Chapter 35: A Fright
“I have no problem, dear. I’ll do whatever you say.”
Lu Zhiyin looked at the photos on Long Qinxin’s phone. They didn’t seem to be anything to be afraid of, and they didn’t match the descriptions in the game.
Lu Zhiyin settled for her usual answer. After all, it was just a meeting; nothing would happen, right?
Thinking this, Lu Zhiyin took Long Qinxin’s hand.
“Okay, I’ll ask Uncle Wu to pick us up.”
Long Qinxin nodded. She hugged Lu Zhiyin, holding her for a while before letting go. Then, she called her driver.
Lu Zhiyin sat obediently on the sofa, watching Long Qinxin.
After waiting at home for about thirty minutes, the sound of a car horn honking came from downstairs.
“That should be Uncle Wu.”
Long Qinxin seemed a little excited. She picked up Lu Zhiyin and carried her out of the living room to the corridor, preparing to carry her to the car.
As soon as she opened the door, she saw someone she didn’t want to see.
It was Qin An.
Unlike her usual sloppy appearance at school, Qin An was dressed very formally today, wearing a black suit and a tie, with her short blonde hair neatly combed.
She wore black trousers and a pair of shiny brown leather shoes, looking quite presentable.
Lu Zhiyin nestled in Long Qinxin’s arms, glancing at Qin An from the corner of her eye.
She always felt something was strange. After thinking for a long time, she realized what was wrong: Qin An’s hair was too short. Combined with her female facial features, it looked a bit out of place.
Perhaps she should grow her hair longer?
Lu Zhiyin made this judgment, but she couldn’t tell Qin An directly now. She could only find an opportunity to remind her via text message later.
Moreover, hair doesn’t grow instantly. Even if she let it grow long, it would probably take quite some time to see the results.
With that thought, Lu Zhiyin stopped looking at Qin An.
While Lu Zhiyin and Long Qinxin were sizing up Qin An, Qin An was also sizing them up.
She focused more of her gaze on Lu Zhiyin, who was held in Long Qinxin’s arms, especially on the dazzling and conspicuous ring on Lu Zhiyin’s hand.
Her eyes darkened slightly, and Qin An moved first, quickly going downstairs.
Only after Qin An left did Long Qinxin continue to move.
“Did that guy have a change of heart? Why is she suddenly wearing formal attire?”
After putting Lu Zhiyin in the back seat of the car, Long Qinxin went back to get the wheelchair and put it in the trunk. Back in the car, she mused.
“I don’t know, maybe she feels threatened? I heard you say she seemed to be in trouble before.”
Lu Zhiyin casually replied to Long Qinxin, leaning her head on Long Qinxin’s shoulder. She closed her eyes, preparing to take a nap.
When she was woken up from her sleep by Long Qinxin shaking her, they had already arrived at their destination, which was Long Qinxin’s family villa.
“We’re here.”
Kissing Lu Zhiyin’s cheek, Long Qinxin got out of the car, took the wheelchair out of the trunk, and then carried Lu Zhiyin out of the car and placed her in the wheelchair.
Then, Long Qinxin opened the ornate iron gate outside the villa and entered the yard.
The yard was a bit messy. Some flowers and plants had withered due to the change of season, while others had grown too luxuriantly because they hadn’t been pruned.
“Ah, sorry… I haven’t been back for a while, so I couldn’t clean up the yard.”
Looking at the messy yard, she softly apologized to Lu Zhiyin.
She really hadn’t been back for a long time, and her parents, due to health reasons, couldn’t take good care of the vegetation in the yard.
Shifting her gaze from the scattered vegetation in the yard, Long Qinxin looked towards the floor-to-ceiling window of the living room.
Through the glass, she could see the drawn curtains, which were completely opaque.
Her parents’ range of activity seemed to have increased, but that was expected. Since she hadn’t been back for a long time, her parents couldn’t stay in the bedroom all the time to take care of her life.
Having prepared herself mentally, Long Qinxin opened the floor-to-ceiling window and pulled back the curtains.
As the curtains were pulled back, sunlight shone into the living room. Unlike the messy small yard, the living room was very clean.
The trash can contained some bread packaging, and the coffee table had a plate with some bread crumbs.
“…”
Long Qinxin thought her parents were probably sleeping in the bedroom right now.
After confirming there was nothing unusual in the living room, Long Qinxin pushed Lu Zhiyin into the living room.
“…? What’s that smell.”
As soon as she entered the living room, Lu Zhiyin frowned. The seemingly normal living room was filled with the smell of decaying flesh, which was unpleasant, like a dead mouse in the corner of the room.
Lu Zhiyin wasn’t sure, and her mood was a bit uneasy.
“…It must be a dead mouse, right? I’ve been with you recently and haven’t been able to come back to take care of my parents. They are not in good health and might not be able to deal with rats dying in the corners.”
Long Qinxin also smelled the strange odor in the air. She had a bad premonition, but she still tried to comfort Lu Zhiyin.
She thought her parents shouldn’t have any major problems. After all, Uncle Wu was still there.
With that thought, Long Qinxin patted Lu Zhiyin’s back. She turned on the living room light, then closed the floor-to-ceiling window and drew the curtains, so as not to let the sunlight in.
“Wait for me here on the first floor. I’ll go to the second floor to find my parents.”
Saying this, Long Qinxin walked alone towards the stairs at the end of the living room.
Although Lu Zhiyin felt uncomfortable due to the strange smell in the air, she didn’t say much, just stared blankly at Long Qinxin’s retreating figure.
Whether intentionally or not, the light in the living room was dim and yellowish, making it difficult to see people clearly.
As Lu Zhiyin looked at Long Qinxin, the door to Long Qinxin’s bedroom on the first floor quietly opened.
Long Qinxin’s mother heard the sound of the door opening. She thought it was her long-lost daughter who had returned, so she walked out of the dark bedroom.
The sound of the door being pushed open attracted Lu Zhiyin’s attention. She turned her head and saw a tall figure with sparse hair, pale skin, and many places starting to ulcerate.
The figure was wearing a nightgown that looked expensive, but it couldn’t hide the horror brought about by her face, which was full of wounds. Perhaps it was because she hadn’t been in the sun for too long, or simply due to malnutrition, the figure was emaciated, and this excessive thinness further amplified the fear.
“Ah!”
Her pupils dilated, and Lu Zhiyin screamed. She braced herself on the wheelchair, trying to back away, but in her panic, she fell off the wheelchair.
“Ahhhhhhhh!!!”
Long Qinxin’s mother had not expected a stranger to come to the house. She seemed even more frightened than Lu Zhiyin, screaming and curling into a ball, hugging herself tightly, unwilling to expose her ugly face to others.
Long Qinxin, who had already reached the second floor and was about to open her parents’ room door, heard two sharp female voices. She turned her head and saw her lover who had fallen to the ground and her mother whose condition had severely worsened.
She no longer cared about opening the door and immediately ran downstairs.
