Chapter 14: There is Someone Under the Bed

Chapter 14: There is someone... under the bed

Tangyuan and Xiaoshu didn't know how to describe that stinky smell either.

So, this was what "musty" smelled like!

Fu Xiaoxiao opened the window. The wind rushing in fluttered the curtains, so she simply pulled the entire curtain wide open.

It was pitch black outside, and the cold wind howled.

Jiang Yuan had chosen a supernatural suspense film where girls in a female dormitory disappeared one after another. Every night, the girls lived in constant terror, afraid they would be the next to vanish.

Halfway through the movie, Fu Xiaoxiao, who had been holding her bladder for a long time, finally couldn't take it anymore.

"I need to go to the bathroom."

Jiang Yuan turned her head to look at her and teased, "Do you dare go alone? I'll accompany you."

"No need," Fu Xiaoxiao said. "I'll have Xiaoshu and Tangyuan accompany me."

"Alright, I'll wait for you then." Jiang Yuan picked up the remote and pressed pause.

Fu Xiaoxiao took the cat and the dog to the room to use the bathroom.

The more she tried not to think about the plot, the more easily those images surfaced in her mind. The more she thought, the more frightened she became, hurriedly pulling up her pants and washing her hands.

Walking out of the bathroom, she saw Tangyuan and Xiaoshu pacing in the room. She said with a smile, "Alright, my two little bodyguards, we can go now."

After walking a few steps, she realized the two little ones hadn't followed her.

Fu Xiaoxiao turned back to call them, but Tangyuan suddenly scrambled under the bed.

"Tangyuan, what are you running under the bed for?" she asked helplessly.

After Tangyuan let out two "woofs," Xiaoshu followed him under the bed as well.

Fu Xiaoxiao felt utterly bewildered. "What on earth are you two playing at now?"

Xiaoshu crawled back out, meowed at her a few times, and then crawled back in.

Although Fu Xiaoxiao couldn't understand animal language, she could guess what Xiaoshu meant.

After a moment of thought, Fu Xiaoxiao walked over. "Is there some fun toy under the bed?"

**

Jiang Yuan sat cross-legged on the sofa, thinking about Gu Lingling.

From the video, it was clear she had indeed visited Villa No. 6, but under what circumstances would the surveillance fail to capture any trace of her appearance? And what reason would cause her to suddenly stop contacting her mother?

As Jiang Yuan was thinking, she suddenly heard a piercing scream.

"Ah—!"

Jiang Yuan's train of thought was interrupted. Her expression changed in the next second. "Xiaoxiao!" She immediately stood up and rushed out.

In the room, Fu Xiaoxiao was slumped on the floor, her face deathly pale, her eyes red, and her whole body trembling uncontrollably.

"What's wrong, Xiaoxiao?" Jiang Yuan rushed to her side and asked nervously, "What happened?"

"Yuanyuan!" Fu Xiaoxiao threw herself into her arms, sobbing, "Under the bed... under the bed, there's... someone..."

She wasn't sure if it was a living person or...

Jiang Yuan wanted to lean down and look, but Fu Xiaoxiao stopped her. "Don't look! It's too scary!"

"Okay, I won't look." Jiang Yuan patted her back soothingly and said softly, "Let's go out first and see how to handle this."

"Okay." Fu Xiaoxiao's legs were so weak from fear that she had to rely entirely on Jiang Yuan's support to walk back to the media room.

Tangyuan and Xiaoshu followed them out, chatting as they walked.

"So it was that person who smelled musty!"

"How can a human be so stinky? So strange!"

"How funny, why don't humans sleep on the bed, but sleep under it?"

"Are they playing hide-and-seek?"

Jiang Yuan closed the door to the media room and felt Fu Xiaoxiao's hand; she could tell she was still shaking. She reached out and hugged her. "Don't be afraid."

"Yuanyuan, is that person dead..." Fu Xiaoxiao's voice was choked with tears.

"Probably."

If it were a living person, how could they be so stinky?

"Yuanyuan, should we call the police?"

"Okay."

Jiang Yuan took out her phone and dialed.

As the operator was asking for details, she suddenly thought of Li Ailan from this afternoon and the sweet-smiling Gu Lingling from the video.

She hoped it wasn't what she was thinking.

Seeing the images on the screen, Fu Xiaoxiao grew even more panicked. She picked up the remote and turned off the projector.

Ten minutes later, the sound of sirens drifted up from downstairs.

Fu Xiaoxiao's taut nerves finally relaxed.

The police arrived on the second floor and carried the entire bed away.

Fu Xiaoxiao covered her eyes, not daring to look.

Jiang Yuan summoned the courage to look at the face. Her heart suddenly sank, and her brows furrowed tightly.

She had just seen this face in the video today.

She gripped Fu Xiaoxiao's hand and whispered, "Xiaoxiao, it's Gu Lingling."

[System 009: Congratulations, Miss Jiang, on completing the mission. Reward obtained: Monkey Dictionary.]

Fu Xiaoxiao was startled. She opened her eyes and asked in disbelief, "Is it really Lingling?"

Jiang Yuan nodded.

Fu Xiaoxiao took a cautious peek.

Hearing their conversation, a police officer inquired, "Do you know her?"

"No," Jiang Yuan shook her head and recounted the situation regarding her encounter with Li Ailan that afternoon.

The manager of the villa arrived upon hearing the sirens and hurriedly offered to move Jiang Yuan and Fu Xiaoxiao to a different villa.

But Fu Xiaoxiao had lost all interest in staying there. After finishing her statement, she and Jiang Yuan returned to their apartment in the city.

Fu Xiaoxiao didn't dare turn off the lights, tossing and turning all night without sleep.

At 5:30 AM, the sky was just beginning to dawn.

"Every time I close my eyes, I see Lingling's face," Fu Xiaoxiao said, feeling miserable.

"Don't overthink it," Jiang Yuan comforted her. "I'm here with you. Go to sleep."

Despite saying this, Gu Lingling's face, eyes wide in death, kept flashing through her own mind.

Li Ailan must know about this by now, right? Would she break down?

Jiang Yuan and Fu Xiaoxiao didn't fall into a daze of sleep until eight or nine in the morning.

**

When Jiang Yuan woke up, it was already past one in the afternoon.

Her screen showed one unread text message and over ten WeChat messages.

The text was from Si Heng; he was already aware of the case at Villa No. 6 of Yunshan Hot Springs last night.

Jiang Yuan clicked into WeChat; the other ten-plus messages were all from Li Ailan.

Li Ailan: [Miss Jiang, something happened to my Lingling!]

Li Ailan: [Lingling was found in Villa No. 6. Can you tell me the specific details of last night? Please!]

Li Ailan: [Miss Jiang, I know it's wrong of me to disturb you like this, but I really have no choice. I don't know who else to turn to...]

Li Ailan: [They say they can't find out how Lingling got to Villa No. 6. There's no surveillance inside, and they can't find any evidence! They can't find the killer either!]

Li Ailan: [I really don't want to see Lingling die an unjust death!]

...

Standing before the floor-to-ceiling window watching the heavy snowfall, Jiang Yuan's heart grew increasingly heavy.

Half an hour later, she made a WeChat voice call to Li Ailan and carefully recounted the process of how Gu Lingling's body was discovered last night.

On the other end of the call, Li Ailan broke into uncontrollable sobs.

Jiang Yuan didn't know how to comfort her. At a time like this, any comfort felt pale and powerless.

After an unknown amount of time, Li Ailan gradually calmed down, her voice hoarse. "Miss Jiang, thank you. I've caused you so much trouble."

Jiang Yuan opened her mouth, but in the end, she only softly said two words: "My condolences."

The next time she saw a message from Li Ailan was two days later, when Fu Xiaoxiao forwarded a video to her.

Li Ailan was kneeling on a bustling pedestrian street, holding a banner to seek justice for her daughter, desperately pleading with the relevant authorities to investigate the truth thoroughly.

(End of Chapter)