Chapter 13: There Really Is a Ghost

Officer Li looked at Jing Xi’s small, expressionless face and couldn’t help but feel a bit sorry for her.

As a police officer, he wasn’t supposed to take sides in a conflict, but he still felt that this girl looked quite pitiful.

Besides, he was certain that the Zhang family’s money hadn’t been taken by her.

Seventeen years old, orphaned, with no parents, living in a small, shabby house—such a stark contrast to the Zhang family’s large estate.

“Well, I won’t disturb you any longer. If there are any developments, we may return to the village.”

Jing Xi nodded. “Alright, take care.”

After Officer Li left, Jing Xi shut the door, making sure to bolt it securely this time. Then, she returned to her bowl of porridge.

She reflected on everything that had happened today.

By the end of the day, not only would the Zhang family hold a grudge against her, but so would Wu Jun.

But that was exactly what she wanted. She didn’t want to be like a frog slowly boiled in warm water—she wanted a direct confrontation. She wanted to escalate the conflict.

And as for Wu Dazhuang, did he really think he could get a share of the money? Ha! What a joke. Not a chance.

Although she had explained the root of the conflict to the police, she hadn’t actually reported anything, and since the officers were only here to investigate the theft case, they wouldn’t interfere in her matters with the Zhang family.

She hadn’t expected them to, either.

Everything she had said today was just to disgust them on purpose.

After finishing the remaining porridge, a mischievous idea popped into her mind.

They say criminals often return to the scene of the crime. Well then, why shouldn’t she go back too?

Before heading out at midnight, Jing Xi checked the growth of the plants inside her spatial dimension.

The space had a constant, warm temperature, unaffected by night or day, and was always bathed in gentle light.

Because of this, the plants she had sown had already grown incredibly tall.

She was secretly shocked—how could they grow this fast? It had only been a short while since she planted them! At this rate, they could be harvested within a week.

She fetched a ladle of water from the spring and watered the plants. The moment the water touched the leaves, the plants seemed to tremble slightly as if they were enjoying it.

Jing Xi chuckled. She must be imagining things—since when could plants feel happiness?

She turned away and checked the pickle jar in the corner. Lifting the lid, the rich aroma of salted vegetables filled the air. She used a clean pair of chopsticks to pick up a small piece and put it into her mouth.

Instantly, the crisp texture and salty fragrance burst in her mouth.

Delicious! She wanted more!

Her eyes lit up. This was better than any pickled vegetables or eight-treasure dishes she had eaten in her past life.

It wasn’t overly salty but had a rich, crisp, and refreshing taste—perfect for cutting through grease.

Jing Xi was very satisfied. She had only added a ladle of spring water to this batch, yet the taste was already so exceptional.

Squatting by the jar, she kept eating, one bite after another, until she had unknowingly finished a small bowl of pickles.

She regretted not eating this with her porridge earlier!

Another thought struck her—since this recipe worked so well, she could turn all her remaining plants into pickled vegetables.

But she didn’t have enough jars at home. She needed to go out and buy a few.

After writing down a list of things she needed to purchase, Jing Xi took a short nap and woke up precisely at 1 a.m.

She changed into black clothes, put on a hat, and wrapped a plaid scarf tightly around her face. Then, she grabbed a thin iron poker used for stoking fires and carefully slipped out of the house.

The mountain village in winter was dark, cold, and windy. The dry trees and houses rustled in the chilly breeze, and she couldn’t even see her outstretched hand. A pitch-black, windy night—perfect for sneaky work.

Last time she visited the Zhang family’s house, she had noticed something important: the front door was locked from the inside, so it couldn’t be opened from the outside. However, there was a very narrow gap between the two doors. If she found something thin and angled, she could hook it open from the outside.

Thin iron wire was too flimsy and lacked support. A razor blade was too short and didn’t have the right angle. She had been searching for the perfect tool all day when she finally realized, while cooking, that the best option had been right by her side—her fire poker.

The front end of the poker was thin and angled, while the back end was thicker and sturdy—perfect for hooking the Zhang family’s door latch open.

Not to mention, she could also use it to destroy the newly sealed windows in their house again.

Before she knew it, she had arrived at the Zhang family’s front door.

She glanced around and listened carefully for any sounds inside the house. Everyone was asleep.

Perfect.

Holding the poker in her hand, she slowly inserted it through the door gap. Using the cover of the howling wind, she carefully pulled the latch to the left. A faint metallic click echoed in the darkness as the door unlocked.

Heaven was on her side.

She had worried that the Zhang family might have been extra cautious these past few days and added a padlock inside, but they had only secured it with the latch.

Gently, she pushed the door open and stepped lightly into the courtyard.

To her surprise, the door to the left storage room hadn’t been closed properly.

Jing Xi decided to go inside and take a look.

The moment she entered, she realized the storage room was huge. It was filled with baskets of produce, mostly the radish-like crops confiscated from the Long family last time. At the back of the room, there was even a basket of eggs—at least twenty or thirty of them.

She hadn’t eaten eggs in a long time.

Without hesitation, she stored the entire basket of eggs into her space and grabbed a few extra baskets of crops as well.

By the time she was done moving everything, she had worked up a sweat. It didn’t feel cold anymore—she was even a little hot.

This small storage room didn’t have much left.

She turned to leave and headed to another storage room.

This one was mostly filled with farming tools and equipment. Just as she was about to leave, she noticed four large white sacks tucked behind the door. They were sealed shut, but it was obvious they contained grain.

She grabbed a pair of scissors nearby and cut open one of the sacks.

Inside was rice.

She cut open the others—two sacks of rice and two sacks of flour!

Oh my God! This was amazing!

Jing Xi whispered excitedly to herself, her lips curling into a delighted grin.

“Don’t be greedy, don’t be greedy,” she muttered.

Then, in the next second, she stored all four sacks into her space.

Each sack must have weighed fifty or sixty pounds—it was a bit tiring to lift them on her own.

Just as she wiped the sweat off her forehead and looked up, she noticed something hanging from the ceiling beams—more than a dozen slabs of cured pork.

Seeing the pork, she suddenly remembered that the Zhang family’s backyard still had several pigs!

No wonder she always noticed a faint stench whenever she came over.

In her memory, it was always after the autumn harvest that their family would slaughter a pig.

She thought for a moment—she hadn’t eaten much meat lately. The last time she had meat was from the meal she brought back from the village office.

Feeling secretly delighted, she thought, Damn, I really scored big today.

Although she didn’t say anything, she couldn’t control the smile on her face. After storing the pork in her space, she laughed for quite a while inside.

Once she had fully composed herself and stepped out of the space, just as she was about to leave the storage room, her sharp ears caught movement coming from Zhang Jianjun’s bedroom.

She cracked open the storage room door slightly and saw Zhang Jianjun turning on the light, getting up to use the toilet.

He was wrapped in a padded jacket, wearing cotton slippers, and dressed in long underwear.

She followed him outside. When she reached the outhouse, she could hear the sounds of him relieving himself, accompanied by his groans and frustrated complaints.

“Damn it, why does my stomach hurt so much? Was there something wrong with dinner? I knew it smelled off! I told them not to eat it, but they still forced me to!”

As Zhang Jianjun grumbled while doing his business, Jing Xi was about to leave but accidentally tripped over a rock, kicking it against the wall with a loud thud.

Inside the outhouse, Zhang Jianjun’s heart skipped a beat. “Shit! Who’s there?”

Jing Xi froze, then suddenly felt mischievous.

She picked up the rock and tossed it into the outhouse.

To her surprise, it hit Zhang Jianjun’s head dead on.

A loud scream erupted from inside. Seizing the moment, Jing Xi instantly retreated into her space.

Moments later, Zhang Jianjun bolted out of the outhouse without even wiping himself properly. He held up his pants with one hand, exposing half of his backside, as he ran while shouting, “Who’s there? Who’s outside? Who the hell is messing with me?!”

“If you’ve got guts, come out and face me!”

“Ahhhhhh!”

He scanned his surroundings but saw nothing—only the dark sky and the empty courtyard.

At first, he thought it was a thief, but…

The courtyard was completely deserted.

Just as Zhang Jianjun turned to run back inside, Jing Xi pulled out a handful of ground rings from her space and threw them one by one from the corridor, all hitting Zhang Jianjun squarely on the head.

Although they didn’t hurt, the repeated impact made Zhang Jianjun shiver uncontrollably. His face shifted from red to pale in the dark as he yelled, “Mom! There’s a ghost!”

With that, he dashed inside with his bare butt hanging out. He slammed his bedroom door shut and locked it.

Jing Xi stepped out of her space and could still hear him muttering under his blanket, “There’s a ghost… there’s a ghost…”

This was too funny!

She stood outside Zhang Jianjun’s window and gently tapped on it with a fireplace poker, producing a rhythmic knock, knock sound.

The noise was quiet but eerily consistent.

Jing Xi was having a great time, but the person inside was on the verge of a breakdown.

Curled up under the blanket, Zhang Jianjun was trembling uncontrollably.

Just as his psychological defenses were about to shatter completely, Jing Xi stopped.

She shifted her position, hiding by the window. A few seconds later, she heard Zhang Jianjun cautiously getting up from the bed to peek outside through the curtains.

His face was full of fear.

Covering her mouth to stifle her laughter, Jing Xi could hear him holding his breath as he stared outside.

She couldn’t hold it in anymore.

A low, eerie laugh escaped her lips. Due to the cold wind, the sound carried a ghostly, chilling effect.

Hearing it, Zhang Jianjun immediately collapsed onto his heated brick bed, his last shred of sanity crumbling…

He yanked the curtains shut and fell to his knees on the bed, wailing, “Mom! Dad! There’s a ghost! A female ghost! Help! Save me!”

The Zhang couple, exhausted from a day of arguing, had finally fallen asleep when they were abruptly awakened by his terrified screams. They threw on their clothes and rushed over, only to find Zhang Jianjun’s bedroom door locked from the inside.

Inside, he was still screaming about ghosts.

His legs had gone completely weak, turning into jelly. It took him a long time to crawl off the bed and unlock the door.

The moment he saw his parents, tears streamed down his face as he cried out in panic, “There’s a ghost! A female ghost! I was scared to death!”

Wang Cuihua hurriedly helped him up from the floor. “What happened, son? Did you have a nightmare?”

Zhang Jianjun shook his head frantically and pointed toward the window.

“There was a ghost! I went to the toilet, and a rock hit me! When I came out, something else hit me, but there was no one there! I ran back to my room, and then—then something knocked on my window! And there was this creepy woman’s laughter! Mom, I’m telling you, it was real! There was a ghost! I was scared to death!”