Chapter Twelve: The Master with Low Fees
Unsure how much time had passed, a sliver of sunlight rose from the east, dispelling the terrifying darkness. Only then did the distraught Jiang Zhenzhen finally come back to her senses.
Ever since she had been jolted awake by the nightmare, she hadn't slept again. Instead, she sat on her bed, utterly dispirited and motionless, as if scared witless, or as if, in legend, her very soul had been frightened out of her.
As she came to, she realized the blanket was still covering her, not having fallen to the floor at all. This proved that those terrifying scenes were nothing more than a dream, a nightmare.
Even though it was just a dream, it had nearly scared her soul out of her. Instantly, her heart swelled with fear, helplessness, and a sense of injustice. Who had she offended? Why was she having such a nightmare? The more she pondered, the less she understood, and the more unbearable it became. Finally, she couldn't hold it in any longer, and with a wail, she hugged her blanket and burst into tears.
She cried for a long time, her sobs only ceasing when her alarm clock rang, signaling it was time to get up.
No matter how frightening the nightmare, she still had to go to work. She had only recently found this job, and losing it would be a real pity, not to mention it would leave a bad impression on her colleagues. Besides, she needed money to live; not working wasn't an option.
However, having nightmares for two consecutive nights, with the old woman appearing in both, forced her to ponder deeply. She couldn't help but conclude that this was likely more than just a simple nightmare.
That day, Jiang Zhenzhen's work remained as busy as ever, but she could no longer put the nightmare out of her mind and work peacefully as she had the day before. Her mind was in a haze, and the image of the old woman from her nightmare would suddenly surface in her thoughts from time to time, stirring up the deep-seated fear within her.
Given Jiang Zhenzhen's poor mental state, it was impossible for her to work properly. After a day's work, she was naturally reprimanded, getting a thorough dressing-down from the store manager.
In her opinion, few would believe such a thing if she told them. Everyone would simply assume she had just had a nightmare and was scaring herself unnecessarily.
From a certain perspective, she had indeed only experienced a nightmare. The terrifying old woman had only appeared in her dream, not in reality. So, did that truly count as encountering a ghost?
Jiang Zhenzhen didn't know much about such matters and naturally couldn't be considered an expert. Thus, she couldn't understand what was truly going on, nor could she be sure if she had truly encountered a ghost. However, this didn't lessen the fear in her heart.
Carrying her internal fear, yet with a glimmer of hope, she still returned to her rented apartment that evening. This time, upon arriving home, she felt none of the novelty of the first day, none of the joy of moving into a new place, and none of the intense drowsiness from the previous night that made her yearn to simply bury her head and sleep soundly.
Although she was exhausted, even more so than the previous night, she dared not close her eyes—not for a single moment. She feared that if she did, the old woman who filled her with such immense terror would reappear.
She didn't eat dinner because she simply couldn't stomach anything and wasn't in the mood to cook. She curled up on her bed, covering herself with the blanket, trembling uncontrollably and feeling utterly helpless.
After an unknown amount of time, the extreme mental exhaustion finally made it impossible for her to hold on any longer. She collapsed onto the bed and fell into a deep sleep.
Without any surprise, she had another nightmare that night. The old woman, whose body was rotting, reappeared in her dream, constantly hurling insults at her, telling her to get out of the house and claiming the apartment was hers. She then reached out again to strangle Jiang Zhenzhen's neck, as if intending to choke her to death. Just as she felt she was about to suffocate, she jolted awake from the nightmare, drenched in sweat.
Just like the previous two nights, after being jolted awake, Jiang Zhenzhen dared not sleep again. She curled up on the bed, trembling uncontrollably, not knowing what to do. Hugging her blanket, she burst into another fit of bitter tears, her sobs filled with fear and despair.
When dawn broke, she once again dragged her utterly exhausted body to work. Her appearance startled the other store employees. With huge dark circles under her eyes and a haggard face, she looked like someone who wouldn't live for much longer. Gone was the youthful radiance she had on her first day of work.
"Are you on drugs?"
The store manager approached her, her first question being whether Jiang Zhenzhen was on drugs. Jiang Zhenzhen didn't answer immediately. Instead, she threw herself into the manager's arms and burst into a torrent of tears, attracting curious glances from other store employees. They gathered around, asking what was going on.
Among these employees, some who saw Jiang Zhenzhen crying so bitterly were genuinely concerned, after all, she looked very young, and it wasn't easy for her to work alone away from home.
As for the other employees, their questions weren't out of genuine concern for Jiang Zhenzhen, but rather to join in the commotion, wanting to hear gossip and see if this cute little girl had been ruined by a man, or tossed aside once he grew tired of her.
The manager had originally intended to scold Jiang Zhenzhen and tell her that if her work performance today was anything like yesterday's, she could leave and no longer work there. But she never expected that Jiang Zhenzhen would burst into such tears after just one question.
Naturally, someone capable enough to be a store manager wouldn't panic at the sight of Jiang Zhenzhen suddenly crying so bitterly. Instead, she continued to ask her with a serious expression, "You're not really on drugs, are you?"
Jiang Zhenzhen, of course, shook her head. Seeing her do so, the manager breathed a sigh of relief, then immediately asked her what was wrong.
The other store employees also focused their gazes on Jiang Zhenzhen, perking up their ears to listen, all eager to hear what exactly was going on with her.
This time, Jiang Zhenzhen didn't hold anything back, revealing everything about the nightmares she had been having for the past few nights. She didn't care if others believed her, nor how they might see her. Her spirit already broken, she only wanted to pour out all the fear in her heart, hoping to alleviate her inner terror.
After hearing Jiang Zhenzhen's words, the employees present, including the manager, showed varied expressions. Some of the more timid ones were clearly startled. Others scoffed, feeling Jiang Zhenzhen was making a mountain out of a molehill. It was just a nightmare, wasn't it? Was there any need to be so scared?
As for the manager, she didn't show her inner amusement. Instead, she comforted Jiang Zhenzhen with a serious and earnest expression. Once Jiang Zhenzhen's emotions had stabilized, she earnestly told her that there were no ghosts in this world, that so-called ghosts were merely people scaring themselves. The reason she had nightmares for three consecutive days was perhaps due to immense mental stress, coupled with not yet adapting to her new environment.
The manager spoke with conviction, even finding a lot of information online to prove what she said was true. Jiang Zhenzhen listened in a daze. Although she didn't fully believe everything the manager said, the manager's explanation did somewhat alleviate the fear in her heart.
Because of Jiang Zhenzhen's explanation, the manager knew her mental state was poor, so she only let her work the morning shift and sent her home in the afternoon to get some good rest. The manager made this decision partly out of kindness, and furthermore, she was worried something might happen to Jiang Zhenzhen. Her mental state was too fragile; if anything happened to her in the store, the shop would also be implicated.
Jiang Zhenzhen didn't refuse. After thanking the manager, she didn't go to work that afternoon. However, before she left, a colleague approached her.
"Zhenzhen, I believe what you said this morning. I think you've probably encountered a ghost. That house of yours isn't clean," her female colleague told her mysteriously.
Far from comforting Jiang Zhenzhen, these words made her shiver involuntarily.
"Are you serious? " Jiang Zhenzhen asked, somewhat uncertainly.
In truth, Jiang Zhenzhen knew deep down that she had most likely encountered a ghost. It was just that she had never experienced such a thing in her life, and she still found it somewhat difficult to accept.
"Of course, it's true! There's no way it's fake! " Her female colleague's tone was very certain. She then continued, "Think about it: how many people live in this world without stress? How many people frequently change environments for work? Why don't they end up like you? Don't you think there's something wrong with that?"
Jiang Zhenzhen pulled her neck in, suddenly feeling a chill run through her entire body. She didn't answer, for she didn't know what to say.
"I'm telling you, when you encounter something like this, I think you need to find an expert to handle it for you. Otherwise, this matter definitely won't just go away," the female colleague advised.
"Find an expert? " Jiang Zhenzhen paused for a moment, then spoke with a wry smile, "I don't know any experts. Where would I even look? Should I go to a temple?"
Within Lecheng, there were quite a few temples, large and small. These temples worshipped different deities, and the temples Jiang Zhenzhen spoke of were precisely these.
"The people from the temples seem to charge a lot for their services," the female colleague said, shaking her head. "I don't recommend you go to them. For ordinary folk like us, hiring someone from a temple is like going to the hospital—no amount of money would be enough."
"So what do you mean? " Jiang Zhenzhen asked.
"I can introduce you to an expert," the female colleague said, her face beaming. "He charges low fees, and he's very capable. He's a true master. Last time, when my family moved into our new house, we had him take a look at it."
Upon hearing this, Jiang Zhenzhen was naturally overjoyed. Without even thinking, she immediately agreed, and thanked her colleague profusely.
Since the female colleague didn't have the master's contact information, she simply gave her the master's address, telling her to go find him there.
That's right, the master her colleague spoke of was none other than Yang Haoran, the charlatan.
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