CLICK!

The trigger was pulled!

But to Long Xiwén's surprise, the gun didn't fire.

"You can try again," Su Xuan said with a grin, looking at the floating pistol.

CLICK!

CLICK!

CLICK!

The trigger was pulled repeatedly, yet the result was the same. Not a single shot was fired.

Long Xiwén's mouth fell open as she suddenly understood.

CLATTER!

The gun abruptly lost its ability to float and fell to the ground, as if an enraged, invisible person had slammed it down.

Long Xiwén hurried over, picked it up, and ejected the magazine. It was completely empty.

"Give them to me!" Long Xiwén extended her hand to Su Xuan.

"Are you sure you can keep them safe this time?" Su Xuan asked with a smile.

"I promise it will never happen again!" Long Xiwén said resolutely.

"Alright then."

Su Xuan held out his hand, and as he uncurled his fingers, several bullets clattered into Long Xiwén's palm. After a moment's thought, she decided not to load them into the magazine, just to be safe.

"Su Xuan, how did you know my gun would go haywire?"

Long Xiwén was terrified, a hint of disbelief in her expression. Could Su Xuan have known the gun would malfunction and removed the bullets beforehand? Can he predict the future?

"I just anticipated this would happen," Su Xuan said with a smile. "Think about it. What's the most dangerous thing near us right now?"

"The gun?" Long Xiwén blinked in surprise.

So Su Xuan had simply neutralized the most dangerous item in advance!

"Ah! There are still other dangerous things!" she exclaimed. "The knives in the kitchen! We need to put those away too!"

Making the connection, Long Xiwén immediately opened the door and ran toward the kitchen. Su Xuan chuckled and followed her.

However, as soon as they left, the bathroom mirror they had just been in front of began to change. The face of a dead woman, bleeding from its eyes, ears, nose, and mouth, materialized on the fog-covered surface. Its eyes rolled as it broke into a chilling smile.

But then, the dead face's expression shifted to one of surprise.

It saw a phone propped up on the towel rack, the camera lens pointed directly at it!

It was Su Xuan's phone.

The dead face's mouth twitched. It was as if its own intellect had been utterly crushed by Su Xuan.

SQUEAK!

Long Xiwén, reaching the kitchen door, pushed it open cautiously.

The kitchen was spotless. A knife rack on the counter held several blades of different functions. She breathed a sigh of relief, walked over to gather them all, and opened the refrigerator, planning to hide them inside.

"Hiding them in the fridge is pointless, don't you think?" Su Xuan remarked from beside her.

"You're right!" Long Xiwén blinked her lovely eyes. "It could probably open the fridge too. That was a timely reminder!"

She took off her jacket, wrapped the knives in it, and held the bundle in her hand. Underneath, she wore a tight-fitting T-shirt.

Su Xuan glanced at her. "Quite a spectacular sight," he remarked.

Long Xiwén looked down at herself, then stomped her foot. "Can't you be serious for once?"

"Wow, what a rollercoaster," Su Xuan added with a grin.

Long Xiwén was at a loss for words.

The two of them returned to the room on the second floor. Su Xuan went straight into the bathroom to check on his phone, his eyes narrowing when he saw it.

He discovered his phone was no longer where he had left it.

Instead, it was embedded in the mirror.

The screen was facing inward, the camera outward.

"Impressive handiwork," Su Xuan praised, even calling Long Xiwén over to admire it.

HISS!

Long Xiwén gasped, completely shocked. She had no idea how such a thing was possible.

"Space is no longer a constraint for them. They can do many things we can't," Su Xuan said, taking out a throwing knife. He used its tip to pry the phone out of the mirror. "But there are some things they'll never be able to do."

"Like what?" Long Xiwén asked curiously.

PTOOEY!

Su Xuan spat on the floor.

Long Xiwén chuckled wryly.

"Su Xuan, are we just going to wait like this?" Another hour had passed, and it was now well past eleven o'clock at night. Long Xiwén was getting bored.

"If that thing is determined to hide, we'll never find it by searching," Su Xuan said, lying on the bed with his legs crossed. "The best strategy is to lie in wait."

"Okay, then." Long Xiwén sat properly at the head of the bed, the bundle of knives beside her.

"Besides, it's almost midnight. We should go check the living room," Su Xuan added.

"Check the living room for what?" Long Xiwén asked, but then she nodded. "Oh, I understand."

Auntie Li had told them that she saw a mourning hall appear in the living room at midnight. Su Xuan likely wanted to see if it would show up.

TAP... TAP...

Suddenly, the sound of footsteps echoed from the hallway outside, growing closer, then fading away again. Long Xiwén cracked the door open and peeked out, but saw nothing.

SPLASH!

Just then, the rain began to pour again. The wind drove the rain against the windowpanes, the drumming sound carrying a strange rhythm.

Long Xiwén walked to the window, glanced outside, and drew the curtains, slightly muffling the sound of the storm. Then she began to pace back and forth, cupping her chin in her hand.

"Long Xiwén, if you're really that bored, I can tell you a story," Su Xuan offered, glancing over at her.

"Go ahead!" Long Xiwén sat back down at the head of the bed.

But she secretly grumbled to herself. She didn't like it when Su Xuan used her full name; it sounded so formal and distant. She wished he would be more familiar.

"Alright, so there was this man walking on a deserted road late at night. He saw a girl squatting by the side of the road, crying with her head buried in her arms. She was definitely a girl—you could see her ponytail."

"The man was kind-hearted, so he went over and asked, 'Why are you crying? Did you lose something, or did someone bully you?'"

As Su Xuan reached this point, Long Xiwén interjected, "She probably got her purse snatched by a biker."

She had handled plenty of those cases.

"Okay, we'll say you're right," Su Xuan chuckled. "The girl, her head still down, told him her bag was snatched. Her phone was in it, so she had no money to get home."

Long Xiwén giggled, pleased that Su Xuan was incorporating her idea into the story.

"The man then told the girl, 'Let me take you home!'" Su Xuan continued. "But the girl didn't say anything, she just kept squatting there, crying."

"So the man patted her on the shoulder and asked if she was worried he might be a bad guy too."

"After he patted her shoulder, the girl slowly raised her head."

"And then, guess what happened?" Su Xuan looked over at Long Xiwén.

Long Xiwén tilted her head. "When he saw her face, he realized it was someone he knew!"

Su Xuan shook his head. "She lifted her head, and on her face… was another ponytail."

"What?!"

Long Xiwén hadn't expected him to tell a ghost story, and it genuinely startled her. She yanked the covers over her head, muttering indignantly, "Su Xuan, if you… you…"

Suddenly, the words caught in her throat.

She saw a dead face under the blanket. It seemed to have been startled by Su Xuan's story, too, as it wore a look of alarm.

Her eyes met those of the dead face…

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