Chapter 44 : Household Registration Booklet

“Xia Feng…”

“Yu Mei…”

“Xia Xin…”

Hua Qi’an flipped through the small booklet in her hand, memorizing every name and piece of identification information recorded inside.

This was the household register she had just found.

One could say that the information inside the register was sure to be extremely detailed.

As expected, through the household register, she learned about the makeup of this family’s members and their names.

Xia Feng was clearly the head of the household, and Yu Mei must be the lady of the house.

And judging by her age, Xia Xin was likely their daughter.

Hua Qi’an recalled that old woman saying the family head had drowned himself in the river.

Since the household register was still here, perhaps there hadn’t been time to replace it before something else happened.

“Hmm?”

A blank household registration page fell out.

She picked it up and confirmed there was nothing special on it, so Hua Qi’an set it aside for now.

Turning to the last few pages of the register, she noticed clear tear marks.

That blank page had fallen out because the attached page had been ripped off, leaving nothing to hold it in place, so it dropped as she flipped through.

This household register… was missing a person.

And it was done deliberately.

Almost as if trying to erase all trace of someone’s existence.

But judging by the sloppy way it was handled, it didn’t seem like the work of any official.

So what was this person’s purpose?

Who was it that needed to have their registration page torn out completely?

Lost in thought, Hua Qi’an tucked the page back into the register and returned it to the drawer.

She picked up her phone and idly scanned the room again.

It seemed there was nothing else of note in this master bedroom.

She tried to recall the layout of the other bedrooms on the second floor.

From the household register, there were at least three people in this family.

Adding the torn-out page, there should be four.

There were four bedrooms on the second floor.

One of them must be the guest room.

She remembered that when she’d visited a few days ago, she had just picked a random room and slept there.

Looking back now, that room had almost no decorations—probably the guest room.

Since there was still daylight left, she had time to look around thoroughly.

The next room she went to was the second largest on the floor.

The master bedroom belonged to Xia Feng and Yu Mei—the largest room. Directly opposite it was the second biggest.

She’d already looked inside a few days ago, so she was mentally prepared this time.

As soon as she stepped in, a wave of pinkness overwhelmed her.

Not only were the walls pink, but even the furnishings were pink and girly.

But because nobody had come in for a long time, the layer of dust was especially thick.

The pink was tinged with a certain gloom.

Thanks to having aired out the room last time, she wasn’t choked by the mustiness now.

Scattered across the bed and floor were various plush toys, making it clear the room’s owner had a youthful, girlish heart.

Judging by the names in the household register, this must be Xia Xin’s room.

Just looking at it, one would imagine the resident was a beloved little princess.

Hua Qi’an remembered her age… It seemed they were the same age?

Assuming Xia Xin was still alive.

Hua Qi’an circled the room but found no useful clues.

By the bedside, she noticed a family portrait on the nightstand.

Everyone in the photo looked young.

It was a group of three.

A young man and woman stood with a little girl between them—a picture of happiness.

The man and woman must be Xia Feng and Yu Mei.

And the little girl in the center was probably Xia Xin when she was young.

It was just a perfectly ordinary family photo of three, nothing strange at first glance.

But the picture in the frame was already yellowed and faded, even a bit moldy from moisture.

The three faces in the photo were as pale as wallpaper, eyes fixed on the camera, mouths pulled into stiff smiles.

Their eyes, staring at the camera, almost seemed to be staring at Hua Qi’an outside the frame.

If one hadn’t seen the household register, one might not notice anything odd about this photo.

But Hua Qi’an quickly picked up on it.

She rubbed her chin, thinking.

If there really was a fourth person… why did the family portrait only show three?

Even though the register only had two pages left, she’d seen the process of registering and removing members before.

Usually, the later-registered ones were younger family members—new entries added to the existing register…

Clearly, this family’s register had another child listed.

But why did this early family photo only show three people?

As the investigation deepened, an answer began to surface in Hua Qi’an’s mind.

She needed more evidence to confirm it.

She’d already checked the rooms of Xia Feng, Yu Mei, and Xia Xin.

Besides the guest room, only one remained—the room that might belong to the “person who doesn’t exist.”

Recalling her visit from two days ago, she realized she had almost no impression of that room.

In just two days, she could barely remember it.

Yet the grand master bedroom and the pink second bedroom still lingered in her memory.

With this in mind, Hua Qi’an pushed open the door to that room.

As soon as she opened it, a pungent smell assaulted her nose.

She instinctively stepped back.

“……”

For a split second, Hua Qi’an thought she was about to enter somewhere other than a bedroom…

A flash of old memories flickered through her mind the moment she opened the door.

But as she came back to herself, the memory vanished without a trace.

She suddenly remembered catching fish by the village river with Wangui long ago…

Perhaps it was that salty, fishy smell that wafted in as she opened the door, stirring her memories.

Thinking back, she used to be pretty mischievous—not only did she want to catch fish, she needed a “partner in crime” to keep watch…

If only Wangui were here now—she always had ideas, and Hua Qi’an wouldn’t be stumbling around blindly.

Hua Qi’an sighed inwardly.

She waved away the stench before stepping inside.

As soon as she entered, she spotted the source of the smell.

It was a wide-open window.

Hua Qi’an walked up and looked outside.

Beyond the window was a sizable pond.

Wealthy families often built garden ponds; it was nothing unusual.

The salty, fishy smell she’d noticed was probably coming from there.

Last time, the window had been shut, so she’d only smelled dust…

Given that this room had almost no decoration, it made sense she didn’t remember it well.

For a moment, Hua Qi’an wondered if her deduction was wrong.

Compared to the luxury of the master bedroom and the sweetness of the pink room…

This bedroom wasn’t as plain as the guest room, but not much better either.

It felt like a guest room that had been slightly redone.

The nightstand was empty.

Even if this was really the fourth person’s room, she probably wouldn’t find any useful clues here…

Just as Hua Qi’an was about to leave and check elsewhere, she suddenly noticed something under the pillow on the bed.

The pillow was thick with dust, yellowed and moldy, speckled with dark spots.

Frowning, Hua Qi’an lifted a corner of the pillow, revealing what was hidden beneath.

It was a torn photograph.

She picked it up and carefully examined the faded figure in the image.

A strange sense of familiarity washed over her.

As the person in the photo became clearer in her mind, a wave of indescribable absurdity rose up.

The person in the photo…

Wasn’t it her?

[You’re watching, aren’t you]

A line of small red characters, smudged and warped by moisture like running blood, was printed in the corner of the photo.

“Plop——!”

Before Hua Qi’an could react, a huge splash sounded outside the window.

Without hesitation, she shoved the photo into her pocket and ran to the window to look outside.

“What the…”

Even she couldn’t help but curse at the scene before her.

The once-calm, mirror-like surface of the pond now held two people floating on top.