Chapter 217: The Safe’s Secrets and the Echoes of Karma

The safe, originally concealed, had been revealed when the surrounding walls burned away and crumbled. Scattered debris on the floor suggested a bookshelf had once stood before it.

Though the steel door was charred black, the robust safe had withstood the inferno, remaining tightly sealed. Its contents, therefore, should have escaped the flames unscathed.

“Senior Mo,” I asked, “this fire scene must merely be the ghost domain replaying the events of that year, mustn’t it? In reality, the safe would have been opened by its owner or others long ago, its contents removed. Do the items inside still truly exist here?”

“That’s an excellent question,” Mo Qingyan replied, a profound look in her eyes. “Since a ghost domain is a reproduction of past images, it naturally corresponds precisely to the reality of that time. What was stored in reality back then should still exist within the ghost domain now, unless a special situation arises.”

Her words suddenly brought to mind the music room that had become a ghost story, and its core, the piano transformed into a curse object. They had vanished before Yi Zhiqiu arrived to inspect, replaced by an ordinary piano.

I could understand a ghost story disappearing, but how had Mo Qingyan managed to procure an identical ordinary piano for the music room, and even replace it right before my eyes? If that piano had originated from the school’s ghost domain, everything would make sense.

“There’s also another possibility,” Mo Qingyan continued. “A real-world item might have fallen into the ghost domain. For instance, perhaps this safe turned into scrap metal in the fire back then, and its contents were destroyed, only to reappear within the ghost domain. Supernatural occurrences are difficult to predict; nothing is ever absolutely certain.”

“Open it,” Jia Cheng urged, “but be careful. Everyone, stand back. It’s hard to say whether things from a ghost domain might be dangerous or mutate.”

“Indeed,” Xushan added, still visibly shaken. “I once opened a cabinet in a ghost domain, and a severed head suddenly rolled out, scaring me half to death. You’d best be mentally prepared.”

He wasn’t joking; he had already pulled out his red high heels and positioned them as a shield, ready for defense. Even Mo Qingyan and Bai Yue assumed defensive or attack-ready stances, clearly guarding against any dangerous spectral entity leaping from the safe.

Bai Yue even released several Gu worms to circle behind us, maintaining vigilance against any sneak attacks from the rear while she opened the safe.

I saw only a few silk threads flash past. The steel door of the safe was neatly sliced into nine perfect squares, which then dropped to the floor like blocks of tofu. The edges of each piece were impeccably smooth; it felt as though even an electric saw couldn’t achieve such precision.

These seemed to be silk threads produced by a type of Gu worm, yet none of us paid attention to the worms. Our gazes were entirely fixed on the contents of the safe.

There were no ghosts, no severed heads. Instead, neatly arranged inside were a notebook, a stack of papers, perfectly stacked gold bars, and numerous bank cards.

Even at this point, Mo Qingyan did not relax. “Xiao Qing,” she instructed, “pull those things out. Do not touch them yourselves; these items are not clean.”

Mo Qingyan was right. In my perception, all these items emitted a faint aura of resentment. Indeed, anything born from a ghost domain was rarely clean. Carelessly touching them could lead to being haunted by malevolent spirits or curses.

Bai Yue flicked her silk threads again, pulling all the contents out of the safe. This time, I could clearly see they were spider silk, originating from a blood-red spider perched on Bai Yue’s wrist.

“I might be able to handle this,” Xiao Qing offered, releasing her Jade Gecko. The pale gecko swiftly crawled before the pile of items, opening its mouth wide and sucking all the resentment into its belly.

All the resentment on the gleaming gold bars, the notebook, the bank cards, and the papers was absorbed, rendering them temporarily safe.

Mo Qingyan picked up the items, examining them closely before shaking her head. “As expected, these are all things born from the ghost domain. None of them are clean.”

“Minister, what do you mean?” Xushan asked, his eyes practically glowing as he stared at the gold bars, clearly having thoughts about these valuables.

“The temperature of that fire was so high that even locked in a safe, the gold bars should have melted, and these papers should have spontaneously combusted,” Mo Qingyan explained, picking up the notebook and handing it to Xushan. “Yet, ten years later, this notebook and paper remain brand new, without even a single scorch mark.”

“They were formed by the deceased’s resentment, or rather, their obsession,” Xushan mused. “He was fixated on the contents of the safe until his death, which is why an identical safe formed in this ghost domain. In reality, the items in the safe would have turned to ash and molten gold over the past decade.”

At this moment, I clearly saw what the stack of papers was: a collection of IOUs. They listed many names, phone numbers, addresses, ID numbers, guarantors, loan amounts, interest, and other information.

Mo Qingyan opened the notebook, which was also filled with records of who owed how much money, the loan period, and how much had been repaid. It turned out the owner was a moneylender.

“What’s the use of these things? He’s been dead for ten years. These IOUs must have long been void, right? Even the money in those bank cards would have been divided among his descendants by now. We don’t know the secrets; only these gold bars have any value,” I said, disappointed.

How should I put it? This was my first time finding a hidden treasure chest in a ghost domain. I had prepared myself for anything: bloodied human body parts, priceless treasures, or even a great ominous artifact.

To my surprise, it was just a pile of IOUs, an account book, and bank cards. Perhaps the former owner valued these items so much that he couldn’t forget them even after death, but ten years had passed. Surely these had long become废纸?

“Mu Bing, you’re mistaken,” Mo Qingyan said. “Don’t underestimate karma, especially karma owed to the deceased. The fact that these IOUs can be reproduced by resentment means they still hold validity, even more terrifyingly effective than real-world IOUs. It’s a bit like your life-buying money.”

The thought of life-buying money’s effect made me gasp, but recalling the basic knowledge about karma mentioned in books, I asked, “But these IOUs specifically name these people, right? Over the past ten years, they might have moved, their phone numbers might have changed. It’s not like we can go collect money with these IOUs.”

Firstly, I was not short on money at all. Secondly, trying to collect money with ten-year-old IOUs would surely make people think I was insane. Unless she intended to use these IOUs to harm people—those who borrowed money and never repaid it would likely not escape death.

“The karma of IOUs is connected to the person; hiding to the ends of the earth won’t help,” Mo Qingyan stated. “However, we certainly don’t mind accumulating some karmic merit. Let’s burn all these IOUs.”

📚 Also on NHV Novels

Love Counter Attack

BLDramalove

Read Now →
Not interested