After Marrying the Evil God - Chapter 41

Although Shi Zhi was usually carefree and casual, as soon as Xie Chou1zhuang brought it up, he also realized the seriousness of the matter. “Is there any way to make Pei Yu hide?”

Pei Yu explained from the side, “It doesn’t matter. You don’t need to deliberately hide me, Zhizhi. I will stay by your side, and as long as I don’t manifest myself, no one can discover me.”

“Chouzhuang, where can I buy talismans? I’ll buy a bunch more. From now on, whenever I run into any danger, I’ll just throw talisman papers, but you are not allowed to come out! You can only come out when we are at home or in the dormitory, do you hear me?” Shi Zhi glared fiercely at Pei Yu.

“I’ll listen to whatever Zhizhi says.” Pei Yu agreed immediately without even thinking.

Xie Chouzhuang inwardly scoffed from the side; placed in ancient times, this fellow would definitely be a muddled ruler! However, must be said, Xie Chouzhuang hit the nail on the head—in front of Shi Zhi, Pei Yu was essentially a hundred-percent muddled ruler.

“What kind of talismans do you want? I’ve hoarded quite a lot.” Xie Chouzhuang took a shoebox out from the study, filled to the brim with all sorts of talismans.

“Are you running a wholesale business?” Shi Zhi stood dumbfounded, staring at the yellow talismans that were practically spilling over, and asked the ultimate soul-searching question.

“No, these are all finished products from when I usually practice drawing talismans. Don’t worry, their potency is about the same as the genuine ones sold online, 800 yuan each.” This price was even two hundred yuan lower than the rates on metaphysical websites. Xie Chouzhuang had been practicing consistently lately and had drawn quite a few talismans. He originally planned to list them online to sell, but since Shi Zhi happened to want to buy some, he took them out directly.

“You even know how to draw talismans? Chouzhuang, what other little surprises do you have that I don’t know about?” Shi Zhi picked up a piece of talisman paper to inspect it. The patterns on it were neat and orderly, looking just as though they had been printed out.

“What kind of talismans are in here?”

“Warding off evil spirits, suppressing ghosts, protecting the body, and the rest should have quite strong potency generally used for capturing ghosts, which you probably won’t have any use for.”

“Then give me ten of each of the three kinds you mentioned.” Shi Zhi directly transferred the money to Xie Chouzhuang. He had been making supernatural videos for quite a few years now, had a sizable following, and his earnings had already reached the seven-figure mark. His relationship with his family was ordinary, so he had always been saving up; buying a few talisman papers was naturally more than affordable for him.

Xie Chouzhuang packed up the three types of talismans separately for him, and to prevent him from mixing them up, Xie Chouzhuang even marked them.

“I finally feel secure now!” Shi Zhi carefully put away each of those three types of talisman papers and patted his pockets.

“Chouzhuang, that really popular haunted house I mentioned, are you going?” Shi Zhi looked at Xie Chouzhuang with excitement.

“Sure, let’s go!” Xie Chouzhuang actually hadn’t gone out to play in a very long time, but thinking of the destination this time, he grew somewhat hesitant. Remembering his jinxed constitution where every time he went out he was bound to encounter all sorts of accidental situations, could there really be ghosts in this haunted house? It shouldn’t… be such a coincidence, right?

“Then Pei Yu, you can dismiss yourself for now. Chouzhuang and I are heading out!” Shi Zhi casually waved at Pei Yu nearby.

“Okay.” Pei Yu silently concealed his figure and followed closely beside Shi Zhi.

The eight or nine o’clock morning hour was precisely peak commuting time, so the two of them simply checked a route guide and took the subway.

A subway station happened to be located near Huadajia, and the two excitedly scanned QR codes to unlock two shared bicycles, riding all the way to their destination.

By the time they finally reached the subway station, Xie Chouzhuang instantly regretted it. Before them was an absolute sea of humanity, with bustling crowds of heads everywhere.

The two of them were almost physically swept right into the carriage by the surging tide of people coming from behind. Shi Zhi very nearly had the shoes on his feet squeezed off, but fortunately, the two of them managed to board the train with no narrow escapes.

Xie Chouzhuang grabbed Shi Zhi and moved their feet with great difficulty, finally succeeding in claiming a tiny corner inside the carriage. Even though the space remained narrow, compared to the previous state of crowding, they could finally breathe a slight sigh of relief.

Looking around at this moment, the entire subway carriage was packed to the brim with exhausted office workers in all sorts of attire rushing about their day. Occasionally, a few college students looking relaxed and carefree would also board.

When it was time to get off, the two of them were once again carried along by the flow of people out of the station.

“Why are there so many people?” Shi Zhi straightened his hair, which had been messed up by the squeezing.

“There are a lot of companies around here, so this subway line is always crowded, plus we happened to board right when everyone was heading to work.”

“Next time, we really need to plan the schedule properly.”

“Where is that haunted house?”

“Let me check. Exit the station, take the Number 2 bus, get off after two stops, and walk for five minutes to arrive.” Shi Zhi studied the route.

“Are you sure we still want to take a bus at this time of day?”

“Then let’s scan a little e-bike instead.” Recalling the scene from just moments ago, Shi Zhi silently eliminated the bus option.

The two managed to grab two small e-bikes. The breeze on the September morning had lost its summer passion and intensity, leaving behind only wisps of warmth. It gently brushed against their cheeks, carrying a refreshing coolness. The leaves rustled, and the wind carried an elusive hint of osmanthus fragrance. That sweet and cloying scent was teased by the breeze into wisps, drifting intermittently into their nasal passages and lifting their spirits.

The location of the haunted house Shi Zhi mentioned was very remote; when they arrived, there weren’t many people around, save for a few scattered vendors peddling their wares.

The boss was a middle-aged man in his forties or fifties. His square face was covered in wrinkles, and beneath a messy pair of eyebrows were a pair of turbid and exhausted eyes. His figure was slightly plump, and his entire demeanor looked extremely decadent not at all resembling the boss of an internet-famous haunted house, but rather a middle-aged uncle who had suddenly lost his job and felt lost.

After collecting the money, the boss produced two waiver liability agreements and handed them to them. “You have to sign before you can play.”

“Is it really that scary?” Shi Zhi muttered to himself, then signed his name on it and pressed his thumbprint.

The boss slowly recounted the backstory to them.

A woman named Zhang Laidi underwent surgery at this hospital, unexpectedly finding out that the hospital was engaged in organ transplant dealings behind the scenes, selling healthy people’s organs at high prices by fabricating medical accidents. Zhang Laidi became one of those unlucky victims.

Shortly after the surgery began, the doctors announced that the operation had failed, and then directly hollowed out Zhang Laidi’s corpse. After receiving a hefty compensation payout, the family used the money to buy a house for their son, and no one remembered Laidi, who was already dead.

However, her husband accidentally overheard a conversation between her chief surgeon and the hospital director, which was how he learned the truth behind his wife’s death. Thus, revenge began. The man first killed his wife’s parents, then sneaked into the chief surgeon’s home and killed him…

Hearing the story told by the man, Xie Chouzhuang’s heart tightened. He subconsciously looked at the man’s physiognomy and discovered that he carried a murderous aura about him.

Xie Chouzhuang: “…” He just knew things wouldn’t be this simple.

The man before him was genuinely a murderer, and he had more than one human life on his hands. Looked at this way, the story just told might actually be true. Then what role did this man play in it? The vengeful husband?

Xie Chouzhuang sighed. Did he really possess some kind of special hidden constitution?

Good news: Didn’t run into any ghosts when going out.

Bad news: Ran into a dead person.