Chapter 28: Relocating the Grave (16)

"Your wife smells like another dog; let your husband wash you clean."

"What are you hiding from?"

"Who is Junyao? Your husband is right here beside you; why not look to him?"

"Ah—" Jiang Shengsheng jolted upright, gasping for air.

Hearing her hoarse cry, Xia Junyao, who had been sleeping beside her, snapped open bloodshot eyes, suppressing a splitting headache. "What is it? Did you have a nightmare?"

Burying herself in his warm embrace, Jiang Shengsheng’s eyes instantly reddened.

Pitter-patter tears dampened Xia Junyao’s shoulder. He pressed his hand against the back of her head, patiently soothing the distraught woman. "It’s alright, it’s alright. It was just a dream—"

His voice cut off abruptly.

The man’s eyes were locked onto the patches of red spots on Jiang Shengsheng’s neck, his expression twisting for a fleeting moment.

Who? Who left these hickeys on his baby?!

Jiang Shengsheng, held in Xia Junyao's arms, shuddered unexpectedly. A terrifying sensation, as if she were being stalked by some wild beast, washed over her. She looked up and met his icy gaze.

"Junyao?"

Was it an illusion? Why did it feel like Junyao was looking at her with such cold, tyrannical eyes?

Outside the window, the full moon hung high in the branches. Jiang Shengsheng rubbed her eyes and looked up again; the man’s face was no longer twisted with madness, but filled with tender concern.

Jiang Shengsheng sobbed uncontrollably. Xia Junyao got up and walked to the table to pour her a glass of water.

With his back to her, his somber eyes were filled with madness.

A white pill fell from his fingertips and dissolved into the water.

He lifted the glass to his eyes, the wall of the cup reflecting a smile that grew wider and more terrifyingly twisted as his scheme succeeded.

He would wash the scent of the stray dog off his baby, bit by bit, carefully and thoroughly.

His baby was truly disobedient, letting some stray dog leave marks on her behind his back. She deserved to be punished.

Xia Junyao turned around, wearing a gentle smile. "Drink some water. Your voice is hoarse, baby."

Watching as Jiang Shengsheng obediently tilted her head back and drank more than half the glass, Xia Junyao suddenly let out a laugh.

Bewildered, Jiang Shengsheng tilted her head. "What’s wrong?"

His response was to suddenly push her down.

"Junyao?"

"Tell me, baby," Xia Junyao hovered over her, one hand sliding up and down her neck. "Who left these marks here? Hmm?"

His rough fingertips rubbed her neck mercilessly, trying to erase the hickeys that had driven him to lose his senses.

"I—" A finger pressed against her slightly parted lips. Jiang Shengsheng looked at him anxiously, and Xia Junyao’s eyes curved. "Let’s get married when we go back, shall we?"

"…Okay."

***

Jiang Shengsheng’s eyes widened, looking at the man with a mix of confusion and fear as he pinched a white pill. "What are you taking?"

"This?" Xia Junyao chuckled softly. "I gave some to you earlier, too. It was in the water. You were such a good girl, you drank it all."

He smiled and stuck out his tongue.

The crimson tip of his tongue licked his lips as he swallowed the pill in front of her.

"It is…" He leaned down to kiss behind her ear and whispered four words.

Those four short words caused Jiang Shengsheng’s expression to change drastically.

"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid. I’ll be gentle. Don't refuse me, baby."

Feeling as though she had been crushed by a massive truck, the woman curled in the quilt let out a pained moan.

Jiang Shengsheng did not sleep a wink all night.

She kicked her legs, and the strange sensation on her ankle made her forget her discomfort. She sat up and lifted the quilt.

Around her slender wrist-bone was a gold ring as thick as a finger.

A thin gold chain was attached to the ring at one end and to a pillar in the distance at the other.

Jiang Shengsheng, realizing she had been outplayed, could no longer convince herself otherwise.

After dating for several years, she never imagined Xia Junyao had such a mad side.

Just as she lowered her eyes, pondering how to undo or break the chain, someone outside inserted a key into the lock.

The door opened, and the man standing outside left Jiang Shengsheng in shock.

"It’s you…"

***

Qi Yiqing stood before the stone statue.

Following his previous threat to it, this was his second time coming to the shrine on the back mountain.

Last night, just before the paper dolls rustled away, Qi Yiqing had pushed open the door.

In an instant, the paper dolls crowding the hallway stopped eerily, staring from various angles at the fearless red-haired man.

The vast expanse of red before his eyes stung Qi Yiqing’s vision. He rubbed his temples and pulled his long blade from his game inventory.

When the chaotic, noisy sounds in the hallway faded and other doors cracked open, the players scanned the dim corridor with sharp eyes.

Liu Wanjun stood in the hallway, lifting her hand to touch the silently vibrating bell in her pocket.

[Detect Evil Spirit · Auxiliary Item] successfully activated.

This was an auxiliary item she had gained as a reward from her previous dungeon; it could detect the presence of evil spirits within a hundred meters.

Clearly, an evil spirit had appeared.

As for where… she glanced at the room deep in the hallway, then turned around and said nonchalantly to the others, "Someone lured the paper dolls away. Let's seize this opportunity to gather more clues."

The truth about what happened in Stone Village years ago was drawing closer.

Liu Wanjun was impatient to end the dungeon.

She wanted to nip every threat in the bud.

Once the dungeon ended, the decryption game would automatically seal it. She didn't believe a string of data could make any waves after that!

Qi Yiqing walked to the long table where the stone statue was enshrined and wiped away the thick layer of dust with his thumb.

It seemed this place had been abandoned for a long time.

Using the hilt of his blade to lift the filthy curtain, Qi Yiqing bent down and crawled inside.

In a corner under a window, he noticed traces left behind after the wall had been repaired.

The tip of his blade neatly and carefully pried away the covering wall plaster.

Beneath the plaster, he found a patch of brown, splash-shaped patterns.

Qi Yiqing raised an eyebrow, his hands working tirelessly.

A few minutes later, he stared at the brown marks remaining on the wall and floor, lost in thought.

Had someone died in this corner?

Being inside a dungeon game, Qi Yiqing’s mind immediately jumped to blood.

The marks on the wall and floor were what remained of dried blood.

Rustling sounds echoed from behind. Qi Yiqing’s sharp eyes darted toward the noise, his voice icy. "Come out."

After a while, Qi Yiqing’s patience wore thin. He clicked his tongue and strode toward the source. The bespectacled man, who had been hesitating in front of the shrine, shrank his neck and poked his head out. "It's me."

Seeing it was just another player, Qi Yiqing did not lower his guard, pointing his blade directly at the man. "What are you doing skulking around?"

Xie You was the second person to emerge. After Qi Yiqing lured the paper dolls away, Xie You had held his breath and followed behind him.

He hadn't expected to run into Qi Yiqing at the shrine. Xie You rubbed his chin and began his performance.

He adjusted his glasses and said embarrassedly, "I came to the shrine to look for clues. Everyone else had gone out, so I came alone."

Qi Yiqing stared at him with deep, heavy eyes for a few seconds, as if judging whether he was lying.

After a long while, he turned away. "Wait until I’ve finished checking everything before you come over to this side."

This meant Xie You was to search the side chambers instead.

Xie You shrugged indifferently.