The atmosphere seemed to get a little less tense. I remembered very clearly how He Xiaoru and I had escaped together. Why was she lost? Could it be that she was still in the ghost house? No, Wu Jian said they found the bodies of Chen Kai and the others, so he must have gone inside the ghost house. People died in there, they must have searched the place thoroughly. If Xiaoru was not in the ghost house, then where was she?

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After thinking for a long time, I wasn’t any closer than I was before. "You’ve searched the ghost house, right?" I asked.

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Wu Jian nodded, "Why do you ask? I doubt He Xiaoru is still in the ghost house. It's impossible. We've looked all over, though I'm going again this evening just to be sure.”

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I hesitated for a moment. What did he mean by going again this evening?

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Wu Jian stretched the muscles in his arms, "It is said that the ghost house is very different at night than in the daytime. Our people have never been there at night, so I plan to go there this evening."

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"You’ve never been there at night?"

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"We're human, too you know. It's a scary place."

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The police were just ordinary people and no one was unafraid of the ghost house, especially after such a strange murder.

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Before I could ask Wu Jian about the police’s arrangements for the evening, he quickly put out his cigarette and threw it under the bed.

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I looked on in bewilderment as the door of the ward opened and a nurse came in. She sniffed the air, frowned, and looked at me and Wu Jian with suspicion.

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Wu Jian looked back at the nurse curiously. "Hello. What's the matter?"

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The nurse took out a white envelope and handed to me. "Express delivery for you."

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I was stunned. I had gone to the ghost building and the burnt paper figures and golden paper ingots; why was I still receiving the letters?

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Seeing that I did not respond, Wu Jian took the envelope and looked at it.

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The nurse seemed to want to speak, but chose not to say anything at all. She went over to the window, opened it, and left.

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After looking at the envelope for a long time, Wu Jian asked, "Is this one of the letters with the three photos you talked about?"

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I looked at the doodle-like eye on the envelope and nodded feebly. Wu Jian seemed to want tear the envelope apart. After a moment's thought, he handed me the letter, "It’s best you do it yourself."

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I took the letter, tore it open, and three photos fell neatly on the dining table.

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Wu Jian leaned over," Can you really see something in these photographs?"

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I nodded and picked up the first picture.

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The first one: a 15-year-old girl sticking out her tongue and trying to reach the ice cream in her hands, smiling brightly.

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The second one: on the dark night, the little girl looking towards a flashing light in the distance with a frightened expression. There was some blood on her body.

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Third: the little girl standing in front of a mottled white wall, her face expressionless. The white wall was visible through the many holes in her body.

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Kitty? I suddenly thought of what Wu Jian had said about Kitty's death. I described the details of the pictures to Wu Jian.

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Wu Jian had reached the same conclusion. He whispered," Kitty?"

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I nodded. It seemed that Wu Jian and I were on the same page, but why did I get Kitty’s photo, rather than Chen Kai’s or Wu Di’s? Was it a clue, or was the photo just a random selection of one of the many deaths?

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The most important thing was that I had done everything according to the old woman's instructions. I had gone in at 12 o 'clock into the main hall of the ghost building and burned paper figures and golden paper ingots. Why hadn’t that worked?

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Wu Jian lit another cigarette and took a huge drag. "Wu Rui, you can’t hide anymore. If you’re the only one that can see the photos. That means only you can solve this mystery."

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I didn't want to hear Wu Jian say it, but I knew in my heart that he was right. If I hid away, those ghosts might trouble my mother or Xue’er.

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I quietly asked, "How many people will be there tonight?"

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"Me. And you, of course.” Wu Jian's words were very casual.

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"Just us two?!” I couldn't help crying out.

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"This is a personal decision, thogh you can rest assured that I will find a master to help us," Wu Jian said confidently.

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When I heard “master”, I felt a little relieved. Since ghosts really existed, there would certainly be masters; otherwise the world would have been overrun by ghosts by now.

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"What kind of master?" I asked.

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"A fortune teller. He was fighting someone over 5 Yuan and was detained by the police. I happened to meet him at the station."

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Well, that didn’t seem good enough. A man fighting over 5 Yuan - a master?

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Wu Jian gave me a look, "What's wrong? I'm a cop; why would I know any masters? Besides, he could tell at a glance that I've recently come in contact with ghosts. I don’t think he’s your average Joe."

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I couldn’t understand why Wu Jian trusted this guy. I didn’t believe anything this so-called master said; he sounded like a fraud.

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Wu Jian ignored me and stood up. "I have to go. If there is nothing wrong, we’ll go there together tonight. I will go to the police station to get the master. See you at the gate at 10 o 'clock in the evening." With that, he waved and left.

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Although I still lay in the hospital bed, I had no serious injury. It was ok for me to leave, but to go to the ghost house again?

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Then again, Xiaoru was missing because of me. I also wanted to understand why I still hadn’t escaped the curse of the three photos after burning all those things for the ghosts. The only thing that worried me was the master Wu Jian was going to bring along tonight.

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Should I try to contact a master myself? Although the city was small, I often heard bizarre witch stories from my mother. Mom had always been a little superstitious, probably the thanks to the elderly generation.

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After carefully thinking it over, I gave up. Only mom could contact a witch and if I asked her to, she would definitely ask why. What’s more, I looked like a mummy in all these bandages. If mom saw me like this, I would immediately lose my freedom.

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Perhaps the master Wu Jian mentioned really was skillful. I just had an uneasy feeling about getting him out of the station. I guess we’d see when the time came.

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I went through the discharge formalities quickly, carrying a large package of medicines. I didn't go home. Although my mother was not likely to go to my house at this hour, I didn't want to take the risk. As for going to the hotel, come on. Mr. Tang was more likely to call the police than to open a room for me.

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Although there was more than one hotel in the city, the problem was I didn't have any money. The hospital fee was paid by Wu Jian. Thinking about it, I turned back to the hospital.

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Sitting in a chair at the hospital, I was really depressed. In less than 10 minutes, I wouldn’t even have a hospital bed to sleep on.