CHAPTER 309: CHAPTER 309 CRYING CLINGING TO THE EAR_1

"No way!" Su Xuan said, spreading his hands.

"How could that not be?" Long Xiwén gestured in the air. "They both came looking for trouble with you. As the victim, you should want both of them dead, especially the Bai Family! This whole situation looks a lot like ’when the snipe and the clam grapple, it’s the fisherman who profits’."

"Don’t try to play games with me!" Su Xuan curled his lip. "Honestly, my life was rather dull and boring before. Since these two groups showed up, things have become interesting. I was hoping they’d stick around to play for a while longer. I definitely didn’t want to see it end so tragically."

"Uh..." Long Xiwén’s jaw dropped slightly. She had thought Su Xuan would play the saint and paint himself as completely innocent, but she never expected him to say something like this.

"Officer!" Su Xuan suddenly said with a grin. "You’re not thinking of arresting me, are you?"

"I won’t arrest you for now," Long Xiwén replied, shaking her head. "If we’re going to arrest anyone, it’ll be after we catch the murderer and get to the bottom of this. Just don’t travel too far for the time being."

"Alright then!" Su Xuan walked straight toward the dining room, calling over his shoulder to Long Xiwén, "Want some breakfast?"

"Already had it!" Long Xiwén pursed her lips and shot his retreating back a curious glare before heading for the door. She had barely taken a few steps when she heard his voice again.

"Oh, by the way!"

"You look very pretty today!"

Long Xiwén blushed at the compliment, bit her lip, and then left Su Xuan’s home.

After breakfast, Su Xuan went back to driving his DiDi. But before starting the car, he rubbed his face and murmured, "If anyone else causes trouble for me in the future, I really shouldn’t indulge them, lest they play around and get themselves killed..."

A new DiDi order came in. Two young girls got into his car. As soon as they were in, they started chattering away.

"Did you see the news this morning? Someone broke into a villa and killed several people!"

"Yeah, I saw it! The killer used a screwdriver! I’ve never heard of anyone using *that* to kill someone before!"

"That’s not even the scariest part. The scary part is that after the murders, the killer actually sat down at the dining table and ate their dinner!"

"Right, right, that’s so creepy! How could he eat with all those bodies on the floor?"

"I definitely couldn’t eat!"

"Me neither."

Listening to their conversation, Su Xuan let out a soft sigh. Then, the two girls moved on to another topic.

"Do you think their bodies will be sent to a funeral home?"

"Probably not right away. They’ll likely be kept in cold storage until the case is solved, then sent to a funeral home."

"If they are sent, do you think they’ll go to the Xithe Funeral Home?"

"The haunted one?"

"Yeah, that one!"

"They were all brutally murdered. If they’re sent there, won’t they become vengeful ghosts?"

"That’s what I was thinking..."

After dropping the two girls off at their destination, Su Xuan didn’t take any more orders. Instead, he directly called Zhang Shan, the general manager of Xithe.

Xithe was his company, so he felt it necessary to ask about the haunting rumors. Ever since he had become the owner of Xithe, Zhang Shan had never called him, which seemed a bit odd. It wasn’t that he expected an invitation to tour the funeral home—nobody wants to visit a place like that. But as a matter of professional courtesy, shouldn’t Zhang Shan have made the first call?

The phone rang for a long time before someone answered.

"Zhang Shan, this is Su Xuan," Su Xuan said, introducing himself.

"Boss, I know it’s you," a slightly husky voice said over the phone. "I was just thinking about paying you a visit to report on Xithe’s situation, but recently... we’ve run into some trouble and had to suspend operations. I was too embarrassed to call..."

"Let’s talk in person."

Su Xuan and Zhang Shan arranged to meet at a teahouse.

"Hello, Boss!" Upon seeing Su Xuan in the private room, Zhang Shan quickly reached out with both hands to shake Su Xuan’s. He was very thin and had a poor complexion, looking as though he suffered from chronic sleep deprivation.

After they sat down, Su Xuan got straight to the point. "I heard Xithe is haunted. Is there any truth to that?"

Zhang Shan’s hand, which was pouring tea for Su Xuan, trembled. "Boss, who have you been listening to? That’s just baseless nonsense."

"I overheard some passengers while I was driving my DiDi," Su Xuan said, picking up his teacup for a small sip.

Huh? Driving a DiDi? A look of surprise flashed in Zhang Shan’s eyes. The man who could acquire all of Xithe is driving a DiDi for fun? What a way to experience life.

"Boss, why did you acquire Xithe?" Zhang Shan couldn’t help but ask, avoiding the main topic.

"I just sort of acquired it by accident," Su Xuan shrugged. "I was a bit surprised myself."

Zhang Shan, who had just taken a sip of tea, choked and started coughing violently.

That was the most pretentious thing he had heard in a long time. A funeral home chain worth tens of billions, with hundreds of branches across all of China, and you "accidentally" acquired it? And you’re a bit surprised yourself? Don’t tell me you were drunk and just bought it on a whim! I don’t buy it! I don’t buy it one bit!

Zhang Shan then sighed and said, "As for whether it’s haunted, that’s still under investigation. It could just be someone playing a prank!"

Seeing Zhang Shan was still being evasive, Su Xuan said, "You can speak freely. I won’t blame you."

"Okay then!" Hearing this, Zhang Shan finally relaxed. "The situation is truly bizarre. It was like one day, horrible things just started happening at the funeral home..."

The private room in the teahouse was silent as Zhang Shan began to recount his story, his expression heavy.

"First, there was crying at night. The staff and security guards on duty heard someone crying inside the funeral home. It started in the warehouse on the west side, but when they went to check, the crying moved to the preparation room on the east side.

"Boss, you know what the preparation room is for, right? It’s where we prepare the deceased. For an ordinary death, it’s straightforward—a bit of makeup to liven up their complexion. But for those who died in car accidents, it gets complicated. We have to do some serious cosmetic work, stitching them up..."

Seeing Su Xuan wasn’t interested, Zhang Shan returned to the main topic. "That crying was terrifying. Only people could hear it; the surveillance equipment couldn’t pick it up. That very night, the employees and security guards all fell ill. They’re still in the hospital now!

"Boss, take a look at this."

As if words weren’t convincing enough, Zhang Shan took out his phone and played a surveillance video. In a narrow corridor, several men were running back and forth with clubs in their hands, their faces etched with fear.

"Are they looking for the source of the crying?" Su Xuan asked.

"Yes," Zhang Shan nodded.

The video continued to play. Suddenly, one of the security guards stopped in place and began jumping around bizarrely, swinging his club at the empty air around him as if fighting an invisible enemy.

Su Xuan asked, "What’s wrong with him?"

Zhang Shan lowered his voice, speaking in a chilling tone, "He said he heard someone crying right next to him."

"Right in his ear..."