The first night passed quietly, save for the biting chill that seeped through the house.
After a simple breakfast, the group continued their investigation.
Though it was called an "investigation," Lu Qingyue was completely clueless.
Occasionally, she heard Shen Xiao mention key points that sounded useful, but whenever she tried to dig deeper, everything felt like a dead end.
Perhaps her understanding just wasn't on his level yet.
Days went by with zero results.
After two days, Qingyue had become familiar with the villa's layout, and her fear had diminished drastically because Shen Xiao was always by her side.
That night, during their guard shift, Shen Xiao guided her cultivation again.
This time, the difficulty was much higher, but thanks to Shen Xiao's meticulous instruction, Qingyue achieved something extraordinary, she was able to manifest a "left hand" from the water element that could form a fist.
Although the water glove couldn't yet be used to grip heavy objects, it was an incredible start.
She had always failed when trying this idea before.
Shen Xiao is truly a genius, she thought in awe.
If she kept practicing, she would no longer have to worry about only having one hand.
The second day passed.
On the third day, because she was so engrossed in training her "water hand", starting from trying to hold chopsticks to pushing doors open, Qingyue realized it was already dark.
She felt immense guilt.
During the evaluation that night, she could only lower her head honestly in front of Shen Xiao.
"I'm sorry, Shen Xiao... all day long I was just having fun training my own abilities and ignored the mission. I'm being truly selfish."
Seeing Shen Xiao remain silent, even though he was actually busy harvesting tickets, Qingyue felt even more sinful.
Without a word, she went to the corner of the room and performed 500 one-armed push-ups as a self-imposed punishment.
She ignored Su Qiao and Lu Zihao, who had been on their phones gossiping in another corner.
I, Lu Qingyue, am truly terrible!
Boss, I'm sorry... sob... she thought while continuing her push-ups.
Yet strangely, that night she accepted Shen Xiao's guidance again and borrowed another Spirit Stone.
Her debt was piling up, but she felt herself sinking deeper into this sweet "depravity."
...
"Lu Zihao! Wake up!"
Lu Zihao woke up, his soul not yet fully gathered.
"What? Is it our turn to watch?"
"I need to go to the toilet!"
Su Qiao whined.
"Then just go by yourself."
"No! I'm scared! Accompany me to the second-floor bathroom!"
Reluctantly, Lu Zihao accompanied Su Qiao.
"Wait outside, okay! Keep making noise so I know you haven't been kidnapped by a monster!" Su Qiao shouted from inside the bathroom.
Lu Zihao began humming the song "Little Sister Carrying a Doll" in a shrill, off-key voice.
"Hmph... hmph..."
"Stop! Your voice is terrible, it's making me scared!" Su Qiao screamed.
"You told me to make noise!"
"Well, not that song! Just stay quiet!"
Lu Zihao stopped humming, but suddenly, the same humming sound, identical to the shrill tune he had just sung, rang out, only with a much hoarser and heavier tone.
The voice was coming from inside the bathroom.
"Su Qiao, stop joking! Your voice is even worse than mine!" Lu Zihao called out.
The door burst open, Su Qiao ran out and hugged Lu Zihao tightly.
"It wasn't me! The sound came from behind the vanity mirror!"
Lu Zihao switched on his flashlight in his left hand and gripped a baseball bat in his right.
He stepped inside.
Sure enough, the mirror did not reflect their shadows.
Inside the mirror stood an ancient wedding couple, the woman in red with a veil, the man in black with a melon hat and a red flower ball on his chest.
The ghost groom smiled sinisterly, then slowly crawled out of the mirror.
"Friends, come in... drink the wedding wine..."
"Drink wine? I'll give you toilet water!"
Lu Zihao grinned mischievously. Instead of being afraid, he lunged at the ghost, dragged him to the floor, and forced the ghost's head right into the toilet bowl!
Brak! Lu Zihao pressed the ghost's head into the toilet while beating the ghost's backside with the baseball bat.
"You dare dress up as a ghost to scare me! Eat this toilet water!"
The ghost bride inside the mirror, seeing her partner being "brutalized," immediately tried to flee.
Lu Zihao tried to catch her, but his hand was blocked by the mirror's surface, which had suddenly become solid again.
The ghost groom from the toilet managed to break free and crawled rapidly toward the door to escape.
However, Lu Zihao's baseball bat was already blocking his way.
"Did I say you could leave?"
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
"Version: One Thousand Years of Death!"
Lu Zihao shouted as he thrust the bat toward the ghost's rear.
The ghost groom howled in pain, covered his head, and ran headlong into the corridor.
Lu Zihao chased after him with a wicked laugh that was far scarier than any ghost.
"Look, Su Qiao! I told you ghosts aren't scary, they just need a little 'education'!" he shouted as he continued to hunt the poor ghost down.
"Tell the World, Real Men Aren't Afraid of Ghosts-!"