Sensing Jia Hyson's disdain the three shamed ghosts glanced at each other before swallowing their pride and knelt onto the ground. It wasn't just the knowledge they didn't possess that made them want to submit but also the power of the teenage ghost that they could clearly feel emanating from him. While their spiritual senses and powers were not strong they could instinctively feel the gap between them like three blind mice facing a lion.
"Please!" Xia Cuifen shouts, she was a woman who knew when to bow her head and when to lift it, "Teach us lowly spirits about harnessing spiritual energy!"
"Please!" Surprisingly Bai Honghui, the rich looking lord was next, even going as far as kowtowing three times. He was a man who was used to power and strength, living as a helpless wraith in this slowly rotting house had made him very willing to pledge his small life to anyone who could help him. He wasn't disillusioned enough to think he could escape but if his lifestyle could improve just a bit...
When Zhou He, the scholar saw his friends begging he also followed. It seemed he had very high pride, even beaten down to this extent he still hesitated in asking for help improve his spiritual self. Jia Hyson in the past probably wouldn't have minded it so much but now he was more spiteful and petty, he felt pleased at the former two's subservient manner and irritated by Zhou He's reluctance. He secretly decided he wanted to break this scholar down until he would beg shamelessly for even a single glance toward him.
Bebe: ...it seems Host's S side is back with a tyrannical vengeance
"Tell me your background first," Jia Hyson says after half a minutes worth of silence passed. He already was obligated to help them but in order to do that he needed their origin story. How they died seems to greatly influence their specialized powers.
For example, Jia Hyson reluctantly found he was very skilled in Ghost Fire despite never using it, in fact this cursed skill was the one that gains the most points when he was grinding his hatred. Currently it is valued at eighty-one points. He can only determine that his affinity with fire after the way he burnt to death was now fated, thankfully [Psychotic Break] has numbed that fear enough he can use it on his enemies. However, as much as he rather enjoys the idea of watching people suffer the same way he did, he still can't help but avoid trying it out. No one likes reliving terrible memories after all.
The trio glance at each other again, a little uneasy but they quickly spilled their story. It wasn't like they had a reputation to defend anymore, and the people that had known them were practically half a foot in the grave already.
The story was very... scandalous to say the least. Jia Hyson hadn't expected these three soy sauce ghosts to have such a colorful history.
Like Li Guiren had said before there were five people that had died in the incident. Xia Cuifen, Bai Honghui, Zhou He and another woman named Xu Xiu. The fifth person was a nameless servant that technically committed suicide after leaving the house so he really didn't count though.
Now, all four of them were friends since childhood, very close, very attractive and very eye-catching in terms of temperament and skill. Xia Cuifen was a wealthy merchant's daughter and had a good eye for business and quality goods. Bai Honghui's family had ties to the royal family and was essentially nobility. Zhou He was the only commoner but his parents ran a very successful restaurant and he himself was very intelligent, winning first place in various poetry competitions and second place in the imperial examinations. Xu Xiu like Bai Honghui also had good connections to the royal family, in fact, her own status was much higher than the Bai's, her older brother was a successful great general that married the sixth princess and her father was recently promoted to Head of Finances.
Honestly, Jia Hyson wonders why all these high spec people were doing in such a small town, no the question should be what was flowing through the water here that managed to produce such high spec people in the first place.
Xu Xia and Bai Honghui had a good relationship and their family status were equally high, a marriage between them was decided by the family. This wedding was the beginning of the end for these shining stars.
With four people, two men and two women, all with good looks, attractive personalities and background, how could there not be secrets? They were friends so long, eventually there will be a point where affection can turn into love and comrades into rivals.
Bai Honghui was in love with Xia Cuifen. He liked Xu Xia and thought she could make a good wife for someone with her sweet looks and demure personality but ultimately was not suited toward himself. He was more attracted to the more strong-willed and fiery business woman Xia Cuifen. Secretly he gave a lot of money from Xu Xia's pocket into Xia Cuifen to curry favor.
However, what he hadn't known at the time after his wedding, was that shortly after, Xia Cuifen and Xu Xia had gotten together.
Yes, Bai Honghui had been given a green hat by his childhood sweetheart and his wife. Even Jia Hyson could not look straight at the man's ugly expression as he explained the situation. Aiyah, what a train wreck. And yet it wasn't even halfway over.
Xia Cuifen then stepped up to clarify that during the affair she truly held no tender feelings for Xu Xia. In fact, over time she had grown to resent and hate this pampered little miss. She also took money and gifts from Xu Xia as 'compensation' for having to degrade herself to be with that whiny girl as well as spread rumors about her being a horny loose woman that spread her legs for woman, men and anything else that can sate the thirst between her legs.
At this moment Jia Hyson instantly concocted a dogblooded story of the woman falling in love with groom and secretly stealing the bride with the scholar who was in love with her helping out in the sidelines. But when Zhou He continued the story he was slapped in the face by the amount of dog blood added in, his own drama story paling in comparison.
"I love Bai Honghui." Zhou He states, making Bai Honghui look away awkwardly. After that confession he continues monotonously recalling what happened next. Zhou He knew that Xia Cuifen was in love with himself a long time ago, he had rejected her and told her of his forbidden love for his good brother. She had been shocked at first but Xia Cuifen was open minded and sincerely loved Zhou He, the type of love where she will be happy if he is happy so when Bai Honghui and Xu Xia married they plotted to break them up. While Xu Xia is being seduced, Zhou He would try swoop in to pursue his love.
Both Jia Hyson and Bebe was speechless. There was a lot to unpack here. Essentially, the scholar was gay for the rich boy, the rich boy was in love with the businesswoman, the businesswoman was in love with the scholar but was willing to play wingman in the gayest way... and Xu Xia was just an unfortunate lightbulb in this love triangle. Who know where her heart lay.
Whether she really fell in love with Xia Cuifen or she had other desires, either way it was all broken when she somehow learnt the truth from the nameless manservant. The trio were not sure of the details of when she found out or what exactly she did after but a fourteen months after the wedding they woke up in this basement.
At this part all of their faces turn gloomy.
Xu Xia and the nameless servant had brought out a book that had been bound and sealed. She explained to them that when her grandparents were young a dying exorcist they took in to try save had given it to them, making them promise to make sure it never sees the light of day with his last dying breath. In exchange he blessed them good fortune which caused their family status to shoot up due to various fortunate circumstances. After the intense simulation of learning about her friends' betrayals Xu Xia took this book and opened it, finding it was a book filled with dark magic, rituals and all sorts of other forbidden crap. As expected of the author who came up with the title The Demon House, this book was aptly naked The Book of Curses.
Jia Hyson: '...' How convenient.
Bebe: '...' Bebe also wants a wandering dying monk to save it.
The Book of Curses had a demonic summoning ritual, one that required four sacrifices and a place filled with yin energy. Xia Cuifen, Bai Honghui and Zhou He were trapped in this basement for months, everyday Xu Xia and the nameless servant would come in to feed them gruel and humiliation, beating them, mocking them, stripping them and so on.
One time Bai Honghui had been even forced to eat live worms while whipped after being caught trying to escape. The leftovers were then thrown onto his head and wriggled into his clothing all over his body. Another had Xia Cuifen being fed an aphrodisiac and leaving her naked to writhe and beg on the floor as they all watched until Xu Xia gave her a precious rag doll her dead father had given her when she was young to satisfy herself on. Zhou He was also forced to confess and beg for a kiss from his love in these terrible circumstances on threat of torture before being rejected by an incredulous and disgusted Bai Honghui while Xu Xia and the servant laughs. Since he couldn't get a kiss from his crush his manhood was crushed.
The basement became a breeding ground for dark emotions like hatred, pain, dismay, cruelty, regret and vengeance... In these terrible circumstances, it was easy for negative yin energies to fester and be absorbed by the room.
Once the negative energy was high enough, till even breathing the stale air felt like despair, all three of them died. The nameless servant by Xu Xia's side had stabbed them three times and then sliced their neck which was all they could remember before they blacked out.
Jia Hyson and Bebe: '...' It seems.. they've had it pretty good in comparison?
At least the cultists were too in awe of his heaven-defying and heaven-inspiring face of his to hurt him too badly.
All three ghosts had bitter faces as they finished the story. "I woke up first," Xia Cuifen says, "it had been a few months and the police were in the house and I heard that the servant had killed himself recently with a written confession of where our bodies were."
Jia Hyson fell into deep thought. This demonic summoning ritual required four sacrifices and a large amount of negative yin energy produced by them, almost exactly like how the Demon House's ritual was. However there were some discrepancies.
The loyal nameless servant who should have been the fourth sacrifice but he died outside the house and at the beginning they mentioned Xu Xia died in the house. The presence of the spirits of the sacrifices that should have been eaten by the summon demon. The whereabouts of the demon. Did the ritual fail? Did it work? Where is the book? It seems only Xu Xia, the mastermind would know. She held the key to many of the secrets.
"Where is Xu Xia then?" Jia Hyson asks the three. Grinding up their ghost powers was important but this was more so. A good author needs to figure out enough about the full backstory before proceeding with the actual plot.
The three ghosts exchanged glances again. Jia Hyson itches to knock all three heads together and see if that will stop them. Must they always silently communicate and hold hands with each other before coming to a decision. Why must they constantly show him this sort of 'we are all one heart and mind' sort of thing, reminding him how he no longer has a close companion like that? If they were always this in sync and interconnected no wonder Xu Xia was pushed off the edge as her fears and insecurities about their friendship were finally confirmed in the worst way.
Finally it is Bai Honghui that spoke up, "We don't know but every time after the sun sets and before the sun rises she will make sure to visit us through the mirror." He points at a large, full-length mirror in the corner of the room with disgust. Because the basement was filled with various antiques and unwanted things the mirror did not garner much attention but now that Jia Hyson looks at it, it does seem to hold a strong dark aura.
Suddenly he felt very excited, feeling like a detective that had found a critical piece of evidence that proved an impossible conjecture.
Could it be, could it be the mirror fairy is Xu Xia?!
Bebe was shocked by Jia Hyson's idea: 'No way! Isn't the Mirror Fairy a good person?'
Jia Hyson gave Bebe a disdainful face: 'Peh! Good person?! I've always felt that the mirror fairy was a bit off, how can such a good fairy live in such a yin filled hellhole for so long? And what about in the beginning when she tried to scare the main girl to death with creepy writing and such? If the fairy was so good they wouldn't have been so dumb as to act like that okay!'
Bebe returned Jia Hyson's disdainful expression with spit: 'Then why did she help the group in the end then? Why fight off the bullies? How is that not good ah?' Finally Bebe felt superior from his host in discerning plot points. It felt very cool and intelligent as it condescends. You peh Bebe, Bebe will peh host ten times! Peh, peh, peh!
Jia Hyson didn't answer his system back. Bebe inexplicably felt a bit of a chill. Suddenly it felt a bit willing to let it's host be correct. It can try scoop up a victory in the next world ah.
Instead, Jia Hyson whispered into a very bitter looking Li Guiren's ear, "Xiao Ren, the ghosts are going to show me the boss ghost, however I need to be here at night so-"
Li Guiren who has been eating ghostly vinegar was now licking the bottom of the pot with vicious anger. A child who had to stand around in an empty room while ghosts talked around him was a bored angry child okay?! It had been at least half an hour and there was only so much junk to be entertained by! Could they not have appeared before him or something? So rude! And now they want to have a slumber party with Wei?! Even he hadn't got to do such a thing!
Li Guiren's eyes redden. Such hateful ghosts!