The sleeping girl heard a strange sound, like the drip, drip of water falling on the floor. She opened her eyes, groggily turned on her bedside lamp, and listened carefully. Somehow, it seemed like the sound was coming from the bathroom. Was it a leak? Thinking of this, she got up, put on her slippers, and walked slowly towards the bathroom.
At the moment, it was exactly midnight. Everything was still. The girl rubbed her eyes and turned on the bathroom light.
The sound of dripping water continued. Under the dim lighting, the girl searched carefully and found that the sound seemed to come from the small cabinet under the sink. The cabinet contained all daily necessities, as well as a pipe that ran from the sink to the sewer. It seemed that the pipe was leaking.
The girl thought this and glanced at the mirror hanging above the sink, yawning. Her reflection in the mirror made the same expression as her. The girl didn’t pay much attention and bent down to open the cabinet under the sink. But as soon as she moved, she suddenly noticed something and froze in place like a statue.
Her eyes flickered to the mirror, and she saw that her reflection, which should’ve disappeared, was still standing quietly at the other end, yawning mouth still open. As if noticing her gaze, that “her” lowered its head and grinned at her, showing a sinister smile.
“AHHH!” The girl woke from her dream. Covered in cold sweat, she buried her head under the covers and trembled all over until she heard the alarm set on her cell phone go off.
The girl tapped her phone and saw that it was already seven o’clock in the morning. However, as it was autumn, daybreak always came late. Although it was already seven o’clock, it seemed as if the sky hadn’t brightened yet outside.
Shivering, she got up. The girl slowly put on her clothes, took out her cell phone, and made a call. “Hey, are you free today? Can you come with me to meet someone…”
After learning that Zhou Jiayu was going out to meet a netizen from the forum, Shen Yiqiong became very emotional, saying that he was worried about Zhou Jiayu’s safety, and demanded to tag along with him. Zhou Jiayu said, “Let go of me first…”
Shen Yiqiong said, “I won’t let go, I won’t!”
Zhou Jiayu said, “I’m only going to see if something’s really happened to her—”
Shen Yiqiong said, “If you don’t take me with you, you might return to find that something’s happened to me!”
Zhou Jiayu: “…”
The two stared at each other for a split second before Zhou Jiayu finally relented. He’d heard that Shen Yiqiong hadn’t yet reached eighteen, so there were still two or three years before he’d leave puberty. Dating a girl while studying under Lin Zhushui wasn’t very possible, and he had to sneak around just to read a raunchy story. What was most tragic was that there had been strict online crackdowns recently, and even those raunchy stories were difficult to find. Looking the situation, Shen Yiqiong was quite pitiful.
In the end, Zhou Jiayu could only say, “Go ask Sir. If he agrees, I’ll take you with me.”
Shen Yiqiong gave an “oh” and went to find Lin Zhushui. After a few minutes, he returned and happily said that Sir had agreed.
Zhou Jiayu said, “So fast? What did you tell him?”
Shen Yiqiong said, “I said that I was afraid the other side was swindling you and worried about your safety, so I wanted to come with you.”
Zhou Jiayu: “…” How amazing.
The two of them said goodbye to Lin Zhushui and headed out. Lin Zhushui had been examining information brought by Jiang Shijiu these past few days. He also went to the bridge again last night, but didn’t bring Zhou Jiayu or Shen Yiqiong, and came back very soon.
Although he didn’t say anything, from his expression, it seemed that the matter of this bridge was probably not as simple as Jiang Shijiu claimed.
Zhou Jiayu and Shen Yiqiong left in the afternoon. It was actually quite convenient to bring Shen Yiqiong along, because Shen Yiqiong had a cell phone he could use to contact the girl.
The hotel they were staying at wasn’t too far from the park where Zhou Jiayu and the girl had arranged to meet. It would only be seven or eight stops if they took the bus.
The two of them walked towards the entrance of the park together, and Shen Yiqiong said, “Zhou Jiayu, you really do believe she’s been cursed by that website, huh?”
Zhou Jiayu said, “Maybe thirty percent so, because I clicked on that website, too.”
Shen Yiqiong said, “What’d it look like?”
Zhou Jiayu described the overall appearance of the website and said that other netizens seemed to be unable to click into it.
Shen Yiqiong said, “Hm…” He seemed to be about to say something, but he noticed two girls sitting on a bench at the entrance of the park and said, “Is it them?”
Zhou Jiayu said, “I don’t know, let’s go over and ask.”
He walked up to the two girls and said, “May I ask if you’re ‘Little Chuanchuanchuanchuan’?” Little Chuanchuanchuanchuan was the name that girl used on the forum.
“That’s me!” One of the girls stood straight up and said, “Are you ‘Tomatoes and Fish’?
Zhou Jiayu nodded.
Calling each other by their internet names face-to-face was too awkward, so the two introduced themselves. Zhou Jiayu learned that the girl’s name was Tang Xiaochuan and was a fourth-year college student. Accompanying her was her cousin, Tang Xiaoling.
“Let’s find a place to grab a drink and chat,” Tang Xiaochuan said.
Before Zhou Jiayu could even open his mouth, Shen Yiqiong had already agreed enthusiastically.
Zhou Jiayu looked at Shen Yiqiong’s happy expression and felt that he could reasonably suspect that if a female ghost was beautiful enough, Shen Yiqiong would approach her shamelessly and say, why don’t we be friends?
But with him here, the atmosphere wasn’t awkward at all. Shen Yiqiong was truly a social butterfly.
They chose a coffee shop near the park, randomly ordered some drinks, then got straight to the point.
Tang Xiaochuan’s appearance was that of a very pitiable girl. Her lips were pale, and her brow was delicately furrowed. Coupled with her petite figure and long black hair, it was easy for her to arouse a man’s desire to protect.
However, when Zhou Jiayu saw her for the first time, what he noticed was not her appearance, but the shadow at her feet under the sunlight.
The shadow looked very strange. Although its rough outline was still Tang Xiaochuan’s figure, the edges seemed to be like ink paintings splashed with water, blurred into irregular shapes. When he saw the shadow, it lightly touched his and Shen Yiqiong’s backs, but neither he nor Shen Yiqiong felt anything.
What she said about the curse was probably true, Zhou Jiayu thought.
Tang Xiaochuan gently tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Her lips were pale and nearly stark-white, and her entire body exuded a sense of decline. She said, “Great master, you already understand the general situation. Can you help me?”
Zhou Jiayu said helplessly, “You don’t need to call me great master, just call me by my name.” Hearing “great master” made him feel like he was swindling her…
Tang Xiaochuan said, “Okay, then…”
“The matter’s like this— if you really want to ask for help, please tell me the whole story, otherwise I might not be able to help you,” Zhou Jiayu said frankly. “I came to B City just by chance, and I can’t say when I’ll be leaving, so if you’re hiding something from me, I really can’t do much to help you.”
Tang Xiaochuan’s complexion suddenly became very ugly. She said, “What do you mean by that? Do you still not believe me? You’ve clearly seen that website, too—”
Zhou Jiayu said, “I did indeed see it. But may I ask you a question?”
Tang Xiaochuan bit her lower lip until it turned bloodless, as if she had already guessed what Zhou Jiayu was about to ask.
Just as expected, Zhou Jiayu said, “On that website, whose name did you enter?”
Tang Xiaochuan lowered her head in silence.
Sometimes, silence was also an answer. Zhou Jiayu said, “So, is the person whose name you entered still alive?”
Tang Xiaochuan’s eyes suddenly filled with tears. She sobbed, her words faltering, “Alive, of course she’s still alive, she’s about to marry the person I love most…”
Zhou Jiayu was stunned.
Shen Yiqiong was originally happily watching the entertainment from the side, but upon hearing this, he was also a little dumbfounded.
Tang Xiaoling, Tang Xiaochuan’s cousin, hadn’t spoken much. Now she reached out and handed Tang Xiaochuan a tissue.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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“I’m going to the restroom.” After Tang Xiaochuan finished speaking, her face was full of tears. She covered her face and hurriedly headed to the restroom, seemingly to adjust her emotions.
So there were only three people with complex emotions left at the table.
“Please don’t take her words too seriously.” After Tang Xiaochuan left, Tang Xiaoling, who had been silent all along, spoke with a tone of helplessness, as if there was nothing she could do about Tang Xiaochuan.
“What do you mean?” Zhou Jiayu asked back.
“Could it be that you really believe her?” Tang Xiaoling became a little agitated, and she said, “She’s not mentally sound at all right now. Our family has already made an appointment with a psychiatrist for her! You guys are just online friends, right? If you’re wanting to take advantage of her situation, I advise you not to think about it!”
Zhou Jiayu hadn’t expected this. Looking at Tang Xiaoling, she seemed t o be completely unconvinced by what Tang Xiaochuan had said. “Why are you so certain that Tang Xiaochuan must be lying?”
“Because she couldn’t possibly have entered the name of the person she hates!” Tang Xiaoling said bluntly. “She doesn’t even know the name of her lover’s partner!”
Zhou Jiayu’s face showed surprise, but he didn’t rush to refute her words. His gaze scanned Tang Xiaoling from head to toe, and he said, “Do you really think she’s lying?”
“What do you mean?” Tang Xiaoling frowned.
Zhou Jiayu said, “You believe her, too.” He pointed to the jade Buddha hanging around Tang Xiaoling’s neck. “Did you visit a temple for that?”
Tang Xiaoling was slightly stunned.
Zhou Jiayu said, “Have you encountered something as well?”
Tang Xiaoling’s lips were tightly pursed. She didn’t speak for a while, but under Zhou Jiayu’s calm gaze, she finally showed a hint of fear and said, “I, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Zhou Jiayu curved his peach blossom eyes and revealed the playful dimples at the corners of his mouth. “You really don’t know?”
Tang Xiaoling struggled for a while before she finally relented and said, “Yes, I’ve encountered some things, but they might just be coincidences.”
Zhou Jiayu said, “For example?”
Tang Xiaoling reached out and grabbed the jade Buddha around her neck, forcing herself to speak. “On my way home, I met a woman who looked exactly like my cousin.”
Zhou Jiayu raised his eyebrows.
Tang Xiaoling said, “But I knew it wasn’t my cousin. Although she looked the same, the aura around her was completely different. I was very scared at the time and didn’t dare go up to probe the situation. But when I got home, I saw my cousin sitting at home, watching television.”
Shen Yiqiong finished a sundae next to them and said, “Wait a minute, let me order a cake.”
Tang Xiaoling: “…What exactly is this person doing here?”
Zhou Jiayu said very calmly, “He’s here to pay the bill.”
Shen Yiqiong: “…”
Watching another mousse cake be brought in front of Shen Yiqiong, Tang Xiaoling said angrily, “Are you still going to listen to me or not?”
Shen Yiqiong said, “Please continue, continue.”
Tang Xiaoling said, “This kind of thing happened three or four times, so I went to beg for a jade Buddha. But even though I’ve told you all of this, I don’t have any evidence. It’s also possible that my eyes went bad and I misjudged strangers. How could there be such thing as a curse in this world?”
Zhou Jiayu looked at her resolute expression and wanted to say, I also worshiped science, once…
“Besides, if the curse worked, the girl who was cursed would’ve died long ago,” Tang Xiaoling said. “Why did the unlucky victim become my cousin? Even if it wanted to charge interest, the website would need to do its job first, right?”
Zhou Jiayu actually felt from the depths of his heart that Tang Xiaoling’s words were very reasonable.
Shen Yiqiong suddenly said from beside him, “Tang Xiaochuan’s been gone for more than ten minutes and hasn’t come back yet. Should we check on her?”
Upon hearing this, Tang Xiaoling immediately stood up, turned around, and ran towards the restroom.
Zhou Jiayu and Shen Yiqiong followed behind.
Tang Xiaoling entered the restroom. A moment later, her voice came from inside: “My cousin’s fainted!”
Zhou Jiayu said, “Is there anyone else inside? If not, we’ll come in!”
Tang Xiaoling said, “Come in!”
They entered to find that Tang Xiaochuan had fainted outside a toilet stall. Her hands were covered in blood, and the mirror on the wall was shattered.
“Call 120.” Zhou Jiayu had just finished speaking when Tang Xiaochuan woke up and cried out, “Help, help, help me— I want to go home, I want to go home!”
Tang Xiaoling said, “Xiaochuan, are you okay? Come back to your senses!”
Tang Xiaochuan said, “There’s a ghost, a ghost!” She pointed at the shattered fragments of the mirror, afraid to look in that direction.
The fragments were stained with blood, lying quietly on the cold floor. The shattered glass reflected their faces countless times over. It was unclear whether it was simply Zhou Jiayu’s illusion, but he felt a strange sense of incongruity in the fragments of the mirror. However, it was only for a moment, and he couldn’t find what the problem was.
Shen Yiqiong took out his phone and nervously asked, “Do you still want me to call an ambulance?”
Tang Xiaochuan laid quietly in Tang Xiaoling’s arms and didn’t speaking.
However, Tang Xiaoling said, “She’s not going to the hospital. Her state of mind’s already delicate, what if she goes to the hospital and gets triggered again?”
Zhou Jiayu said, “But she’s lost so much blood.”
Tang Xiaoling said, “If I say she’s alright, she’s alright. I’m a doctor, how could I not be clear about this?” She then helped Tang Xiaochuan up and led her towards the door.
Shen Yiqiong volunteered to help, but was coldly rejected by Tang Xiaoling. Judging from her expression, she seemed to be afraid that Shen Yiqiong would take advantage of Tang Xiaochuan’s situation. Shen Yiqiong was a little aggrieved and could only follow behind them to prevent the two from falling. He told Zhou Jiayu to hurry over after dealing with the matter.
As for what Zhou Jiayu dealt with, he looked at the shattered mirror on the ground and reluctantly went to the coffee shop owner to discuss compensation.
Reality was always cruel. What dismayed people was not just horror stories, but also sudden poverty.
Fortunately, the owner had a good temper and didn’t ask Zhou Jiayu many questions. After receiving compensation, he let Zhou Jiayu leave and the matter was settled. Zhou Jiayu went to the car garage and found the three of them.
Tang Xiaoling started her car and brought Tang Xiaochuan back to her residence.
They lived not far from the park, only a ten-minute drive away. In the car, Tang Xiaochuan regained her composure. Although the wound on her hand looked grim, it had stopped bleeding already, so it seemed there wouldn’t be any major problems.
“What did you encounter in the restroom?” Zhou Jiayu asked.
Tang Xiaochuan sat in the passenger seat, staring blankly at the road illuminated by the headlights up ahead. After a long time, she said, “I saw myself.”
This was clearly an unproblematic answer. When looking into a mirror, who wouldn’t see themselves? But Tang Xiaochuan’s tone gave them all a frightened feeling. She said in an ice-cold voice, “I saw the me in the mirror struggling to climb out of it.”
Before Zhou Jiayu could speak, Shen Yiqiong said, “So you really entered the name of the person you wanted to curse on that website?”
Tang Xiaochuan nodded lightly.
“But your cousin said you don’t even know that person’s name.” Shen Yiqiong asked impolitely, “If you don’t even know her name, how did you fill it in?” According to Tang Xiaoling, Tang Xiaochuan’s lover completely cut off contact with the country after going abroad. Their wedding was even simpler. They didn’t even invite their best friends, just sent a few wedding photos over. At that time, Tang Xiaochuan was still locked up at home and had no way to communicate with the outside world.
Tang Xiaochuan sneered. “So what if I don’t know? I can’t fill it in if I don’t know?” Her pale lips curled up in a grim smile.
The girl’s mental state seemed to be very abnormal. Zhou Jiayu noticed this and sighed softly in his heart.
They sent Tang Xiaochuan back to her residence and watched as Tang Xiaoling helped her treat the wounds on her hands.
Tang Xiaochuan’s family seemed to be very well off, as she lived alone in a large flat of over two hundred square meters. It was just that the room was large, which inevitably made people feel it was a little empty, especially when all the bedroom doors were tightly closed. Shen Yiqiong jokingly said that the house was so big that he didn’t even know if there was someone else hidden in the house.
After hearing these words, Tang Xiaoling’s face turned quite unpleasant. She glared at Shen Yiqiong and said, “Don’t try to scare people.”
“Isn’t she afraid to live here alone?” Zhou Jiayu was somewhat curious.
Tang Xiaoling sighed. “My cousin’s family dotes on her. She used to live in a small apartment. Later, she made a fuss and wanted to change houses, but didn’t find a suitable one and is only staying here for a few days.”
“Oh.” Zhou Jiayu noticed that all the mirrors in the house had been removed, probably because Tang Xiaochuan was too frightened and specifically asked someone to remove them.
After Tang Xiaoling bandaged Tang Xiaochuan up, she gave her some sedative and watched her fall asleep before finally sighing in relief. Looking at her, she seemed to be very used to taking care of Tang Xiaochuan. They had quite a good relationship, Zhou Jiayu thought.
“So, do you have a way to help my cousin?” Tang Xiaoling asked. Her emotions also seemed a little complicated, as if she didn’t really want to believe these things, but with the facts in front of her, she had to. She said, “I don’t really believe these things, but since you do, there must be a way.”
Zhou Jiayu didn’t respond, but only asked to take a look at Tang Xiaochuan’s computer.
Tang Xiaoling said, “What for?”
Zhou Jiayu said, “I want to see if she can still access the website she was on before.”
Tang Xiaoling agreed this time, taking the computer out and entering the password by hand. It seemed that her relationship with Tang Xiaochuan was indeed very good, or else she wouldn’t have known something so private.
Opening the computer browser, Tang Xiaochuan said, “What’s the website’s name?”
Zhou Jiayu remembered the website’s name because it was a little special, with the English word for death followed by two homophonic numbers that sounded like “go die”.
Tang Xiaoling typed on the keyboard, entered the characters into the browser, and then pressed enter.
- Unsurprisingly, it was a 404 error. Tang Xiaoling said, “Is it possible you remembered wrong?”
Zhou Jiayu said, “I remembered it correctly. Can you go through her browser bookmarks?”
Tang Xiaoling opened the bookmarks and quickly looked around. She found a website that was saved with the exact same name as what Zhou Jiayu had said. She hesitated a little, moved the mouse, and clicked into the website.
Still 404. Tang Xiaoling didn’t know if she should’ve been grateful or disappointed. “So this is fake, right?”
Zhou Jiayu remained silent. He took the keyboard, personally entered the website address, and then pressed enter. The same address, the same input method, but the website that Zhou Jiayu had seen before surprisingly loaded bit by bit. The only difference between the black interface and the blood-red characters was that the blank space that was supposed to be empty for people to enter text had turned into a picture of a tomb.
Seeing this, Zhou Jiayu knew that Tang Xiaoling didn’t lie. She really had entered something.
Zhou Jiayu briefly explained the situation, after which all three people fell into silence.
Shen Yiqiong said, “This website really is problematic…”
Zhou Jiayu said, “What do you have to do to curse a person?”
Shen Yiqiong pondered. “Usually a name and the person’s eight characters are needed, but we can’t rule out special circumstances such as coming into contact with a cursed object. In theory, in horror films, Sadako parasitizes a videotape and curses the people who watch it. This situation actually conforms to reason.”
Zhou Jiayu said, “So this website might just be a medium? But why can only Tang Xiaochuan and I open it…” The people in the forums couldn’t do anything with this website, yet he clicked in and saw the website page.
Shen Yiqiong contemplated. “It’s possible, do you sense anything on this page?”
Zhou Jiayu said, “I feel a very uncomfortable sensation. Back then, I only took a glance before closing the page.”
Shen Yiqiong said, “If we want to save her now, I’m afraid we have to first figure out what Tang Xiaochuan has done.”
Tang Xiaoling had a complicated expression on her face while they were conversing, and in the end, she couldn’t hold back and said, “Do curses really exist in the world?”
Zhou Jiayu said nothing.
Tang Xiaoling seemed to feel a little cold. She crossed her arms, hesitated for a moment, and said, “Then can my cousin… still be saved?”
Zhou Jiayu sighed. “I don’t know.”
Shen Yiqiong said, “If it really comes down to it, let’s go ask Sir. I’m afraid this website situation isn’t ordinary.”
Zhou Jiayu said, “That’s the most we can do.”
Tang Xiaochuan was still sleeping, so they couldn’t question her. Zhou Jiayu and Shen Yiqiong wanted to say goodbye, but Tang Xiaoling seemed a bit scared and said, “Are you leaving?”
Zhou Jiayu said, “En, it’s already getting late and it wouldn’t be too appropriate to stay overnight. Here are a few talismans. Take them, they should be useful.”
Tang Xiaoling took the talismans and clenched them tightly in her hand. She said, “Then, then we’ll see you tomorrow.”
Zhou Jiayu nodded and left with Shen Yiqiong.
After they left, they took a taxi back to the hotel. The two of them didn’t talk much on the way and were both reflecting on their own thoughts.
As he was about to get off the car, Zhou Jiayu asked Shen Yiqiong if such curses were very common.
Shen Yiqiong shook his head and said they weren’t, and could even be considered rare, because cursing people usually came with a price. If that website was a medium, the curse might’ve already taken effect, and Tang Xiaochuan was just paying the price for what she had done.
After listening to him, Zhou Jiayu felt that there was something in the logic that didn’t make sense, but he couldn’t find it.
Shen Yiqiong finally asked curiously, “How do you know that the jade Buddha on Tang Xiaoling’s neck was new?” He’d kept this in mind. If it weren’t for Zhou Jiayu pointing out this detail, they might’ve not been able to trust Tang Xiaoling.
Zhou Jiayu smiled and said, “Because the red string through the jade Buddha was very new.” The color was particularly bright and there is no wear, like it had just been put on.
Shen Yiqiong said, “Why can’t it be that she just changed the jade Buddha’s string?”
Zhou Jiayu said, “So I just tested the waters. If I was wrong, then I was wrong. It wouldn’t matter much.”
Shen Yiqiong said, “I admire you!”
After returning to the hotel, Zhou Jiayu felt a little unwell and extremely tired. He took a simple shower and was about to go to bed when he heard a knock on his door.
“Who is it?” Zhou Jiayu opened the door but didn’t see anyone. He looked at the empty corridor and suddenly broke out into a cold sweat. He remembered what Lin Zhushui had said to him before leaving— “If you can’t dispose of them, you can bring them back.” He wouldn’t have really brought something back, would he?
Zhou Jiayu froze at the door. He hesitated for a moment, but didn’t turn back into his room. Instead, he closed the door and slowly made his way next door to knock on Lin Zhushui’s door.
A few moments later, Lin Zhushui opened the door. He didn’t seem surprised to see Zhou Jiayu at all and said, “You’ve returned.”
Zhou Jiayu nodded and whispered, “S, Sir, I think, I might’ve really… brought something back.”
Lin Zhushui raised his eyebrows slightly, closed his eyes, and slightly raised his chin, seemingly looking in some direction above Zhou Jiayu. Before Zhou Jiayu could react, Lin Zhushui suddenly reached out and grasped his head.
Zhou Jiayu was scared stiff.
Lin Zhushui grip loosened, and in his hand were a few strands of hair. They were about a meter long, definitely not belonging to Zhou Jiayu’s himself.
“Sir… what’s this?” Goosebumps rose upon Zhou Jiayu’s body. If it weren’t for him forcibly controlling himself, he might’ve hugged onto Lin Zhushui like a sloth holding a tree.
“Nothing of importance,” Lin Zhushui said. “Come in and tell me what you encountered today.”
Zhou Jiayu had already turned into a loyal lapdog and entered the room trembling.
Lin Zhushui brought Zhou Jiayu a cup of warm milk, handing it to him casually.
Zhou Jiayu took a sip and said, “Sir, you still drink milk?”
Lin Zhushui sat down across from him and said blandly, “I knew you would come, so I prepared it for you.”
ZHou Jiayu: “…” So that was it.
Lin Zhushui said, “Speak.”
Zhou Jiayu held his milk and told Lin Zhushui in detail about everything that happened.
Lin Zhushui remained unfazed after listening and asked, “Did you see anything unusual?”
Zhou Jiayu originally wanted to say that he hadn’t, but as he considered carefully, a sudden thought flashed by and he said, “Tang Xiaochuan’s shadow didn’t seem to be quite right!”
Lin Zhushui didn’t say anything and simply handed Zhou Jiayu a piece of paper.
Zhou Jiayu lowered his head and found out that it was a news article. The article described a car accident that had occurred on a bridge in Caitong Road in this city, killing three and injuring one.
Zhou Jiayu initially had some doubts, but when he saw the badly damaged license plate of the car at the scene, he felt as if a basin of cold water had been poured over his head.
That car was familiar to him. He and Shen Yiqiong had sat in it just today.
“Tang Xiaochuan died a month ago.” Lin Zhushui’s expression was cold, as if he was talking about something insignificant. “Who were you looking at?”
Zhou Jiayu: “…” He couldn’t speak and felt frozen from the inside out.
Lin Zhushui said, “The website you could click into exists.” His fingers gently tapped on the table as he spoke neither quickly nor slowly. “It’s just that it was shut down more than a year ago because of the law, and the average person, naturally, can’t click into it.”
Zhou Jiayu wanted to think deeply about this, but failed. His fear was like a refrigerator, freezing his brain. He could only reluctantly ask, “So, what about Tang Xiaoling?”
“She’s not called Tang Xiaoling,” Lin Zhushui said with a smile on his face. “She’s not Tang Xiaochuan’s cousin, either.”
Zhou Jiayu was confused.
“There are a few photos on the table that I asked people to find,” Lin Zhushui said. “Take a look.”
Zhou Jiayu looked at the tabletop and found several photos. After carefully examining them, he no longer knew what to say. Those photos were of Tang Xiaoling and Tang Xiaochuan, both wearing wedding dresses, embracing and kissing. Their faces were full of sweet smiles, and their happiness could be truly felt even through the photos.
“She’s also something dirty…?” Zhou Jiayu’s entire face was paralyzed.
“She’s human,” Lin Zhushui said. “With Shen Yiqiong accompanying you, I thought at least one of you could notice.” He seemed somewhat disappointed and let out a soft sigh.
Zhou Jiayu thought to himself, don’t count on Shen Yiqiong anymore. That guy is addicted to cake and coffee, and when he eats, he’s happier than anyone else. Of course, he himself couldn’t be counted on either, because if it weren’t for Lin Zhushui’s words, he wouldn’t have noticed any difference between Tang Xiaochuan and a human. But now that he thought about it, the waiter’s gaze was indeed a little strange when they ordered four cups of coffee at the coffee shop.
“But if Tang Xiaoling is Tang Xiaochuan’s lover, why is she wearing a jade Buddha around her neck? And she deliberately got involved…” Zhou Jiayu’s mind was a little confused, churning out one question after another.
“Buddhas are also divided into yin and yang,” Lin Zhushui said. “If I’m not wrong, the color of the jade Buddha around her neck should be black.”
That was true. Zhou Jiayu didn’t consider it in detail at the time, only assuming that it was a more specialized kind of jade pendant.
“As for why she’s looking for you,” Lin Zhushui said, “she likely doesn’t have any harmful intentions and is just afraid that Tang Xiaochuan will disappear.”
Zhou Jiayu said, “Disappear?”
Lin Zhushui said, “Yes, disappear.” He suddenly reached out and tapped Zhou Jiayu’s forehead. “Dirty things, they all like extreme yin.” He suddenly smiled, and it was like ice melting away. “I like it, too.”
At that time, Zhou Jiayu’s heart nearly leapt out of his chest, but his rationality quickly suppressed the excitement, and he calmly told himself the true meaning of Lin Zhushui’s words— what he liked was only Zhou Jiayu’s constitution. It was like how people being roasted couldn’t help but approach colder places.
“This matter isn’t over yet,” Lin Zhushui said. “That website may have something to do with the bridge. You should go back first, they should still contact you. You can talk to me later.”
Zhou Jiayu was still a bit afraid, but he didn’t dare say so and went back to his room with his head down.
However, after the trip to Lin Zhushui’s room, the coolness that had been seeping through his bones dissipated quite a bit, and the temperature in his room returned to normal.
Zhou Jiayu lay in bed, sorting out in his mind what had happened today and what Lin Zhushui had said.
Looking back now, there were actually quite a few flaws revealed between Tang Xiaoling and Tang Xiaochuan. Firstly, there was Tang Xiaochuan’s shadow, different from ordinary people’s. Secondly, after Tang Xiaochuan was injured, Tang Xiaoling insisted on not going to the hospital. There was also a strange expression on the coffee shop owner’s face when he went to discuss compensation.
Perhaps the coffee shop owner was wondering why they took the initiative to bear the compensation when they were all outside when the mirror broke.
These details were ignored by Zhou Jiayu until he was awakened by Lin Zhushui’s words and realized that things weren’t quite right.
But what was the connection between the traffic accidents on the bridge and that website? As Zhou Jiayu pondered, he gradually fell into a deep sleep.
The author has something to say:
Lin Zhushui smooths the scales of the frightened fish: Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid.
Zhou Jiayu: Shocking! This famous feng shui master actually loves to touch fish!
Lin Zhushui: ….Come here.
Zhou Jiayu: QAQ I’m afraid.
Ahahah, authors note is incredibly funny
Thank you for your translation 💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙
Thanks for the chapter!!!
Thank you for the translation! This story is so good, I love looking at them solve the mysteries! I always feel goosebumps! (≧▽≦)
Thank you for the translation!! ✨✨