Shi Pengpeng asked Ju Ziyi if there were any other properties available.
Ju Ziyi flipped through her phone’s memo app and looked troubled.
“There are a few, but they’re all in rather remote locations…”
After all, haunted houses aren’t ordinary properties, and there are only a handful in the entire Xiluo area.
Shi Pengpeng listened to the addresses of the remaining properties and felt they weren’t quite suitable either.
They were indeed very cheap, but they were all located in the suburbs, with mediocre amenities and inconvenient commutes.
While she was hesitating, Ju Ziyi received a call from her supervisor.
He said that a homeowner had just contacted their branch wanting to list a property.
The house was excellent, and the price was very competitive.
He urged Ju Ziyi to quickly go to the homeowner’s place to take some videos of the house and gather more details.
Ju Ziyi was delighted to hear that the homeowner’s neighborhood was nearby.
Good properties were always in high demand, and she was afraid that if she delayed even a moment, another agent might snatch it up.
So, she asked Shi Pengpeng if they could stop by to take a look.
Shi Pengpeng, seeing how Ju Ziyi had been running around with them all morning and was so tired that her makeup had smudged, felt a bit embarrassed.
Since it wouldn’t take much time, she agreed.
Ju Ziyi then led Shi Pengpeng and Yan Jing to a well-reputed neighborhood not far from their branch, following the address her supervisor had sent.
“We’re here,” Ju Ziyi said as the elevator doors opened.
She checked the floor number to make sure it was correct and then stepped out first.
Shi Pengpeng and Yan Jing followed closely behind.
However, as soon as they stepped out of the elevator, Yan Jing’s brow furrowed slightly, and he turned to Shi Pengpeng.
“Pengpeng?”
Shi Pengpeng wrinkled her nose and gave him a confirming look.
“Yeah.”
She knew Yan Jing’s keen senses must have detected the faint aura of yin energy in the hallway.
Shi Pengpeng glanced around, feeling puzzled.
The building had a standard layout of six units per floor, with a square design.
It was less than ten years old, and the property management had maintained it well.
The common areas still looked quite new, not the kind of place where yin spirits would thrive.
Ju Ziyi led them to the middle unit of the three east-facing apartments and knocked on the door.
“Ms. Zhan, are you home? It’s me, the agent, Xiao Ju. I’m here to take a look at the house.”
Footsteps sounded from inside, and a woman replied, “Coming.”
Shi Pengpeng took the opportunity to glance at the neighbors on either side.
The neighbor on the left seemed to be a local from Xiluo, with a small gourd and a triangular talisman for protecting the home hanging on their door, both common in the area.
The neighbor on the right appeared to be quite well-off financially.
Instead of using the developer’s standard door, they had replaced it with a black solid wood door carved with intricate patterns.
Above the door, like many others, was a talisman, though it seemed to have been there for a long time, as the paper had faded and turned white.
Before she could examine further, a woman in her early thirties opened the door, looking surprised.
“So many people?”
Ju Ziyi flashed a professional smile and vaguely explained, “These two are my clients.”
The woman, thinking they were here to see her house, was impressed by the agent’s efficiency and didn’t ask further.
She warmly invited them in.
The homeowner, named Zhan Jie, looked somewhat tired but was very kind, with a constant smile on her face.
She patiently gave them a tour of the house.
After looking around, Shi Pengpeng understood why Ju Ziyi’s supervisor had been so eager for her to come see the property.
The house was indeed very nice.
The neighborhood is excellent, the layout is well-designed, and the house is meticulously decorated.
It’s not only aesthetically pleasing and comfortable, but the interior is also filled with many charming little items that reflect a life well-lived.
It’s clear that this is a family that takes great care in nurturing their home.
Zhan Jie proudly explained to them that the house was designed by her and her husband.
They had lived there for nearly eight years, and every detail was filled with memories of their family life.
Ju Ziyi found this a bit odd and asked, “If the house is so good, why are you selling it?”
At this, Zhan Jie sighed and said somewhat awkwardly, “I’m not afraid to admit it, but if we had a choice, my husband and I wouldn’t want to sell. However, our son suffers from severe neurasthenia. He often wakes up in the middle of the night, and recently, it’s been getting worse…”
She continued: “It turned out that her son had always been highly sensitive since childhood, easily startled by the slightest noise. As he grew older, his condition had improved somewhat, but recently, it had suddenly relapsed.”
“He would wake up in the middle of the night, crying and complaining that the neighbors on the right were too loud, walking and talking, and it was keeping him awake.”
Hearing this, Ju Ziyi couldn’t help but interject, “Isn’t that the neighbors’ problem? Shouldn’t you file a complaint against them?”
“If only it were that simple,” Zhan Jie replied with a helpless smile.
“The problem is, there’s no one living next door.”
Ju Ziyi was stunned.
“…What?”
It turned out that Zhan Jie’s neighbors were an elderly couple.
Their son had gone abroad to study years ago and stayed there to work after graduation.
Two years ago, the old man passed away, leaving the elderly woman alone.
Their son, who had married and had children overseas, decided to bring her over to help take care of the kids, and she had never returned since.
As for the neighboring house, it had been bought by the elderly couple for their retirement.
Even though the entire family had moved abroad, they hadn’t sold it.
Perhaps because they were financially well-off or simply didn’t want the hassle, they hadn’t rented it out either.
The house had been locked up and left vacant.
Since no one was living next door, the claim that the neighbors were too loud was clearly baseless.
Zhan Jie and her husband had taken their son to the hospital countless times, but the doctors only said that the child was overly nervous and needed more rest.
The problem was that the child couldn’t sleep well at home, and his auditory hallucinations were getting worse.
Recently, he even claimed to hear singing and refused to stay in the house.
Left with no choice, Zhan Jie and her husband sent their son to stay with his grandparents.
Strangely enough, as soon as he left the house, the auditory hallucinations disappeared, and his sleep quality improved significantly.
Zhan Jie and her husband were baffled by this.
After much thought, they could only conclude that their son’s nerves were too sensitive, and perhaps there was something about the house that made him uncomfortable.
Therefore, even though they were reluctant to part with the house, they decided to sell it.
Additionally, their son was about to start elementary school, and Zhan Jie and her husband wanted to quickly move to a better school district.
To expedite the sale, they priced the house slightly below the market average.
Ju Ziyi finally understood and said, “Alright, I’ll contact suitable buyers for you as soon as possible…”
Then she glanced at Shi Pengpeng and smiled, “Miss Shi, would you like to consider it too? The house is really nice, and the price is quite reasonable…”
“No,” Shi Pengpeng shook her head and said, “The price is still a bit off from my expectations.”
Ju Ziyi couldn’t quite agree with her mindset and earnestly advised, “Ah, Miss Shi, this must be your first time buying a house, right? Listen to me, when buying a house, you can’t just focus on the price.”
“The living experience is what matters most. Sister Zhan’s house is already very reasonably priced, and most importantly, there won’t be any trouble in the future…”
“That’s not necessarily true,” Shi Pengpeng interrupted her, glancing at Zhan Jie and pondering, “Sister Zhan, I don’t think your child is suffering from neurasthenia.”
Zhan Jie was puzzled, “Then what is it?”
Shi Pengpeng curled her index finger and gently tapped the wall shared with the neighbor, saying calmly, “For that, you’ll need to ask your neighbor on the right.”
Zhan Jie’s mouth twitched, “Didn’t I just say? My neighbor doesn’t live there…”
Shi Pengpeng wagged her finger, “Exactly because no one lives there, that’s the problem.”
Zhan Jie was confused, “What do you mean?”
Shi Pengpeng said nonchalantly, “Your neighbor must be a ghost.”
The scene:”……”
Ju Ziyi’s face turned pale, and she hurriedly said, “Ah, Miss Shi, don’t talk nonsense!”
Zhan Jie also frowned, annoyed, “If you want to lower the price, just say it, don’t play these tricks…”
Yan Jing glanced at her and said coldly, “She just said she’s not buying your house.”
Except when facing Shi Pengpeng, he always looked down on others, and now that he was upset, his imposing manner made Zhan Jie speechless.
Shi Pengpeng smiled, not in a hurry to explain, and said, “Sister Zhan, think carefully, why does your child always hear noises from next door?”
Zhan Jie instinctively replied, “Isn’t that auditory hallucination?”
“Is it?” Shi Pengpeng neither confirmed nor denied, just looked at her with a faint smile, “Then why does he stop hearing it when he leaves the house?”
Zhan Jie’s heart suddenly skipped a beat.
She rarely dealt with such things and had never thought about it this way.
Only now, after Shi Pengpeng mentioned it, did she feel a sudden realization, but she was still somewhat incredulous, stammering, “But how can I believe you?”
“That’s easy,” Shi Pengpeng said, taking out the Feng Shui compass she had prepared for checking haunted houses from her canvas bag.
Zhan Jie: “……?”
Ju Ziyi was also stunned, “Miss Shi, what are you…?”
Shi Pengpeng grinned, “Oh, I also do some Feng Shui readings on the side.”
Ju Ziyi:”……”
“Quite a unique side job,” Zhan Jie came back to her senses and asked curiously, “Then what’s your main job?”
Shi Pengpeng said succinctly, “I’m a sorcerer.”
Zhan Jie, Ju Ziyi:”……”
Shi Pengpeng ignored their complex emotions, placed the compass flat on her palm, and the compass’s celestial pool spun rapidly, showing an imbalance in the twenty-four mountains’ yin and yang.
She had anticipated this and made a hand gesture.
After a moment, the magnetic needle jumped, pointing towards the children’s room.
Shi Pengpeng followed the needle’s direction, walked to the bay window in the children’s room, and soon found the clue, “Just as I thought.”
The other three followed her in, and Zhan Jie asked, “Miss Shi, what did you find?”
Shi Pengpeng pointed outside the bay window, “Look there.”
Zhan Jie followed her finger and looked, initially a bit confused, but upon closer inspection, she couldn’t help but exclaim, “What is that?!”
The bay window in the children’s room was angled towards the window of the neighbor’s master bedroom.
However, the neighbor’s house had been unoccupied for years, with its doors and windows perpetually shut and the windows covered by thick black curtains.
As a result, Zhan Jie’s family had never paid much attention to what lay beyond those windows.
It wasn’t until Shi Pengpeng pointed it out to her that Zhan Jie noticed a section of the neighbor’s master bedroom curtain had somehow fallen off.
But what was revealed behind the curtain wasn’t the interior of a room-it was a wall made of black bricks.
The black brick wall sealed the window tightly, blending almost seamlessly with the black curtain.
Without a closer look, it would have been hard to distinguish between the two.
And on top of the brick wall, there was unmistakably half of a yellow talisman fluttering in the air.
“That’s a coffin-sealing talisman,” Shi Pengpeng said, her voice slightly grave.
“Your neighbor must have turned the house into a coffin.”
Ayang-world coffin, a dwelling for the living transformed into a resting place for the dead.
Zhan Jie: ?!!!