Chapter 102 Yin Peach Blossom (32) "The Black Goat, this monster..."
The young butler's expression changed slightly, and he quickly stepped forward to draw the curtains.
"My men were careless and forgot to put it on. I hope we didn't disturb your rest, Miss Su. Shall we go?"
The butler forced a smile.
The curtains that were drawn open were actually opened by Xiao Liu, but since the housekeeper had said so, and Xiao Liu felt that although he seemed proper, he was actually very tense and in a state of great anxiety, so he nodded in agreement and followed him.
They walked through the luxurious villa again, and places they had previously taken for granted now held a different meaning in the lingering darkness.
For example, inside the villa, all the curtains were drawn, and not a single ray of darkness could see in.
Meanwhile, the lights were dim, with only the yellowish glow of the wall lamps, like a vampire castle lost in a dream.
Xie Tan and Xiao Liu thought it was too late and the villa owner had already gone to bed, but now it seemed more like a self-preservation tactic of quietly cowering under unknown terror.
No wonder the people in the villa were tense and fearful all the way; it turned out it wasn't just because of the blood on the black goat and Xiao Liu.
It's understandable that from the perspective of those outsiders, the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, day and night alternate, and the cycle repeats itself. But suddenly one day, the sun stopped rising... and it was still dark.
Only the quiet, merciless darkness enveloped everything.
They walked through the dimly lit corridor.
The butler discreetly observed the girl's expression. Seeing her indifferent demeanor, unmoved by the darkness or the eerie villa, he became even more convinced that this was the Black Goat's child.
He looked away, staring straight ahead, praying in his heart that the young lady would bring good news.
Xiao Liu was naturally not afraid; compared to the Black Goat Gathering Ground, this place was nothing.
As she thought this, adopting the same expression as Xie Tan, her eyelashes suddenly trembled when she saw a black lacquered glass window by the roadside.
Was there a woman there just now?
Xie Tan held the back of her head to stop her from turning around to check, patted her reassuringly, and gently pushed her forward to let her continue walking.
He could see it more clearly. In the reflective glass, which was like a black mirror, stood a woman with long, smooth, jet-black hair, wearing a well-fitting red dress, and pale skin.
It was gone in a flash, and Xie Tan couldn't see it again, but that one glance made him feel a sense of familiarity.
When they arrived at their destination, Xie Tan found himself at the familiar long dining table, with flowers, candles, and delicious food, but the main lights were still off.
The Xia family head hadn't arrived yet, and Xiao Liu's eyes darted around, unsure of where to sit. Xie Tan didn't hesitate and randomly chose a seat, so she sat down next to him.
However, after waiting for half an hour, the head of the household still hadn't arrived. The butler apologized, left, and then returned with a strange expression, seemingly even more uneasy: "Master is not feeling well and cannot receive guests. He told you not to wait for him, please eat first."
"Can't we even see guests?" Xiao Liu found it strange and secretly glanced at Xie Tan. Xie Tan had already slowly started to introduce her to the dishes he thought would be delicious.
Xiao Liu ignored everything else, resisted the glare from his eyes, maintained the composure of a mysterious person, and, on Xie Tan's recommendation, sampled the dishes one by one, eating them all!
This is delicious... Hey, this is delicious too, so tender and smooth, like the skin of a clam... This is so chewy, bouncy, is it seafood? Xiaoqi seems to like it quite a bit, recommending this as the first one... The aroma of this juice is a bit like the musk of a roe deer... Wow, this is cake, sweet and cool, melts in your mouth, like snowflakes falling from a Yeti...
Xie Tan propped his head up beside her, watching her eyes light up again and again. Afraid of being discovered by outsiders that she was naive and unsophisticated, she would quickly put on her icy, baby-faced expression after her eyes lit up.
A smile flickered across his lips in an instant. The young lady pretended to be a ghost to scare Zhang Chengxiao, saying that she was imitating him. They were both in the "light-hearted group," and the effect was remarkable. But now he felt that Xiao Liu, who was completely different from him, seemed to be more similar to him when she imitated him.
It will make him think, "Oh, so this is how other people see me?"
After a hearty meal, Xiao Liu was completely satisfied. He let out a small burp and quickly covered his mouth. Luckily, the butler had gone to take care of his master, so they were the only ones at the table.
Xie Tan patted her back and helped her smooth things out. When they left the restaurant, the nanny led the way, and she had already regained her inscrutable demeanor.
They walked forward, and Xiao Liu secretly observed their surroundings. This time, the painted glass and other reflective areas did not reveal any more women.
But suddenly, I heard the sound of beads bouncing on the ground overhead, tap tap tap.
The nanny was startled. Xiao Liu looked up at the ceiling and asked, "Who lives upstairs?"
"No one lives here. The master and mistress's rooms are on the other side, and the two young masters' rooms are on the third floor on the other side. There are only some guest rooms on the second floor here." The nanny forced a smile, whether to comfort Xiao Liu or herself, it was unclear. "Someone else must have been cleaning the collection room and knocked something over. How clumsy! They'll be punished!"
Xiao Liu stared at her for a while, and just as the nanny was about to lose her smile, he looked away and continued to follow her forward.
However, they hadn't gone far when they heard footsteps coming from upstairs.
The crisp sound of high heels, click-clack, each step perfectly timed, exudes elegance, and you move forward with them.
When they leave, the sound leaves; when they stop, the sound stops.
When they reached the top of the stairs, the footsteps upstairs suddenly stopped.
Before the nanny could even catch her breath, a few pearls slowly bounced down the stairs from the second floor and rolled all the way to them.
The nanny couldn't hold back any longer. She grabbed the handrail and asked who was cleaning upstairs, for being so careless.
The second floor was quiet, with no response.
Xiao Liu suddenly spoke up: "I remember the way back, you can go."
"this……"
Xiao Liu ignored her and went upstairs. The nanny, as if granted a pardon, ran away.
Xie Tan followed Xiao Liu, intending to scout the way to the second floor first. But as soon as they reached the second floor, they saw a little boy sitting on the stairs leading to the third floor, holding a small airplane in his hand.
The boy looked up, gazing towards the third floor.
Just then, another boy, a little older than him, ran down and said, "Ah, it really was you who took it, Xiaofeng. This is my toy. If you want to play with it, you have to ask me first."
The older boy mimicked the adults' tone, speaking with a hint of dissatisfaction.
The boy called Xiaofeng turned around and said slowly, "I didn't take it. You left it at the entrance of the collection room on the second floor, brother."
"Really?" the older brother asked, still somewhat doubtful. "Okay, thank you for bringing it back, but you still need my permission to play with it," he emphasized.
The younger brother said, "I didn't pick it up."
"Who is that? I didn't see anyone else when I came down from here." The older brother looked around. "Oh dear, you must have made it up again."
The younger brother was also unhappy: "I don't like playing with your airplane. I prefer that doll. It's much prettier than your airplane."
Where can I find a doll?
"That room at the end of the third floor is full of dolls!"
"Don't talk nonsense. That's an empty room! Everything inside has been thrown away."
The two little boys bickered and ran away together. Xiao Liu, who was hiding behind a potted plant on the second floor, peeked out and went up to the third floor.
The room at the end of the third floor was locked.
But as soon as they touched the lock, the door opened a crack, revealing that it wasn't locked at all.
Xiao Liu pushed him aside, and Xie Tan blocked her way, looking into the room—it was empty.
As my brother said, it was an empty room, with no dolls.
Xiao Liu whispered, "There don't seem to be any girls in the family photo in the living room?"
There was nothing to explore in the empty room, so they went back to the second floor.
Then it stopped.
The long corridor stretched out into the darkness, seemingly without end.
There was only one lonely doll standing in the middle, right in front of their guest room, facing them.
A gorgeous lace skirt fell to the ground, her small hands were folded in front of her, her posture was dignified and elegant, and her lifelike face wore an eternal smile.
"..."
Xie Tan paused briefly before leading Xiao Liu over as usual.
Xiao Liu hesitated, glancing down at the doll: "This..."
Xie Tan: "You like it?"
Xiao Liu tilted his head: "It's very beautiful."
"Then go out and buy a new one, this one's haunted." He then calmly closed the door.
Now that it was just the two of them, Xiao Liu spoke freely. She asked, "Is it because of that doll... well, I should say the female ghost behind it, that they're so serious?"
Xie Tan paused for a moment.
Those two brothers were Xia Yuanchuan and Xia Mianfeng when they were young. What Xia Mianfeng saw should be the same as what they saw—Xia Wujin, who was kicked out of his home and sold to the Black Goat.
But he felt that apart from Xia Mianfeng, the other people in the family probably hadn't noticed her. They were panicked by the relentless darkness, which was clearly a more terrifying and devastating disaster that had taken away their minds and made them see danger everywhere, believing that all the strange things were brought about by the darkness.
Xiao Liu had never witnessed the alternation of day and night; she only knew that such a concept existed. Therefore, when countless novelties unfolded before her eyes, she could not immediately notice the strange phenomenon that the darkness did not recede.
He patted her head again.
Xiao Liu tilted his head in confusion.
It's hard to say whether Xia Wujin is human or a ghost. If he is human, then he must have used some kind of spell; if he is a ghost, then he died in the final sacrifice in the Smoke Mirror, or he died with the black goats all over the mountain after the birth of the gods.
But whether she's human or ghost, she's definitely coming back here to take revenge on this family. The fact that the head of the family couldn't come out is probably because her sister came looking for her.
We can't stay here any longer.
So before dusk, they bid farewell to the steward and prepared to leave.
"Aren't you going to stay any longer? What exactly is going on with this situation?" the butler asked calmly. "My master and Black Goat are close friends, and he usually relies on them a lot. But since before dawn, we haven't been able to contact either of them. What happened? The Xia family will definitely do everything in its power to help."
Sure enough, the Xia family suspected that something was wrong with the black goat.
If the Xia family discovers that all the Su family members in the settlement are dead, they probably won't let them go. But there are still clansmen sent out, so it hasn't come to the point of annihilation yet, and the Xia family doesn't dare to act rashly.
So, with the idea of calming him down first, Xie Tan said, "Black goats are such monsters...they're very tenacious."
Xiao Liu imitated him, including his somewhat mocking tone.
The butler said no more, prepared a car for her, and took her down the mountain.
Before the car drove away, the butler suddenly asked, "So why did you come here?"
Xie Tan propped his head up with his arm and replied listlessly, "Just freeloading."
Xiao Liu almost burst out laughing, but she held it in. Her eyes were empty as she stared straight at the butler, repeating what Xie Tan had taught her beforehand: "Just think of me as a harbinger of death."
The car windows closed, and the car, carrying its passengers, sped away.
The steward returned to report, bowing his head as he asked the master, "Master, I still think the Black Goat might be... If the darkness really is related to them, even they themselves would be in trouble with such power. That girl might have escaped. The driver is on standby. Master, do you need...?"
The room was covered with various talismans and incantations, and there were ritual implements on the walls. The curtains were drawn tightly, and all reflective surfaces were blocked, especially mirrors and dark objects, which were also covered with talismans.
The Xia family patriarch glanced around warily, as if he could still see that red figure.
He tried to calm himself down, pondered for a moment, and was about to nod when the small mirror with the talisman on it suddenly turned black, and the talisman was burned to ashes.
A familiar voice came from inside, and the Xia family head immediately became respectful and greeted him with humility—this was the current head of the Black Goat family!
"Hmm? Thanks for your concern, Black Goat... I'm perfectly fine."
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