Chapter 15: Let's Do the Ritual

A group of people entered the security room to check the surveillance footage, and Cheng Yulan was so nervous she was almost sweating, hesitating for a moment before timidly joining them.

Seeing a ghost on the footage was terrifying.

Xu Qing felt endlessly anxious inside, he was a hundred percent sure this "ghost" was Jiang He!

Please don't have caught the face...

"It's this one," Mr. Zhao fiddled with the monitor for a bit and called up the footage from the other night, glancing back at everyone, "Don't be scared, it's just a quick glimpse."

Cheng Yulan took a step back and exchanged a look with Xu.

"Xu, you come here, you young man, stand in front a bit."

"..."

Xu scratched his head, deciding to face whatever came and see exactly what was captured.

Mr. Zhao's expression was serious as he pressed play, and the screen showed a dark night scene with nothing stirring initially, causing everyone to hold their breath and crane their necks, waiting for the dirty thing to appear.

Shortly after, there was movement on the screen.

"It's moving, it's moving!"

"What is that?!"

"Is that for real?"

Everyone gasped in surprise, and Xu silently heaved a sigh of relief; it was just a black shadow that flashed by from inside, unrecognizable.

"There's more."

Mr. Zhao switched the camera angle, looked back at them again, and clicked play.

Under the moonlight, that shadow drifted up along the corner of the wall and then hovered over to the other side... From the monitor, a big clump clearly resembling a human shadow swiftly passed by, looking spooky.

Before anyone could speak, Mr. Zhao opened another file, this time from just before dawn, when there was some light, with the video appearing clearer, and that shadow swiftly glided across the wall and then out of the camera's field of view.

As the video stopped, everyone was silent, feeling a coldness at the back of their necks.

"This... this..." Cheng Yulan was utterly bewildered, retreating a step as she rubbed her arms.

It was truly frightening.

"Should we call the police?"

"Can cops catch ghosts?"

"What do we do then... I heard that the badge on their hats can ward off evil, they won't be scared."

"Hang on..." Chen Aiguo took his attention off the surveillance, feeling somewhat faint-hearted, but still spoke up, "It's best we don't let others find out about this."

"What?!" Mrs. Cheng's voice rose by eight degrees.

"Think about it, if word gets out that our community is haunted, who'll want to rent here? Liang, will you still be able to sell your house?"

"..."

"..."

"Right! We need to discuss this properly." Liang was already reaching for his phone, but Chen Aiguo's reminder brought him to his senses.

He was about to sell his house; a haunting was none of his business! If the buyers found out, they'd use it as an excuse to bargain down the price, and the loss would be substantial.

"Exactly, if it scares off those young renters, our community will be even more deserted, less lively, and it'll act up even more," Xu agreed.

His heart was pounding—he was certain it was Jiang He!

She was sneaking out in the middle of the night!

He didn't know how many other cameras might have captured her... Thinking of the consequences made Xu anxious, and he quickly suggested, "Let's observe the situation for now. Maybe she was just passing by—right, was she there yesterday, Mr. Zhao?"

He turned to Mr. Zhao with the last question, and Mr. Zhao took out another cigarette and put it to his mouth without lighting it, thinking for a moment before shaking his head, "Not yesterday."

"Right, passing by, it's very likely a pass through, let's keep watching for a couple of days and then discuss," Liang clapped his hands.

The worried group left the security room and stepped outside; only when the sunlight hit them did they shake off the creepy feeling inside.

"Should we get someone to perform a ritual?"

"Do you know anyone who does that?"

"I remember somebody's family has a Buddha statue, they pray to it every day, let's go ask them later."

Xu listened to their clamor and didn't linger, he didn't even go to buy breakfast; he hurried back home.

Jiang He was still in the living room, and she looked puzzled to see him return so quickly, curiously glancing over.

"Did you sneak out last night?!"

"... Yeah." Jiang He hesitated only for an instant before nodding in admission.

In the first few nights after her arrival, she had secretly slipped out to carefully investigate the surroundings.

"..."

Xu Qing, hearing her straightforward admission, was suddenly at a loss for words.

"How did you know?"

"How did I know? The surveillance... pah, Thousand-mile Eye recorded everything for you!"

If the external surveillance captured clear footage of someone moving agilely across rooftops and walls, hopping around like Spider-Man, it would definitely shoot to the top of the trending searches instantly.

Massaging his forehead, Xu Qing sat down on the couch and looked at her for a moment, "What were you wearing?"

"That black one." Jiang He pointed to her room, and after thinking for a moment, asked, "Did I... cause trouble?" After a pause, she added, "I was wearing a mask."

"Mask?" Xu Qing was stunned.

"Mhm." Jiang He nodded.

"..."

He immediately breathed a sigh of relief, as long as her face wasn't shown, no one could trace it back here.

Keeping an ancient person around sure is thrilling...

"If you want to go out in the future, tell me, and I'll take you. Before you get used to living here, you can't just run out on your own."

Xu Qing composed himself and spoke in a stern and serious tone, "Your identity in this world is very dangerous. Don't run around carelessly, okay?"

Jiang He blinked, "Did I cause a disaster?"

"Everyone is talking about a haunting now!"

"...Haunting?"

"Yeah, a haunting."

Xu Qing, annoyed, pulled out his phone and opened a webpage to ask a question.

'Are there any movies like an ancient person traveling to the modern age and then getting shot dead by stray bullets? Urgently seeking, waiting online.'

"Go back to watching videos."

He put away his phone and leaned back on the couch. "Once you get familiar with this society, you'll realize how dangerous your situation is. Lucky for you, you met me... If you had drawn your sword on Mrs. Cheng that day, you might've already been a goner."

Drawing a sword—Mrs. Cheng frightened—calling the police—police confrontation—sudden violence—being shot dead.

Xu Qing mentally laid out all the ways she could've died for her, a violent person against the law enforcement. Even if she wouldn't die, she would likely be disabled. If her combat power was low it might be a different story, but with her skills, it would be almost impossible for the police to capture her alive.

Jiang He stayed silent.

"If I'm causing you a lot of trouble, I could..."

"Thinking of leaving?" Xu Qing raised an eyebrow.

"..."

"Hurry up and study! I'm going to order food delivery soon. What do you want to eat? A hamburger? Chicken wrap? Stir-fried pancake?"

Seeing him get up, Jiang He's eyes and expression softened a bit, and she said, "Something healthy, thank you, Hero."

This person is very kind.

"Healthy?" Xu Qing scratched his chin, "Then you can eat cat food."

"..."

Jiang He returned to being expressionless.

She withdrew her earlier thought, this person was very annoying.

Xu Qing, completely unaware, went over to tease Winter Melon, took care of the cat litter, then stood up and went back to the bedroom to bring out a pile of clothes to throw in the washing machine. "If you have clothes to wash, you can throw them in too. This is called a washing machine—as the name suggests, it's a machine for washing clothes, very convenient."

"Mhm."

Jiang He replied, thought about it, went back to her room, and took out the black clothes she had worn at night. She inspected the washing machine from all sides and tentatively placed them inside.

"Will it get them clean?" she asked.

"Cleaner than hand washing!" Xu Qing poured in the laundry powder with a whoosh, "Anything else, bring them all out... Hey, what's this?"

He saw something white peeking out from the clothes in the washing machine and reached out to pull it, suddenly unraveling a long strip of white cloth.

"..."

"..."

Xu Qing's expression shifted before he could fully react when Jiang He snatched it away and hurried back to her room with her head down in a swoosh.

He stared at Jiang He's retreating back, utterly shocked.

"You don't still bind your feet, do you? How could you do all that roof-running?!"