Chapter 21

Two minutes passed.

The blood in the cup remained completely still.

“Can’t touch it?” Shen Juan asked.

Gu Shuge pulled her finger out and nodded dejectedly. “This blood won’t work.”

Shen Juan could not receive her response and could only rely on her own guesses. She took several more cups, cut open all the remaining blood bags, and poured them in separately. “Try again.”

Cup after cup of scarlet blood was lined up in a row, like a grand feast belonging to vampires. Just looking at it was enough to make one dizzy.

Gu Shuge sighed. Unfortunately, she had no appetite at all. This blood did not look delicious in the slightest, nor did it look drinkable. She tried them one by one, but she could not touch any of them.

It seemed it had nothing to do with blood type either.

Shen Juan waited another two minutes. Seeing that the row of cups of blood showed no movement at all, she understood. This blood had no effect on Xiao Ge.

So Shen Juan began to consider whether these blood samples had no effect on Xiao Ge, or whether it was only during that short period just now that Xiao Ge had been able to touch fresh blood. Or perhaps Xiao Ge could only touch her blood.

That last guess made Shen Juan’s chest feel a little hot.

It would be very easy to verify.

She picked up the scissors she had used to cut open the blood bags and used one blade to cut the index finger of her left hand. The pad of her finger was sliced open, and fresh blood welled out.

Gu Shuge’s appetite was instantly stirred. She could actually smell the blood. It was a little bloody, but not unpleasant. Instead, it made her want to eat. Shen Juan wanted to verify whether Gu Shuge could only touch her blood. Gu Shuge quickly understood. She endured the hunger rising in her stomach and directly touched Shen Juan’s wound.

She touched it.

Beneath her fingertip was warmth, moisture, and the slight stickiness of blood. She could even touch the flesh of the [stolen content]wound. Gu Shuge’s fingertip trembled, and she quickly drew back a little, afraid of hurting her. The fragrance of fresh blood spread before her nose. Gu Shuge swallowed and tried hard not to look at the wound, shifting her gaze to Shen Juan’s face instead.

Shen Juan actually smiled, her brows and eyes especially gentle. “It seems only my blood can let Xiao Ge touch things.”

That should be the case. Gu Shuge immediately could no longer care about how delicious the blood was. Her mood turned heavy, and she complained softly, “How can you still smile?”

If she wanted to communicate with Shen Juan, she would definitely have to use a lot of blood. If only Shen Juan’s blood was effective, how badly would that hurt her body? How could she not worry at all, and even smile instead?

But Shen Juan looked very happy. Ever since Gu Shuge’s accident, she had never seen such a light smile from her. Shen Juan did not look for any container either. She directly squeezed the wound, squeezing two coin-sized drops of blood onto the surface of the coffee table. Gu Shuge watched with her heart in her throat, feeling that it must hurt so much. There was not much blood in a finger to begin with, and after Shen Juan squeezed out a few drops, the wound had turned pale.

But she did not even furrow her brows. She casually tore off a tissue, wrapped the wound, and said, “I’ll ask questions. If yes, draw a check mark on the coffee table. If no, draw a cross.”

This would be much more convenient.

Gu Shuge said, “Okay.”

Shen Juan began. Her first question was, “Other people’s blood has no effect on you, right?”

This was almost already certain, but she still wanted to confirm it once more. Then Shen Juan saw a check mark appear out of thin air on the glass surface. The check was drawn very slowly, and it was also very small.

“That’s wonderful,” Shen Juan said.

Gu Shuge frowned. She wanted to write, How is this wonderful? If only your blood works, how much of a burden will that be for you? Blood was not something one could have as much of as one wanted. Shen Juan was already so thin.

She was just about to write, but when she looked at those two coin-sized pools of blood, she held back. That was so many words. Even if she used all the blood here, it probably would not be enough to finish writing. She had to use it sparingly.

“Is it very difficult for you to write using blood?” Shen Juan asked again.

This time, Gu Shuge did not answer immediately. She paused for a moment and considered for a while before a check mark slowly appeared on the glass surface.

This meant it was difficult, but not extremely difficult. Shen Juan understood her meaning from the speed of her answer.

The reason she asked was because Gu Shuge drew the check marks very slowly. For an ordinary person, drawing a check would take less than a second and require very little effort, but Xiao Ge had taken nearly half a minute. The check she drew also looked thin and tiny, appearing almost gaunt.

Shen Juan thought for a moment, then asked, “Then compared with the floor tiles earlier? Draw a check if it’s easier. Draw a cross if there’s no difference.”

Gu Shuge knew what Shen Juan wanted to confirm. The glass surface had less friction than the floor tiles. If it was easier, that meant the amount of friction affected how smoothly she could write. In other words, after becoming a ghost, her strength had also decreased.

She drew another check. Although it was still difficult, compared with the floor tiles, it was indeed much better.

“It’s probably because you don’t have a physical body now and are very weak, so your strength has become weaker too,” Shen Juan said in a speculative tone.

Gu Shuge hesitated. She indeed had no physical body, but she did not feel especially weak. Although she was light and drifting, without much weight, she did not have the feeling that she might dissipate at any moment.

After hesitating for a long time, she slowly drew a check on the glass.

When she lifted her head after drawing it, she saw Shen Juan’s eyes filled with a smile.

She really is very happy today, Gu Shuge thought. She could not help smiling along with her.

They really should be happy. They had found a way to talk. They no longer had to speak to themselves separately.

“Xiao Ge,” Shen Juan called her.

Gu Shuge listened seriously.

Shen Juan curved her lips and said, “We still need to improve the method. For example, we need to see if we can make it less tiring for you.”

Gu Shuge immediately nodded in agreement. “And we definitely need to find a way to save ‘ink’!” That was the most important thing. If every time they wanted to talk, Shen Juan had to cut her finger and squeeze out this much blood, that would be too frightening.

As soon as she said it, an idea appeared in her mind.

They could try mixing water into the blood.

After water was added, not only would there be more stolen content of it, it could also make the blood less sticky and reduce the resistance when writing.

Gu Shuge immediately wanted to tell Shen Juan this idea. She dipped a little blood, preparing to write the character for “water.” Shen Juan’s phone rang.

Gu Shuge could only stop and wait for her to finish the call.

It was Lin Mo calling. Shen Juan responded briefly twice, then said to the air before her, “Your classmate Muzi has arrived. We need to go see her first. You understand her better, so you can observe whether there is anything abnormal about her.”

Gu Shuge habitually answered, “Okay.” Only after saying it did she remember that she could draw a check mark to respond to Shen Juan.

She slowly drew another check mark on the glass surface.

Shen Juan patiently waited for her to finish drawing before saying to her, “After meeting your classmate Muzi, we’ll go home and think of ways to improve this method of conversation.”

Gu Shuge nodded and drew another check.

Several check marks had been drawn in blood on the [stolen content]coffee table, and beside them were several cups of fresh blood lined up in a row. No matter how one looked at it, it was an eerie scene.

Shen Juan pulled out several tissues and went to wipe away the bloodstains Gu Shuge had drawn.

Just now, Gu Shuge had been focused entirely on answering Shen Juan’s questions and had not noticed. Now, as she watched Shen Juan wipe away the bloodstains, hunger struck her stomach once more.

The blood had already dried, so it was not easy to wipe clean. Shen Juan lowered her head and wiped it inch by inch. Gu Shuge took a deep breath, doing her utmost to ignore the urge to consume something delicious.

She did not plan to tell Shen Juan about her craving for fresh blood.

Shen Juan treated her so well. If she knew, she would most likely use her own blood to feed her.

She was already so thin. How could she withstand that? Gu Shuge watched Shen Juan’s focused side profile as she wiped the table, and her heart ached a little.

If she had a physical body, she would definitely treat Shen Juan well. At the very least, she would fatten her up a little.

As soon as this thought arose, Gu Shuge felt as if her heart had been pierced by a needle. She used to have a physical unauthorized copy body. She had only been a ghost for eight or nine days. But when she had a physical body, she had not treated Shen Juan well. She had even avoided her.

“All right. We can go now.” Shen Juan finished wiping away the bloodstains, tidied the coffee table, and, as usual, said this to the air.

She led Gu Shuge out. Gu Shuge sank into regret and silently followed behind her.

Muzi had been arranged to wait for them at a hotel not far away.

That hotel was controlled by Gu Group, so arranging things there made it easier to hide their movements and control the situation.

Lin Mo had sent a girl to stay in the room with Muzi while he went downstairs to receive Shen Juan. As he walked, he reported to her about finding Muzi. “She returned to the country the day before yesterday. School is on break, and she planned to spend the holiday in China.”

“Spend Christmas in China?”

Lin Mo had clearly considered this question too and immediately answered, “We asked her. She said it was mainly to accompany her family. Her parents are both quite busy, and she’s an only child. Her relationship with her parents is also very good, so she basically comes home during long holidays.”

The elevator arrived, and they walked in.

Lin Mo continued, “She already knows what happened to Miss Gu. She said she learned it from the media.”

The news of Gu Shuge’s accident had been reported by both print and online media. It was reasonable for her to have learned the news from the media.

“Liu Guohua is already there. He came on his own, not with the police.”

Shen Juan nodded, indicating that she understood.

When they entered the room, the girl sitting by the window seemed startled by the sound. Gu Shuge followed behind Shen Juan and recognized that it was indeed Muzi.

Muzi wore a plaid coat with a plaid long skirt in a similar color scheme. Her style was very sweet. She looked at Shen Juan somewhat timidly.

Shen Juan walked over, restrained her aura, revealed a smile, and said, “Hello. I’m Xiao Ge’s sister.”

Gu Shuge knew she wanted to use a friendly attitude to help Muzi relax.

Muzi was indeed affected by her kindness and became less nervous. She also smiled and said, “I know. You’re her sister-in-law.”

The scene suddenly went silent because of that sentence.

Shen Juan’s smile faded slightly. She asked, “Is that how she introduced me?”

Muzi’s tone unconsciously became cautious. “No. I learned about your relationship from media reports.”

“Oh.” Shen Juan was silent for a moment, then smiled at her kindly and stated her purpose frankly. “You know about Xiao Ge’s matter. There are some details I’d like to ask you about.”

Muzi was very candid. She nodded and said, “Student Gu was a very good person. When I saw the news of her accident online, I almost thought I had read it wrong. Please ask. As long as it’s something I know, I’ll answer.”

Gu Shuge paid attention to Muzi’s expression, trying to distinguish whether her words were true or false. But no matter what, she could not focus. The title “sister-in-law” was like a curse, constantly echoing through her mind. She could not help looking toward Shen Juan. Shen Juan was speaking with Muzi, her expression as usual.

Gu Shuge lowered her head, somewhat confused.

She was indeed her sister-in-law. How had she forgotten?