Chapter 26

By the time Jian Lan finally finished dawdling through her skincare routine, Gu Jingxi also appropriately closed her eyes, turned onto her side, and stopped looking at Jian Lan.

Jian Lan understood perfectly well, but she did not expose her. She simply got up and went to the other side, lifted a corner of the blanket, and lay down. Then she turned off the main light, leaving only a small nightlight on.

On the large bed, the two of them each occupied one side. Neither of them spoke.

After a whole day of fright and excitement, Gu Jingxi had thought that in such extreme exhaustion, she would be able to fall asleep very quickly. But things went against her wishes. She lay on the bed, yet her mind was filled entirely with Jian Lan, who was lying beside her.

She was clearly facing away from the other person, yet she was terribly nervous now.

She did not even know why she was nervous.

“Jian Lan, are you asleep?” Finally, Gu Jingxi gathered her courage and asked.

“No,” Jian Lan answered.

“I’m thinking about the clues,” Jian Lan added.

Hearing this, Gu Jingxi turned around to face Jian Lan, her [bailiantales.com]brows slightly furrowed. “Why are you still thinking about those things?”

After saying that, Gu Jingxi wanted to slap herself.

What else did she want Jian Lan to think about? Two single women alone in the same room. Did she expect Jian Lan to think about her instead?!

Pah, pah, pah.

What strange things was she thinking?!

“No. I just feel that tonight might not be that simple,” Jian Lan said.

Gu Jingxi’s scalp instantly went numb, and she burrowed farther into the blanket.

“Don’t scare people.” Her voice carried some annoyance. Perhaps because the camera had been turned off and she no longer had to be exposed to the lens, Miss Gu’s temper immediately rose.

“Do you still remember the text Owen received later?” Jian Lan said, then repeated it again. “When the midnight bell rings at twelve, the betrayed one sings a mournful song. She wants to know why the betrayers betrayed her. The ancient □□ hides an unknown secret, as well as the secrets of the betrayers.”

Gu Jingxi immediately clenched the blanket and shrank her neck.

“You mean tonight at twelve…”

She did not continue, but only her eyes were left exposed outside the blanket, fully displaying the fear she felt at this moment.

“Don’t worry. I’m here.” Unable to hold back, Jian Lan reached out and rubbed her head.

Gu Jingxi stiffened, then instinctively slapped Jian Lan’s hand away.

“Don’t get handsy. This is only because we’re on the show, and I got tricked by that bastard Fu Hang. Our relationship isn’t that good,” Gu Jingxi said irritably.

“Sorry.” Jian Lan withdrew her hand, a faint smile at her lips.

After taking off her glasses, she could not see Gu Jingxi’s appearance clearly, but she could still imagine how huffy she looked right now.

“In short, there’s no need to worry. Just comfort yourself by thinking it’s all for the show effect,” Jian Lan said.

“Easy for you to say.” Gu Jingxi snorted, then said, “Look around. It’s not just me. Even someone as mature and steady as Teacher Owen can get scared.”

“And besides.” Bringing this up, Gu Jingxi could not help sizing up the person before her.

“Why aren’t you scared at all? You’ve been like this since childhood. ​stolen content​You weren’t afraid watching horror movies, and now that you’re on this show, Fu Hang has made the effects so realistic, yet you still aren’t afraid.”

“Hey, Jian Lan, you wouldn’t be someone who has nothing she’s afraid of, right?”

Although Gu Jingxi knew she should not ask, since the grudge between her and Jian Lan was still there. Asking like this made it seem as if she cared about Jian Lan so much.

“I do,” Jian Lan admitted frankly.

“What is it?” Gu Jingxi could not deny that her curiosity was instantly hooked.

Jian Lan, however, did not continue. She only said, “Go to sleep first. Something may not necessarily happen.”

Hearing this, Gu Jingxi knew Jian Lan did not want to answer. She clicked her tongue and said, “Then I’m sleeping!”

After saying that, she turned around and continued facing away from Jian Lan, closing her eyes.

She made up her mind not to bother with Jian Lan.

Jian Lan watched her movements, her gaze lowering slightly, and pulled at the corners of her lips helplessly.

She was also an ordinary person. She also had human emotions and desires. How could unauthorized copyshe possibly not be afraid?

It was just that she was not afraid of ghosts, not afraid of darkness, not afraid of pain, and not afraid of getting hurt.

The only thing she feared was something closely tied to the person beside her now.

When Gu Jingxi’s debut work fell into a storm of rumors, Jian Lan had once been deeply anxious and afraid because of it. She was afraid Gu Jingxi would not be able to persist and would choose to quit.

Becoming an actress had been Gu Jingxi’s dream since childhood, and encountering something like that right at the beginning was a tremendous blow to a newcomer who had just entered the industry.

Jian Lan had once begun to fear that Gu Jingxi would be affected by it and eventually be unable to continue, choosing to leave the industry.

In the end, she could not hold herself back and personally stepped in to speak for Gu Jingxi. Her purpose was to calm the malice directed at Gu Jingxi online.

But she had not expected that Gu Jingxi, who had been quiet online all along, would also post a fierce Weibo update.

It was not aimed at those who were smearing her, but at Jian Lan herself.

With that, all of Jian Lan’s anxiety and fear vanished like smoke.

She knew that Gu Jingxi was still that same Gu Jingxi. read the original at bailiantales.comEven if others judged and criticized her, she had never taken them seriously.

Call her proud or arrogant if you wanted. She had the strength and capital for it.

Even if she left the entertainment industry, with the Gu family’s leading position in the jewelry industry, Gu Jingxi could go home to inherit the family business and still thrive in upper society.

She had been a proud girl since childhood.

So when Jian Lan saw that her little girl still had the mood to argue back at her, the huge stone hanging over her heart finally dropped.

She no longer had to be afraid because of that.

Even when her eyes had been injured and her vision had declined, she had not been as afraid as she had been then.

Fortunately, Gu Jingxi had always been strong and had never cared about the slanderous voices from the outside world.

Thinking of this, Jian Lan unconsciously turned her head and looked toward Gu Jingxi’s back. Even though she could not clearly see the other person’s figure, her gaze still could not help softening.

Then she also turned onto her side. After leaving enough space for Gu Jingxi, she closed her eyes.

After sensing that Jian Lan behind her had [stolen content]also gone completely quiet, Gu Jingxi pressed a hand against her somewhat restless chest.

She herself did not know what exactly was wrong with her. She clearly hated Jian Lan very much, yet she still could not help caring about things related to her.

Especially when she heard that Jian Lan, who had always seemed as if she feared neither heaven nor earth, actually had something she was afraid of. For a moment, Gu Jingxi found it somewhat novel. But when she pressed further, Jian Lan concealed it and refused to say more.

Gu Jingxi believed she understood Jian Lan fairly well. After all, they were neighbors who had grown up together. If Jian Lan truly feared something—

The first thing Gu Jingxi thought of was that accident that had damaged Jian Lan’s eyesight and nearly blinded her.

Saying “nearly blinded” was already putting it lightly. If there had been even the slightest further mishap, Jian Lan might have lost her life.

Who would not be afraid when facing that kind of accident? Even Gu Jingxi, who had only heard about it from others and watched videos others had taken, had felt terrified.

How much more so the person who had experienced it herself?

Gu Jingxi bit her lip and quickly closed her eyes, throwing all those messy thoughts out of her mind. Then she took a deep breath and shut her eyes.

The room grew completely quiet. Only the faint rise and fall of their breathing could be heard.

Outside the window, the moonlight was clear like water. Inside the room, the small nightlight guarded a corner of peace.

…

“Unfolding the luan letter, my heart feels cut to pieces; thinking back to those days of feasting and joy, how tender and lingering they were. With such deep affection, it should not have been so easily severed like lotus threads. Could it be that before the autumn wind came, the round fan was already cast aside? Perhaps he grew weary after long days with a new love, and surely there will come a time when he seeks old dreams, smiling shoulder to shoulder amid fragrance. But now the moon has waxed full several times, yet the imperial carriage has not appeared. East of the tower, I roll up the pearl curtain and gaze until my eyes are worn through. How can this poem unravel the hundred twists of my sorrow? On what day will I pour out my longing, tears falling before my lord?”

That eerie operatic voice, hesitant and sorrowful as though weeping and complaining, rang out once more.

When Gu Jingxi woke with a start, she heard bursts of opera singing coming from the hallway outside.

Her heart instantly pounded like a drum. Almost instinctively, she reached toward the person beside her, but her hand found only empty space.

In the darkness, her pupils suddenly contracted, and she instinctively called out.

“Jian Lan!”

“I’m here.” Jian Lan’s voice quickly sounded. Gu Jingxi followed the sound and saw Jian Lan returning from the small entryway near the door, from a spot the nightlight could not reach, walking toward her.

Gu Jingxi immediately breathed a sigh of relief. However, that eerie opera had not stopped. It continued singing in drawn-out, wavering tones, making goosebumps rise all over her skin.

“This… it can’t really be unauthorized copy happening, right?” Gu Jingxi curled up inside the blanket and asked while trembling.

“I don’t know. I’ll go out and take a look. You stay in the room.” Jian Lan took an outer jacket and put it on, preparing to leave.

“Wait!” Seeing this, Gu Jingxi quickly climbed out of bed.

“Who knows what else Fu Hang prepared in this place? I… I’ll go with you. Wait for me.”

As Gu Jingxi spoke, she hurriedly dug out a small jacket and put it on, then came to Jian Lan’s side.

“Are you sure?” Jian Lan could not help looking at her.

Gu Jingxi could not help urging, “Aiya, why are you being so fussy too? If you make me stay here alone, I’ll be even more scared. Let’s go out and see if there are new clues. If we sort everything out early tomorrow morning, we can leave early. I can’t stay here anymore.”

Listening to her chattering away, Jian Lan could not help laughing. Then she looked at her.

“I’m going to open the door.”

“Then open it,” Gu Jingxi said with a frown, though she subconsciously hid a little behind Jian Lan.

“You look outside first and [stolen content]see whether it’s scary. If it’s too scary, I won’t go out,” Gu Jingxi said.

For a moment, Jian Lan found this a little funny. Then she said, “That’s not what I meant, Xixi.”

“Then what?” Gu Jingxi asked in confusion.

“Although I turned off the camera in the room, the cameras in the hallway and the entire mansion haven’t been turned off,” Jian Lan reminded her while holding back a laugh.

Gu Jingxi’s expression stiffened, but she quickly reacted. She coughed lightly and said, “I know. It’s fine. Open the door. I know what to do.”

Seeing her say this, Jian Lan no longer delayed and reached out to push the door open.

The hallway was dimly lit. Clearly, everyone had been woken by the mournful opera. Doors opened one after another, and everyone looked around at the situation in the corridor.

There was nothing unusual in the hallway. The group looked at one another from across the corridor, then carefully gathered at the stairway together. After a round of rock-paper-scissors, Lu Bin tearfully became the first to go downstairs.

Then—

“Ah!!!”