Just as they were at a loss about what to do with the man who was dead set on escaping, Bai Tao slipped through the door. She emerged from the corner of the hallway and looked at the messy room that reeked of urine and blood. Covering her nose, she pointed outside. “Let’s get out first. It’s cleaner out there.”
Before the others could react, Jiang Ye roughly hauled up the dejected man and shoved him into the bathroom.
He rolled up his sleeves and twisted the faucet open. Fortunately, there was still water. He grabbed the showerhead and sprayed Tang Jie down in one smooth motion, as rough as if he were washing a pet dog. He tilted his chin up slightly. “You do it yourself, or should I?”
“I-I’ll do it myself.” A timid voice replied.
Jiang Ye glanced at him and shut the door.
The drenched Tang Jie slowly lifted his eyes. The door opened, and a set of clothes was tossed roughly into his arms. Then the door closed again. A look of shock appeared on Tang Jie’s dirty face, and he couldn’t quite process what had just happened.
In the solid wood sofa set on the first floor of the living room.
“Jiang Ye, don’t you know to go easy? Will this really work?” Zhou Zhuo Hua asked worriedly, glancing toward the bathroom now and then.
Bai Chen Zhu sat in a chair, leaning back with his head tilted up to stare at the dazzling chandelier above. “What’s there to worry about? You scared he’ll drown?”
“Let’s wait a bit.” Jiang Ye said. “He might need some mental preparation. If he doesn’t come out soon, I’ll check on him.”
Bai Tao wandered around, confirming the place was empty and uninhabited. Her lively mind couldn’t stay still.
She pushed Zhou Zhuo Hua toward the kitchen. “Sis, I really want some white rice~ Let’s go scrounge some more to eat! Who knew white rice could be this sweet before?”
“You’re always thinking about food.” Zhou Zhuo Hua said helplessly.
“Seize the day, right? Who knows if it’ll be gone tomorrow? Gotta eat a few more meals while we can!” Bai Tao argued, unapologetic even if her logic didn’t hold.
Their voices grew fainter as they walked away.
Bai Chen Zhu propped his chin on his hand and looked at Jiang Ye, prodding him. “Why don’t you go?”
He still remembered Jiang Ye’s cooking skills; that grilled chicken last time had been pretty good.
Jiang Ye glanced at the door. “Not good leaving you, the injured one, alone. Want to come together?”
“That’d be even worse. We’re guests; we should wait for the host.” Bai Chen Zhu shook his head and waved his other hand like a fan. “Go on, go on. Even without that girl asking, I want grilled chicken too. I’ll be fine alone. Shout if something happens.”
Jiang Ye turned and left helplessly.
They waited a long time until the four of them sat down at the table with simple dishes paired with heaps of white rice. That was when a figure limped into view at the doorway.
He wore a simple short-sleeved shirt and long pants. His freshly washed face looked clean, youthful, and right in the prime of life. But his exposed arms were red, swollen, broken, and bruised, clearly showing recent abuse.
He stared dumbfounded at the four of them and the food on the table.
When their gazes focused on him, the man shrank back a few steps to the doorway, poised to flee at any moment.
He eyed them warily. When he spotted the familiar Jiang Ye and Zhou Zhuo Hua, the fear on his face eased a bit. But for some reason, he didn’t dare approach and just observed them silently.
Jiang Ye walked over first and pulled out a chair for him in invitation. “Tang Jie, long time no see. We borrowed your kitchen and table a bit. Hope we didn’t cause trouble?”
“No problem, it’s just…” Tang Jie mumbled, shaking his head. He coughed violently a couple times, barely clearing his throat, then gaped at them wide-eyed and tongue-tied. “How-how are you all still moving around in this house?”
He gave the composed four a strange look. “Aren’t you afraid of seeing ghosts?”
“Ghosts?” Zhou Zhuo Hua asked curiously. She was probably the least superstitious one there; otherwise, her old life wouldn’t have been livable.
“Where’s the ghost?” Zhou Zhuo Hua leaned forward, firing off questions. “Little Jie, what’s going on? Don’t be scared. Take me to see?”
They all ignored the injuries on Tang Jie’s body, their tones light and natural.
Tang Jie choked up, shook his head, and tried to shoo them away with a bitter smile. “Since you don’t know anything, you should leave quickly. Jiang Ye, this isn’t a good place. You shouldn’t have come.”
“I remember this is your house. What’s wrong with visiting? After knowing each other so long, you won’t even give us that chance?” Zhou Zhuo Hua directly dragged him in from the doorway and pressed him into a seat.
Zhou Zhuo Hua’s familiar tone and actions reminded Tang Jie of the past, and the tension in his muscles slowly relaxed.
“It-it is my house. But-but…” Tang Jie panicked and babbled incoherently, trying to express something as he hastily tried to stand again, only to be pressed back down.
Zhou Zhuo Hua’s tone was gentle, but her actions forceful. “Don’t rush. Let me check your hand first. Losing this much blood isn’t minor.”
She examined the wound. “It’s so fresh. Did that black-clothed man do it?”
Tang Jie mumbled vaguely in response.
Zhou Zhuo Hua sighed and helped the shaky man sit properly. After a moment, she said, “It’s stopped bleeding. Let’s eat first, then I’ll put medicine on it.”
They ate a very quiet meal. Tang Jie seemed starved; he wolfed down the hot food until he couldn’t eat more but still tried stuffing himself, as if to devour a lifetime’s worth in one go. When he couldn’t anymore, he vomited it all up, squatted in the corner dazed, tears dripping down as his messy hair made him look utterly disheveled.
Zhou Zhuo Hua fetched a first-aid kit and bandaged him simply. Tang Jie kept his eyes down the whole time, silent.
During this, Bai Chen Zhu signaled Jiang Ye with his eyes several times, but Jiang Ye just shook his head, seemingly unsure how to broach it.
Bored, Bai Tao knelt on her chair. She pulled the four-legged chair forward precariously until it balanced on just the back two legs, scraping the wooden floor with grating sounds now and then. She even rocked back and forth, worrying anyone watching.
In the silence, she glanced at Jiang Ye, then at Tang Jie, and suddenly tugged Bai Chen Zhu’s sleeve, throwing out a topic. “Bro, do you think that ‘Uncle Duan’ lived here?”
“What Uncle Duan?” Tang Jie reacted. The next second, he jumped up, fists clenched, shoulders trembling violently, pupils contracting. Fear, disgust, and hatred flashed in his eyes. “Isn’t he dead?”
With an entry point, Tang Jie’s reaction changed; he became more communicative.
“You know him? Is he your enemy?” Bai Chen Zhu mused. “Don’t worry, his bones are scattered with no remains.”
Tang Jie gritted his teeth and scanned the four. “Jiang Ye, why did you come this time?”
He wasn’t arrogant enough to think anyone came specifically to save him, especially since they hadn’t met in years.
Bai Chen Zhu explained their purpose in a few words. From how he and Jiang Ye had gone to People’s Park looking for something, to killing Uncle Duan and suspecting revenge, so they came to check on Tang Jie.
“Thanks.” Tang Jie listened stunned, then clapped and burst out laughing, doubling over. “Thanks a lot.”
With Bai Chen Zhu’s explanation, Tang Jie felt a bit safer and grew more talkative.
“Uncle Duan was once our family butler. The revenge thing is a misunderstanding. Why would we seek revenge for someone like him? Even if we did, it wouldn’t be A-Liang and them. Oh, right—the black-clothed man you mentioned is my childhood friend A-Liang. Don’t worry, A-Liang’s a good guy.”
In other words, two different groups. Bai Chen Zhu tapped his fingertips on the armrest.
Bai Tao couldn’t help interrupting Tang Jie. “But the one who just kidnapped me was clearly him! They’re no good! And weren’t those cuts on your hand made by your ‘brother’?”
Tang Jie was speechless, mumbling, then lowered his head, staring at the wound on his wrist without a word, lost in thought.
“If he’s such a good guy, why make you live in a dog kennel in your own house?” Bai Tao said sharply with an innocent face. “Was it because you treated them badly before, so after awakening superpowers, they started bullying you?”
Bai Chen Zhu’s eyelids twitched. He liked Bai Tao’s bluntness but worried her straightforwardness might make the man clam up.
“No, it’s not like that. You’ve misunderstood. My injuries weren’t from A-Liang, and the dog kennel isn’t because of him. He just doesn’t dare come here.” Tang Jie shook his head, then nodded. “I never bullied Uncle Duan either. People just change after gaining superpowers.” He gave a bitter laugh. “Besides, Uncle Duan’s gone. Let bygones be bygones.”
“Since we’re done eating, we should leave soon.” Tang Jie said lowly. “This isn’t a good place.”
Jiang Ye’s eyes flickered as he cut to the chase. “You’ve been rushing us out, so what’s in the villa?”
Tang Jie’s heart pounded. He clenched his fists. “Nothing much, really just…”
About two weeks ago.
At noon, Tang Jie was napping comfortably at home when someone yanked off his blanket, waking him coldly.
He opened his eyes and thought it was a daydream. How else could he see his suit-clad father at home?
Tang Jie hardly ever saw his parents, let alone his dad. It was like the sun rising from the west for him to return to the old house.
Seeing his good-for-nothing son, Tang Father flew into a rage. He confiscated all the car and house keys, froze his bank card, and roughly locked him in the room to reflect.
Hugging his blanket, Tang Jie was baffled. Why was Tang Father so furious on this rare visit that he locked him up? Unwilling to accept it, Tang Jie snuck out that night with his small bag to crash with friends.
But late at night, a loud crash came from the master bedroom, like something smashed viciously on the floor.
Tang Jie broke out in cold sweat.
The house was said to be over a century old, bought by his father from some noble of the last century and renovated into its current luxurious villa.
It was said a few maids had hanged themselves on the second-floor staircase, and a farmhand had suicided in the corner storage room…
Tang Jie gritted his teeth, trembling as he crept to the master bedroom.
He quietly cracked the door and saw Tang Father curled miserably in the corner, retreating toward the balcony. The man in his fifties clutched his head, yelling hysterically, “I don’t know anything! I don’t know! You’ve got the wrong person! You’ve mistaken me!”
Tang Jie heard a eerie, icy voice: “No one can escape.”
Tang Father, still backing away, was suddenly lifted by the neck into the air. His legs kicked wildly in struggle, gasping harshly. “You violated the agreement. Aren’t you-afraid of being found out?!”
Tang Jie’s first instinct was to rush in fighting!
But as he pushed the door wider, what did he see? Nothing! What confronted Tang Father seemed to be thin air!
Shock, doubt, and fear paralyzed him. He shivered, weighing his strength against the foe.
It’s a monster! No way I can beat it. As he hesitated—
The next second, Tang Father was hurled out, smashing through the floor-to-ceiling window with a crash. He hit the ground with a thud, his scream piercing the night.
All this happened in mere minutes. Tang Jie, witnessing it, clamped his mouth shut, afraid to make a sound.
He rushed downstairs. At the same time, the villa’s butler, live-in auntie, gardener, and others emerged due to the noise.
Tang Father lay on his back, eyes wide staring at the dark sky, blood pooling around him.
Tang Jie stood pale amid the shattered glass, legs trembling weakly as he reached for the man in the blood. “Dad…” What the hell happened?
“Later, people in the Villa District said my dad was possessed by a ghost and jumped from the balcony at midnight. And after that, everyone who touched his body started acting strange.”
“They all got possessed by the ghost and turned into zombies in broad daylight.” Tang Jie tugged his lips into an ugly smile and wiped his eyes.
He blew on the freshly medicated wound on his arm, acting nonchalant. “If you don’t believe me, I’ve got nothing else to say. I’ve told everyone, but they call me crazy or a liar. Even Uncle Duan, after gaining superpowers—I warned him the house was unlucky, but he insisted on coming in, and now he’s gone too.”
This wasn’t just outrageous; it was ridiculously outrageous. Bai Chen Zhu inwardly repeated and grumbled about this line over and over, but on the surface, he remained very calm, even nodding slightly in agreement. “Good thing he’s gone. Then where did you get this injury? Could it all be from him…”
“Injury?” Tang Jie paused his boasting. “Oh, you mean this.”
“You don’t know how many people used to live in this Villa District, do you? Later, some died, some fled, and some turned into zombies. Their families came to me demanding an explanation. Then Uncle Duan said that since it was my dad’s corpse that caused the mutation, father pays son’s debt, so he took some people…”
Zhou Zhuo Hua couldn’t stand to listen anymore and couldn’t help but curse, “A bunch of idiots!”
Tang Jie got interrupted and couldn’t help but laugh. When he tried to speak again, he couldn’t remember where to pick up. So he just said whatever came to mind. “Since you say Uncle Duan is dead, then that man in black must be A-Liang. He must have come looking for me, but he’s afraid of this Ghost House. Don’t you believe me?”
“I don’t disbelieve you.” Bai Chen Zhu crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair, frowning in thought. “That air you mentioned—is it really something you can’t see or touch?”
As he said this, he stared intently at Tang Jie’s evasive eyes.
“There really was nothing…” Tang Jie recalled, and he shivered. “I don’t remember.”
People would naturally seal away memories that were unfavorable to them for protection, and Tang Jie was probably in that situation.
The mere thought of ghosts made Bai Tao’s face turn pale. Zhou Zhuo Hua fumed indignantly, while Jiang Ye seemed thoughtful.
Bai Chen Zhu looked around and abruptly realized that he was the only one who had been talking with Tang Jie.
Bai Tao and Zhou Zhuo Hua occasionally chimed in with a word or two, but why had Jiang Ye gone completely silent? Bai Chen Zhu looked toward Jiang Ye, but Jiang Ye only stared at Tang Jie.
“Ahem.” Bai Chen Zhu cleared his throat, reminding a certain someone to rein in his gaze. “Since you said…”
“Tang Jie! Tang Jie, get out here!”
The roar from outside interrupted their conversation.
Someone coming for revenge? Bai Chen Zhu’s brows furrowed, and he exchanged a glance with Jiang Ye. Without a word, they both stood up.
