"It scared me half to death just one time — do you really think I'd dare keep living there? Right now I'm renting a place over here and sleeping at a friend's house at night." The tall man looked miserable. "I came to Hanjiang to make money. My job isn't even stable yet, and I'm already about to lose my mind."
"I understand. Here's what we'll do — tonight I'll go back with you, and we'll check out that haunted house."
"Can't you go check it out now? Honestly, I really don't dare go into that room at night. The second I walk in, it feels like my heart's trembling — like someone's watching me." The tall man had clearly been traumatized by the experience.
"You can wait outside first, and then I'll go in with you." Chen Ge asked the departing tenants in detail about the strange incidents they'd experienced, recording every single one. After much persuasion, he finally managed to send them on their way.
Looking at the densely filled notes on the paper, Chen Ge felt something was off.
If none of the tenants were lying, then the supernatural density of this residential complex rivaled his haunted house's two-star scenes.
Strange things were happening in nearly every unit, and they were all the deeply unsettling kind — the more you thought about them, the more terrified you became.
"You're really going to give them their money back?" The little boy's mother poured Chen Ge a cup of tea. "I know you want to help, but I'd advise you not to get mixed up in this for no reason."
"They've had it tough enough. If I can help, I might as well help." Chen Ge had been eyeing this complex ever since he first walked into the real estate agency. So even without the tenants' troubles, he would have manufactured some just to lend a hand — that was the highest form of helpfulness.
"Those tenants don't actually trust you. They just think you're willing to help them get their rent refunded, so they've been making up stories to fool you." The little boy's mother handed the freshly poured tea to Chen Ge.
"You think they're making things up?"
"Of course. I've been working real estate here for years. If this place were really haunted, I would've quit long ago." The woman sighed. "The market's bad — they're just looking for excuses to break their leases."
"You've never encountered a single strange incident in all your years of working here?" Chen Ge was somewhat surprised. The complex the woman described and the one the tenants had told him about were completely different.
"Concealing the fact that a property is haunted — that was our company's fault, sure, but we're victims too. The landlord deceived us."
"Not doing proper background checks on a property's history is your negligence. Put yourself in their shoes — if you and your child were living in a haunted house, wouldn't you feel uneasy?"
"The place my child and I live in right now is a haunted house. We bought it ten years ago, way below market price. We've lived there for ten years and nothing bad has ever happened. Most of the time, it's all in your head. As long as you don't let your imagination run wild, it really doesn't matter whether the place is haunted or not." The woman was bold and cheerful, with a strong inner resolve and a gentle manner — her personality was genuinely excellent.
"Your house is haunted too?" Chen Ge slowly looked up at the woman. "And you've lived there for ten years?"
"Maybe it's hard for you to understand, but someone who works in real estate like me has long since stopped being surprised by these things. Not everyone cares about whether a place is haunted."
"What I mean is — in those ten years, you never encountered anything strange? Has your child ever said anything particularly unusual to you?"
At the mention of her child, the woman lost all desire to chat. "He's grown this old and has never once called me 'Mom.' What unusual things could he say? I appreciate you helping me get rid of those tenants, but you can't wake someone who's pretending to be asleep. They're just scamming you. Tomorrow they'll definitely come looking for you to get their deposits and rent back."
"That's not necessarily the case." Through their brief conversation, Chen Ge had identified the problem with this woman. Not only did she disbelieve in ghosts — she would subconsciously disregard every anomalous event.
So many tenants had said there was something wrong with the complex, yet the woman stubbornly insisted they were all just looking for excuses to break their leases.
And from her expression, Chen Ge could tell she wasn't faking it. She genuinely believed the tenants were making trouble, without ever thinking any deeper.
"I won't take up any more of your time. I'm going to check out where the tenants are staying." Chen Ge picked up the densely written sheet of paper, ready to prepare for tonight's task.
The woman's child was very likely the ninth child chosen by the Netherborn. Gathering more information about the child and his living environment could effectively reduce the difficulty of the mission.
"I'll come with you. There are no customers right now anyway, and even if there were, those old tenants would scare them off." The woman tidied up, grabbed a bag, and stepped out from behind the service desk.
"Is that appropriate?"
"We offer a service where we accompany clients to view properties. If you really do refund their rent, you'll be one of our major clients."
The two of them walked past the run-down streets and entered the aging residential complex next door.
"Jinhua Community and Jiuhong Community used to be separate, but later, for various reasons, the wall between them was demolished and the two communities were connected."
The woman was highly competent at her job — she had every property's details memorized. "The ones with the fresh white paint outside are Jinhua Community, built twenty-six years ago. Most of our tenants are concentrated here. It's divided into Buildings A and B, nine stories each, which made them among the taller buildings in the old city district at the time. They're equipped with old-style elevators. And by the way, my home is right here."
"Those gray, rundown little buildings next to them are Jiuhong Community — four buildings in total. The developer originally declared grandly that they would build nine residential buildings, but problems started after the fourth one. Still, the name Jiuhong Community was kept."
After entering the complex, the woman's demeanor noticeably improved. "Actually, Jiuhong Community is also a very nice place. The east and west sides border the city river, the south is an orchard, and the north is adjacent to Jinhua Community. Apart from the somewhat poor lighting, it's generally very suitable for living."
"Are all real estate agents this smooth-talking? This place is so remote you can barely see a single person, and you're telling me the environment is nice?" Chen Ge looked around. Jiuhong Community was situated in a very isolated area — the east and west were separated from the main city by two small rivers, and to the south lay a large expanse of sinister forest. If the woman hadn't mentioned it, he never would have thought of it as an "orchard."
"At least the air is fresh and pollution-free. To have such a pure haven in a bustling big city — that's truly something precious."
No sooner had the woman finished speaking than Chen Ge stopped in his tracks. Following his gaze, she saw that he was looking at a notice posted on the outside of Building A of Jinhua Community. The gist of it was that the place was haunted and under no circumstances should anyone rent a unit there.
"That's just the tenants venting their emotions." The woman calmly tore the notice down.
After walking a full circuit, Chen Ge had a clear picture of the complex's layout. Jinhua Community and Jiuhong Community were connected, with a total of two entrances.
The largest and most formal entrance was on the Jinhua Community side. The other entrance was on the south side of Jiuhong Community, leading toward that eerie orchard.
"What's the point of having a gate there? Does anyone actually go into that forest regularly?"
"Initially, the plan for Jiuhong Community was to develop the south side into an ecological garden, but it didn't work out. The concept was ahead of its time back then — too many people opposed it, and it was eventually abandoned." A complex that was decrepit, run-down, and creepy had become an earthly paradise in the woman's mouth. Perhaps this was an occupational hazard.
"You don't need to intentionally beautify this place. I'm here to solve problems, not to rent an apartment."
Jinhua Community was fairly normal — at first glance, it looked like any ordinary residential complex. Aside from the small number of residents and the extreme quiet, there were no other issues.
But the neighboring Jiuhong Community was an entirely different matter. It had a completely different atmosphere from Jinhua — not a single person could be seen anywhere, and the entire complex was eerily empty.
"Is anyone even living in this complex of yours?"