Chapter 8 : Chapter 8
Chapter 8: Is This How You Conquer the Male Protagonist?
“Mingyue, there’s something I wanted to ask you about.”
As the male protagonist of the comic, Lu Liangting naturally possessed outstanding looks. He did not have the delicate, effeminate appearance seen in certain male celebrities on television. Instead, he radiated sunshine and confidence. His bright eyes and sharp brows gave him a spirited presence. There was a somewhat contradictory aura about him—both the youthful brightness of a teenager and a maturity and reliability that did not quite match his age.
His hair was neither long nor short, neatly styled. He had no tattoos and no ear piercings. He wore casual clothing and a pair of white sneakers.
“Hm? This doll…”
Feeling that something seemed to be staring at him, Lu Liangting lowered his head and noticed the rabbit doll on the table, stained with patches of dried blood.
Dark red buttons served as its eyes, faintly gleaming. One ear drooped while the other stood upright.
The doll was somewhat cute, yet it carried an inexplicable sense of horror. Just as Lu Liangting was about to reach out and pick it up, Zhao Mingyue reacted quickly and grabbed the doll first, hugging it to her chest.
“This doll was one of my childhood toys. I happened to find it, so I brought it with me. Um… didn’t you say you wanted to ask me something?”
Zhao Mingyue’s smile was a little awkward.
This doll absolutely could not be touched by Lu Liangting.
Lu Liangting paused for a moment. The instant he lifted his head, his gaze met Zhao Mingyue’s.
Her somewhat awkward smile appeared completely different in his eyes.
The girl’s eyes were smiling, and her cherry-red lips curved into a gentle arc, carrying a hint of playful cuteness.
“Well… it’s like this. I heard that you live in Sunshine Apartments.”
Instead of staring at Zhao Mingyue, he took out his phone and opened the information he had looked up. Tapping the screen, he brought up a photo.
It was a picture of the Sunshine Apartments where Zhao Mingyue lived.
Holding the phone in front of her, Lu Liangting spoke in a serious tone.
“I need to go there tonight to look for someone, so I wanted to ask you about a few things regarding that apartment building.”
“Uh… I do live there, but I haven’t been there very long.”
“That’s alright. However, what I’m about to say might be a little frightening. If you don’t know anything about it, that’s fine too. I just thought I should warn you.”
His finger slid across the phone screen again.
Another photo appeared.
It showed the fourth floor of the apartment building, almost exactly as Zhao Mingyue remembered it.
The only difference was that in this photo, it looked as though a fire had just occurred. Even the walls had been blackened by flames.
The next photo showed the same scene. Charred walls, patches of yellowed surfaces stained by smoke, irregular burn marks everywhere.
The difference was that this image showed the fifth floor instead of the fourth.
The building only had five floors in total.
After that came a news photograph. Words related to a fire could vaguely be seen.
“Mingyue, do you know about the fire at Sunshine Apartments seven years ago?”
“A fire?” Zhao Mingyue frowned and shook her head.
Seeing the confused expression on her face, Lu Liangting hesitated.
Judging from her reaction, she clearly knew nothing about it. If he told her now, it might frighten her, especially since she lived there alone.
Seeing his hesitation, Bai Yu spoke directly in Zhao Mingyue’s mind.
“Mingyue, let him continue. This is very important for you.”
Zhao Mingyue replied in her mind, “Alright,” and casually slipped Miss Rabbit into her pocket.
“I don’t know about it. Can you tell me?”
“If you don’t know, then forget it.” Lu Liangting put his phone away, his expression serious. “If you’ve never heard about this, then listen to me—don’t try to find out.”
“But I live there. I can’t move out anytime soon. The earliest I could leave would be next year.” Zhao Mingyue sighed theatrically. “A fire is a major event. The landlord never mentioned anything about it. Maybe he deliberately hid it from me. You don’t need to worry about me getting scared. I’m quite brave. Besides, it would satisfy my curiosity.”
Seeing the expectant look in Zhao Mingyue’s eyes, Lu Liangting sighed helplessly.
“This matter is indeed a bit frightening. Since you rented a place there, that landlord must have concealed the truth. Alright, I’ll tell you what happened. If you get the chance during this period, move out as soon as possible. I can help pay for your new place.”
“No, no, that’s not necessary.”
“It is necessary. Listen to the story first. Then you’ll understand.”
Lu Liangting organized his thoughts for a moment. The normally confident and cheerful young man now had his brows tightly furrowed.
“These past few days, I’ve been investigating information about Sunshine Apartments, including the fire from seven years ago. The story goes like this: on the fifth floor of that building, there once lived a woman with two children.”
“This woman had some mental health problems and had even just been released from a psychiatric hospital.”
“Her husband was the owner of that apartment building. After bringing her home, he locked her on the fifth floor and left the two children with her.”
“I don’t know what exactly happened during that time. But the fire was started by that woman. She burned herself and the two children to death on the fifth floor.”
“At the time, the fire was not very large. But it still burned down the entire fifth floor and even spread to the fourth floor. Even the firefighters could not understand why it had happened like that.”
“In that fire, besides the woman and the two children, her husband—who lived on the fourth floor—and four other tenants were also burned to death.”
“Judging from the scene, they clearly had plenty of time to escape.”
“The apartment building was not renovated until three years later, when someone was hired to repair the fourth and fifth floors. Since the children had died, the apartment was inherited by the original owner’s father.”
“There’s another detail. The apartment building was not originally called Sunshine Apartments. It was renamed after the old man took over.”
“In the fifth year, the apartments began to be rented out again.”
“And in that same year, two tenants on the fourth floor died. Three tenants on the fifth floor also died. All of them committed suicide.”
“How could five tenants in a single year all commit suicide one after another?”
Just as he finished speaking, a hand with blue nail polish suddenly landed on Lu Liangting’s shoulder.
His body visibly stiffened.
Anyone would be startled if someone suddenly touched their shoulder while they were talking about something so terrifying.
“I caught you~”
A voice sweet enough to make one’s teeth ache sounded from behind him.
A girl wearing a black jacket and a pleated skirt jumped out from behind him. She had a red hair clip pinned to her hair, which was tied loosely. She wore no other makeup, except for lipstick—applied somewhat crookedly.
Aside from her strange style, it was obvious that the girl herself was very attractive.
A genuine beauty.
However, Zhao Mingyue felt that the way she spoke was rather strange. Her voice sounded slightly forced, as though she were pressing her throat or speaking through clenched teeth.
The girl with the red hair clip stood beside Lu Liangting, pressing her body close against him. At the same time, she glanced at Zhao Mingyue, narrowing her phoenix-like eyes and slowly licking her lips.
The lipstick, which had already been uneven, became even more smeared.
“Hey. Who’s this old woman?” she said mockingly. “What are you staring at? Do you even deserve to talk to Liangting?”