In fact, we know that when there is stagnant water in a dark environment, whether it is clean or dirty, there will always be some bacteria growing due to the dampness. And these bacteria may eventually turn into slippery, moss-like substances that are not plants. They will fall in value with each other, resulting in a huge area. I don't really understand how this phenomenon works, but I know that if I walk in a waterlogged area, especially if there is standing water for a long time, then I must be careful, otherwise I will slip.

And there is no other reason for saying this, because of Mr. Yang's answer in front of me, which made me quickly connect these two completely unrelated things. This is because ghosts are yin, and yin energy is easily gathered in a humid environment. In this way, these dark and damp places become the best hiding places for ghosts to hide. This would also explain why one of the staff members turned their heads to see which old woman that night, but disappeared in an instant. At the same time, it can also explain why when Hu Zongren and I were inspecting this area just now, the reaction here was stronger than that in other places.

So I crouched down, stretched out my fingers and dug a little more, then leaned over to my nose and sniffed it. It's hard for me to describe the smell, it's fishy, a bit like the smell of water in a fish tank, but at the same time it has a stench that comes from water depositing for too long. The stuff on my finger was already muddy, presumably from the residue of all the sewage in the area. I wiped the dirt from my fingers on the floor, and then brought the compass to the top, and sure enough, my suspicion was that the black mud here was significantly more responsive than the surroundings, and if it wasn't the entrance of the ghost entrance, it must be the place where they were hiding. Although I haven't detected any indication that the ghosts are in this room at the moment, I know that they must be around, and they know we're coming.

I whispered the results to Hu Zongren, and now the environment is relatively sealed, so if there are ghosts coming in or out, at least my compass will pass on the message to me. Although I felt that they were watching us from a place where we couldn't see at the moment, they deliberately didn't let me notice its specific location, so Hu Zongren said to me, then let's do the plan, according to the set we did in the office before, you knot the rope array, I paste the talisman. I nodded, it seemed that this method was the most reliable at the moment, and if the ghosts were here as I expected, they would at least be able to trap them for a while and not run around. When Hu Zongren and I get away, we know where it is going to hide. Also, even if I guessed wrong and the ghosts weren't in this environment at the moment, we would at least be able to prevent them from coming back here, which would also narrow down the scope of our investigation.

So I said to Mr. Yang, I'm afraid you won't open this area tonight, we have to do something tricky, if someone from outside comes, it will be easy for people to spread it. Mr. Yang didn't seem to be able to make this decision yet, so he planned to call and ask his boss, and judging from his tone on the phone, it seemed that the boss had lost his temper with him, but finally agreed. During this period, Mr. Yang has been speaking in that flattering tone, and the whole time is in Mandarin. When he hung up the phone, Hu Zongren suddenly asked him with a smile, why can't your boss speak Sichuan after coming to Chongqing for so long? Teacher Yang was stunned and said, our boss didn't come here, but he was stationed here, although he was in Chongqing, he didn't often come to the supermarket. Hu Zongren said with a sigh that Fujian people don't seem to be very accustomed to life here.

When Hu Zongren said this, it suddenly seemed as if he had reminded me, but I was not sure. So I asked Hu Zongren, what did you just say? Hu Zongren replied stupidly, I said, why can't his boss speak Sichuan? I said not this sentence, the next sentence. Hu Zongren also said, I said that Fujian people are not used to being here.

I snapped my fingers, and I said that I had finally guessed why every clue we knew so far was more or less directly connected to the storeroom on the basement floor below. Everyone looked at me in wonder, so I made a basin gesture with both hands, and told them that the reason was because of the brazier in the stairwell!

On the way to the office upstairs, I smelled the smell of something burned out, and then the Gu Nian in the office mentioned that they had witnessed several ghosts around the brazier on the way back to the office to buy food, and I had already guessed that the brazier would have a very close relationship with the appearance of these ghosts, and Hu Zongren and I also discussed this matter while waiting for these people to work. Because in the eyes of many ordinary people, braziers are nothing more than several uses, either used to make a fire and roast fire, or used to burn money paper and incense candles. Both of these things are very normal, but although the weather in Chongqing is very cold, it is really not enough to make a fire in the city, especially who will make a fire in the stairwell? If it's a homeless person, this supermarket probably won't be able to get in at all, so this may be new almost none.

Then there is only another possibility left, someone burned money paper incense candles here, thus attracting ghosts. But who and for what purpose would choose to burn money paper here? When I thought of this, I immediately asked Mr. Yang, how long has this brazier been in the corridor? Teacher Yang thought about it and said, it seems that it didn't take long, the corridor was quite clean before, but then I don't know who put a brazier here, but everyone didn't take it seriously. It's probably more than a month. I asked Mr. Yang, did it appear before or after the first haunting?

Mr. Yang saw that my expression was a little serious, so he thought about it very seriously and said, it seems that before that, when I was at work one day, I found that there was an extra brazier there, and a few days later, I learned that we had employees who were here to hit ghosts.

Well, that's clear, and now I'm pretty sure of one thing, and that's that those ghosts were brought in because someone burned something in a basin. And Hu Zongren, who reminded me just now, still didn't quite understand how I connected all this, so I explained to him, don't forget, who their boss is. Maybe it's the wrong way I asked, Hu Zongren was stunned for a long time and then asked Teacher Yang stupidly, who is your boss? What's your surname? Teacher Yang also suddenly replied very honestly Hu Zongren, surnamed Chen, called Chen.

I rolled my eyes, and then said to Hu Zongren, the point is not what his name is, it doesn't matter what he calls him, the key is where he is from. Hu Zongren thought for a while and said, Fujian people, what's wrong. I said that this supermarket was originally a Fujian supermarket, and the owner and senior management are all Fujianese, can't you think of anything? Hu Zongren suddenly realized, you mean, Fujian people believe this! I slapped my face, gave Hu Zongren a thumbs up, and said in my heart that you kid is finally enlightened.

This is the case in many places in our country, such as Guangdong, Hainan, and Fujian. These places were originally coastal, and in terms of cultural atmosphere, they are actually relatively closer to the style of Southeast Asia. For example, in Guangdong, almost most people worship God and believe in Buddhism, and regard this kind of worship as a habit of life. There are also many people in Fujian, these coastal places are deeply influenced by the Mazu culture, and then Buddhism and Taoism have a relatively stronger Xinyang atmosphere than other places in China. The masters of Guangdong and Fujian have the leading masters in the country, and the prestige of these masters in the folk for many years is extremely high, which in turn leads to a large number of supporters and followers behind them, since ancient times, these places are regarded as the most concentrated and strongest religious atmosphere in China, so the supermarket opened by the boss of Fujian, if someone burns incense and worships the Buddha according to the local customs, then it will not be strange at all.

However, this is still my speculation, and if I need to confirm it, I have to ask Mr. Yang to be scolded again and help call my boss. If the boss says no one burns incense, then we'll have to look elsewhere. However, after Mr. Yang called the boss, he got the news that the company has a special delivery driver, who is a Fujian driver, and the main responsibility in the company is to deploy seafood to the warehouse, and he also has a task, that is, every day after closing, he burns incense and candles and paper money for the boss to the local land and gods.

Mr. Yang told me that this employee also knew him, but he had this part-time job, and it was the first time he had heard of it. Mr. Yang's eyes were full of admiration when he looked at me, and I knew that my wonderful guess just now must have touched him deeply, and if he was a woman, I very much doubt that he would pounce on me directly. So I shook off my middle score in a chic way, and then said to Mr. Yang, why don't you hurry up and call which of your Fujian colleagues? Ask in person, at least ask why the supermarket has been open for so many years, but he has only started to burn the brazier in this corridor for more than a month, if you can, by the way, ask him, if he also burned the brazier before, but was not discovered by an old employee like you, then he must have another place to burn the brazier, you have to help me check, where is the location of the brazier before.

Mr. Yang saw that my eyes were about to flash, and he thought that the matter was probably coming to an end because we had done it, so he happily called. Hu Zongren touched my back lightly when he left, and then said, Actually, you noticed that something was more wrong, right?

I didn't speak, just nodded.