49: Chapter 49 Terrified?

Zhao Jian left the pet store carrying a nearly two-meter-long King Ratsnake.

The Middle-aged Man and the clerk were still pleading with each other.

He took a taxi back to the residential area.

He didn't expose the snake; the acrylic box was covered with a cardboard box.

If anyone asked, he would say he was moving and it was filled with clothes.

The security guards only checked suspicious items leaving, not entering.

They didn't pay any attention.

He returned home smoothly.

Checking the surveillance, he found that Huang Xiaoshuan had come by once more.

But he couldn't see the specific details.

Because the surveillance had been inexplicably interfered with.

The other party had tools to detect cameras.

They were quite well-prepared.

He drew the curtains to prevent drones from peeping in.

Zhao Jian set up a dummy at the entrance.

It could be seen as soon as the door opened.

He waited quietly for night to fall.

To prevent being too sleepy to wake up at night, he took a nap in advance.

At eleven o'clock at night, the rested Zhao Jian was in high spirits.

He hid in the wardrobe and waited.

Before long, the lights that were on went out.

He didn't move.

Until another ten minutes or so had passed.

The sound of a lock turning came from the door.

Judging by the sound, the door didn't fully open, only a small crack appeared.

Then Zhao Jian heard the sound of a motor.

It was that toy snake.

It seemed this thing could not only carry items but also had a camera.

One could check the interior through the surveillance.

Until it was confirmed there was no movement.

Only then did the door open.

"Oh, holy crap! I've got the wrong place, big brother, it's a misunderstanding, big brother!" A startled cry rang out, accompanied by the sound of running footsteps fading into the distance.

Huang Xiaoshuan didn't see the doll clearly and only thought someone was lying in ambush. This made Zhao Jian feel like a lot of the fun was gone.

However, he immediately threw the toy snake into a bucket and then placed the King Ratsnake he bought during the day at the door.

He also tossed a mouse for it to enjoy.

Zhao Jian guessed that Huang Xiaoshuan would come back.

As long as he used his brain, he would know it was normal for the toy snake's low line of sight to not see the whole body, but not even seeing feet indicated it wasn't a person.

He had frequently played ghost to scare others, so he wasn't someone who believed in spirits and gods.

He would definitely be able to guess it was a dummy.

As expected!

Huang Xiaoshuan secretly returned to the front of Room 602.

He looked inside cautiously through the open door.

The dummy was a half-body one, placed on a chair; otherwise, it wouldn't be tall enough.

The toy snake only saw the chair, as the view above was blocked.

This had caused Huang Xiaoshuan to almost have a heart attack when he opened the door.

He didn't come back out of curiosity.

The toy snake cost two thousand to buy, and the signal was cut, making it impossible to remote control.

He wanted to take the snake back.

He saw the snake as soon as he opened the door.

Although the snake on the ground seemed quite a bit larger.

But it was dark and he was frightened.

He no longer had the heart to distinguish the difference.

He picked up the snake and left in a hurry.

He didn't dare take the elevator.

He could only return via the fire exit.

But while going down the stairs, the King Ratsnake, pained by the stranger's grip, bit Huang Xiaoshuan on the hand.

"Ah!"

In his fright, he threw the snake away, and he lost his footing, tumbling down the stairs.

His head hit the steps, and in a state of shock and terror, Huang Xiaoshuan passed out.

Zhao Jian didn't know the situation outside.

He just listened to the scream and silently tidied up the arrangements in his home.

He went to sleep.

He woke up from a wet dream in the morning.

While savoring the feeling, the intelligence light screen unfolded.

[Today's Intelligence (White): Qiu Qingquan hid five thousand yuan intended for a foot massage in an old leather shoe, which his wife threw into the trash can while clearing out garbage.]

[Location: Trash station of Building B, Dongfeng Residential Area]

Five thousand yuan for a foot massage?

What kind of girl costs that much!

A pure college girl?

With the mindset that even a mosquito's leg is meat, Zhao Jian put on a set of old clothes.

Being too flashy while rummaging through a trash can would easily attract attention.

But wearing old clothes and using a plastic bag to hold a few empty bottles...

...made it very reasonable.

When he went out, Zhao Jian saw a snake with black patterns lying at the door.

Seeing him come out, it flicked its tongue and looked up at him.

It was that King Ratsnake bought to scare Huang Xiaoshuan.

"Come on in."

The snake couldn't understand.

But it still felt the warmth in the room and crawled in of its own accord.

Zhao Jian drove it into the box.

"Stay in there; I'll feed you when I get back."

Walking downstairs, several elderly ladies were whispering together.

"He's been scared mad; I think it's for real."

"Before him, the person upstairs often said it was haunted. That Young man moved away recently."

"First the sixth floor, then the fifth floor. Next, I'm afraid it'll be the fourth floor."

"How about we hire a master? Even young people with strong Yang energy can't withstand it. At our age, wouldn't we be taken away directly by a ghost?"

Zhao Jian heard them clearly.

But he didn't understand.

What had happened that made the residential area's intelligence department so worried?

He inquired, "Auntie, what happened?"

The auntie who had just suggested finding a master to exorcise spirits said in a low voice, "Don't you know? Our building is haunted. That tenant on the fifth floor was scared mad. Just now, he was telling everyone he saw that a snake demon came to get him."

"The property management tied him up and sent him to the hospital. He's not back yet."

Mad?

Zhao Jian shook his head.

Thinking to himself: He played ghost to scare others, but ended up scaring himself mad?

"Young man, which floor do you live on? You look a bit unfamiliar."

"Sixth floor, 602."

After saying that, he ignored the dazed auntie and turned to walk out of the residential area.

Dongfeng Residential Area was an old residential area.

It had existed long before the development of Xiong City.

At least forty-some years.

It was located at the corner between the west and north parts of the city.

Zhao Jian took a taxi and arrived at his destination quickly.

It was almost all dilapidated four-story small Western-style buildings.

A style that was quite popular back then.

After years of exposure to the elements and a lack of maintenance, it now appeared lonely and old.

It certainly wasn't as glamorous as it was back then.

There was bedding in the security booth at the entrance of the residential area.

But the security guard was not there.

People came and went freely.

The entire residential area had 11 buildings, divided into two areas, A and B.

Each had a trash station.

That was the trash can he was looking for.

Area A had more buildings and was closer to the entrance of the residential area.

Area B had only 1 building.

It was in a remote location.

Zhao Jian didn't ask anyone. His current outfit was that of someone rummaging through trash cans for bottles.

Competing for business with the local old ladies.

Asking too much would make it easy for them to find an excuse to drive him out.

Looking along the road, he finally saw a trash can with a large letter B written on it.

This was it.

Compared to the already overflowing trash cans in Area A...

...this place was very clean.

But the stench was even stronger.

Places with a lot of trash were cleared every day, and food was moved for processing before it decayed.

The trash cans in Area B were likely only cleared once every two days or even once a week.

The smell of rotting food was unpleasant.

Fortunately, his target wasn't hard to find. Lifting the lid, he saw a pile of old clothes.

Wearing gloves, he started rummaging through them directly.

It was too smelly.

So much so that Zhao Jian could only take a breath away from the trash can and then hold his breath while rummaging.

The search was very slow.

A young woman passed by with a child, and seeing his actions, she couldn't help but say:

"Hey, are you looking for bottles? There aren't any in there. If you want some, I have some at home and can give them to you."

Zhao Jian looked at the young woman; she wasn't particularly beautiful, but her features were decent.

The child, on the other hand, looked very cute.

He thought to himself: I've met a good person.

It's just that his purpose was to find the prostitution money, not bottles.

He politely declined, "Thank you, beautiful, no need. I'm practicing the art of breath-holding!"