Chapter 30: A Top-Secret File

Ji Yun was past the stage of being easily frightened.

He watched as his Third Uncle, with lightning speed, grabbed the peach-wood sword beside him and flicked two yellow talismans into the air, ready to teach the soul that had startled him a lesson.

"Third Uncle," Ji Yun quickly interjected, "this ghost doesn't seem to be a threat."

His Third Uncle had sobered up by now. His nerves, typically thicker than steel, allowed him to compose himself faster than Ji Yun. In an instant, he recognized the entity as a wandering spirit. "You're right."

His brow furrowed immediately, and he muttered, "What a vicious method! Gouging out the eyes, sealing the mouth, and blocking the ears—it makes it impossible for the soul to voice its grievances even if someone tried to summon it. This ghost definitely provoked someone ruthless."

Ji Yun understood the implication: the murderer had anticipated that the victim might return as a ghost and had taken precautions. It was highly professional.

Ji Huaichuan’s expression turned somber. "This is going to be trouble," he murmured.

Seeing his reaction, Ji Yun assumed there was some danger and asked, "What kind of trouble?"

"The trouble is that this ghost clearly has a grievance, which is why it won't leave," Ji Huaichuan replied. "If it doesn't move on, I won't be able to collect the final payment from the client."

So the only trouble was the unpaid balance?

Ji Yun reminded him, "Third Uncle, this ghost didn't die in the fire. It was murdered."

"I know that," Ji Huaichuan said, looking unfazed. "There are plenty of people who die unjustly in this world. Judging cases and seeking justice is the job of the police in the world of the living, and the duty of the judges in the underworld. I was only paid to perform the rites of passage. How am I supposed to manage all that?"

Ji Yun thought that made sense, yet he asked, "But now that it refuses to leave, what should we do?"

Ji Huaichuan looked troubled. "Exactly. Sealed mouth and gouged eyes—I can't even ask it anything. This really is a headache."

The two men and the one ghost stood in a stalemate.

...

The ghost didn't act out; it simply drifted there, looking pitiful.

Ji Yun and his Third Uncle were at a loss. They had added incense and offerings, and recited the scriptures for the dead, but the entity still refused to depart. If they didn't clear the site properly, the warehouse would remain haunted, and their reputation as "Haunted House Cleaners" would be ruined.

"It’s strange," Ji Huaichuan pondered. "What could this fellow be so attached to?" After a moment of thought, he turned and asked, "By the way, Yun, who did you say died in that fire?"

"Third Uncle, I checked the news," Ji Yun replied. "The four people who died were all private investigators."

Ji Huaichuan wasn't surprised in the slightest. "Private investigators? That explains it. It seems they stumbled upon the secrets of someone powerful and were silenced."

The private investigation trade often involved stepping into the shadows. Getting into trouble for touching the wrong secrets was a common occurrence. Ji Yun agreed with this assessment.

Ji Huaichuan analyzed further, "It’s odd, though... private investigators are usually in it for the money. If they die for money, it's just cause and effect; there shouldn't be enough resentment to anchor them. There must be some obsession. If the obsession doesn't fade, the soul won't leave. Sigh, this is truly a headache."

Ji Yun, having no experience with such matters, could only listen.

Ji Huaichuan looked at the ghastly state of the spirit—the sealed mouth and missing eyes—and sighed. "It clearly wants to communicate something, but it can't speak. If I can't ask, how can it pass on the message?"

This kind of wandering spirit was like a patient in a vegetative state: they knew an obsession existed, but had no way of knowing what it was.

...

The final payment was the bulk of the money. Without resolving the issue, they wouldn't get paid. After mulling it over, Ji Huaichuan decided to try one more thing.

"Right, what was the name of that detective agency?" he asked.

"Fox Hunt Detective Investigation Agency," Ji Yun replied.

Ji Huaichuan frowned. "Fox Hunt? Sounds familiar."

"Do you know them?" Ji Yun asked.

"They’re considered top-tier in the industry," Ji Huaichuan said. "I don't know them personally, but we’ve had business dealings in the past."

A thought struck him, and he dialed a number. "Sister Hong, help me look up the staff and connections at 'Fox Hunt.' Look for a man around 45 years old." He described the characteristics of the ghost.

Ji Yun recognized the voice of the woman on the other end; she was the middleman who had called incessantly today to urge his Third Uncle along. It was clear that people in this business had their own ways of gathering information.

Before long, the answer came back. Ji Huaichuan’s brow furrowed even deeper. "A retired veteran. No family. This is going to be trouble..."

Normally, a soul's obsession after death was linked to family. A simple visit would usually suffice to dissipate the attachment. But this spirit was a loner. That was normal for a private investigator in the gray market, but it made things incredibly difficult for them.

It was like playing a guessing game. Without knowing the obsession, they had to rely on luck. It could be a secret lover, a first love, or perhaps a massive fish that got away thirty years ago.

If they couldn't guess it, the matter wouldn't conclude. They would have to wait for the spirit to fade on its own, but that meant losing the final payment and destroying their reputation.

Ji Huaichuan crouched by the fire basin, smoking cigarette after cigarette, his face twisted into a mask of worry. Ji Yun tried to think of solutions, then suddenly asked, "Could the obsession be related to the case?"

Ji Huaichuan had already considered this. "The probability is low. Unless the case was something he was deeply attached to—something he would sacrifice his life to complete. But normally, when you're just taking a commission for money, you wouldn't be that obsessed."

He gestured to the empty second floor. "Besides, the incident happened a long time ago. The murderer even set the place on fire to destroy evidence. The methods were very professional. Even if there were clues left behind, they would have been burned to ash."

Ji Yun nodded. The basement floor was stripped to its frame; even the construction debris had been cleared away.

...

If the obsession were a physical object, it was likely elsewhere, making it even harder to find than a riddle. The uncle and nephew were truly stuck. They discussed a few more possibilities, but verifying each one would be time-consuming and unlikely to yield results.

The only certainty was that the "thing" or "person" still existed; otherwise, the obsession would have vanished. As it stood, the job was dead in the water.

The spirit wasn't impossible to deal with, but destroying a ghost that had died unjustly and hadn't committed evil would cost them their spiritual merit—a price far higher than the reward. The ghost, sensing they were there to help, merely hovered behind them, making it impossible for them to strike.

What Ji Yun didn't understand was why the ghost chose to follow him instead of his Third Uncle. Logically, as a young man, he should have had more "yang energy."

...

In the end, they couldn't reach a solution. Ji Huaichuan looked utterly dejected. "Sigh... finally landed a big job, and it looks like our reputation is going to be buried here... My two hundred thousand..."

"How much?" Ji Yun asked, eyes widening.

Ji Huaichuan, seeing his nephew's interest, didn't hide it. "Two hundred thousand. The total fee is three hundred thousand; the deposit was one hundred thousand, and the final payment is two hundred thousand."

Ji Yun’s eyes lit up. He finally realized how lucrative this business was. The offerings for today didn't cost more than five hundred yuan, and the rest was all labor. No wonder his Third Uncle said this job determined his livelihood for the second half of the year.

Ji Huaichuan noticed his nephew’s wide-eyed expression. "The great Feng Shui masters in Hong Kong charge millions just for an appearance. For those who have the skill to eat from this bowl, this money isn't much."

Ji Yun agreed. If there were no ghosts, the pay was exorbitant. But if ghosts really existed, it was just earning a living through talent. His Third Uncle must have had quite a reputation in the industry to command such a fee.

"I told you," Ji Huaichuan said, "you should follow me and learn this trade. You can't go wrong."

Ji Yun seriously considered it. A Yin-Yang master? A new career path for university graduates. It sounded reliable!

...

Thinking about the lost payment, Ji Huaichuan felt miserable. He found another excuse to drink, hauling a case of beer from the truck to drown his sorrows. Ji Yun didn't stop him; hundreds of thousands were not a small sum, and the damage to their reputation was even worse.

The ghost continued to drift behind him. Ji Yun couldn't meditate in peace, his thoughts constantly drifting back to the case. It was a paranormal event, but at its heart, it was a murder.

"Since they were private investigators, their thinking must be sharper than the average person's," he mused. "If he really hid something, it wouldn't be easy to find."

"If the obsession is a 'thing,' where would it be? It must be somewhere unexpected."

"The murderer must have searched the place thoroughly and burned it down to eliminate evidence. If the ghost is still here, the object must be here too. If it were me, where would I hide something so it wouldn't burn..."

"Wait... unexpected?"

Ji Yun pondered this line of thought. After a long while, he felt the urge to relieve himself. He couldn't do it near the altar, so he walked into the darkness toward a pillar, turned his back to the lights, and unzipped.

As he finished, he caught a glimpse of a faint, dull glow nearby, and a spark of inspiration struck him. It was a door. He had noticed it when they arrived—it was the only thing on the entire basement level that hadn't been replaced!

"That's it! Somewhere unexpected!"

"The spirit hasn't left, so the obsession must be in the office. Could the 'thing' be in the office, and yet not be in the office?"

Ji Yun walked over, eager to test his theory. If he were hiding something, this would be the perfect place. He looked at the security door, his eyes glowing with excitement. He scanned the door, finding nothing abnormal.

He went back to the truck, grabbed a screwdriver, and began to dismantle the door.

Sure enough! As he unscrewed the door handle, a small object clattered to the ground.

"It really was here!" Ji Yun’s eyes gleamed as he picked up the finger-sized object. It was a USB flash drive.

A thief's standard logic would lead them to look for valuables in corners or safes, never inside a door handle!

"As expected of a veteran detective!" Ji Yun marveled at the brilliance of the hiding spot. He felt fortunate; if the fire hadn't destroyed everything else, he never would have thought to look here.

...

Ji Yun clearly felt the cold, lingering presence behind him diminish significantly as he picked up the drive. He hurried over. "Third Uncle, look what I found!"

Ji Huaichuan, still drinking, saw the drive and beamed. "Where did you find it?"

"Inside the door handle," Ji Yun said.

Ji Huaichuan’s expression brightened for a second, then turned grim.

"What's wrong?" Ji Yun asked.

Ji Huaichuan, an old hand at this, pointed out the danger immediately. "It seems the spirit's obsession was this drive. You were right; it must have been a commission he accepted."

"So what?"

"What do you mean, 'so what'?" Ji Huaichuan said sternly. "It means this drive likely contains the secrets of someone powerful. That’s why he was silenced."

Ji Yun finally realized how naive his perspective had been. Of course—if it was worth killing over, the contents were surely of great importance.

"Should we call the police and turn it in?" Ji Yun suggested.

"You think that would work? Someone powerful enough to hire professionals to commit murder? Don't you think they have influence within the official system?" Ji Huaichuan was teaching him a lesson about the darkness of the human heart. "If this gets out, and that person finds out, we'll be implicated regardless of whether we’ve looked at the contents or not."

Ji Yun felt his face go stiff. The sense of achievement from solving the puzzle vanished instantly. The USB drive in his hand felt like a hot potato—he couldn't keep it, and he couldn't throw it away.

But to his surprise, Ji Huaichuan’s stern expression didn't last long. He reverted to his usual devil-may-care attitude. "Eh, screw it. Let's see what’s on it first."

If he didn't resolve the ghost's grudge, he wouldn't get his payment. To him, that was the biggest nightmare. As for the rest? Who was afraid of anything!

He waved at Ji Yun. "Yun, go to the truck and get the spare phone from the glove box."

"Huh?" Ji Yun wondered why his uncle had suddenly become so eager. Wasn't he just saying it was dangerous? Then, a realization hit him. His uncle didn't need to fear trouble. The Ji family was cursed with short lives. At his age, his Third Uncle was already reaching the end of his. Though Ji Yun was young, his own parents had used a "ghost marriage" to extend his life, so he was likely in the same boat.

The uncle and nephew exchanged a look, sharing a silent, unspoken understanding.

"On it!"

Ji Yun was just as curious about what was on the drive. His reservations evaporated, and he scampered off to the truck.

...

His Third Uncle’s line of work always involved strange things, and his truck was always stocked with all sorts of odd equipment. Ji Yun brought the phone, and his Third Uncle plugged the drive in.

It wasn't the scandal of some powerful figure he had expected. Instead, it was an investigative file that sent a shiver down his spine.

On the phone screen, a document lit up:

[Agency Case File #L-1071]
Client: Lin Yuanchao
Age: 75
Background: Widowed, lives alone, lost his son.
Address: No. 32 Zhongshan Street, Jianghua City.
Contact: 139XXXX1071
Case: Client reports his granddaughter, Lin Kexin, fell from the T4 dormitory at Jianghua University on October 24th. The school investigation concluded it was a sleepwalking accident. The client states his granddaughter had no history of sleepwalking or mental illness and suspects she was bullied and abused at the school, thus commissioning our agency to investigate.
Appendix 1: Audio recording of the client's first visit.
Appendix 2: Relevant archives, school surveillance backups, autopsy report...

Ji Yun was stunned.

Jianghua University? Isn't that his own school? A girl jumped from a dorm last year, and he had never heard a word about it?