Suo Tian seemed certain that the person was no longer hiding in the bushes.
After striding over, he immediately pushed into the shrubs as if searching for something.
Zhou Wen followed right behind him without hesitation.
Han Xue, however, stayed outside—no matter how scared she was, she had no intention of squeezing into those prickly bushes.
On top of that, with the rain pouring so heavily, who knew what might be inside?
Women, it seemed, were afraid of almost everything in nature—except humans themselves.
Zhou Wen kept close behind Suo Tian.
From time to time, Suo Tian would stop and scan both sides.
Finally, after tilting his head to look up through the dense vegetation, something seemed to occur to him.
He let out a soft hiss, pushed aside the bushes in front of him, and suddenly dashed out.
In just a second of delay, Zhou Wen was left behind.
Snapping back to his senses, he quickly chased after him.
Han Xue was so startled by the two suddenly running off that she nearly lost her composure.
She didn’t dare call out for them to wait.
Glancing back at the pitch-black road behind her, there was no way she would dare return alone.
Gritting her teeth, she broke into a run, chasing after the two figures that were already fading into the darkness ahead.
The rain was pouring so heavily it was hard to keep one’s eyes open—it was like buckets of water being dumped from the sky.
Up ahead, Suo Tian suddenly came to a stop and turned to carefully examine the surroundings.
They had already reached the far end of the villa district.
The distant lights were completely out of sight.
Han Xue finally caught up to Zhou Wen and Suo Tian.
Wiping the rain from her face, combined with her tension and the sprint she’d just made, her chest ached sharply—she was almost out of breath.
After scanning the area, Suo Tian quickly fixed his gaze on one of the houses.
He stared at one of its windows for a moment, then slowly turned and began walking toward it.
Han Xue hurried to Zhou Wen’s side, and the two followed.
As they approached, Zhou Wen took in the condition of the house.
Like the bushes from earlier, the area outside was thick with overgrown plants, almost reaching the doorway, leaving only a narrow path leading straight to the villa’s entrance.
Walking along the path with dense greenery on both sides, Han Xue subconsciously clenched her fists.
Her mind kept replaying what Suo Tian had said earlier—stay away from grass and bushes…
Under the influence of her own imagination, she suddenly felt as though someone was hiding within the thick vegetation, staring at her intently.
The thought alone sent a chill through her, breaking her out in cold sweat.
She took a couple of deep breaths to steady herself, then deliberately looked away, no longer daring to glance at the dark, dense bushes.
Up ahead, Suo Tian had already reached the door, but instead of knocking, he lowered his head and looked around, as if pondering something.
Just as the three stood in silence, Zhou Wen and Han Xue unable to understand why Suo Tian had suddenly fallen into thought, footsteps unexpectedly came from inside the house—one they had assumed to be empty.
Han Xue’s nerves were already stretched tight.
At the sound, she instinctively let out a small cry.
Zhou Wen shot her a glance, and she quickly covered her mouth with both hands, stopping herself from making any more noise.
The footsteps drew closer and closer, soon reaching the door.
The next moment, with a click, the villa door was opened.
As if playing a cruel joke, the heavens flashed with lightning at that exact instant.
For a split second, everything was illuminated as bright as day.
Then, with the thunder that followed, Han Xue—her heart nearly leaping out of her chest—finally saw clearly who had opened the door.
Aunt Qing?
Han Xue stared, dumbfounded, at the woman standing there in her nightclothes—the very person they had believed to be the culprit.
Aunt Qing looked over the three of them.
When her gaze fell on Han Xue, her expression first turned to surprise, then she exclaimed, “Why is it you? It’s so late—why aren’t you back resting? What are you doing out here in the rain?”
Hearing this, Zhou Wen and Suo Tian both turned to look at Han Xue.
Zhou Wen asked, “You know her?”
“…Yes,” Han Xue nodded. “Th-this is Aunt Qing.”
At that, Zhou Wen’s expression changed.
He immediately turned back to look at Aunt Qing standing inside the house.
After observing her for a moment, a strange look appeared on his face—hesitant and uncertain, as if he couldn’t quite make sense of the situation.
Aunt Qing seemed to only just realize how strange it was for three people to be standing at her door so late at night.
Her expression immediately turned guarded.
After looking the three of them over, she turned to Han Xue. “Do you need something?”
Han Xue froze for a moment, then hurriedly said, “No—no, it’s just… well, actually yes, we do have something we’d like to ask you.”
Seeing that Han Xue’s attitude was fairly polite, Aunt Qing’s expression softened a little.
“What is it?”
“Um…” Han Xue was just about to ask whether she knew where Taozi and Lili were, but Suo Tian suddenly interrupted, “Could we come inside and take shelter from the rain?”
Aunt Qing paused, glanced at Suo Tian, then seemed to realize something.
After a brief hesitation, she opened the door wider and stepped aside.
“Sorry, I was too busy talking. Please, come in.”
Zhou Wen shot Han Xue a look, signaling her not to speak carelessly, before following Suo Tian into the house.
Aunt Qing didn’t seem to mind that the three of them were soaked through.
After having them sit on the sofa, she went into the kitchen and poured each of them a glass of water.
Once she sat down, she asked again, “So, what’s the matter? What did you come to see me for?”
Han Xue glanced at Suo Tian.
Seeing that his expression was calm as he quietly observed the interior of the house, she took a deep breath and cautiously began, “Well… the two friends who escorted you home haven’t come back yet. We’re a bit worried… so we thought we’d come ask if you knew where they went.”
Aunt Qing frowned slightly upon hearing this. “Oh dear, they still haven’t gone back at this hour? They walked me to my door and left right away. They didn’t even come in for a drink—they said they didn’t want to keep you all waiting. I thought they’d already returned by now.”
Before Han Xue could respond, Suo Tian—having finished surveying the house—turned and asked, “Are you living here alone?”
“Yes, that’s right. Oh, Aunt Qing, didn’t you say earlier that your home was in the front rows? I led them around in circles for quite a while but couldn’t find it,” Han Xue added.
A subtle change flashed across Aunt Qing’s face, though she quickly answered, “Child, you must have misheard. This is the place I was talking about.”
Hearing this, Han Xue scratched her head, recalling in confusion, “That’s not right… I remember you clearly said…”
Aunt Qing didn’t pay further attention to Han Xue.
Instead, she turned to Suo Tian and replied, “My daughter-in-law is upstairs sleeping.”
Suo Tian nodded, then pointed to the large mirror on the wall directly facing the sofa.
“The décor here is quite unusual.”
Following his gesture, Aunt Qing glanced at the mirror and smiled.
“Yes, my daughter-in-law likes the place to feel bright. Putting a mirror on the wall also makes the room look more spacious.”
Zhou Wen looked around the house and added, “For two people living in a place this size, it’s already quite big.”
Aunt Qing chuckled and nodded. “She likes it—nothing I can do about that. The place is indeed quite spacious.”
Han Xue had been inwardly struggling with whether she had misheard the location and led everyone the wrong way.
But upon hearing Zhou Wen and Suo Tian’s remarks, she couldn’t help but lift her head and look toward the large mirror in front of her.
The mirror was mounted on the wall directly facing the sofa.
It was quite large—almost taking up a third of the wall.
Han Xue made a couple of silly faces at her reflection.
She didn’t find anything unusual about it.
Many households used to hang mirrors in their living rooms—especially in rural relatives’ homes. It wasn’t anything new.
But just as she hadn’t yet wiped the expression off her face and turned her head, she suddenly noticed Aunt Qing staring at her with a gloomy look.
Startled, she immediately dropped the face she was making.
The very next second, Aunt Qing’s expression returned to normal.
Han Xue looked at the gentle-faced Aunt Qing, who was now calmly watching Suo Tian and Zhou Wen, and rubbed her head.
Am I getting sick? Am I actually seeing things?
Picking up the steaming teacup in front of her, she took a couple of sips.
The warmth spread through her stomach, and she let out a long breath.
Sneaking another glance at Aunt Qing, she thought to herself—it must be because she’d experienced too many frightening things today.
Now it felt like everywhere she looked, someone was watching her.
Suo Tian wasn’t usually much of a talker, yet he chatted casually with Aunt Qing for at least twenty minutes.
Even Zhou Wen, sitting to the side, began to feel a bit uneasy.
He wanted to urge Suo Tian to stop wasting time—since the people they were looking for weren’t here, they should hurry and search elsewhere.
Perhaps because she was exhausted from the day, Han Xue’s head gradually tilted against the sofa as she grew drowsy.
Noticing this, Aunt Qing glanced at her and smiled as she said to Suo Tian and Zhou Wen, “The girl looks sleepy. Why don’t you head back for tonight? Maybe those two kids will return on their own. I really don’t know where they went—sorry I couldn’t be of help.”
In her hazy state, Han Xue inwardly scoffed, You’ve already said it like that—what else can we do but leave?
Hearing this, Suo Tian and Zhou Wen nodded and stood up from the sofa.
Han Xue felt as if all the strength had been drained from her body—soft and powerless.
Gritting her teeth, she forced herself to stand and staggered after Zhou Wen toward the door.
This is bad… I must be getting sick…
Struggling her way to the door, Han Xue’s legs suddenly gave out.
She could no longer support herself, and her body collapsed toward the ground.
At the moment her consciousness slipped into darkness, a faint noise suddenly came from somewhere in the room.
The last image frozen in her mind—was Aunt Qing standing behind the three of them, her face dark and ominous.
— The end of the Chapter–
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