"Zhao Huàn? I am a friend of Zhao Kang."
I quickly regained my composure and said in a low voice.
Fortunately, before opening the lock, out of caution, I did not release the peephole.
If the woman in the house sees me, she will surely recognize me, and we have met at the abandoned building.
As the old saying goes, if you don't do anything wrong, you have nothing to fear from ghosts knocking on the door. Zhao Ni is so cautious even in broad daylight, not answering the knock, so what is she afraid of?
"If you don't leave now, I'm calling the police! If you have the guts, go find my brother!"
The woman's voice sounded desperate and helpless.
Suddenly, I remembered a detail.
After Zhao Kang pushed me, his emotional state seemed to remain stable, but suddenly he said, "Don't come looking for me," and he became savage and vengeful.
In fact, he transformed from a black resentful ghost to a blood resentment in an instant.
This means Zhao Kang's death is not just the information provided by the Lord of the Marketplace; there must be something hidden as well.
At the same time, there were sounds of sobbing and choking coming from behind the door, interspersed with phrases of collapse.
”Are you going to drive me to death?“
"Are you not afraid that my brother will come after you? You people have no heart!"
My pupil contracted slightly.
Zhao Ni's words directly corroborated my guess.
My thoughts became more agile, and I quickly came up with an idea.
"Zhao Ni, you misunderstand. I am indeed your brother's friend. He entrusted me to deliver a message to you. You cannot go to him for offerings and burning paper money again. It is not safe there."
My voice became even heavier, and then I continued, "Also, your brother wants you to do something."
At that time, when I entered the room at the very end on the left side, the incense, candles, and paper money were not extinguished, but Zhao Kang was not there. He appeared a little later.
That means Zhao Kang is actually avoiding his own sister.
It's like Tang Qianqian is avoiding me and my uncle Tang.
Therefore, I deduce that Zhao Ni and Zhao Kang have no communication at all, neither living nor dead. She only goes to burn incense and make offerings because of her deep grief and longing.
The cries suddenly stopped.
There was a soft click as the lock was opened and the door swung open.
A woman in her thirties, her hair slightly disheveled, with deep black eye circles, heavy pouches under her eyes, and red eyes with traces of tears.
I looked at her, and her eyes suddenly widened.
"Is... you? You are not..."
"Let's go inside and talk," I said, my tone slightly grave.
Zhao Ni carefully looked at me next to Huāyíng, and her guard slightly decreased.
She let us into the house.
The lighting on the first floor was poor, even during the day, the inside of the house was quite dim.
The living room was about ten square meters, with old furniture.
There was a click, and the tungsten bulb lit up.
"I went to see Kangzi yesterday, and I didn't expect that there would be people moving around in such a place, so I didn't greet you," I explained first.
Zhao Ni's expression has calmed down a lot. She first invites us to sit on the sofa, and then she serves us water while explaining.
She said that there were a lot of people living in the abandoned building before, but recently, the relevant departments said they would explode it and give some compensation, so everyone moved out. She has gone to the abandoned building several times and hasn't seen anyone, and when she saw me yesterday, she didn't recognize me, so she didn't greet me.
I nodded thoughtfully. Zhao Ni knew nothing about the abandoned building.
That's normal. She was just an ordinary person. If it weren't for the lingering malevolence of Zhao Kang, she might have already been in trouble.
While speaking, Zhao Ni put two cups of hot water in front of me and Huāyíng.
At the same time, I took out my wallet and pulled out all the money I had left.
"This..." Zhao Ni looked confused.
"There's not much money left, it's Kangzi who asked me to give it to you. You can use it to give to your sister-in-law, it's his last living allowance." I sighed lightly.
Zhao Ni covered her mouth and sat trembling on the single sofa on the left, crying in sobs.
While crying, she choked and said, "I knew he wasn't gone. I just wanted to see him again."
Huāyíng stood up and walked over to Zhao Ni, gently patting her shoulder and consoling her to mourn moderately.
At the same time, Huāyíng also looked at me, her eyes filled with admiration.
I also comforted Zhao Ni a few words, saying that her brother couldn't see her because there was a difference between people and ghosts. However, he could see me because of my work as a mortician, which is not very auspicious.
Moreover, I came to find her not only to prevent her from going to offer sacrifices and giving money, but also for another matter that is of utmost importance.
It is about the suspicious nature of Zhao Kang's death!
My tone was very gentle for the first few sentences, but the last sentence, my voice became much heavier.
Zhao Ni raised her head, blankly staring at me, her expression filled with confusion and suspicion.
"The police have closed the case; he hanged himself... Could it be that he was killed by someone?" Zhao Ni's tone became particularly emotional.
My heart was completely calm.
Zhao Ni has already completely followed the direction I have guided.
I explained that Zhao Kang did indeed commit suicide, but his death was not solely due to financial and life pressures; there were other reasons as well.
For example, she mentioned earlier that someone has been looking for her and Zhao Kang, which is also one of the pressures.
Zhao Ni clenched her lower lip tightly. She immediately blurted out the identities of those people.
It turned out that after Zhao Kang resigned, he had no source of income, and he couldn't afford the mortgage or the other loans he had taken out. As a result, many people came to collect the debt. Although it is natural to pay back what you owe, their methods were extremely shameless. They would stay in his brother's house and say things like "when a person dies, the debt is cancelled," demanding that Zhao Kang commit suicide; otherwise, they must be paid back.
No more than a few days later, Zhao Kang committed suicide.
But those people were not satisfied and continued to find her to demand money, saying that this was a matter for the whole family, and the temple is still there even if the monk is dead.
She was also on the verge of collapse.
Huāyíng's face was hard to look at. She said, "How could there be such people, more relentless and poisonous than ghosts?"
My face remained unchanged, and I quickly analyzed these events. Although they were directly related to Zhao Kang's death, they were not the key.
Zhao Kang was related to the formation of the ghost prison in the abandoned building.
When he died, he must have taken something with him.
"This is one of the pressures, but it is not the most important reason. I know Zhao Kang. He has so many responsibilities on his shoulders, he couldn't have died just like that. There are other reasons that led him to be unable to bear it." I continued in a grave voice.
In fact, the phrase "to understand this is to lie without a conscience" is entirely a lie.
Just, the direction I deduced is definitely not wrong.
The things Zhao Kang had on him could cause the formation of the ghost prison, and they must all be filled with resentment.
Ordinary people who come into contact with these things for a long time will either commit suicide or die suddenly.
"This..." Zhao Ni furrowed her brow and struggled to think.
"Think it over carefully. Does your brother have any unusual personal items, or has he recently been to a place where someone died?"
"As someone in the funeral industry, believe me, it's absolutely correct." I spoke with an especially soft tone.
