Chapter 22 : Chapter 22
Chapter 22: Bai Yu, Let’s Take a Bath Together!
The landlord spoke as if it were easy, but the expression on his face and the look in his eyes revealed the truth. He was in pain, struggling and helpless. If it had been possible, as a father, he would never have wanted to dig up his daughter’s remains and treat them like that.
A white-haired parent sending off a black-haired child was already painful enough. His daughter had suffered so much while she was alive, and even after death she could not rest in peace. Anyone in his place would feel heartbroken.
Those who died here did indeed have something to do with the landlord. But the real killer was still the female ghost, Xiaolian.
According to the landlord, once tenants entered this building, they would be influenced by Xiaolian. No matter what they said, they would refuse to leave. They had to live here. To put it bluntly, they were bewitched by the ghost. Since they could not leave anyway, the only option was to let them stay.
The landlord had also tried his best to control the situation. In order to stop Xiaolian from killing people, he had even gone out of his way to invite a certain master.
And the method had indeed worked to some extent. At the very least, Xiaolian had rarely killed anyone in recent years. The drunkard who had once lived on the fifth floor had died due to his own physical condition.
Xiaolian was confined between the fourth and fifth floors. More importantly, she could no longer deceive tenants who entered the building.
However, all of this was only the landlord’s side of the story. No one could be sure what the reality truly was.
If things were really as he claimed, then he clearly knew the fourth and fifth floors were still dangerous. So why had he allowed Zhao Mingyue to move there?
And Zhao Mingyue was not the only tenant on those floors. There was another person living on the fourth floor, and someone on the fifth floor as well—the ghost that had tried to kill her last night. When he had been alive, he had also lived on the fifth floor.
Zhao Mingyue kept her guard up. She felt that things were not as simple as they seemed.
“After I imprisoned Xiaolian’s remains, she did become much quieter. Up until now, it is precisely because she exists that the other ghosts in this building do not come out casually to harm people.”
After the landlord finished speaking, Zhao Mingyue did not respond immediately. Instead, she asked Bai Yu in her mind.
“Is what he said true, Bai Yu?”
“Nine parts truth, one part lie. He is hiding something from you.”
Bai Yu’s voice sounded within Zhao Mingyue’s mind. Since Zhao Mingyue was encountering this kind of thing for the first time, Bai Yu explained a little more.
“Most of what he said is true. Whether the female ghost kills people or not has nothing to do with him. He cannot control her. And what he did did indeed restrain her to some extent.”
“But he is also providing food for the ghost.”
“Food?”
“I’ll put it plainly. You are one of the food.”
As soon as Bai Yu said that, Zhao Mingyue understood.
“You mean that although the ghost is controlled, she still needs to be fed regularly. Otherwise something will happen. The tenants on the fourth and fifth floors are reserve food. When the time comes, they will become the ghost’s meal. Is that right?”
“Yes.”
After hearing Bai Yu’s answer, Zhao Mingyue felt a mixture of emotions.
Just a moment ago she had almost believed the landlord was a good person and that she had misunderstood him.
“I have another question. Since the ghost is confined to the fourth and fifth floors, that means she can move freely between those two floors. Then why are you still renting out apartments there? The tenants living on those floors would be in danger, right?”
“Well…”
The landlord was momentarily speechless. After hesitating, he said, “Xiaolian no longer kills people on her own initiative. If I sealed off the fourth and fifth floors, people would definitely become suspicious. That would cause panic. Besides, at my age, I still rely on this building to survive.”
“I…”
Zhao Mingyue sighed softly.
“Grandpa Lin, I used to think you were a good person.”
Her tone was filled with disappointment.
“Since you don’t want to say it, I’ll say it for you. The tenants on the fourth and fifth floors are actually Xiaolian’s food, aren’t they?”
When those words were spoken, the landlord’s tightly furrowed brows actually relaxed.
“So you already knew.”
“I thought you would tell the truth.”
“Little Zhao, if I had told you the truth, what would you have thought? What would you have done?”
“I would have told everyone the truth.”
“Would that help?” the landlord replied calmly. “If you go out and tell people that this place is haunted, how do you think they would look at you?”
While speaking, the landlord quietly slipped a hand into his pocket. He pulled out a strand of black hair and suddenly threw it into the air.
The moment the hair appeared, red spiritual flames clung to it, trying to ignite it.
The hair only sparked briefly, but Zhao Mingyue suddenly felt a wave of coldness run through her body. Red ghostly light appeared again in her eyes.
At that very moment, a thin strand of blood appeared out of nowhere, wrapped around the hair, and extinguished the sparks.
Bai Yu’s figure appeared behind the landlord.
The landlord seemed to sense something. His body stiffened, his pupils shrank slightly, and the expression on his face became extremely grave.
“Where are the two children?”
Grabbing the landlord’s neck from behind, Bai Yu narrowed her eyes.
The old man was very cunning. He had tried to summon Xiaolian to kill Zhao Mingyue. That strand of hair just now was almost certainly from Xiaolian’s two children.
The cold air felt like countless silver needles stabbing into the skin at the back of his neck. It did not feel like human hands choking him. Instead, the grip was formed purely from icy energy. The bone-chilling cold was something no ordinary person could endure.
“I… I… I don’t know…”
The landlord’s entire body trembled. He knew exactly what kind of terrifying existence was standing behind him.
“Is that so? Then you’re useless.”
With a sharp motion, Bai Yu’s hand pierced into the landlord’s back like a blade and emerged from his chest.
Yet no blood spilled. No flesh or organs came out. Not even a wound appeared on his body.
But the landlord still let out a scream like a pig being slaughtered, and his body arched violently.
His eyes were filled with disbelief.
He had not expected Bai Yu to refuse to ask even one more question. He had certainly not expected her to kill him so decisively.
In his mind, Bai Yu was acting under Zhao Mingyue’s command. Given Zhao Mingyue’s personality, she would never have killed him.
But he had only guessed half correctly.
Zhao Mingyue indeed would not have killed him.
But Bai Yu would.
Bai Yu withdrew her hand. The landlord collapsed helplessly onto the ground. As he desperately rolled his eyes to look at Bai Yu, he saw only a pair of eyes as dark as the abyss.
At that moment, he finally understood.
No wonder Zhao Mingyue had entered Room 506 without being killed by Xiaolian. It turned out that the girl was not simple either. She had an extremely powerful monster hiding within her.
“Mingyue,” Bai Yu said softly.
“I’m here.”
Zhao Mingyue snapped out of her daze and immediately raised her head.
“Let’s go. We’re going home.”
“Ah—okay, okay.”
Zhao Mingyue ran over. When she reached the door, she glanced back at Lu Liangting. The door closed the next moment, and she hesitated as if she wanted to say something.
Lu Liangting was still inside.
“That kid can’t leave right now. He’s inside the ghost’s memories. If he leaves, something serious could happen. Don’t worry, he’ll be fine.”
Bai Yu smiled as she told a lie without the slightest hint of embarrassment.
In reality, inside the room, a strand of black hair was slowly burning, and a ghostly hand suddenly pushed open the bathroom door.
“Oh, I see. Then I’m relieved.”
“Let’s go. Go home and take a bath. You smell like blood.”
Bai Yu waved her hand and slipped back into Zhao Mingyue’s shadow.
As Zhao Mingyue walked home, she was surprisingly carefree, completely putting the matter of the female ghost out of her mind.
She suddenly asked, “Bai Yu, in your current state… can you take a bath? Do you want to bathe together?”
“Together?”
“Yes. I think even if you’ve become a ghost, you should still be elegant. After all, you’re a girl. Walking around with messy hair every day isn’t very nice. You’re so beautiful—you should take better care of yourself.”
“I… I’m beautiful?”
“Yes, very beautiful. In my heart, you’re the cutest girl I’ve ever seen. So… want to bathe together?”
Zhao Mingyue smiled.
But the smile looked a little like the Big Bad Wolf trying to lure Little Red Riding Hood.