"So, you didn't encounter anything strange?"
"..."
"Did you encounter anything unusual?"
"Something unusual... Well... Hah..."
Bzz—
"This... I can't really say. I just felt like something was off. Not with me—with Xiao Li. His mother died a few months ago. I didn't go to the memorial service. They held it back in their hometown. When he got back, he came to see me and asked if I'd sold him the house for some ulterior motive. At the time, I really didn't understand. I thought he'd lost his mind. When the dog died, he blamed me. And he seemed to blame me for his mother's death, too. We nearly got into a fight. Later, we had a drink together, and he cried so hard his tears and snot were running everywhere... That was when I vaguely heard a bit of what had happened..."
"Could you tell us about it?"
"Apparently, it was haunted. That dog started haunting them. The one that died was a pug. A pet, not the kind of dog you'd keep in the countryside to guard the house and catch thieves. It was just a dog they kept for fun. His parents adored it. They used to raise it themselves, treating it like their own child. They fed it meat—lots of it—and all kinds of good food. They even cuddled and kissed it. He and his wife were only looking after it for a while. He said the dog was spoiled. They were out working during the day, unlike his parents, who kept it company every day. So the dog barked nonstop and even made the neighbors call the police. Once, when he was at work, the police called him home. I'd heard about it from other coworkers, too. He was the store manager, so he had