Chapter 379

Chapter 379

“The most notorious Stigmatized Property in Lanjiang City.”

The title alone sounded frightening.

If it ranked first, just how dangerous was it?

But I was a local. How had I never heard of Lanjiang City having any such place?

“Do you mean Jinxiu Manor?” Seventh Master asked the wealthy man.

The man nodded. “Yes, Jinxiu Manor. But that’s only what people call it. The original estate had another name.”

Jinxiu Manor…

I had still never heard of it.

Although deeply curious, I kept quiet and listened.

Seventh Master said, “I’ve heard of that place. Thirty years ago, a Massacre Case occurred there. A family of seven died unnatural deaths. The estate was abandoned afterward, and a series of hauntings followed. Two more deaths occurred there later.”

“The place remains abandoned today. But I believe the name ‘Jinxiu Manor’ was invented later. It was originally a private estate.”

A private estate…

Could people even own private estates in this country?

I had always assumed those existed only abroad.

Then again, the estate had been built more than thirty years ago, when restrictions might have been looser. If its owner had influence, constructing one would not have been difficult.

Anyone capable of building an estate like that had to possess immense wealth.

“Yes. It is exactly the place you described.”

The man introduced himself. “My surname is Tan, and my name is Tan Chongming. The estate’s owner was Tan Wannian, my uncle. The family of seven murdered there thirty years ago were all my relatives.”

Mr. Tan spoke calmly. Three decades had passed, and he must have been very young when it happened, so the event no longer stirred much visible emotion.

Unable to contain my curiosity, I asked, “Was your uncle the one using Dream Projection to contact you?”

Mr. Tan nodded. “Yes, my uncle, Tan Wannian. Strictly speaking, however, he was my biological father.”

Seventh Master and I needed a moment to process that.

Mr. Tan hurriedly explained, “The relationship is complicated. My uncle, Tan Wannian, married twice. He and his first wife had one son and one daughter. After she died, he remarried.”

“He had two more sons in his second marriage. But his younger brother was sickly and had acquired infertility, so he gave his youngest son to his brother through Adoption, allowing his brother’s family line to continue.”

“I was that youngest son. I was adopted away shortly after being weaned.”

“From that point on, my biological father became my uncle.”

Seventh Master nodded in realization. “That explains it. The deceased generally project dreams to their descendants first. Your uncle’s entire family met a tragic end, so you are his only surviving descendant. Adoption may have changed your legal relationship, but it could not change your blood.”

Mr. Tan sighed. “I never knew I was adopted. I was too young, and no one told me. I only knew that my uncle’s family treated me very well.”

“When I was six, something happened to them. The victims included my uncle and aunt, my grandparents, and several cousins.”

“Afterward, our family left Lanjiang City and emigrated abroad. Our family business was already overseas at the time. Once my uncle’s family died and we had no relatives left here, we simply emigrated.”
“It began recently, about a month ago. I started dreaming of my uncle, and he kept using Dream Projection to contact me. I told my father, but at first, he tried to hide the truth. He said they might be ordinary dreams and told me not to dwell on them.”

“But the dreams continued, and my uncle grew increasingly desperate in them. My father realized something was wrong and finally told me the truth. He explained that my uncle and aunt had given me to him through Adoption. I returned to the country partly to assess the domestic market and partly to resolve this matter.”

Mr. Tan looked worried. “Whether my uncle was my biological father or not, we are family by blood. In my memories, his entire family treated me well. My father feels the same. If a Wronged Spirit truly lingers, we must resolve the matter and let the dead rest in peace.”

Seventh Master nodded. “It may not necessarily be a Wronged Spirit, but a Ghost is certainly lingering. Under normal circumstances, your uncle’s family should have reincarnated during the past thirty years. If he can still use Dream Projection, then he definitely hasn’t.”

“What does he say in these dreams?”

Mr. Tan frowned slightly. “It’s strange. He tells me… he’s trapped somewhere. There are many people there, as well as some very strange things. But when I ask what the place is called, he says he doesn’t know.”

“Whenever I ask him to describe its features in detail, a hand suddenly drags him away, and I wake up. Eventually, I learned from experience. The moment I dreamed of him, I immediately asked where he was. But as soon as I did, the hand appeared and pulled him away.”

Mr. Tan’s account left me confused, yet it still sent a chill through me.

Facing a Wronged Spirit or Vengeful Ghost directly might not have frightened me much. But unknown and bizarre things could still make my heart pound.

Perhaps all humans possessed an instinctive awe of the unknown.

Seventh Master hurriedly asked, “What did the hand look like? How did it drag him away? Did you see clearly?”

Mr. Tan nodded. “Very clearly. It looked like a human hand, but the skin was somewhat black. Sometimes it emerged from underground, grabbed my uncle by the ankle, and pulled him beneath the earth. Other times it reached from behind him, seized his shoulder, and took him away.”

“But I never see the hand’s owner.”

Seventh Master pondered for a long time but found no answer.

Dreams were always full of strange events. They might carry symbolic meaning, but they did not necessarily depict anything real.

“Apart from your uncle, have you dreamed of any other family members?” Seventh Master asked. “Your grandparents or your aunt, for example?”

Mr. Tan shook his head. “Only my uncle has ever used Dream Projection to contact me. I haven’t dreamed of any of the others even once.”

Seventh Master looked thoughtful. “There must have been more to what happened back then. I remember the case caused an enormous sensation. According to the police announcement… your uncle killed his entire family.”

I was stunned.

He had killed his own family?