Gu Zhan: "......"
A tone that felt so familiar, a plot that seemed so familiar.
When Xiaoling first approached him, it seemed to be just like this.
But unlike the muddled confusion he felt with Xiaoling, this little boy had a clear intent to kill. The moment he touched Gu Zhan, Gu Zhan felt as if a block of ice was pressed against his shoulder, and his arm instantly became numb from the cold. That chill quickly spread throughout his entire body...
At the same time, a wave of heat surged from within him. He felt as if he was caught in a desperate struggle, the pain threatening to tear him apart.
The sound of marbles by his ear grew faster and sharper, soon transforming into the crackling sound of flames burning.
It hurt... so much pain...
The flames were licking at his bones! Even the gaps in his bones ached!
But there was nothing— the room was clean, no fire, no marbles, and no little boy!
Where is he? Where exactly is he?
What are the rules for this ghostly murderer? Could it be indiscriminate killing? No, that’s impossible...
Even in this situation, Gu Zhan forced himself to think calmly.
He struggled to raise his hand and wipe away the blood that was spreading around his feet.
But that wasn’t enough; the blood was thick and wouldn’t come off easily. The red clung to the soles of his shoes, seemingly spreading to the soles of his feet.
With a burning pain akin to being scorched by fire, Gu Zhan rolled to the side. With a clatter, the nearby copper basin tipped over, spilling its water everywhere.
A large amount of water instantly diluted the blood on the floor, and Gu Zhan felt the ice on his shoulder loosen.
He could move! He immediately turned and threw the wet rag toward the direction of the marble sound. In the blank space, the little boy exclaimed, “Aiya!” and then the sounds of marbles, fire, and ice... all disappeared.
Gu Zhan was drenched in cold sweat, feeling as if he had just been pulled from the depths of water. He suddenly felt weak and collapsed on the ground.
At that moment, the door to the room was pushed open. A woman in a white long dress walked in.
The dress seemed to be a modification of both a Western dress and a qipao, with lace trim at the hem, yet it clung closely to her figure. The side slit was high, revealing her fair and long legs.
She was also wearing white stockings, the beautiful color and shape could only be described as enchanting.
However, to Gu Zhan, all of this was secondary because he was currently lying on the ground. From this angle, he could only see these things when he slightly opened his eyelids.
“How are you?”
Xiao Xiu's voice was very gentle as she crouched beside Gu Zhan, her qipao accentuating a beautiful curve. Then came her snow-white arms, delicate wrists adorned with a gentle pearl bracelet.
“Do you want me to help you up?”
Gu Zhan, having just rolled on the ground, was covered in dust. Compared to Xiao Xiu’s clean and delicate arms, he felt as if he had crawled out of the dirt. His body was still slightly numb and he couldn’t get up on his own.
But he didn’t reach out, waiting for a moment before getting up by himself. He lowered his head, not looking at Xiao Xiu, only staring at the ground. Xiao Xiu was wearing a pair of pearl-white high-heeled shoes, with a little red plum blossom pattern on the toe.
“Sorry, miss, the boss asked me to clean this room,” Gu Zhan said softly.
It seemed that only then did Xiao Xiu notice the blood on the ground. She exclaimed, “What happened in this room?”
Gu Zhan replied, “Some careless servants came in. You don’t need to worry, the boss has already arranged a new room for you.”
“Okay.” Xiao Xiu responded, falling silent for a moment before softly asking, “What’s your name? Look up and let me see you.”
Gu Zhan lifted his head in response, and indeed, Xiao Xiu’s face was very gentle. She smiled sweetly and said, “You’re quite handsome.”
After saying that, she took a few steps inward.
Gu Zhan moved slightly forward and said, “Miss, the boss said you’ve been assigned a new room...”
Xiao Xiu reached out to stop him, saying, “It’s okay, I’m not afraid of this. I need to get something from this room.”
She extended her hand toward Gu Zhan again: “Help me.”
Gu Zhan had no choice but to reach out his hand. Xiao Xiu placed her hand in his palm. Her hand was soft and carried a faint fragrance. After Gu Zhan supported her, her body slightly wobbled toward him.
Blood was right beside Gu Zhan, and he could no longer move, so he had to let Xiao Xiu lean on him.
Xiao Xiu chuckled softly, “My legs feel a bit weak, I’m sorry. Actually, I was lying to you; this blood is quite scary.”
She nestled closer to Gu Zhan, and as soon as she spoke, the rich fragrance enveloped him. In the quiet room, only the shallow sounds of their breaths remained, along with Gu Zhan’s increasingly rapid heartbeat.
“Thump thump—”
“Thump—”
Gu Zhan felt very nervous; the body leaning against him was soft and fragrant, as if a beautiful dream was enticing passersby to fall into its depths.
Xiao Xiu’s skin was delicate, and with just a slight touch, a genuine desire to continue caressing her arose.
Gu Zhan felt a bit dizzy, unable to tell if this was a normal reaction from his body or if some illusion had reappeared.
At that moment, Xiao Xiu suddenly leaned in and softly asked beside Gu Zhan, “What kind of girl do you like?”
Her gentle tone was filled with suggestive allure. Gu Zhan stiffened, frozen in place, not moving for a long time.
[What kind of luck is this? A beautiful woman throwing herself at you!]
[Throwing herself at you? More like a disaster falling from the sky!]
[He must have fallen for it; can he still be sober?]
[I think he can. Look at his hands; he hasn’t even touched her ]
Gu Zhan indeed did not touch Xiao Xiu; he only supported her a little at the beginning out of necessity.
He was just caught off guard by Xiao Xiu’s question.
He had considered many possibilities but never thought Xiao Xiu would ask like this.
But the moment he heard the question, he understood everything.
He released Xiao Xiu's hand and softly said, "Miss, I don’t like girls."
"What?"
Xiao Xiu was also stunned.
This unexpected answer instantly rendered her speechless.
Gu Zhan lowered his head and stepped back from Xiao Xiu, adding, "I only like men, specifically the one below."
Xiao Xiu: "..........."
Although Xiao Xiu didn’t say anything, the silence in the room said it all.
Her face turned pale, and she looked as if she might shatter.
After standing in the room for a moment, she suddenly swayed, this time not intentionally getting closer to Gu Zhan but supporting herself against the nearby vanity. She hurriedly fished out a pearl necklace from inside, saying, "I... I just came to get this, I’m leaving..."
Xiao Xiu shoved the pearl necklace into her bag and turned to leave in a rush.
Watching her go, Gu Zhan finally sighed in relief, touching his back, which was already soaked in sweat.
He didn’t leave; instead, he squatted down and continued to wipe away the bloodstains until they were clean before picking up his tools and leaving the room that originally belonged to Xiao Xiu.
---
As soon as he walked out the door, he heard a melodious song.
"Southern wind blows, nightingale sings,
The flowers under the moon have all fallen asleep,
Night jasmine exhales its fragrance,
The nightingale sings, lost in the moonlight..."
Xiao Xiu’s performance had begun.
Gu Zhan remembered this song, “Nightingale Song,” which was also Xiao Xiu’s signature piece.
In the movie, this song was very important; the director even specially hired someone to compose it. Although Gu Zhan had never heard it, the script had the lyrics, which matched what Xiao Xiu was singing now.
It should be the same song.
The distance was too far, and the sound of the song was somewhat distorted, leaving only the plaintive female voice echoing in the corridor.
Gu Zhan felt there were faint, indistinct noises behind him, like the song, like flames burning, and also like marbles bouncing...
He sensed something was off, slightly furrowing his brow, and pulled up his attributes panel.
Sure enough, his sanity value had dropped significantly.
However, this time, he didn’t hear the system’s prompt.
Perhaps it was due to being in a dream.
Gu Zhan paused in the corridor for a moment before quickly walking outside.
He had encountered ghosts in the room and didn’t know how Sang Yue and the others were doing with the body disposal.
The opera house was large; the front yard was for receiving guests, while the back yard was where the dancers and singers lived. Further back, there was a massive rear yard with a pond, and beyond the pond was a separate villa where the owner of “Nightingale Song” lived.
Gu Zhan didn’t go toward the pond but headed for the back door of the courtyard.
They should be coming back from here after transporting the bodies.
Sure enough, Gu Zhan hadn’t been there long when he saw Sang Yue and He Hui pushing a small cart, coming from the dark path at the end.
Both of their faces looked grim, especially He Hui, whose eyes were filled with terror, her body huddled up, clearly having gone through something unsettling.
Gu Zhan stepped forward, "What happened to you?"
But unexpectedly, Sang Yue shook her head.
She waved at Gu Zhan and walked into the courtyard, heading toward a side room.
As she set down the cart used for transporting the bodies, Sang Yue explained, "Not far from here is a mass grave; it’s quite scary with bones exposed. But we didn’t encounter anything and finished smoothly."
Gu Zhan looked up at He Hui, signaling to ask why she looked like that if they hadn’t encountered anything.
Sang Yue explained, "She was a bit scared already, and on the way, she accidentally tripped over a bone and fell."
Gu Zhan nodded, suddenly remembering something, and said to Sang Yue, "Check your own sanity value."
His sanity value had dropped a lot, and judging by He Hui’s state, hers had clearly lowered as well.
After hearing his words, Sang Yue looked slightly puzzled, "But I didn’t hear any prompts..."
However, she didn’t insist and immediately opened her personal panel to take a look.
Gu Zhan couldn’t see the values on it.
But he could tell from Sang Yue’s expression that it didn’t look good.
Once they finished up there, Sang Yue asked, "Where are Wang Zhe and Ma Xiaowen?"
They had gone together toward the pond.
At this point, it was already completely dark; the back yard didn’t have much lighting, only a few electric lights illuminating the area around them. The area near the pond was pitch black, like a monster opening its mouth, waiting for others to fall into its trap.
Both Sang Yue and Gu Zhan had a vague feeling; the three groups that had gone to perform their tasks, if they hadn’t encountered any problems, then the last group... The one that initially seemed the safest, cleaning up near the pond, probably had the highest chance of running into danger.
Soon, they approached the pond.
It was so dark that nothing could be seen clearly.
As they hesitated about which way to go, a sudden shriek from a woman erupted from the nearby darkness, followed by cries for help.
One of the nearby lights flickered and lit up.
A woman, soaked through, knelt in the center of the illuminated circle, crying loudly while looking toward the pond not far ahead.
"Help!! Save him!! Please, you must save him!"
"It’s Ma Xiaowen!" Sang Yue immediately ran in that direction.
Gu Zhan didn’t move immediately because there seemed to be some commotion in the dark pond nearby.
He turned to look at the pond. Perhaps it was his mood, but the pond, which had been impossible to see moments ago, suddenly brightened, and the circle of light from the nearby electric light slightly expanded, casting a glow over the pond.
He vaguely saw that there were some people in a small boat on the pond, seemingly fishing something out.
Ma Xiaowen's words were directed at those people.
But this was very strange.
He didn't say anything. After a while, those people seemed to have found something, and the crowd erupted in a commotion.
Soon after, they returned to the shore with whatever they had caught.
A corpse was thrown down in front of everyone.
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