The clue regarding Ping An Building was thus handed over to Yan Shouyi and his companions.
The reason, as mentioned before, was that it was inconvenient for Xia Zhi and her colleagues to investigate, and they lacked sufficient grounds. Yan Shouyi, on the other hand, as a "concerned citizen," could delve deeper.
Xia Zhi's colleagues could provide Yan Shouyi with convenience in some aspects. However, correspondingly, if Yan Shouyi encountered any accidents during his investigation, it would have no bearing on Xia Zhi and her colleagues; it would purely be Yan Shouyi's personal undertaking.
Upon leaving the prison, Yan Shouyi cast a long, deep glance back. While this was not where his father was incarcerated, the sight of the place inevitably brought to mind his father.
His grandfather was gone, and his father was Yan Shouyi's only remaining relative. This relative had been imprisoned for ten years, enduring untold hardships.
Fortunately, in less than a month, his father would be released, and the family would be reunited.
After composing himself, the group found a roadside stall nearby. They ate and discussed matters concerning Ping An Building.
In Jian Province, the further southeast one traveled, the sweeter the flavors became. The further northwest, the spicier. Rongcheng, situated in the southeastern part of Jian, leaned towards sweet cuisine.
Rongcheng Lychee Pork was the most representative dish of Rongcheng.
However, Yan Shouyi and the others were not eating Lychee Pork at that moment, but Rongcheng Fish Balls. Their renown was no less than that of Rongcheng Lychee Pork. It was just that Rongcheng Fish Balls were often served as snacks, and were rarely seen in restaurants.
The five of them sat around the roadside stall, eating the steaming fish balls, and began to talk about Ping An Building.
Long Feicheng opened his mouth, his words flowing like a machine gun, garrulous and unending.
"Speaking of Ping An Building, there are countless eerie and frightening stories associated with it. However, after my own sifting, most of them are mere rumors spread through hearsay. But a small number of stories are true, and they have been officially recorded. Police Officer Xia Zhi is certainly more aware of this than I am. I'll give a general overview first, and if there are any omissions or inaccuracies, I'll trouble Officer Xia Zhi to supplement and correct me."
Xia Zhi nodded.
"Ever since the construction phase of Ping An Building, strange occurrences were frequent on the site. Ping An Building began construction in the 1990s. During the construction period, one or two people died on average each month. There were also quite a few workers who encountered ghosts or went mad on the site. In those days, human lives were not as valuable as they are now, so the incidents didn't escalate too much. But later, I heard that on one occasion, a worker dug up a child's corpse on the site, and consequently contracted corpse energy. That very night, he turned into a zombie and killed several of his dormitory mates. In the end, the army had to be called in, and flamethrowers were used to burn him to death."
"After the building was completed, the first to move in was a publishing house named Ping An Evening News. After the publishing house's employees moved into the building, strange incidents occurred frequently. For example, a female employee who worked late died in an elevator fall; in room 501, a pair of brothers killed each other; in room 810, a female employee was first raped and then murdered by her superior; and employees found an unidentified female corpse in red clothing on the rooftop. At night, children's playful laughter could be heard in the corridors, as if they were playing the game of 'drop the handkerchief'..."
"What I've mentioned so far is just the tip of the iceberg of Ping An Building. The strange, bizarre, eerie, and frightening things in this building are endless, and could be recounted for days and nights. In short, this building has become a paradise for ghosts, and the living dare not enter. Locals in Rongcheng are terrified of Ping An Building. Residents living nearby would deliberately bypass Ping An Building when walking at night."
Having said this, Long Feicheng felt his mouth extremely dry. He picked up his bowl and took a sip of the fish ball soup, preparing to continue.
At this moment, Yan Shouyi interrupted him, "Is no one living in Ping An Building now?"
"Ping An Building is, after all, in a prime location, and it was also the building with the highest investment back then. So, despite the numerous strange occurrences, some brave souls still resided there. But the event that finally made everyone avoid Ping An Building occurred in 2001," Long Feicheng said, wiping his mouth. "In 2001, strange incidents happened frequently in Ping An Building. Ping An Evening News withdrew, and the building was converted from a commercial building to affordable housing. Some recent graduates, or people who came from the countryside to make a living in the city, would choose to live there due to its extremely low price. And because of Ping An Building's notorious reputation, the entire building could not attract any property management staff, leading to a very poor environment and disrepair. All equipment was left unmaintained. Therefore, less than half a year after Ping An Evening News moved out, a major fire broke out in Ping An Building!"
"The fire resulted in over two hundred people inside being burned alive. Some people, unable to bear the agony of being engulfed in flames, chose to jump from the building to end their lives! This incident caused a huge stir that year. At the time of the incident, my master brought me to the scene. The entire building was consumed by fire. People on the upper floors desperately shouted for help, and then one by one, they jumped down... After that incident, some survivors recalled seeing many figures in the fire, and some even saw figures in the fire pulling their companions into it. Thus, it is rumored that the victims who were burned to death became scapegoats for the souls in the building. From then on, Ping An Building completely became a haunted building. Regardless of how low its price was, no one dared to live in it. Beggars wandering outside would rather sleep on park benches than dare to spend the night in Ping An Building."
"Of course, the municipal government has also considered remediation. After all, Ping An Building's location is a prime spot in Rongcheng. Even if it is truly haunted, there must be a way to acquire the building. I heard that they successively invited many sorcerers to perform rituals, but without exception, all these sorcerers died violently. Some who wanted to explore the building disappeared without a trace, and no one dared to enter the building to search for their bodies! After several such instances, the higher-ups also feared accountability, so they left Ping An Building vacant and no longer dared to entertain any thoughts of touching it. Thus, after so many years, Rongcheng has developed rapidly, and the East Street area has become a technology and financial center. But Ping An Building still retains its appearance from the 1990s, like an ugly duckling placed among a flock of swans, appearing very abrupt, yet there is nothing that can be done about it."
After hearing so much from Long Feicheng, Yan Shouyi had a clear idea about the building.
Long Feicheng quickly finished the fish balls in his bowl, drank all the soup, and then held up his bowl to the owner, saying, "Boss, another bowl of fish balls, add more fish balls, more soup, more cilantro and vinegar!"
The boss, wearing an apron, said with a helpless expression, "Young man, why don't you just order two bowls directly?"
"Boss, you can't just focus on immediate profits when doing business. You have to know the principle of a long, steady stream!"
"..."
While Long Feicheng was arguing with the boss, Yan Shouyi asked the others, "Do any of you have anything to add?"
Xia Zhi spoke first. She said, "The basic situation is similar to what Little Long said. After the fire, the statements of the survivors were surprisingly consistent, so it's basically confirmed that the fire that year was not an ordinary fire. Also, the sorcerers and Yin-Yang masters who died afterward were also real. Moreover, after the fire, some skeptical bosses took over the building and intended to redevelop it, but then strange occurrences happened in their families, either a relative died or the boss went insane. Otherwise, Ping An Building, such a lucrative property, would still have attracted brave individuals even if it was haunted."
Yan Shouyi then looked at Lin Zitong, "You little brat, what about you?"
"I don't actually know much about Ping An Building, but there's one thing. Police Officer Xia Zhi is mistaken. Not all owners of Ping An Building have met with misfortune. Currently, Ping An Building is an asset of our Lin family."
Lin Zitong's statement surprised everyone.
Had the Lin family gone mad? Such a terrifyingly haunted building, which others avoided like the plague, and the Lin family had actually dared to take it.
Had the Lin family also encountered any repercussions after acquiring the haunted building?
Although they didn't ask aloud, the expressions on their faces clearly conveyed their thoughts.
Lin Zitong knew what doubts everyone had and didn't play coy. She explained frankly:
"I am from the Lushan Sect, and the Lushan Sect is a local sect in Rongcheng. Naturally, we cannot ignore a place like Ping An Building. So my master asked our Lin family to acquire Ping An Building and seal it up, preventing outsiders from entering. The reason why nothing has happened is because of an idea my master had—although our Lin family acquired Ping An Building, we found someone else as the actual manager. As far as I know, the owner of Ping An Building seems to be a partner of our Lin family, named Meng."
Upon hearing this, Yan Shouyi and Long Feicheng couldn't help but be taken aback. Long Feicheng quickly asked, "Is it Meng Guohui?"
"How did you know?" Lin Zitong was somewhat surprised.
Yan Shouyi and Long Feicheng exchanged glances, realizing that the current events were now interconnected.
If Ping An Building was an asset under Meng Guohui's name, and the Corpse Driver, after controlling Zhou Mingyuan's corpse to kill Brother Wei, had also captured Brother Wei's soul and taken it to Ping An Building, then the core of all these matters seemed to lie in this Ping An Building! Da Feng Novel Network.
It seemed that only by going to Ping An Building could all of this be understood and clarified.
Yan Shouyi recounted his story with Meng Guohui to everyone. After listening, they all sighed with emotion, marveling at the beautiful yet tragic love between a human and a demon.
Lin Zitong, in particular, looked at Yan Shouyi and said softly, "So you were stimulated by the fox demon to awaken your senses."
Yan Shouyi smiled sheepishly, "It has something to do with it."
Lin Zitong snorted, her mood inexplicably brightening.
The fox demon was unwilling to wait any longer and only wished to be with Meng Guohui in this life. Yan Shouyi felt the same way.
Lu Caiwei asked, "Wait, Zitong, you just said that your Lin family gave Ping An Building to Meng Guohui. Then why didn't Meng Guohui suffer any misfortune?"
"He did suffer misfortune, didn't he?" Xia Zhi also seemed puzzled. "Didn't the Corpse Driver take revenge on him?"
Yan Shouyi shook his head, "Those are two different matters. The misfortunes of the previous owners of the building were purely due to retribution from ghosts. Meng Guohui's misfortunes were man-made; they are not the same."
Lin Zitong also explained, "The Lushan Sect gave Meng Guohui a protective amulet, which could prevent him from being retaliated against by the ghosts in Ping An Building, which is why he didn't suffer any misfortune. However, the matter between the fox demon and the Corpse Driver was indeed beyond my expectation."
"So that's how it is." Everyone's minds were cleared.
Yan Shouyi finished the fish ball soup in his bowl and stood up, saying, "We've understood enough. Let's go back and make preparations, and then pick a time to explore Ping An Building!"
Lin Zitong and Xia Zhi did not object. Instead, they appeared confident about exploring Ping An Building.
But Long Feicheng and Lu Caiwei did not think the same way. The two of them, having only heard about Brother Wei's gruesome death previously, were already reluctant to get involved. Now, asking them to go to a haunted building was no different from sending them to their deaths.
Lin Zitong deliberately mocked, "Caiwei, you usually say you're brave and can watch horror movies without blinking, and you insisted that I take you ghost hunting?"
Yan Shouyi also patted Long Feicheng's shoulder, "You want to learn magic from me, yet you're afraid to face ghosts. What's the use of learning it?"
The two were speechless, but their fates were different. Lu Caiwei was a young lady, and if she didn't want to enter Ping An Building, no one could force her.
But Long Feicheng was different. He was someone who would learn magic from Yan Shouyi, and Chen Dawei had specifically instructed Long Feicheng to do his best to help Yan Shouyi, which would lead to a prosperous future.
Therefore, despite feeling equally scared, Long Feicheng gritted his teeth and agreed.
Yan Shouyi calculated the dates and said, "Three days later, the yang energy will be strong. Entering Ping An Building then will slightly reduce the yin energy, putting the ghosts in a disadvantageous state. At that time, we will enter the building and explore!"
...
Over the next three days, Yan Shouyi went to see Old Jin specifically and bought genuine turmeric talisman paper and cinnabar ink for drawing talismans.
Not only that, but he also asked Long Feicheng to get some more black dog blood and chicken blood.
There was no need to elaborate on black dog blood. Chicken blood could also be effective against some minor spirits, but it wasn't just any chicken's blood. One had to choose a black-legged rooster.
This type of rooster had the strongest yang energy. Its crowing alone could scare away minor spirits, and its fresh blood could harm evil entities.
Thus, during these three days, Long Feicheng scoured the urban villages near Shanghang Art School and prepared five catties of black dog blood and five catties of chicken blood. He also specially bought several stylish water guns, filled them with the fresh blood, looking like he was about to go into battle.
While Yan Shouyi and Long Feicheng were busy, Lin Zitong was also not idle.
She returned to the Lushan Sect and asked her master, Lu Jing Sheng, for many magical artifacts. However, when Lu Jing Sheng asked her what she intended to do with them, Lin Zitong remained tight-lipped, greatly frustrating Lu Jing Sheng.
But this strong-willed young lady had her own plans, so Lu Jing Sheng could do nothing about her. He could only give Lin Zitong some of his treasured powerful artifacts and let her go.
On the Jiawu Year, Yi Hai Month, Ren Wu Day, Wood Ox, Wei Day, Winter Solstice. The three-day period finally arrived.
At Weishi, the time when yang energy is at its peak, Yan Shouyi, Lin Zitong, Long Feicheng, and Xia Zhi drove to the vicinity of the ominous Ping An Building, located in the most prosperous city center of Rongcheng...