Li Xiu didn’t know why he was so bothered over that short, silent voice message.

To put it plainly, that “help me” might have just been a simple software bug. Fang Qian’an was still standing in front of him. He didn’t need to be so tense. But even thinking this way, Li Xiu still felt that subtle chill surrounding him and seeping into his body little by little.

“I’m really scared,” he heard Fang Qian’an repeat anxiously.

“The thing in the Xiao Family Haunted House is really targeting us. It won’t let us go…..”

The boy’s voice gradually became muffled and strange.

“Calm down a little. M-maybe it’s not that serious.”

Li Xiu could only bite the bullet and reassure the tall boy in front of him, but he really wasn’t the type to comfort others. His words were not only unconvincing, but also sounded particularly weak.

Fang Qian’an lowered his head and said softly: “I can’t calm down.”

Suddenly, he opened his mouth and said: “A-Xiu, I want to take a look at the Xiao Family Haunted House.”

“What?”

Li Xiu looked at Fang Qian’an in astonishment.

Although he knew in his heart that the strange events they’d encountered during this period were closely related to the Xiao Family Haunted House, he hadn’t expected that Fang Qian’an, who had already been frightened to tears, would actually take the initiative to mention going there.

“You’re not afraid of ghosts anymore?” Li Xiu asked dryly.

Fang Qian’an was silent for a long while, then opened his bloodshot eyes and murmured: “Wang Rongfa can’t be contacted. And Song Cheng…..Song Cheng is dead.”

“What? Song Cheng is dead?!”

Li Xiu stared at Fang Qian’an in disbelief. The latter looked straight at him. His face was pallid, and his eyes seemed particularly hollow.

“En. It’s already spread among the group. Song Cheng really is dead.”

“……”

“We’re probably next,” Fang Qian’an said.

Li Xiu said nothing for a long time.

He was still greatly impacted. He, who had always only lurked in various class groups, now had to force himself to buck up and capture a few words from the school group that was continuously scrolling.

When he confirmed that the body taken away from the Xiao Family Haunted House this morning was Song Cheng, Li Xiu’s wrist suddenly lost strength and his cell phone almost fell to the floor.

Fang Qian’an swiftly reached out, grabbed the phone, and handed it to him.

“A-Xiu, if I really have to die, I also want to understand the ghosts. I feel like we can only find a solution to all of this by going to the haunted house.”

Perhaps because of his great fear, Fang Qian’an grabbed Li Xiu’s hand again as he spoke.

“But…..”

“A-Xiu, let’s go.”

“……”

“I can’t take it anymore, A-Xiu, I really can’t take it…..I’m so scared…..”

The boy lowered his head and kept repeating similar words. His voice became weaker and weaker, but his grip on Li Xiu grew increasingly strong.

Li Xiu let out a pained sound: “Fang Qian’an, let go, you’re hurting me!”

“A-Xiu…..please…..I’m begging you…..”

Staring at the top of Fang Qian’an’s head, Li Xiu bit his lip.

“I used to think that people who ran into haunted houses even though they knew there were ghosts were mentally ill,” the boy said as if to himself.

“A-Xiu—”

“Okay, let go of me!” Li Xiu shook off Fang Qian’an’s hand, then picked up the phone and began to send a message.

Fang Qian’an looked at such a Li Xiu, and after holding back for a few seconds, he asked with uncontrollable trepidation: “What are you doing?”

Li Xiu’s expression went very tight. He glanced at the boy beside him, took a deep breath, and then said softly: “I’m asking the teacher for leave.”

“Ah?”

“Didn’t you say we have to go to the Xiao Family Haunted House?” Li Xiu said irritably, with a hint of self-abasement, “In any case, we’ll have to go sooner or later. If we procrastinate, the school will probably have the barbed wire put up, and it’ll be a lot more troublesome to go then rather than now, won’t it?”

“A-Xiu…..”

“Besides, due to this nonsense, I haven’t been able to concentrate on my studies for several days. Continuing like this will delay things too much.”

As he spoke, Li Xiu got up and walked down the stairs.

“So. Let’s go to the haunted house.”

Fang Qian’an suddenly reached out and grasped the corner of Li Xiu’s clothes.

Li Xiu turned his head to look at him in bewilderment: “What are you doing?”

Fang Qian’an’s pupils were a bit like a cat’s. At this time, they looked big, round, and dark, with only the edges still inlaid with a thin layer of gold.

“A-Xiu, thank you,” the tall boy said word by word.

“There’s no way I could go back there without you.”

Li Xiu didn’t know if he could either. He frowned unconsciously.

He kept feeling that Fang Qian’an was a little strange today, but if he had to say what was strange, he also couldn’t tell.

Fortunately, at this awkward moment, Fang Qian’an’s cell phone buzzed.

They were sympathy messages from others.

[Young Master Fang, are you really okay? You looked terrible when you left.]

[I asked, and the incident with Song Cheng seems to have been an accident. Young Master Fang, there’s no need for you to take it to heart.]

[I’m sorry, Boss. Next time I bring you something, I’ll check into it carefully…..]

Fang Qian’an stared at the screen with his head tilted for a while, but didn’t reply to anyone’s messages.

*

In the lounge, the boys who were unrepentantly skipping class put down their phones and sighed simultaneously.

“Young Master Fang hasn’t replied…..”

“Isn’t he always like this? Doesn’t he normally not reply to our messages?”

“Why do I feel like he was really frightened by Song Cheng’s death?”

“No way…..”

In the midst of the complicated and meaningless discussion, a boy suddenly noticed something strange about Jiang Jun.

He asked tentatively out of habit: “Jiang Jun, are you okay? Why are you so preoccupied?” He sent a curious glance at the cell phone in the boy’s hand. “Ah, speaking of which, it seems like you haven’t said anything in the group? What’s wrong? Was Young Master Fang offended?”

Jiang Jun was startled. As if waking up from a dream, and abruptly shook his head.

“No, it’s nothing. I just think Young Master Fang must not like us disturbing him,” Jiang Jun said a little stiffly. Finally, he added as if talking to himself, “Speaking of which, did you think Young Master Fang’s smile was a little strange in the restroom today?”

“What smile?” the companion asked in confusion.

Jiang Jun recalled the smile he had seen when he passed Fang Qian’an, and immediately broke into a cold sweat once more.

“I don’t know. I really don’t know,” Jiang Jun whispered softly.

He only knew that he…..was afraid of such a Fang Qian’an.

He had clearly seemed shocked by the news of Song Cheng’s death, but why did that person look subtly ecstatic?

*

While walking side by side down the stairs, Li Xiu suddenly stopped the person beside him and asked: “Wait a minute. Fang Qian’an, I’ve heard that you can order takeout during school hours?”

“Ah, right, we can. What is it?” Fang Qian’an responded.

Li Xiu had been holding his cell phone this whole time, clicking away endlessly. “Great. Then I’ll have you buy these few things.”

Fang Qian’an’s phone chimed. He clicked on the list sent by Li Xiu, and his eyes flashed slightly.

“Glutinous rice? Salt? What is this for?”

“It’s something to ward off evil spirits,” Li Xiu said mildly.

Fang Qian’an raised his eyebrows slightly: “Is this something your grandma taught you?”

Li Xiu gave a crisp shake of his head: “No, I just researched online.” He added after a pause, “My grandmother doesn’t like me to come in contact with this kind of stuff. She always…..”

[“A-Xiu, what are you doing all this for?”]

[“Our A-Xiu, ah, you don’t need to do anything or be afraid. Your gege will protect you.”]

[“Grandma didn’t lie to you. As long as you serve your gege properly, nothing in this world can hurt you.”]

Li Xiu lowered his eyes, hiding the trace of unhappiness that flashed through them.

Thankfully, Fang Qian’an didn’t seem to want to ask further questions. Not long after receiving Li Xiu’s silly list, he got a package from a delivery boy.

Fang Qian’an handed the bag to Li Xiu, watching as he took out the iodine-free sea salt and glutinous rice and put them in his arms with a stiff face. His expression seemed a bit strange.

Once Li Qiu finished collecting those things, he took out another item that wasn’t on the list. A bottle of liquor.

“Alcohol?”

Li Xiu examined the clear liquor bottle. Fang Qian’an took the liquor from his hand, unscrewed the cap, and drank it in front of him. But after drinking half the bottle, Fang Qian’an stared blankly as he stood in place for dozens of seconds, stiff as a board. Li Xiu was a little alarmed, and quickly went over to take a look. The other party suddenly trembled, then let out a long, slow breath through his mouth.

“Haaa—”

Fang Qian’an released a low sigh.

“As expected of Erguotou. I instantly feel clear-headed.”

Li Xiu stared at Fang Qian’an’s rosy face, hesitating before saying: “…..Minors shouldn’t drink alcohol.”

“Drinking can get my courage up. And if I don’t drink, I’ll freeze to death, my body is so cold. You don’t know, but my mind was numb when I was talking to you just now.” The boy finally added in a mutter, “Besides, who says I’m underage?”

“Ah?”

Fang Qian’an suddenly grinned at Li Xiu. “I just celebrated my eighteenth birthday a week ago.”

Li Xiu gave an “oh,” and immediately after, felt Fang Qian’an’s warm body drawing close to him.

“What, what’s with this expression? Ah, right, speaking of which, shouldn’t you call me Gege, A-Xiu?”

Li Xiu frowned and leaned away from Fang Qian’an’s alcohol-reeking mouth.

“Scram,” the youth said expressionlessly to the other boy. “I was just thinking that you’re so old.”

Li Xiu’s words had no other meaning.

Eighteen was indeed a bit old for a sophomore in high school.

“Hey, how is that old? Eighteen can’t be considered old…..” Fang Qian’an rubbed his nose and glanced at Li Xiu covertly. “I have a reason for this, okay?”

Fang Qian’an didn’t know why he suddenly wanted to explain this to Li Xiu.

“I was in bad health when I was a child, and was hospitalized for many years, so I went to school much later,” he explained uncomfortably.

When he finished speaking, Li Xiu still appeared indifferent. Fang Qian’an simply picked up the hem of his clothes and exposed his tight, muscled abdomen directly in front of the youth: “Come on, take a look, you must not have looked carefully just now, right? This scar right here—”

Fang Qian’an pointed to the scar on his waist and said, “Do you know what this is?”

Li Xiu’s footsteps paused, and he gave Fang Qian’an a helpless look: “What is it?”

Fang Qian’an put down his shirt and said word by word: “This is a scar from a kidney transplant.”

---

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Chapter 27 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 29