Chapter 49 - 45: Courtyard House

Zhao Lin drove off the hooligans and brushed the powder from his clothes, but the strange smell lingered.

"This must be a powder ground from some kind of Musk."

Liang Song walked over and said, "I’ve heard of a type of spice that, once it gets on you, won’t wash off for months. They use exotic beasts with a keen sense of smell to track it. You could flee to the ends of the earth, and they’d still find you."

Zhao Lin grew thoughtful and murmured, "No wonder the bandits could find the body even when it was hidden so well. They must have used a method like this."

"That’s what I was thinking," Liang Song agreed, then suddenly added, "You... you were incredibly fast back there!"

Zhao Lin knew he couldn’t hide it, so he explained as best he could, "I’m strong, so naturally, I’m fast."

"That makes sense..."

The two continued walking and talking, arriving at a broker’s office shortly after.

The broker’s office was a small storefront, its walls plastered haphazardly with notices for house rentals and sales.

"You two gentlemen, looking to rent or buy?"

As the two were looking at the notices outside, a woman in her fifties poked her head out of the doorway and asked.

Zhao Lin said, "We’re renting."

The broker lifted her skirt as she stepped out of the office, saying warmly, "What kind of house are you looking for? I have expensive ones, and I have cheap ones."

"A safe one," Zhao Lin and Liang Song said in unison.

The broker sized them up carefully, then covered her mouth with her hand and chuckled. "Are you two on the wrong side of the law, or the right side?"

Liang Song frowned. "What difference does it make?"

"Of course it makes a difference!"

The broker explained earnestly, "If you’re on the wrong side of the law, then naturally, the farther from the authorities, the better. I’d find you a place in a crowded, bustling area. I guarantee you’d be hidden in plain sight."

Then, her tone shifted. "But if you’re on the right side of the law, then the closer to the government offices, the better. It’s best to have constables on patrol during the day and watchmen at night."

Liang Song said, "We’re on the right side of the law."

The broker laughed. "Then it has to be Shuncheng Street! The County Captain and the Garrison Commander both live on that street. It’s guarded day and night. Not even the most daring thieves and crooks would go there."

"It’s just that the price..."

Zhao Lin and Liang Song exchanged a glance and both said, "Let’s take a look first."

The broker went back inside, retrieved a ring of keys from a drawer, and led the two to Shuncheng Street.

Shuncheng Street was in the western part of the city. Its bluestone-paved surface was neat and clean, and the pedestrians were mostly well-dressed. People on horseback and in sedan chairs passed by from time to time; it was clearly a wealthy neighborhood.

As they walked, Zhao Lin noticed that the houses here were surprisingly all made of brick and stone, with barely any wood in sight. He asked the broker what the story was.

The broker pointed to the soot stains on the wall of a mansion. "Many of the residences here used to be made of wood, too. Ten years ago, a great fire burned down more than half the street. Only a few stone and brick houses were spared."

"There are a lot of wealthy people here, so when they rebuilt, they all used stone. As it happened, the county government was rebuilding the public granary at the time. They’d hauled a lot of large stones from the mountains and had leftovers, so everyone used them to build their houses."

Zhao Lin and Liang Song felt a stone house would offer peace of mind and nodded in agreement.

What satisfied them even more were the government officials patrolling the street and the strong, burly guards standing watch in front of many of the mansions.

"This is the Garrison Commander’s residence. What do you think?"

Passing an impressive mansion, the broker said in a boastful tone. Then she pointed diagonally across the street. "And over there is County Captain Li’s residence. Not bad, either."

Zhao Lin gave them a look. The courtyard walls were high, the gatehouse was grand, and the gabled end walls were studded with sharp spikes. He nodded inwardly.

The County Captain was in charge of public order, and the Garrison Commander was in charge of the city’s defense. Living on the same street as men like them, no matter how audacious the bandits were, they wouldn’t dare break down a door and attempt an assassination in broad daylight.

Just then, Liang Song leaned close to Zhao Lin’s ear and whispered, "Someone’s following us."

Zhao Lin met his gaze, signaling that he had seen them too.

"I’ll go run them off!"

"Forget it. They’re just following orders. We can’t keep the fact that we’re looking for a house a secret anyway."

The bandits had innumerable connections with the local gangs. As long as one was willing to pay, there were plenty of people who would do this kind of work.

The broker led the two to a small residence on the south end of the street, took out a key, unlocked the gate, and pushed it open, walking inside.

"This is the place."

Zhao Lin and Liang Song were taken aback. The residence seemed completely out of place on the street.

The main gate was dilapidated. Inside, the courtyard was bare. In its center was a well, sealed shut with a large stone slab.

The outbuilding, main hall, and side wings encircled the courtyard. A Tiger Head Talisman for suppressing ghosts was pasted on the door of the main hall...

The house came fully furnished, but everything was covered in a thick layer of dust. The webs on the rafters were so thick you could have used them for fishing nets.

"This house has been empty for a long time, hasn’t it?"

Zhao Lin was suspicious. ’This is a good location; it should be easy to rent out. But this place looks like it’s been empty for years.’

"It’s been a while, yes, but it’ll be perfectly fine after a good cleaning," the broker said evasively.

Zhao Lin sensed she wasn’t telling the truth. His expression hardened. "Tell us the truth. I can find out just by asking around on the street."

Liang Song also demanded, "And what’s with the Ghost-Suppressing Talisman on the main gate?"

The broker gave a dry laugh. "You gentlemen have sharp eyes. There was... an incident in this house."

"How many people died?" Zhao Lin asked bluntly.

"A grain merchant used to live here. He found out his wife was having an affair, and in a rage, he tied up the cheating couple, threw them in the well, and then, unable to move past it, hanged himself from the rafters."

"The grain merchant had no children, so the house went to a distant cousin of his. The cousin does business down at the docks and entrusted me with selling it."

After she finished, the broker said brazenly, "Matters of ghosts and spirits are all smoke and mirrors. You two don’t mind that sort of thing, do you?"

Zhao Lin said, "I won’t mind if the price is right."

Seeing an opportunity, the broker quickly said, "It’s half the market price! Three hundred wen a month for a short-term lease, or two hundred fifty for a long-term one. What do you say?"

Instead of answering, Zhao Lin asked, "And what if we wanted to buy it?"

’In this era, houses were nowhere near as expensive as in his past life. A common residence cost about the same as an acre of good farmland—you could get one for just seven or eight taels of silver.’

’A single-courtyard house in a prime location like this would be thirty or forty taels at most.’ That was why Zhao Lin had asked.

The broker was both surprised and delighted. "You want to buy? That’s even better!"

"The owner listed it for twenty taels of silver. It hasn’t sold in years. I’ll take the liberty... give me eighteen taels, and it’s yours."

Liang Song was stunned. He pulled Zhao Lin aside. "Why would you buy a haunted house?"

Zhao Lin said calmly, "I want to make some modifications, and you can’t do that with a rental. How much money do you have on you?"

Liang Song patted himself down through his clothes. "A little over five taels. What about you?"

Zhao Lin held out his empty hands. "I gave all my money to my family. I’ve only got the two taels of silver we just acquired."

Liang Song said with a worried look, "That’s not nearly enough."

Zhao Lin glanced outside and sneered. "It’s fine. We can ’borrow’ it from those local thugs. They seem to enjoy following us around, don’t they? And if that doesn’t work, we can just rob the bandits."

Liang Song’s eyes lit up. "Great idea!"

"We’d like to buy this house, but you’ll have to go a little lower on the price."

With a plan in place, Zhao Lin and Liang Song began to haggle with the broker. They finally settled on a price of sixteen taels of silver and four hundred wen.

The broker was well-prepared. She took out a brush, ink, an ink pad, and the property deed she carried with her. Both parties signed and made their thumbprints...

"I’ll take these two taels of silver as a deposit. Pay the balance within seven days, and the residence is yours."

The broker handed the keys to Zhao Lin, beaming with delight.

Zhao Lin pocketed the deed and surveyed the gloomy, eerie house before him. ’I never thought the first piece of property I’d ever own would be something like this.’