Nie Chongyang and Liang Ping, at the old man's house, asked him to tell them about the building.
The old man pondered for a moment before beginning to speak.
"The history of that building is actually quite old," the old man said.
"Legend has it that it was built a hundred years ago, and it was formerly a hotel. A hundred years ago, judging by its scale, it wasn't an ordinary hotel."
Nie Chongyang and the others had also noticed.
After their surroundings changed, they could tell from the outside that the appearance of this hotel was definitely not the framework of the previous dilapidated hotel they had stayed in.
The previous dark hotel was just a small, run-down establishment.
With that scale, how many rooms could there have been in the entire hotel?
The number of floors was very limited.
In contrast, the burnt ruin of the house behind it was much larger, with many floors, each floor having numerous rooms, long corridors, and a spacious central hall.
It was clearly not the same place.
The old man continued to tell Nie Chongyang and the others.
"However, a hundred years ago, a fire broke out in that hotel. No one knows how it started, but it suddenly ignited, and the flames were so fierce that they burned all night."
"The unfortunate thing was that the hotel was too large and housed too many guests. When the fire broke out, everyone was only concerned with escaping, and they all crowded the corridors. Many people couldn't get away, and some, in their desperation to survive, even trampled others to death or deliberately used others as shields. As a result, many people died, and the scene was extremely tragic."
"It is said that apart from those who managed to escape from the front, most of those in the back could not get out. Many, many people truly died."
"As for the cause of this fire, there are various theories. It has been over a hundred years now, and the truth has become even more elusive."
Nie Chongyang and Liang Ping listened with alarm, but they were also relieved that Ye Tiancheng and the others had managed to leave them a message, at least proving that Ye Tiancheng and the others had safely passed through this ordeal without any harm.
Later, according to the old man, after the hotel incident a hundred years ago, people began to report strange occurrences day and night at the hotel ruins. Everyone avoided it like the plague, and gradually, the number of households living in the vicinity began to decrease.
If it were only that, it would have been fine.
A hundred years ago, it was originally a prime location. With such a large plot of land, if such a tragic event had not occurred, who wouldn't have taken notice of it?
Moreover, even after those tragic events, people would still secretly covet that land.
Time can smooth over everything. After a long time, someone would acquire the land and build something else. In such a good location, strangers coming to the area would not know what had happened here.
Slowly, with people coming and going, business would gradually pick up.
And as time passed, fewer and fewer people would remember what had happened there.
This plan was quite well-thought-out, and it was a common practice.
Unfortunately, plans are plans, and the gap between reality and imagination can sometimes be immense.
Those who had their sights set on that plot of land, for reasons unknown, all met tragic ends. Some people acquired the land and hired workers to demolish the building, but as soon as they started, strange incidents occurred one after another, and several lives were even lost.
Gradually, even those who wanted to develop that land gave up.
One could be bold, but one couldn't risk their life.
Seeing this situation, the surrounding businesses and residents couldn't help but feel uneasy and fearful. Those who dared to remain in the vicinity gradually became fewer and fewer.
Furthermore, a hundred years ago, the country was in turmoil, and wars were occurring.
This area became even more difficult to rebuild and restore to its former prosperity.
What was once a bustling area gradually declined.
After a few more years, the country gradually stabilized, and reconstruction began. The emphasis shifted away from superstitions and feudalistic beliefs. Everyone was a materialist and did not believe in such evil.
Moreover, so much time had passed. Those who knew the truth had either died or fled, and there were very few informed individuals left in the local area.
Later, during infrastructure development, some people thought of demolishing the site and building something else.
Those people had no idea what had originally happened there.
However, when they were about to start construction, a very old man appeared and desperately advised everyone not to demolish the building, saying that bad things would happen and that they would be haunted by ghosts.
But at that time, who would believe such talk?
Moreover, that old man was a well-known madman in the area, often babbling nonsense and saying all sorts of random things, so people were even less likely to take his words seriously.
The "Demolish" signs with red circles that Nie Chongyang and the others saw in the ruined building this time were also written then.
However, it was useless for those people not to believe in the supernatural. As soon as construction began, strange incidents kept happening. There were ghostly cries at night, and workers constantly encountered accidents. Later, two people even died, and their deaths were particularly bizarre.
It is said that one was found lying on the ground, and after an examination of the cause of death, it was determined that he had been trampled to death and then his body was cremated by fire. Another was crushed by a pillar from the ruins. The impact was to his waist, but on the surface, the injury should have only caused paralysis, at most. Yet, the cause of death was being burned by fire.
But how could anyone not know whether there was a fire in that place?
At that time, there were more than just those two workers hired. The other workers were all fine, and no fire was seen.
Moreover, the two people who died inexplicably did not simply die. If it weren't for the autopsies and examinations of the causes of death, on the surface, one was just crushed by a pillar, and the other had simply fallen down.
However, there was a rumor, which the old man telling the story to Nie Chongyang and the others was not entirely sure about, whether it was just a rumor or actually happened.
It was said that the worker who appeared to have fallen down and died had many dark handprints on his legs and feet, as if many hands had grabbed his legs and feet and dragged him down. The traces at the scene indicated that after being dragged down, he struggled for a long time but could not get up.
It was indeed very mysterious. People passed it down by word of mouth, but its authenticity could no longer be verified.
Because of these strange occurrences, the demolition work of the ruins had to be halted, and people finally began to dig up old records to find out what was going on in that place.
Some people also remembered the mad old man who had come to dissuade them when they started working.
But that mad old man was truly mad.
Therefore, the mad old man's words were often incoherent, and when asked questions, his answers would be irrelevant, making it difficult to get any clear information.
Later, by asking some of the elderly locals who had lived there for many years, some people did learn about the events that had transpired there. Thus, the tragedy of the past and the various rumors that followed were revealed, and the stories about this place gradually circulated among the locals again.
At this point, the demolition work had to be truly stopped.
Even if some people still didn't believe in the supernatural, the workers who were primarily responsible were reluctant to take on the job, not wanting to die inexplicably, considering the risks.
Later, people continued to try to develop that area, but the results were no different from their predecessors. The ruined building gradually became a famous haunted house, but becoming a famous haunted house was not a good outcome.
After all, there were always some people who sought thrills and liked to explore haunted houses.
In other places, it might just be exaggerated, but in reality, there was nothing wrong. But here, something had actually happened.
Later, when the incident involving the young couple occurred, as the old man recounted, some of the elderly locals felt that it was truly a sin. As they grew older, seeing such things, they felt a sense of compassion and could not bear to see such young people die before them, who were already half in the grave.
Therefore, some of them spontaneously began to check more frequently. If anyone came, they would go and persuade them, and if they could be persuaded to leave, that would be best.
If they could save a life, then they would save a life.
Although coming here did not necessarily mean returning, once an accident happened, life was only once.
And because the previous accident happened so recently, and it was still a period when people were actively checking, Nie Chongyang and Liang Ping were easily discovered by the old man.
Otherwise, if more time had passed, and fewer people came, perhaps they would not have checked so diligently.
The truth was that during this period, after the accidental death of the young couple, some fearless individuals, who lacked respect, became even more interested, as if they had been injected with adrenaline. Thus, many people came here one after another, which made the locals both angry and helpless.
Sometimes they really wanted to ignore these people, but then they would think about it, it was still a human life, and they couldn't just turn a blind eye.
After learning these things from the old man, Nie Chongyang and the others thanked him and then asked if there was anywhere nearby where they could stay.
The old man immediately and enthusiastically invited Nie Chongyang and the others to stay at his home.
Under normal circumstances, if Nie Chongyang and the others had no other choice, they might have offered some payment and stayed nearby. However, considering that if they really stayed in a private residence, and the hosts were so hospitable, it would be inconvenient for them to refuse meals.
This would be very troublesome.
Nie Chongyang and the others dared not eat the food here and could not take that risk.
Therefore, Nie Chongyang and the others could only refuse the old man's offer. Despite the old man's repeated invitations, Nie Chongyang and the others remained unmoved. The old man, having no other option, told Nie Chongyang and the others, "There are definitely no convenient places to stay around here. The people living around here would certainly be willing to let you stay."
"But you are unwilling to agree."
Nie Chongyang and Liang Ping felt helpless and gave the old man an apologetic smile.
"We're sorry, it's just not convenient."
The old man thought for a moment and said, "If you really want to find a place to stay, then you might have to go further. There are really no hotels or inns around here. You'll have to go much farther, and it might not be very convenient to travel back and forth."
Nie Chongyang and the others said they didn't mind, and the old man then pointed them in a direction and told them where they could stay.