A Secret (GL) - Chapter 36

Inside the Library of Scriptures, the warm winter sun filtered through the windows, breaking the gloom of the room. In the golden light, tiny motes of dust were clearly visible.

Beside an ancient-looking bookshelf, a human and a ghost stood facing each other.

Gu Shuge was dazed. On one hand, she felt a wave of shame—she had clearly rejected Shen Juan before bed, yet she had snuck into her side anyway and gotten caught.

On the other hand, she thought: How… how can she tease me like this? It’s already so hard to restrain my heart, yet she keeps flirting with me.

Gu Shuge’s heart was a tangle of emotions. She thought fiercely to herself that if Shen Juan kept joking with her like this, she wouldn’t wait for a physical body—she’d confess right now just to give her a shock.

The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. She had heard that many “straight” people flirted without any taboos, and once they’d won over someone’s heart, they’d simply walk away without taking responsibility. Very wicked.

How could Shen Juan be like that too?

Gu Shuge didn’t want to deal with her anymore. She wrote two stiff words in her palm: “Hidden compartment,” and started walking ahead.

Shen Juan expected a lot of wavy lines to appear after what she said. She had been privately tracking them: wavy lines appeared when Xiaoge was near her, when there was physical contact, or when her words were particularly caring. If it wasn’t “complexity,” then perhaps…

Shen Juan cautiously reached a conclusion: perhaps it was the fluttering of a heart.

That was why she had exposed the fact that Xiaoge had snuck into her bed last night. If Xiaoge had feelings for her, that sentence was actually quite flirtatious. But after she said it, the wavy lines that should have appeared were nowhere to be seen.

But if her heart isn’t moved, then what was that touch on my lips about?

Shen Juan felt a pang of disappointment, wondering if she had guessed wrong.

Gu Shuge walked a few steps, and hearing no footsteps behind her, she couldn’t help but look back. She saw Shen Juan standing in the distance, looking lost in thought.

Suddenly, Shuge felt as if a needle had pricked her heart.

How could she think of Shen Juan as one of those “straight” teasers? She was good to her and joked with her because she saw her as a younger sister. Since she didn’t know Shuge’s true feelings, why would she feel the need to keep a distance? Naturally, she would be close to her without any reservations.

If she didn’t respond to her, how awkward would Shen Juan feel?

Gu Shuge remembered her first year abroad; everything was foreign, from her clothes to her food to her commute. She was surrounded by strangers. Back then, Shen Juan’s nightly phone call was the thing she looked forward to most, yet when Shen Juan called, she had been cold and dismissive, giving only perfunctory answers.

During that entire year, Shen Juan had endured the awkwardness of talking to herself.

She stayed up until 4:00 AM every night just to avoid disturbing Shuge, timing her calls for 8:00 AM when Shuge would likely be resting. But all she got in return was coldness and a one-sided conversation.

Shen Juan was only dazed for a moment before noticing Gu Shuge standing a few steps ahead, not moving. She assumed she was waiting for her.

She walked over with a smile, thinking that Xiaoge had a really good temperament for waiting for her without becoming impatient.

“Where is the hidden compartment?” Shen Juan asked.

Gu Shuge didn’t lead the way immediately. Instead, she gestured toward Shen Juan’s hand. Shen Juan raised it to let her write. Gu Shuge wrote in her palm: “I’ll sleep with you again tonight.”

Shen Juan let out a helpless laugh. The look she gave Gu Shuge was complicated; Shuge stared at her intently, only to see mostly bitterness and a bit of helplessness, but not much joy.

“Alright, we’ll sleep together,” Shen Juan said with a smile.

Gu Shuge looked at her, hesitated for a moment, and then led the way forward.

The library wasn’t that big, so the hidden compartment wasn’t far. They walked to the easternmost bookshelf. Starting from the leftmost end, they took two steps; the spot they stood on was the compartment.

Gu Shuge gestured to the location. Shen Juan knelt down and carefully felt the floorboards with her hands. It was much easier to find when searching with a purpose. After checking the area, she indeed found that this section was different from the others.

Gu Shuge felt a bit troubled. Although they’d confirmed the compartment was there, they couldn’t find the mechanism to open it. While she was trying to think of a way, she saw Shen Juan make a phone call, asking someone to bring tools.

Gu Shuge suddenly realized her own dullness. Why look for a mechanism? Just tear up the floorboards.

The person arrived quickly—just one man, carrying professional tools. Once he confirmed which board to move, he got to work. He sawed around the perimeter and neatly pried the board open. Beneath it was indeed a hidden compartment holding a wooden box. Shen Juan took the box out and had the man repair the floor before dismissing him.

The box appeared to be made of ebony. Who knew how long it had sat in that dark space? Now back in the light, the box still had a slight luster. Shen Juan placed it on the desk. Gu Shuge observed from the side, reaching her hand directly into the box; the contents didn’t affect her ghost form.

Shen Juan opened it. Gu Shuge leaned in to look.

Inside was a single copper key.

Gu Shuge froze. Why is it just a key? Shen Juan was clearly surprised as well. Items hidden away like this were usually secret manuals, scriptures, or treasures—why a key?

Did that mean they now had to find the lock that matched the key?

Not only did they have no clue where the lock was, but they also didn’t even know what the lock was protecting or if it would be of any benefit to Gu Shuge.

Shen Juan also looked disappointed. Gu Shuge tried to touch the key with her left hand, but failed. She switched to her right. The tips of her right fingers had blood on them, acting as a medium. This time, she felt it.

It was a long key for an old-fashioned lock, seemingly made of brass. Shuge touched it and felt the metallic chill. She sensed something and wrote: “Keep it.” Beneath her fingertip, the key felt as if it contained some kind of power, though she couldn’t tell what it was.

Since it was hidden with such care, it had to be useful.

Shen Juan felt the same, despite her disappointment. She didn’t even throw away the box, putting the key back inside and tucking it away.

Gu Shuge watched her put it away, smiled, and wrote in her palm: “We broke the library floor and stole a monk’s key.”

Although she guessed the monks probably didn’t even know the compartment existed, the contents technically belonged to the temple. Shen Juan had already planned for this when she called the man in. Seeing Shuge’s words, she told her her plan: “Once I have a moment to breathe, I’ll donate a sum of money to Bailong Temple specifically for the preservation of these scriptures.”

“A moment to breathe” meant waiting until the case was solved.

Gu Shuge realized that since coming to the library, they had barely thought about the case. She wrote with a touch of worry: “I wonder where the investigation stands?”

Shen Juan looked at her, appearing somewhat helpless. “How could I not know? I’ve been keeping a close eye on it.”

Gu Shuge’s eyes went wide.

“On such an important matter…” Only you would forget. Shen Juan didn’t say the second half, but her expression made the meaning clear. Gu Shuge felt a bit of shame. She really hadn’t remembered.

Ever since arriving here, half her mind was on finding a solution, and the other half was on how Shen Juan was still so close to her, making her heart flutter from time to time. With those two things weighing on her, the case had been pushed to the side.

“Zhang Meng, remember him?” Shen Juan asked.

Gu Shuge nodded—the driver who hit her.

“His daughter is about to undergo surgery,” Shen Juan said, her tone calm but her eyes cold. “After what they did to you… a matching heart appeared yesterday. As soon as the donor dies, the transplant can happen. The surgery fees are being provided by a charitable foundation.”

Zhang Meng had waited for a matching heart for so many years—and suddenly one appeared right now?

Gu Shuge asked immediately: “Which charitable foundation?”

“I’ve had it looked into, but I suspect we won’t find much,” Shen Juan said.

The killer’s actions held a certain arrogance. Whether it was hitting someone in broad daylight or stealing the remains, there was a sense of pathological hubris. This surgery fee was the same: handled openly, yet leaving no trace, perfectly clean.

Gu Shuge was silent for a long while before writing in Shen Juan’s palm: “I still feel like I should know this person.”

But no matter how she scrutinized the people she knew, she couldn’t fathom one who was both so arrogant and so meticulous—and who hated her this much.

“The girl… the people investigating said that the room was occupied by a man and they had never seen a girl. On the day of your ‘accident,’ all the cameras in the hallway were broken; nothing was captured,” Shen Juan added.

Gu Shuge sighed. The lead on whoever threw the flowerpot was dead too—even deader than the car crash leads. At least with the crash, they had a driver, her return time, and the question of who was clever enough to know she’d be at that exact bakery at that exact moment.

Though hard to trace, there were still clues. But for that “accident,” there was nothing.

“Also, those eight people are being questioned. By the time we leave here, there should be a preliminary conclusion,” Shen Juan continued.

The eight people were those Muzi had mentioned—the ones who knew about the bakery.

It was Shen Juan’s birthday that day. Her birthday wasn’t hard to find; it was on the Group’s official website. It wasn’t hard to deduce Shuge was back to celebrate it, and you can’t have a celebration without a cake. Anyone who knew that bakery also had a potential motive. So Liu Guohua went to investigate those eight.

Gu Shuge hadn’t expected that while they were here, Shen Juan would still be fully informed about the case. Isn’t she exhausted? Multitasking like this, making sure every front was covered.

“But one thing was truly unexpected,” Shen Juan said, her brow furrowing. “Of those eight people, three of them have fathers who are senior executives in our Group.” Three people who were quite close to Xiaoge, yet none had mentioned this connection. On the surface, it seemed the parents wanted their children to build a relationship with the heir to secure a place in the future of the company.

But such behavior was far from honorable.

Especially now—everyone looked like a suspect, and everyone seemed to have bad intentions.

“I can’t believe I didn’t notice such people around you,” Shen Juan said self-reproachfully. Before she could finish, Gu Shuge touched her brow, her fingertip gently stroking the skin as if trying to smooth the furrow away.

Shen Juan went still, stopping her speech, and looked silently at the space before her.

Gu Shuge was lost in the moment. In her heartache for Shen Juan’s constant self-blame, she had touched her brow on impulse. Now, coming back to her senses, she felt that withdrawing her hand would be unnatural, yet keeping it there was even more awkward. She found herself caught between a rock and a hard place.