Ghost Questioning

"It wasn't locked."

Liu Haoyu carefully pushed the door open and peered through the crack.

Fortunately, there was nothing inside the room.

No pale hand suddenly shot out to grab him, nor was there another pair of spiteful, hate-filled eyes staring fixedly at him from behind the door.

Nothing happened. In the silent room, there were only a few empty clotheslines.

The evening breeze blew apart the tattered curtains, and bright moonlight streamed through the window, illuminating the dim room.

But once the wind died down, the room plunged back into darkness.

Silence.

Deathly silence.

Only then did Liu Haoyu realize that the room's door had somehow closed.

Without a sound, leaving him no time to react.

The door was shut, the wind had stopped, and the room was terrifyingly dark.

Liu Haoyu switched on his flashlight and pulled a candle from his pocket.

This candle was also one of the lighting tools he had placed by his bed last night.

Even without being lit, this sort of candle would ignite on its own.

Provided it encountered something unpleasant.

"Whoosh—"

The evening breeze rose again, blowing the curtains open and letting moonlight spill back into the room.

But unlike before, a vivid red bridal gown had somehow appeared on the previously empty clothesline.

Its sleeves and hem were fully spread, as though a person had been hung alive from the line.

A chill rose from beneath Liu Haoyu's feet, and that deathly aura slowly crawled up his spine.

At the same time, the wick of the candle in Liu Haoyu's hand trembled and slowly produced a faint flame.

The wavering, dim fire lit up Liu Haoyu's face.

That meant something unpleasant had entered the room.

Yet even so, Liu Haoyu still chose to walk toward the red bridal gown.

With heavy steps, the man finally arrived before the gown.

The cold night wind continued to howl, making the bridal gown hanging from the line sway back and forth.

The dust-covered room, the crumbling walls, the window that was nearly falling off...

None of it fit with the red bridal gown before Liu Haoyu's eyes.

That overwhelming sense of incongruity brought even stronger unease and fear.

Even Liu Haoyu, no matter how steady his nerves were, felt his heart leap into his throat at the sight.

Staring at the gorgeous bridal gown, he hesitated for a moment before slowly reaching out his hand.

Then he picked up the soft gown and boldly took a sniff.

It was neither the smell of a rotting corpse nor the stench of blood.

Like those red Embroidered Shoes, it carried a faint fragrance.

It was not exactly refreshing or intoxicating, but it certainly was not unpleasant.

"The scent... isn't bad."

For Liu Haoyu, who had seen plenty of ghosts and monsters, the smell was indeed unexpected.

But... can someone tell me—

Why had the candle in his hand gone out?

Liu Haoyu stared blankly at the extinguished candle in his hand, at a complete loss.

Had that Fierce Ghost just run away?

Just now, Liu Haoyu had merely felt the gaze upon him sharpen before it vanished without a trace.

As if it had seen some kind of pervert.

But what he had just done could hardly be considered perverted, could it?

He had only sniffed a piece of clothing.

"Forget it."

Human hearts were already difficult enough to fathom, let alone the thoughts of ghosts.

Liu Haoyu did not intend to worry about it. He took the bridal gown down from the line, folded it neatly, and placed it on the floor.

Using it as a medium, he inserted four candles into the east, south, west, and north walls.

The candles immediately lit up. Liu Haoyu returned to the center of the room and placed the final two candles directly in front of the red bridal gown.

The reason was simple: humans and ghosts traveled different paths. It was exceedingly difficult, even against the natural order, for humans to see spirits.

But this method could be used to communicate with ghosts.

In short, Ghost Questioning.

Liu Haoyu placed a small dish between the two candles, bit open his index finger, and dripped several drops of blood into the center of the dish.

As the blood fell, Liu Haoyu repeatedly recited his own name in his heart. It was to reinforce his consciousness and keep the ghost from directly taking away his soul during their exchange.

As Liu Haoyu recited his name, the four candles in the east, south, west, and north went out one after another.

Then strange things began to happen. A dragging sound echoed continuously through the room, as if something was being dragged across the floor. "Shhk... shhk..."

It paused and resumed with a strange rhythm, making one instinctively hold their breath.

Next came a creaking noise from the window, like fingernails scraping across it.

Even more terrifyingly, something outside the door was pounding on it furiously. The blows were so powerful that the already dilapidated door seemed ready to collapse.

Many things wanted to come in...

But none of them were Liu Haoyu's target.

"Liu Haoyu... Liu Haoyu..."

To find the Fierce Ghost in this haunted house, Liu Haoyu could only recite his name again and again, holding firm to his true self and refusing to be lured away by the ghosts.

At last, the room's door was smashed open, and the window was completely shattered. Every sound was like a countdown to death, closing in on Liu Haoyu.

And somehow, the voice that should have existed only in his thoughts began to echo by his ears.

"Liu Haoyu... Liu Haoyu..."

They lingered all around him, their greedy gazes fixed on the man's back. The moment he could no longer hold onto himself, they would swarm forward and devour him.

Yet even after trying this hard, Liu Haoyu still could not find where the Fierce Ghost of this haunted house was.

His consciousness was gradually beginning to fail.

Finally, the two candles before the bridal gown went out.

At that instant, all the noisy sounds around him vanished. Like music cut off abruptly, the silence was sudden and discordant, and a hollow, deathly terror arose from within.

Once everything fell quiet, Liu Haoyu heard the sound of swallowing above his head.

There was something overhead!

That thing was getting closer!

A fear beyond death flooded Liu Haoyu's heart all at once.

He could only open his eyes and shout.

"Wandering ghosts, disperse!"

When he stood up, all the unknowns and all the fear vanished with them.

Liu Haoyu was drenched in sweat, gasping for breath.

For Ghost Questioning, he had drawn all the wandering ghosts within several kilometers.

Yet he had still failed to draw out the Fierce Ghost inside this haunted house.

And that could mean only one thing.

The Fierce Ghost in this haunted house was far stronger than he had imagined.