"Young people just won't listen to advice. If something happens, it'll be too late. I'd advise you to go back as soon as you can!" the old woman said, then prepared to leave, trembling.
Just then, Chen Shouyi noticed the words "all these years" in what she had said earlier.
A thought stirred in his mind, and he called after her.
"Granny, wait. I wanted to ask, how long has this house been haunted?"
"What are you asking for? Ten-odd years, I suppose. I'm getting old, and I can hardly remember anymore. It's all ancient history..."
After listening to the old woman ramble on for quite a while, Chen Shouyi finally got the gist of it.
As the story went, it was a tale of a widowed old man whose children all lived abroad, and a young maid he couldn't stop lusting after.
In the end, the maid couldn't bear the abuse and hanged herself.
Afraid that the truth would come out, the old man hid her body in the basement and carried on with his life as if nothing had happened—until one day, he never came out again.
The house later changed hands several times. Since each sale came at a lower price than the last, there was never a shortage of buyers who refused to believe in ghosts. Yet everyone who lived there, without exception, first grew weak with astonishing speed, then became bedridden, and finally died for no apparent reason.
Little by little, the place had fallen completely into ruin, and no one ever came inside again.
After finishing her story, the old woman warned him once more, then left.
Chen Shouyi stood where he was, mulling it over.
Ten-odd years. That was a very long time.
Before the mysterious force field from the Other World invaded,