Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
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This man’s name was Bai Hao, and he was the developer of the shopping mall under construction, Gangyue Building.
The development process of the Hongyue Building had a long story. The project had been under construction for nearly ten years since the land was granted. The progress of the project was appallingly slow, and it had been left abandoned in recent years. You had to know that this was the city center where every inch of land was valuable. Such an unfinished building with such a shocking cost was quite rare in the country, so it had always attracted much attention from the outside world. The pressure on the developer could thus be imagined.
“Such a good location, but it has been delayed for so many years. Every day is a new loss, and we are anxious. In June, the project department put the plan of resuming work on the mall on the agenda, and the company decided to allocate funds again. We wanted to continue to follow the original plan to complete the construction of the Gangyue Building as soon as possible and then create a new shopping mecca. For this matter, I brought a new design project team to Beijing last month for an inspection and traveled all over Beijing’s shopping malls to learn from experience. The inspection was almost over, and we almost had the mall area planning and investment promotion plans. As a result, after having a celebratory dinner with the project team a few days ago, I happened to pass by that area. I suddenly thought that the night lighting of the new mall should also be designed to fit the exterior of the building, so I decided to take people in at night to take another look. Who knew that something went wrong when we took a look.”
Bai Hao was still in shock when he said this and couldn’t help rubbing his face with his hands.
It was almost midnight, it was late and cold, and there were not many people left in the city center shopping. To be honest, in such a situation, the dark unfinished building looked really creepy. There was an architect named Xiao Ke in the project team who was very scared and refused to go in no matter what.
However, everyone present except him was eager to try. Bai Hao, who had received new-age education since childhood and was a young man full of vigor and vitality, also did not believe in that. Seeing Xiao Ke was so scared, he laughed at him and said a few words like “How can a grown man like you be afraid of the dark?”
The minority obeyed the majority. Since everyone was so determined, Xiao Ke had no choice but to follow them tremblingly.
The temperature was low at night, so after measuring the outside wall, they decided to go to the top of the building to see if they could do something about the sign lighting on the rooftop.
The elevator in the unfinished building had been out of service for a long time, so the only way to get to the top floor was by stairs. Fortunately, the building was not very high, so it was not difficult to climb. However, it was too late, and considering that Xiao Ke was afraid of the dark, everyone did not separate and walked together. Unexpectedly, when they were going up the stairs, Xiao Ke suddenly said in surprise that he heard a sound.
Everyone stopped immediately. Of course, they heard nothing. Winter had already arrived in the capital and the temperature had dropped sharply. In such severe cold, there was not even the sound of insects outside.
Upon seeing this, everyone immediately started to laugh at Xiao Ke, saying that he was so afraid of the dark that he even had auditory hallucinations.
Xiao Ke said with certainty that he had not heard wrongly, there had been a voice floating quietly around, but of course no one believed him, and everyone insisted on going up to the top floor and taking pictures of the night view of the surrounding business district.
Bai Hao was busy framing the scene at the time. As he was filming, he suddenly heard someone next to him ask him, “Where are all the people?”
He subconsciously answered, “Aren’t they right here?”, and then he realized that the person asking him the question was a very old and unfamiliar voice, which he had never heard before.
He was startled and immediately turned around to look for Xiao Ke but found that everyone who had reached the top floor had already evacuated and there was no one else around him. He was shocked and scared, and thought he was hallucinating, but after scanning the crowd, he found that Xiao Ke was gone!
He immediately shouted to gather everyone, but the others didn’t realize when Xiao Ke disappeared. It was not fun to have such a thing happen in the middle of the night. Several team members thought that Xiao Ke was afraid of the dark and had thus hidden somewhere, so they called Xiao Ke unhappily. Unexpectedly, the phone rang, but the source of the sound was not on the top floor, but faintly, like the sad cry of a ghost came from the bottom of the building, and no one answered the call.
Everyone was puzzled and went downstairs to check, but they were horrified to find Xiao Ke lying in a pool of blood.
When everyone rushed forward, Xiao Ke was still somewhat conscious. He was lying on a pile of messy wooden boards at the bottom of the building. His body was all red. His eyes were staring wide open, and as the blood gushed out, a gurgling sound came from his throat.
“Ghost… there is a ghost… I saw it…”
After saying this, he tilted his head with a look of horror on his face and fainted.
….
“Xiao Ke is still in the ICU of the city hospital. The doctor said that it was fortunate that he was found early. If it was half an hour later, he would probably not be able to be saved. Although he has survived the critical period, he is still in a coma and we don’t know when he will wake up. The hospital said that he has multiple comminuted fractures and internal organ damage, which should have been caused by falling from the roof.” Bai Hao wiped his face heavily again when he said this, with obvious fear and regret on his face, “I was wrong. I shouldn’t have suggested entering the building to observe in the middle of the night, and that voice…that voice…”
That old and unfamiliar voice had been lingering in his mind since the day of the accident. He had confirmed it with everyone he was traveling with, and everyone was busy with their own things at the time, so no one said anything similar.
This really scared Bai Hao. He thought it was an illusion, and at the same time he felt that Xiao Ke’s fall from the building was really strange. What’s more, the words he said before fainting were so specific that he could no longer deceive himself.
But Xiao Ke still hadn’t woken up yet, and he couldn’t ask exactly what happened to him before he fell from the building. He could only worry all day and was so frightened that he couldn’t even sleep. So after thinking it over, he decided to seek help from supernatural forces. He searched online and chose the Liandu Temple, which was a little famous locally.
After hearing this, Kuang Zhiming’s expression became very serious. A person fell from a building and almost died. This was no small matter. He immediately stood up and said, “Mr. Bai, wait a moment. I’ll call my wife and Master Wei and the others to accompany you to the building to see what’s going on.”
“Can, can it be done?!” Bai Hao was so frightened that he turned from a firm materialist to another extreme. He then asked with a pale face, “I… I asked around later. When the shopping mall was under construction, there was a rumor in the company that the land of the Gangyue Building was a mass grave hundreds of years ago. Later, it was outsourced to a construction company, and the project kept encountering accidents. The company even hired people to exorcise the evil spirits and change the feng shui, but the problem was never solved. If it weren’t for this, we wouldn’t have let it be suspended for so many years. If this is really a mass grave, there must be tens of thousands of dead people buried underneath, right? Xiao Ke was forced to jump off the building. If these dead people show up together, wouldn’t that be a large army? How can we handle so many people with just a few of us?”
Kuang Zhiming was silent for a while after hearing this. Under Bai Hao’s horrified gaze, he slowly turned his eyes to the people from Taicang Sect nearby.
Bai Hao: “?”
The Taicang Sect’s eldest disciple immediately smiled at the future landlord with understanding: “Don’t worry, Mr. Bai. My master is the best at fighting. If that doesn’t work, we can also get external help. We have hundreds of employees in the sect. If we fight together, we won’t suffer any loss.”
Hundreds of employees? This was definitely the standard for a medium-sized enterprise. Bai Hao looked at Wei Xi, imagining the scene of hundreds of Taoists fighting against ghosts together. He felt relieved and said in surprise: “Master Wei is really… really young and promising. At such a young age, he actually manages such a large-scale Taoist temple.”
But he had never known whether Taoist temples also recruited so many people. He did not seem to see so many Taoists when he came into the Liandu Temple just now. Thinking of this, Bai Hao could not help but curiously ask Kuang Zhiming: “Master Kuang, do you have so many Taoist priests here as well?”
Kuang Zhiming stared at him with a complicated look in his eyes, and he didn’t know how to explain. After a long time, he could only answer with difficulty: “There are currently 17 people staying at Liandu Temple, 9 of whom have become monks, and the rest, not including the lay people who are staying temporarily, a total of 45 people.”
This number was indeed very impressive in Taoist temples in various cities and was one of the best in the local area. However, Bai Hao, a non-believer, had no idea about it and was disappointed when he heard it. There were only forty-five people, while there were hundreds in Taicang Sect.
Having said that, such a direct comparison was still too awkward. Bai Hao did not show his thoughts, and quickly smiled and nodded to save the situation, saying, “Ah, that’s it, it’s okay, forty-five people are quite a lot. I think your temple is quite popular, and the location is good, and it is also a famous historical site. It will definitely develop in the future.”
However, if he had known this, he would have directly gone to the larger Taicang Sect. The netizens in the local forum were really unreliable. They said that Liandu Temple was one of the best, and he, a foreigner, took it seriously.
Kuang Zhiming listened to his sincere consolation, but he was not happy at all. He bit his lip and stepped out of the door. He felt extremely humiliated. Why was his own Liandu Temple so inexplicably surpassed!
Before he could finish complaining, he heard Bai Hao’s voice coming from inside: “Hey, Master Wei, where is the specific address of your Taicang Sect? I couldn’t find it on the Internet before. I have some free time recently, so I’ll go to your place to burn some incense.”
As soon as he finished speaking, another believer in the front of the meditation room exclaimed: “Hey, Taoist priest, come and have a look, why is the new incense broken again? Is the quality of this brand also not good?”
Kuang Zhiming: “…”
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