bayedsolid Chapter 141 The Ghost's Identity
Chapter 141 The Ghost's Identity
As soon as she asked this question, another person limped to the door. The person was missing a leg and was walking at the fastest speed with a crutch.
"Don't kill them. I'll tell you everything." The man also threw down his crutches and knelt beside the man in white robe.
Shen Wanning suddenly couldn't understand what combination of these three people were. Three disabled people, playing tricks here, didn't look like someone sent to harm her, and it didn't look like they were here to rebel for weapons and silver.
She let go of his hand, still sitting on the chair, and asked calmly, "Since you are willing to talk, then tell us everything."
The man with a lame leg said slowly, "My name is Zhang San, he (the man in white) is called Li Si, (the man in black) is called Wang Wu, and I originally had a brother named Liu Liu, but Liu Liu is dead, he is dead!" When he said the last sentence, the man covered his face with his hands and burst into tears.
"Okay, let's get to the point!" Shen Wanning waved her hand impatiently.
Wang Wu took over, "The four of us were soldiers of General Dai Yongcheng of Huaihua. Two years ago, we fought against Daliang and were injured in the battle. After we retired and returned home, we found that our relatives had already starved to death, and our pensions had been embezzled by them, and none of them were distributed to us. Later, we gathered together and wanted to file a complaint with the authorities, but the officials protected each other. Not only did they not seek redress for us, but they beat Liu Liu to death instead."
At this point, Wang Wu also began to sob. Liu Liu was beaten to death because he was protecting them. The boards that should have fallen on them were blocked by Liu Liu.
After hearing this, Shen Wanning couldn't help but feel sympathy for them. They had originally wanted to serve their country, but they didn't expect to be stabbed by corrupt officials, leading to the tragic deaths of their loved ones. How sad and lamentable!
"Do you have household registration documents? Otherwise, how can I believe that what you say is true?" Shen Wanning asked another question with caution.
Li Si nodded. "They're all here. Our household registration documents are all in the basement. We're worried about becoming refugees, so we've been carrying our household registration documents with us since we retired."
Shen Wanning nodded and continued to ask, "Then you haven't told me why you are playing tricks in this house."
Just as she finished asking, Li Si burst into tears again. "I only found out after I returned home that my sister was sold by my stepmother to the owner of this house. I found my sister in that basement, naked and covered in wounds. These beasts actually... actually..."
Li Si pounded the ground hard, but he couldn't say the rest of the words.
Zhang San had recovered and sobbed, "To avenge his sister, the three of us hid in this yard, pretending to be ghosts to scare them. The original owner of this yard was scared to death by us."
Later, we settled down here. Whenever someone wanted to buy the house, we would pretend to be ghosts to scare them away. Over time, this place became a famous haunted house, and no one dared to buy it anymore. I never thought you would buy it.”
Shen Wanning suddenly realized that it was no wonder that she had bought the house at such a low price. It seemed that she had found a bargain.
But that black-hearted broker didn't even tell her about this!
"So, you pretended to be a ghost just to scare us away, not to harm us?"
The three of them lowered their heads at the same time, their expressions filled with guilt. "We're sorry, we know this was our fault. We've gotten used to living here, and we had no choice but to scare you."
"During the time you've lived here, have you ever harmed anyone? Injured anyone, or killed anyone?" Shen Wanning asked again.
The three of them shook their heads quickly. "Apart from scaring the first owner to death to avenge Li Si's sister, we have never scared anyone to death, let alone hurt anyone."
"Let me put it this way. I can't believe all of your stories. Find someone to get your household registration documents for me to see. If they are true, I will give you a chance. If they are fake, I will report you to the police and have the three of you sent to the county government office." Shen Wanning threatened.
Although she said so, she actually believed these people in her heart. Her crying and tears just now didn't seem fake. And when Li Si mentioned his sister, the anger on his face didn't seem fake either.
Li Si quickly responded, "I'll go get it. I'm fast and will be back in a moment."
Shen Wanning nodded and waved her hand to signal him to get the household registration documents.
After waiting for about five or six minutes, Li Si came over with four yellowed household registration documents. Shen Wanning looked at them carefully, examining each one thoroughly. These were genuine household registration documents.
This showed that what they said was most likely true. This made her sympathize with these people's plight. She was thinking about what they should do. If she kicked the three of them out like this, she couldn't bear it, but if they stayed here...
She was still considering it, and Wang Wu saw that she was frowning, thinking she didn't believe them. He hurriedly explained, "What we said is true, and the household registration documents are also authentic. If you don't believe me, you can take them to the county government office to verify their authenticity."
Shen Wanning turned to look at him and said with pity, "I believe you. I'm just thinking about how to deal with you."
When the three heard his words, they were horrified and began to kowtow to her again, "Miss, it was wrong of us to scare you. Please let us go."
Wang Wu said, "We have survived until today, not because we cherish our lives. We are worthless and will die if we die. But we cannot see the corrupt official fall from power and receive retribution. We will never be able to let go of this, even in death we will not be able to rest in peace."
"How can you take revenge like this? How can you wash away your grievances?" Shen Wanning asked indifferently.
They were silent for a moment, and Li Si smiled wryly, "We're waiting, waiting for an opportunity. Lord Bao Huaimin, the prefect of Shuntian Prefecture, is honest and upright, unafraid of power, and his students are spread all over the world. We gather information outside every day, hoping that one day we'll meet one of Lord Bao's students and redress our grievances. Fortunately, we still have three of us, so we still have three chances."
Shen Wanning heard a hint of bitterness and determination in the last sentence. If they could successfully redress their wrongs, even if their grievances were fully redressed, their deceased loved ones would never return. If not, then three would become two, two would become one, and finally, zero.
Shen Wanning was silent for a moment, then sighed, "Get up. If you're willing to stay and look after the house for me, I'll clean up three side rooms for you, so you don't have to live in the basement anymore. The wages are one hundred coins a day, and you only need to clean the yard, water the flowers and plants, and guard the gate. You don't have to tidy up the rooms."
The three men were stunned, unable to believe what they heard. Zhang San pointed to his leg and said, "Even with my lame leg, are you willing to let me stay here and work?"
Shen Wanning nodded, "Of course! Anyway, my house is in need of someone to take care of it. But I have a request that you must agree to, otherwise I won't let you stay."