Chapter 152: The Unlucky Guy
Zhang Hui and the people who had just entered the room stared at each other, confused.
To be honest, he was a bit lost. He never thought he’d run into someone he saw yesterday, especially not here.
And… why did it feel like the whole world was trying to trick him?
Xiao Jing looked at him with an unhappy face. Just thinking about how this guy had stayed in her place for several days and filled the living room with the smell of smoke made her cheeks puff up in anger.
Zhang Hui was clearly scared by the little girl’s glare. Even though he was a grown man, he hid behind the fortune-teller like a frightened child, his voice shaking.
“You… you’re all working together?”
Suddenly, he remembered one of his earlier guesses. What if Li Mu had already been taken over by a ghost?
If that was true, then maybe all of these people were ghosts too?
The thought made him shiver from head to toe.
“Alright, alright, forget about the money. I’ve got other things to do,” the old lady sighed and waved her hand to tell Zhang Hui to get lost.
Zhang Hui didn’t wait another second and quickly ran out the door.
“Aunt Zhou, it’s not like you need money,” Chen Yi sat down on the bench, looking helpless. “If the police catch you again, it’ll just be more trouble.”
“No trouble at all,” the old lady smiled, her wrinkled face full of joy. “If they take me to the station, I’ll have people to talk to. It’s nice.”
While she spoke, her eyes turned to Xiao Jing, who was curiously looking around the room.
“So this is the ghost you were talking about?”
Chen Yi turned to look at Xiao Jing, who looked cute and innocent.
“Yeah, she lost her memories from when she was alive, so we’re not sure what her goal is. But her sister said she’s looking for her parents.”
“Her parents are also Li Mu’s parents. Years ago, Xiao Jing was killed by a ghost, and her parents went to get revenge. They’ve never come back since.”
The old lady nodded and waved to Xiao Jing. “Come here, let me take a look at you.”
Before going after revenge, Li Mu’s parents had actually come to her asking to borrow a ghost. But after all these years, they never returned it.
Xiao Jing looked up at the old woman. For some reason, she felt nervous inside. Normally she was really loud and playful, but now she walked over quietly and obediently.
The old lady checked her body, then gently pinched her cheek. In the end, she said with a sigh, “Nice craftsmanship.”
“My sister does great makeup!” Xiao Jing said proudly.
“I meant your body,” the old lady laughed, patting her on the head. Then she looked up at Chen Yi and said, “I’ve got a lead on the ghost.”
Chen Yi and Yu Fan immediately moved closer, listening carefully.
“The real body of the ghost is probably a painting,” the old lady said slowly, thinking as she spoke.
“The victim was a graduate student from an art college. He was invited online to go to Yingfeng Town, where he was murdered. The painting he carried disappeared.”
“The killer fled overseas and hasn’t been found, which is why the victim turned into a ghost.”
Yu Fan asked, “So where’s the painting now?”
To get rid of a ghost, the most important thing is to find what it’s attached to.
“It’s in a hotel, probably being used as decoration.”
Yingfeng Town is a tourist town. It’s only about 20 minutes from the sea.
Nearby, there’s a famous scenic area, with a water park, outlet mall, and more. But since the hotels inside the scenic area are expensive, many visitors stay in Yingfeng Town instead.
Because of that, the town’s hotel business is doing really well. Even big hotels, which are rare in small counties, can be found here.
The hotel the old lady was talking about is located on the edge of Yingfeng Town. It’s a tall building with more than ten floors, called the Peony Hotel.
After understanding the situation, the three of them went to the hotel and booked three rooms.
“Why do we keep losing power around here lately?”
While checking in at the hotel, Yu Fan overheard the receptionist chatting near the entrance.
"They say there’s a problem with the wiring, but no one’s come to fix it. The manager is super angry."
"Let’s go," Chen Yi glanced at Yu Fan. "We’ll walk around and see if we can find a painting that feels off."
"Can we even tell just by walking around?" Yu Fan quickly followed behind him.
It was Xiao Jing’s first time staying at a hotel, and she looked super excited. She was bouncing around, holding Yu Fan’s hand as they walked.
She didn’t care about catching ghosts at all. Instead, she asked Yu Fan, "Are we going shopping later? Is there anything fun to do around here?"
"Maybe tomorrow. We’ve still got work to do today."
Normally, people take the elevator to go upstairs, but they didn’t want to miss any details. So they decided to take the emergency stairs and check every floor.
The first floor was the hotel lobby.
The second floor had private dining rooms and open seating.
The third floor was hosting a wedding.
From the fourth floor up, it was all guest rooms.
As they walked, Yu Fan noticed that this hotel liked to hang paintings in the hallways and lobbies. By the time they reached the fifth floor, they had already seen at least ten different paintings.
"There are so many paintings. How are we supposed to find the right one? Burn them all?"
Yu Fan walked into his room, holding his head in frustration. Then he turned to Xiao Jing and said, "Don’t run around, okay? Stay quietly in your room."
"Got it!" Xiao Jing excitedly swiped her key card and ran into her room like a happy kid.
Once she was inside and quiet, Chen Yi casually closed the door, then walked into Yu Fan’s room with a cigarette between his lips.
"We have to wait for him to make a move first," he said, sitting down on a wicker chair. He tapped his cigarette on the ashtray on the table and added, "We’re sure now, he targets young women. His killer was a young woman too."
"But there are so many girls in the hotel..."
Maybe because of what happened to Li Mu last time, Yu Fan was very nervous. "Maybe there’s another reason?"
Then Chen Yi suddenly changed the topic with a relaxed tone. "By the way, Li Mu’s cousin would actually be a good fit for our kind of work."
Yu Fan paused for a second. "He can see ghosts… and he’s super unlucky. Every time he shows up, something strange happens."
"Maybe he’s just having a run of bad luck." Chen Yi laughed. "I’ve been catching ghosts for over ten years, and I’ve never seen someone this unlucky."
Just as he said that, a loud scream came from outside the door.
"You—you—you!!! Why are YOU here too?!"
They both looked towards the sound. Any nervousness Yu Fan had felt had completely disappeared, and all he wanted to do was laugh.
They stepped out of the room and saw Zhang Hui standing nervously in a corner of the hallway, while Xiao Jing stood at her room door, looking confused.
"What a coincidence!" Chen Yi smiled and called out to Zhang Hui.
Zhang Hui’s face turned green.
He had thought that small inns might be haunted, so after thinking it over, he chose to stay in the biggest hotel in Yingfeng Town, figuring that a place like this would have good luck charms and protection stuff. It had to be safer than a small inn.
But somehow… he still ran into ghosts!
"Maybe that’s just what it means to be unlucky," Yu Fan laughed and shouted, "Cousin! Wanna grab lunch together?"
"Get lost! I’m not your cousin!"
Yu Fan hesitated, then checked his phone's internet search. ‘What do you call your wife’s cousin?’
He was right. Nothing wrong with that.