Comeback
After a physical and mental challenge, everyone was starving and gathered around the table to eat snacks and fruit. Ke Shuyao heated up the pizza he had ordered in the evening, and the moment it "dinged" to life, a rich aroma filled the entire living room.
The pizza was devoured the moment it was served.
Ke Shuyao: "Do you dare leave me a piece?"
Sanno held her piece to his lips, saying, "I haven't eaten yet."
"It's okay to eat it." Ke Shuyao took a bite and continued heating up the pizza with a smile.
Everyone: "Huh~"
After finishing her pizza, Fei Qingyu asked Lin Pianyue about her hiding place. Apart from Lin Pianyue, Fei Qingyu knew the hiding places of everyone else.
With juice still in her mouth, Lin Pianyue pointed to the kitchen.
Lin Jiapeng had just come out of the kitchen when he turned around and looked around again. "Where in here could someone hide?"
"In the cupboard."
Everyone except Wenyan was stunned and rushed into the kitchen to check the size of the cabinets.
Ke Shuyao was in the kitchen when he looked up and exclaimed in shock, "It's so small, how did you manage to squeeze in?!"
Mosa patted Lin Pianyue, "You're even more hardworking than us."
"It's alright," Lin Pianyue said as she demonstrated for them, "It's not that small."
A person was crammed into a grid less than a meter long and half a meter wide. The crowd's gaze shifted from surprise and disbelief to amazement and exclamations of "You're amazing!"
“I’ll try it too.” Lin Pianyue came out from inside, and Ke Shuyao imitated her movements, first sticking out his leg and then stuffing his body in. Unsurprisingly, he got stuck.
"Hahahaha..." Everyone burst into laughter.
Ke Shuyao was in pain all over from being squeezed, and he said with tears in his eyes, "Pull me out first, then you can laugh."
After being pulled out, Ke Shuyao rubbed his neck and said that he would never again crawl into any narrow place and invite trouble for himself.
After finishing their meal, everyone sat down and chatted for a while. When it was almost time, Ke Shuyao gave a mysterious smile: "Everyone, the last activity of the evening is about to begin. Guess what it is?"
"What is it?" Wen Yan was too lazy to guess.
"Stop talking nonsense!" Sang, Lin, and Mo were too lazy to guess.
Ke Shuyao cleared his throat. "Since everyone is so excited, I won't keep you in suspense any longer. The last activity tonight is a treasure hunt. Everyone, draw a map and go find the treasure!"
"Treasure?"
The box was placed in the center, and everyone took turns pulling out a map from it.
Wen Yan unfolded the map in her hand. There were torn marks on the edges, the paper was a bit white, and the writing was blurred. It depicted a corner of a villa with a red dot on it, which should be the location of the treasure.
"Why is this map incomplete?"
Ke Shuyao chuckled, "That's exactly why it's fun to have everyone split up and do things separately."
Before leaving, Ke Shuyao said in a serious tone with a solemn expression, "I heard from my family that my aunt and uncle used to live in this villa. Later, my aunt and uncle committed suicide. They had no relatives, so the house was abandoned."
"How did he commit suicide?" Fei Qingyu asked curiously.
Ke Shuyao: "I don't know, my parents didn't say. There are rumors that he hanged himself."
Everyone gasped, but Ke Shuyao laughed and said, "How was it? Wasn't it even more exciting?"
"roll!"
After hearing this, Wen Yan felt a chill run down his spine. The treasure he was looking for happened to be the master bedroom of the house.
With a "click," all the lights in the house went out.
Mosa hugged the person next to her tighter. "It's so dark, why did you turn off the lights?"
After turning off the power, Ke Shuyao said with a grin, "Let's add some horror and suspense elements. There's a flashlight in the box you can take."
Looking at the map in her hand, Wen Yan asked, "Is this map a keepsake from your aunt and uncle?"
Ke Shuyao snapped his fingers. “Smart! This was originally a complete map; they must have torn it to pieces.”
Knowing the origin of this map, those who are afraid are even more afraid, while those who are not afraid are indifferent.
On the third floor, Wenyan opened the map to confirm the location of the treasure again, and then started walking upstairs.
Lin Jiapeng caught up with him, "Wenyan, are you upstairs too?"
"Yes, I'm on the third floor. What about you?" Wen Yan turned her head to speak to him.
"Second floor."
As Wen Yan reached the corner, a chill ran down his spine. He looked down and saw Su Jibai with a menacing expression, waving the map in his hand.
It seems to be saying, "Wait for me to come find you."
Facing his deep gaze, Wen Yan made a face at Su Jibai and said, "I'm not waiting for you!" He hadn't forgotten how Su Jibai had teased him during their hide-and-seek game.
Upon reaching the second floor, Lin Jiapeng looked at the map, walked to the room door, and said, "Wenyan, I'm leaving now. Call me if you need anything."
"good."
The moon was obscured by dark clouds, and the surroundings were so dark that one could not see their own hand in front of their face. Wenyan turned her flashlight to its brightest setting and kept reassuring herself.
It's okay, it's okay.
Nothing happened to them on the third floor just now, so nothing will happen to them now.
Taking a deep breath, Wen Yan pushed open the door to the room, and a gust of cold wind rushed in, making him shiver.
All he saw were fluttering white sheets. He pulled them aside one by one, and they were all normal pieces of furniture, nothing suspicious.
I searched through the wardrobe and desk, and even lifted up the carpet, but everything was empty; I found nothing.
The bathroom was also empty, without even any toiletries. Lifting the toilet lid revealed only still, stagnant water.
The curtains were thin and fluttering, casting the shadows of the trees onto them like menacing monsters, quite terrifying. Wen Yan quickly went over and closed the window tightly.
After surveying the area, Wen Yan's gaze finally settled on the bed. He boldly explored the entire bed, then crawled under it, his hands searching the slightly rough surface until he finally felt a protrusion.
Shining the flashlight, Wen Yan's eyes lit up with excitement as she tore open the tape and took out the envelope.
Wen Yan rolled over and crawled out. Before he could even open the envelope, a shadow fell over his face. He felt a jolt in his heart, looked up, but there was nothing there.
"Squeak—" Her heart raced, as if it were about to leap out of her chest. Wen Yan slowly turned her head to look. The window was wide open, the thin curtains fluttering and dancing, and the shadows of the trees swaying.
Didn't he just turn it off?!
Is this place really haunted?!
Wen Yan was terrified, trembling all over. She turned and ran out of the bedroom, crashing straight into someone's arms.
Upon smelling the familiar fragrance, Wenyan instinctively hugged the other person tightly, exclaiming, "Quick, quick! This place seems haunted!"
Su Jibai gently patted his back comfortingly, and after a long while said, "If you hold me like this, I can't walk."
Um?
As he regained consciousness, he realized that his legs were hooked around Su Jibai's knees, making it impossible for him to move.
Wen Yan gave an embarrassed smile and got off him.
"Haunted?" Su Jibai glanced around, then his gaze fell on Wen Yan.
Wen Yan nodded vigorously, pointing to the window, "I made sure it was closed, but it just opened again."
Su Jibai walked over, examined her carefully, and asked Yan nervously, "How is she?"
Su Jibai fiddled with the window hooks and latches. "These two things are loose. It's windy on the mountain, they'll open easily. It's not haunted."
"That's good." Wen Yan relaxed and tugged at Su Jibai's hand. "Let's go quickly."
There was an indescribable eeriness about the room, and he really didn't want to stay there anymore.
Su Jibai laughed and said, "Didn't you say you weren't going to wait for me?"
Once Wen Yan realized there were no ghosts here, she instantly hardened her stance, "I wasn't glaring at you, you came to find me yourself!"
Lin Jiapeng's voice came from outside the corridor, "Wenyan, Wenyan? Have you found her?"
“Someone came looking for me,” Wen Yan said, her eyes filled with smugness. “I’m leaving.”
Su Jibai not only didn't let go, but also pulled him into his arms, lifted Wen Yan's chin, and lowered his head to kiss him.
A familiar dull pain came from her lips. Wen Yan pushed Su Jibai away, reached out and touched a tooth mark. Just as she was about to curse him, she looked up and met his deep eyes.
The night was quiet, with only the howling wind and the rustling of leaves. In the flowerbed, Long Chen took a shovel and dug away the soil in the middle. After a few shovelfuls, a small wooden box appeared.
Standing outside the flowerbed, Liu Xirou exclaimed with delight, "Found it!"
She and Long Chen did not act alone. Long Chen first went to Liu Xirou's treasure hunting spot to find the "treasure", and then came to the flower garden to find his "treasure".
"Hmm." Long Chen dug it out, shook off the mud, and after seeing it clearly, he chuckled, "There's even a lock."
"Don't you have a key?"
“No.” Long Chen threw down the shovel, stepped out of the flowerbed, and said, “Let’s go and see what Ke Shuyao has to say.”
Liu Xirou received a file folder. Before she opened it, she only felt a thick stack of papers and a pen.
Back inside, everyone was in the living room, and the table was covered with what they had found.
"Why is there a lock on this box?" Long Chen placed the wooden box on the table.
Wen Yan noticed that the lock wasn't closed, so he reached out and tugged, and the lock clattered off.
Long Chen coughed. "It was too dark, I couldn't see clearly."
Ke Shuyao was extremely excited. "Alright, everyone, open what you found."
Upon opening the outer packaging, Wen Yan found a phonograph greeting card, Su Jibai found a recorder, Liu Xirou found a voice recorder... Although everyone found different items, without exception, they were all capable of recording.
The atmosphere instantly became tense and exciting. Fei Qingyu stared at the camera in her hand, "Could it contain footage of them before they died, or... their last words or something?"
"Stop talking, stop talking!" Mo Sha's hair stood on end, and she clung tightly to Lin Pianyue's arm. "I don't want to see or hear it!"
Lin Jiapeng smiled and said, "Don't be afraid, there are so many people here."
"Yes, everyone's here, let's watch together." Sanno pressed the button on his MP3 player, his face beaming with excitement.
"3, 2, 1." Everyone opened what they had found and stared at it intently.
The camera and recorder screens showed the master bedroom on the third floor, the image blurry, like the opening scene of a horror movie. Everyone tensed up, their hearts pounding. Suddenly, someone popped out and shouted, "Happy New Year!"
Ke Shuyao was so happy his stomach cramped. "Surprised? Unexpected?"
Sharp gazes shot at his face like knives, followed by kicks landing on his body.
"Ouch!" Ke Shuyao cried out in pain, "I was wrong, I was wrong, please stop hitting me!"
"Serves you right!" Sanno slapped him hard and said viciously.
Mosa threw the photo card at him, "You almost scared us to death."
Lin Jiapeng pinched his face, squeezing and kneading it until it was round and plump. "Is this fun?"
Wen Yan picked up the envelope. No wonder it looked new and felt smooth; it didn't look like it had been there for almost ten years.
After a while of merriment, everyone raised their glasses again, beaming, and said, "Happy New Year!"
Not long after I sat down, the outside lights flashed, and the wheels of cars rolled over gravel, making a crisp sound. One car after another stopped outside the yard.
Lin Jiapeng hooked his arm around Ke Shuyao's neck and laughed, "What kind of show has Young Master Ke prepared for us this time?"
Ke Shuyao's eyes were full of doubt. "Besides these two events, I haven't prepared anything else."
"Keep pretending, keep pretending." Ke Shuyao's credibility in their eyes had dropped to zero.
Ke Shuyao said innocently, "Really not!" As he spoke, he got up to go outside to check the situation.
Sanno pulled him down. "Okay, stop keeping me in suspense."
Ke Shuyao is truly suffering in silence – unable to express his bitterness.
With a bang, the door was kicked open, splinters of wood littered the floor, and the jovial expressions of the crowd instantly turned serious.
Several tall, burly men in black stormed in, their faces stern and their eyes fixed on them.
The crowd hurriedly stood up and retreated step by step towards the stairwell. For every step they took back, the group took a step forward, and the atmosphere grew increasingly tense.
Long Chen: "Who are you?"
Ke Shuyao: "Who gave you permission to come in? Trespassing is illegal!"
They were dressed in neat uniforms, with broad shoulders and thick waists, and their exposed palms were covered with white scars.
Wen Yan had an answer in his heart. He took out his phone and sent his brother his location for help. Then he turned his head and whispered to Liu Xirou, "Leave quietly. They're coming for you."
Those nearby also heard this, and their expressions became even more serious. The person who had been standing at the back walked up to Liu Xirou, looking ready for anything.
A tall man walked in from outside. He was wearing a black overcoat, his hat covered half his face, and the sound of his leather shoes scraping against the floor was particularly jarring.
He slowly stopped in front of the sofa and took off his hat. A pair of gloomy gray-blue eyes were revealed, staring intently at Liu Xirou, who was being protected behind the others.
Seeing Liu Xirou's wary look and stiff body, he gave her a gentle smile. "Xirou, it's been a long time."
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