Everyone was stunned by the scene before them.
What was going on?
She threw up after drinking beef congee, but didn’t after drinking plain rice congee?
After feeding the elderly person the rest of the porridge, Ning Qiushui handed the bowl to Liu Chengfeng and left the room.
“Bro, what… what’s going on?”
Liu Chengfeng asked in a low voice, full of curiosity.
Ning Qiushui shook his head.
“It’s complicated. I’ll explain later… By the way, where’s Yamo?”
As soon as he asked the question, everyone suddenly realized — the girl who had run downstairs in fright earlier… had disappeared without anyone noticing!
“Yamo!”
Liu Chengfeng shouted loudly.
But there was no response in the villa — only an eerie, dead silence.
A bad feeling began to creep into everyone’s hearts.
They all rushed downstairs and searched everywhere for Yamo.
Finally, Ning Qiushui stood in front of the wide-open door, looking out at the curtain of rain, and said to the others:
“Don’t bother looking.”
“She ran away.”
“She… ran away?”
Liu Chengfeng, who was standing closest, glanced at the hazy wind and rain outside and couldn’t help but shiver.
For some reason, when everyone heard this, the first thing that came to mind… was that fat man who jumped out the bus window — and ended up mysteriously skinned alive!
The task was to care for a bedridden elderly person in the villa for five days.
During this time, if they left the villa… what would happen?
Just as Ning Qiushui was about to return to the first-floor living room, his gaze fell on the shoe cabinet by the door.
A thought struck him, and he crouched down to search through it.
“Bro, what are you looking for?”
Liu Chengfeng came trotting over.
Ning Qiushui squinted.
“There are no men’s shoes.”
Liu Chengfeng:
“Huh?”
Ning Qiushui’s mind began racing.
Even he didn’t realize how sharp his thinking had become.
“The lady of the house mentioned to us before — just in passing — that her husband was away for work.”
“But in this house… there are no men’s shoes at all!”
Liu Chengfeng froze.
“Bro, you mean to say…”
A sharp glint flashed in Ning Qiushui’s eyes:
“There are two possibilities.”
“One, her husband moved out for some reason…”
“Two, she never had a husband in the first place.”
Liu Chengfeng frowned.
“She never had a husband?”
“That’s not right! But if that’s the case, then her daughter…”
Before he could finish his sentence, Ning Qiushui raised his head and met his gaze, slowly asking a question that sent a chill straight to Liu Chengfeng’s skull:
“What makes you so sure… that little girl is really her daughter?”
“Just because… she was holding her hand?”
After staring into Ning Qiushui’s eyes for a few seconds, cold sweat began to bead on Liu Chengfeng’s forehead.
He swallowed hard, suddenly realizing how serious the situation really was.
Yes.
There was no proof whatsoever that the child that woman had been holding… was actually her daughter!
“…Let’s go back inside.”
Ning Qiushui was silent for a moment. He stared at the hazy curtain of rain outside the door, feeling a strange chill creep over him—
as if something terrifying was watching him from deep within the rain.
He immediately shut the door, checked it thoroughly, and only then returned to the living room with Liu Chengfeng.
Everyone’s expression was grim.
The villa was large. Originally, there had been seven of them, so the place had still felt somewhat lively.
Now, Wang Yuning had died a gruesome death, and Yamo had run off into the rain. In an instant, only five people remained.
“Ning Qiushui, just now… what did that old hag say?”
Xue Guize asked, his face pale.
Up until now, he’d been relatively calm.
But that was only because he used to work as a mortician, doing makeup on the dead. He’d seen far too many gruesome corpses, so his mental resilience was stronger than most.
Seeing everyone’s eyes land on him, Ning Qiushui answered directly:
“She said… ‘the meat isn’t cooked.’”
Everyone was stunned.
The meat… isn’t cooked?
“What the hell kind of rainbow spiral dog-fart nonsense is that!?”
Liu Chengfeng exploded on the spot, his eyes bulging with fury.
“Don’t you think I know whether the meat was cooked or not!?”
Seeing Liu Chengfeng freaking out actually lightened the mood a little.
With his full beard and booming voice, he had a strong, masculine energy—just what this eerie, silent villa needed to dispel the gloom.
Unlike the fear on everyone else’s faces, Ning Qiushui’s calmness seemed abnormal—almost like… he had experienced scenes like this countless times before.
“So what I’m saying is… those three words weren’t actually ‘the meat isn’t cooked.’”
The group, who had been muttering among themselves, suddenly fell silent.
“What do you mean?”
Xue Guize frowned.
Ning Qiushui raised his eyebrows slightly and said:
“The old woman upstairs… she’s very elderly. Her body’s weak, and her mind isn’t stable.”
“Her speech is slurred and unclear.”
“And we made assumptions—misled by what Wang Yuning said before she died.”
“So we instinctively believed the first two words the old woman spoke were ‘the meat…’”
“But in reality… I don’t think those are the words she meant to say.”
Beidao snorted dismissively:
“Who cares what that murderer said?”
“Didn’t any of you notice the knife and fork on the table next to her this morning?”
“Clearly, it was her who killed Wang Yuning last night!”
He paused, then glanced nervously up toward the second floor. After making sure no one was there, he lowered his voice and said:
“For all we know… the missing flesh on Wang Yuning’s body—she might’ve eaten it!”
His voice was chilling, and as soon as he said that, Yan Youping screamed and clung tightly to Liu Chengfeng!
Startled by Yan Youping’s reaction, Liu Chengfeng flinched and cursed:
“Beidao, what the hell—are you telling ghost stories now?”
“Look how badly you scared the poor girl!”
Beidao’s face didn’t look any better. He was twisting his fingers anxiously and muttering to himself like a nervous wreck:
“I don’t want to die…”
“Especially not like Wang Yuning…”
“Did you all see her…? She was clearly eaten…”
“It’s terrifying… absolutely terrifying…”
Xue Guize felt a wave of irritation and snapped impatiently:
“That’s enough!”
“Quit running your mouth!”
“Who wants to die? Huh? Who?!”
“Aren’t we all trying to figure out a way to survive?!”
Liu Chengfeng turned his attention back to Ning Qiushui, who was still deep in thought.
He had to admit—Ning Qiushui’s calm and collected demeanor helped ground everyone. He was slowly becoming their unspoken pillar of support.
“Bro, did you think of something?”
Ning Qiushui looked up and gave him a glance.
“I have a theory. But to test it tonight, I’ll need someone… with guts to come with me.”
As soon as he mentioned it had to be done tonight, everyone immediately went quiet—memories of the night before flashing in their minds.
After a long silence, Liu Chengfeng clenched his teeth and asked:
“Bro… why does it have to be at night? Can’t we do it during the day?”
Ning Qiushui shook his head.
“No.”
Liu Chengfeng froze.
He had planned to keep his mouth shut, but when he looked into Ning Qiushui’s calm, unwavering eyes… he blurted out without thinking:
“Alright, I’ll go with you!”
The moment the words left his mouth, Liu Chengfeng wanted to slap himself.
Damn it!
Why can’t I control my damn mouth?!
“Good. Tonight, you’re coming with me.”
Just then, a sudden, blood-curdling scream echoed from the second floor:
“No! Don’t!!”
“Please… I know… AAAAAHHHH!!!”
Everyone was instantly covered in goosebumps!
They looked at each other, seeing the same terror reflected in one another’s eyes—
That voice… was all too familiar.
It was none other than the girl who had escaped from the villa not long ago—
Yamo!
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