Chapter 57: The Empty House, the Girl in the Photograph
Su Han’s expression was extremely grave. “The evil-warding mirror doesn’t make mistakes. These past few days, you must have been in contact with that ghost!”
After thinking for a moment, she suddenly asked, “Momo, these days it seems you’ve been calling someone every day. Who is that person?”
Nan Xun immediately understood what Su Han meant. Her face turned deathly pale in an instant. “It’s Fu Mo. I met him a few days ago. He’s a really good person.”
Su Han sneered. “No wonder I felt such a strong ghostly aura in this apartment the moment I moved in.”
Nan Xun: “……”
“Momo, give me your phone,” Su Han said.
Nan Xun’s hands were trembling as she fished her phone out of her pocket.
Su Han placed the phone in front of the evil-warding mirror. Sure enough, she saw an extremely dense ghostly aura coiling around it.
Nan Xun saw it too—thick black energy enveloped the phone.
Su Han asked which number belonged to Fu Mo, and Nan Xun pointed it out.
Su Han immediately made a call, apparently asking someone to help her check the number.
The process didn’t take long. Very soon, the other party sent back the owner of the phone number along with that person’s photo.
Su Han looked up at Nan Xun and showed her the photo on the phone. “Is the Fu Mo you mentioned this person?”
Nan Xun leaned over to look. When she clearly saw the photo on the ID, she stumbled back in shock. “Th-this… how is this possible?”
Su Han said calmly, “The owner of this phone number is named Fu Yu. He was the CEO of the emerging Simo Group and unfortunately died in a car accident a month ago.”
Nan Xun’s eyes flew wide open. “Who did you say? Fu Yu?!”
After hearing that Fu Yu was Bai Mo’s high school classmate, Su Han gave her a meaningful look. “This deceased person named Fu Yu was your high school classmate? If he was your classmate, how is it that you only know now what he looks like?”
Nan Xun said with a pale face, “Back in high school, he had long hair that covered his eyes and forehead. I really didn’t know what he looked like.”
“Momo, according to what you said earlier, you lived with a ghost for a full three days without realizing it?”
Nan Xun swallowed hard. “I think they might not be the same person. Fu Mo is completely different from the Fu Yu I remember.”
Su Han chuckled. “I believe you. Maybe they’re twins.”
Nan Xun: “……”
Su Han said solemnly, “Momo, since you’re so convinced they’re not the same person, then let’s go pay a visit right now to this ‘Fu Mo’ you keep talking about.”
Nan Xun’s heart skipped a beat. “W-we? I have to go too? Uh… Su Han, look, it’s already getting dark. How about we go tomorrow? Or… you could go by yourself?”
Su Han glanced at her sideways. “Momo, I need you to lead the way.”
Resigned to her fate, Nan Xun led her to the old house she had visited not long ago.
But when Nan Xun clearly saw the old house again, she gaped in astonishment.
The old house now looked completely different from how it had during the day. The flowers and plants in the courtyard had withered from long neglect, and the white curtains on the second floor hung completely still, without the slightest ripple. The entire house looked utterly lifeless.
Nan Xun swallowed and stepped forward to knock on the door.
The surroundings were deathly quiet. Other than her knocking echoing in the night, there was no sound at all.
“Fu Mo, it’s me—Bai Mo. Are you home?” Nan Xun called toward the door.
Still, no one answered.
Su Han lost patience. She took a running start, stepped onto the courtyard wall, flipped over it with ease, and then opened the door for Nan Xun from the inside.
Nan Xun: “……”
Su Han opened the front door from within, and the two of them went inside one after the other.
Su Han switched on the light at the entrance. The sight inside made Nan Xun freeze.
It was still the familiar place, but a dusty smell hung in the air. Touching any surface at random left a layer of dust on her fingers.
This place looked like it hadn’t been lived in for at least a month.
Su Han was very brave and walked in front, while Nan Xun followed closely behind her.
Perhaps her nerves were stretched too tight—Nan Xun felt as though someone was following behind her, footsteps overlapping with her own.
She didn’t dare turn around.
The two of them went upstairs and entered Fu Yu’s bedroom.
The bedroom’s furnishings seemed untouched since Fu Yu’s death, aside from the layer of dust. Fu Yu appeared to have had a bit of obsessive-compulsive tendencies—everything was arranged with extreme neatness.
Nan Xun’s gaze fell on a photo frame on the bedside table.
In the photo was a girl wearing a loose high school uniform, lying on a patch of grass. Her ponytailed head rested on her crossed arms, her right leg draped over her left in a lazy, carefree pose. A high school Chinese textbook lay over her face, covering it. The sunlight was bright, shining in beams onto a large tree behind her. After passing through the lush branches and leaves, it scattered into mottled fragments of light that dotted her body like stars.
The photograph had a very artistic, beautifully aesthetic feel.
But the moment Nan Xun saw that ugly-as-hell school uniform, she knew the girl was from her own high school.
She was staring at the photo, lost in thought, when Su Han suddenly patted her on the shoulder, scaring her badly.
“Momo, let’s go. We’ll talk after we get back,” Su Han said, her expression heavy.
Nan Xun’s mind was in complete chaos, so naturally, she did whatever Su Han said.
As they were leaving, Nan Xun couldn’t help turning back for one last look.
At that glance, her eyes widened abruptly.
Behind the floor-to-ceiling window on the second floor, beside the white curtain that swayed gently in the wind, stood a man.
Nan Xun’s face turned deathly pale in an instant.
But when she looked more closely, the figure was gone.
Nan Xun stumbled and grabbed Su Han, who was walking ahead of her, with all her strength.
In that moment, countless thoughts flooded Nan Xun’s mind—such as who the girl in the photo in Fu Yu’s bedroom really was. Damn it, that was her during middle school. Because she was wearing Bai Mo’s “shell,” and her face was covered in the photo, she hadn’t recognized herself at first.
Fu Mo and Fu Yu looked exactly alike. Fu Yu’s secret crush was her. Fu Mo liked her and had even asked if she wanted to be his girlfriend. Su Han said Fu Mo didn’t exist. Little Eight said Fu Mo was the villainous big boss, with 100 blackening points and 100 evil intent points. And the villainous big boss liked her…
All of it pointed to the answer forming in Nan Xun’s heart.
After they returned, the two of them sat on the sofa. Both were preoccupied with their own thoughts, so neither spoke.
Nan Xun hadn’t expected that the rare feelings she’d developed for someone would be for someone who wasn’t human, but a ghost.
This was really… heh.
Su Han suddenly stood up. “Momo, I’m going to Lingyin Temple to invite Master Wuchen to come out. Lately, vengeful ghosts have been running rampant and the yin energy is too strong. We can’t let these things run wild any longer.”
Nan Xun opened her mouth and said dryly, “You’re going to have that Master Wuchen deal with Fu Yu? But… but Fu Yu might not be a bad ghost…”
“Bai Mo!” Su Han’s face darkened instantly. “Are you pleading on behalf of a vengeful ghost?”
