PD -Chapter 36 Drinking Tea in the Haunted House

In the end, I had no choice but to agree to go back and have dinner first. Once night had completely fallen, we’d return with all the necessary equipment.

To be honest, I really liked Li Zi and his two clownish brothers. But bringing three dead weights into a haunted house was hardly a good idea. Unfortunately, they were the clients. No matter what I said, it wouldn’t change anything.

We returned to Li Zi’s restaurant, hurriedly ate dinner, gathered everything we needed, and headed back to the abandoned villa.

At night, the haunted house looked even more out of place than before.

I always had the feeling that no matter how dilapidated it became, no matter how overgrown with weeds, it could never truly blend into its natural surroundings. Its very existence felt fundamentally discordant, something that violated the order of nature itself.

Anyone who had been here and seen this house would likely sense the same thing. Ordinary people simply didn’t know that this was what Feng Shui referred to as fortune and energy flow.

To absorb the energy of heaven and earth and move in harmony with the natural order—this is the law governing all things in the world. Finding those patterns and making good use of them is what people call good Feng Shui and favorable fortune.

But to defy the energies of heaven and earth, to break the laws of nature as this house did, was to sever one’s own destiny. If strange things didn’t happen here, that would be the truly strange thing.

This time, Li Zi drove straight into the courtyard and parked there. After getting out, he even pointed toward a second-floor window and told me that was where they had jumped from that night.

Before entering, the three goofballs still found time to test their audio equipment and livestream signal.

Their gear was surprisingly comprehensive—high-powered flashlights, ropes, entrenching shovels, cold flares, you name it. I even noticed a small holster hanging from Li Zi’s waist, containing a signal pistol loaded with tracer rounds.

Before we went in, I repeatedly warned them that once inside, they were to follow my instructions in everything, stay close to me at all times, and absolutely not get separated.

The three of them readily agreed, shouldered their backpacks, switched on their flashlights, and followed me toward the villa.

“Alright, folks! We’re about to enter this haunted house again! If you haven’t followed the stream yet, hit that follow button for your brother here…”

As Li Zi continued his livestream spiel, I slowly pushed open the villa’s front door. The beam of my flashlight immediately swept inside.

The interior looked much like I had imagined.

Aside from being somewhat run-down, the living room still retained a distinctly Republican-era charm. The furniture, decorations, and layout all gave off a nostalgic, vintage atmosphere.

I led the three men slowly into the living room.

The wooden floor immediately creaked beneath our feet, producing eerie groans that sounded like warnings from the haunted house itself against trespassers.

When Li Zi, holding his phone and bringing up the rear, finally stepped through the doorway, the front door suddenly slammed shut behind us with a loud bang.

Whether it was caused by a draft or something else, none of us knew.

The sound startled everyone.

We were just about to turn around and check whether the door could still be opened—

When suddenly—

Whoosh!

The entire house lit up.

I froze.

Looking up at the worn chandelier hanging from the ceiling, I turned to Li Zi.

“This place still has electricity?”

Li Zi and his two brothers had already gone pale as ghosts. They stared blankly at the chandelier for several seconds before stammering:

“N-No… there’s no power here…”

The moment Li Zi finished speaking, the phone in his hand emitted a shrill, ear-piercing screech.

Startled, his hand jerked violently.

Smack!

The phone fell to the floor.

The screen shattered instantly.

I crouched down and picked it up for him. The phone itself wasn’t broken, but the livestream had completely frozen.

The signal indicator showed that the device had lost all reception.

Not a single bar.

“You’re here. Come in and have a seat.”

A melodious female voice suddenly drifted from ahead of us.

Just moments ago, all our attention had been focused on the phone. Hearing a woman’s voice appear out of nowhere made my scalp explode with numbness.

If I felt that way, there was no need to mention Li Zi and his two brothers.

Immediately, I looked toward the source of the voice.

There, standing before us, was a woman dressed in a blue qipao.

Her figure was elegant and curvaceous. Her face and hairstyle were beautiful in a distinctly vintage way, as though she had stepped straight out of a Republican-era magazine illustration.

“Sit down on the sofa for a moment,” she said with a gentle smile. “I’ll go make you some tea.”

As she spoke, she turned and walked toward a tea set nearby.

At that moment, I realized that the room around us was no longer the same room we had entered.

The layout and furnishings hadn’t changed significantly.

But everything looked newer.

Much newer.

“W-Wait…” Li Zi whispered from behind me, his face white as paper. “Is… is that the officer’s widow?”

I didn’t answer directly.

Instead, I told the three of them to stay behind me, not make any rash moves, and definitely not try to run away.

If this Yin entity wanted to cause trouble, fleeing would only provoke it.

I wanted to see exactly what game it was trying to play.

Slowly, I walked over to the sofa.

To my surprise, the floorboards no longer creaked beneath my feet. The entire house felt as though it had just been built. Everything was pristine and new.

“C-Could it be…” Monkey muttered quietly behind me. “Did we time travel? Maybe this haunted house is some kind of spatial wormhole. The moment we stepped inside, we crossed through time and ended up in the Republican era?”

Ignoring him, I raised a finger to my lips, signaling everyone to be quiet.

“Sit.”

The woman in the qipao had already returned to stand before me.

It was as though she couldn’t see Li Zi and the other two at all.

Smiling warmly, she looked only at me.

“Come. Have a taste. I brought this from Nanjing back in those days. Top-quality Longjing tea. Tell me how it is.”

I fixed my gaze firmly on the woman.

Then, slowly, I sat down.

Li Zi and the others remained standing beside the sofa, too frightened to move.

The woman simply smiled at me and repeatedly gestured toward the freshly poured cup of tea on the coffee table.

After thinking for a moment, I reached out toward the steaming cup.

But the instant I tried to pick it up—

My fingers passed straight through the teacup.

There was nothing there.

My heart stirred.

I immediately glanced down at my arm.

Every hair on it was standing upright.

An icy chill enveloped my entire body, leaving me deeply uncomfortable.

Without hesitation, I sprang to my feet and took a step backward, returning to stand beside Li Zi and the others.

Then I saw it.

At the very spot where I had been sitting, another hazy figure remained seated.

Its appearance was identical to mine.

Its posture was identical to mine.

It looked exactly as I had looked a moment ago.

It was as though two versions of me now existed in the room.

One had stood up.

The other remained seated.

The seated figure calmly picked up the teacup and began drinking.

“S-Split into two!” Li Zi’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets as he stared at me, apparently amazed that I knew some kind of shadow-clone technique.