Chapter 17 Who Am I 16

What could possibly make a ghost this afraid?

Lin Xiangjun wore a look of confusion. Wang Min held the two halves of the curtain tightly closed with both hands, as if the moment she loosened her grip even slightly, that terrifying thing would leap in through the window.

Wang Min didn't dare to speak, nor did she dare to let go of the curtains. She could only wink frantically, but Lin Xiangjun happened to be someone who couldn't read social cues and had no idea what she was trying to signal with all that grimacing.

The Eerie Parents at the door were pounding frantically, but the door stood as firm as if it were made of solid concrete; it didn't look like they would be getting in anytime soon.

Lin Xiangjun simply sat up from the bed and went to the window to pull back the curtains herself.

Wang Min was terrified, but she hadn't stopped Lin Xiangjun from looking outside, which proved that whatever was out there was merely horrifying but not dangerous.

Lin Xiangjun slowly lifted a corner of the curtain.

A pair of golden vertical pupils, soaked in blood and filled with resentment and painful indignation, met her gaze directly.

Lin Xiangjun's breath hitched.

Corpses—the corpses of many, many cats.

Their methods of death varied: some had their heads twisted off and stuffed into their bellies; some had been skinned into bloody masses; some had limbs turned into limp noodles as if every bone had been crushed; some were eviscerated from the middle and pressed flat into thin sheets...

They were hung upside down, tied by their tails with ropes, hanging in a neat row like laundry out to dry.

Whether intentional or not, the eyes of every single cat were staring straight at Lin Xiangjun—yellow, blue, blue-green, brownish-yellow...

“Meow—”

A sharp, pained cat's cry rang in Lin Xiangjun's ears. Her heart jolted as those semi-dried cat corpses, which had been hanging motionless, suddenly began to struggle and writhe, extending their claws to scratch at the glass!

“Skreeee—”

The sharp sound of claws on glass set her teeth on edge. As the cats scratched repeatedly, many fine white lines appeared on the glass, and those lines were slowly connecting, showing a tendency to expand!

The Eerie Parents at the door seemed to hear the commotion as well, and their pounding became even more excited.

“Good daughter! Good daughter! Did you hear the cat? That's a mother cat giving birth to kittens! Didn't you and Qin Jianyuan agree to raise a kitten together? How about we go down and catch a pretty one for you?”

Like hell you will.

Lin Xiangjun quickly pulled out her phone to order a pack of ham sausages. She tore open the outer packaging and, without even having time to peel the sausages, she opened a small crack in the window and threw the entire handful of ham sausages out!

“Meow—”

Another sharp cat cry.

She blinked, and the hanging cat corpses vanished as if they had been a hallucination. They were all gone now.

The pounding from the Eerie Parents at the door also ceased.

If she weren't still holding the outer packaging of the Wangzhongwang ham, and if the glass in front of her didn't still bear the claw marks, shattered nails, and bloodstains from the forceful scratching, she truly would have thought it was all just a dream.

Lin Xiangjun checked the window glass and then the room door. After confirming neither would break for the time being, she lay back down on the bed.

Neither the eerie entities nor the cats appeared again for the rest of the night.

Lin Xiangjun slept soundly until dawn.

At 7:30 AM, Lin Xiangjun was shaken awake by Wang Min. She rubbed her eyes and heard Wang Min whisper, “Those Eerie Parents have finished making breakfast and are preparing to head out.”

The rules stated that Mom and Dad needed to go to work during the day.

Lin Xiangjun got out of bed. Today, she didn't wear the short sleeves and cycling shorts she had on when she entered the instance; instead, she picked out a new tracksuit and sneakers from her Tribute Cards.

She had suffered enough from the lack of pockets in the cycling shorts and t-shirt.

After getting dressed, Lin Xiangjun pulled back the curtains again, but even after waiting a while, the cats did not reappear.

Lin Xiangjun took out her notebook and circled the rules related to cats.

There was only one rule related to cats, which was the fifth rule of the residential area: [Stray cats may gather in the gardens within the residential area, but the Property Management has already neutered and dewormed them. There are no insects in the residential area, and the cats are clean and cute. If you encounter them, give them a ham sausage.]

However, those cats hadn't appeared in the garden, and because of the rot, they were more or less covered in white maggots. This was the exact opposite of what the rule said; except for the fact that ham sausages could drive them away, nothing else in the rule matched up.

It was still early, so Lin Xiangjun decided to go stake out Unit 604 upstairs first to see if she could get any news about Qin Jianyuan, then head to the residential garden later.

“Master, they’ve left,” Wang Min said.

Lin Xiangjun glanced at the time.

8:00 AM.

She now knew that the Eerie Parents left for work at 8:00 AM and returned at 7:00 PM. This window was the players' time for free exploration. This was true for the Eerie Parents on floors one through five.

But what about the sixth floor?

The child in that family wasn't a player; was their routine the same?

Sixth Floor.

Wang Min gently knocked on the door of 604.

“Hello, delivery.”

Lin Xiangjun had specifically dressed Wang Min up. Her messy hair was clipped back with a claw clip, her blood-stained fleece pajamas were replaced with a denim dress and small leather shoes, and her bloodless face was lightly touched up with makeup. Aside from being a bit pale and cold, she looked no different from an ordinary person.

“Coming, coming!”

A woman in her fifties opened the door. Her hair was half-white, and her expression bore a fatigue that couldn't be hidden. She pushed the door halfway open, poking her head out and looking at Wang Min with suspicion.

“We didn't order any food. Is it a wrong delivery?”

Wang Min's face remained flat as she glanced at her phone. “You are Qin Jianyuan's Mother, right?”

The woman's expression changed instantly. Her voice turned cold, but she didn't deny it or close the door. “Yes, I am.”

Wang Min expressionlessly held out the bouquet in her hand. “Then it's correct. These are flowers sent to you by little Qin Jianyuan. This is the pre-order slip; he paid the money and gave the address in advance. There's no mistake.”

The woman's grip on the doorknob suddenly loosened, and the door slid open further, revealing her entire figure.

“This... Jianyuan pre-ordered this?”

“Yes.” Wang Min nodded expressionlessly, looking every bit the cold and detached delivery person. “The item has been delivered. If there's no problem, please sign for it.”

The woman didn't respond. Her hands trembled as she pulled the flowers into her embrace, tears already welling in the corners of her eyes. “Jianyuan only had you deliver flowers? Did he ask you to pass on any message to me?”

Wang Min frowned as if thinking, then shook her head under the woman's expectant gaze. “No, I just remember he was very happy when he went to the flower shop to order them. He said they were for his mother and told us to use the freshest and most beautiful flowers.”

Of course there was no message.

This bouquet was actually one of the offerings Lin Xiangjun had burned for herself. At the time, she had burned everything she could think of and buy, including many wreaths and paper flowers. These things had ultimately turned into various types of bouquets.

Lin Xiangjun had simply grabbed one at random.

But the woman seemed to be struck by something; she instantly burst into a downpour of tears, clutching the flowers as she crouched on the ground and wailed.

“Jianyuan, Jianyuan, my son... waaaaaa...”