436: 8.36 She's Dead

8.36 She's Dead

In the end, Lu Yizhou could only make use of the white cloth covering the furniture. One flap had all the dust flying up in the air and he had to resist sneezing a few times as he wrapped the cloth a few times around himself. Fortunately, it was more than enough to cover his nudity. He resolved to take a bath as soon as the dawn broke.  1

Stretching a hand out toward Ozzie, he said, 'Let's go.'

Ozzie agilely jumped across his arm to perch on his shoulder like always. 'Let's gooo, Daddy!' She nuzzled her head on the crook of Lu Yizhou's neck and hummed blissfully. 'Aside from the stench of sex, you smell just like Mommy meow! I like it!"

Lu Yizhou: "..."

'...Good to know that,' was all he could afford to say after taking a few steadying breaths. 

Lu Yizhou pressed his ear against the door and heard nothing but silence. It had been a little past midnight, and Lu Yizhou had no idea if whatever happened in the master bedroom had already ended or not. Judging from how Baines could step away to approach this floor, perhaps he had been too late. Well, no problem, he could always return to investigate the next day. 

For the last time, Lu Yizhou turned back to examine the empty space before him. He knew that there was a chance that he would not be heard, but he still couldn't help but bid them a farewell. "Have a good night, Miss Ella, Miss Ellie. I will return again as soon as possible."

Lu Yizhou quietly slid out of the door and trudged forward to the stairs. The high vantage point gave him the upper hand in surveying the third floor without anyone noticing. So far, he couldn't sense anything amiss but just in case, Lu Yizhou activated his skill 'Invisibility Cloak' that had finished cooling down and covered both Ozzie and himself.

As it turned out, the master bedroom indeed clicked open in the next second!

Lu Yizhou and Ozzie held their breath sharply as a horrifying stench permeated out through the open door. Goddamnit, the odor was no longer disgusting but plain biohazard that could kill! The combination of decay, rotten flesh and blood — lots, lots of blood — trailed along Baines' figure as the head servant came out and… dragging with him a huge bloody sack. And from there, Lu Yizhou could make out sounds of crying and whimpers of pain.

It was unmistakably the sound of the two women who had come in earlier!

Ozzie retched silently beside him. 'Oh my God, this is so gross meow! What the hell has happened inside?!'

That was what Lu Yizhou wanted to know too. His gaze followed Baines' back until the head servant disappeared from his sight, leaving only a faint trail of blood and the scent of death on his wake. 

As much as he wanted to barge in and see for himself what had transpired inside, Lu Yizhou figured it was more important to either follow Baines or return to his room before his skill cooled down again. He contemplated his choices. His witch power was only 18%. Taking out two opponents seemed so far-fetched, especially when his own stamina had been depleted after this rendezvous with Ellie. 

Baines might not be as strong as Ellie, but he could be considered as a mini boss. And Ozzie was right about her hypothesis. If he were to confront Baines today, then there was a huge possibility that they would fight and Lu Yizhou would have to kill him. He could not do that. He still had a lot of things to ask Baines.

If he had to choose one, Lu Yizhou was more interested in visiting the ghost mannequin and confronting her face-to-face once again. As for Baines… well, the head servant would always be in this mansion in the next seven days so Lu Yizhou was not in a hurry. Moreover, the two women were already done for anyway. What more could he do? 

Lu Yizhou gave a silent prayer for both of them and waited until the footsteps faded away before he descended the stairs. The journey back to his room was smooth sailing and Lu Yizhou wasted no time to open his luggage and slip in the first dress he could find. 

'Stay here,' he put Ozzie on the bed despite the feline's protest. 'The ghost inside might be the black witch. She's extremely dangerous. At least, I still have Ella and Ellie's protection card on me. I don't want anything to happen to you, Ozzie.'

'Daddy…' Ozzie let out a soft meow. Coupled with her ashy gray fur and the soot that dotted her face, she looked particularly pitiful. 'Please be careful meow…'

Lu Yizhou wiped the dirt from her nose and scratched behind her ears. 'It's okay, everything will be fine.' 

[666: 666 is here! 666 will protect Host too!]

Ozzie rolled her eyes so hard that it was almost comical, especially when it was paired with a cat's face. Lu Yizhou quietly smiled to himself before he turned away decisively and marched to the bathroom. Standing in front of the door, he rolled his neck, cracked his knuckles and swung his arms until it issued a satisfying pop, making sure that his muscles were warm for the oncoming fight. 

And then, he kicked open the door without any preamble, dashed straight in…

…and almost tripped on his own feet when he saw the scene inside. There were few occasions that could make Lu Yizhou stand frozen in shock, and this might be one of them. 

No, ever since he entered this world, he had been rendered speechless so many times that it shouldn't be a surprise anymore. Yet his jaws still hung open and fists hanging uselessly by his side when he stared at the empty bathtub.

The mannequin was gone. Even the bloody writing on the wall was no more!

How?! Unreconciled, Lu Yizhou went to inspect the bathtub and wall closely. There were no signs of the mannequin anywhere and the wall was dry too. It was as if the bloody writing did not exist in the first place. Where had the mannequin gone? Had she sensed Lu Yizhou's murderous intent and walked out of the bathtub by herself?! With a frown, Lu Yizhou checked the floor of the bathroom to the outside.

Ozzie, upon hearing no sounds at all, had decided to come close and peered her neck in. When she saw the empty bathtub, her eyes widened in shock, and then anger. 'How sneaky! She must have known that we are coming to get rid of her! Oh, being a ghost is so nice meow! You can disappear however you want with a poof!'

That sounded weird in more than one way but Lu Yizhou wholeheartedly agreed. He also wished that he had power to disappear however he wanted. Just to be certain, he ransacked every single corner of his room down to its nook and cranny but… nope, the ghost mannequin was nowhere to be found. He raked his fingers through his hair in frustration. 'You can't smell her either, Ozzie?'

'Hmm…' Ozzie also did her own search in small places only she could reach. 'No, Daddy, her smell still lingers in this room, but it has always been so faint that I thought nothing about it meow!'

Lu Yizhou muttered a curse under his breath. There went his plan to get rid of the ghost mannequin once and for all. What did he expect? The world definitely wouldn't let him have his way easily. He should have gone after Baines earlier, at least he would certainly find out something rather than coming back empty-handed!

No use crying over spoilt milk, Lu Yizhou threw himself on the bed with a loud sigh. Now that he was lying down, he began to feel exhaustion creep to the edges of his consciousness. Checking his stats, he saw that his stamina was only three points left, no wonder that he was feeling so tired.

He could have drank the stamina potion but when he recalled how he would certainly need it even more in the future, Lu Yizhou held himself back and mumbled sleepily, 'We should switch in taking guard. Wake me up in two hours…'

'It's okay, Daddy. Just go to sleep! I am a pet familiar so I don't need to sleep unless my energy is depleted. I will take the first shift!'

[666: 666 too! 666 will take the second shift!]

The two of them were surprisingly in sync for the first time. Lu Yizhou let out a quiet chuckle and finally let himself relax for the first time after a long, long day. He drifted off to sleep in no time at all. 

In fact, he was sleeping so deeply that he only startled awake at the loud pounding on his door. "Miss Irene, are you inside?!" "Irene, are you still sleeping?!" 

Lu Yizhou sat up with a jerk and saw that sunlight was streaming in through the gaps between the curtains. A glance at the clock showed that it was already seven in the morning. Lu Yizhou was shocked to find that he had slept for so long. 'Why didn't you wake me up?' 

'Morning, Daddy.' Ozzie greeted cheerfully. 'You'd better go and open the door before they knock it down meow~'

Lu Yizhou could only shake his head helplessly. 'Thank you,' he said. 

Wiping the last vestiges of sleepiness away from his mind, he opened the door to two very excited protagonists. Ji Yan was pink cheeked and looked so refreshed all over that it only took one glance for Lu Yizhou to conclude that he must have a very good night's sleep. As for Olivia, she might not be so lucky. She looked just the same as usual, but if he squinted, he would be able to make out the dark shadows hidden under her eyes that were barely covered by make-up.

He had not even opened his mouth yet when the barrage of questions blasted into his face.

"You're the one who kept making the group notifications ring last night, aren't you?!

"Miss Irene, one night! One night and we have completed almost 50% of the game! And you have even unlocked the true ending! Holy, I have never seen a true ending before!"

"Did you go out to investigate last night?!"

"How did you do that? It's so amazing!"

"Why didn't you invite us?!"

Lu Yizhou raised a hand, effectively shutting both of them up. He had a very strong urge to say, "Children, one by one please." But in the end, he merely leaned against the door frame and sighed. He knew that it would become a problem when morning came. The system notification had really dug a very deep pit for him to jump into. 

"Yes, I did go out last night. I don't know how to tell you how I did it. And no, I didn't invite you guys…" because you would only become a burden. "...because you were sleeping so soundly."

"Nonsense!" Olivia huffed angrily and pointed at Ji Yan. "I couldn't catch even a wink of sleep last night! Did you know that he was sleeping with his eyes open?! It was so creepy! I tried to turn his head away but in the end, he would go back to staring at me with that blank look on his face! Not to mention that there were footsteps outside the door and also sounds of women crying. If I had known that it was you all along, then I would have tagged along rather than be scared sleepless all night long!"

Ji Yan sputtered, eyes wide in surprise. "I—I don't…"

His words were cut off by a series of loud footsteps on the mouth of the hallway. Ji Yan and Olivia turned around in time to see Ailín rushing to them, almost stumbling on his feet. His hair was a mess atop of his head and his face was so pale that it was shocking to see. And his eyes… his eyes reflected genuine and raw terror as he pointed at something behind him.

Lu Yizhou's heart sank even before he knew what was happening. This must not be good.

Ji Yan caught him before he could plant himself face first on the ground, confused. He stroked Ailín's back as the latter struggled to catch his breath. "Easy, easy brother. What happened to you? Why did you look like you're being chased by a ghost? Where is Diana? She's not with you?"

Ailín lifted his head and stared at them with bloodshot eyes. "Diana… She's dead."

pqdm.com