You Want to Kill Me Too?

Fang Xiu obtained some information regarding the aged residence on Xinhe Road from the lawyer Zhou Hongshen. The documents indicated that the courtyard was built in 1904, making it over a hundred years old.

At that time, the area was still a foreign concession. Having survived several wars and witnessed multiple eras, the house could be said to have endured the vicissitudes of time, bearing witness to the century of turbulent changes in Wei Port City.

The residence had passed through over twenty owners, with tenures ranging from as long as thirty years to as short as a few months. There were foreigners and Chinese alike, some who had purchased it and others who had rented it temporarily.

However, Fang Xiu could only see their names; specific identity information and personal histories were absent. Zhou Hongshen had originally collected these details merely to appraise the assets under Wang Hao's name.

"If you want to find more detailed information, you can check the District Library; it's not far from your house," Zhou Hongshen suggested to Fang Xiu.

The library was larger and older than Fang Xiu had imagined. It was said to have been established even earlier than his residence. Following the librarian's instructions, Fang Xiu located old newspapers, documents, and books from that period, attempting to find clues about the events of the time. However, because the era was so distant, the information was not easy to gather.

"You are looking for records from the 1930s, aren't you? Perhaps you could take a look at the autobiography and memoirs of Mr. Li Cheng. He lived on Xinhe Road at the time and should have what you're looking for." Fang Xiu felt that this librarian was no simple person; at the very least, he could be described as highly knowledgeable.

Fang Xiu found the autobiography and sat at a library table to flip through it. It was a thick, brick-like book with densely printed text, accompanied by old photos treasured by Mr. Li, which fully captured the lifestyle and minutiae of that era.

After flipping through a few pages, Fang Xiu immediately found what he was interested in and wanted to know.

"When Fifth Miss Chen moved in, it was the twenty-fourth year of the Republic. Many people admired her at the time, and local celebrities and scholars came to visit one after another. When I first saw her, she was wearing a Western-style dress, holding a young girl by the hand as she stood at the courtyard gate. She was graceful and beautiful, truly a top-tier beauty. Perhaps due to her time studying abroad, she possessed a temperament we had never seen before."

"I only then learned that she was already a mother. As for who the child's father was, I was her neighbor for quite some time, yet I remained unclear. I only vaguely heard others say it was a Westerner."

"At that time, Fifth Miss Chen's reputation spread throughout all of Weigang City. She was called the number one beauty of Weigang City and was the most famous socialite in high society. I, however, was just a small editor at a newspaper office, a penniless scholar."

"That day, I had just returned from outside when Shopkeeper Wang told me that Fifth Miss Chen had gone mad and committed suicide by slitting her wrists at home. She wasn't discovered until a week after she had passed away."

"Since then, I have never seen a beauty with such temperament again. Every time I pass by the gate of that house, I inexplicably recall that slender, upright figure, smiling back at me with a lingering, sorrowful gaze."

The descriptions of Fifth Miss Chen spanned two or three years, mostly just passing mentions. Fang Xiu flipped through many pages until the final one detailing her death, where he noticed a photograph in the upper left corner.

It was a somewhat blurry, faded black-and-white photo. In the center stood a woman wearing a white, ink-wash patterned cheongsam that looked like blue-and-white porcelain. She stood in front of an old rice shop, staring directly into the lens. Her appearance was very similar to the young girl Fang Xiu had seen earlier.

However, after reading the entire book, Fang Xiu found no information regarding Fifth Miss Chen's daughter, nor any records—not even a name.

"It must be her! The time, the location, and the appearance all match. The girl I saw is the daughter of this so-called Fifth Miss Chen?"

Fang Xiu borrowed some materials to take home, intending to study them carefully once he returned.

Yet, on the way back, Fang Xiu remained deep in thought: "Why would I see someone from over a hundred years ago? Is it a ghost? But isn't this a world without magic? How could such a thing happen? Where would ghosts come from? How could there be ghosts? This doesn't seem non-magical. And after checking the Space-Time Management Log and the information I've gathered, this shouldn't be something from another space-time either."

"A hundred years have passed; why didn't it happen sooner or later? Why did I encounter a ghost as soon as I arrived? There was no mention of such things in previous records."

"Then the only possibility is that it was because of me that this supernatural, paranormal event occurred."

Fang Xiu immediately began to ponder what different things he had done recently: "I discovered and opened a strange underground secret room. That room looked just like an underground cell."

"I had the room renovated and placed my supernatural items inside it."

Fang Xiu immediately became mostly certain: "There are still some issues with that room that I haven't discovered. As for the occurrence of the paranormal event, it must be that I happened to place the supernatural items there, which provided the necessary conditions for a supernatural event to manifest."

"These supernatural items are truly dangerous. Even if left untouched, do they still affect the surrounding world?"

Fang Xiu was not walking fast, but since the library was not far from his home, he soon arrived at his doorstep. Fang Xiu had finally managed to roughly piece together the cause of the paranormal event.

Standing at the door, Fang Xiu closed his eyes and his mind raced. It was troublesome, yet it wasn't. The only tricky part was that in his normal state, Fang Xiu could not see the spirit at all, and the three supernatural items—the Deceitful Clown's Face, the Giant Force Hand, and the Deep One's Blood—were not items that could act upon spirits.

However, Fang Xiu instantly formulated three ways to resolve this paranormal event.

First, he could use the Saint's Ring to resolve the event directly, but Fang Xiu felt that would be a waste.

Second, Fang Xiu could move the three supernatural items away, which would cut off the source of the entity's power.

Third, he could uncover the secrets of the secret room and find out why placing supernatural items there caused a paranormal event.

Fang Xiu decided to try the latter two first; if those failed to resolve the situation, he would then use the Saint's Ring.

Fang Xiu walked into the courtyard. He could see the grass was lush and seemed to have been watered. Pushing open the door, he discovered that the layout of the living room had undergone some simple changes; the sofa had been moved, flowers had been placed in a vase, and everything was organized in perfect order.

For now, this female ghost posed no threat to Fang Xiu, but the fact that an invisible person was living under the same roof still made Fang Xiu feel deeply unsettled.

"Regardless, I must first get to the bottom of what this paranormal event is all about."

He grabbed a sledgehammer, a crowbar, and an electric drill, pried up the basement floorboards, headed down, and turned on the lights.

As the lights flickered on, Fang Xiu was about to begin his work when he sensed something abnormal in the room.

Fang Xiu suddenly looked up and saw the Deceitful Clown's Face, which had been stored in the cabinet, floating in mid-air as if it had lost all gravity, emitting a faint, fluorescent glow.

As the glow swirled, a phantom shadow began to take shape under the light.

First, he saw slender, gaunt hands gripping the mask, their skin so fair and delicate that the veins were visible beneath. Then came a lace-trimmed top and a long red skirt. The bright red skirt spread out and spun like blood splattering, revealing a pair of small feet pressed together beneath it.

In that instant, Fang Xiu felt as if he were watching a poppy bloom—beautiful enough to make one shudder.

It was a face like a porcelain doll. She tilted her head, looking at Fang Xiu with curiosity, her eyes filled with innocence and loneliness.

The hand holding the Deceitful Clown's Face slowly brought it to her own face, as if a child had found an interesting toy.

The comical smile on the Deceitful Clown's Face instantly transformed into an expression that was both crying and laughing, leaving one unable to tell if it was sorrow or joy.

A childish voice drifted from beneath the mask: "Hey! Do you hate me too?"

"Do you... also want to kill me?"