Ever since I resolved to get into a university in Beijing, over the last couple of months, I haven’t let up on the weekends in addition to attending regular classes at school.
Studying at home was supposed to be convenient, but whenever I was in my room, I just couldn’t resist the urge to go downstairs and look for Lu Sheng.
Especially when I saw my twin brother next door using the excuse of tutoring Shengsheng, but actually, he was just playing games with Shengsheng, I felt even more unable to concentrate on my studies.
Jealousy made me unrecognizable.
Why is it that, although we were born from the same womb, I’ve always been consistently the last in class, while Lu Youming doesn’t even need to look at the books to be top of the class.
It’s just so unfair (T_T)
Later, I simply decided to go to the library to study on Saturdays and Sundays.
The library wasn’t far from home, just a ten-minute bike ride away.
But today, seeing in the group chat that big brother mentioned Shengsheng was home alone without having eaten, and that the third brother with a crafty mind even sneaked back to keep Shengsheng company, made me even more anxious.
I pedaled the shared bike so hard flames might as well have sparked from its tires.
I rode so fast that it took me only seven minutes to get home.
Though I wore a raincoat from the library when I came back, the wind and rain on the way made my hair almost all wet, and my pants got splashed a lot too.
As soon as I entered the house, the servant greeted the young master and saw that I was soaked, so they hurriedly wanted to fetch a towel to help me dry off.
But I didn’t care about anything else; I waved them off saying it wasn’t necessary and then dashed straight for Lu Sheng’s room.
As I rounded the corner, I could see from a distance that the door to Lu Sheng’s room was ajar.
I didn’t give it another thought and continued forward, but before I could get close, I heard a strange sobbing sound—
It sounded like a woman weeping mournfully. The sound was so sad and sorrowful, it was spine-chilling.
...What the hell is that noise?
My eyes widened in alarm.
The sound was coming from the room, and there should be Shengsheng and third brother inside, right?
But where is this woman’s crying coming from? It doesn’t sound like Shengsheng at all.
Trembling, I approached the door and found that the lights in the room were all off.
The pitch-black room was only lit by a dim green light seeping through the crack of the door, and that weeping sound became sharper and more piercing.
My legs turned to jelly in an instant.
What the hell is going on here...
But! As a man, who would be scared of just a bit of green light and a woman’s crying?!
I grit my teeth and pushed the door open.
And at the very moment I pushed the door, I saw directly across the room, on the big screen, a ghostly face close-up.
Inside the run-down hut glowing with green light, the screen was filled entirely with the paled face of a hanging woman in a red wedding dress, her gouged eyes bleeding out. The sight of blood oozing from the empty eye sockets was bad enough, but her tongue had also been cut out, blood spurting from her mouth.
Seeing this scene, I almost passed out on the spot.
Before I could even start screaming, in the next second, I saw two people on the sofa turning their heads towards me.
Coincidentally at that moment, thunder rumbled loudly, and lightning struck outside.
The ghastly white lightning shining into the room cast a glow on the two shadowy faces that had turned around on the sofa. Accompanied by the woman’s piercing cries, those distinct black and white eyeballs stared straight at me—
My frantic scream almost blew the roof off the Lu family house.
The desperate shriek had strong penetration, startling Lu Jingyan, who had just entered, causing his heart to nearly stop, and without even changing his shoes, he hurried over here.
But as he rounded the corner, before he could see clearly what was happening, a shadow rushed at him and jumped right onto his body.
Lu Jingyan instinctively caught the person who leaped on him in a princess hold; Lu Youye, clutching his big brother’s neck, began to wail like a baby.
"Big brother! Big brother! There’s a ghost in Shengsheng’s room!!!"
"Wuuu I’m going to die of fright!! Ahhh!!"
Lu Youye was all snot and tears.
...A ghost in Shengsheng’s room?
What’s all this about?
Lu Jingyan, just off work, wore a completely baffled expression.
Lu Youye clung to him tightly and wouldn’t let go, so he had no choice but to carry his younger brother toward his room.
But by the time he entered, the light in Lu Sheng’s room had already been clicked on.
Lu Ziye stood by the door switch, glancing over at Lu Youye who was clinging to Lu Jingyan.
"What are you howling about in the middle of the night, Youye?"
Lu Ziye didn’t hide the disdain in his eyes for his brother, "You’re going to scare me into a heart attack."
Hearing that the crying of the woman had stopped, and after hearing the familiar voice of his third brother, Lu Youye dared to raise his head.
But the moment he did so, he met his third brother’s face, covered with a black facial mask. Looking to the side, he saw a young girl on the sofa, also with a black facial mask on her face.
"...Third brother? Shengsheng?" Lu Youye looked stunned, "What are you guys...?"
"Using a facial mask," replied Lu Ziye in a matter-of-fact tone.
"I had my agent purchase these top-tier black caviar essence facial masks from abroad; each one costs two thousand yuan. I brought it over today especially to use with sweetie."
"Then that ghost woman just now..." Lu Youye sniffed, unable to help glancing towards the TV.
"Are you talking about her?"
At this, the girl on the sofa helpfully hit the rewind button on the remote control, replaying the movie back a few seconds.
The image of the woman in the red bridal gown, with her eyes gouged out and tongue cut, crying miserably, reappeared on the screen.
However, now that there were so many people in the room and the lights were on, it didn’t seem as terrifying anymore.
"Third brother and I were just watching a movie. It’s called ’Never Mess with a Woman in a Red Bridal Gown: Ghosts Over the River,’" Lu Sheng looked at Lu Youye, "It’s quite interesting, do you want to watch it with us, Fifth Brother?"
Lu Youye really wanted to say that he didn’t want to watch it, he was so scared, horror films are inhumane!
But! How could he as the older brother lose face in front of his little sister?!
So, Lu Youye immediately jumped down from Lu Jingyan.
"Of course!" Lu Youye straightened his back looking at Lu Sheng, "If third brother can watch with you, then of course I can too!"
"Youye, maybe you shouldn’t force yourself, considering how scared you were just now."
Lu Ziye took off the mask from his face and glanced at Lu Youye with a smile, speaking with a genuinely concerned tone.
However, in Lu Youye’s view, this smile seemed full of scheming no matter how he looked at it.
He knew his third brother all too well.
This definitely wasn’t concern! Third brother just wanted to watch the movie alone with Shengsheng!
"What are you talking about, third brother," Lu Youye quickly argued for himself, "I’m already eighteen, how could I be scared of something I know is fake? That’s just not possible!"
"Just now that was..." Lu Youye choked, "Just now it was because you two were wearing facial masks, that’s why I got scared!"
"Alright then," Lu Ziye’s eyes bent in amusement, and his peach blossom eyes even squinted, "The truly scary parts haven’t even started yet. Don’t blame me if you get scared in a bit."
Lu Youye: "..." (Crying inside)
"Okay, let’s not talk about whether to watch the movie or not."
As the head of the family, Lu Jingyan was still worried about his sister not eating dinner, he turned to Lu Sheng and asked, "Shengsheng, I messaged you in the group chat, why didn’t you reply? Why didn’t you eat dinner tonight?"
"Eh? Big brother messaged me in the group chat?" Lu Sheng glanced up.
She hadn’t looked at her phone since she came back, and only when Lu Jingyan mentioned it did she take her phone out of her pocket, which was on silent.
Then she saw there were several dozen unread messages in the group chat.
"Oh, having seen each other, what’s the point of checking the messages,"
Lu Ziye said carelessly, very naturally took the phone from Lu Sheng’s hand, and patting his sister’s head with curved eyes and smile, he coaxed, "Sweetie, be good, quickly reply to big brother~"