Chapter 45: Nightmare in the Detention Center
A week passed in the blink of an eye.
Not much had happened during this week.
The Red Gate was not sealed, but after being heavily injured by Old Deng, and with the previous wounds inflicted by the embroidered shoe, it had completely fallen silent.
And because stability had been restored, Liu Haoyu finally had a period of rest.
His mental state, comparable to that of a college student, had finally improved quite a bit.
The panda-like dark circles under his eyes had lessened, and he no longer looked so haggard.
However, Qin Liu’s changes were not significant.
She still lay leisurely in mid-air, holding a light novel in her hand, with a bag of chips beside her.
She looked very relaxed.
While reading, she said carelessly,
“Aren’t you planning to go see Old Deng?”
“Xiaolin is taking care of things there. There’s no point in me going.”
“Mmm-hmm~” Qin Liu picked up a chip and put it in her mouth, chewing loudly as she said, “According to novels, in your current situation, you just need to go and accompany her, and perhaps you’ll be able to enter Deng Xiaolin’s storyline.”
Liu Haoyu just shook his head and said,
“I’ve always seen her as a sister. Friendship can change, but family love won’t.”
“Is that so?” Qin Liu casually said, “Forgive me for making an offensive assumption… If Old Deng were to remain in the Red Gate forever, you would definitely go take care of Deng Xiaolin, right? You might even end up staying with her for life, perhaps?”
For some reason, Liu Haoyu felt a hint of sourness in Qin Liu’s words.
“There is indeed that possibility. I fear the expectations and instructions left by elders the most, just like my father.”
“Oh?”
Hearing that Liu Haoyu was about to talk about his background, Qin Liu became spirited.
She put down the book in her hand and asked,
“I’ve never heard you talk about your family before.”
Facing Qin Liu’s question, Liu Haoyu just shook his head and said,
“My family has already passed away.”
“Oh… I’m sorry.”
Qin Liu vaguely remembered hearing about this somewhere, but because she had been too decadent these past few days, she had forgotten about it and impulsively asked without thinking.
“It’s alright, I’m used to it. One can’t dwell on past suffering forever; one must look forward.”
“Then the instructions from your father…”
“He expected me to become a ghost exorcist, so I became the person he expected.”
Liu Haoyu said it casually, but Qin Liu felt that what he carried was not as light as he made it seem.
“So there’s nothing much to say about these things.”
Liu Haoyu browsed through the black book, appreciating his curated collection.
Because he was appreciating them, he did not have any worldly desires.
Just like with Qin Liu, Liu Haoyu’s feelings were mostly admiration.
Alright, he was simply unable to see, so he was being stubborn.
Liu Haoyu admitted that Qin Liu was indeed very beautiful, a beauty that made it difficult for men to control themselves.
Moreover, Liu Haoyu was not impotent; he was a healthy adult, so having desires was normal, wasn’t it?
Especially… recalling Qin Liu wearing white stockings and lounging with her legs crossed in mid-air.
For some reason, since leaving the Red Gate, he had been seeing Qin Liu from time to time.
He didn’t need to be on the verge of death to see Qin Liu anymore.
He couldn’t control this ability; sometimes he could see her, and sometimes he couldn’t.
The duration of his vision varied.
The black book could not explain this phenomenon either.
In the end, it could only be attributed to Liu Haoyu being “marinated” in the resentment of the haunted house.
What a strange metaphor.
“Speaking of which, it’s idle now, so it would be great if I could go to Jiangquan City to see my sister…”
However, Qin Liu could only think about such things.
Because although he could leave the haunted house through the Red Jade, he had tested it a few days ago, and the further he got from the haunted house, the faster the Red Jade was consumed.
He hadn’t even reached Jiangquan City; it was only halfway that the Red Jade’s consumption rate reached an astonishing one piece every five minutes.
If he were to reach Jiangquan City, the Red Jade would likely be completely depleted.
So in the end, Liu Haoyu had to make an emergency return to the haunted house.
“Idle?” Liu Haoyu looked at the iron chain in his hand and said, “Don’t forget, we still have unfinished business. It’s time to settle Xu Wanrong’s resentment.”
————————
At the same time, in a detention center in Jiangliu City.
Xu Hongfu, the man who had killed his niece.
He was lying on the cold single bed in the detention center.
As a madman, a person with mental illness.
He was naturally placed in a solitary room to prevent him from harming other inmates.
Although he had a mental illness, the law would never pardon any evildoer.
He was scheduled to be executed in a week.
Perhaps because he was about to face death, the man’s face was now contorted, and he was covered in sweat, as if he had a terrible nightmare.
In his dream, he had returned home.
In that dark and cold apartment, there was no light.
The house was very quiet, and his wife was not home. In the empty apartment, he was all alone.
But he heard someone speaking.
The sound of talking came from all directions, as if every wall was speaking to him.
Xu Hongfu felt a prickle of fear. How could the walls talk?
A chilling cold crept up his spine.
As a ghost exorcist, he naturally knew that this place was not suitable for lingering, so he prepared to leave.
However, as he walked towards the door, he found that… the door had disappeared.
All that remained were unfinished cement walls, and a bed faintly materialized.
On the bed lay a dilapidated teddy bear.
For some reason, Xu Hongfu felt that the teddy bear looked more and more like his niece, whom he had accidentally suffocated in a box…
A nameless fear surged into his heart. Almost subconsciously, he reached out and grabbed the teddy bear.
But the moment he touched it, he found that it was not a furry texture.
It was as cold as a corpse…
And the instant he touched the doll, the eyes of the teddy bear moved.
It had no mouth, yet it slowly split open a mouth.
It was smiling.
His niece’s laughter before her death echoed incessantly in his ears.
That unspeakable fear and chill completely seized his heart.
In just an instant.
The man woke up from his nightmare.
Covered in cold sweat, he instinctively wanted to get out of bed.
However, when his hand touched the pillow, he felt something strange.
Like a furry… teddy bear?
