The visitor for tonight's night pawn turned out to be Guo Haitao!
Lu Fei was utterly stunned.
Could it be that the spirit attached to the phone wasn't actually Haitao?
Upon reflection, the spirit had only ever haunted the phone and had never physically appeared.
Spirits of obsession arise from strong emotions tied to the deceased's possessions, especially if those items carry residual evil energy. However, the spirit isn't necessarily the person themselves.
The air in the pawnshop felt colder than usual.
Dark red blood dripped from Guo Haitao's broken body, splattering onto the floor.
Lu Fei steadied his nerves and forced himself to stay calm.
"Haitao?"
The fragmented ghost nodded slightly. Its dislocated mouth opened and emitted a faint, guttural sound.
"Lu... Fei..."
"Are you here to pawn something?" Lu Fei asked, his voice steady. He knew that a ghost appearing at the shop meant they had died with unresolved grievances.
The ghost nodded again.
"What do you want to pawn?" Lu Fei took out a pawn ticket, pen, and paper, sitting down behind the counter.
The little black puppy peeked out from his arms, its fluffy head curiously observing the terrifying ghost, unafraid.
A bloodstained jewelry box was placed on the counter.
Lu Fei opened it to find a small, blood-smeared diamond ring inside.
"What do you want in return?"
"Revenge..."
The ghost's ruined throat rasped with hatred.
So he hadn't committed suicide!
Lu Fei's heart raced as he stared intently at Guo Haitao's mutilated face.
"Who killed you?"
"The school... old dormitory... her... long hair..."
The ghost uttered fragmented words, trembling as it pressed a bloody fingerprint onto the pawn ticket.
Suddenly, its shattered form convulsed violently as if in unbearable agony. Within moments, it disintegrated into nothingness.
"Haitao!"
Lu Fei called out, but the ghost had already vanished, leaving only the bloody fingerprint on the ticket.
Staring at the fingerprint, Lu Fei clenched his fists.
"The school, old dormitory, long hair... What's really going on in that haunted building?"
He took a deep breath and wiped the blood off the jewelry box with a tissue.
It was an ordinary engagement ring, the box inscribed with the phrase "Forever Love."
"A proposal ring?" Lu Fei pondered aloud, cradling the puppy. "Pan Linkai said that after visiting the haunted building, Haitao suddenly had a girlfriend."
That girlfriend only appeared in photos visible to Haitao alone. Pan Linkai had claimed she was a ghost from the old campus dormitory.
Perhaps on the night of Haitao's fall, he had gone to the haunted building to propose to this so-called girlfriend.
"Whatever the case, I must visit that haunted building!"
Determined, Lu Fei stored the ring away.
That night, he didn't sleep well, haunted by memories of Haitao's cheerful face from college juxtaposed with his shattered, gruesome appearance tonight.
The Next Morning
Lu Fei began researching the haunted building online, but the stories were inconsistent and exaggerated.
Some claimed the ghost of a hanged woman haunted the dormitory, seeking replacements. Others said there were multiple ghosts, with an entire class vanishing there once.
There were even conspiracy theories suggesting something large and sinister was buried beneath the school, and the deaths were annual sacrifices.
The information was mostly speculative, with no firsthand accounts. It felt as though the truth had been deliberately suppressed.
"I'll head to the building while it's still daylight and investigate. Hopefully, I can uncover what really happened there," Lu Fei decided.
Leaving food and water for the puppy, he told Tiger to pack their gear. Before leaving, he doubled back to find the puppy gorging itself again, its belly already round and full.
"You're not afraid of eating yourself to death, are you?" Lu Fei grumbled, putting away the remaining food as the puppy whined in protest.
"Alright, stop whining. I'll bring you back something nice later."
He tossed a toy onto the ground for the puppy to play with, locked up the shop, and left.
Jiang City University
Despite it being summer break, the campus was bustling with activity.
Police cars, ambulances, and crowds of onlookers blocked the entrance.
"What's going on?" Tiger, using his large frame to clear a path, made way for Lu Fei.
"Another death!"
"It hasn't even been long since the last one! Someone else jumped from the haunted dormitory. That place is cursed—why don't they just tear it down?"
"Apparently, some students snuck in last night to play games."
"Playing games in a haunted building? These kids have nothing better to do! Now look—one of them's dead!"
Lu Fei's heart sank.
"Another fall from the old dormitory? But usually, there's only one death per year. Why has it happened again so soon?"
The area was sealed off by the police, and access to the old dormitory was strictly prohibited. As a graduate, Lu Fei had no official ties to the university and no way of entering.
"This sudden death... What's really going on?"
Back at the Shop
Lu Fei kept an eye on developments through the news, but information was scarce. The police and university remained tight-lipped, and no media interviews were permitted.
This lack of transparency left Lu Fei anxious. Without access to the university, he couldn't uncover the truth behind Haitao's death or bring justice.
The situation remained stagnant until the following day when Lu Fei received an unexpected phone call.
It was from Chairman Su.
"Chairman Su?"
"Shopkeeper Lu, my daughter seems to have encountered something... unclean. She's delirious and incoherent. Please, you have to help her," Su's voice was filled with urgency.
"What?" Lu Fei was taken aback.
"She went with some classmates to Jiang City University the night before last to play games..."
"She went to the university?" Lu Fei asked in shock.
"Yes... She told us she was going out with friends, but I didn't know she'd go somewhere like that..." Su took a deep breath to steady himself.
"Shopkeeper Lu, I've already sent a car to pick you up. If you're available, I'd greatly appreciate your help!"
"No problem," Lu Fei replied immediately.
He hadn't expected Chairman Su's daughter to be involved in the haunted dormitory incident. Just when he was desperate for leads, a firsthand witness had fallen into his lap.
Once the car arrived, Lu Fei called for Tiger, and the two of them rushed to the Su family residence.
At the Su Residence
"Shopkeeper Lu!" Chairman Su greeted them at the door, leading them quickly upstairs.
"Shopkeeper Lu, Xiaoxue came back yesterday with a fever. She's been delirious ever since, muttering about long hair... long hair..."