The Dad in the Refrigerator

The empty streets and the gradually cooling wind brushed against Yu Xing's face, mixed with Yu Wan's somewhat sinister tone, which made Yu Xing involuntarily get goosebumps again.

He looked at Yu Wan a moment, a thoughtful look flashing in his eyes.

Although somewhat unexpected, Yu Wan was indeed reminding him of Ye Ming's unusual behavior.

In addition, in the car, when she interrupted him by saying she was out of napkins, he tried to turn his head under Ye Ming's gaze, and at that moment Yu Wan gave him a meaningful look.

However... it's also possible that Yu Wan realized he had discovered Ye Ming's weakness, so he preemptively interrupted Yu Xing's attempt to turn her head to look at her. Perhaps Yu Wan, like Ye Ming, had an inhuman appearance at that time.

Now, she's pretending to remind Yu Xing that there's a chance to clear her name. Even worse, she's trying to trick Yu Xing into revealing that she saw the face reflected in the glass. Once Yu Xing falls for it, Yu Wan will drop the pretense and twist his head off.

Because there is no system, the rules governing objects in this world must be discovered by the deducer himself. Who knows Yu Wan will be a potential teammate or a ticking time bomb?

These thoughts formed in his mind in an instant. Yu Xing smiled at Yu Wan, somewhat puzzled, and asked, "What are you talking about? Have you been watching too many horror movies lately and are having bad associations?"

After saying that, he took out the key and inserted it into the door lock.

"Huh?" Yu Wan murmured hesitantly, "No way, could it really be that I've been too engrossed lately and am hallucinating? But..."

Yu Xing stepped into the house first, Yu Wan followed after a slight pause.

She acted like an ordinary person experiencing a paranormal event for the first time, unsure of what she had seen. Yu Xing's reaction clearly confused her, but seemingly out of good intentions, she had to say again, "So you didn't see it? But whether you believe it or not, I suspect Ye Ming has been exposed to something unclean lately. Seriously, that scene was too eerie. I'm quite knowledgeable about this stuff!"

Yu Wan glanced around, making sure Ye Ming hadn't returned yet, and Ye Qin's younger sister hadn't come downstairs either. "Just last night, an old lady near our house passed away. She's the same old lady we used to pick persimmons from when we were little. I heard her son treated her badly and even hit her, so she died of anger. Last night I had a bunch of weird dreams, and I feel a bit uneasy. I suspect Ye Ming was also bothered by that old lady's ghost. You know I like to study paranormal things and I'm a bit superstitious... I just wanted to remind you."

Yu Xing listened perfunctorily; he would write down everything Yu Wan said, but he didn't necessarily have to believe it.

After all, it's all just a bunch of lies; you can't trust anyone until you figure out the rules of this world.

Upon entering, he changed into his family's plastic slippers and immediately took in the layout of the living room.

The living room was large, with three rather large blue sofas arranged around the center. In the middle of the sofas was a wooden coffee table with a plate of fruit and a vase of carefully tended flowers on it.

Opposite the main seat on the sofa was a television. The television was not large, and the model was somewhat outdated, which confirmed Yu Xing's guess that the era was somewhat retro.

The kitchen is connected to the living room. The open kitchen door allowed Yu Xing to see part of the kitchen's interior. It was fully equipped with a refrigerator and stove. The floor was covered with the same white tiles as the living room. Apart from the tiles and walls, the main color of this house was blue. Even the bookshelves, low tables, and square dining tables in the living room, as well as the three chairs around the square table, were covered or covered with a layer of blue cloth.

The cool, subdued color scheme was remarkably effective at lowering the temperature; Yu Xing was no longer hot at all. Inside the house, he couldn't even feel the slightest hint of summer heat.

Yu Wan skillfully took out a pair of light yellow girls' slippers from the shoe cabinet in the entryway, distinguishing them from another pair of smaller pink slippers.

"Hmm... let me think... within seven days after that old lady died, don't get up and wander around after midnight. If you see a black or white cloth, ignore it. Under Yu Wan continued to ramble on and on, not caring about Yu Xing's indifference, and counted three taboos on her fingers.

Yu Xing became serious upon hearing these taboos. Was his suspicion of Yu Wan truly unnecessary?

Yu Wan doesn't seem like a malicious ghost at all; on the contrary, he seems to be someone who "loves paranormal events and therefore has done some research," thus taking over the system's responsibilities and issuing the first rule of this world.

Yu Xing looked a little puzzled. "How do you know about these strange things?"

"Strange? Please, anyone with even a slight interest in paranormal phenomena knows this!" Yu Wan looked at Yu Xing Yu Wan disbelief. "Even the most commonly told ghost stories mention these things. Haven't you ever heard a ghost story before?"

"... You know, while others are listening to ghost stories, I'm usually reading." Yu Xing came up with an excuse very quickly. If that's the case, then it means that Yu Wan said is indeed a fairly "well-known" rule in this world.

Regardless of whether everything Ye Qin and his family would experience in this house later was related to the deceased old woman, what Yu Wan told him was the most valuable information so far: one should not go out at night before the First Seven after death; one should not remove black or white cloths; and one should not let ghosts know that they have been seen.

If Yu Wan hadn't asked him for a napkin in the car, he might have directly violated the third taboo.

"Ugh, I know you're a top student, all you do is read books, you bookworm," Yu Wan muttered. "But you should learn something else sometimes, don't take me for granted. I only agreed to have dinner at your house to tell you this, otherwise you won't know anything after I go back, and it'll be troublesome if something happens."

"Okay, okay, I understand, I'll be careful." Yu Xing agreed as if he had given in. When he left the examination room, he realized that he didn't have a cell phone. Judging from the era, cell phones were not yet common among students at that time, Yu Wan would not be able to contact him easily after leaving.

Making a phone call from a home landline is easily overheard by others.

However, Yu Wan's tense but not particularly frightened appearance, he guessed that the acceptance of paranormal phenomena in this world was probably greater than in the real world.

In other words, those taboos may have been discovered step by step by the people of this world from the beginning.

It's a bit strange, but not inexplicable.

"What are you two talking about? You seem to be having a good time?" Ye Ming's voice suddenly came from behind. Ye Ming had appeared behind the two of them without them noticing, and he walked as if he hadn't made a sound at all.

Yu Wan's expression changed involuntarily, then she chuckled dryly, "It's nothing, I was just talking about the exam. I had a lot of questions I wasn't sure about, and I just asked Ye Qin. It seems like I got most of them wrong."

"Hmm." Yu Xing replied indifferently, not wanting to crowd at the door, she walked into the living room and glanced at the clock on the wall.

It's five o'clock.

If he's the one cooking, can he go into the kitchen now?

He put down his backpack and walked towards the kitchen under the watchful eyes of the other two people. The two did not stop him, indicating that his actions were not unusual.

It wasn't until he entered the kitchen and opened the refrigerator door that he heard Yu Wan ask Yu Wan great interest:

What are we eating today?

After glancing at the ingredients, Yu Xing smirked and replied, "Meat, didn't my brother say he wanted to eat meat?"

"What kind of meat?" Whether intentionally or unintentionally, Yu Wan asked again.

Yu Xing stared at the middle-aged man's head in the refrigerator, his eyes wide open, staring at him with unseeing eyes. The dismembered arms and legs were piled up on a layer below the head.

"Xiao Qin..." The man's mouth didn't move, but he seemed to hear a call.

Yu Xing remained expressionless. He decisively turned off the upper refrigerator compartment, opened the freezer compartment, and sure enough, saw a pile of bloody offal and some spare ribs that had not been properly processed.

"..."

What's going on with this deduction? Surprises always seem to happen unexpectedly when everything appears normal.

He didn't answer Yu Wan again, but instead called out, "Brother, come over and see what you want to eat? You worked hard on the exam today, this is a treat for you."

"That's so kind of you? Then I won't stand on ceremony." Ye Ming's voice carried a hint of amusement, clearly showing that this older brother was quite gentle with his younger brother.

He had just put his backpack down, and like Yu Xing, they had both temporarily left their backpacks on the sofa. The tall, thin boy, wearing slippers, walked over, and Yu Xing made way for him.

Since he had stepped aside, his view of the refrigerator's interior was blocked by the refrigerator door, so he focused his attention on carefully observing Ye Ming's expression as he looked behind the refrigerator.

"There's still plenty of food, did Xiaoting buy it all?" Ye Ming's tone was perfectly normal, and one could even detect a hint of happiness.

Xiaoting?

Yu Xing quickly realized that this Xiao Ting was probably his younger sister, Ye Ting.

This family is amazing! The eldest son, a senior in high school, is in charge of studying; the younger son, a junior in high school, is in charge of cooking; the younger sister is in charge of grocery shopping; the mother is nowhere to be found; and the father is just there as ingredients in the refrigerator?

Indeed, Yu Xing believed that the man in the refrigerator was the father of this family. The man's head was frozen blue, but it still retained his appearance from when he was alive. He looked to be around forty years old, which was very much in line with their father's age.

Does this mean Dad was the first to die?

Yu Xing lowered her gaze, dismissing the idea.

Not necessarily. Ye Ming doesn't seem like a normal person either. His mother is missing and her condition is unknown. There's also his younger sister, Xiao Ting, whose current state is also unknown.

Moreover, the worldview of this world has not yet been deciphered. If it is a worldview similar to "Ye Qin's Nightmare", then the order of death in the dream cannot be counted. We must find the real clues that can represent the truth from the slightest clues.

"Since Xiaoting bought so many groceries and we have a holiday tomorrow, how about making beef stew with potatoes today?" Ye Ming reached into the refrigerator and rummaged around before taking out a bag of raw beef.

Yu Xing was certain that the refrigerator only contained the dismembered corpse and some packaged vegetables; it didn't contain the bag of things Ye Ming was currently holding.

He leaned closer, and this was a height difference he hadn't felt in a long time. As a high school sophomore, he seemed to be only about 1.7 meters tall, almost 10 centimeters shorter than his tall and thin older brother.

Standing close to Ye Ming, he saw that the scene in the refrigerator was completely different from before. It contained normal ingredients, but also vegetables such as potatoes and carrots.

The meat options include pork, beef, and chicken. The portions of each are not large, but they are definitely enough for four people to eat for two or three meals.

A hint of interest flashed in Yu Xing's eyes. That's right, this is more fun. An unusual event is necessary to fit the tone of the deduction. If he hadn't called Ye Ming over just now, he would probably have faced the situation of either cooking with a corpse or not being able to cook at all. He wondered if Ye Ming would have died because of this.

He also sensed that the terrifying tone of this deduction was roughly a mix of Chinese and Japanese styles. Generally speaking, these two types of terrifying plots are the most difficult to handle because they do not leave the deducer any room for armed resistance.

For example, Sadako. What makes Sadako so terrifying is that she follows an unsolvable curse. As long as the person who watched the videotape doesn't send it to someone else, they will receive an unending midnight curse. Sadako will crawl out of the television, and no matter how much the person struggles, they will be killed by Sadako's terrifying hair.

However, if the deducer can use the same supernatural methods to deal with Sadako in the same situation, or even eliminate Sadako, the sense of horror will be greatly reduced.

Now, Yu Xing is in a state of being unable to resist.

Faced with Ye Ming's expectant gaze, he shook his head and said, "There's no time to stew beef today. This needs to be done in advance. Tomorrow is a holiday, so I can prepare it during the day and have beef and potato stew for dinner."

He took the beef from Ye Ming's hand and put it back in the refrigerator, then took out the chicken. "Shall we make Kung Pao Chicken with the edamame?"

"I'll add more diced chicken, then stir-fry some tomatoes and eggs, and a plate of bok choy."

"Okay." Ye Ming didn't complain and happily returned to the living room, where he sat down at the dining table.

Instead of sitting and waiting for his meal, he opened his schoolbag, took out his homework, and started writing as quickly as possible.

"Is Xiaoting upstairs?" Yu Wan sat down opposite Ye Ming. Even though she had seen the supernatural event on the glass window, when she reminded Yu Xing earlier, she didn't say it was because Ye Ming himself had a problem. Instead, she suspected that Ye Ming was being influenced by the old woman's ghost, which shows that she still trusted Ye Ming a lot.

Perhaps the two ghosts didn't want to cause internal strife?

"Hmm, she's probably reading. We'll call her down for dinner later," Ye Ming.

Yu Wan "oh," checked the time, and took out her homework to start writing.

During this time, the landline phone on the coffee table rang once. Yu Wan answered the phone Yu Wan she had expected it, replying a few times to the person on the other end, "Yes, Mom, don't you know me? If I don't come home on time, I must have gone to Ye Qin's house. Oh, cleaning? Okay, I'll be back after I finish eating."

After the phone call, the living room fell silent. Yu Xing withdrew her attention from eavesdropping and began preparing the ingredients.

He's always been very good at cooking. After paying a little attention to whether the seasonings had been replaced with random things like human blood or hair, he easily cooked the dish.

Incidentally, he also had the leisure to think about how, he'd heard, all the test questions for this preliminary exam were the same. What about those who couldn't cook? Should they switch roles and play Ye Ming?

Who will play the female role this time? Will it be Yu Wan, or Xiao Ting?

Nothing else happened. When Yu Xing brought the cooked dishes and rice to the table, Ye Ming got up and went up the stairs to the second floor, saying he was going to call Xiao Ting down for dinner.

Before long, two figures came down the stairs. The one in front was a petite figure who looked only thirteen or fourteen years old. Her hair was loosely draped behind her head, her face was slightly pale, and her body was as thin as Ye Ming's. She was only wearing a pink onesie nightgown at home, and the sleeves were a bit wide, which made her arms look even more slender.

Ye Ming followed behind her, as if protecting her.

"Ye Ting, long time no see!" Yu Wan waved to Ye Ting.

Ye Ting seemed more outgoing than her two older brothers. Although she was also rather quiet, she greeted Yu Wan a smile, saying, "Hello, Sister Yu."

Yu Xing remained calm. Given Ye Ting's age, she should be in the second or third year of junior high school, but today was clearly Friday, yet Ye Ting seemed to have skipped school, staying at home in her nightgown, and even having bought groceries in the morning.

Both Ye Ming and Yu Wan seemed quite used to this.

Does Ye Ting not go to school? Yu Xing noticed Ye Ming's subtle protectiveness towards Ye Ting as they went down the stairs, and a guess formed in her mind: Ye Ting's health might not be so good.

The two walked to the dining table, Ye Ting exclaimed with delight, "Second Brother, there's so much meat in the Kung Pao Chicken today!"

"Pfft." Yu Wan couldn't help but laugh out loud. Because Ye Ming he wanted to eat meat, "Ye Qin" really cooked a big pot of Kung Pao Chicken, which looked quite impressive. They definitely wouldn't be able to finish it today.

Ye Ming: "..."

The atmosphere among everyone was fairly harmonious. Yu Xing could tell that the three siblings of the Ye family were all rather introverted, but Yu Wan particularly cheerful, like an energetic little sun. She talked a lot, and Yu Wan eating with them, even Ye Ming and Ye Ting became a little more talkative.

After dinner, Yu Wan said that she needed to help with the cleaning at home, so she left first, leaving only the three siblings to clean up the dishes.

As the eldest brother, Ye Ming, despite his heavy workload as a senior in high school, didn't leave all the chores to his younger siblings. He washed the dishes by himself, letting Yu Xing and Ye Ting go upstairs to do their own things.

Yu Xing finally had a chance to go upstairs and take a look. To be honest, he hadn't looked at the lobby on the first floor very carefully. There were always people around, so it wasn't convenient for him to observe. Besides the living room, the first floor also had a kitchen, a bathroom, and a very small activity room.

In the bookshelf in the living room, there was a framed photo. Yu Xing glanced at it briefly; it was a group photo of the three siblings, but their parents were still nowhere to be seen.

Hopefully, there might be some clues about the father and mother on the second floor...

The exam time on the test paper is definitely different from the simulation he is experiencing now. Yu Xing has a premonition that he will probably have to stay in this world for two or three days, or even longer if the system wants them to adapt to the long simulation in advance.

Yu Xing still has no clue about the three questions. The most important thing is to unravel the worldview. He must figure out whether the timeline he is in is the relative reality of this world, someone's dream, a reenactment of fear, or even a revisiting of the souls of a family after death.

This is the benefit of having some understanding of various horrors, horror Yugi, and paranormal events; at least you won't be completely disoriented, but can quickly grasp a general worldview based on the overall tone.

"Second brother, what are you thinking about?" Ye Ting asked curiously when she noticed Yu Xing's pace slowing down slightly.

"Nothing, just thinking about a question from today's exam." Yu Xing's excuse is so effective, tsk tsk, being a top student is really great.

"Second brother, you must have done very well on the exam, right?" Ye Ting's tone was a little envious. "When can I go to school to take the exam...?"

"You'll definitely get there soon." Yu Xing, though unaware of Ye Ting's specific problem, offered unwavering encouragement.

Ye Ting shook her head and laughed, "Second brother, don't try to make me happy. I'm afraid I won't be able to go to school for the next few years."

Yu Xing showed a hint of reluctance.

Ye Ting quickly reassured her, "But don't worry, I'll study hard with you, and I'm sure I'll get into a good university when I take the college entrance exam."

"Okay, I'm here for you, you can definitely do it." Yu Xing patted Ye Ting's head.

Ye Ting's bright eyes looked at Yu Xing: "Second brother, have you finished your homework? When are you going to tutor me today?"

Yu Xing. He had already seen that Ye Qin had a habit of recording his homework in a notebook. Since the exam had just been held, there wasn't much homework recorded in the notebook this time. And it was probably for the convenience of deduction. He had already checked the homework recorded in the notebook and found that it was all done. He didn't need to do it himself.

So he said, "I can tutor you right now."

Ye Ting was a little happy.

By this time, the two had already gone up the stairs to the second floor. The layout of the second floor was relatively simple. Apart from a toilet at the end, there were four rooms. There were some things at the door of each room that could help Yu Xing identify the identity of the room's owner.

Ye Ming's room is closest to the stairs, the door is tightly closed, and there is a piece of paper on it that says "Strive for the college entrance exam, good luck!" Ye Qin's room is opposite Ye Ming's, and there is a sign that says "Do not disturb while studying." Ye Ting's room is further inside, and there is a small pink teddy bear doll in a dress stuck on the door.

The remaining room was sealed off by several layers of chains, with a large, old lock hanging there, making it hard for Yu Xing to miss.