We hurried after them.
From a distance, we saw Suo Tian also turn right and disappear.
I quickly shouted to Zhou Wen and Shen Feng beside me, “Hurry! You two run faster—go catch up!”
The two of them replied, “Be careful,” then immediately sped up and chased after him.
The rest of us followed behind, panting heavily.
When we reached the corner where Suo Tian had turned, we saw deep down the road a huge figure squatting on the ground.
Suo Tian stood in front of it with his arms crossed, while Zhou Wen and Shen Feng stood some distance behind him, speaking quietly without stepping forward.
We found it strange.
Exchanging glances, we slowed our steps and carefully approached.
When we reached Shen Feng and Zhou Wen, we pointed at the dark figure ahead and asked softly, “What’s going on?”
Shen Feng shook his head. “No idea… we haven’t figured it out either.”
Swallowing nervously, we moved a little closer, trying to get a clearer look at the crouching figure.
But just as I stepped up beside Suo Tian, the huge shadow suddenly lifted its head.
A pale, mottled face shot up toward me.
Seeing that grotesque face—with its wide mouth and black eyes—my heart jumped.
I instinctively shut my eyes and lashed out with a kick.
The thing reacted quickly, darting backward and easily dodging my kick.
Suo Tian grabbed me to steady me.
Amid Han Xue’s scream from behind, he stepped forward slowly and said to the crouching figure:
“Take off what’s on your head.”
We all froze for a moment and looked at it again.
Sure enough!
That terrifying face wasn’t a real human face at all.
Looking closely, you could see the connection point at the shoulders where a large headpiece was attached—like those oversized masks worn at old temple fairs.
Only this one was much bigger.
We hadn’t noticed before: the figure looked huge not because of its actual height, but because of the oversized headpiece.
It was shaped long, almost like a horse’s face, square and flat, painted a chalky white.
Around the eyes, there were either holes or simply black paint forming two hollow-looking sockets.
The mouth was exaggerated, drawn just like a clown’s wide grin.
Honestly, even knowing it wasn’t a ghost, the headpiece still looked unsettling.
The person crouched there didn’t move after hearing Suo Tian.
Still squatting, dressed in that garish clown outfit, the whole appearance made me secretly grateful it wasn’t something supernatural—if I ever opened my eyes to see something like that standing by my bed, I’d probably be scared to death.
Suo Tian pressed his lips together and, without another word, stepped closer, clearly losing patience.
As he approached, the person shrank back, trembling.
The headpiece must have been made of light material—despite its size, it didn’t hinder the person from retreating.
Just like that, Suo Tian advanced step by step while the person kept backing away, until they reached the bushes by the roadside.
This road didn’t have any houses—only greenery on both sides—so it was relatively secluded.
Otherwise, if someone had seen what was happening, who knew what kind of rumors would spread by the next day.
With nowhere left to retreat, the person could only tilt their head up to look at Suo Tian.
As they did, the mask lifted along with their head.
Suo Tian crouched down in front of them.
Without saying a word, he reached out and grabbed the headpiece.
The person inside immediately tried to stop him, but Suo Tian grabbed their hand, twisted it, and yanked the headpiece off in one swift motion.
Amid the person’s startled cry, we finally saw who it was.
The moment we saw the face underneath, all of us couldn’t help but laugh awkwardly…
It was him.
Suo Tian glanced at the headpiece in his hand for a moment, then tossed it aside.
Standing up, he said, “So it really was you.”
The person in front of us was the eldest son of Old Liu, the security team leader.
He was already in his thirties, but not quite right in the head.
It was said he had been mentally impaired since birth, with the intelligence of a seven- or eight-year-old child.
We were quite familiar with his father—sometimes after cooking lunch, we’d even send some food over, so we gradually got to know him too.
The security guards were supposed to live in another residential area, but because of his condition, Old Liu had to keep him here long-term.
Old Liu’s younger son had long since married and lived in the other neighborhood, unwilling to have much contact with them, so the father and son relied on each other, spending their days holed up in the small guardhouse.
Since he hadn’t been very bright since childhood, his family never gave him a proper name.
They just called him “Han Dan” (Silly Egg), and the name stuck.
Like a monkey, he scrambled over on all fours, picked up the headpiece Suo Tian had thrown aside, and put it back on.
Uncle Gazi sighed and said, “So the one causing all this trouble was him all along…”
Then he slapped his forehead. “We should’ve realized sooner. Old Liu’s been hospitalized with coronary heart disease recently—no one’s been watching him. Turns out he’s been sneaking out at night.”
Han Xue frowned, seeming a bit speechless that a whole group of us had been fooled by someone mentally impaired.
“Where did he even get all this stuff?” Shen Feng asked.
“How would we know? We’d have to ask Old Liu later,” Uncle Gazi replied with a sigh.
“But… it’s probably not a good idea to bring this up to him. With his condition, he likely doesn’t have much time left.”
After thinking for a moment, Han Xue said in confusion, “Then why would he come out alone in the middle of the night?”
Looking at Han Dan squatting there with the headpiece back on, I said, “Could it be… he’s looking for food?”
Han Xue froze for a moment, then suddenly clapped her hands.
“Right! That makes sense. The night he stood by the bed, Jundi and I had actually cooked a late-night snack.”
“So… what do we do now?” Shen Feng asked.
Suo Tian glanced at Han Dan, who was still crouched by the bushes, giggling foolishly from inside the mask, and waved his hand. “Let him be.”
“Just let him wander around outside like this?” Han Xue asked.
I looked at Han Dan as well and waved my hand. “You’ve seen how he used to live—tied up by Uncle Liu all day. Now that he finally has some freedom, let him be.”
Xu Shu sighed and added, “But… isn’t it unsafe?”
I hesitated. “It should be fine… he’s just a simple-minded person… who would want to hurt him?”
Suo Tian turned back to us and said, “It’s fine. Let him be.”
At that moment, Han Dan seized the opportunity and suddenly darted off along the bushes.
None of us chased him—we just let him run.
Watching his lone figure in the night, moving on all fours and hopping along with that oversized headpiece, the fear, helplessness, and even humor we had felt earlier were replaced by a trace of sympathy.
We stood there for a while, exchanged glances, and then all turned back toward home.
Back at the house, Yangyang, Jundi, and Chen Pu, who had stayed behind, hurried over to ask what had happened.
Shen Feng smiled and said, “Not a ghost—just someone playing a joke.”
Jundi immediately got annoyed. “Who the hell would do something like that? Isn’t that messed up? Of all the jokes to make, pretending to be a ghost in the middle of the night? Don’t they know people can be scared to death like that?!”
Taozi rolled his eyes at him. “It’s Old Liu’s son, Han Dan. If he had any sense, he wouldn’t be wandering around at night like this in the first place.”
After learning the truth, Jundi and Yangyang didn’t say anything more.
After all, when it came to someone mentally impaired, the only thing we could offer was tolerance and understanding.
……
After that night, the rumors about the villa being haunted continued for quite some time.
However, every night before turning off the lights, we would place a full bowl of food outside our door.
By the next morning, it would usually be completely gone.
Occasionally, if we got up in the middle of the night, we would still be startled by Han Dan hopping around on the street outside like a monkey—it was hard not to be scared, since that headpiece really was quite frightening.
The clown outfit he wore gradually lost its original colors over time.
He probably crawled into all sorts of places—dirty, dark stains could be seen on it even from a distance.
We had also tried leaving clothes outside for him, but aside from being tossed around and left in a mess by the next day, he never wore them.
After all, to us, he was just someone on the margins of our lives.
What we were doing was already the best we could manage.
We had thought about bringing him back with us, but it remained only a thought.
Rongrong’s tragedy was still vivid in our minds—a wound hidden deep in everyone’s heart.
Moreover, Han Dan was already an adult, mentally impaired, and we had many women in the house—it simply wasn’t convenient.
So even though we felt sympathy, we could only let things remain as they were.
About half a month after discovering the truth about Han Dan, Uncle Gazi learned that Old Liu had passed away.
That night, I couldn’t sleep at all.
I sat by the window, staring blankly outside.
Finally, at dawn, I saw Han Dan approaching from a distance—his body filthy, the paint on his headpiece scraped off in large patches—as he hopped closer and closer.
My nose stung with emotion.
He had gotten used to the food we left outside, and now he headed straight toward the spot by our door where we placed it.
The weather had already turned cold.
The food had been left out for a long time—it must have gone completely cold by now.
I sniffed, turned around, and quietly opened the bedroom door, carefully making my way downstairs.
Han Xue and Jundi were on watch that night, but both were sleeping soundly.
I went into the kitchen, used hot water from a thermos to make a cup of milk, then walked to the front door and opened it.
Outside, Han Dan was clutching a bowl of food in his arms.
That terrifying, battered headpiece had been set aside nearby.
When he heard the door open, he jumped in fright, his mouth stuffed full of food, staring at me in panic.
I tried my best to put on a gentle expression, wrapped my coat tighter around myself, and walked over to sit down not too far from him.
Then I reached out and handed him a cup of steaming hot milk.
Han Dan didn’t understand what I meant.
He just stared blankly at me, even forgetting to chew the food in his mouth.
His expression made me chuckle softly.
I lifted the milk in my hand slightly to signal to him. “It’s sweet.”
Hearing that, Han Dan finally glanced at the cup in my hand.
After hesitating for a moment, he slowly reached out to take it.
During that time, I noticed that at some point, a large patch of skin on his palm had been scraped off.
Perhaps it had been too long since he’d touched anything warm—when he took the milk into his hands, he immediately broke into a happy grin, pressing it against his face to warm himself for quite a while before letting out a silly laugh and gulping it down in big mouthfuls.
After finishing, he handed the cup back to me, signaling that he wanted more.
I went back inside and poured him another cup.
When he received it, his bright, shining eyes looked at me eagerly.
After a long while, he finally mumbled two unclear words: “Th… thank…”
I stared at him in surprise. I hadn’t expected him to be able to speak.
Coming back to my senses, I smiled and waved my hand. “You’re welcome.”
He let out another goofy laugh.
Probably thinking I was a good person, Han Dan didn’t continue drinking the milk.
Instead, he went back to wolfing down the now-cold food.
I just sat there quietly watching him, feeling an indescribable emotion in my heart.
After finishing the bowl of food, Han Dan placed it back where we had put it earlier.
Then he grabbed the headpiece beside him and put it on, picked up the milk, and was about to leave.
Seeing this, I hurriedly spoke up, “Finish it before you go. If you carry it like that, you might spill it.”
Han Dan, now walking normally again, turned back to look at me.
Beneath that horrifying headpiece, I couldn’t imagine what kind of expression someone so simple-minded would have at that moment.
He pointed at the milk in his hand and struggled to say, “For… for… Dad…”
I froze in place, watching Han Dan carefully carry the milk as he walked farther and farther away… for a long, long time.
When I turned back, Suo Tian was leaning against the door, watching me.
Startled, I wiped the corner of my eyes and asked, “When did you come down?”
Suo Tian didn’t answer.
He simply stepped forward and touched my hand.
The warmth of it seemed to satisfy him. “Let’s go back.”
I glanced once more at the now-empty street corner, then nodded.
After closing the door, I followed Suo Tian upstairs.
The next day, I woke up unusually early.
Without even eating breakfast, I wrapped myself in my coat and went out.
From a distance, I saw two or three security guards gathered in front of the guard booth, whispering about something.
I walked over quickly and asked, “What’s going on? What are you all talking about so early in the morning?”
One of the younger guards turned around upon hearing me. “Mrs. Suo.”
I nodded at him.
As he stepped aside, I caught sight of a cup of milk sitting alone by the wall outside the guard booth—it had long since gone cold.
An older guard beside him spoke up, puzzled, “What’s going on with this? Lately, I don’t know why, but every morning there’s food or something left at the door. It’s kind of unsettling.”
I stared at the lonely cup of milk in the corner.
After a long while, I sniffed lightly and said to him, “Maybe… it was left by an angel. Who knows.”
As soon as I said that, they all burst out laughing. “Mrs. Suo, don’t joke around. We’ve got to clean this up. You go ahead with your business.”
“Wait a moment…” I pointed at the cup of milk by the wall. “Can I have that?”
They were taken aback, probably not understanding what I meant, but they still nodded.
“Sure… if you like it, go ahead and take it.”
— The end of the Chapter–
TL note : Join Patreon to support the translation and to read up to 50 chapters of the release :
https://www.patreon.com/DeCakraWnloverz
