The moment Jiang Nuo entered the villa, he clearly sensed the heavy black aura lingering inside.
Not an ordinary ghost, either. That's some heavy resentment.
Si Yan felt somewhat uncomfortable too. Half a step behind, he suddenly raised his eyes warily, fixing his gaze on the turn in the staircase.
A few minutes later, Liu Ze brought Liu Lili downstairs.
Just as Liu Ze had described during the livestream, Liu Lili looked very strange. Her head remained lowered, her long hair covering her face, and she showed no reaction to strangers entering.
But as Jiang Nuo studied her, she suddenly looked up. Against her pale skin, her pupils looked even blacker, vacant and deathly still.
Jiang Nuo's expression remained unchanged as he calmly met Liu Lili's gaze. A few seconds later, he smiled and gave her a slight nod.
Holy fuck, that scared me to death! Is this a fucking horror movie?!
Fuck, why did the camera shake just now too?! I thought she was going to crawl through the screen... (°ο°)
Whatever else you say... Jiang Nuo really has guts...
The cameraman silently took a deep breath.
Brother Cui never said today's paycheck would be this hard to earn!
Liu Ze invited them to sit in the reception room. Only his family of three and the butler remained in the villa now, and his wife was still bedridden from fright, leaving the place feeling empty.
"So, Mr. Jiang, what exactly should we do?"
Liu Ze scratched at his hair in distress.
"What's her daily routine been like lately?" Jiang Nuo asked, his gaze settling on Liu Ze.
He hadn't noticed during the livestream two days earlier, but now he saw that, aside from Liu Lili's strangeness, something seemed faintly wrong with Liu Ze's physiognomy too. It seemed to foretell a ruined family and deaths.
But it hadn't changed completely yet. It was only at a critical point in the transition.
"She can't attend school like this, but she doesn't want to give up her studies. Apart from staying home, she sometimes goes to a study room on the next street over in the afternoon. It's not far."
"Lili bought an annual membership there. She goes often."
Si Yan asked, "Have you been there, Director Liu?"
Liu Ze shook his head. "No. Lili has a mind of her own. She's very opposed to us interfering in her life."
He hadn't expected them to ask about this. After thinking for a few seconds, he asked, "Could this have something to do with that study room?"
"We're not sure yet. We'll know once we go along with her later."
Jiang Nuo didn't answer directly. He picked up the teapot on the coffee table and poured a cup, lightly brushing his fingertips over it before handing it to Liu Ze.
"Director Liu, why don't you check on your wife first? I'd like to talk to Lili alone."
He was asking him to leave.
Liu Ze naturally understood, but... why had he suddenly handed him a cup of tea?
Puzzled, he accepted it, only to look at Jiang Nuo in sudden astonishment when he touched the cup. "All right, all right. I'll head upstairs."
No words could describe the shock Liu Ze felt at that moment.
The weather had turned cooler, and the tea in the living room was kept hot at all times. He had just drunk a steaming cup himself.
Yet the cup Jiang Nuo had handed him was cold enough to freeze his hands.
Could this tea be... for his wife?
Liu Ze was shrewd too. He quickly caught on and immediately went to the master bedroom.
"She's drawing."
From where Si Yan sat, he could clearly see what Liu Lili was doing as she curled up on the sofa, and he alerted Jiang Nuo.
He was still considering how to get a look at the drawing in her hands.
Beside him, Jiang Nuo said, "Lili, can I see your drawing?"
Si Yan looked over in surprise, only to see Liu Lili suddenly stop her trembling arm. She turned, revealing half an eye, and grinned.
Then she silently held out the drawing board, her smile deepening.
"Thank you. You're so well-behaved."
Jiang Nuo took it.
Si Yan: "..."
You two really have quite the back-and-forth going.
So fake! Would Liu Lili be this obedient if something were wrong with her?
I was scared just now, but this part really is fake... barf!
Stop arguing! Look at the drawing! It's so scary...
The edges of the paper had all been shaded black. Walls flanked both sides, with a staircase drawn in the middle. Above the steps were indistinct shapes that resembled bookshelves.
In the middle of the staircase stood a girl in a white nightdress, her hair a tangled mess. Her face was shaded too, leaving only the faint outline of a deathly pale face visible, her pupils drawn huge and black.
The girl faced forward as if walking down. The staircase extended all the way to the end, as though she might walk out of the paper at any moment.
Although her face was unclear, her clothes and outline made it easy to tell that this was Liu Lili's self-portrait.
It made the viewer's skin crawl.
On the opposite sofa, Liu Lili stood in the same pose, looking very eager for Jiang Nuo's reaction.
Jiang Nuo offered high praise. "Very talented. Nicely drawn."
Liu Lili: "..."
She grew somewhat exasperated, unable to maintain even her eerie smile. She curled up again, refusing to communicate.
The bullet comments... Fuck, Jiang Nuo really is so goddamn calm!
Si Yan flipped back a few pages.
Every drawing depicted roughly the same thing.
But the farther back he flipped, the higher Liu Lili stood. In the first drawing, she stood at the very top of the stairs, with the clearly drawn backs of bookshelves behind her.
The drawing style was still quite normal at that point. The expression on Liu Lili's face could even be called terrified.
So what was at the bottom of the stairs that could lure her down even as she was afraid?
That was what everyone who saw the drawings was wondering at that moment.
"This might be the study room."
Si Yan guessed, "It looks like it."
"You must have seen it wrong..."
Liu Lili spoke for the first time that day.
She twisted around at an extremely contorted angle, her voice ghostly.
Si Yan looked at her calmly, then suddenly caught on half a second later and shifted closer to Jiang Nuo, looking a little frightened.
As it happened, Jiang Nuo was still studying the drawings and missed that instantaneous change.
He patted Si Yan's hand reassuringly and gave Liu Lili a casual glance. "Good students don't scare people. How rude of you."
The cameraman, hiding behind their sofa, thrust the camera toward her again.
Liu Lili suddenly didn't know how to react.
She froze there for a long while, then realized that none of the three took her seriously at all. Her fury instantly soared.
"Hhh..."
The resentment surrounding her abruptly multiplied, her pupils expanding until they nearly filled the whites of her eyes.
The vengeful spirit had finally appeared.
The corners of Jiang Nuo's lips lifted slightly. He flung the drawing board toward her. Just before Liu Lili could catch it, it abruptly stopped for half a second, then slammed into her face.
Bang-
Such a crisp sound.
Liu Lili was stunned by the blow, her long hair falling messily over her shoulders and exposing her entire face.
At the same time, the black aura around her, which had nearly become tangible, was suppressed.
Jiang Nuo shifted his sitting position, his smile harmless. "Calmed down yet?"
Liu Lili nodded dazedly.
Si Yan's gaze flickered. He silently shifted a little closer to Jiang Nuo again, inwardly relieved.
Good thing he and Jiang Nuo were on the same side.
Although he was using him... Jiang Nuo hadn't noticed.
"Still scared? She's quiet now."
Jiang Nuo turned his head in puzzlement. There had been half a person's width between him and Si Yan just now, but now Si Yan was practically sitting on him.
He really was a scaredy-cat.