The Body in the Bathtub

The younger sister's room was a bit messy, with girly items piled on the bed. Yu Xing followed Ye Ting into the room and glanced around briefly.

There were several large plush toys on the bed—rabbit, bear, and stuffed animals. Two books were spread out in the empty space, and a red-cased PSP Yugi was squeezed into the corner next to the books. The sheets were slightly wrinkled, but the desk next to the bed was clean.

Yu Xing could already imagine Ye Ting reading and studying in bed, and playing Yugi when she got tired. It seemed like she was living a pretty comfortable life.

However, since her brother was tutoring her now, Ye Ting didn't lie back down on the bed. Instead, she grabbed her books and sat properly at the desk, leaving a stool for Yu Xing.

"Let's have math tutoring today, Han Shu or something..." Her voice was soft, as if she felt a little ashamed of her poor math skills, "I'm studying by myself, and I don't quite understand it."

Yu Xing nodded and sat down next to Ye Ting.

As things stand, aside from her poor health, Ye Ting behaves like a normal person the most. He felt he should try to build a relationship with Ye Ting to make it easier to extract information from her later.

So, he ended up having two hours of tutoring.

Although she was born relatively early, Yu Xing learned a lot while wandering around on her own. She was not worried about junior high school math. He carefully explained the knowledge points to the little girl and even took out some problems from her exercise book for her to do. After she finished, she had to check them for him and explain them again if she made a mistake.

Finally, after explaining the last problem, Ye Ting breathed a sigh of relief, "Great, I finally understood it. Math is so annoying."

Yu Xing chuckled lightly, "Mathematics is the subject where it's easiest to improve your score in exams, so you have to study it well. It's also related to physics."

"... I know, it's just a casual complaint." Ye Ting shook her head helplessly. "Teach me physics tomorrow, maybe I'll become interested in math because of it."

Yu Xing said "Sure," stood up, and yawned.

Strange, he was already sleepy even though school had only been over for a few hours and it was still a few minutes before nine o'clock.

"Second brother must be exhausted from the exams these past few days, why don't you get some rest?" Ye Ting said with genuine concern. "You can use the bathroom tonight."

"Alright, I'm really sleepy." Yu Xing agreed. There weren't any particularly obvious clues in the younger sister's room for the time being, and even if there were, they were probably hidden quite well. He had to find a way to get Ye Ting away before searching.

It's impossible today. He has no reason to call a young girl out of her room so late at night, even if Ye Ming Ye Ting goes to wash up. It's inconvenient.

Just as Yu Xing was about to leave, a flash of Spiritual Sense suddenly appeared in his mind, and the image of a red Yugi appeared in his mind.

Um?

Yu Xing was slightly taken aback. He was very familiar with this feeling; it was a special Spiritual Sense enhanced during his spiritual communication, which came after his encounter with Ghost Tree.

So this ability still exists?

This was almost his most inconspicuous power, without even a name. Did the system not know he possessed this ability, and thus overlooked it when filtering out sacrifices and physical constitution?

Yu Xing didn't delve into it for the time being. Regardless of how this power evaded the system, it was a good thing for him. His immediate priority was to investigate what was special about that PSP Yugi that deserved Spiritual Sense's private reminder.

Yu Xing walked past Ye Ting's bed, pretending to have just noticed the Yugi: "By the way, what Yugi have you been playing lately?"

"Huh?" Ye Ting paused for a moment, her gaze falling on the Yugi on the bed, then she stammered, "It's one of those... single-player... mini- Yugi."

"I'm starting to get interested. What's the Yugi's name?" Yu Xing felt like a parent interrogating their child about whether they were in a relationship.

"Well, it's just..." Ye Ting paused, then finally told him, "It's just a horror Yugi, but don't worry, this level of fright won't hurt my health!"

"You actually like playing horror Yugi?" Yu Xing's heart skipped a beat, knowing that this might be a clue. He wasn't afraid of ruining his image by asking this, because Ye Ting's room was decorated in a very warm and girly style, without any horror elements. It seemed that she hadn't shown any interest in this area before.

He thought for two seconds, "Could it be that Yu Wan led him there?"

"Sigh, that's about right. Yu Wan Sister Yu Wan likes supernatural things so much, I've gotten curious after hearing about it for a while." Ye Ting glanced at him furtively out of the corner of her eye, clasped her hands together, and said a little shyly, "Yu Wan can like these things, it's okay for me to learn about them, right?"

Yu Xing didn't speak; instead, he wore a slightly furrowed brow.

Ye Ting continued to persuade her, "You can't just indulge Yu Wan just because you like Yu Wan, and then prevent me from having any contact with these things just because you don't like me."

Yu Xing always knew how to grasp the key point, and he immediately replied, "What are you talking about, child? How could I not like you?"

"Wow, you admit you like Sister Yu Wan!" Ye Ting was good at grasping the key points; in some ways, the two were quite similar.

Yu Xing feigned shyness, trying hard to hide it but still managing to reveal a hint: "... Don't talk nonsense. If you play Yugi, remember not to play too late, and don't think about Yugi while studying."

Ye Ting said repeatedly, "Okay, okay, brother, you should go now!"

Yu Xing clicked his tongue inwardly. "When you're useful, brother, come quick; when you're not, brother, leave quickly."

He didn't take this opportunity to see what the so-called horror Yugi was like, because it didn't fit his studious persona. He would just have to wait until next time, when no one else was looking, to come in.

He walked out of Ye Ting's room, lost in thought, and closed the door behind Ye Ting.

In the master bedroom opposite the room, layers upon layers of chains hung from the iron rings specially inlaid on both sides of the door frame. The huge padlocks were very conspicuous. He hadn't seen them clearly when he glanced at them earlier, but now that he had time to stop and observe, he discovered that there were even small bells hanging on the chains.

There's not much wind on the second floor, so these bells don't usually ring randomly, but if someone touches the chain, they'll definitely be discovered.

It seems there's something very important locked in the master bedroom. I wonder if it's my parents' bodies?

It's obvious who originally lived in this remaining master bedroom; what's noteworthy is the fact that it was locked up—who has the key?

The person with the key should know something about the master bedroom.

With a mix of thoughts, Yu Xing arrived at his room. His room wasn't locked, so he reached out and turned the handle. He glanced at the note on the door that read "Do not disturb while studying," and then went inside.

His room was also predominantly blue, matching the overall tone of the two-story house. The cool color scheme made the surrounding air feel somber and desolate. The room was about 20 square meters, quite spacious. A bed large enough for two people was placed in the center of the room, with the headboard against one wall. On one side of the bed were curtains, which were now drawn back, revealing the bay window and the quiet darkness behind it.

Beside the window stood Ye Qin's desk, which he used for studying. On the desk was a very simple desk lamp, and next to the lamp was an old-fashioned gray-black radio, which was not in use at the moment.

Yu Xing stepped forward and turned on the light, illuminating most of the room. Only then did he turn back to continue observing.

On the other side of the bed was a large wardrobe, which, like the bed, was made of wood. Yu Xing walked up to the wardrobe, her feelings toward it quite complicated.

In old folk tales and horror stories, closets were considered very dangerous places, as many ghosts could come out of them and drag people standing in front of them inside.

Even in urban legends, many murder cases involve hiding the body in a closet.

However, since some foreign horror Yugi were introduced to China, hiding in cabinets when encountering monsters has become a habit. In old Chinese stories, the very dangerous cabinet has become a "cabinet father," symbolizing safety.

Judging from the current atmosphere, the cabinet in this divination should belong to the dangerous category.

He reached out, grasped the protruding nail on the cabinet, and slowly pulled the cabinet open.

The cabinet door creaked loudly, casting a dark shadow.

Yu Xing's eyes widened slightly.

Apart from some of his clothes, there was nothing inside; nearly half the space was empty, a desolation that was unsettling.

He didn't expect to find anything by opening the cabinet; he just wanted to familiarize himself with the various places in the room where things might be hiding. After closing the cabinet door, he walked to the bedside.

This wooden bed was considered quite good for its time; it was finely crafted, and the wood felt very comfortable to the touch, without any splinters.

However, the space under the bed is also a concern, as many horror stories feature ghosts hiding there.

Yu Xing lay down to check again, and this time he couldn't say he came up empty-handed, because he saw what he wanted to see under the bed.

There was a large pool of blood under the bed, right in the middle, not easily visible from the sides. Next to the blood, there were many bloody handprints on the floor. The handprints were blurry, but looked like someone had been struggling under the bed.

She didn't know how long ago this had happened, but the bloodstains were still wet, which clearly defied the laws of physics. Yu Xing's expression darkened slightly, and she began to make some guesses about the world she was in.

But this was also his limit. The drowsiness Bugui his control, just like when he was lying in the classroom of Blood Pool Middle School and suddenly felt sleepy. The drowsiness made it impossible for him to think about anything else in detail, and he just wanted to sleep.

"This method of advancing the plot is really..." Yu Xing forced herself to find some clothes to change into in the closet, then prepared to go to the bathroom on the second floor, "It's only because the current deducers don't have any special abilities, otherwise various resistance-type sacrifices would be enough to resist this predicament."

He yawned again, pushed open the door and went out. Just then, Ye Ming came out of the room. When Ye Ming finished tidying up the dishes and other things downstairs and went upstairs, Yu Xing was tutoring Ye Ting and still heard some noise.

Ye Ming was taken aback when he saw the clothes in his arms. "Are you going to take a shower first?"

"Hmm, I'm sleepy. I want to rest early tonight." Yu Xing saw that Ye Ming's hands were empty, and guessed that he had come out just in time to take the bathroom from him.

"That's amazing! My little brother actually wanted to go to sleep before eleven o'clock today. The sun must have risen in the west." Ye Ming chuckled. "Well, you should get some rest. I'll go to the bathroom first, and you can wash up afterwards."

Yu Xing nodded and waited there for a while. Ye Ming finished his business, went into his room, and closed the door.

The bathroom and toilet on the second floor are combined. The toilet is much smaller than the one on the first floor. The rest of the space is for bathing. Instead of a shower, they have a bathtub installed. When Yu Xing walked in, the curtain in front of the bathtub was drawn tightly.

He put the clothes on the shelf next to him, glanced at the half-length mirror on the wall, and saw that face that made him feel a little awkward again.

His appearance had remained unchanged for far too long at twenty-three years old; this teenage body was too unfamiliar to him, and he couldn't look away after just one glance.

Yu Xing walked to the mirror with great interest, leaned forward and carefully examined himself. He saw that his face was still very youthful, and there were even some traces of baby fat on his cheeks that he had never noticed before.

His hair was a rather well-behaved student-style cut, cut quite short, revealing his eyebrows and ears. Not only was he not as tall as his adult self, but his muscles were also much thinner, and his physique was still immature and had not fully matured.

"Tsk, so this is what I used to be like, a complete weakling." After observing for a while, Yu Xing finally expressed his opinion in his heart.

He disdained his own appearance, even tugging at his own face and giving himself a contemptuous look.

He didn't like himself when he was a child.

Although the reality was different from his current appearance, for example, his hair was even longer back then. In his memory, some of his elders had shaved half of their heads and wore long braids, which he found unbearably ugly. So he cherished his hair from a young age and didn't want others to touch it, fearing that they would deceive him and drag him to the barbershop to get a haircut.

Until he went abroad to study, his hair was always on the longer side. It wasn't until he returned to China after completing his studies that he cut his hair short, but his bangs still covered his eyebrows.

Some people look really good with short hair, exuding a sunny vibe. However, due to their somewhat feminine features and innate strong artistic sensibility, they know how to style their appearance to match their features without looking out of place.

Those who study art never shy away from femininity, because they can see beauty in all its forms and accept even more peculiar aesthetics from some people, treating them all equally.

But all of that is in the past.

After entering the laboratory as an experimental subject, Yu Xing's life was never connected with the carefree world of art again. How innocent and happy she was back then, how much she regretted not having been exposed to the wickedness of human nature sooner.

Therefore, he disliked his former self.

He used to be a complete weakling, nothing but his supposedly amazing artistic talent.

As it turned out, his artistic talent brought him no benefit, only making him more tolerant of the existence of Lingren, which ultimately led to...

An irreparable mistake.

The person in the mirror reminded him of a long, long time ago, but he didn't yearn for those days; in fact, the thought of them annoyed him.

"Never mind, I'm so sleepy." Yu Xing ended her self-examination with a muttered remark to herself, not lingering on the image in the mirror that represented her past. She turned around, took a few steps, and reached out to pull the bathtub curtain.

It didn't open on the first try.

Yu Xing paused, her eyes slightly narrowed.

He had just finished reminiscing about the past, and now he wasn't in a very good mood, and of course, something came to cause trouble.

How interesting, are they rushing to help him relax?

He pulled harder on the curtain, but the thing behind it didn't let go, holding the curtain firmly in place without moving an inch.

Yu Xing pursed her lips and lowered her hand.

Seemingly sensing his relaxation, the creature inside probably thought he was scared and about to leave, and the curtain suddenly moved slightly.

Immediately afterwards, the curtain was pulled open, and Ye Ming's blood-stained face appeared before Yu Xing.

Ye Ming's entire body seemed to be drenched in blood. He emerged from the bathtub naked from the waist up and then remained motionless, his hand still tightly gripping one end of the curtain. His eyes were open, his pupils unfocused, clearly indicating that he was a corpse.

Outside the window, quite fittingly, a massive bolt of lightning ripped across the sky, followed by deafening thunder, making Ye Ming's corpse appear even more gruesome.

Is it going to rain? Yu Xing stood there, his expression unreadable, leaving everyone wondering what he was thinking.

He stared intently at the motionless corpse. The curtain had been drawn open by the body, but after it was drawn open, the body remained motionless, lying quietly on the edge of the bathtub.

The blood on the corpse also gushed from the wounds. Ye Ming's emaciated body was covered with cracks, each one merciless and deep enough to expose the bone.

No matter how you look at it, aside from the supernatural phenomenon of the corpse pulling the curtain itself, this place looks exactly like the crime scene of a bathroom murder.

Yu Xing leaned closer, examining the wound carefully, completely disregarding the possibility that the corpse might still be "alive." She compared the size of the wound to the knives in the kitchen and said softly, "It's not a kitchen knife. Even a cleaver wouldn't leave a wound like this."

"The murder weapon was even larger and heavier, similar to an axe."

The corpse seemed genuinely unconcerned about what he was saying, although it was rare for a madman to be as audacious as Yu Xing, daring to act so recklessly without any means of self-defense.

"But brother, you clearly promised me that you would let me take a shower after I finished using the toilet. What's going on with you taking over the bathroom now?" Yu Xing clearly saw Ye Ming walk out of the bathroom and go back to his room, but now Ye Ming's corpse is clearly lying here.

Ye Ming is here, but who is it that comes out of the bathroom?

Or perhaps both of them are Ye Ming, so Ye Ming himself... cannot be "Ye Ming".

Yu Xing found that his drowsiness had dissipated considerably after seeing the corpse, which was quite normal for a person to feel upon seeing a body. He said to the corpse, "Alright, I've seen it. Now, please leave. I'm going to take a shower."

After saying Yu Xing unabashedly pressed down on the corpse's hand, pried open each of its stiff fingers that were gripping the curtain, and then decisively drew the curtains, blocking out everything.