Jiang Yan didn’t answer Yu Renwan’s question right away.
She reached out and tore the layer of human skin from the kitchen door downward, stopping when she reached the woman’s navel, where a very distinct centipede-like scar—a caesarean section—was visible.
“The scar had already healed while she was alive,” Jiang Yan said. “So she can’t be the pregnant woman the man claimed was killed for her placenta—this should be Xiao Mei.”
Yu Renwan said, “But the man wanted us to catch Xiao Mei alive… Still, this is a haunted house, anything could happen. Maybe she can be resurrected?”
Jiang Yan agreed.
“There’ll be a new Xiao Mei appearing—otherwise, we’d hit a dead end in this game, and it couldn’t continue.”
Yu Renwan nodded. Just then, Shen Xiaoxiao hurried over. She was about to ask what the other two were looking at, but the moment she got close she nearly gagged.
“Damn! That’s brutal!” Shen Xiaoxiao couldn’t even look straight at the woman, forcing her eyes away.
“That’s Xiao Mei, isn’t it? She was stuffed into the kitchen door while she was alive? She’s definitely a ghost now, so did her husband kill her and want us to catch her?”
Shen Xiaoxiao’s questions spilled out like gunfire. Jiang Yan picked out a couple to answer.
“She’s a ghost, but Xiao Mei wasn’t really stuffed into the door—her body can pass through any narrow space. She’s still hiding somewhere in the house.”
After that, Jiang Yan went to the kitchen, fetched a chopstick, and poked it into Xiao Mei’s mouth, lifting her lips.
Xiao Mei’s teeth were unlike those of ordinary people; the teeth at either side were long and sharp, like some wild animal’s.
Her tongue had been bitten off, blood steadily dripping from the corner of her mouth.
“She just bit her tongue to kill herself. Next time we find her, we have to stop her from committing suicide,” Jiang Yan said.
Both nodded. Then Jiang Yan posted an update in the group chat.
After receiving everyone’s confirmation, Jiang Yan entered the kitchen. She tossed the chopstick into the sink and wiped her hands with a wet wipe. From the drain, a “grr grr grr” sound issued as the water pooled.
That sound wasn’t right at all.
Jiang Yan lowered her gaze. There, in the drain, was a pair of rolling eyes.
Not just the eyes—more accurately, there was a woman’s face, a perfect circle about ten centimeters in diameter, right at the drain’s opening.
She was cylindrical in shape.
Noticing that Jiang Yan had seen her, Xiao Mei giggled twice, then swiftly vanished down the drain.
The other two outside caught the sound and rushed in. Shen Xiaoxiao looked around warily. “Sister Jiang Yan, I think we heard that woman laugh again just now.”
Jiang Yan pointed at the drain. “Just left.”
“With all these tricks, she has lots of ways to kill herself. I didn’t even try to stop her.”
Jiang Yan was so calm that, for those who hadn’t witnessed it, the others didn’t find the scene all that scary. They nodded in realization. “Let’s keep searching elsewhere, then.”
Jiang Yan replied with a quiet, “Mm.”
But the livestream viewers didn’t have her composure.
They’d just been hit with two shocks in quick succession—and in high-def, no less. Comments filled the chat as they tried to regain their nerves.
[Shit, it’s broad daylight but I’m hugging my plushie for dear life.]
[Please, Jiang Yan, show some emotion! Why are you so calm in a place like this?!]
[I look so ridiculous, screaming like crazy in my own home…]
[If you want to watch this haunted house arc, be my guest. Me, I’m out (collapse).]
[Same here, I finally get a day off and watch this… and now I’m even more frazzled…]
[Also same! After finding out Sister Yan never watched cartoons, I stopped daring to watch this. I finally steeled myself to tune in, and THIS is what I get!!]
…
[I’ll check back in ten minutes; I’m gonna switch to someone else’s stream QAQ]
[Take me, take me, I’m out too.]
With the current situation in the country, not many had time to watch livestreams—workloads were heavy, most people only stopped in for a bit. But Red Pillow never dipped below a thousand live viewers.
At this moment, two or three hundred switched from the first-floor main view over to the three psychics searching the second floor.
Shen Huanhuan had just found two national ID cards in the master bedroom’s drawer.
The photos showed the man and Xiao Mei from earlier.
The man’s name was Liu Zhengxing, age thirty-six; Yang Shumei (Xiao Mei), age thirty-four.
That was all, nothing else of note.
After getting Jiang Yan’s message and learning that Xiao Mei might be hiding anywhere, and with her own binding ability, Shen Huanhuan was best suited to restrain Xiao Mei and stop her from killing herself. So she searched with special care, not willing to miss a single spot.
After checking under the mattress with no results, Shen Huanhuan sighed, then headed for the wardrobe. The floor of the master bedroom was covered in tiny cracks, emitting faint noises as she walked.
Creak—
She slid open the wardrobe.
Blackness met her eyes, a surge of rot stinging her nose. Shen Huanhuan held her breath and peered inside, but all she saw was stacked layers of clothes.
The wardrobe was full—far larger inside than out.
Even reaching as far as her arm would go, she didn’t touch the back wall. So she simply thrust her upper body in further. Inside, men’s clothes—mostly Liu Zhengxing’s—took up most space; Xiao Mei’s were just a few, all housewear.
Since Yang Shumei had gone mad, she hadn’t left home in ages, hence no outdoor clothes.
Shen Huanhuan paused, then used her phone to illuminate the deeper recesses.
The light revealed something else: in the bottom right corner was a pile of children’s clothes, both boys’ and girls’, from newborn size up to four or five years old. The older clothes looked well-worn, passed down from someone else.
[That child who died young was really expected, huh.]
[Yeah, those little clothes are brand new.]
[Bet those bigger ones were forced in by relatives. My family used to do that—my mom didn’t know how to refuse or throw them away.]
[Makes sense. This family lives in a villa; they wouldn’t need hand-me-downs.]
Seeing the clothes, Shen Huanhuan let out a sigh.
Even hand-me-downs—her child, dead at birth, never had a chance to wear any.
She sorted through the children’s clothes with extra care and didn’t notice the wardrobe door silently closing. When the light began to dim, she realized the door had closed halfway.
In a split second, Shen Huanhuan lunged forward. Xiao Mei’s strength was immense, and it took several minutes of wrestling before the resistance behind the door vanished.
Sweating, Shen Huanhuan exhaled heavily and slumped onto the wooden base of the wardrobe.
Half a minute passed, then a soft click sounded.
It wasn’t close—nor too far; maybe in the wardrobe, maybe outside.
Shen Huanhuan tensed.
—Click.
The sound came again, like someone grinding their teeth, or muffled laughter.
She remembered what Jiang Yan had texted in the group chat and realized Xiao Mei was here. She looked around, seeing nothing. Then, golden light shimmered over her fingers as she slowly raised her head.
Nothing.
A jump scare to the face was the oldest trick, but often the most effective in making people scream.
After confirming above her was clear, Shen Huanhuan let out a breath.
But immediately, nerves crept back. In these stories, lowering your gaze at ease was always when you locked eyes with the ghost, setting up a heart-gripping scare.
So Shen Huanhuan rotated her neck little by little, the gold light in her palm growing ever brighter, ready to strike.
Still, nothing happened.
Perplexed for a moment, she quickly stood and left the wardrobe—but she didn’t leave the room. Instead, she started searching the master bedroom again.
Their task was to catch Xiao Mei, and since she was now here, Shen Huanhuan couldn’t hide—she had to go on the offensive.
She re-searched every place she’d checked before, but after ten whole minutes, found nothing at all.
Frowning in thought, Shen Huanhuan stopped her search.
Standing in the center of the master bedroom, she waited. Three minutes later, that clicking sound came again. This time, the direction was clear—from within the wardrobe.
Shen Huanhuan typed a quick message in the chat. In case Xiao Mei tried to sneak away, she went to the wardrobe and decisively yanked it open.
Inside, just rows and rows of clothes.
Shen Huanhuan’s face turned pensive. A few breaths later, she stepped into the wardrobe and sat where she had earlier. This time, she didn’t look up at the ceiling, but leaned her head back and brushed aside one garment after another. In less than ten seconds, she suddenly froze.
She held her head tipped back, looking up.
Above her, Xiao Mei’s legs dangled from a pair of baggy house pants. In fact, not just the legs—her whole body was folded double, her upper body and both legs hanging over Shen Huanhuan’s head.
Realizing she’d finally been found, Xiao Mei bit her fingernails, emitting a frenzied laugh.
“Geh geh geh geh—”
After a fleeting shock, Shen Huanhuan activated her power. Xiao Mei offered little resistance and was swiftly bound tight. To keep her from biting her tongue again, Shen Huanhuan stuffed a baby’s bib into her mouth.
Xiao Mei only grew more delighted, rolling back and forth in the wardrobe, her tangled hair flying.
At that moment, the master bedroom door was pushed open, and Jiang Yan and the others hurried in.
Seeing her sister safe, Shen Xiaoxiao breathed out.
She grinned, running to Xiao Mei. “That was easy! Barely any time at all and she’s caught!”
Shen Huanhuan smiled at her sister, too.
But as Shen Xiaoxiao drew near, she suddenly hesitated. Shen Huanhuan blinked, quickly flipped Xiao Mei over, and saw that her eyes had rolled back, her face was mottled with bruises, and the bib was soaked with blood—clearly, she was dying.
Shen Huanhuan bit her lip and gently pulled out the bib. Bits of bone and viscera spilled from Xiao Mei’s mouth.
Jiang Yan said, “She suffered a fatal wound.”
Shen Huanhuan sighed, “She probably didn’t want to get caught and deliberately hurt herself…”
Jiang Yan’s face was unchanged. “It’s fine, there’s still over two hours. We’ll find a new one.”
Shen Huanhuan collected her binding rope and straightened. “Then let’s hurry.”
They were about to leave when Yu Renwan, glancing back at Xiao Mei, hesitated and walked softly over to her.
By now, Xiao Mei had completely stopped breathing. Her pupils had faded—her body showing every sign of death.
Yu Renwan crouched down and touched Xiao Mei for just a few seconds before, all of a sudden, Xiao Mei sat bolt upright, as if surging with one final burst of strength, and pounced on Yu Renwan.
Yu Renwan didn’t even blink, nor did she fight back. Xiao Mei’s sharp teeth quickly sank into her flesh, and she greedily licked Yu Renwan’s blood, scratching at her face with her nails all the while.
By reflex, Yu Renwan turned her head, so Xiao Mei’s long nails ripped open her neck, carving several ten-centimeter wounds from jawline to throat.
The others rushed over to help, but Jiang Yan held them back.
She looked down quietly, calm and cold, as Yu Renwan endured it.
After two minutes, Xiao Mei slid to the floor, truly dead at last.
Yu Renwan, gasping, stood up with a hand pressed to her bleeding neck. Her whole front was saturated with blood—she looked truly frightening.
She walked to Jiang Yan. “Jiang Jiang, I just cursed Xiao Mei.”
“I freaked out in the kitchen and forgot—this time, she must have dropped a clue.” Yu Renwan pointed at the slashes on her neck. “Should be right here, check it quickly.”
Everyone: “………”
Zhao Kepu flinched in fright. “My god, how can you go so hard on yourself?”
A moment later, Jiang Yan stepped up.
She took a white jade bottle from her pocket and tossed it over. “Take this after.”
Then, showing no mercy, Jiang Yan really started examining Yu Renwan’s wound, even prying it open for a look.
Yu Renwan gritted her teeth against the pain. “Jiang Jiang, did she scratch something into me?”
Jiang Yan: “No.”
Yu Renwan: “Then what is it?”
Jiang Yan: “Quiet.”
Yu Renwan instantly stopped talking.
Half a minute later, she felt something being drawn from her wounds. There was a soft click from Jiang Yan’s tongue.
Everyone’s eyes followed as Jiang Yan opened her hand to reveal a long, hair-like strand.
Shen Xiaoxiao started, “Is that…”
Shen Huanhuan spoke up, “It looks like cat hair?”
Shen Xiaoxiao quickly nodded. “Yes, yes—I’ve owned cats, that’s definitely cat hair.”
Jiang Yan was silent for a long moment before summarizing the clue:
“This Xiao Mei before us isn’t Xiao Mei—it’s a cat.”
A stream of [??????] flooded the chat.
Jiang Yan explained, “Because its skeleton is very flexible, it can hide anywhere, likes to peek, pull pranks, gets excited making trouble, loves to bite and scratch people—in short, it’s a very ill-tempered cat.”
“It’s an exaggerated cat.”
“The real Xiao Mei is somewhere else.”