After being abroad for a few days, Jian Jing was already utterly sick of Western food. But when Jiang BaiYan brought over freshly made mini hamburgers and asked if she wanted to try them, she still couldn't resist the temptation.
"Is it tasty? This will be our lunch tomorrow, I've also prepared sandwiches and seaweed rice balls." Jiang BaiYan's flattery skills were first-class.
While eating, Jian Jing nodded: "What were you saying you discovered just now?"
"I don't know, it's something very strange." He fished out a stainless steel chopsticks case from his pocket.
Jian Jing took it and examined it closely under the desk lamp.
Jiang BaiYan pulled over a chair for her to sit on, while he sat at the edge of the bed and said, "Be careful, this thing is very weird, it's alive."
When Jian Jing opened the lid, she only saw a dried tree branch and couldn't help but feel puzzled: "This is alive?"
"Yes." Jiang BaiYan said, "I put it in a plastic bag before, but it crawled out by itself."
There was a difference between courting death intentionally and stumbling into harm's way unintentionally. How could he have stuffed such an uncanny root into his pocket without any vigilance?
As soon as it poked its head out, he grabbed and flung it onto the chopping block.
Jian Jing was very curious. She speared it with a knife to examine it closely: "There are no visible peculiarities externally, it looks no different from a withered branch."
"Could it be something like cordyceps or a parasitic fungus?" Jiang BaiYan guessed, "Or maybe it's just a bug in disguise, they do pretend to be plants too."
Jian Jing nodded slightly, lighting up a windproof lighter. The tall flames slowly crept towards the root.
Just before it was about to reach, the root suddenly sprang to life, as if awakening from hibernation. It tore itself apart fleeing, leaving only the portion speared by the knife behind.
"My, it sure runs fast." Jian Jing laughed softly, lost in thought, "It seems that it fears fire."
Jiang BaiYan's reasoning skills weren't great, but his mind was quick: "Arson?"
Jian Jing nodded: "Qi Tian was a master of metaphysics, if he did set the fire, he must've had a reason. But this is either fauna or flora, it has little to do with occult arts right?"
She had encountered several special missions in the past. Often, the line between supernatural or coincidence depended on just a flick of thought.
The seven stars sealing the coffin was murder. No one could claim Qi Tian had truly attained immortality. Xie Wei's ritual to borrow luck seemed the most mystical. Yet it was likely that he was simply experiencing a stretch of bad luck, even he himself harbored doubts, which led him to commit suicide as atonement.
In the case of the cursed Winter Castle, she even obtained the ring carrying the Sal family curse. However, she understood the circumstances surrounding Melanie's death perfectly clearly, it had absolutely nothing to do with the occult, she did not die due to the curse.
What about this time?
"Could it be Gu poison?" Jiang BaiYan's imagination ran wild. "It's a kind of cordyceps that can infect people."
Jian Jing was uncertain: "Maybe?"
Neither of them were knowledgeable about this field. They stared blankly at each other for quite a while, fruitless.
"Let it go, we should rest early." Jian Jing gave up pondering about the essence of the universe. The bait had already been cast out, whether they could catch any fish depended solely on their luck now.
After putting on her clothes properly and tucking a gun under her pillow and a dagger around her thigh, she even changed into her indoor sneakers. Of course, these were newly bought. With clean soles, otherwise even if foreigners don't mind, she would still feel uncomfortable herself.
Lights off, time to sleep.
The sound of rain poured ceaselessly outside the window.
In the dark, Jian Jing heard the shallow breathing beside her, it sounded a little like pudding. He really enjoyed cat naps on her lap during the hottest hours of the afternoon.
He was kind of cute.
She couldn't help asking: "Scared?"
"I'm good." His voice was lazy too, the ends of his words dangling up, reminding her of a cat's tail, "I used to be very afraid of the dark when I was young, not so much now."
Jian Jing said: "So the haunted house was just for show?"
"Of course not. Putting on a front is deceptive, I didn't lie to anyone." Jiang BaiYan defended his professional ethics, "I only exaggerated things a little, amplified some life details."
Jian Jing: "......"
"Jingjing, why did you want to come here?" It was his turn to ask questions. "Do you want to avenge Xie Wei?"
"You seem rather concerned about him."
"I'm jealous of him. Even though you've only met once, you remembered him for so long."
Jian Jing laughed: "That's not it, I..." She hesitated for a moment and sighed, "I can hardly remember what he looks like anymore."
The dazzle and stir Xie Wei left her would be permanently etched in her heart forever.
She would unlikely forget the various traces left in the hot spring resort, yet his visage has gradually faded from her memories over time.
"He was like the starry sky I saw out at sea. I'll always remember how it made me feel, but slowly I forgot what the stars actually looked like."
Jiang BaiYan asked: "Does this count as love?"
Jian Jing asked back: "What is love anyway?"
He said:
"Don't know."
"Me neither."
"You wrote about it before."
"That was fictional." Jian Jing admitted candidly, "The love portrayed in stories is but one of hundreds and thousands of guesses. It could be like this, or maybe not."
"Would you recognize it if you encountered it?"
She felt uncertain: "Hard to say. If it were that effortless, there wouldn't be so many missed connections and regrets."
"You have a point."
The room fell silent.
After a while, Jiang BaiYan flipped over and asked her: "Jingjing, what's your type?"
Jian Jing was stumped. She hemmed and hawed for a long time before answering: "Maybe... good-looking?"
Alas, something as abstract as love was like a misty fog, splendid and ever-changing. People desire for what they see others possess too, yet no one knows what's inside their own mystery box.
The contents varied for everyone.
It may contain roses, it may have monsters.
Everyone had their own criteria, some picked whoever showed up at their door, some chose the ones with the flashiest halos, some opted for whoever was most suitable.
She didn't have any particular preference for now. If she had to pick something, she wished for better looks.
"Phew—" An exaggerated exhale sounded beside her.
Jian Jing: "?"
"I was a little nervous just now, thankfully I passed." He patted his chest, wearing the expression of having narrowly escaped doom.
Jian Jing was speechless.
"Really, even more nerve-wracking than my first audition." Jiang BaiYan knew his limits well, he didn't stubbornly pry deeper. Instead, he moved on to sell himself: "Does Teacher Jingjing think I'm good-looking?"
She couldn't bring herself to lie.
Matter-of-factly, she said: "Not bad."
Jiang BaiYan said: "I have other merits too."
"You can shovel shit?"
"No no, I have one merit no one else has. You haven't discovered it yet." He promoted himself earnestly as if in a job interview.
Jian Jing grew curious instantly: "What is it?"
"I don't have to take any responsibility!"
She was baffled: "???"
"No need for responsibility, no strings attached, no burden." He snuggled up to her pillow and whispered as if letting out a secret, "Some people can get very serious. If you sleep with them, they expect a relationship. Being in a relationship leads to considerations about marriage, marriage leads to thoughts about family... But I don't have such headaches. Anything goes, super carefree."
Jian Jing couldn't help asking: "Is this something you should feel proud about?"
"I'm not saying I'm great this way, but it certainly is my advantage." Jiang BaiYan argued eloquently as if he was making perfect sense: "My name Jiang Xian literally translates to 'river water'. Water takes the shape of whatever vessel it fills, however I wish to be, so I can be. How wonderful~"
Jian Jing: "......"
Weren't those not your original interpretations for your name?
"What do you think?" He asked.
Jian Jing said: "Keep digging for other merits of yours."
He sulked with bitterness: "I'm all out already. I do have lots of demerits though: young in age, no money, not smart, chaotic work environment, annoying scandals... Other than decent cooking skills, able to shovel shit, can grow plants, act, paint and sculpt a little, take photos a bit, and somehow still make money, there's little else I excel in."
"You left out one thing."
"What is it?"
Jian Jing gritted her teeth: "Full of it."
"......" Discretion is the better part of valour. Jiang BaiYan backed down at once. He faked an exaggerated yawn sloppily and acted drowsily: "I'm sleepy now, I'll nap first, it's your turn to talk later 'kay?"
Given they were in a special instance, Jian Jing was too lazy to nitpick with him. She went straight to business: "Still better if I keep watch the second half of the night."
He didn't insist: "Sure, you sleep first then."
Jian Jing turned her back, trying hard to fall asleep.
But sleep evaded her.
She couldn't rest easy with someone staring at her, it was pure instinct.
Jiang BaiYan noticed: "I'll sleep first."
"It's rare for me to get to sleep beside Jingjing, I ought to cherish this properly."
Jiang BaiYan rolled over and obediently buried himself in the pillow, falling asleep in less than a moment.
Jian Jing was afraid of falling asleep and didn't dare close her eyes, lying in bed spacing out. After a while, too bored, she turned her head to size up the human-sized pudding next to her.
He was only 21 years old this year, still retaining the soft and gentle contours of a teenager, especially since he recently stopped dieting and had put on a little weight in his face, making him look even younger than before.
So obedient, so young, so pitiful.
But that was only superficial. When it came to understanding human affairs, he was more seasoned than most people older than him.
Occasionally, Jian Jing would also wonder, which side was the real him? Was it the scheming villain, the secretly cunning green tea, the pretentiously pitiful white lotus, or the sincere and enthusiastic innocent?
Now it seemed that perhaps all were true, and perhaps none were.
These were all him, the color of water.
In the midst of her wandering thoughts, something flashed across her vision.
Jian Jing immediately discarded all other thoughts and focused all her attention on the anomaly in the room.
It was a shadow.
She had deliberately left a nightlight on, and the light revealed the fleeting shadow of someone passing by outside the door.
Who was lurking outside?
She softened her breathing, covered Jiang BaiYan’s mouth, and woke him up. His courage was also great, he pointed to her, signaling her to hide in the corner.
Jian Jing nodded slightly and nimbly got out of bed.
Jiang BaiYan hugged her pillow and stuffed it under the quilt, pulling the blankets tight over it. At a cursory glance, it looked like there was someone lying there.
Jian Jing hid inside the wardrobe and waited patiently.
The shadow outside was extremely careful, remaining completely motionless out there for a full dozen minutes without moving an inch.
But the people inside were even more patient than him.
Finally, the other party couldn’t hold still any longer. He gently pushed the door open and slowly walked in.
The weak nightlight illuminated his face.
It was Old Frank.
He looked nothing like the old decrepit man from before. Gripping an axe in his hand, he squinted at the person on the bed, then raised his arm and swung down forcefully.
At almost the same time, Jiang BaiYan nimbly rolled out from under the bed, while Jian Jing pushed open the wardrobe door. Her body’s agility was fully utilized, like a hunting lioness pouncing onto Old Frank’s back.
Bang!
The two heavily collapsed onto the bed.
"Ah - Ah -" Old Frank let out a bizarre shrieking sound.
Jian Jing forcibly suppressed his struggles and questioned, "What are you trying to do?"
Old Frank twisted his head back. His muddy eyes could barely see the pupils. Although he was very old, his struggles were getting bigger and more difficult to restrain.
Jian Jing said: "Get some rope."
Jiang BaiYan immediately went to the suitcase to find some rope. His preparations in Yellow Twilight Town had been extremely meticulous. Although there were no tall mountains in the woods, he still bought some outdoor mountaineering rope, very sturdy stuff.
Jian Jing took the rope and was about to tie Old Frank’s hands. But he suddenly jerked his head back, not the normal 90 or 120 degrees, but a full 180 degree twist.
The head that was pressed under him twisted and snapped back to face the opposite direction, glaring straight at them.
Jian Jing held back her astonishment, her strength undiminished.
Old Frank grinned eerily and opened his mouth to bite her wrist.
"Damn!" Jian Jing swore and grabbed a pillow. But before she could press it over him, Old Frank was suddenly possessed with great strength, flipping her over.
Hunching his back, he snatched up the axe and smashed it down heavily.
Clang! The axe cleaved into the bed frame, breaking the wood. The whole bed instantly collapsed.
The room was too small, easy to accidentally injure someone in a fight.
Without much hesitation, Jian Jing dragged Jiang BaiYan along, "Run!"