Chapter 109

The fleeting human face lasted only for a moment, but Jiang Liu saw it clearly. At almost the same time, cold sweat trickled down her back. Even she, with all her experience, couldn’t immediately identify what that thing was.

It was like a colorful piece of paper floating in mid-air, intricately drawn with various patterns, so detailed that even the threads on the clothes were distinct. What was particularly memorable was the face. Like a Paper Person from a different dimension, its long black hair covered its entire face, revealing only a pair of empty eye sockets below. Blood-like lines streamed down its cheeks, and the high-saturation colors added a touch of eeriness. In the moment it disappeared, the face seemed to notice Jiang Liu’s gaze. Its blood-red lips silently curled up, forming a sinister smile at her.

“Come find me!”

—The mouth silently invited.

Jiang Liu jolted, jumping up from the sofa and pulling the unsuspecting Xu Meng behind her. “What’s going on?”

Xu Meng was startled by her and looked back at Jiang Liu in confusion. Seeing that her expression was not right, she immediately realized what had happened. Her hands couldn’t help but tremble, and her voice involuntarily carried a hint of fear. “What happened just now?”

The other two were also drawn by Jiang Liu’s abnormality and stopped arguing, getting up to show their concern. Jiang Liu raised her hand, signaling them not to move for now. She drew her dagger, cautiously took two steps forward, and stepped onto the sofa to look at the wall behind it.

Although the thing was fast, she had seen it clearly. It seemed to be just like a piece of paper, disappearing near the window frame. She reached out and carefully inspected the window frame but found no trace of anything, only a slight dampness on her fingertips.

“It’s nothing.” Jiang Liu didn’t want to cause a panic by telling them now, so she just shook her head to indicate that it was fine and told them to be more careful. There was definitely something wrong with this house.

The four of them squatted in the small study on the second floor, with all the luggage spread out on the floor. Jiang Liu sat cross-legged on the floor, going through the contents. Apart from some basic clothing, most of the items were daily necessities, ranging from books to toys. Xiao Liang’s things took up the most space.

“Tsk, tsk, this kid is clearly not cut out for studying.”

Zhao Ziming was flipping through a final exam paper, his eyes fixed on the bright red score, shaking his head. Even if a child of this age was playful, the subjects weren’t that difficult. It was a situation where as long as you were serious, you could at least pass. But all of Xiao Liang’s subjects were in the single digits, which was truly astonishing.

“Teacher Jiang, you’d better give him some good tutoring,” he said, patting Jiang Liu’s shoulder and raising an eyebrow.

Jiang Liu rolled her eyes at him and ignored him, continuing to rummage through the luggage. The refrigerator was well-stocked, and the bathroom in the room could be used normally. This time, they had finally been assigned to an instance with good conditions. She asked Xu Meng to take out the useful things, while she was responsible for looking at the books. Most of them were textbooks, with no other clues.

On the other hand, Jiang He, who was checking the schoolbag, suddenly frowned. “Huh, this doesn’t seem to be his test paper.”

He was holding a crumpled ball of paper that had been forcefully torn open. Jiang He managed to flatten and restore half of it. The handwriting on it was also crooked, with no name written on it, but it had a score of ninety-eight.

“Where did you find it?” Jiang Liu went over to take a look, then roughly emptied the contents of the schoolbag. It was full of miscellaneous things. She even saw a retractable small knife, which didn’t look like stationery; the metal blade inside was genuinely sharp.

“There’s a hidden compartment here,” Jiang He said, pointing to a spot on the side. Children’s items nowadays had many novel designs and all sorts of fancy functions. This schoolbag had a nondescript plastic lock on it. When he pulled it open, he was accidentally scratched by the inner wall, which was how he noticed the hidden compartment.

Jiang Liu reached in again and pulled out some more messy paper balls. They were covered in doodles drawn with a bright red pen, like a comic strip of a small person lying on the ground. There was also a mobile phone in the hidden compartment.

The model and condition were still very new, looking like it had been recently bought. There was no lock screen, so Jiang Liu easily opened it and first went to the photo album. The latest picture was a photo of a man and a woman with Xiao Liang at the door. Judging by the time, it was taken just last night upon arrival. The sky was slightly dark, with only a single lamp at the door glowing faintly.

What was most interesting was the composition of the picture—the couple was leaning against each other, shoulder to shoulder, with an arrogant-looking Xiao Liang sitting on top of them. His hands were each grabbing a lock of his parents’ hair, pulling so hard it looked like he was about to lift their entire scalps. But even so, there was not a hint of impatience on the couple’s faces. Instead, they let him do as he pleased, their faces wreathed in smiles.

Swiping further back, the main subject was mostly Xiao Liang. Some pictures showed him riding on the man’s back, others showed him splashing a basin of water on the woman. All these moments were recorded, and the captions even praised the child for being strong.

“No wonder even The System hinted that he had to be spoiled. This is just too ridiculous,” Zhao Ziming said, frowning as he looked. The thought of Xiao Liang’s appearance made him feel annoyed.

“He is indeed a bit too spoiled,” Xu Meng agreed with a nod.

The entire photo album was like a history of Xiao Liang’s growth, with every moment from his birth to the present recorded and accompanied by a long list of comments, all of them praises. As they flipped through, time unknowingly passed into the evening.

Jiang He got up to turn on the light to continue investigating, but as he looked up, he saw a dark shadow standing outside the study. It was furry all over and seemed to be more than half a person tall, which scared him into a jolt. Hearing his scream, Jiang Liu, who was checking the phone, turned to look.

A huge teddy bear was placed at the door. She immediately frowned, stood up, and turned on the light. Only then did she see that Xiao Liang had woken up at some point and was hiding behind the teddy bear, staring at her. The bear looked heavy, and the second floor was extremely quiet. For a small child to push a toy over without her noticing at all…

Thinking of this, Jiang Liu couldn’t help but narrow her eyes, looking Xiao Liang up and down. “I’m hungry! I want to eat braised pork!” Xiao Liang seemed a little afraid of Jiang Liu. Her gaze made him hide further behind the bear, but his voice was still loud, even echoing in the empty corridor.

His mention of it made them realize it was already dark. Xu Meng then stood up. “Why don’t I go make some food?”

“I’ll help.” Zhao Ziming also quickly raised his hand. He knew a little about food and could help with cooking. It was naturally safer for two people to act together. Xu Meng understood his good intentions and couldn’t help but smile.

The two went downstairs together. The lights below were turned on, and the whole house suddenly felt more lived-in. Jiang He looked at the child’s gray, muddy face and first took him away to wash up. Jiang Liu, however, didn’t move. Her gaze was fixed on a photo, and she didn’t move for a long time.

The photo showed a warmly decorated room. On the table, besides a pile of dishes, there was a large birthday cake. A family of three was happily together, a common sight at first glance. But there were four sets of tableware on the table. She zoomed in on the details, thoughtfully looking at a piece of cloth in the corner.

***

In an instance, having something to eat was considered lucky, so naturally, no one would ask for more. Xu Meng simply stir-fried two home-style dishes, while Zhao Ziming pulled some noodles and cooked them. The aroma, accompanied by the heat, wafted from the kitchen, and Xiao Liang’s stomach immediately started to growl. But even so, he still looked at Jiang Liu with a cold face and said bossily, “I want to eat braised pork!”

“There is none.” Jiang Liu was leaning on the sofa, studying the layout of the living room, paying special attention to the window cracks. She answered casually. “I don’t care!” Xiao Liang glared at her, flailing his legs defiantly, his eyes filled with resentment.

Jiang Liu couldn’t be bothered to respond to his noise. She just turned to look at Jiang He, about to ask if he had finished compiling the photos, but before she could say a word, she heard a clanging sound from the kitchen. Accompanied by Zhao Ziming’s exclamation, Jiang Liu rushed to the kitchen almost immediately—

The pot was burning red on the stove, and the food inside smelled faintly burnt. Xu Meng stood there, her face pale, the spatula in her hand had fallen to the ground, and the splattered oil was all over the floor. “What’s wrong?” Zhao Ziming was a bit confused, spinning around Xu Meng three times.

At first, he thought she had been splashed by oil, but then he thought again. Xu Meng had been through a lot in instances, how could she be so flustered by such a small thing? But seeing Xu Meng’s dazed look, as if she had been possessed by something, he also became anxious, nervously looking around the kitchen, not knowing what to do.

It was Jiang Liu who signaled him to turn off the fire first, to avoid burning down the kitchen. Then she helped the dazed Xu Meng to the sofa, handed her a cup of hot water to calm her down, and then asked strangely, “What’s wrong?”

Xu Meng blinked, as if waking up from a long dream. She took the cup but didn’t drink from it. She just stared blankly at the kitchen not far away, her expression a mix of nervousness and disbelief, and she cautiously spoke. “I think I saw Xiao Ruo.”

Her voice was very soft, but her state was by no means joyful. Instead, her face was pale, and she gasped, her whole body trembling on the sofa, her breathing becoming more rapid. “She… she turned into a monster.”

As she finished speaking, the cup in her hand slipped and fell to the ground. The slightly hot water soaked Xu Meng’s calf, turning her ankle red, but she seemed completely oblivious, just staring blankly at Jiang Liu, tears already welling up in her eyes. “Don’t panic,” Jiang Liu comforted her, signaling for Jiang He to get the medicine to treat her, but her voice was exceptionally calm.

“What kind of monster?”

Xu Meng’s teeth were chattering, as if she was unwilling to recall the terrifying sight, but she still forced herself to answer, “She was skinned, with only a layer of skin left, and she just suddenly came out of the gap in the cabinet.”

As she spoke, she was already sobbing. “I have to go find her!”

Listening, Jiang Liu couldn’t help but frown slightly. A human skin like a piece of paper—could it really change its appearance at will?