forget it."

Faced with Old Wang's question, Liu Haoyu put the counted spirit money back into the bag. After pondering for a moment, he finally answered.

"Can't be helped. These days, getting a wife means needing both a house and a car. A poor guy like me definitely can't afford a place in the city, so I figured I'd buy a remote little villa like this."

"Ha ha!" Old Wang laughed along before continuing, "You're still young. Once you buy a car someday, what will a mere twenty kilometers matter?"

After that, the two ran out of things to talk about, and the atmosphere fell silent once more.

Yet for some reason, Old Wang kept feeling that Liu Haoyu had been staring at him—or rather... staring at his forehead.

"Is there something on my face?"

"There's nothing there."

Looking at Old Wang's glabella, which had turned a purplish black, Liu Haoyu spoke casually.

"I just feel like your luck might not be very good lately."

"You can tell that too, Xiao Liu?" Old Wang was amused, smiling dismissively. "But not long ago, you were telling me not to be superstitious. Now you're saying something like this."

"You can just take it as a joke."

Liu Haoyu did not say anything more. At that moment, the van finally arrived in front of the haunted house.

After parking the van, Old Wang looked at the dilapidated, gloomy house before him and could not help shuddering.

If it were him, forget living inside—it would be enough just to see it for him to stay far away.

No matter how he looked at it, this house did not seem like a place where the living should stay.

Perhaps because of his unease, Old Wang moved much more briskly while carrying things.

Very quickly, the two unloaded all the furniture from the van. Since none of it was particularly large, Old Wang impatiently said.

"Xiao Liu, it's getting late, and I have something to rush back for. I'll have to trouble you to carry these inside by yourself. They're not heavy anyway."

"Thanks."

After Liu Haoyu checked the items and confirmed that nothing was missing, his gaze once again fell upon Old Wang's glabella.

It was still purplish black. Put plainly, it meant he was certain to suffer a bloody disaster.

Thus, Liu Haoyu could not help reminding him.

"Be sure to be careful on the way back..."

"Xiao Liu, now you're worrying about me? It's fine. I drive very steadily."

Uneasy, Old Wang did not wait for Liu Haoyu to finish. He climbed into the driver's seat, hit the gas, and with the roar of the engine, the van sped away and vanished into the vast night.

Liu Haoyu could only swallow the rest of his warning.

"Fine. I'll move these things inside first."

It took only a little time for Liu Haoyu to bring everything into the haunted house.

Then he carried it into the bedroom in several trips.

The night wind made the windows creak, but when that cold, terrifying gaze fell upon his back, all those sounds abruptly ceased.

It was as though he had lost his hearing.

Whether it was the insects chirping outside or the drafts passing through the house, everything fell silent.

The air was thick with the damp scent of rotting wood, making one feel uncomfortable all over just from breathing it in.

But Liu Haoyu had long grown accustomed to the smell. He placed everything he had bought that day in the bedroom. After tidying up a little, he took a lantern and headed for the third floor.

He intended to investigate the haunted house that night and find out what exactly was going on.

The house was large, with three floors and around ten rooms on each floor.

Clearly, before this haunted house had been abandoned, it had belonged to a wealthy family.

No one knew why it had fallen into such a state of ruin.

Even more horrifying was the resentment gathered within the house.

Liu Haoyu had never seen resentment this intense. It was like a tangible, viscous presence that made it impossible to breathe.

It was cold and bone-chilling. The moment one stepped inside, terrifying scenes—whether illusions or reality—would arise in one's mind.

Normally, resentment this dense would, nine times out of ten, give birth to an extremely terrifying Fierce Ghost.

And it would mercilessly slaughter anyone who entered the residence.

Liu Haoyu had seen plenty of such cases.

Yet according to Old Wang, the previous buyers who had entered this house had merely been frightened. The worst of them had only fainted from fear, and they recovered after treatment.

That completely defied common sense.

Perhaps this Fierce Ghost still retained its awareness and did not want to harm people?

But judging by the resentment accumulated here, even if it did not want to hurt anyone now, staying here for too long would surely make it gradually lose its true self and turn into a genuine Fierce Ghost.

And what Liu Haoyu needed to do now was uncover the truth behind this haunted house.

Where had this resentment come from, and what exactly was going on with that Fierce Ghost?

Following the stairs, Liu Haoyu reached the third floor.

The hallway on the top floor was even more dilapidated, with rotten wood everywhere that could break beneath his feet at any moment.

To avoid falling through, Liu Haoyu took out a flashlight. Its white beam illuminated the dim corridor.

Yet the light could only illuminate a very, very small area.

It would have been better not to turn it on. Once he did, everything beyond the patch of light before him became even darker, and the contrast only made the place more frightening.

In that windless, utterly silent environment, Liu Haoyu observed both sides of the corridor. He then chose a room, carefully pushed open its door, and walked inside.