TBWE Chapter 8

The Secret

Are there ghosts in this world?

Chu Li didn’t know.

A long time ago, she had played an escape game with a simple storyline. The protagonist lived in a single-parent family with their mother. One day, the protagonist discovered that their mother had been replaced by something else. The player’s task was to conceal this discovery and escape the house alive.

Chu Li played it three times in a row, but still got the bad ending.

The “mother” in the game was extremely vigilant – choosing the wrong dialogue option would trigger death.

The failure cutscene left a deep impression on her. The gentle woman would grin and say in a soft voice, “Since you’ve found out, go die.”

On the fourth attempt, she learned from experience and finally completed the game carefully.

The ending screen froze on the protagonist escaping the house, with an expressionless face pressed against the window, twisted and staring in the direction the protagonist had left.

“Li Li, we’re home.”

Huo Xiu’s voice suddenly brought Chu Li back to reality. Outside the car window was the familiar villa.

She gripped her phone tightly, her fingertips tingling with numbness.

It’s okay, just pretend it’s a game.

Stay calm, stay composed, don’t let any flaws be discovered.

Chu Li repeatedly warned herself in her mind, then took a deep breath, preparing to get out of the car.

Huo Xiu was faster than her. The passenger door opened, the sky dim, he bent down and leaned in, cool strands of hair brushing against her neck, his posture like an embrace.

Citrus fragrance lingered between them.

Her breathing hitched, her throat swallowing faster, while she struggled to maintain calm on her face.

“Click.” The seatbelt unfastened, but Huo Xiu didn’t straighten up, maintaining the posture of holding her in his arms, his eyelashes lowered, his gaze wandering over her face.

His slender fingers traced along her jawline, pointing to her constantly swallowing throat. “Li Li, are you nervous?”

Chu Li’s breathing became heavier.

She wasn’t skilled at acting – her emotions were usually written on her face, making it difficult to hide her thoughts.

But this wasn’t a game. She didn’t know the rules, didn’t know the winning conditions, and didn’t have the chance to reload and try again.

The car fell silent for a moment. Chu Li grasped that finger, lowered her head to kiss it, and said with a charming smile, “No. I’m just hungry.”

The kissed finger curled unnaturally.

He said, “Alright, I’ll go cook.”

****

After extreme fear or anger, people become unusually calm.

Chu Li’s consciousness seemed to float out of her body, becoming a third-person perspective. She ate with a normal expression, occasionally chatting with Huo Xiu, and after he finished washing dishes, they sat on the sofa and watched an episode of a popular variety show.

Huo Xiu held her waist while Chu Li leaned against him, their posture intimate.

The images and sounds of the variety show became distorted symbols floating into her ears, then drifting away lightly.

All of Chu Li’s senses were focused on the young man beside her.

All the previous anomalies were real, not hallucinations from her condition. She had just been thinking in the wrong direction then, not considering supernatural events.

While he was washing dishes, Chu Li searched online for many supernatural incident posts.

From the current situation, Huo Xiu seemed more like being possessed by a ghost, and this ghost had considerable power.

She wasn’t clear about the other party’s purpose. She just hoped to get through tonight without exposing any flaws, then find an excuse to go out tomorrow to find the Taoist master at Taiqing Temple for a solution.

Watching one episode of the variety show felt like an eternity. Normally, Chu Li would laugh so hard at this show that she’d roll around hugging a pillow.

Today she couldn’t laugh, so she pretended to be very tired, then naturally suggested taking an early bath and rest tonight.

Huo Xiu had no objections.

The two finished washing up and were lying in bed before ten o’clock.

Sharing the same blanket, the other’s breath silently spread and enveloped her. After some rustling sounds, an arm draped over her waist, and a body pressed against her back.

The bedroom was dark and quiet. Chu Li clearly heard her own heartbeat.

“Thump thump thump...”

Heavy, like hammering on her eardrums.

Her throat was dry, and she licked her dry lips, worried that the person behind her would hear.

Huo Xiu, as usual, kissed her hair and said softly, “Li Li, good night. Tomorrow afternoon I have business at the company, I need to go over, might be back late.”

It was like receiving a pillow when drowsy.

Chu Li: “You go ahead with your work. Tomorrow I’m meeting Tong Tong to go out and play.”

The arm around her waist tightened. “Didn’t you already go out to play today?”

“Tomorrow… tomorrow is to buy clothes. Today we didn’t even have time to look at clothes.” Chu Li quickly found a reason. “Before, when I couldn’t see, I was cooped up at home for half a month. Now that I’m better, of course I want to go out more.”

Huo Xiu pinched her wrist, rubbing it for a moment, then said, “Alright. Be careful and don’t go to places with too many people.”

The cool copper coin pressed against her wrist bone, and goosebumps rose where he rubbed.

****

The next day, Huo Xiu left for the company after lunch.

As soon as he left, Chu Li immediately went out to catch a taxi, heading straight to Taiqing Temple. She didn’t tell Xin Tong about this, afraid she would worry and afraid she would get dragged into it.

Taiqing Temple was still as somewhat deserted as yesterday.

The gray-robed Taoist master stood under a tree, holding a broom and sweeping fallen leaves. Hearing hurried footsteps, he said without looking up, “You’re here.”

He seemed to have anticipated Chu Li’s visit.

Chu Li had walked quickly and was sweating. She finally caught her breath. “Master, I’ve come to ask for your help!”

The master straightened up, set aside his broom, and pointed to a stone chair nearby. “No rush, sit down and speak slowly.”

Chu Li held nothing back, telling him everything about falling into the sea, losing her sight, and all the recent strange incidents.

“Master, is my boyfriend possessed by a ghost?”

The master’s Dharma name was Ming Wei. The more he listened, the deeper his frown became. After hearing everything, he threw three copper coins to divine.

“Strange…” Ming Wei moved the copper coins around. “This divination is ambiguous. But from what you’ve described, it should indeed be possession, and by something very malevolent.”

Chu Li pushed forward a card, saying sincerely, “Please help me, Master. There’s one million here. If it’s not enough, just say so.”

Money was nothing – she just hoped the demons and ghosts would disappear quickly and life would return to peace.

But Ming Wei shook his head. He didn’t accept it, patiently explaining. “This matter is about fate. Since you came here, it means we have a connection, and naturally I must help you. Normally, people don’t encounter these things for no reason. Everything has cause and effect. For you to encounter something so malevolent, there must be a reason.”

Then he asked for Chu Li’s birth date and time, accurate to the minute, and carefully examined her palm and face.

“How strange.” Ming Wei frowned again. “Looking at your birth chart alone, there’s no problem. Could it be that someone changed it for you?”

She shook her head blankly, her gaze falling on the red string on her wrist. “I don’t know. My family never let me tell others my birth details since I was young. This copper coin was also given to me by family to wear. Is there a problem with it?”

The copper coin looked ordinary – round outside with a square hole inside, with an aged patina.

Ming Wei’s expression was complex. “Actually, what you’re wearing isn’t a copper coin. I can’t tell exactly what it is – it can cloud perception. In any case, it’s something very sinister.”

In the scorching August heat, Chu Li broke out in cold sweat under the shade of the tree.

How could there be anything in this world that could be lost at sea and then recovered?

This was given to her by that ghost, not her original copper coin.

She immediately tried to tear it off, but the thin red string clung to her fair wrist like a parasitic worm, impossible to break free from no matter how hard she struggled.

Chu Li’s eyes reddened, her voice hoarse. “Then… wearing it on my body, will it…”

Ming Wei poured her a cup of hot tea, comforting her. “As long as we send that thing away, it will naturally come off.”

“But the thing you’ve provoked is too evil and malevolent. I don’t have complete confidence in dealing with it. Moreover, it’s occupying your boyfriend’s body – if I act rashly, I’m afraid it might make things worse.”

“Try this method first. If it doesn’t work, come back to find me.”

****

Three o’clock in the afternoon, with the scorching sun overhead.

Chu Li walked through the quiet villa, following Master Ming Wei’s instructions to first find a closed, lightless small room.

This villa was privately purchased by Huo Xiu, with a basement garage on the negative first floor, three floors above ground, and the third floor was an attic for storage.

After searching around, she couldn’t find a room that met the requirements.

The basement was indeed without light, but it was too big and spacious.

Only the first-floor study, with curtains drawn, barely qualified. The wall clock in the living room had reached three-thirty. Chu Li had no time to be picky, so she sealed the curtains tightly and began taking out the things Master Ming Wei had given her, placing them one by one.

“Southeast direction…” She opened her phone’s compass and placed a small jade deity statue into the wooden bookshelf.

The bookshelf occupied most of the wall, filled with biological science books and various awards.

Chu Li accidentally pressed somewhere on the bookshelf, and the entire shelf split down the middle, slowly sliding apart to reveal an unlocked door.

“…?”

Behind the small door was a not-too-long staircase extending downward.

Chu Li quickly realized this was a basement.

What could be more suitable for “closed, lightless, and small” than a basement?

She immediately collected the items she had already arranged and cautiously stepped onto the stairs.

A faint, characteristic cool dampness of basements hit her face, mixed with a slight smell of disinfectant.

Motion sensor lights on both sides lit up in succession, and the sound of footsteps echoed and accumulated.

Everything in sight was white.

The ceiling and floor were snow white, and display cases were embedded in three walls. Specimens of various forms filled the shelves, each looking as if it were still alive.

One display case contained not specimens, but file folders – thick file folders placed in each compartment.

In the center of the basement was a cold-toned specimen preparation table.

A person lay quietly on it.

Chu Li’s pupils contracted, her body trembling violently, and the things in her hands clattered to the ground. A small jar filled with cinnabar rolled away, staining the snow-white floor red.

The dark red color was just like the back of the head of the person on the specimen table. It looked as if it had been struck, with the hard skull caved in and shattered in one area, the dark red color congealed there.

In an instant, the nightmare scene overlapped with reality.

Chu Li didn’t know how long she stood there before she shakily dragged her weak legs, step by step, toward the table.

A familiar face from their daily life together.

His eyes were closed, his lips dark in color, his skin pale blue-white.

“Huo Xiu…”

Here lay her boyfriend, her fiancé.

Huo Xiu was already dead. How could a dead person be possessed by a ghost? Then who was that other person she had been living with day and night recently?

“Click.”

The sound of the front door opening came from far away.

He had returned.