Chapter 24
The candlelight flickered inside this secret chamber as Jian Lan held the candle and examined the “corpse.”
“Teacher Jian… did you find anything over there?” Gu Jingxi’s careful voice sounded out, carrying a trace of fear.
Jian Lan paused for a moment, then said, “A coffin.”
“A co… coffin?!” Gu Jingxi’s voice rose uncontrollably.
“Mm,” Jian Lan answered.
“It seems the turning point we talked about has appeared. The one who died here is the woman in the white qipao,” Jian Lan said.
Although she was afraid, when she heard this news, Gu Jingxi almost instinctively blurted out, “‘Consort Mei’ and ‘Yang Guifei’ both died?”
“Mm. Doesn’t it seem like the story that happened around Xuanzong?” Jian Lan’s voice carried a faint smile.
“You mean…” Gu Jingxi did not continue.
“We still can’t be certain right now. Wait a moment while I look around again and see if I can find any other clues,” Jian Lan said.
“Teacher Jian, do you mean there’s only one coffin and one doll corpse over there?” Gu Jingxi asked.
“Yes. What’s wrong?” Jian Lan could not help asking back.
Gu Jingxi did not reply. After a rustling sound, Gu Jingxi crawled out through the hidden passage.
“You…” Jian Lan’s face was full of surprise.
Gu Jingxi looked somewhat embarrassed. “I… I’m still not very used to being alone in that kind of pitch-black environment.”
Hearing this, Jian Lan could not help giving a warm laugh. “That works too. You can wait beside me?”
“No.” Gu Jingxi shook her head and stepped forward. Looking at the “female corpse” with its ashen face and purple lips, she instinctively shuddered, but she still barely managed to control herself and not cry out.
“Did you find any clues?” Gu Jingxi asked.
“No. I haven’t had time to start yet. Perfect timing.” As Jian Lan spoke, she handed the candlestick to Gu Jingxi. “Hold this for me. I’ll see if there are any clues inside the coffin.”
“Okay.” Gu Jingxi obediently answered and held the candlestick to provide light for Jian Lan.
Jian Lan bent down and lifted the “female corpse,” preparing to move it out of the coffin. With her movements, the “female corpse’s” hand drooped.
Clink.
Something hard fell into the coffin.
Jian Lan and Gu Jingxi exchanged a glance. Without hesitation, Jian Lan placed the “female corpse” on the floor behind her. Gu Jingxi, meanwhile, used the candlelight to look inside the coffin, then reached in and took out the thing that had fallen from the “female corpse.”
It was a key.
It did not look like a door key. It looked more like the key to some small chest or box.
“This.” The two looked at each other and immediately understood where it was meant to be used.
The small box found in Gu Jingxi’s room happened to be missing a key.
“I didn’t expect it to be hidden here,” Gu Jingxi could not help saying.
“But the box in my room should belong to the woman in the red qipao, right? Why would its key be in the hands of this woman in white?” Gu Jingxi frowned.
“There are still too few clues right now, so it’s hard to deduce. We’ll look at it again after we go back,” Jian Lan said. Then she looked at the “female corpse.” “Alright. Let’s move her out first. With only candlelight, I really can’t judge anything.”
As she spoke, she closed her eyes and raised a hand to pinch the space between her brows.
Gu Jingxi knew that Jian Lan’s eyes were uncomfortable.
“Okay.” Gu Jingxi nodded.
“You go over first. Help me in a moment,” Jian Lan said.
Gu Jingxi answered and carried the candlestick back to the original room.
As soon as she returned, she heard a familiar voice.
“Sister Gu, Teacher Jian, are you still inside?” It was Lu Bin’s voice, along with the voices of the others. It seemed they had come back to find them.
“We’re here. Come in,” Gu Jingxi quickly said when she heard them.
The password door was quickly opened. The trio who had gone to search for Owen walked in, and Fang Zixu habitually held the door open. Even Owen followed them inside.
“Teacher Owen, are you alright?” Seeing Owen, Gu Jingxi could not help asking.
“I’m fine, I’m fine. I made you all worry.” Owen smiled.
Then, seeing that only Gu Jingxi was in the room, he could not help asking, “Where is Jian Lan?”
“Oh, she’s over there.” Gu Jingxi raised her hand and pointed at the half-person-high hidden passage.
The men subconsciously looked over. Immediately after, they saw a “figure” with disheveled hair, dressed in a white qipao, floating out.
“Ah!!!”
No one knew who screamed first. Gu Jingxi stared, dumbfounded, as Lu Bin, Luo Wentao, and Owen hugged one another tightly and shrank into a corner. Then there was a loud bang. Looking again, Fang Zixu, who had originally been blocking the door to prevent it from closing, was already gone, and the password door had closed.
“Pfft!”
Gu Jingxi could not hold back and laughed. Then she quickly covered her mouth and patted the three of them.
After that, in a voice that was struggling very hard to hold back laughter, she said, “Teacher Owen, Xiao Luo, Xiao Lu, it’s fine.”
Only then did the three people’s screams become slightly quieter.
Luo Wentao raised his head shakily. Seeing how hard Gu Jingxi was trying not to laugh, he said, “S-Sister Gu, why aren’t you scared?”
“Why should I be scared?” Gu Jingxi deliberately asked.
“Aren’t you most afraid of the dark and ghosts?” Luo Wentao was somewhat dumbfounded.
“Pfft. Look carefully. What is that?” Gu Jingxi tried hard to suppress her laughter as she spoke.
The three of them raised their heads and blinked, then turned back.
They saw Jian Lan holding a doll in a white qipao, standing at the entrance of the hidden passage with an indifferent expression.
The three: “…”
Luo Wentao immediately howled, “Teacher Jian, we have no grudges or enmity between us! Don’t scare us!”
Jian Lan’s expression was calm. “Sorry. I didn’t expect to frighten you.”
You did that on purpose, didn’t you?!
Luo Wentao and Lu Bin looked like they were suffering but could not say so. As for Owen, the corners of his lips twitched.
Jian Lan was absolutely taking revenge on him for encouraging her to cook earlier.
This woman’s mind could be ridiculously petty sometimes!
“Alright, alright. Hurry and stand up first.” Gu Jingxi smiled and helped the others up.
“Um, Brother Fang, are you outside?” Gu Jingxi raised her voice and called out.
“I’m here…” Fang Zixu’s weak voice came through. Clearly, he had not gone far and had even heard their conversation clearly.
A moment later, Fang Zixu opened the door and walked in, looking as if life had lost all meaning.
What had happened just now…
Forget it. They would not mention it. If they continued mentioning it, the few of them would have no face left to meet anyone.
“Cough.” In the end, Owen was the first to speak and break the awkward scene before them. “Um, what exactly did you find?”
“Another deceased person,” Jian Lan said. “I suggest we go upstairs and talk. It’s too dark here.”
Hearing this, Owen also raised a hand and rubbed his temples. “I think so too.”
“Cough, Teacher Jian, let me help you.” Lu Bin coughed lightly and reached out, preparing to take the “female corpse” Jian Lan was holding.
“Alright. Thank you.” Jian Lan did not refuse and handed the “female corpse” to Lu Bin.
Lu Bin took the “female corpse.” After seeing its face clearly, he still subconsciously shuddered. But at least his reaction was not as intense this time. Then he obediently held the female corpse and followed everyone back to the first floor.
After closing the secret door in the study and restoring everything to its original place, Luo Wentao sat down on the sofa.
“No way. After I get out, I need to think of a way to train my courage.”
Lu Bin nodded deeply in agreement.
Seeing this, Gu Jingxi immediately became curious. “What happened when you went to find Teacher Owen? Those screams—Teacher Jian and I heard them very clearly.”
Not only Luo Wentao and Lu Bin, but even Fang Zixu raised their hands in perfect unison to cover their faces.
Gu Jingxi blinked.
Owen held it in from the side, but he could not hold it back and laughed.
Then he received resentful gazes from the other three and quickly pursed his lips, raising his hands in surrender.
Gu Jingxi’s gaze fell on Owen. She wanted to find out through him what exactly had happened.
“Cough.” Owen cleared his throat, then began, “Here’s what happened.”
It turned out that just before the group entered the secret passage opened by the rotating disk, Owen had received a text message from Mysterious Person M. It told him that no matter what happened, if he heard that strange laughter, he had to keep moving forward and not stop. He could not inform anyone.
This was a side mission that belonged to him, so Owen followed the instruction. This was why, after Gu Jingxi and the other four came back to themselves, both Jian Lan and Owen had disappeared.
Jian Lan had disappeared because of her own discovery, while Owen had disappeared purely because of the information given by Mysterious Person M.
After that, he followed the clues given by Mysterious Person M and arrived in a room, where he met a person.
“A person?” Everyone looked at him in unison.
Gu Jingxi could not help looking at the other three. Seeing this, Fang Zixu spread his hands. “We found Teacher Owen and came straight back to find you. Teacher Owen said we should all gather and discuss it together.”
“Mm.” Owen nodded, then said, “That’s how it is.”
“So, who did you meet?” Jian Lan raised her eyes and looked at him.
Owen curved his lips and smiled. “Someone you absolutely won’t be able to guess.”
“Who?” Luo Wentao’s curiosity was immediately hooked.
“Teacher Owen, hurry and say it. Don’t keep us in suspense,” Lu Bin also urged.
Owen smiled and opened his lips.
“Xu Xiaowen.”
Comments 0
You must be logged in to comment.
No comments yet. Be the first!