MLV Ch 40

Jiang Ye went to find Old Man Liu, saying that since the house was haunted, they had to stay for a trial night before deciding whether to rent. Old Man Liu wasn’t an unscrupulous landlord and agreed to their request. Jiang Ye then casually asked where the Bodhisattva statue in the courtyard had come from.

Old Man Liu said, “My son had it made. He’s a Buddhist and spent a lot of money on the gold plating.”

Jiang Ye thanked him and returned to the villa. Zhang Yi said he was going out to buy something and told the others to move the first-floor furniture into the yard. Jiang Ye went inside for a look. The villa’s layout was similar to Tianlu Mansion, with three floors, and balconies on the second and third. The furniture was all in its original place, and the refrigerators on each floor were still stocked with food, a testament to how suddenly the family had met their demise. The real headache was the large Italian leather sofa on the first floor; it was incredibly difficult to move.

Thunderstorms were common in Shen City during the summer. Seeing the gloomy sky, it looked like it would rain that night. They had to move quickly, or they’d be moving furniture in the rain.

Jiang Ye looked at Jin Feize. Jin Feize blinked pitifully. 

“Xiao Ye, do you have the heart to make me do manual labor?”

Jiang Ye said expressionlessly, “Yes, I do.”

Jin Feize clicked his tongue. 

“You’re so cruel.”

The guy was a spoiled young master who refused to do any dirty or tiring work. The task of moving furniture fell to Li Miaomiao and Jiang Ye. Jiang Ye used all his strength just to push the large sofa out the door. When he turned around, he saw Li Miaomiao carrying a two-meter-tall solid wood shelving unit on her back, grunting as she moved it outside.

As she passed Jiang Ye, she said, “Bro, don’t block the way.”

Jiang Ye: “…”

As dusk fell, the first floor was cleared out, and Zhang Yi returned. He was carrying three burlap sacks of flour and told Jiang Ye and Li Miaomiao to each take one. 

“Spread it all over the floor.”

Li Miaomiao asked, “Why are we sprinkling flour?”

Zhang Yi said mysteriously, “To see the ghosts’ footprints.”

Though a chill ran down her spine, Li Miaomiao did as he said. The three of them went to sprinkle the flour, not missing a single corner. While sprinkling, Zhang Yi also lit a white candle in each of the four corners, finally retreating to the stairs. According to Zhang Yi, the smoke from the white candles would allow them to see ghosts. Zhang Yi had Jin Feize stay in a room on the second floor, lest his presence scare the ghosts away. The remaining three sat on the stairs eating snacks, waiting for it to get completely dark. While they waited, Jiang Ye had Li Miaomiao describe Liu Bei’s family situation.

“Besides her parents, she had an older brother who just graduated from college and was a shut-in at home without a job. And a ten-year-old brother who was super naughty. He was always stealing Liu Bei’s stationery and hiding it, making her buy new pens and erasers every few days. I remember the three siblings lived on the third floor, and her parents lived on the second.”

Jiang Ye asked, “Have you met her parents?”

“Yes,” Li Miaomiao scratched her head. 

“They were nice people. I never saw them argue.”

“Which temple did they go to for worship?”

“That I don’t know.”

“Worshiping Buddha?” Zhang Yi said, chewing his gum. 

“Besides that weird, non-standard Guanyin in the yard, there isn’t a single Buddha statue in this house.”

After midnight, there was still no movement in the flour on the ground, and the white candles in the corners hadn’t revealed any ghosts. Li Miaomiao couldn’t sit still anymore. Having had too much to drink, she needed to use the bathroom. Zhang Yi and Jiang Ye were absorbed in a mobile game. Li Miaomiao didn’t quite dare to go to the bathroom alone, but she also didn’t want Jiang Ye to know she was scared. She was here to help, not to be a burden to her brother. After an internal struggle, she mustered the courage to go by herself.

The Liu family’s bathroom was quite large, with separate wet and dry areas and a big bathtub. The shower area and the toilet were separated by frosted glass into two small cubicles, each with a glass door. Li Miaomiao went into the toilet cubicle, closed the door, and pulled down her pants. Before she could start, she heard the wooden bathroom door creak open.

Li Miaomiao’s heart skipped a beat. She thought she’d forgotten to lock the bathroom door. Jiang Ye and Zhang Yi knew she was in the bathroom, but Jin Feize had been shut in his room and didn’t know. Her cheeks flushed red, and she called out, “Senior Jin, the bathroom is occupied!”

Jin Feize didn’t reply. She heard slow footsteps, approaching from a distance, getting closer and closer to the toilet cubicle. A question popped into her mind: What is Senior Jin doing? The footsteps stopped in front of the frosted glass door. Li Miaomiao saw a gaunt, black shadow outside. Neither Jiang Ye, Jin Feize, nor Zhang Yi had such a jagged silhouette; they were all well-proportioned and tall. Holding her breath, Li Miaomiao slowly looked down. There was a gap at the bottom of the glass door, revealing a pair of bruised, bare feet.

This person wasn’t Jin Feize. It was a ghost.

Li Miaomiao slowly stood up, pulled up her pants, and fumbled in her pocket for her phone, only to find it empty. She had left her phone on the stairs.

The black shadow outside the glass door slowly drew closer. Li Miaomiao watched as a blurry shape above expanded, as if the ghost was pressing against the glass, trying to peer inside. Don’t come in, don’t come in, Li Miaomiao panicked, looking down for something to defend herself with. There was nothing in the bathroom; she couldn’t find anything.

She couldn’t hold it in anymore and screamed for help, “Bro!”

The glass door was suddenly pounded on, the entire door rattling. The thing outside was hitting it faster and more urgently. Li Miaomiao shrieked, climbing onto the toilet to get as far away from the door as possible. A spiderweb of cracks appeared on the glass, and a hole opened in the center of the fracture. Li Miaomiao thought she saw the ghost’s murky eyeball.

“Bro—!” she screamed hoarsely.

The pounding suddenly stopped. Before Li Miaomiao could breathe a sigh of relief, the glass door was violently smashed open.

Without thinking, she threw a punch, but her wrist was caught firmly.

Jiang Ye grabbed her hand, his brow furrowed. 

“Li Miaomiao, it’s me.”

Still shaken, Li Miaomiao poked her head out and looked around. The bathroom was empty; no one else was there. The ghost from before was gone. She finally relaxed and burst into tears. 

“There was a ghost just now…”

“Alright, I know,” Jiang Ye said. 

“Are you done with the bathroom?”

Li Miaomiao shook her head, still crying.

Jiang Ye turned his back. 

“I’ll stay with you. Hurry up.”

After relieving herself, Li Miaomiao washed her hands and clung to Jiang Ye’s sleeve as they left.

Jin Feize had already come out of his room and was leaning against the bathroom doorway, waiting. Zhang Yi was there too, chewing his gum and smiling roguishly. 

“Little sis, if you’re scared, don’t pretend you’re not. Bro will take you home.”

This Zhang Yi seemed sleazy and completely unreliable. Jiang Ye pulled Li Miaomiao behind him, blocking her from view, and said, “Your tricks didn’t work.”

“Indeed,” Zhang Yi shrugged. 

“Looks like the ghosts in this house are pretty smart. They didn’t come home through the front door.”

Just as he finished speaking, a light suddenly turned on at the end of the dark corridor, and a figure walked past. The light went out again, and the corridor returned to silence.

Jin Feize narrowed his eyes. 

“The things in here aren’t afraid of me.”

“Tsk,” Zhang Yi found it intriguing. 

“Now this is getting interesting.”

Jin Feize suddenly started towards the end of the corridor. 

“I’ll go take a look.”

Jiang Ye frowned. 

“Jin Feize.”

Jin Feize smiled and looked back. 

“Worried about me? Want to come with?”

The guy was always acting on his own; Jiang Ye couldn’t stop him.

Zhang Yi tossed him a small, bright red pouch. 

“It’s filled with cinnabar. For your protection.”

Jin Feize caught it, gave Jiang Ye a wave without turning around, and disappeared down the end of the corridor.

Zhang Yi said, “We can’t stay here. Let’s go.”

The three of them hurried down the stairs. As they did, they all noticed that the flour-covered first floor was now covered in numerous, messy footprints, and the candles in the four corners had been extinguished. Li Miaomiao shivered. She didn’t know if it was her imagination, but she felt the house had become much colder. It wasn’t a drop in temperature, but a snake-like chill that rose from the bottom of her heart.

Zhang Yi counted the footprints. 

“One, two, three, four, five, six… Little sis, this family has more than five members. There are at least seven different shoe sizes on the floor.”

“What happens if there are more than five?” Li Miaomiao asked.

Zhang Yi laughed. 

“I can handle five ghosts, but not seven.”

“Then why are you laughing!” Li Miaomiao was speechless.

“Finding joy in hardship. If I have to die, I’ll die a happy ghost.” Zhang Yi spat out his gum and said to Jiang Ye, “Do you still want to talk to the ghosts in this house? The ghosts here aren’t even afraid of A-Ze. I suggest we run. They’re not friendly. Saving our skins is the priority.”

“…” This guy was indeed unreliable. At this point, Jiang Ye had no choice but to retreat. 

“Let’s go.”

Zhang Yi picked up his bag from the stairs, and the three of them ran outside. It was pitch black, the yard filled with the furniture Jiang Ye and Li Miaomiao had moved out. They crossed the lawn, and just as they were about to reach the main gate, Jiang Ye suddenly pulled Zhang Yi and Li Miaomiao, forcing them to crouch down.

“What’s wrong, bro?”

Before Li Miaomiao could finish, Zhang Yi covered her mouth.

Jiang Ye whispered, “Look, the Bodhisattva statue is gone.”

Li Miaomiao looked ahead, and her heart sank. Jiang Ye was right. The fourteen-armed Guanyin Bodhisattva that had been standing by the gate during the day had vanished. The three of them crouched for a while before they heard heavy footsteps. A two-meter-tall figure passed in front of them, its fourteen arms waving and swaying chaotically, like tentacles. Its massive shadow fell over them, as heavy and gloomy as a mountain, incredibly oppressive. The three of them pressed themselves to the ground, terrified of being discovered.

Only after the Bodhisattva had moved far away did the three of them dare to straighten up slightly. Luckily, Jiang Ye had reacted quickly. It turned out the Bodhisattva had been patrolling near the gate all along. If they had run out recklessly just now, they would have run right into it. Zhang Yi sighed grimly. 

“We’ve been had. We were set up. This ghost Bodhisattva wasn’t for warding off evil; it was for sealing the gate. Someone deliberately lured us in, wanting to kill us in here.”

This two-meter-tall, fourteen-armed ghost Bodhisattva clearly wasn’t going to be easy to deal with. Zhang Yi decided to head back to the villa first. With Jin Feize there, they might stand a chance. Jiang Ye took off his short-sleeved shirt, revealing the white T-shirt with Jin Feize’s face printed on it, and handed it to Li Miaomiao.

“Put it on.”

Zhang Yi’s eyes lit up. 

“Got another one? Give me one.”

“There are no more,” Jiang Ye said.

He had originally thought that since Zhang Yi had a Taoist certificate and was a Heavenly Master from the Heavenly Master’s Mansion, he should be reliable. So Jiang Ye had only worn one evil-warding T-shirt and hadn’t thought to bring spares. A lesson learned. Jiang Ye thought to himself that in the future, he must be more cautious and not trust others so easily, especially white-haired Heavenly Masters with Taoist certificates.

The three began to retreat towards the villa. Jiang Ye led, Li Miaomiao was in the middle, and Zhang Yi brought up the rear. They crouched low, tiptoeing towards the villa. The ghost Bodhisattva was patrolling the main path, so Jiang Ye had to go through the bushes to get to the outer wall of the house first. The lights on the first floor had gone out at some point; they had been on when they first came out. Jiang Ye had no time to think about it and led the other two slowly towards the door. Just as they reached the arched, white-trimmed European-style window, the lights inside the house flickered on, and a cold light shone out.

Jiang Ye looked up and saw the shadow of a long-haired woman on the window. From his angle, he could just see her rotting face. She stood at the window, as if looking for something. Jiang Ye pulled Li Miaomiao close, and they pressed themselves against the wall beneath the windowsill, not moving a muscle. Just then, the three of them heard the heavy footsteps of the ghost Bodhisattva again. Jiang Ye looked up and saw the terrifyingly tall and thin black shadow of the Bodhisattva appear at the other end of the bushes, slowly approaching their direction.

Li Miaomiao’s legs trembled. She mouthed to Jiang Ye, “What do we do?”

Jiang Ye stared intently at the approaching ghost Bodhisattva, motionless.

Closer and closer it came. Three hundred meters… two hundred meters…

Just as it was about to pass through the bushes and come before them, the light above suddenly went out, and the female ghost disappeared. Jiang Ye grabbed Li Miaomiao and quickly ran into the villa. Zhang Yi followed close behind, but just as he was about to enter, he was pushed by someone and stumbled to the ground. Jiang Ye pulled him up and, in the moonlight, saw a small black handprint on his back. Li Miaomiao had said Liu Bei had a naughty little brother; he had probably been pushed by that little boy.

This delay exposed the three of them to the ghost Bodhisattva’s line of sight.

The heavy footsteps immediately quickened. From a distance, Li Miaomiao saw the huge black shadow rapidly approaching.

“Upstairs, quick!” Zhang Yi said. 

“Everyone, run straight to the bedrooms. Remember, once you’re in, get under the covers, hide your head, and don’t let a single strand of hair show.”

Li Miaomiao didn’t understand. 

“Isn’t that just asking to die?”

“You’re such a layman,” Zhang Yi said with authority. 

“Get under the covers, and the ghost will think it’s just the bed and won’t see you. Quick, quick, hurry up.”

Jiang Ye closed the door, locked it, and turned to follow the other two. Zhang Yi went straight into Liu Bei’s room, with Li Miaomiao right behind him. The two of them quickly got into the bed. When Jiang Ye entered, he saw them both motionless under the covers.

Zhang Yi poked his head out. 

“A bed can only sleep two people at most. Bro, you better find another room.”

Li Miaomiao said with a mournful face, “Sorry, bro. I feel safer with this alternative-looking guy, so I’m abandoning you for now.”

Zhang Yi protested, “Who are you calling alternative-looking?”

Jiang Ye: “…”

Jiang Ye closed the door for them and retreated to the corridor. On the second floor, there was also the little brother’s room, but the kid was only ten and slept in a child’s bed. Jiang Ye couldn’t fit, so he went up to the third floor and entered the older brother’s room. As soon as he entered, he ran headfirst into a standing figure in the corner.

“Jin Feize?”

No one responded.

Jiang Ye’s heart sank. Forcing himself to stay calm, he turned on his phone’s flashlight. The dim room was illuminated, revealing a life-sized, blonde inflatable doll standing in the corner, dressed in a pink miniskirt, with blue plastic eyes and an exaggerated smile on its face.

Although the doll was creepy, at least it wasn’t a ghost. Jiang Ye breathed a sigh of relief, climbed into bed, and got under the covers. It was dark and utterly silent all around; Jiang Ye could only hear his own deliberately quieted breathing. He heard the sound of the door being battered downstairs. Three loud bangs, and the door broke open. The ghost Bodhisattva had entered.

Jiang Ye heard its heavy, mountain-like footsteps. With each step, the house seemed to tremble. It seemed to be checking room by room; Jiang Ye heard doors opening several times. It checked the second floor, then started up the stairs, one step at a time. It seemed Zhang Yi’s method was indeed effective; they had passed safely.

The footsteps grew closer. Thud—thud—thud—

With a creak, Jiang Ye heard the door to his room open. Through the pure white bedsheet, he saw the tall, terrifying, blurry shadow of the ghost Bodhisattva, its fourteen arms spasming, conveying an indescribable madness. It circled the bed again and again. Jiang Ye held his breath, as still as a mountain. After the eighth circle, it finally gave up the search and retreated.

As its footsteps faded away, Jiang Ye let out a sigh of relief. His limbs relaxed, and he shifted slightly. As he moved, he felt a cold hand beside him. Jiang Ye froze instantly, his limbs as if frozen, his palms sweating. It was too dark. When he got into bed, Jiang Ye hadn’t realized there was someone else lying there.