Chapter 77: The Person on the Bed Was Wearing an Especially Lavish, Large Dress

“Damn, almost choked me to death…”

Gao Qi wiped his mouth with his sleeve as he emerged from behind the screen.

Qin Jiu casually walked into the room holding his coat, surveying the layout.

He stopped in front of You Huo, glancing at Gao Qi’s figure.

You Huo followed his gaze.

Gao Qi, while coughing, took a cloth towel from the wall, his movement stirring the air in his sleeves, causing the tongue of flame in the wall lamp to flicker gently. The light in the room dimmed and brightened in rhythm.

Just as You Huo was retracting his gaze, it happened to meet Qin Jiu’s line of sight.

The other person suddenly made a light, low sound of “tsk.”

As if he were truly a playboy lover whose mood had been ruined.

Behind the screen, Gao Qi coughed a couple more times, followed by the faint rustling sound of wiping the table.

The noise was actually not loud, but it suddenly felt a bit… restless.

“Wow, you’re actually still standing up,” Gao Qi suddenly spoke.

You Huo abruptly averted his gaze.

“What standing?”

He looked towards the side of the screen.

Gao Qi finished wiping down a table and emerged from behind the screen, neatly folding the cloth in his hands. He gestured toward Qin Jiu with his chin and said, “I’m talking about him. He actually managed to walk in on his own two feet.”

“What? I shouldn’t be walking?” Qin Jiu replied. “What kind of posture would you prefer me to use when entering?”

“The posture of dreaming,” Gao Qi shot back.

He cast a glance at You Huo and muttered under his breath, “He even got a better temper after losing his memory…”

He remembered Examiner A’s face during that meeting back then, looking as if it had just come out of a freezer—having the patience to listen to nonsense was already a sign of good mood on his part. If someone had actually said to his face, “I came here to have an affair with you”…

If it were any other day, he would probably splash a glass of water over the person to calm them down and make them speak sensibly.

Gao Qi gnashed his teeth, then said to Qin Jiu, “If this were the old days, I would have kicked you right off on the spot, believe it or not?”

Qin Jiu tossed his jacket onto the fur-covered chair and nodded as he undid his cufflinks, “I believe it, I can imagine it.”

With that, he lifted his gaze to look at You Huo and said, “It is quite fierce.”

You Huo: “…”

Gao Qi: “……”

For some reason, Gao Qi felt that these words had a strange taste, carrying a rather mischievous undertone.

But he wasn’t saying this to let certain people push their luck.

Yet, the one it concerned remained silent.

If you’re going to be aloof and tight-lipped, please don’t do it now, okay?

Gao Qi felt as though he were living like a eunuch at that moment.

He had half a mind to pour out all the past grievances to the two of them, but then he thought, babbling on and on would only make him seem more like a eunuch.

Deep down, he knew that both of them were aware of his own identity as well as each other’s, and they had probably heard plenty about the past disputes as well.

They were all adults. If they felt they could set aside past grievances and work as companions for now, why should he waste his breath at a time like this?

After all, during the exam, making more friends and reducing troubles is always the best choice.

Gao Qi sighed inwardly…

When had he ever been so long-winded?

Never!

Only for this friend named A.

Maybe it’s because when A got into trouble back then, he couldn’t do anything, and he feels a bit guilty… Or perhaps he’s just a little too excited to see his old friend again, so now he’s worrying like a mother.

Gao Ma, exasperated, poured himself a second glass of water and plopped down into the chair. He listened as You Huo asked Qin Jiu, “Are you staying here?”

“Are you allowing me to stay?” Qin Jiu asked.

You Huo again gestured toward the neighboring room with his chin and asked, “Is that lady friend of yours alone?”

Hearing him ask this way, Qin Jiu chuckled lightly.

“Miss Yang absolutely refuses to share a room with anyone, be it male or female,” he shrugged and said, “I told her, if anything happens, just call out.”

It’s quite rare to encounter a girl with such a temperament; it’s truly surprising.

Qin Jiu then looked at You Huo.

Despite already being present, he still asked, “So, am I allowed to stay?”

Gao Qi gulped down water with a gurgling sound, making one’s teeth ache just hearing it.

He thought to himself that they were all friends, so why were their ways of speaking completely different?

But listening to them overall, he was still more friendly. After a few casual explanations, A just nodded, saying only four words from start to finish, straightforward and decisive.

What nonsense about being a wife…

You Huo looked at Qin Jiu and said, “The bed is mine.”

“It’s so big, have you considered sharing half with me?” Qin Jiu said.

Gao Qi: “???”

“Wait, shouldn’t there be some order of priority in this matter?” he said.

Qin Jiu placed a hand on the back of the chair, turning to look at him. “Why should there be one?”

Gao Qi: “…”

One was supposedly a longtime friend, while the other was… also a friend.

In any case, it was a headache when they clashed.

You Huo looked at the two of them and came up with a compromise: “Fine, I’ll sleep on the outside. You two take the bed.”

Qin Jiu: “?”

Gao Qi: “???”

It was still early before the evening banquet, and outside, thunder roared and rain began to fall.

Gao Qi yawned several times in a row, and even You Huo and Qin Jiu began to feel drowsy.

“I can’t, I need to take a nap.”

Gao Qi mumbled as he went into the bedroom.

You Huo was just about to make do with the animal hide chair when he heard Gao Qi say, “Never mind, never mind, I’ll sleep outside instead.”

What’s wrong again?

Just trying to sleep, is this going to be endless?

You Huo frowned and looked over, only to see Gao Qi pointing at the bed, saying, “I suggest we all sleep on the floor tonight. There’s something wrong with the color of that bed.”

“What’s wrong with the color?”

They entered the bedroom and drew back the heavy drapes, only to find that the entire bed—both the sheets and the quilt—was covered in a reddish hue tinged with brown and black.

“The light from the wall sconce is a bit dim here, I don’t know if you can see it clearly.” Gao Qi pointed to the dark red stain on the bed and said, “It looks like blood, the dried kind.”

Qin Jiu reached out to touch the blanket.

You Huo lifted a corner of the quilt and sniffed it.

Gao Qi wondered why both of them were so hands-on.

“Any smell?”

You Huo shook his head. “None.”

There was no scent at all on the bedding, only a very faint floral fragrance, as if the color of this bed had been dyed with various flower materials.

“I doubt there’s much of a smell; if it were really that noticeable, we would’ve smelled it as soon as we entered the room,” Gao Qi said.

You Huo suddenly remembered what Zhou Qi had said—how she had circled the bedroom twice and claimed to have caught a faint, elusive foul odor.

He repeated Zhou Qi’s words to the two of them, and Gao Qi immediately pressed his face into the bed, sniffing hard.

Qin Jiu circled the entire room.

“I still haven’t smelled anything. Perhaps that girl’s nose is particularly sharp. In any case, whether there’s a scent or not, in my experience, things of this color—which closely resemble blood—are nine times out of ten problematic. It’s best not to touch them.”

They then alerted the people in the adjacent rooms to the left and right.

Zhao Jiatong said, “I honestly didn’t notice at first; it was Xiao Zhou who told me there was a strange smell in the room.”

Little Zhou said, “I’ve got my family’s dog nose.”

Yang Shu made an “Oh” sound, said thank you, then untied her long hair and went back into her room.

The three girls had very different personalities, and Gao Qi muttered something before shrinking back.

They avoided the bedrooms and each found a spot to take a nap.

The thunder outside still hadn’t subsided; raindrops struck the stone wall of the balcony, making a crackling sound.

Damp, humid air rushed in, slightly dispelling the stifling heat inside the house.

It was unknown how long had passed when a chill, not belonging to this midsummer night, swept through.

It was like… a drop of ice-cold water had landed on the back of the neck, sliding down along the skin.

Gao Qi, who had been sleeping face down on the table, suddenly twitched and rubbed the goosebumps rising on his neck.

In a half-awake state, he lifted his head.

The room was dim. Most of the wall lamps had gone out at some point, leaving only a beam of light from the bedroom gently swaying, illuminating the canopy to a semi-translucent glow and revealing the large bed within.

Someone was sitting on the bed.

Not moving a muscle.

Fuck.

Gao Qi gave a sudden, violent jolt.

He rubbed his face hard and reached out for the person in the animal-skin chair.

Three consecutive pats later, You Huo remained in the posture of shielding his face from the light with his arm, only revealing the lower half of his face as he slept deeply.

Gao Qi: “…”

His lips twitched a couple of times, and he then reached behind to pat the other person.

Qin Jiu sat in an armchair, supporting his head, sleeping deeply as well.

Gao Qi cursed inwardly, “Damn it.”

He stiffened his back, quietly cracking his knuckles.

Suddenly, the firelight flickered, and the silhouette behind the curtain darkened momentarily, making the curtain opaque once again.

Gao Qi heard a faint rustle of fabric, as if something on the bed was shifting.

Only when the flames brightened again did he see the bed canopy gently swaying in the light.

Gao Qi finally got a clear look: a woman sat on the bed, her hair tied up high, her neck, shoulders, and back bare against her dress, revealing a vast expanse of pale skin at a glance.

She seemed to have heard the breathing from outside and turned her head to look.

Very strange, the way she turned her head was extremely stiff and very slow. It was as if if she turned too fast, her head would fall off…

Gao Qi was thoroughly creeped out by this image.

He pulled a wry face and had just shaken the scene from his mind when he met the woman’s gaze.

Through the curtain, he couldn’t really see whether she was actually looking at him.

One can only see an equally pale face, with a nose and lips blurred beyond recognition, leaving only those pitch-black eyes that are exceptionally arresting.

She blinked.

Suddenly, her entire body collapsed.

Arms and legs scattered in disarray, her head rolled off and fell under the bed, landing mouth up with eyes facing down, staring motionless in this direction.

Gao Qi immediately sprang to his feet.

However, it wasn’t to make a run for it.

As unsettling as it was, with his extensive experience, he understood perfectly. Facing such a situation head-on was far safer than turning your back on it and running away.

He grabbed a stool and charged straight into the bedroom.

His head had already rolled under the bed. He swung the stool, smashing it onto the bed, then grabbed the jacket hanging from the coat rack and swept past the wall lamp.

The flames flickered violently, nearly extinguished by his fanning.

The coat caught fire, instantly bursting into flames.

Gao Qi threw the fireball under the bed.

Generally speaking, the head under the bed would be driven away by the fire, giving him a moment to catch his breath. At that moment, he only needed to sweep away the broken limbs on the bed.

However, when he lifted the curtain to take a look, there was nothing there.

The stool fell to the ground, making a loud clatter.

His arms and legs had vanished. He froze for a moment, then suddenly crouched down.

Under the bed, only the burning coat remained—the head was gone.

Gao Qi’s entire body went rigid.

Suddenly, a hand tapped him on the shoulder.

“Damn—”

He jolted in shock and swung around to strike.

But his swinging fist was caught in a tight grip and promptly twisted behind his back.

In no time at all, he was wrestled to the ground with his limbs pinned.

He was just about to curse.

A cup of cold water splashed right over his head.

Gao Qi shuddered, closing his eyes and then opening them again.

He saw the bedroom brightly lit, with flames flickering gently on the fireplace.

The scene he had seen earlier was like a dream, leaving no trace.

Qin Jiu pressed his knee against his back and looked down at him. You Huo, holding an empty cup, said, “Are you sober yet?”

“Am I sober from what?”

Gao Qi was stunned.

He broke free from Qin Jiu’s restraints, his wrists marked by two red welts, feeling as though his joints were about to be dislocated.

“As soon as I opened my eyes, I saw you sitting on the bed with a knife in your hand, trying to cut your own head off,” Qin Jiu said.

“No, I saw a woman whose head had fallen under the bed. I used my jacket to set her on fire,” Gao Qi explained, pointing at the spot under the bed. “Right there—”

Huh?

He trailed off, seeing only a fallen knife under the bed, with a smear of blood by its blade.

His jacket still hung neatly on the coat rack.

Gao Qi scrambled up, feeling the back of his neck—his hand came away bloody.

As they exchanged stunned looks, a knock echoed from the wooden door.

The butler Douglas said in an elderly voice, “Sir and Madam, I’ve come to inform you that the dinner is about to begin. The Duke’s dinner is always a grand affair, and formal attire is required. Additionally, the master has a custom—he wishes all guests to wear masks to preserve a sense of… sacredness for Easter.”

With that, the door creaked open.

The servant entered with two sets of formal attire. Qin Jiu quickly closed the bedroom door.

The servant glanced around, hung the clothes on the screen, and then walked to the door to wait.

“Please, sir and madam, change quickly. I’ll show you the way.”

Qin Jiu opened the bedroom door and glanced inside.

Hanging on the screen was a set of old-century men’s formal attire, intricate and elegant.

There’s also an exceptionally ornate gown…

“……”

Qin Jiu then shut the door again.