"Fuck, I almost choked…."
Gao Qi wiped his mouth with his sleeve and came out from behind the screen.
Qin Jiu casually walked into the room while carrying his coat and scanned the room.
He stopped in front of You Huo and glanced at Gao Qi.
You Huo followed his line of sight and looked over.
There, Gao Qi was coughing while cleaning up his mess with a towel. The air from his movements caused the fire in the lamp to flicker. The room dimmed and brightened as a result.
When You Huo looked back, he happened to meet Qin Jui's eyes.
The other party suddenly snorted. It was a soft and quiet snort.
It was as if he really was a lover who was just thrown aside.
Behind the screen, Gao Qi coughed a few times again and carefully wiped the table down.
The sound wasn't very loud, but at this moment it sounded a little noisy...….
"Huh, you're actually standing there properly." Gao Qi suddenly said.
You Huo broke eye contact.
"What standing?"
He looked over at the screen.
Gao Qi who was done cleaning stepped out from behind the screen. With a towel in his hand, he pointed at Qin Jiu with his chin, "I was talking about him. He actually entered properly."
"Why? I can't enter properly? Then how should I enter?" asked Qin Jiu.
"While dreaming." Gao Qi said.
He glanced at You Huo and mumbled, "His temper has improved after losing his memory...…"
He remembered Invigilator A's icy cold expressions during the meetings back then. If he was able to patiently listen the other party's idiotic ramblings, it meant that he was in a pretty good mood. If anyone came over to him and said "I'm here to have an affair with you"...…..
My god, he would probably throw a glass of water across and tell them to calm down first before speaking.
Gao Qi grinned and flashed his teeth. He said to Qin Jiu: "If it was the past, do you believe that he would have kicked you down on the spot?"
Qin Jiu threw his coat onto the chair and nodded while he unbuttoned his cuff buttons: "I do. I can imagine it."
As he said this, he looked up at You Huo: "He's pretty fierce."
You Huo: "...….."
Gao Qi: "...….."
For some reason, Gao Qi felt it sounded a little strange. It seemed to carry some other meaning.
He had said it only to stop this person from taking things too far.
But the one involved didn't say anything.
Can you not be so high and mighty even at a time like this?
For a moment, Gao Qi felt like he was living like a eunuch.
He wanted to reveal all the past details to the two, but he also felt that if he nagged too much he would be more like a eunuch.
In fact, he understood inside that since these two knew their own and each other's identity, they must have also heard of bits and pieces of their past.
They're all adults. Since they didn't have an issue with being partners, why should he waste his effort convincing them otherwise?
Afterall, it was always better to have more friends and less trouble during the exams.
When was he ever so naggy?
Never!
He would only do this for his friend A.
Perhaps it was because when something happened to A back then, he wasn't able to do anything and felt a little guilty....Or perhaps it was because he was a little overwhelmed after seeing his old friend again, he worried about him like a mother.
Mother Gao angrily poured himself a second cup of water and sat down in a chair. He heard You Huo ask Qin Jiu: "You want to stay here?"
"Can I stay?" Qin Jiu asked.
You Huo then indicated next door with his chin, "Your wife is alone?"
Hearing him ask this, Qin Jiu laughed.
"Miss Yang is very reluctant to share with others. She said that neither men nor women will do." He shrugged, "I told her that if something happened, she can just give me a shout."
A woman of this character was quite rare. It was rather surprising.
Qin Jiu looked at You Huo again.
He was already here but he still insisted on asking: "So can I stay?"
Gao Qi guzzled down his water and gnashed his teeth.
He internally thought: They're both friends but why was their treatment so different?
But overall, he was a little friendlier to him. After just explaining it with a sentence or two, A agreed. Everything was settled quickly and easily.
What was all this nonsense about the wife...….
You Huo looked at Qin Jiu: "Bed is mine."
"With such a big bed, why don't you consider giving me half?" Qin Jiu said.
Gao Qi: "???"
"I mean, shouldn't this be a matter of first come first served?" He interrupted.
Qin Jiu leaned against the back of the chair and turned to look at him: "Why?"
Gao Qi: "......."
One was said to be a friend of many years and the other was just…..a friend.
In short, this matchup was very troublesome.
You Huo looked at the two and thought of a compromise, "Forget it. I'll sleep outside. You two can take the bed."
Qin Jiu: "?"
Gao Qi: "???"
It was still too early for dinner. Thunder clapped and lighting flashed outside. Once again, it started to rain.
Gao Qi yawned several times making even You Huo and Qin Jiu sleepy.
"I can't do it. I'm going to take a nap."
Gao Qi mumbled as he entered the bedroom.
You Huo got ready to settle in a chair when he heard Gao Qi say: "Forget it. I'll sleep outside instead."
What was wrong now?
It's just sleeping so why was there so many issues?
You Huo looked over with a frown. He saw Gao Qi point to the bed and say: "I suggest that we all sleep on the ground tonight. The colour of the bed isn't right."
"What do you mean the colour of the bed isn't right?"
They walked into the bedroom, pulled open the heavy curtains and saw that the entire bed including the sheets and the blankets were stained reddish brown.
"The lamp here is a little dim so I don't know if you can tell." Gao Qi pointed at the dark red bed and said, "Looks like blood. The dried-up kind."
Qin Jiu touched the blankets.
You Huo picked up a corner of it and smelt it.
Gao Qi internally wondered how these two could touch it without any hesitation.
"Any smell?"
You Huo shook his head, "No."
There was no smell coming from the blanket apart from a very light floral fragrance. It was as if the colour of the bed was dyed using various flowers.
"I don't think it should smell much. If it was that obvious, we should smell it as soon as we entered." Gao Qi said.
You Huo suddenly recalled Zhou Qi's words. She had walked around the bedroom a few times saying that she smelt something bad.
He told the other two about this and Gao Qi immediately started to sniff around.
Qin Jiu on the other hand circled around the room.
"I still don't smell it. Maybe that chick has a keen sense of smell. Anyway, no matter whether it smells or not, from my experience anything that looks like blood is usually nothing good. It's better not to touch it."
They warned the others in the rooms on their left and right.
Zhao Jiatong said: "I didn't notice at first. It was Xiao Zhao who told me that there was a strange smell in the room."
Xiao Zhou said: "I inherited a dog's nose."
Yang Shu on the other hand let out an oh, gave her thanks and went back into her room.
The three women all have different personalities. Gao Qi muttered this and retracted his head.
They avoided the bedroom, and each found a place to nap.
The thunderstorm outside continued. Rain hitting the stone railing caused splattering sounds.
As the moist air entered, the sultry heat in the room lessened slightly.
After an unknown period of time passed, a small chill that wasn't normal for a midsummer's night swept through.
It was like.....a small drop of ice water landing onto the back of your neck and then sliding down your back.
Gao Qi who was sleeping on the table suddenly twitched. He rubbed the hairs on the back of his neck.
While still half asleep, he raised his head.
The room was dim. The fire in the lamps had gone out at some unknown point in time. Only the one in the bedroom gently swayed. It illuminated through the curtain and revealed the big bed inside.
There was a person sitting on the bed.
It didn't move.
Fuck.
Gao Qi was startled awake.
He rubbed his face and reached over to the man sitting in the chair nearby.
After patting him three times, You Huo was still lying there with his arms blocking the light and half his face covered. He continued to sleep deeply.
Gao Qi: "...…"
His lips twitched a few times. He then reached back and patted the other person.
Qin Jiu who sat in the armchair had one hand supporting his head and was similarly in deep sleep.
Gao Qi swore internally.
He stiffened his back and quietly clenched his fists.
The fire suddenly flickered. The figure in the curtain disappeared for a moment and the curtain was no longer transparent.
Gao Qi heard the rustling of fabric. It sounded like the thing on the bed was moving.
When the fire was back on again, the curtain was swaying gently under the light.
Gao Qi could now see that the person sitting on the bed was a woman. Her hair was tied up very high and her neck and shoulder that was exposed from her dress was dazzlingly pale.
She seemed to hear the breathing outside and looked over.
But strangely, her act of turning her head was very stiff, and very slow. It was as if her head would fall off if she did it any faster…..
Gao Qi was frightened by this wild imagination of his.
He twisted his lips and dismissed that thought from his mind before making eye contact with that woman.
Through the curtain, he couldn't really tell if the other party was actually looking at him.
He could only see an extremely pale face with fuzzy features as well as a pair of dark, hollow eyes.
She blinked her eyes.
Suddenly, her entire body crumbled.
Her arms and legs scattered, and her head fell and rolled under the bed. With her lips facing up and her eyes below, she continued to stare his way.
Gao Qi immediately jumped up.
But it wasn't to run away.
It was frightening but he had plenty of experience and knew that in a situation like this, it was safer facing it than turning his back and running.
He picked up a chair and rushed straight for the bedroom.
The head had already rolled under the bed. He smashed the chair onto the bed, pulled his coat off from the hanger and waved it near the fire lamp.
The fire shook violently and was almost extinguished by this act of his.
His coat caught on fire and instantly started to burn.
Gao Qi threw the burning mass under the bed.
Generally speaking, the head under the bed would be driven away by the fire and all he needed to do was to deal with the limbs on the bed.
But when he pulled open the curtain, it was empty.
The chair fell to the ground making a loud clatter.
The limbs were all gone. He froze and suddenly squatted down.
There was only a burning coat under the bed. No head could be seen.
Gao Qi stiffened.
Suddenly a hand patted his shoulder.
"Fuck——-"
He was startled, and immediately threw a punch back.
In the end, his fist was caught by someone and his arm was then twisted behind him.
In just a few moves, he was pushed down onto the ground.
Just as he was about to curse out, cold water was poured over his head.
Gao Qi was startled. He closed his eyes and opened them again.
He then saw that the room was bright. The fire in the fireplace gently flickered.
As if everything he saw earlier was a dream, it disappeared without a trace.
Qin Jiu had his knee pressed against his back and was looking down at him. You Huo held an empty cup. He said: "Are you awake now?"
Gao Qi was stupefied.
He broke away from Qin Jiu's grip. Two red marks were left on his wrist.
"When I woke up, I saw you sitting on the bed holding a knife in your hand about to cut your own head off." Qin Jiu said.
"No, I saw a woman. Her head fell under the bed. I grabbed a coat, set it alight and tried to burn her." Gao Qi pointed until the bed, "I threw it he—–"
Huh?
His words stopped. There was only a fallen knife on the ground and there was a small bloodstain on the edge of the knife.
His coat on the other hand was still on the hanger.
Gao Qi got up and touched his neck. His hand was covered in blood.
While they all looked at each other, someone knocked on the wooden door.
The head butler Douglas's voice spoke: "Sir and Madam, I'm here to inform you that dinner will soon start. The Duke has always liked to be traditional so you will need to change into formal attire. The lord also has a custom. He would like all guests to wear masks to help keep Easter…..a little more sacred.
As he spoke, the door creaked open.
A servant came in holding two sets of formal clothing. Qin Jiu quickly hid behind the bedroom door.
The servant looked around, hung the clothes on the screen and walked over back to the door to wait.
"Please change into these as soon as you can. I will lead you there when you're done."
Qin Jiu opened the bedroom door and looked out.
On the screen hung a set of male formal attire from another century that was both exquisite and elegant.
There was also a particularly gorgeous dress...…
"...….."
Qin Jiu again closed the door.
KK has something to say:
Who's gonna wear the dress??