"Xiao Han, Xiao Han, is that you?"
Father Lin stumbled to the door and gathered his courage to open it.
However.
There was nothing outside.
"Xiao Han, whatever injustice you have suffered, tell your father, and I will take care of it for you!"
Father Lin searched everywhere, inside and out, for his son.
The shadowy figure, covered in nails all over its body, had been closely following him, but he couldn't see it.
The figure scratched at its own body, growing increasingly agitated, leaving deep, bloody marks on the walls and the floor with its nails.
"Xiao Han, what do you want to do?"
Father Lin was on the verge of a breakdown from the piercing and eerie sounds, covering his ears and collapsing in pain onto the floor.
At that moment, the bedroom door opened.
His second son, Lin Chen, rushed over and helped Father Lin up, suppressing his fear as he scanned the living room.
"Brother, your death was an accident! Mom and I never did anything to you, why are you tormenting us?"
"I don't want the company; I'll give all the money to Dad. Can you just stop this?"
The only response was the endless sound of scratching nails.
The nails scraped harshly against the ground, leaving deep marks on the floor tiles, and slowly reaching out towards Lin Chen.
Lin Chen stumbled back in fright.
"Xiao Han, what are you doing? He's your brother!" Father Lin hurriedly got up and shielded his second son.
But the scratches did not stop.
Father and son staggered backward all the way to the front door.
The scratches were about to reach their feet.
"Amitabha!"
A deep, resonant chant sounded from outside the door.
Immediately after,
"Evil spirit, cease at once!"
A stout monk in a robe and a young man with an extraordinary demeanor appeared at the door. The stout monk gently extended a palm forward.
A golden light seemed to flash in the palm of the hand.
The scratching suddenly stopped, and the sound of fingernails scraping the ground disappeared as well.
"Are you two alright, patrons?" The plump monk supported the two of them with concern, his broad hand sweeping over their eyes.
The two felt as though something had been added to their eyes, and they looked at the plump monk in amazement.
"Monk Kudeng?"
"You, how did you come back again?"
"The Buddha says that saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda. Since the deceased have not yet been successfully delivered, how could I, a humble monk, abandon the two of you?"
Kudeng's expression was one of compassion, then he pointed toward the living room.
"Please look, the two of you."
They looked over with half-belief and half-doubt.
A person covered in nails stood in the center of the living room, frantically scratching his body, his hands drenched in blood.
His mouth was open as if he was shouting something at them.
"Ah!!!"
The father and son were immediately terrified by this horrific scene and desperately tried to hide behind Kurō's stout body.
Kurō waved his hand in front of their eyes, and they could no longer see anything.
"Wh-what was that just now?"
Lin's father rubbed his eyes hard, his face full of disbelief.
"I feel like that person looked a bit like Ge..." Lin Chen's face turned pale. "But how did he grow so many..."
He felt numb all over and couldn't continue speaking.
Lin's father finally realized something was wrong: "Monk, no, Master, how did my Xiao Han end up like that?"
"Donor, your child's death is suspicious! With grievances that cannot be resolved, he naturally cannot be released from suffering. This poor monk anticipated that he would return at night to disturb everyone, so I waited outside the door."
"Master, we wronged you! Not only do you not hold a grudge against us, but you also came back to save us. You are truly a great master!"
Lin's father was impressed by Kudeng's demeanor and bowed deeply to him.
"The Buddha is merciful. This is what this poor monk should do, Amitabha!"
Kudeng raised his palm in return of the greeting, and when he lowered his head, it was harder for him to suppress the smile than to control an AK.
Lu Fei, standing beside, held back his laughter with great effort.
This fat monk is quite good at pretending.
"Master Kudeng, is Xiao Han still in the living room?"
The Lin father and son did not dare to enter, and inquired very respectfully from Kudeng.
"It doesn't matter, he will not harm you."
Ku Deng waved his hand and walked into the living room with Lu Fei.
"Who is this?"
The Lin family father and son looked at Lu Fei in confusion.
"This is Manager Lu from Sinisterium Pawnshop, who has come specially to help. Don't be fooled by his youth; he is very capable. With him here, you can rest assured."
"Thank you! Thank you!"
The Lin family father and son then followed in, standing awkwardly in their own house, nervously looking around, afraid that the figure with long fingernails would appear again.
Although that figure was their relative, its appearance was truly too terrifying, and it was really hard to accept for the time being.
"Master, how did Xiao Han turn out like that?"
"It's related to his death. He comes back every night because he has something to say to you." Ku Deng stood in the living room, muttering a few words to the air and then nodded.
"Layman Lin, where is his room?"
"Master, this way please." Lin's father opened the door to his eldest son's room.
The eldest son's death was so sudden that everything in the room remained as it was originally arranged.
Ku Deng and Lu Fei entered the bedroom.
Both of them put on an act, searched around, and found a sachet under the pillow.
"It's this thing that killed your child."
Ku Deng looked solemn.
"What is this?" Lin's father looked astonished; he had never seen this item when he was sorting out his eldest son's belongings, and his faith in Ku Deng grew even more.
"A sachet!" Lin Chen quickly recognized it, "My brother used to carry this sachet with him all the time; it seems someone gave it to him."
"Was it given by a girl?" Lu Fei asked.
In ancient times, sachets were typically given by women to men as tokens of affection.
The probability of men giving each other such things is really not high.
"Yes, she's the administrative staff at his company." Lin Chen nodded vigorously, a look of shock on his face, "When my brother died, that sister came over and cried very hard. How could this be..."
"You can know someone's face but not their heart!" Ku Deng shook his head.
"Do you know where she lives?" Lu Fei asked again.
"The company's directory has the address. I'll go check it out." Lin Chen quickly returned to his room and turned on his computer.
The door to the next bedroom opened, and Lin's mother cautiously stepped out. Seeing Ku Deng and Lu Fei, she looked confused.
"Old Lin, what's going on? What happened just now?"
"Don't you worry about it!"
Lin's father did not have the patience to explain to her. He was anxiously pacing back and forth in the living room, his expression especially grim as he thought about his eldest son being murdered.
"I found it."
Lin Chen sent the address and phone number to his own mobile phone.
"Her name is Wu Liyan, and she lives near my brother's company, about ten kilometers from here."
"Would you please take us there right away?" Lu Fei nodded.
"Now?" Lin Chen glanced at the time; it was almost 1 AM.
"The sooner we resolve this, the sooner your brother can rest in peace."
"Okay!"
Without further hesitation, Lin Chen immediately led the two of them out.
Lin's father instructed Lin's mother for a moment and then followed.
The group got into Lu Fei's car and rushed to the front desk's home.
It was a small apartment building.
At the entrance of a household, a bunch of dried herbs hung.