CHAPTER 2013: CHAPTER 2012: PROBING THE TRUTH

"Isn’t there someone watching? How could it have been stolen by a thief?" Bai Ruozhu frowned. Her dark guards are quite capable, and later she had collected martial arts secret manuals to train them and enhance their skills. Even if the opponent was a master thief, they wouldn’t manage to steal a cartload of goods without the guards noticing at all, would they?

"I also find it odd. After careful inquiry, the four on night duty last night didn’t notice anything unusual, and no one approached. The goods were always thought to be there, but with the break of dawn, they found a cart had been emptied." Jianqi frowned, this matter made him extremely annoyed. It was technically his negligence, yet he couldn’t find any clues or leads.

At this moment, a waiter came to deliver hot water. Suddenly, his face changed dramatically and said, "It must have been the ghost from the Pan residence moving it, who else could stealthily and silently steal something but a ghost?"

Whether it was the waiter being too afraid or the mention of the Pan residence making him too agitated, he spilled quite a bit of water from the basin he held. Min Xiang frowned, hurried forward to take the basin, and then ordered him to carry it away. Not only was the face wash water spilled, but the dampness in the room was very uncomfortable.

Bai Ruozhu looked at the pale-faced waiter and asked, "So has the ghost of the Pan residence ever moved someone else’s things?"

The waiter shook his head, "I don’t know, it’s just that the Pan residence is not far from our inn. Sometimes I hear ghostly cries from over there at night." He said, shrinking his neck a bit and regrettably adding, "The shopkeeper forbids talking to guests about this, fearing it will affect the inn’s business. So just hear it and let it go, please don’t tell our shopkeeper about this."

With a pleading look, Bai Ruozhu nodded, "Don’t worry, we won’t say much. Just tell us what you know, and we won’t need to ask others."

"Well..." The waiter hesitated briefly but continued. Quick-witted as he was, he noticed this lady guest’s fearlessness. Instead of letting her ask around and have the shopkeeper know he slipped something, it would be even more troublesome, wouldn’t it?

"The Pan family was originally merchants, but no one has lived in the Pan residence for some time. The lady of the family passed away three years ago. After Mr. Pan buried his wife splendidly, he took his family back to his hometown, saying he wanted to enjoy his later years peacefully and didn’t want to engage in business anymore. This place was left to an intermediary to sell, but it wasn’t selling well. About half a year after Mr. Pan left, the mansion started having ghost disturbances."

The waiter had a good way with words and spoke with great emotion that even Bai Ruozhu was captivated.

"At first, the servants left to watch the house saw the ghost. Some guessed it was the deceased lady of the Pan family, but Lady Pan didn’t die unjustly, so how could she become a vicious ghost? Later, the servants even invited a local Daoist priest to perform rituals, but unexpectedly, the ghost disturbances worsened that night. The Daoist was scared into madness, and the servant broke a leg. Later, it was said to be a male ghost, with a face full of red, eyes like two hollow spaces, definitely not the deceased lady of the Pan residence."

"After such a commotion, even fewer dared buy the Pan mansion. And Mr. Pan in the countryside, upon hearing the Daoist was scared insane, didn’t dare return and was glad his family left timely. It’s just pitiful for us town folks with no way to drive that ghost away, living every day with anxiety, fearing it might come out to harm people. But this ghost has been causing trouble for over two years, yet fortunately, no one has died. If not for the terrifying ghostly cries from the Pan residence every night, everyone might have forgotten about this."

Listening, Bai Ruozhu kept analyzing. It wasn’t that she didn’t believe in ghosts; her intuition told her there seemed to be human traces regardless.

Originally, this ghost hadn’t harmed anyone and merely made quite a fuss which wasn’t her concern. But stealing her things was another matter, it couldn’t be settled so easily.

"By the way, a guest once said they passed by the Pan residence one night and heard the ghost crying and laughing, saying it might be a lunatic ghost." The waiter, who interacted with many people daily, heard quite a bit of information.

After the waiter finished his story, Bai Ruozhu let him go back to his work.

Min Xiang glanced at the basin of already cold face wash water and said, "Mistress, I’ll get you a new one."

"No need, just a simple wash will do." Bai Ruozhu said.

When Jianqi saw Bai Ruozhu was going to wash up, he quickly withdrew. Unexpectedly, the waiter returned, carrying a pot of hot water.

"The lady’s water is cold, I came to refill it."

Bai Ruozhu thought this waiter was quite thoughtful and gestured to Min Xiang to give him a reward.

During breakfast, Bai Ruozhu shared the story of the stolen items with her brother and Si Yihuan, then said she didn’t plan to inform Elder Su about it, since what’s lost were just some medicinal materials and a thank-you gift from Tong Zhengye, not worth troubling Elder Su over.

There was another point she didn’t mention, feeling Elder Su’s mood has been bad, still believing in the great elder’s character.

"What are you planning to do?" Bai Zepei asked.

Bai Ruozhu finished her last bite of porridge and said, "Go see the Pan residence. They’ve been selling the mansion, haven’t they? As an outsider, I’m somewhat interested in it, and not superstitious, of course, I want to check it out."

"I’ll go too!" Si Yihuan said eagerly.

"Neither you nor second brother know martial arts, better to go to the city to find some good food, I’ll take Jianqi to check it out, and when we return you guys treat me and mom, dad and aunt to a nice feast." Bai Ruozhu said, smiling.

Si Yihuan wanted to say he was concerned, but Bai Zepei quickly said, "Okay."

She looked at Bai Zepei in surprise, really going with her to find food? Not helping Ruozhu? Felt somewhat like neglecting duties.

Bai Ruozhu secretly laughed, her brother and Si Yihuan needed more time together, so they could warm up to each other.

After greeting her parents, she took Jianqi to the intermediary handling the house sales.

"What? You want to buy the Pan mansion?" The intermediary exclaimed, then realized his improper reaction, and awkwardly rubbed his hands saying, "Please forgive me, you two are outsiders and don’t know about the matters with the Pan family."

The intermediary was rather honest, not hiding the ghostly disturbances of the Pan family.

"Despite the low price, the mansion there is not peaceful. As an intermediary, I shouldn’t badmouth my client’s property, but since you came to me, I don’t want you to run into trouble nor deceive you." The intermediary then explained the ghost disturbances at the Pan mansion.

"No worries, let’s have a look first. Ghosts probably wouldn’t appear in broad daylight, would they?" Bai Ruozhu showed a demeanor of disbelief in ghosts.

The intermediary hurriedly nodded, "Indeed not in broad daylight, but it’s somewhat spooky there, it’d be best to check out other properties."

"But I don’t have much money, really can’t afford other choices, please just take us to have a look." Bai Ruozhu showed a face of helplessness.

The intermediary found it hard to say more, he had given his advice, saying more would be overstepping, so he reluctantly led Bai Ruozhu to the Pan residence.

Just as the main gate opened, a wave of cold air blasted out, making Bai Ruozhu instinctively shiver...