Part 2 Chapter 36 Bath Center
I told Qin Yiheng my guess, and he said he didn't know for sure, but judging from the appearance, the well should be an ancient well, otherwise it wouldn't have been hidden in the house. I'm afraid that when the house was first built, it was also for this purpose, that is, to take the ancient well for oneself and hide it in the house. As for what the origin of the ancient well was earlier, I'm afraid we don't know.
Qin Yiheng's analytical ability is always superior to mine.
I closed my eyes, simply wanting to relax, but the scene in front of me was still a mess. I slapped my face and simply lit a cigarette.
He walked me home, and unexpectedly walked me all the way back upstairs. I wanted to have him stay for dinner, but he refused.
When he left, I felt a little sad. Was it because I had been holding him back for so long?
I didn't have much appetite, and I didn't even brush my teeth when I got home. I went to bed and had a deep sleep. I dreamed all night, but luckily I slept until dawn. The next day, I got up, ate something, asked about the recent situation of some of my small businesses, and then prepared to spend time online.
After looking online for a while, a question suddenly occurred to me.
Qin Yiheng sent me upstairs yesterday, which was a bit fucking unusual, considering that he and the old man had memorized the address of the house the day before. Damn, he didn't go there by himself, did he?
I called Qin Yiheng, but the call was forwarded.
I couldn't sit still anymore. If he really went through fire and water for me, then I was such a jerk. I quickly called the old man, but he didn't answer the phone. When the old man called me back, he sounded quite surprised. I asked him if my friend had contacted him again to go and see the house. The old man gave me a positive answer, saying that Qin Yiheng had contacted him last night.
After hanging up the phone, I was filled with mixed feelings. However, I really didn't have time to feel sentimental. I simply packed up and set off without stopping according to the address given by the old man.
We didn't talk much along the way. I've been to that city before, so the whole journey was not unfamiliar.
I bought a flight ticket for the afternoon, and when I got there and settled down, I called Qin Yiheng while taking a taxi to the house. His phone never went through, but that was normal, because when we went to the house, we usually put our phones in flight mode, just in case a call came in at a critical moment and something went wrong, after all, the house we went to was not a safe place.
But the house surprised me. I didn't read the contract carefully before, I just knew it was very big, more than 1,000 square meters, but when I got there, I found out that it was a closed bath center.
I am not a person who likes places of entertainment. I went to such places before only for socializing and I haven’t been there many times, so this kind of place is still quite unfamiliar to me.
I looked outside and I guessed that this bath center had been closed for a long time. Not only was it in a dilapidated state, but the words on the sign were almost rotten. Out of professional habit, I looked around and found that the location was not bad, and it could barely be considered a commercial street. I just didn't know why it had been empty for so long and no one had taken it over. However, the houses owned by the old man were probably not simple, so it was normal that no one had taken it over. I wanted to go into the house and take a look before it got dark.
When I walked to the door, I was a little surprised because the door was locked. The lock was very big and it seemed that Qin Yiheng should not have arrived yet.
I walked around the building and found a few broken windows. If you didn't mind the dirt, you could climb in. I didn't hesitate and climbed in.
The inside was even more dilapidated than it had looked from the outside. The dust was thick, there were many footprints on the ground, and there were a few cotton mats in the corners. I guess some homeless people would sleep here at night. After walking around, I found that the layout was no different from the usual bathing center. The lobby was not big. On the first floor, there were men's and women's locker rooms and men's and women's bathing areas. Because of curiosity, I only went to the women's side to take a look. It was very damp, but there was no water. It was dark inside and looked quite creepy. I didn't stay there for long. I went out and walked up the stairs to the second floor. There was nothing special about the second floor. From the decoration, it can be seen that it was a rest area before. Massages, foot massages, etc. were all here, but there was no recliner, and it looked a bit empty. The carpet on the ground was not removed, and it felt soft when walking on it. I was still a little worried that someone would attack me and I couldn't hear the footsteps. There were no windows on the second floor, which was inevitable. Such places are usually dirty and filthy and cannot be seen in the light. But this affected my vision so much that I found a switch and pressed it, but there was no response. I had to take out my cell phone to illuminate it.
I took another quick look and still found nothing. I wanted to go up again, but after thinking about it, I decided not to. First, my cell phone was running out of battery and it would be inconvenient without lighting; second, I looked at the watch and it was getting dark, and there might be some danger in this place.
I guessed that if nothing unexpected happened, there should be small single rooms upstairs, where sex transactions were conducted, nothing to see. Just as I was about to go downstairs, I heard some noise. At first I thought it was Qin Yiheng, but I didn't dare to call him. After listening patiently for a while, I felt something was wrong. Because the noise was very familiar, like water was flowing somewhere.
I didn't dare to move. This place has been abandoned for so long, the sluice gate should be closed. Even if the pipe is broken, it won't leak. I thought to myself: "Did someone open the sluice gate to take a shower?" Just as I was thinking, I heard another splashing sound. However, this time the splashing sound was not the sound of water, but sounded like someone shaking the plastic sheet very hard.
Anything that could make such a noise was obviously not something dirty.
I thought it might be time, homeless people started to come here to stay overnight, and laying down a layer of plastic sheeting would not only keep out moisture but also make it cleaner, so I put my heart at ease and walked down step by step. I didn't walk lightly, because the other party would definitely not think there was someone here, and it was getting dark, so I was afraid that I would scare someone if I suddenly appeared.
After I went downstairs, I looked around and didn't see anyone. The footprints on the ground were messy, and I couldn't tell if anyone else had come in. I thought about it and decided to go out, so I didn't go into the bathroom. Since no one saw me, I didn't have to do it anymore, so I climbed out of the window and brushed off the dirt on my body.
I found a restaurant nearby to have dinner and hurried over here because I was really hungry. If I was not far from here, I might run into Qin Yiheng. After a simple meal, I called Qin Yiheng again, but the call was still unreachable. So I had no choice but to go back to the hotel. After all, I couldn't stay here all the time. When I was checking out, I asked the boss lady if she knew why the bath center was closed. Unexpectedly, this inquiry also let me know a lot of things.
The lady boss said that the bath center was very prosperous in the past, and the boss had a backer. During several anti-prostitution operations, the place was quite stable and made a lot of money. But the good times didn't last long. One autumn, there was a fire inside, and four people died. It was even on the news at the time. It was said that a lady inside was infected with AIDS by a regular customer and felt that she couldn't live anymore. When the regular customer came again, she used the alcohol lamp used for cupping to set the private room on the third floor on fire. In addition to her and the customer, two people next door were also burned to death. The fire was not small, and it was fortunate that four people were burned to death. After that, the original boss didn't know if he was implicated because of this incident, and the higher-ups began to investigate him, but he just closed the business. Later, another boss came to take over, probably with a backer, and wanted to continue the bathing business after some decoration.
But the boss hadn't been in the job for long before rumors of haunting began to spread. There were all kinds of rumors about what was going on. The boss's wife heard that black human-shaped marks would appear on the walls for no apparent reason, as if someone had covered their bodies in coal dust and thrown themselves at the walls. At first, the people inside didn't pay much attention, but later they gradually discovered that there were also such black marks on the ceiling and the sheets of the massage beds. It had long been known in the city that someone had been burned to death here, and this time there were so many black marks. Although no one had been hurt, it was still quite scary. As a result, gradually no one dared to come here.
The boss therefore hired someone to perform a ritual, which caused quite a stir. Many people were invited to set up a stage to perform, burn paper and incense, and finally a large anchor was specially put in, but no one knew where it was put.
But after all the efforts, the black marks still appeared as usual. In the end, the boss had no choice but to close the business. I don’t know whether the building was sold or not. Anyway, it has been empty ever since. I guess the boss didn’t rely on this business to make money.
The boss lady was from Northeast China, and her description was very vivid and interesting. I thought to myself: "So the boss later sold the house to Yuan Zhen? Then Yuan Zhen sold the house to the old man, or was Yuan Zhen the boss himself?" To confirm, I described Yuan Zhen's physical characteristics to the boss lady.
The boss's wife said that she used to see that boss often because he always drove a very eye-catching sports car when he went out, so it was definitely not the person I was talking about. Besides, there was a big difference in age between them. That boss was a middle-aged man.
After confirming that it was not Yuan Zhen, I became even more suspicious. The price of this house must be very high, which is why I have been speculating in real estate for so long and rarely involved in commercial buildings. One is the limited funds; the other is that it is difficult to sell. Because business people are more cautious when buying shops or stores than residential houses, and these people are more likely to believe in Feng Shui metaphysics, so this kind of business is generally difficult to do. This is probably what is called "money over life". However, although this house is not Yuan Zhen's, he must have passed through his hands. And obviously no one would buy such a house for no reason.
Thinking about it this way, I felt that it was too reckless to rush in just now, and it would have been easy for me to die in there.
When I came out of the restaurant, it was already dark. This street was quite busy. Although there were not many people walking, there were many vehicles passing by, which made people feel at ease. I saw that it was still early, so I walked back to the outside of the house and wanted to walk around again. Even though I couldn't see anything, I was still a little unwilling. After just a few steps, I felt something was wrong. Because when I passed by the window I just climbed in, I clearly saw a bright light inside the bath center. Although I couldn't see the light source directly, the light was very bright and it was very clear.
I was a little surprised, and looked at the watch, thinking that my previous analysis was a bit wrong. It wasn't late, less than 8 o'clock in the evening. Normally, homeless people shouldn't go to bed so early, right?
I thought of Qin Yiheng again. Could it really be him?
I called out "Qin Yiheng" but no one answered me. However, this was normal, and I didn't dare to shout too loudly. I leaned inside and looked, but I didn't see anyone. However, when I listened carefully, I could still vaguely hear footsteps.
I thought about it and just flipped in. If it can be illuminated, it must not be filthy, so it doesn't matter who it is.
After landing, I looked around and found that the light was coming from the bathroom. I tiptoed over. I walked like this completely out of human instinct. In this environment, I unconsciously became cautious. After passing through the locker room, there was a small door between me and the bathroom. I could clearly see the light inside moving around, as if someone was observing with a high-intensity flashlight.
Now that you're here, you can't hide anymore.
I didn't knock on the door, I just opened it. I just heard the details of the haunted house, and now I can't help but sweat. However, I am no longer the timid me at the beginning. I opened the door without closing my eyes, and I couldn't help laughing when I looked inside.
The figure inside was so familiar, wasn't that Qin Yiheng? I don't know where he got a huge, bright portable searchlight, with a battery hanging underneath, which could probably keep on shining for hours. Hearing the noise, he turned around and shone the light on me.
When he saw me, he was quite surprised and even exclaimed "Ah". We were so familiar with each other that we didn't need to explain to each other. We both knew why we were here.
I walked over and punched Qin Yiheng, cursed him, and asked him what he was doing here alone. He didn't explain to me, but just continued to wave the light around, and then asked me if there was any dirt on the wall. I understood what he meant, it should be the so-called black marks, so I told him what I heard from the boss lady.
After listening to me, Qin Yiheng told me that it was the same as what he had inquired about, but there was something strange about it, and then he pointed it out to me.
