Psych Hunter (Haunted House Notebook) : Book 1

Chapter 42 - 24 Hour Restaurant

When we reached the place we immediately went to find the female owner of the dog meat restaurant. When we waited for her to come, we have inspected the place from the door, the interior is not particularly large and there are two floors. The design of the store is quite decent, but we noticed that they are quite old, and from the outside, it felt as if there are no liveliness in the place. Qin Yi Heng had also walked around to inspect, but he didn't notice anything in particular. As it will take some time before the female owner to come, we spent our time asking questions about the house to the neighbors.

According to the owner of surrounding restaurants, this store was a home-style restaurant previously. But, after the owner passed away, it has changed into a dog meat restaurant. Before the urban reconstruction, there was a river in front of their store, which has been rebuilt into roads. However, the river is actually quite shallow and not deep. One night, the owner of that home-style restaurant who might perhaps have been drunk that day drowned there. This owner is also the chef of the restaurant, so once he died, his family can no longer continue with the business. The owner's widow then sold their restaurant to a couple who operated a dog meat restaurant at a very low price. Everyone in neighborhood thought there was something wrong with the place as they sold it at a very low price, but nothing happened during the time when the dog meat restaurant is operating, so they no longer suspect that anything is wrong. If it wasn't for another person dead, they wouldn't think there was a problem with that place.

Based on the stories of the neighbors, it is likely that this store is really haunted. Qin Yi Heng didn't say much, but he only told me to ask the female owner how her husband died. After waiting for a while, the female owner finally arrived. She looked quite young and is dressed well, but she didn't talk much. She merely took the key and opened the door and stopped talking after citing the size and price of the house.

Frankly speaking, I was taken aback when I entered the house. It's not only old, but it was dilapidated and there was missing chairs and tables, and it is incomplete, and it appeared that the place has been intentionally burgled. I saw that Qin Yi Heng also seemed doubtful, and he opened his mouth to ask the female owner, "How come the place is like this?"

The female owner's answer is very surprising. She said, "I asked people to break this place down."

She asked people to break this place down? Could it be that she has nothing better to do? From what I see, there seemed to be nothing wrong with the female owner, and it doesn't look as if she is particularly violent. I then glanced at Qin Yi Heng, he seemed to nod inexplicably, and turned his head to ask the female owner, "So, do you still have nightmares now?"

His question made me very confused, but the female owner seemed to understand what he was saying, and she shook her head twice while looking very distressed. Qin Yi Heng did not continue his questions, but merely walked around the place to inspect.

When we started our inspections, I discussed things with the female owner. This is because this is the division of labor I had agreed to with Qin Yi Heng and also because I wanted her to lower the price. However, she still didn't talk much. After asking a few questions, I felt quite bad being the only one talking and simply stayed quiet. Qin Yi Heng came down from upstairs and gave me a wink. I saw his expression is quite relaxed and I am quite happy. Apparently, this trip is not in vain. It has been a long time since we last brought a profitable house, so I am rather pleased.

However, Qin Yi Heng suddenly whispered to me in a low voice, "This house is not easy to handle." He then signaled me to look at the chairs and tables and asked me, "Did you know why the female owner ordered for the tables and chairs to be destroyed?"

There's no way I could possibly know, so I told him, "Please don't speak with riddles and just get to the point."

Qin Yi Heng said, "This is because this restaurant is open 24 hours. This is not the same as restaurants that are open 24/7. To put it simply, this restaurant serves humans during the day but serves ghosts during nighttime." He no longer whispered when he said this, and it is obvious that he intended for the female owner to listen to him as well.