"Otherwise, once it's completely dark, how will we tell whether what's in this villa... is human or ghost?"
Jiang Nuo's voice was eerie. With that, he took Si Yan by the hand and crossed the bridge first, looking utterly at ease.
Little did he know that his words nearly scared Jiang Zhong and the others out of crossing. They followed behind Wang Ping in trepidation, and even Old Madam Jiang picked up her pace considerably.
They finally reached the door to Jiang Tong's room, where the chill was even stronger than before.
Si Yan felt somewhat uncomfortable. As though dizzy, he leaned closer to Jiang Nuo and drew their joined hands around behind his back.
In an instant, Jiang Nuo was holding him in his arms.
Jiang Nuo could feel Si Yan relax. He wasn't actually all that frightened, either.
Still, Jiang Nuo patted his shoulder reassuringly and pushed the door open, taking him inside.
The room's furnishings were simple, elegant, and antique in style, but something about the overall sight felt jarringly out of place.
Si Yan's mouth twitched. He hardly knew what to say about this aesthetic.
With such understated vintage decor, why use a hot pink bedsheet and a garish purple carpet?
It was an absolute eyesore.
He turned to Jiang Nuo and clearly uttered a single word.
"Ugly."
"Be polite. Don't criticize other people's style."
Jiang Nuo looked perfectly serious. "Maybe he just likes it."
"It's still ugly," Si Yan muttered again.
Behind them, Jiang Zhong: "..."
These two really didn't care who heard them.
"After Tongtong started high school, he became much more withdrawn and wouldn't let us into his room."
Jiang Zhong shot another irritated look at the nanny, who had remained silent throughout. "Usually, she's the only one he allows in to clean."
Xu Tian immediately defended her mother. "Isn't that what she's supposed to do? She does her job properly, and you still criticize her? What's wrong with you?"
While they argued, Si Yan glanced at the mirror beside the desk. Seeming to notice something, he reached out to touch it.
"A double-layered mirror," he murmured.
Then he found the gap and pried it open.
The mirror panel he opened was covered with cute pink stickers and all kinds of bright red and pink decorations.
"This... how could this be?"
Jiang Zhong couldn't understand how his younger brother could have a secret like this.
"Strange. Could Jiang Tong have a split personality?" Uncle Jiang was puzzled too.
The young nephew he remembered wasn't like this at all.
Jiang Zhong immediately denied it. "We've taken him to plenty of psychologists. None of them found any problems of that kind."
Then everyone discovered that it wasn't just the mirror.
Many things in the room came in pairs.
Even the pillows came in twos, and the hidden one showed clear signs of use.
Wild guess!! Could Jiang Tong be hiding a lover here?!
That's what it looks like to me too! And the person he's hiding is probably a girl. Doesn't that line up perfectly with Jiang Zhong saying he often heard a girl crying?
So is this girl human or a ghost?? However well he hid her, there's no way she could have gone undiscovered for this long!
The people present had also thought of the guesses appearing in the bullet comments.
Jiang Zhong even began trying to remember whether his brother had ever mentioned wanting to date.
"Tongtong is a good boy, and our family isn't strict with him. If he wanted to date, we wouldn't stop him."
Why would he need to keep it so secret?
Jiang Nuo, who was admiring the paintings and calligraphy, answered eerily, "Maybe the person he's hiding is someone you're not allowed to know exists."
Si Yan picked up his train of thought in perfect sync.
"For example, someone who isn't human."
"Ah, you're so clever. That's exactly what I meant."
Jiang Nuo happily stroked the top of his head.
All right, all right! Are you two really not dating?! God Nuo, you spoil him so much!
Si Yan is getting more and more pampered! Does anyone still remember when he was hailed as the ultimate gong?!
Jiang Zhong was left speechless, unable to think of a retort for quite some time.
Because he had already started thinking the same thing himself.
It was completely dark now. Uncle Jiang was about to turn on the lights when he suddenly saw a human silhouette flash behind the curtains.
Startled, he forgot all about the lights and hurried behind Wang Ping. "A ghost! There's a ghost!"
Everyone immediately went on alert. Jiang Nuo looked toward the curtains, where another shadow flashed past, moving faster than a human could.
At the same time, a face flashed across the mirror, clearly enough for everyone to see this time.
Old Madam Jiang clutched her heart with a frightened groan.
It really was a young girl's face! And a terrifying one at that!
Half her face was rotten, her complexion deathly pale and sinister, with bone even showing through.
The nanny took several steps back and turned her face away, as though afraid something would be discovered.
Her reaction immediately drew everyone's attention.
Si Yan asked coldly, "What are you hiding from?"
"Do you know her?"
"No!" The nanny immediately waved her hands in denial, extremely agitated. "I don't know her! I don't!"
But her expression was obviously fake.
Anyone could tell something was wrong.
Si Yan narrowed his phoenix eyes coldly. "Is there any point in lying at a time like this?"
"I'm not lying! I'm not lying! I just don't know her!"
The nanny kept denying it, yet never dared to turn around and look.
Even Xu Tian noticed her mother's agitation and hurried to soothe her. "Mom! Calm down!"
During the argument, the shadow flashed past again.
Daoist Priest Hu reacted swiftly. With a shout, he rushed behind the curtains and grabbed it.
The wrist felt strange beneath his hand. Puzzled, Daoist Priest Hu looked up, then immediately cried out and stumbled backward, pulling the entire curtain down.
It was a life-sized leather puppet!
It raised its head, its cheeks painted vivid red and its mouth curled into an eerie smile. Its dead eyes stared straight at everyone. Behind it lay the dim courtyard, and the moonlight falling over it made it look all the more ghastly pale and uncanny.
Jiang Nuo's gaze flickered. "It's the doll from the money tree earlier."
Wang Ping hurried to shield the ordinary people, watching it warily.
"I'll subdue you!"
Daoist Priest Hu scrambled angrily to his feet and pulled a coin sword from somewhere. With a flourish, he charged straight at the leather puppet.
"Huh?" Wang Ping looked at the sword and immediately tried to speak, only to be interrupted by Daoist Priest Hu's moves.
"Um... Daoist Priest Hu!"
"Don't talk to me, you frauds who can't even kill a ghost!"
Wang Ping hesitated, then could only keep quiet for the moment.
The leather puppet darted into the walk-in closet beside it and vanished.
Daoist Priest Hu followed it inside, muttering what sounded like an incantation.
The viewers were also stunned by this whole series of moves.
Then, seeing that Jiang Nuo, whom his fans had praised so highly, hadn't acted at all and was instead holding Si Yan's hand and leisurely watching the show, they immediately felt they had caught him out.
Didn't you say Jiang Nuo was amazing?! Why can't he even catch a ghost?? In the end, it still takes a proper Daoist priest!
Jiang Nuo is probably scared out of his mind right now! After all, this is a real ghost, not one of those fake ghosts the variety show rigged up to promote him!
But just then, a sudden, agonized scream from Daoist Priest Hu rang out from the walk-in closet!