Chapter 145: The Apartment Has Issues Too

After picking up the lawyer, who still hadn't been given a name, Ou Xiaolu brought Arrow and Emilia to the apartment promised to them.

This was an apartment situated on the edge of the Stony Brook campus. It was only possible here because the Stony Brook campus was not particularly famous; if this were located in Wudaokou, the center of the universe, a building like this would be enough to buy an entirely new valley.

However, things were different here. The entire apartment complex covered an area of about 600 square meters. Just as Lawrence had described, it stood five stories tall from the ground level. The first floor opened directly into a grand lobby of about 400 square meters. Flanked on either side of the lobby were six small rooms, which appeared to be designated living quarters for security guards and maintenance workers.

At the rear of the lobby were four elevators. Judging by their configuration, it was clearly a one-apartment-per-floor layout, flanked on both sides by emergency stairwells.

On either side of the apartment building were the entrance and exit of the underground parking garage, which had a total capacity of one hundred vehicles.

Taking the elevator up to the top floor, one would find a massive luxury apartment. This floor covered around 300 square meters, while the rest consisted of an expansive open-air terrace. Near the edge of the terrace stood a 100-square-meter swimming pool. It was easy to see that living here would be exceptionally comfortable.

"I love this place," Emilia said the moment she laid eyes on the enormous swimming pool. Without even removing her clothes, she dove straight in.

Ou Xiaolu was also quite fond of this design. What he loved most was the gigantic terrace. The flooring was entirely made of pine wood, coated with a glossy oil, allowing Ou Xiaolu to lie directly on the ground and sunbathe.

As for Arrow, it goes without saying that he had already run three laps around the top-floor apartment.

Once Ou Xiaolu finished inspecting everything, the lawyer brought over the contracts for him to sign. Naturally, due to the last-minute changes, the paperwork would still take another day to process, and a day or two of moving time needed to be granted to the original residents living here.

As for why such a short amount of time was needed, the truth was that out of this apartment building capable of accommodating twelve households, only a single family was currently living here.

Moreover, this family was already planning to move away.

Curious about this situation, Ou Xiaolu secretly observed the family after seeing the lawyer off.

These people appeared to be a completely ordinary family. The male host looked to be in his forties, the female host in her early thirties, and they had a young boy and girl, both under the age of five.

The older sister was a little girl with bright blonde hair who looked very cute, while the little boy, barely three years old, wore a pair of glasses and insisted on putting on the air of an adult, which struck Ou Xiaolu as somewhat bizarre.

Since Ou Xiaolu could be considered a newcomer moving in, the family, despite their imminent departure, still paid a formal visit as neighbors.

This interaction turned out to be quite successful, or at least Ou Xiaolu thought so. However, just as the family was leaving, the little boy suddenly blurted out, "You guys better be careful, you know. This place is haunted."

"Haunted?" Ou Xiaolu and Emilia exchanged glances. Could this be the real reason why the former Archbishop abandoned the property?

Ou Xiaolu thought about it for a moment and then dismissed the notion. Are you kidding me? To suggest that a former member of the clergy couldn't even handle a ghost would be a direct slap to the former Archbishop's face.

That was absolutely impossible. Therefore, there must be something different hidden within the little boy's words.

At this thought, both Ou Xiaolu and Emilia grew excited. Since the entire apartment building belonged to them anyway, they simply used the excuse of inspecting the building's environment to unlock every single room and search them one by one.

After touring every single room, Ou Xiaolu and Emilia found nothing at all. Their fruitless efforts prompted Arrow to burst into laughter from the side. "You guys really aren't cut out for this. Anyone can tell at a glance you found nothing."

"Well, do you have the ability to find something then?" Ou Xiaolu shot Arrow a sideways glance.

"Actually, I just might," Arrow said with certainty. "Didn't you guys notice me running around the top floor several times when I came in?"

"We saw you. Just tell us what's wrong."

"I found some wires running all around the edge of the top floor. At first, I thought they were just regular electrical cables or something, but once I realized they were all made of silver, I knew the situation wasn't quite right."

"Made of silver?" Ou Xiaolu and Emilia said in unison.

Ordinary people laying wires in their homes would never use silver. Those who had such a requirement were usually places that needed superconducting capabilities, and magic, as it happened, also required superconducting capabilities.

"What did you discover?" Ou Xiaolu asked with some curiosity.

"I found a trace of ghostly Yin energy. It looks like it was suppressed by someone."

"Yin energy? Doesn't that mean there are ghosts? What that little brat said just now..."

"Not ghosts," Arrow said, shaking his head. "Though more useful than ghosts. How should I put it? If the Yin energy were produced by ghosts, it would give off a feeling of being alive. But this kind of Yin energy is quite rigid, almost like something out of a video game—you know, like those NPCs that only ever have one or two lines of dialogue."

"Aren't ghosts like that too?" Ou Xiaolu remained somewhat puzzled.

"Of course ghosts aren't like that. Ghosts simply lack much of a soul. Let's put it this way: this Yin energy seems to be leaking out from some other space."

Hearing this, Ou Xiaolu's eyes lit up. "You mean there's a spatial rift filled with Yin energy hidden right beneath us?"

Hearing this, Arrow shook his head incessantly. "I can't explain it clearly to you. Whatever, I'll summon someone who can."

As he spoke, Arrow spat out the roadside ghost from his mouth.

The roadside ghost first acknowledged Ou Xiaolu and Emilia, then began: "I've heard of this place. It used to be a four-way intersection; the current intersection was moved here later. Back in the day, car accidents happened here constantly, and nobody could figure out why. So, they built this building right here and shifted the intersection over by a dozen meters or so. Once they moved it, the accidents dropped significantly.

"Nothing ever went wrong with this building, so it just stayed standing."

"Then didn't the former Archbishop know he owned a building like this?"

"Of course he knew. Actually, back when we served the Big Boss, we met that person. Most of that person's fixed assets were acquired this way—they were all plots of land nobody else wanted. Just like that valley before, where large vehicles couldn't get in and cattle couldn't be hauled out. Aside from someone with a huge heart, nobody would ever want to buy a place like that."

Ou Xiaolu's face twitched upon hearing this. He supposed he must have a pretty big heart himself, since all the places he wanted were ones other people didn't.

On second thought, though, this wasn't bad at all. Since others were giving it away for free, he would take it for free. There was absolutely nothing wrong with that.

With that thought, Ou Xiaolu cheered up and began pressing the roadside ghost for answers. "So, have you guys ever looked into what's actually going on with that intersection?"