PD -Chapter 15 The Butler’s Difficult Circumstances

“How could it be Uncle Tian? That’s impossible! You must have made a mistake!” Before Uncle Tian could answer, Zhu Zhu had already protested. It was obvious how much trust she placed in the old butler.

“Just now, I smelled the same bloody scent from the collection room on all four of you. The other three servants had been cleaning the bloodstains in the display room earlier, so it was only natural that some blood and the smell would have gotten on them.

But you, as the head butler, wouldn’t be doing cleaning work. And according to the servants…

After the abnormality in the collection room was discovered, you only observed from the doorway and never actually went inside. So among everyone here, you’re the least likely person to have bloodstains or that bloody smell on you.”

As I spoke, I grabbed Uncle Tian’s right arm and rolled up the sleeve of his suit. Instantly, several small bloodstains became visible on the cuff of the white shirt underneath.

“Since it’s impossible for you to have gotten these bloodstains after the incident, then you must have gotten them before it happened.” I looked at him, a hint of satisfaction curling at the corner of my mouth.

“Uncle Tian, why would you do something like this?” Tang Shanshan couldn’t help asking, her tone carrying both accusation and disappointment.

Uncle Tian did not answer her immediately. Instead, he stared at me in astonishment, clearly shocked by my powers of observation.

I paid little attention to his gaze. What concerned me was that this matter seemed far more complicated than a simple prank.

And judging from Zhu Zhu’s reaction, Uncle Tian was a trusted servant of the Zhu family. He had served them for many years, and from appearances, the family had treated him well. It was difficult for me to imagine what motive he could have had.

“Uncle Tian,” I said, looking directly into his somewhat clouded eyes, “tell us what difficulties forced you into this.”

He glanced at Zhu Zhu, who was still frozen in shock. Guilt appeared on his face, and after a long sigh, he finally spoke.

“Miss, I’ve betrayed your trust. The bleeding mask incident… it really was my doing.”

Hearing this, Zhu Zhu’s eyes immediately reddened. Anger, disappointment, and hurt mixed together in her expression. Her voice trembled as she repeated the question Tang Shanshan had asked.

“Why? Why would you do that?”

Uncle Tian sighed again.

“I had no choice. President Zhu absolutely refused to get rid of those masks. So I came up with this terrible idea. I thought that if something like this happened, he would finally stop keeping them in the house.”

“Why were you so determined to have him dispose of the masks?” I immediately seized upon the key point in his explanation.

“Th-those masks really are haunted. The cleaning lady who used to take care of the collection room, Sister Liu, didn’t quit. She… she was scared out of her mind.”

His expression suddenly darkened. Fear flickered in his murky eyes, and even his voice began to shake.

After composing himself, he continued.

“Sister Liu was responsible for cleaning the collection room. For the convenience of President Zhu and Miss Zhu, someone would always stay overnight on duty. Occasionally, Sister Liu would stay as well, sleeping in the servant’s room next to the collection room. She told me many times that at night she often heard sounds coming from the collection room next door—something like people singing opera. I didn’t believe her at first. But one night, I happened to be awake myself when I suddenly heard a scream coming from that direction.”

“President Zhu and I both heard it. We rushed over to investigate and found Sister Liu lying on the floor. Her eyes were opened unbelievably wide—as if her eyeballs were about to pop right out.”

“And the fear in her eyes… it was unlike anything I’d ever seen before. The moment I saw her expression, my heart sank. She looked like a corpse that couldn’t rest in peace. I immediately bent down to check her breathing and realized she’d only fainted. But in all my decades of life, I’d never seen someone lose consciousness while staring with their eyes wide open like that.”

“Fortunately, the hospital managed to save her, and her life wasn’t in danger. But after she woke up… she’d gone mad.”

Uncle Tian let out another sigh, looking utterly helpless.

He had worked for the Zhu family nearly his entire life. Although Zhu Shengxing treated him well, that didn’t mean he had the authority to tell his employer what to do.

And according to him, after strange incidents began occurring in the Zhu household, he had repeatedly urged Zhu Shengxing to get rid of the masks. Every attempt had failed, leaving him desperate enough to resort to this scheme.

“Miss, you can fire me if you want,” Uncle Tian said, looking at Zhu Zhu with tears in his eyes. “But those masks truly aren’t clean. No matter what, they cannot stay in this house any longer.”

“Uncle Tian, I know you meant well.” Zhu Zhu gritted her teeth. “I’ll have someone move the masks out immediately. I don’t care how much my father objects.”

She turned and headed for the door.

I quickly stopped her.

“Even if you move the masks away, that doesn’t mean the thing haunting this place will leave with them.”

“We need to treat the root cause, not just the symptoms.”

“Then tell us what we’re supposed to do!” Tang Shanshan snapped. She had always been impatient and never allowed me the luxury of acting mysterious like some great master.

You hired me for this job and you’re still worried?

I looked at her confidently.

“No matter what kind of ghost it is, tonight I’m going to find it.”

With that, I called Liu Xiaopeng and told him to bring the equipment from my office over immediately.

Seeing how confident I was, Zhu Zhu finally relaxed a little and asked what cooperation I needed from them.

After thinking for a moment, I told her to give all the servants the day off. Tonight, aside from the few people present, no outsiders were to remain in the villa.

Then I asked Uncle Tian how frequently the strange sounds and supernatural incidents occurred in the house.

After some thought, he replied, “Based on what the servants usually gossip about, the strange noises seem to be at their worst during the first few days of each month.”

“But it’s the end of the month now,” Tang Shanshan said with a frown. “Are you sure that thing will show up again tonight?”

I gave a mysterious smile.

“I naturally have my ways.”