Ding-dong.
“Welcome to Wanshi Li. How can I help you?”
The girl slouched lazily in front of a computer, chewing gum furiously while hammering away at the keyboard, reciting the greeting like a well-rehearsed slogan.
Her name is Chen Jiu. Abandoned by her birth parents in Fulili Village, she was taken in by an old Taoist priest. She had eight senior brothers and sisters, all orphans like her. Being the ninth, she was simply named Jiu.
A man stood in the doorway, dark circles under his eyes, looking utterly drained. He opened his mouth and asked tentatively, “This is a place that settles troubles, right?”
Finishing a heated online argument, Chen Jiu stood up, plastering a fake, overly sweet smile on her face. “At Wanshi Li, all grievances are laid to rest. We resolve all worldly troubles and sorrows.”
The man studied her. Long hair tied in a high ponytail, fair skin, big eyes, a straight nose young and delicate. But in a place that dealt with supernatural problems, youth and being a woman were not advantages.
Hoping against hope, he asked, “Isn’t the boss here?”
Chen Jiu pointed at herself. “I’m the boss.”
Disappointment washed over his face. “I’ll look elsewhere.” He turned to leave.
“Hey, hold on!” Chen Jiu’s expression sharpened, stopping him. Her voice quickened, certain and sharp. “Three deaths in your home this year—two fatal, one critically injured. Your wife has lost her mind. Am I right?”
The man froze. He spun around, eyes wide with shock.
Chen Jiu’s gaze was calm and knowing. “Your eyes are empty, your forehead dark. You cannot sleep at night, tormented by nightmares. If you don’t resolve this trouble soon, you won’t live much longer either.”
The man fell silent for a long moment. Then, as if suddenly realizing the truth, he knelt heavily on both knees and cried out, “Master! Please save me!”
The trouble began a few months ago. The man was Wang Jianhui, thirty-five, a freelancer. He once had a happy family: healthy parents, a loving wife, and a daughter in kindergarten. Five lives, full of joy.
That peace shattered on a rainy night. He had gone out drinking with friends and couldn’t drive his parents home himself, so he hailed a taxi for them. Just minutes after departure, they were in a fatal accident. His parents died instantly; the driver was left comatose.
Misfortune came in waves. Right after the funeral, his daughter inexplicably fell from a height, leaving her paralyzed from the waist down. His wife, unable to cope with the endless tragedies, went insane after caring for their daughter for three sleepless days.
Sometimes she would scream hysterically in the corner of a room. Sometimes she would bang her head against the wall. Sometimes she would hug her limbs and whimper, “It hurts… it hurts so much…”
After a month of this, Wang Jianhui was on the verge of collapse. He hired five caregivers, but all fled. The last elderly caregiver, who knew a thing or two about the supernatural, looked at him strangely and said, “Xiao Wang, your family is haunted. You need help.”
Wang Jianhui looked at Chen Jiu in terror, bloodshot eyes. “Master, I’m timid. I’d never hurt anyone! Please save me!”
Chen Jiu studied him for a moment, fingers tapping slightly. “That’s not it.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re lying.” Chen Jiu stared coldly. “You carry the karmic debt of at least five lives. Five lives lost, so five lives must pay. That is fair.”
Wang Jianhui erupted, spraying spittle. “Five lives?! That would make me a mass murderer! Do I look capable of that?!”
“Think again,” Chen Jiu said, unwavering.
Shadows flickered behind him, swirling dark and unclear. Chen Jiu could not make them out fully.
Wang Jianhui rubbed his face hard, trying to wake himself up, but his head throbbed painfully.
The shadows shifted again. Chen Jiu paused. “What you killed might not have been human.”
His expression turned even more anguished. “Master, if killing cockroaches or mosquitoes counts, then I’m guilty of countless deaths! What about chickens, ducks, pigs we slaughter during festivals? Where does that end?!”
“Whatever binds you to such heavy karma must have shared an emotional bond with you. Don’t pretend.”
Wang Jianhui closed his eyes in agony and waved his hand dismissively. “Enough of this nonsense. You’re unreliable anyway.” He stumbled to his feet, ignored the tea Chen Jiu had poured, and headed for the door.
Chen Jiu stood up too. “Think carefully. Once you step out this door, no one else in this city can help you. Your lifeline is already fraying. If you want to live, contact me before nightfall tomorrow.”
He froze.
Chen Jiu walked forward and handed him her business card.
“Thank you.” He took it mechanically, then stuffed it carelessly into his pocket and left, shaking his head.
Chen Jiu watched his retreating back and murmured coldly, “He killed without knowing it.”
The next day, a short video about parent-child relationships suddenly went viral online.
Wang Jianhui worked as a content creator. Since the tragedies struck, he’d neglected his work. His account, once thriving, was now dying from inactivity.
He stared blankly at the looping video. Suddenly, the pot on the stove boiled over.
His wife and daughter were staying permanently in the hospital. Alone at home, silence unnerved him. On the table sat a family photo—five smiling faces. He sipped plain porridge, tasteless.
He thought back to Chen Jiu’s words and laughed bitterly to himself.
Chickens and pigs don’t count as lives, right? If killing them created karma, wouldn’t everyone but vegetarians be damned?
As he muttered, the video skipped automatically. On screen appeared a rural farmhouse, filled with the weak whimpering of puppies.
Confused, he tried to swipe back, but the phone ignored his touch and kept returning to the puppy video.
Annoyance flared. Even his phone was against him. The world had turned cruel.
The whimpering was maddening. Enraged, he raised the phone to smash it.
Whatever binds you to such heavy karma must have shared an emotional bond with you.
The words echoed in his mind. Cold sweat drenched his back.
How could humans and animals share such bonds?
The whimpering cut off abruptly. The screen flickered and went black. Then came a heart-wrenching yelp, followed by the sickening thud of a stick hitting flesh.
Wang Jianhui trembled.
He remembered. The litter of black puppies. He stared at his porridge bowl. In an instant, the porridge bubbled with blood and rotting flesh, thick red liquid spilling onto his hand.
“No!” he screamed, stumbling backward. The bowl shattered on the floor.
He woke up with a start.
It was four in the morning. He was on the rocking chair, covered with a thin blanket, phone in hand. The viral parent-child video still looped, the battery at 14%.
The gentle voiceover played: “Pets are children’s emotional anchors. We should never sever that bond. Since Xiao Mi came into our lives, my daughter has been happier than ever.”
Drenched in cold sweat, he stumbled to the bathroom to wash his face. The lights were dim and flickering.
He looked up into the mirror and froze in horror.
His reflection’s skin began to crack, oozing blood and writhing dark things beneath.
“Get out! Leave me alone!” he roared, smashing everything within reach at the mirror. Shards sliced his arm. Overwhelmed by terror, he ran outside.
The sky was gray. Only street sweepers were out.
Chen Jiu was fast asleep when her phone vibrated. Her black cat, Xiaoxuan, woke first, stretched, and then jumped onto her owner’s stomach.
“Xiaoxuan! Are you trying to kill me?!” Chen Jiu sat up, grabbed the cat by the scruff, and tossed it back into its bed.
Undefeated, Xiaoxuan returned, tail held high, demanding more attention.
Sighing, Chen Jiu pushed its head away and answered the phone, voice groggy and annoyed. “Who is it so early?”
A terrified male voice, almost breaking, cried out, “Master! Please open the door!”
Chen Jiu sat up, recognizing the desperate man from the night before.
A breakfast cart owner passing by was startled by the sight. Wang Jianhui stood trembling at the door, head wrapped in a shirt, arm bleeding, a terrifying sight. Clutching his phone like a lifeline, his bloodshot eyes pleaded for salvation.