Chapter 136: The Alter Ego Says He Loves Me (25)
Xiao Ji and Xiao Yinnian returned empty-handed.
However, neither the crazed woman nor Lin Chuan questioned them.
When the woman saw the two return, she grinned broadly. “They snatched my things, and my room is uninhabitable. How about taking me in for a bit?”
As she spoke, she extended a hand toward Xiao Ji. “I’m Su Wan.”
Xiao Ji did not shake her hand. Instead, he reached back and closed the door. “Tell us the key information you know.”
Su Wan withdrew her hand and glanced outside the door. Her eyes darted around before she pulled a black-and-white photo from her robes and handed it to Xiao Ji.
There were six people in the photo.
Aside from the mistress of the house and the two children Xiao Ji had already seen, there was a middle-aged man, a younger woman, and an old man.
Su Wan pointed to the middle-aged man, the younger woman, and the slightly older child in the photo one by one. “Of these six, these three are already dead. But this old gentleman is still alive, yet we haven’t seen him at all.”
“This woman looks fifty percent like the mistress. She should be the younger sister who is ‘about to be married’ that the mistress mentioned.”
Xiao Yinnian frowned. “Getting married even though she’s dead?”
Xiao Ji looked into Su Wan’s eyes, wanting to ask her how she could distinguish between the living and the dead from just a photo, but in the end, he asked nothing.
He only said to Xiao Yinnian, “Marriage after death, though sensational, isn’t a rare occurrence in a place like this. Right now, there are two things we must do.”
“First, find out who she is marrying. Second, find the old gentleman in the photo who isn’t dead yet.”
Xiao Yinnian looked at the photo, lost in thought.
After a long while, as if suddenly remembering something, he looked sharply at Xiao Ji. “Do you remember what the mistress said when she appeared this morning?”
Xiao Ji met Xiao Yinnian’s gaze. “She said the play was an invitation from the head of their household.”
Xiao Yinnian pointed at the man in the photo and let out a yawn. “Then, could the ‘head of the household’ she referred to be this dead man?”
Xiao Ji lowered his eyes. There was another point he found strange. Taking group photos was normal, but what kind of family would include an unmarried younger sister in a family portrait?
“We’ll talk about it tomorrow. It’s late; you should sleep.”
Xiao Ji stroked the back of Xiao Yinnian’s head, knowing he hadn’t rested well yesterday and must be exhausted.
During their conversation, Lin Chuan had remained silent, sitting by the edge of the bed.
Once Xiao Ji spoke, he stood up and lowered his head. “Yin-ge, you guys sleep on the inside tonight. I want to sleep on the outside.”
Xiao Yinnian wasn’t a difficult person. He didn’t take Lin Chuan’s small request to heart, simply saying “Okay” before climbing to the innermost part of the bed.
After a thought, he moved outward a bit and said to Xiao Ji, “You sleep on the very inside. I’ll still sleep in the middle.”
No one cared about Su Wan.
And Su Wan’s mind was indeed somewhat abnormal.
Seeing the three men crowded onto one bed, she walked directly to the other bed, casually smoothed out the quilt that the rat had been under, and lay down just like that.
Xiao Ji had given the rat to someone else. Although Xiao Yinnian maintained an attitude of complete trust toward Xiao Ji, he still didn’t feel entirely at ease.
He thought he wouldn’t be able to sleep, but perhaps he really was exhausted. In Xiao Ji’s embrace, feeling Xiao Ji’s strong heartbeat, he lost consciousness after a short while.
When he woke again, the room was pitch black. Xiao Ji, who had been lying beside him, was gone.
Xiao Yinnian was startled. Just as he was about to sit up, he vaguely saw a woman lying on the other side where Lin Chuan should have been.
Xiao Yinnian’s Adam’s apple bobbed. He didn’t dare move.
The woman’s long hair was scattered across the pillow; it was so close that some strands were right by Xiao Yinnian’s hand.
Xiao Yinnian moved his fingers back imperceptibly. Then, he heard the woman speak.
“Do you want to listen to a play?”
The voice didn’t seem to come from the other side of the woman, but rather felt face-to-face.
At this moment, Xiao Yinnian’s eyes gradually adjusted to the darkness. He vaguely saw that within the dense mass of hair—which had made him think he was looking at the back of a head—a single eye was half-exposed, staring fixedly at him.
Xiao Yinnian didn’t know how to answer. He couldn’t figure out whether saying yes or no would trigger the death condition.
Right now, he was backed against the wall, and the female ghost was blocking his way out. He had nowhere to run.
So, he swallowed hard and asked back:
“Then, do you want to listen to Errenzhuan?”
The female ghost fell silent for a moment. A pale hand slowly extended toward Xiao Yinnian.
Just as Xiao Yinnian’s brain was working at high speed, considering how to escape, the room door creaked open.
Simultaneously, the female ghost in front of him suddenly turned into nothingness and vanished.
Xiao Yinnian jumped off the bed. Pulling back the gauze curtain, he saw Xiao Ji and Lin Chuan walking in from outside, one after the other.
He looked at Xiao Ji, then at Lin Chuan.
Suddenly, an indescribable feeling rose in his heart, seemingly more unutterable than the encounter with the ghost just now.
After a pause, he narrowed his eyes. “You two… went out behind my back?”
Lin Chuan kept his head down and said nothing.
“Why are you awake?” Xiao Ji walked up to Xiao Yinnian and said frankly, “I was discussing something with Lin Chuan.”
“What could you possibly have to say behind my back?” Xiao Yinnian didn’t accept this excuse, his tone sounding somewhat aggressive.
Xiao Ji was momentarily stunned, then realized that Xiao Yinnian might have misunderstood something.
He reached out and stroked Xiao Yinnian’s cheek. “Didn’t I say I wanted to verify a few things tonight? Just now, did that little girl from last night come by?”
Xiao Yinnian felt awkward and dodged Xiao Ji’s hand. “Don’t f*cking touch me.”
But clearly, this wasn’t the time to throw a tantrum. After his curse, he gritted his teeth and said, “No little girl. A big girl came instead—long hair, big eyes, very pretty!”
Xiao Ji frowned. “You mean the little girl didn’t come, but the mistress’s younger sister did?”
Xiao Yinnian hummed in affirmation. “She vanished the moment you two walked in.”
Silence fell over the room.
Only the occasional irregular snoring from Su Wan on the other bed could be heard.
After a long while, Xiao Ji spoke. “The one who killed Ling-zi wasn’t that girl. That girl might actually be preventing the mistress’s sister from killing people. Those dead things represent the girl’s toys; they are also her way of claiming territory to prevent the mistress’s sister from entering the rooms.”
“Once the ‘toys’ are discarded, the mistress’s sister can enter and leave these rooms at will. But once a ‘toy’ appears, she is forced to retreat again.”
Xiao Yinnian listened to this and took a moment to digest it. Then he arched an eyebrow. “So, the two of you went out just now to look for ‘toys’?”
Translator’s Note: Things are getting spooky. Errenzhuan (二人轉) is a traditional folk dance and song from Northeast China, often comedic and performed by a male-female duo. Xiao Yinnian really tried to counter-offer a comedy show to a ghost! Also, “Ling-zi” refers to one of the previous victims.
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