Lin Qingyue couldn’t help but squeeze it twice more.
Ye Shu: “...Don’t touch me.”
Lin Qingyue stopped his hands, gazing at her with longing eyes full of tenderness—and a flicker of anger.
It must be the prop taking effect on this Guǐ, or by his true nature, she’d have been dead a thousand times.
Yet this feeling... was worse than being killed outright!
That searing, needle-prick sensation—the dread of it—all unsettled her heartbeat.
Maybe it’s best just to die and start over?
That was the only thought echoing in Ye Shu’s mind.
She pressed her pistol to her temple, but before she could pull the trigger, it was snatched away.
“Xiao Shu... don’t do anything foolish. I’ll stay by your side forever. Anyone who hurts you—I’ll make sure not one of them escapes.”
Lin Qingyue carefully set Ye Shu down on the sofa, treating her as if she were a fragile porcelain doll.
Ye Shu was silent.
She glanced at the glowing interface—‘Love-brain’ item equipped. Lin Qingyue’s favorability was only 60%.
The item adds 200% based on the original value. So that meant his base was negative... MINUS 140%. Just how much did this damned man hate her before?!
After the last fiasco with the ‘Obedience’ talisman, Ye Shu didn’t dare act rashly, especially when Lin Qingyue put on such an innocent expression. She edged away from him bit by bit, wanting nothing more than distance.
Tangled with a Guǐ—this was torture worse than death.
Mentally, Ye Shu clicked [Confirm Unbind] [Confirm Unbind] [Confirm Unbind] again and again on the shimmer screen, but it seemed stuck, unresponsive.
[Beep, beep, beep! No player action detected—system will auto-close this page.]
[CONFIRM UNBIND!!!]
[Ding! Page closed automatically.]
Ye Shu: “....Stupid system. What garbage game.”
Once I save up 9,999 points, I’m buying myself a quit card.
“Xiao Shu? Do you really hate me that much?”
Ye Shu dodged Lin Qingyue’s outstretched hand once again, her face full of malice, “If you know that, then stay away from me. I can’t stand looking at your face—it’s just disgusting.”
Lin Qingyue’s face immediately filled with hurt.
Ye Shu was unmoved.
Staggering, she snatched the pistol back, intent on shooting herself, but half an hour had already passed. Even suicide would only reset her to just after binding the cursed item.
With only 60% favorability, who knew if this Guǐ would break free from the item’s influence like he did last time. Ye Shu could only curse herself for wasting the prop—she’d have been better off using it to befriend the child-Guǐ or the maid-Guǐ and getting a ticket out of Donghu Market.
“Xiao Shu... It’s alright if you don’t like me. As long as I like you! Let me dress your wound...”
While Ye Shu was stunned, Lin Qingyue had already grabbed the first-aid kit, tending to her wounds.
“I told you... it’s not needed.”
Who could know whether this Guǐ was faking it? Who could say if any of these medicines weren’t poison?
The two deadlocked, neither yielding.
Then came several knocks at the door.
Their "son" started heading to answer, but Ye Shu sprang up, stopping him sharply: “Don’t open the door! Xiaobao, listen to Mom. Be good and I’ll give you money for sweets.”
“I don’t want candy, I want my basketball... kà kà. You promised me last time, Mom... kà kà kà, where’s my new basketball?”
The boy’s empty gaze suddenly grew lucid—he perplexedly glanced at Ye Shu: “Mom? Did you see my new basketball? I left it in my room... kà kà... Why can’t I find it? Kà, it’s gone now...”“
From his eyes bled crimson tears, sleeves limp and empty—his arms missing. Then with a bang, the boy’s head burst open, the black-white ooze inside resolving into squirming insects. His body was already hollowed out by worms.
Lin Qingyue, meanwhile, acted as if nothing had happened, stubbornly dressing Ye Shu’s wound.
Ye Shu, however, noticed the basketball hoop outside the boy’s room—there was no question that he owned a basketball.
His body melted into a pile of black rot.
Drawn by the stench, the maid appeared, bucket and rag in hand, grumbling as she started scrubbing the floor: “So dirty, so filthy... Damn it, who made such a mess? I have to cook, I have to clean—this place would fall apart without me! Kà kà, fall apart.”
But upon seeing Lin Qingyue on the sofa, her voice lost much of its conviction.
“Be more careful next time, I... kà kà... It’s tough making dinner... kà kà, and cleaning too.”
“Xiao Shu, are you feeling better?”
Lin Qingyue’s eyes glimmered with gentle warmth. Ye Shu snatched her wrist away as if burned, muttering reluctantly, “I’ll live. I’m not dead yet.”
Once I clear this level, the system will heal my wounds—no after-effects at all.
“Good.”
Lin Qingyue hummed, and reached to smooth her tousled hair. Ye Shu scowled openly and moved straight out of his reach.
From the next room, voices drifted.
“On September 15th, two heinous murders occurred at Donghu Residential Complex. Following the killings on the 14th of the residents on the 8th floor, statistics report a total of two people dead tonight... The family of three on the 11th floor... gone. Strange News reminds you: Lock all doors and windows; if you hear knocking at night, do not open the door...”
Ye Shu followed the sound to find their “son” sitting before the TV.
Spotting her, the boy grinned with black, hollow gums—no tongue or teeth inside.
The basketball, like the bunny plush, also hid “Dad’s” remains.
Coming to this grim realization, Ye Shu—upon the boy’s consent—entered his room.
The boy’s room was modest: bed, desk, wardrobe, and a huge basket for all sorts of balls—soccer, shuttlecock, baseball, rubber balls—but no basketball.
Ye Shu squeezed each ball in the crate. Nothing strange. Even after sending Da Piaoliang under the bed, she could find no trace of the basketball. All she could do was promise: “Mom will buy you a new basketball...”
Tempted by money, the boy nodded his agreement.
Finally, she located the basketball in the maid’s quarters.
It was much heavier now.
Even holding it, Ye Shu could feel an uneven shape beneath the skin.
She knew at once—this must be the husband’s... head.
If skin fragments could be found here, then the maid had certainly played a part as well.
The rest of the body, she guessed, was scattered elsewhere throughout this cursed home.
...
“Xiao Shu, what are you doing?”
Lin Qingyue watched her, shovel in her hands, tearing up the wooden floorboards in the living room. He only smiled, undisturbed—not at all angry, not even making a move to stop her.
“Looking for skin fragments.”
“Gathering Dragon Balls to become a god.”
The living room, though spotless, was the room the maid cleaned most obsessively. The boy’s body had barely turned to sludge before the tools were ready to scrub it away—the maid was clearly prepared!
Regular scheduled cleanings weren’t about tidiness, but to cover up... the secrets beneath the floorboards.
Ye Shu pried up the planks. Rotting black slime issued a foul stench, within it broken bones lay steeped.
“You’re not this family’s head. You’re the fugitive murderer from the news, aren’t you?!”