The moment I saw this number, my heart inexplicably tightened. I glanced at Xia Xiaolan, who was having breakfast, with her phone placed on the dressing table. It was obviously not her who called me.
Taking a deep breath, I pressed the answer key. Before I could speak, a very low, deep voice came from the other end of the line: "Mr. Yin?"
It was a woman's voice, low but with a strange undertone.
I responded, as those who knew my name were mostly people I knew.
She continued, "I have something I want to ask for your help with. Can you come after work?"
"Where?" I lowered my voice and asked.
She murmured, "Villa in the second row of Tianxiong Zijun, the key is inside the second window."
This time the voice was very low, as if afraid of being overheard. Just as I was about to ask about the matter, the call was disconnected.
Throwing the phone on the bar, Du Xiaolan asked why my face was so pale, and who the caller was. I recounted the conversation just now. Du Xiaolan blinked innocently and asked if she could come along.
Since I didn't know what would happen, there was no harm in bringing her along.
Although I knew it was a coincidence that Du Xiaolan had beaten An Duoer, she still cowered in the corner, staring nervously at Du Xiaolan, as if afraid that she would suddenly attack her again.
The boring day passed calmly like this. After work, I set the navigation and drove to the location mentioned in the call.
I hadn't been to Tianxiong Zijun before, but I knew that this place was not where ordinary people could live. The villas inside were unbelievably expensive. With my current salary, I would have to struggle for a lifetime just to afford a bathroom there.
It was already past seven o'clock when I arrived at the destination. I glanced over and said we had arrived, only to find that An Duoer was already cowering in a corner, trembling, while Du Xiaolan stretched lazily, opened the car door, and got out.
I had never seen a ghost frightened by an ordinary person before. It seems that with An Duoer's temperament, it was impossible for her to harm anyone.
Awkwardly, I smiled at her and got out of the car, walking towards the inside. After registering at the entrance guard's post, I walked less than five minutes and arrived in front of the villa.
The villa was two and a half stories high and was decently furnished. But what puzzled me was that the villa seemed to have very few people coming in and out, with the yard covered in leaves and dust.
I pushed open the one-meter-tall iron gate and walked in. The front door of the villa was tightly locked. I walked to the second window, gently pushed it, and a key appeared in front of me.
Glancing at Du Xiaolan, she nervously asked if we were caught doing this, we would definitely be treated as thieves.
I looked around, there were no people nearby, and the surveillance was directly above us, which was a blind spot. Taking the key, I opened the big door of the villa, and a strange smell rushed out from inside.
I wrinkled my nose and walked in. The furniture in the living room was covered in white cloth, indicating that it had been deserted for a long time.
The woman on the phone asked me to come here to help, but I didn't know what she needed help with.
As I hesitated to continue entering, Anduer's puzzled voice came from behind: "Hmm, this feeling is so strange."
I quickly turned around, she squinted and looked around, then finally turned her gaze towards the corner of the stairs.
"Brother, I'll go take a look." Anduer said to me, then walked over, pressed against the wall for a while, and waved to me, saying, "It's empty inside."
"Empty?" I was puzzled, seeing Duxiaolan still standing straight, I signaled to her and closed the villa's door, then quickly walked over.
I knocked on the wall with my hand, and a buzzing sound came from inside, really there was space inside. If Anduer could go in at this moment, she could completely help me see what was inside, but she had just died a few days ago, and she couldn't complete this honorable task at all.
This false wall was made of wood, I found a stool and used it to pry it open, revealing a deep hole that could just accommodate a person hunching down, and the smell we had encountered when entering the door just now emanated from inside.
Looking into the hole, it was pitch black inside. I rummaged through the living room and found a flashlight, stood at the hole and shone it inside, it was very deep in there.
After looking at Duxiaolan, I nodded and said, "You stay outside, I'll go in and take a look, if there's any danger, shout, and I'll come out immediately."
Duxiaolan didn't think much of it and said, "Come on, what danger can there be here, just be careful when you go in, if you encounter danger, shout loudly, I'll run away first thing."
I sighed in secret, made an OK gesture to her, and then hunched and walked in.
After walking a meter, there was a three-meter-long iron ladder extending down in front of me. After going down with the flashlight in my mouth, the space inside was tall enough for me to stand up straight.
Directly in front was a corridor, dirty and messy inside, it looked like it hadn't been cleaned for several years, and living items could still be seen scattered on the damp floor.
Anduer nervously grabbed my arm, I looked at her somewhat helplessly, "Come on, you're a ghost, ghosts should act like ghosts, I'm not even afraid as a living person, what are you afraid of?"
Anduer nervously said, "But I'm a girl, and even as a ghost, it's different from you."
I smiled wryly, let her tremble and hold my arm as we walked inside.
At the innermost part was a room, and the door was still a decayed iron door that has been around for years. I pushed it hard, and the iron door swayed open, I shone the flashlight around inside, and saw a single bed directly opposite.
After confirming that there was no danger inside, I walked in carefully.
Anduer also gained courage at this moment, after tightly gripping my hands and then relaxing, she began to roam around the small room which was just around ten square meters.
The unique smell in the room was quite strong, it was stinging. Squinting, I came to the side of the single bed, and the messy beddings were spread on it. I lowered my head and sniffed, the smell was coming from under the bed.
I quickly crouched down, and a large earthenware jar appeared under the bed.
Seeing the jar, my heart tightened. Jiang Nanfeng had mentioned the earthenware jar a few days ago, and I suddenly felt uneasy, fearing that inside this jar, there might also be a human body without arms and legs.
Anduer came to my side and crouched down, pointing to the jar and said to me, "Brother, that strange feeling when we just entered this villa, it seems to have come from here."
I ignored her and glanced at the jar, but when I saw the side, I instantly froze.