Chapter 5: Liu Qingya Is Dead?

I tensed up instantly.

Outside the door, a faint figure appeared—someone I seemed to recognize.

“Dad!”

Before I could react, Liu Qingya shouted and rushed out.

Damn, this girl is really bold?

I hadn’t even figured out what was going on outside.

Well, I might as well go out and see for myself; my curiosity was too strong.

I quickly dashed out of the villa. The moonlight was dim, the night pitch-black, and all I could feel was a chilling wind.

I walked for quite a while but saw no sign of Liu Qingya.

Where is she?

Could something have happened?

Panicked, I hurried back inside to call for help. “Uncle Wangcai, Liu Qingya is missing. Can you and a few others help look for her?”

I was visibly anxious. She had gone out just moments before, and I followed her seconds later, yet somehow lost sight of her.

Even if a ghost had taken her, it wouldn’t have happened so quickly.

“Who’s missing?” Uncle Wangcai asked.

“Who else but Liu Qingya?” I grabbed his sleeve with one hand and pulled him toward the door with the other.

“Nonsense, isn’t Liu Qingya right here? She came back less than a minute after you went out,” Uncle Wangcai said, nodding toward the living room.

There she was, kneeling and burning joss paper.

She was here? That couldn’t be right. I had followed her outside; if she had come back, I would have been the first to return.

“Never mind!” I forced a smile at Uncle Wangcai, still puzzled, and approached Liu Qingya. “Qingya, where did you go earlier? You made me search everywhere.”

“Qingya?” I looked at her, but she didn’t respond at all. It was as if she was deaf, completely ignoring me.

Something was wrong.

Very wrong.

I reached out to grab her, wanting to understand what was happening.

But the next moment, I was stunned.

What was going on?

My hand passed right through her body—she was transparent.

No, that wasn’t right. More accurately, this was Liu Qingya’s soul, or rather, a ghost.

How could this be?

I had been outside for barely ten minutes. Did Liu Qingya die in such a short time? And usually, freshly deceased spirits are weak and afraid of the living. How could she be boldly appearing in the living room?

But if she were a malevolent spirit, unafraid of the living, why would she sit here quietly burning paper?

No, this wasn’t Liu Qingya.

I shook my head. It just didn’t make sense if this were really her.

I looked at Uncle Wangcai. “Uncle, when Liu Qingya came back just now, did she show any unusual behavior?”

“No, she didn’t say a word. She just knelt there and burned the paper,” he replied.

Something was definitely wrong with Liu Qingya, but I still didn’t know exactly what.

Before I could gather my thoughts, the chilling wind outside suddenly picked up again. Just as I thought something supernatural was about to happen, a piece of paper floated in the air.

Yes, a piece of paper, about the size of a greeting card.

It seemed to be guided by some invisible force, twisting and turning until it came right before me.

Written in bright red blood on the card was a large, bold character: “Escape.”

A sudden chill ran down my spine.

Who was warning me? Why?

Something was very wrong here.

“Uncle Wangcai, have you seen my dad?” In front of others, I still called Jiang Yuanshan “Dad”—a simpler form of address.

“Your dad? Now that you mention it, I haven’t seen him for a long time,” Uncle Wangcai said, looking around, trying to spot my father.

“Forget it, Uncle Wangcai. Don’t look anymore. You and everyone else should go back and rest. You must be tired tonight.”

I made an excuse, hoping to send everyone away.

“Hey, Xiaochen, that’s not right. Uncle Dazhuang has been our childhood friend. Seeing him off is no trouble at all,” Uncle Wangcai shot me a glance, thinking I was wrong.

For them, accompanying Uncle Dazhuang was a big deal. But I couldn’t just say it was haunted here and that we needed to leave immediately.

I hadn’t even needed to use the methods of exorcism taught to me from the ancient books, and already I was troubled by these events.

Oh well, I’d face whatever came.

People fear ghosts partly, but ghosts fear people more.

With many of us here, if something strange did happen, the living might keep us safe just by being present.

Calming myself, I began thinking more clearly.

Given the circumstances, the first priority was to open Uncle Dazhuang’s study.

During the day, when I used the compass, I sensed something was wrong in the study, but Liu Qingya told me she didn’t have the key, so I gave up for the time being.

Now it was late at night. Upstairs, some people were playing mahjong, shuffling cards, cracking sunflower seeds, chatting merrily—quite lively.

Breaking through the front door was impossible.

I needed another approach.

I stepped outside the villa to study the terrain.

Between the bathroom and the study were two rooms, but fortunately, there were air conditioning units in between.

That meant I could climb out the bathroom window, jump across the air conditioner units, and reach the study window.

This was the only way. If it failed, I’d have no choice but to force the door open. But with so many people around, smashing someone’s door was hardly appropriate.

With this in mind, I didn’t hesitate and immediately set the plan in motion.

“Bang!”

“Bang!”

“Bang!”

...

A few soft thuds sounded as I climbed out the bathroom window and leapt onto the study balcony.

It was perilous—I felt one air conditioning unit was unstable and nearly fell to the ground. Luckily, I was quick.

Taking a deep breath, I pushed the study window.

Thankfully, it wasn’t locked; it opened with a gentle push.

“Creak!”

I rolled inside through the window.

“Quiet!”

Before I could even gather myself, a hand tightly covered my mouth.

Who was it?

I turned and saw Liu Qingya.

How was she here?

If she could cover my mouth, then she was human—not the translucent figure I’d seen earlier.

My shock deepened.

The study was pitch black; I could see nothing.

Just as I thought Liu Qingya might be overreacting or about to cause some trouble, the sound of rustling leaves came from outside.

Something was coming!

Unlike before, this time it was real.

Suddenly, thick black mist enveloped the house and the surroundings. Through the fog, faint, eerie singing could be heard.