Chisato took a long leave of absence from school. Ever since Yuko disappeared, the boy had been keenly aware that someone was mysteriously following him and silently monitoring him. Coupled with his worry for his friend, the boy suddenly fell ill.
The hospital he was staying in was a private clinic very close to his home. After his parents visited him, every night someone would quietly walk to the window of his ward and watch him with ill intent from the courtyard.
He knew they were trying to put pressure on him silently, hoping he would reveal Yuko's unusual behavior.
But he wasn't stupid. Yuko had saved him more than once. If he hadn't dragged Yuko into the haunted house back then, Yuko might still be by his side now, and wouldn't be involved in any disgraceful corpse theft case.
Qianli couldn't understand why the husband of the woman who died in the coffee shop didn't pursue the murderer, but instead kept denouncing 'Yuko' for taking his wife's body and even filed a case based on that.
There were too many mysteries that kept Qianli so confused that he couldn't sleep all night. As soon as he closed his eyes, he could recall the scene he saw through the large floor-to-ceiling windows as he was squeezed by the crowd and lingered at the entrance of the coffee shop.
At that moment, 'Yuko' stood before the dead woman, her hands stained with blood, her eyes empty and bewildered. She seemed to be filled with deep confusion, like a lost little animal, utterly desolate and helpless...
Recalling such a scene, Qianli felt as if something was pressing heavily on his heart, making it hard for him to breathe.
He was waiting, but he wasn't sure what he was waiting for. Then one late night, as usual, he sat on the windowsill, trying to remember the faces of those malicious people, when he unexpectedly saw a burly foreigner.
The man stood casually in the courtyard below the window, large black sunglasses obscuring half his face and his gaze. Surprisingly, Qianli could clearly sense that his gaze held little emotion. In fact, he didn't even know what method he used, but everyone hiding around him chased after him and left.
Without the covert, malicious surveillance, Qianli felt a sense of relief for the first time in days. He jumped off the windowsill, intending to sneak out of the hospital, only to find that there was another person in the ward.
The tall, thin young man remained silent. Qianli was startled and took a step back. Once his eyes adjusted to the indoor light, he looked dazed and asked uncertainly, "Brother Kawakami?" Then, joy welled up in his heart, and he ran over, grabbing the young man's sleeve anxiously, "Yuko, have you found Yuko?"
"No!" The young man rubbed his head in frustration. "I don't know where that child is hiding!"
"It's all my fault, it's all my fault. If only I had stopped her!" Qianli's illness was mostly due to his inner turmoil. If he hadn't spoken up to remind her, Yuko wouldn't have noticed what happened at the coffee shop, nor would she have rashly run in.
Looking at the pale-faced, remorseful child in front of him, the young man offered a few words of comfort, "My companions have taken those bad guys away. Let's go find Yuko together and bring her home. That way, I'll have fulfilled my duty as an older brother."
Chisato nodded in agreement. He didn't care about Ryusuke's coldness. He was willing to do anything as long as he could find Yuko. However, after taking a small step, Chisato stopped.
Ryusuke... has been very concerned about Yuko lately. No, it should be said that ever since they encountered the ghosts, Ryusuke has begun to subtly reveal his true feelings for his family. Otherwise, he wouldn't have taken a taxi all the way from school to the hotel just to check if his sister, who escaped from the morgue, was safe and sound.
Seeing the child behind him hesitate and refuse to lead the way, the young man turned to the side and asked, "What's wrong?" His voice was cold and indifferent. "My parents are coming back from abroad soon. If they find out that Yuko is in trouble, they will definitely blame me as their older brother. Qianli, you should understand that although I am not very concerned about Yuko, I don't want my parents to worry about me."
Ryusuke…is that all? Senri's doubts grew, but as he carefully examined the young man's handsome face and those unique heterochromatic eyes, his doubts gradually dissipated. As he walked out, he asked anxiously, "Brother Kawakami, what happened to Yuko? Did Second Sister Kawakami really…was she…"
"Tomie is most likely in trouble!" the young man mumbled. He went out the door first, but then heard a thud behind him as the door closed.
He turned around abruptly and saw the silly little boy quickly lock the door, then look up at him quietly through the small window, his eyes full of wariness towards a stranger.
The young man clicked his tongue impatiently and retorted, "Doesn't my face look like it?"
One sentence made Qianli's heart pound even harder. He quietly reached into his pocket, clutching the talismans that Youzi had given him again, especially afraid that the man would shed his human skin and reveal his ghostly face as he squeezed through the wall.
Fortunately, the man didn't show any abnormality. Instead, he pushed the door open with a furious expression, cursing, "You little brat, I advise you to be serious. I'll count to three, and you'd better open the door, or you'll be sorry!"
"three!"
"two!"
A voice came from behind him. Qianli turned around warily and saw a burly foreigner standing right behind him. The next second, his neck was grabbed and the man easily lifted him up.
The young man outside the door removed his mask, revealing an unfamiliar and ordinary face. He sneered, "You're too slow."
The burly foreigner glanced at him indifferently, clearly used to his mockery.
The ordinary young man used his elbow to brace himself against the cloth, smashed open the glass window in the door, reached inside to unlock it, and slowly walked in, putting his arm around the door's shoulder. "Little brat, it would be better if you just came with me obediently, so you wouldn't suffer!"
Qianli's feet were dangling in mid-air, her small face flushed with pain, and she kept slapping the man's thick arms, but his arms and legs were too short to hit the man's vital points.
"Come on! You little brat, tell us all about that Yuko! And whether any strange people have appeared around her!" The ordinary-looking young man lay down on the hospital bed with a grin, glancing contemptuously at his companion. "Hey big guy, can you use your brain? If you keep pinching him, you'll kill him!"
The big man's expression remained unchanged; he simply lowered his hand slightly, barely allowing Qianli's toes to touch the ground to prevent him from suffocating.
The pain subsided somewhat, but Qianli gritted his teeth. Knowing that these were living people, his fear did not lessen much.
"say!"
Seemingly annoyed that Qianli was ignoring him, the ordinary young man kicked him in the buttocks. Qianli's face paled in pain, but at the same time, he felt the force on his neck weaken and instinctively began to gasp for air.
The impatient young man was about to kick again, but the big man dodged him by moving his arm first. The big man said stiffly, "Let him catch his breath." Then, he lowered his head, glared coldly at the boy, and warned, "Tell the truth, or you'll know what it means to wish you were dead!"
Qianli shook her head with difficulty, a weak voice escaping from her throat, "No...no one...appeared, Yuko has been...attracted ghosts since she was little...only...ghosts!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
