QTEBS Chapter 62

Holding a water basin, Qing Ning quietly entered Second Aunt’s room.

Second Aunt had already gotten up early, sitting in front of the dressing table with a charming figure. “Qing Ning, put it here.”

Zhou Taixing, lying on the bed, was still in a deep sleep, snoring one after another.

Qing Ning smiled, “With the incident in the mansion yesterday, Master stayed overnight in your room. If Master doesn’t favor you, I wouldn’t believe it.”

“You cheeky girl,” Second Aunt scolded with a smile.

After finishing her toilette, she opened the jewelry box and played with it absentmindedly. “Did the young master of the Zong family say anything?”

“I heard that our Second Young Master went over and talked for a long time, but didn’t get to the point. So, he came back disappointed,” Qing Ning combed her hair for her. “Young Master Zhou Fang is also afraid of offending them.”

“Heh,” Second Aunt sneered, “They are all a bunch of softies.”

…

In Zhou Ning’s small courtyard.

After Zong Yuan said that sentence, the entire air fell silent. Awu and the others were tense, on high alert for anything around them.

A stick of incense passed, but nothing unusual happened. Zong Yuan, somewhat at a loss for words, led the group back to the room. “This thing can really endure.”

Awu suggested, “Young Master, let’s leave. Zhou Mansion is too strange.”

The words on Zong Yuan’s back still said, “Get out of Zhou Mansion.” He said, “If it wants me to leave, should I just leave with no dignity?”

More importantly, 0046 mentioned that the mission had to be completed in Zhou Mansion, and he was already prepared for the danger.

Zhou Ning obediently sat on Zong Yuan’s lap, playing with his little hands silently. Zong Yuan lowered his head and asked him, “Ah-ning, can you answer some questions for your brother?”

Zhou Ning looked at him with big, black eyes and nodded blankly.

Zong Yuan handed him a candy. “Your brother Zhou Jin, when did he die?”

Even though Zhou Ning was such a young child, tears fell instantly. He was still looking at Zong Yuan, his eyes filled with sadness and sorrow that a child of his age shouldn’t know. “Brother, five days.”

Zong Yuan, with a heavy heart, asked again, “Including today, is it the fifth day?”

Zhou Ning let Zong Yuan wipe away his tears. The question made his little face frown as he counted on his fingers, “Six days!”

Awu, sitting beside them, almost fell off his chair. “Tomorrow is the seventh day?”

While Zong Yuan remained composed, Awu and the others’ faces turned pale.

Although they hadn’t encountered ghosts or spirits, the fear of the unknown had its own way of unsettling them.

Awu pleaded, “Master, I beg you to leave. We can spend tonight and tomorrow night outside and come back after that.”

“Frightened?” Zong Yuan asked him with a sidelong glance and then turned his softened gaze to Zhou Ning. “Ah-ning, how did your brother die?”

Zhou Ning hesitated, wrinkling his little face in thought, then shook his head.

Despite the bright sun in the sky, Zong Yuan felt a chill. Awu, shivering, squeezed next to Ayu, saying, “Master, why did it suddenly get cold?”

Ayu allowed him to huddle but suddenly remarked, “Won’t you feel even colder pressed against me?”

Awu paused, slowly raised his head, and saw a grinning ghostly face right in front of him!

“!!!”

Zong Yuan patted the frozen Awu. “Awu? Snap out of it!”

Awu tumbled backward off the chair, landing firmly on the floor. He looked at everyone in the room with a mix of gratitude and horror. “I-I-I!”

Ayu said, “What the hell, quickly explain what happened!”

Awu wiped his nose, afraid to look at Ayu, and yelled at Zong Yuan, “I saw a ghost! Ayu suddenly turned into a ghost!”

Zong Yuan glanced at the confused Ayu, speculating that Awu had also been dragged into another space. “Did you see Young Master Zhou Jin?”

“I don’t know! It was too terrifying!” Awu exclaimed.

Zong Yuan approached the issue from a different angle, “So, what did the ghost you saw look like?”

Zhou Ning also tilted his head to look at him.

After contemplating for a moment, Awu, with a bitter expression, replied, “Master! I was scared out of my wits; I didn’t have time to see what he looked like!” He grumbled under his breath, “Certainly not handsome, anyway.”

The vase on the table, presumably placed as a decoration, was blown up by the wind and crashed into Awu, shattering beside his ear.

Observing the tense atmosphere among his subordinates, Zong Yuan raised an eyebrow, “This ghost seems to have a temper.”

Awu and his companions admired their young master while Zhou Ning pulled on Zong Yuan’s ear, urging him to listen seriously. “Brother is not ugly, and he’s not a pervert.”

This time, Zong Yuan saw clearly. Despite the absence of wind, Zhou Ning’s fluffy hair stood on end, and it was evident that someone’s hand was messing with him. Zong Yuan spun around with Zhou Ning, attempting to make the ghost uncomfortable. “Oh? If he’s not ugly, why doesn’t he show himself? Perhaps he knows he would frighten others.”

After Zong Yuan finished speaking, he listened for a few seconds. The shattered porcelain pieces on the ground trembled and wavered, their sharp edges pointing toward Zong Yuan, seemingly eager to make a move and scratch him a few times.

Zong Yuan, holding Zhou Ning, calmly gestured toward the pile of porcelain on the ground. “Zhou Ning, do you find this interesting?”

The moment Zhou Ning looked, the porcelain pieces, as if losing their supporting force, crashed to the ground with a clatter.

Zong Yuan chuckled slowly, “Thank you for sparing me, Young Master Zhou.”

Zhou Ning, puzzled, buried himself in Zong Yuan’s embrace.

Someone outside came to inquire, “Young Master Zong, do you have a moment now?”

Awu raised his voice, “Our young master is resting. What’s the matter?”

The person outside could only say, “Does Young Master Zong have time to dine together tonight?”

Zong Yuan nodded, and Awu added, “Of course, he does.”

After a while, Zhou Taixing answered without caring about his wife’s recent demise. He directly instructed the kitchen to prepare a sumptuous dinner. Seeing his father’s energetic appearance, Zhou You felt a pang in his heart. Yet, he comforted himself, telling himself that his father was just concealing his grief. Regardless of the truth, he could only hope his father found solace.

Zhou Ning slept peacefully in Zong Yuan’s arms for a nap. When he woke up, it was time for dinner. The thin maid had already been sent away by Awu and others. Zong Yuan personally found clothes for Zhou Ning to change into. Zhou Ning’s face turned red, “Daddy…”

“Daddy?” Zong Yuan chuckled, “With a call like that, your brother will have to call me daddy too.”

He carried Zhou Ning outside. After the bedroom was empty, traces of someone sitting on the bed appeared on the sheet, accompanied by a faint hum.

…

Zong Yuan, holding Zhou Ning, arrived at the main hall where Zhou Taixing was already waiting. Zhou Taixing, maintaining a composed expression, smiled warmly, “Come, my son, sit beside father.”

Zhou Ning tightly held Zong Yuan’s hand, and Zong Yuan, with him in tow, sat nearby. “Zhou Ning sitting beside me is fine. Does Mr. Zhou not trust me?”

Zhou Taixing laughed heartily, “Why would I not!”

Zong Yuan, accompanied by Zhou Ning, enjoyed a sumptuous dinner. He ignored the embarrassed faces of Zhou Fang and Zhou You and did not respond to Mr. Zhou’s probing. Instead, he casually mentioned, “Before my departure, my father was concerned about my safety. He even specially sent many people to follow me. Finding it too troublesome, I arranged them outside the county. If I had known Mr. Zhou’s mansion was so vast, I would have brought them along.”

Zhou Taixing’s expression changed, “Is that so?”

Second Aunt, pouring wine for Mr. Zhou, smiled as she moved around Zong Yuan, bending her waist. “Young Master Zong, come, let me pour you a drink.”

While her tone was normal at first, the latter part of her sentence turned into a sinister tone. Zong Yuan looked up, and Second Aunt’s beautiful face turned ghastly, her features contorted, red lips stretched to her ears, revealing sharp white teeth. “Drink, Young Master Zong.”

The color of the wine in the cup resembled blood. Zong Yuan smiled faintly, raised his head, and drank the wine. In a whisper-like voice, he said, “The methods of the Third Young Master are truly clumsy.”

When he looked up again, everything had returned to normal.

Zong Yuan felt inexplicably cheerful. He happily wiped Zhou Ning’s mouth and hands, asking, “Are you full, Ah-ning?”

Zhou Ning patted his satisfied belly, letting out a small burp.

Zong Yuan excused himself and left. Mr. Zhou maintained a smile as he watched him depart. Once Zong Yuan’s figure disappeared, Mr. Zhou slammed the table fiercely, “Zhou You, take some food and send it outside the county… see how many people are there!”

Zong Yuan escorted Zhou Ning to the room. He waited until he had put the child to sleep before returning to his own room. Awu had already prepared the wooden tub for his bath. Zong Yuan rested on the bed for a moment, then stood up and walked behind the screen. He didn’t notice that, after he stood up, an indentation appeared on the bed as if someone had been sitting there.

Zong Yuan hummed a little tune as he took off his outer garment. Suddenly, he felt a chill behind him. Turning around, he was forcefully pushed into the wooden tub.

Hot water poured down like rain.

Zong Yuan stood up in the tub, pointing to his wet clothes, “Young Master Zhou, can’t you even wait for me to undress?”

A sharp edge, as if a knife, rested on Zong Yuan’s wet clothes. In the steam-filled room, a few characters slowly appeared on the ground, “Get out…”

Before the characters for “Zhou Mansion” could be written, Zong Yuan was already leisurely taking off his clothes in that direction, “Third Young Master Zhou can’t even wait for me to undress.”

He casually suggested, “How about standing closer? You won’t see much from this distance.”

Nonchalantly standing in the tub, he couldn’t conceal certain areas.

Steam turned into icy frost, falling unreservedly into Zong Yuan’s tub.

Zong Yuan frowned and sighed with understanding, “Ugly people are often peculiar. If Third Young Master Zhou doesn’t want to see me bathe, I can understand.”

A piercing cold air paused, then surged even more violently, swiftly turning the previously steaming water in the tub into rapid coldness.

Zong Yuan stepped out of the bath, only to be pushed forcefully to the edge of the bed by an unseen force.

Moonlight streamed in through the window, illuminating the room brightly. The entity pressed firmly against Zong Yuan, and under the moonlight, faint eerie light emanated from it.

Zong Yuan tried to grab the entity and throw it out, but his hand unexpectedly passed through.

The entity’s outline was becoming clearer. Apparently, the Third Young Master of the Zhou family had never encountered such provocation from a man. Zong Yuan felt like he could vaguely see the features of this entity under the moonlight.

The entity gritted its teeth, its voice ominous, “I’m not ugly!”

 

Author’s note:

Zhou Jin (feeling exhausted): Lao Gong is so shameless.

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