Chapter 43 : The Pond

Sensing something, Hua Qi’an frowned and looked out the window.

The window of this room faced the courtyard of the residence, giving a clear view of the front gate.

But at this moment, there was nothing unusual there.

Only the occasional breeze rustled the messy weeds, making the scene look all the more desolate.

Hua Qi’an shook her head, pushing away the uneasy thoughts in her mind.

She turned her attention back to the room before her.

The furnishings hadn’t changed much; judging by the photos on the wall, this must be the room of the master of the house and his wife.

Earlier, she had already noticed the wedding photo hanging at the head of the bed.

It was an old-fashioned photo, framed with golden floral trim, the image slightly yellowed with age.

A visible layer of dust covered its surface.

Hua Qi’an didn’t touch it recklessly, choosing instead to explore the drawers first.

The house had been unused for so long, yet everything inside remained perfectly intact—truly strange.

Pulling open a drawer, she found there wasn’t much inside.

Mostly paper items, all seemingly records of something.

She took out the last notebook; its pages were yellowed, looking as though they might fall apart at any moment.

Hua Qi’an placed her phone by the wall and started flipping through the notebook.

A thick volume—turns out, it was a “ledger.”

Judging by the handwriting, the one doing the bookkeeping was likely the lady of the house.

Every income and expense was recorded with meticulous clarity.

At first glance, nothing seemed amiss…

Hua Qi’an quickly flipped through the pages, her eyes scanning rapidly for any signs of suspicion.

But after going through most of the book, everything appeared normal.

Could it be there was nothing in this ledger she was looking for?

Just as she was about to close the ledger and put it back in the drawer, her eyes caught a few lines of strange bookkeeping.

Her hand froze mid-turn.

“……”

Unlike the elegant script before, this section was obviously written by someone else.

Judging by the handwriting, probably a man—perhaps the master of the house himself.

Unlike the earlier detailed records, these entries were… sparse, to say the least.

【Materials prepared, -100000】

【Token of affection, -188888】

Two inexplicable, high-value expenditures.

With just these few words, Hua Qi’an couldn’t begin to guess their meaning.

Afterwards, the handwriting returned to the lady’s.

Yet Hua Qi’an keenly noticed a difference from before.

The amount spent on meals had increased significantly.

This suggested the number of people dining had increased.

Could this be an important clue?

Turning a few more pages, she found that from a certain day onwards, the income recorded suddenly spiked…

And then the records stopped abruptly.

Hua Qi’an closed the ledger and put it back in the drawer.

A ledger alone wasn’t enough to piece together the truth.

She still couldn’t link all her suspicions together…

Her gaze settled on the remaining items in the drawer.

Apart from miscellaneous business memos, Hua Qi’an noticed a small notebook.

She took it out, brushing off a thin layer of dust with her fingertip.

“This is…”

Seeing the words written on the cover, she raised an eyebrow—it seemed to be an important clue.

…

“Dammit, He, do you even know where you’re going?”

Wang Lao’er impatiently grabbed the collar of the skinny, monkey-like man.

He had trusted He Xiaoliu’s words and entered this mansion, hoping to strike it rich, but after walking for a whole hour, there was still no sign of the so-called “luxury house”!

He Xiaoliu, being yanked by the collar, was drenched in sweat.

“That’s weird… I’m sure I took this road last time…”

He Xiaoliu muttered defensively.

But faced with Wang Lao’er’s fierce glare, even he lost confidence.

Could he really have remembered wrong?

Otherwise, how could they walk for an hour and not see even a shadow of the mansion?

“Er-Ge, don’t be angry…”

“Why don’t we just go back the way we came, rest by the gate for a bit!”

He Xiaoliu spoke to Wang Lao’er carefully.

He was afraid the other would punch him out of annoyance.

Wang Lao’er snorted coldly, releasing his grip and shoving He Xiaoliu away.

“Go back my ass. I’m sitting right here—you go scout the path for me.”

“Come get me once you’ve figured out the way!”

As he spoke, he shot He Xiaoliu a fierce glare.

“Don’t let me catch you trying to run off! Or else… heh heh…”

Wang Lao’er let out a sinister chuckle.

With his connections, finding a little punk in Hangyang was nothing.

If He Xiaoliu hadn’t been his cellmate for the longest time, he wouldn’t even bother to give him a decent face.

He Xiaoliu nodded furiously, “Rest assured, Er-Ge, I’ll go scout right now!”

He patted his chest, then dashed off down the path, as if fleeing.

Once He Xiaoliu disappeared from sight, Wang Lao’er casually sat on a roadside rock.

He took out his phone, intending to pass the time with a game.

“Damn it, how come there’s no signal in this damned place?”

Seeing not even a single bar on his phone, Wang Lao’er couldn’t help but curse.

So he crossed his arms, shook his legs, and stared at the end of the road, waiting for He Xiaoliu to come back.

Time ticked by.

At some point, a thin layer of mist began to creep over the ground.

The mist drifted low, almost pressed flat against the earth.

But it was enough to obscure part of his vision.

“Damn…”

Noticing the fog around him, Wang Lao’er spat a curse and got up from the rock.

“That little bastard still isn’t back… he’ll get it when he does!”

The end of the road was completely shrouded in fog—nothing could be seen.

Wang Lao’er clicked his tongue, decided not to bother waiting for He Xiaoliu, and planned to leave this wretched place on his own.

He figured if he just followed the path back, he’d eventually reach the gate.

As the mist grew thicker, the already foul smell of dead fish became even stronger.

Soon, the fog was so dense he couldn’t see more than a meter ahead.

Vaguely, he saw a human shape in the fog.

Furious, Wang Lao’er rushed forward and grabbed the figure’s collar.

“Damn it, He Xiaoliu, where have you been?”

He Xiaoliu seemed startled, “Er-Ge, I found the way! See, I was just coming back to get you…”

“I have no idea where this fog came from though…”

He pointed to his pocket, where something seemed to be glinting.

Wang Lao’er let go and reached for his pocket.

Inside was a golden bracelet!

“To prove I really found the mansion, I brought something back for you.”

Wang Lao’er greedily eyed the bracelet in his hand, “Unnecessary!”

Though he said that, it was clear he was convinced.

Any thoughts of leaving vanished instantly.

“You better have really found the way this time!”

He glared at He Xiaoliu.

The latter quickly nodded, “Of course!”

With that, the two of them pressed close together, walking through the thick fog.

He Xiaoliu, at the front, hadn’t spoken a word since returning.

Suddenly, he stopped.

He pointed ahead—through the mist, a pond-like body of water could just barely be seen, with the silhouette of the mansion on the far side.

Wang Lao’er could wait no longer and strode quickly in the indicated direction.

It was called a pond, but this body of water was vast, its surface eerily calm, its depth impossible to gauge.

The thick fog that had been so suffocating before, for some reason, was much lighter here.

The closer he got to the pond, the stronger the stench of dead fish became.

But Wang Lao’er no longer cared, his attention wholly fixed on the mansion across the water.

He planned to skirt around the pond along the edge.

At that moment, he noticed a blurry human shape beneath the water…

Frowning, Wang Lao’er leaned in for a closer look.

To his horror, the figure slowly floated upward, revealing its true form.

Lifeless, dilated eyes locked with his.

Four eyes met.

That face was frozen in an expression of terror from the moment of death.

“He…He Xiaoliu…?”

The clothing was exactly what he remembered…

Wasn’t he supposed to be right behind him?

Wang Lao’er’s voice trembled; his vision went black, his legs gave out and he collapsed to the ground.

He Xiaoliu had drowned…?

Then—who had been leading him just now?

As he fell, the golden bracelet he’d taken from “He Xiaoliu’s” pocket tumbled to the ground nearby.

Wang Lao’er reached for it with trembling hands.

Looking down at the valuable ornament in his grasp…

But when he saw what the “golden bracelet” really was—

“AAAAAAHHHH!!!”

Wang Lao’er let out a piercing scream and flung the “golden bracelet” away like it was burning his hand.

It wasn’t gold at all…

It was made of paper!

In a daze, he thought he heard movement from the pond, as if something was surfacing.

But… wasn’t He Xiaoliu’s corpse in the water?

Wang Lao’er’s face turned ashen.

He instinctively tried to get up and run, but whatever was in the water clearly wasn’t going to let him escape.

A pale, blue-white hand grabbed his ankle, yanking him down and dragging him toward the water.

Despite all his muscle, Wang Lao’er couldn’t resist the force from the pond.

His screams echoed through the air.

With a tremendous splash… the pond fell silent once more.

And faintly, as if drifting on the breeze, a derisive chuckle echoed above the water.