Ye Tiancheng refused the bank card offered by Xiao Qian.
Xiao Qian was initially a bit anxious. If Ye Tiancheng refused to help, he truly wouldn't know what to do.
Fortunately, Ye Tiancheng quickly explained to Xiao Qian, stating that he was willing to help but didn't need payment, as it wasn't a big matter.
After all, Ye Tiancheng had considered that when Xiao Qian came to ask for help, he mentioned his relatives had been troubled for a long time. During this period, they were only harassed and faced some difficulties, with their lives not going smoothly, but no one had died yet.
In that case, the situation wasn't yet dire enough to be beyond repair.
Having spent so much time to achieve only this much, Ye Tiancheng could roughly guess that whatever was behind it wouldn't be too formidable.
Whether non-human entities were easy or difficult to deal with depended entirely on what they did and what methods they employed; one could make a good guess from that.
This method of judgment had always been very effective.
Xiao Qian breathed a sigh of relief after receiving Ye Tiancheng's response, but he still insisted on offering compensation.
Ye Tiancheng considered that if he helped someone and received nothing, the other party would certainly not be able to accept it. After all, anyone with a conscience, upon receiving help from others, would definitely want to reciprocate, otherwise, they wouldn't feel at ease.
Based on this consideration, Ye Tiancheng finally told Xiao Qian that regarding the payment, they should wait until he arrived at the scene to see what the problem was, whether it could be resolved, and how troublesome it would be to resolve, and then decide how much to charge.
He didn't want to accept money carelessly or take more than he deserved.
Seeing that Ye Tiancheng absolutely refused to accept the bank card, Xiao Qian didn't dare to force him. Moreover, Ye Tiancheng had stated that he wasn't refusing to accept payment but intended to charge based on the work done. If he insisted further, it would seem inappropriate.
Therefore, Xiao Qian had no choice but to accept.
Ye Tiancheng was relieved when Xiao Qian finally stopped insisting.
As they had agreed, Ye Tiancheng set off with Xiao Qian directly to Xiao Qian's relatives' house. Xiao Qian's relatives had been troubled for a long time, and upon hearing that the problem could be resolved, they were eager to solve it immediately and had no mood for further delays.
Xiao Qian's real name was Qian Liye. The relative he mentioned was his uncle, Qian Zhongming. Qian Zhongming was originally an office worker, not someone with any particularly distinguished status, just an ordinary person who never did anything out of the ordinary.
However, about four months ago, Qian Liye's uncle, Qian Zhongming, began to experience increasing misfortune, constantly encountering bad luck, and his health deteriorated. Yet, medical examinations at the hospital could not identify any specific illness.
Qian Zhongming's body weakened significantly. Although it didn't affect his daily life, his ability to walk, sit, and move remained unimpaired, but Qian Zhongming became easily fatigued and his stamina decreased.
Furthermore, under the continuous impact of everything going wrong and his declining health, Qian Zhongming's mood was greatly affected, making him prone to outbursts and irritability.
Initially, no one took this matter seriously.
After all, experiencing temporary bad luck was normal. Moreover, when people feel unlucky, they tend to notice many minor inconveniences in their lives, thus being influenced by psychological suggestion and believing they are truly unlucky. httpδ:/m.kuAisugg.nět
However, as time passed, it became difficult to dismiss.
Moreover, Qian Zhongming's misfortune continued to deepen, and he even began to experience many accidents that nearly endangered his life.
Coupled with the changes in the world, even ordinary people had learned about many things concerning non-humans. Qian Zhongming and his family thus couldn't help but overthink and sought help from the Haicheng branch of the Special Action Team.
Upon receiving the request, the registration personnel from the Haicheng branch first conducted an on-site inspection. After confirming the situation, they stated that there would be a waiting period.
This was unavoidable. Even the personnel at the Haicheng branch of the Special Action Team were mostly ordinary people without special abilities, handling tasks like paperwork and registration.
For instance, the registration personnel who handled the paperwork for Qian Zhongming's family could detect that there was indeed a problem because the Special Action Team had developed specialized equipment that could detect abnormal auras, thus confirming the situation.
For cases like Qian Zhongming's family, the registration personnel would typically first confirm the problem and then conduct a simple rating and assessment, scheduling it into the itinerary of capable individuals within the Special Action Team. They would then address the issue when that person became available or when it was their turn.
Since Qian Zhongming's family's situation had not yet resulted in death, and Qian Zhongming had endured for so long, their rating would not be too high because the situation was not yet severe. Those encountering more life-threatening situations would definitely be prioritized by the Special Action Team. Additionally, with frequent accidents occurring externally, Qian Zhongming's family had been on the waiting list for over two months without being attended to.
This was entirely due to the Haicheng branch of the Special Action Team being too busy and overwhelmed, not due to intentional neglect.
After Ye Tiancheng roughly listened to Qian Liye's account of the situation, he still needed to visit the site to confirm the exact circumstances and then find a solution.
When Ye Tiancheng went, he brought the little fox but not Long Miaomiao.
They felt that for such a minor matter, it was unnecessary to trouble Long Miaomiao. Long Miaomiao had been too loyal to them, and they couldn't trouble her for everything.
With Ye Tiancheng and the little fox going together, if there was a fight, Ye Tiancheng could handle it. If it involved spiritual or supernatural events, the little fox could identify the crux of the problem and resolve it. This was more than enough.
Although Haicheng was far from the capital, it was an economic hub and a very prosperous city. Qian Liye led Ye Tiancheng and the little fox to a high-end residential complex. Ye Tiancheng observed the environment of the complex and felt that Qian Liye's uncle's family had decent financial standing.
In places like Haicheng, land was precious and comparable to the capital. Being able to afford a house in such a high-end complex was not an easy feat.
Qian Liye led Ye Tiancheng and the others to the building where Qian Zhongming lived. After entering the elevator, the floor number they pressed was not very high; Qian Liye pressed the number four.
Ye Tiancheng's gaze fell on the illuminated button and he smiled helplessly, touching his forehead. "This floor number... did your uncle's family not mind at all when they bought the house?"
The little fox looked around the elevator and also said, "Qian Liye, what was your uncle thinking buying a house here? Living in this building must not be very comfortable, right? I don't think there are many residents in this building."
Hearing what Ye Tiancheng and the little fox said, Qian Liye suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.
He felt a bit panicked and asked confusedly, "Why do you say that?"
What Ye Tiancheng said was easy to understand. Chinese people were indeed quite superstitious about certain numbers. However, his uncle's family chose this place mainly because they weren't that superstitious and didn't believe in such things before. On the other hand, the houses here happened to be cheaper, and the houses on the fourth floor were even lower in price at the time.
Qian Zhongming had saved money for half his life to buy a better house and settle down, so he seized this opportunity. Before the great changes of these three years, nothing had happened.
However, upon hearing the little fox's remark, Qian Liye felt it was even more terrifying than Ye Tiancheng's mention of the number.
He explained to Ye Tiancheng and the little fox, "At that time, my uncle's family bought this house mainly because it was cheap. My uncle wanted to buy a better house, but his savings were limited. Coincidentally, the houses in this building were priced lower than those around it, and the fourth floor was even cheaper."
"That's why he seized such an opportunity. After all, under normal circumstances, even if my uncle worked for another ten years, he wouldn't be able to afford a house here."
"At that time, my uncle didn't believe in such things, and nothing had happened in all these years... Could it be because the feng shui here is bad?"
Ye Tiancheng asked with confusion, "These houses are clearly not cheap. Where do so many free lunches come from? Aren't you afraid there's something fishy going on behind this?"
Qian Liye said with a wry face, "On one hand, they didn't believe in such things. On the other hand, my uncle's family wasn't entirely unconcerned. After learning the price, they were afraid there might be something sinister and even made inquiries about it."
"However, my uncle didn't find out anything significant, nor did he hear that this was a haunted house. Apart from the less auspicious floor number, there was nothing else that made them feel wary, which is why my uncle bought it. Could it be that my uncle is having trouble because of this?"
Ye Tiancheng felt that it was too early to say anything conclusive, as he couldn't see clearly.
Therefore, Ye Tiancheng turned to the little fox and asked, "What do you think?"
The little fox had indeed seen something, but looking at Qian Liye's expression, he wondered if speaking directly would frighten the man.
After thinking for a moment, he said, "When your uncle inquired back then, he might have missed something, or he might have been deceived. It's also possible that no one knew about this matter, and it wasn't leaked."
Qian Liye shivered upon hearing this.
"What matter? Which matter?"
The little fox glanced at Qian Liye hesitantly and said, "Are you sure you want to know?"
"No, no, no! I don't want to!" Qian Liye quickly shook his head and waved his hands, but then a hint of hesitation appeared on his face. "However, Mr. Ye, how did you know? Aren't you here for the first time...?"
The little fox blinked his eyes, and then his gaze fell on a corner of the elevator.
Ye Tiancheng and Qian Liye followed the little fox's gaze to the empty corner of the elevator.
Ye Tiancheng was fine, but Qian Liye was so frightened that he stumbled back several steps, retreating to the opposite corner furthest from that spot, his back pressed against the elevator wall.
"Th-that corner... wh-what's there?!"
Before the little fox could answer, they heard a ding.
The little fox smiled and said to Qian Liye, "You don't need to be so scared. The elevator has arrived, we can go out now."
As he spoke, the elevator doors slowly opened before the three of them.
Qian Liye immediately scrambled out of the elevator. Ye Tiancheng and the little fox followed Qian Liye out unhurriedly.
As the elevator doors closed again, Qian Liye finally breathed a slight sigh of relief. Then he felt a damp and cool sensation on his back. It turned out he had been so scared that he broke out in a cold sweat. Now that the realization dawned on him, the wet fabric of his clothes clung to his back, and he only felt it now.
However, now that they were out of the elevator, Qian Liye was no longer as scared.
Qian Liye thought for a moment and then chose to ask the little fox, "So, what was in the elevator at that time?"
The little fox smiled, looking at Qian Liye.
"You were so scared just now that you ran away, and now you dare to ask me. Have you stopped being afraid?"