A Secret (GL) - Chapter 21

Two minutes passed.

The blood in the cups remained completely still.

“You can’t touch it?” Shen Juan asked.

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

Unable to hear her response, Shen Juan could only rely on her own intuition. She took several more cups, cut open all the remaining blood bags, and poured them in. “Try again.”

A row of cups filled with crimson blood stood lined up like a grand banquet for vampires; the sheer sight of it was enough to make one lightheaded.

Gu Shuge sighed; unfortunately, she had no appetite. This blood didn’t look delicious at all. She tried them one by one, but she couldn’t touch any of them.

It seemed blood type had nothing to do with it.

Shen Juan waited another two minutes. Seeing no ripples in the cups, she understood: this blood was useless to Xiaoge.

She began to ponder: Was it that stored blood was ineffective, was that brief moment of touch just a fluke, or—could Xiaoge only touch her blood?

That final thought made Shen Juan’s chest feel a sudden warmth. To verify it was simple.

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

Gu Shuge’s appetite was instantly piqued. She could actually smell the scent of this blood—slightly metallic, but not unpleasant; in fact, it was alluring. Shen Juan wanted to verify if only her blood worked, and Gu Shuge understood immediately. Suppressing the hunger rising in her gut, she reached out to touch Shen Juan’s wound.

She touched it.

Under her finger, it was warm and moist, with the slight stickiness of blood; she could even feel the flesh of the wound. Gu Shuge’s fingertip trembled, and she instinctively pulled back slightly, afraid of causing pain. The fragrance of the blood filled her nose. She swallowed hard, forcing herself to look away from the wound and up at Shen Juan’s face.

Shen Juan actually smiled, her eyes exceptionally tender. “It seems only my blood allows Xiaoge to touch things.”

It must be so. Gu Shuge immediately forgot the deliciousness of the blood as her heart grew heavy. She murmured a low complaint: “How can you still smile?”

To communicate with Shen Juan, they would surely need a lot of blood. If only Shen Juan’s blood worked, it would be so taxing on her body—yet she wasn’t worried at all; she was actually smiling.

But Shen Juan looked genuinely happy. Since the accident, Shuge hadn’t seen such a lighthearted smile on her face. Without looking for a container, Shen Juan pressed the wound, squeezing out two coin-sized drops of blood onto the glass coffee table. Gu Shuge watched in distress, thinking it must hurt; there isn’t much blood in a fingertip, and after squeezing out those drops, Shen Juan’s skin looked pale.

But Shen Juan didn’t even flinch. She casually wrapped a tissue around the finger and said, “I’ll ask questions. Draw a checkmark on the table for ‘yes,’ and an ‘X’ for ‘no’.”

This would be much more efficient.

Gu Shuge said, “Okay.”

Shen Juan began. Her first question was: “Other people’s blood is useless to you, isn’t it?”

It was almost a certainty, but she wanted to confirm. She watched as a checkmark appeared out of nowhere on the glass. It was drawn slowly and very small.

“That’s good,” Shen Juan said.

Gu Shuge furrowed her brow. She wanted to write: How can that be good? If we can only use your blood, the burden on you will be so great. Blood isn’t an infinite resource, and Shen Juan was already so thin.

She was about to write, but looked at the two coin-sized drops of blood and restrained herself. There were so many words to say; all the blood here wouldn’t be enough to finish a sentence. She had to use it sparingly.

“Is it very taxing for you to write with blood?” Shen Juan asked next.

This time Gu Shuge didn’t answer immediately. She paused for a moment to consider, and then a checkmark slowly appeared on the glass.

This indicated it was taxing, but not impossibly so. Shen Juan deduced her meaning from the speed of the response.

The reason she asked was because the checkmark was drawn so slowly—a living person takes less than a second to draw a check, but it took Xiaoge nearly half a minute. The resulting mark was thin and small, looking almost “bony.”

Shen Juan thought for a moment and then asked: “Compared to the floor tiles earlier? Checkmark for easier, ‘X’ for no difference.”

Gu Shuge knew what Shen Juan was trying to confirm. Glass has less friction than floor tiles. If it was easier, it meant the amount of friction affected her fluency—which meant that as a ghost, her strength had also diminished.

She drew another checkmark. While still difficult, it was much better than writing on the floor.

“It’s probably because you don’t have a physical body and are very weak right now, so your strength is low,” Shen Juan said speculatively.

Gu Shuge hesitated. She indeed had no body, but she didn’t feel “weak.” While she was light and weightless, she didn’t feel as if she were about to dissipate.

After hesitating for a long while, she slowly drew a checkmark on the glass. When she looked up, she saw the sheer joy in Shen Juan’s eyes.

She is really happy today, Shuge thought. She couldn’t help but smile along.

They should be happy; they had found a way to talk, and they no longer had to engage in one-sided monologues.

“Xiaoge,” Shen Juan called.

Gu Shuge listened intently.

Shen Juan curled her lips into a smile. “We need to refine the method. For instance, to see if we can make it less taxing for you.”

Gu Shuge nodded immediately. “And we must find a way to save ‘ink’!” That was the most critical part. If Shen Juan had to cut her finger and squeeze out this much blood every time they spoke, it would be horrifying.

The moment she thought it, a solution popped into her head.

They could try diluting the blood with water.

By adding water, not only would they have more “ink,” but it would also make the blood less viscous, reducing the resistance while writing.

Gu Shuge immediately wanted to tell Shen Juan. She dipped into the blood, preparing to write the character for “Water” (水). Just then, Shen Juan’s phone rang.

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

It was Lin Mo. Shen Juan gave a few brief replies and then said to the air: “Muzi has arrived. We need to go see her first. You know her well; you can observe if there’s anything unusual about her.”

Gu Shuge answered “Okay” out of habit, then remembered she could reply with a checkmark. She slowly drew another one on the glass.

Shen Juan waited patiently for her to finish before saying, “Once we’re done with Muzi, we’ll go home and think of ways to improve our communication.”

Gu Shuge nodded and drew one more check.

On the coffee table were several bloody checkmarks, and nearby sat cups of fresh blood. No matter how you looked at it, it was an eerie scene. Shen Juan took some tissues and began to wipe away the blood Shuge had used.

Gu Shuge had been so focused on answering the questions that she hadn’t noticed, but seeing the blood being wiped away, the hunger in her stomach surged again.

The blood had dried, so it wasn’t easy to wipe. Shen Juan lowered her head, scrubbing inch by inch. Gu Shuge took a deep breath, trying her best to ignore the urge to consume the “delicious” offering.

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

Shen Juan was so good to her; if she knew, she would likely feed her with her own blood.

She’s already so thin, how could she withstand that? Gu Shuge looked at Shen Juan’s focused profile, her heart aching.

If only she had a physical body, she would definitely treat Shen Juan well—at least feed her until she was a bit plumper.

The moment that thought arose, Shuge felt a sharp, needle-like pain in her heart. She had a body once; she had only been a ghost for nine days. But when she had a body, she hadn’t treated Shen Juan well. She had even avoided her.

“Alright, we can go,” Shen Juan said, finishing the cleanup and addressing the air.

She led Gu Shuge out the door. Gu Shuge, lost in regret, followed silently behind her.

Muzi was waiting for them at a hotel nearby. The hotel was partially owned by the Gu Group, making it easy to keep their movements hidden and control the environment.

Lin Mo had sent a girl to stay in the room with Muzi. He met Shen Juan downstairs to escort her up, reporting on the discovery of the classmate: “She returned to the country the day before yesterday. Her school is on break, and she plans to spend the holidays here.”

“Spending Christmas in China?”

Lin Mo had clearly considered this point already. “I asked her. She said it’s primarily to be with her family. Her parents are very busy, she’s an only child, and she has a good relationship with them. She usually comes home for long breaks.”

The elevator arrived, and they stepped in.

Lin Mo continued: “She already knows about Miss Gu’s accident. She said she found out from the media.”

News of Gu Shuge’s accident had been reported by both print and online media; it was perfectly reasonable for her to have found out that way.

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

Shen Juan nodded.

When they entered the room, the girl sitting by the window jumped as if startled. Gu Shuge, following behind Shen Juan, confirmed it was indeed Muzi.

Muzi was wearing a plaid coat with a matching long skirt; her style was very sweet. She looked at Shen Juan with a hint of timidness.

Shen Juan walked over, softening her aura and offering a smile. “Hello. I am Xiaoge’s sister.”

Gu Shuge knew she was trying to put Muzi at ease with a kind attitude.

Muzi was indeed affected by her kindness and relaxed slightly, offering a small smile. “I know. You are her sister-in-law.”

The room suddenly went silent at those words.

Shen Juan’s smile faltered slightly. “Is that how she introduced me?”

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

“Oh.” Shen Juan was silent for a moment, then gave her a friendly smile and got straight to the point. “You know about Xiaoge’s situation. There are some details I’d like to understand from you.”

Muzi was very open, nodding her head. “Student Gu was a very good person. When I saw the news online, I almost thought I’d read it wrong. Ask away; as long as I know the answer, I will tell you.”

Gu Shuge watched Muzi’s expressions, trying to discern the truth of her words, but her attention simply wouldn’t focus. The title “Sister-in-law” was like a curse, echoing endlessly in her mind. She couldn’t help but look at Shen Juan; Shen Juan was talking to Muzi, her expression perfectly normal.

Shuge lowered her head, feeling a sense of chaos. She is her sister-in-law. How could she have forgotten?