My Partner Always Wants to Dig My Grave - Chapter 24

The morning sunlight filtered through the branches and leaves outside the window, casting a dappled pattern of shifting shadows on the ground. A gentle breeze rustled the foliage, causing the tree shadows to sway rhythmically.

Warm, golden light softly fell upon the corners of the eyes of the person lying on the hospital bed. Her long, feathery eyelashes fluttered slightly, and the usual aloofness in her expression was inexplicably tinged with a trace of vulnerability that no one else could perceive.

The heavy scent of disinfectant permeated the room, lingering at the tip of her nose. Frowning faintly, the person on the bed slowly opened her eyes.

For a moment, the glaring light forced her to squint. After adjusting for a few seconds, she reopened her eyes, the earlier vulnerability replaced by a distant indifference, as if such emotion had never crossed her face.

Just then, the sound of Guan Yue’s conversation from outside caught her attention, as though she were reporting something.

“Professor Guan, we discovered a stone door blocking our path while exploring the tomb. We’ve studied it for a long time but haven’t found the mechanism to open it.”

Guan Yue leaned against the wall, furrowing her brow as she pondered for a moment. Unable to come up with a solution right away, she replied, “It’s likely that we accidentally triggered some mechanism on our way out, causing the tomb entrance to seal shut. But unless it’s absolutely necessary, we can’t risk using explosives, it would cause significant damage to the artifacts inside. I’ll go take a look in a bit.”

The other person nodded in acknowledgment. Guan Yue waved a hand, signaling for them to leave first.

When Guan Yue pushed open the door and entered the hospital room, Si Wan was already sitting up on the bed, her head tilted as she gazed out the window, lost in thought.

Seeing that Si Wan was awake, Guan Yue’s face lit up with relief. She approached the bedside and asked with concern, “You’re finally awake! You have no idea how worried we were. What exactly happened to you in there?”

Si Wan turned to look at her, pausing briefly as the image of Sheng Zhen, the last thing she saw before losing consciousness, flashed through her mind. Under Guan Yue’s worried gaze, Si Wan shook her head slightly and answered vaguely, “I don’t really remember.”

Taking in Si Wan’s pale and exhausted appearance, Guan Yue decided not to press further. Just as she was about to ask if Si Wan felt any discomfort, Si Wan spoke again.

“Why am I here?”

At this, Guan Yue shot her a reproachful look and said in a tone of exasperation, “It’s because you insisted on staying inside for an extra hour. If we hadn’t sensed something was wrong and found a way to get down there, you might have suffocated in that tomb.”

Hearing Guan Yue’s reprimand about her earlier decision, Si Wan frowned slightly. After a moment of consideration, she asked, “I passed out?”

Guan Yue sighed, her brow still furrowed. “You must have stepped on something that triggered a trap. The sedative inside was a lethal dose. If you’d stayed any longer, you might never have woken up. At least it wasn’t an instant-death poison.”

Si Wan fell silent for a moment, her hidden thoughts veiled by the shadows cast by her lowered lashes. When she looked up again, her expression had returned to normal. Sitting upright with a serious demeanor, she looked less like a patient and more like someone focused on a task.

“I overheard you talking earlier, what happened in the tomb?”

The mention of it made Guan Yue’s head ache. She sighed again.

“After we brought you out, we rushed you straight to the hospital. Then, the team we left behind discovered a stone door blocking the path, and we’re still discussing how to open it.”

As Guan Yue finished speaking, she seemed to recall something, glanced at Si Wan’s expression, and immediately adopted a stern tone, warning her.

“These next few days, you need to rest properly. I’ll arrange for someone to take care of you, so don’t even think about going back to work.”

Si Wan seemed to ignore Guan Yue’s warning, lost in thought before asking, “When you brought me out, did you see anything else?”

After waking up, she had looked around but hadn’t spotted Sheng Zhen. She wondered if the other had stayed behind in the tomb.

Guan Yue frowned, recalling the scene, then looked at Si Wan with a slightly odd expression. “When we entered, with every step we took, the candles in the tomb went out one by one. It was so eerie we almost thought it was haunted. When we found you, you were sitting on a swing, your head tilted as if you were asleep. You know those horror movies? You looked exactly like someone possessed, it was downright creepy.”

Si Wan: “…”

She knew Guan Yue was probably exaggerating, but after extracting the key details, her frown deepened.

Guan Yue’s account didn’t help Si Wan determine whether Sheng Zhen had followed her out. Unconsciously, her hand beneath the blanket tightened. After a moment, as if remembering something more important, she urgently asked, “Where’s the coat I was wearing at the time?”

She was thinking of the items in her coat pocket.

Though puzzled by Si Wan’s urgency over a coat, Guan Yue pointed to the side and said impatiently, “I know you don’t like others touching your things, so I didn’t have anyone wash your coat. I just had it left here.”

Si Wan picked up her coat, ignoring the dirt on it, and quickly reached into the pocket. Only when she felt the cloth-wrapped object inside did she seem to relax.

Just then, the hospital room door opened, and another person entered.

Nian Nian walked in carrying a fruit basket, smiling. “Professor Si, I’m here on behalf of the police department to check on you.”

Guan Yue took the items from her and set them aside, politely saying, “Thank you.”

Si Wan offered a faint, apologetic smile. “I’m sorry for causing you trouble.”

Nian Nian maintained a courteous smile. “We all serve the country, so it’s only right to be understanding. However, we still advise against you taking any solo actions in the future.”

Si Wan nodded, her smile still polite. “Thank you for your concern.”

Guan Yue glanced at the time on her phone and said to Si Wan, “Since you’re mostly recovered, I’ll head out now.”

Noticing Si Wan’s distracted expression, she added, “Remember, no checking yourself out without permission, understand?”

Si Wan, only half-listening, nodded dismissively. “I know.”

Guan Yue gave Si Wan one last look, ensuring nothing was overlooked, then ushered Nian Nian out as well.

“You’ve paid your respects long enough. Let her rest alone now; don’t disturb her any further.”

She was afraid Si Wan might ask Nian Nian to help her with the discharge procedures, so she forcefully shooed her away.

Nian Nian didn’t say much more. Before leaving, she said to Si Wan, “Professor Si, we won’t disturb your rest any longer.”

With that, Guan Yue slammed the hospital room door shut with a “bang”, which drew a warning from a passing nurse due to the noise.

The room fell back into silence. Si Wan took out the wrapped object she had hidden in her pocket.

Holding the item in her hand, the sunlight fell upon the white jade hairpin, making it appear even more gentle and lustrous.

Si Wan lowered her gaze, staring at the hairpin for a long while as if trying to examine it more closely. Her fingertips lightly traced the carved patterns, and once again, she recalled the way Sheng Zhen had used it to tie up her hair.

Sheng Zhen’s image flashed through her mind, causing a momentary daze.

Suddenly, a voice came from somewhere, tinged with dissatisfaction and arrogance, a voice so familiar it made Si Wan’s heart tremble. She looked up toward the source of the sound.

Her eyes met a figure standing by the window. The sunlight outside fell upon that person, making their pale skin seem almost human in that moment. A pair of jewel-like eyes, sparkling with amusement, gazed back at her gently.

“This place is too white. I don’t like it.”

Before Si Wan could respond, the other person had already moved from the window to stand right in front of her.

The room was small, and Sheng Zhen only took two steps before sitting down on the edge of Si Wan’s bed.

Sheng Zhen waved her hand up and down in front of Si Wan’s face, frowning in confusion. “I didn’t put any poison in it. There’s no reason for you to have turned foolish.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Si Wan grasped her wrist and slowly lowered her hand. Then Si Wan spoke: “Then what do you like?”

It was an instinctive question. After asking, Si Wan looked somewhat bewildered, as if pondering why she had said such a thing.

While Si Wan was lost in thought, Sheng Zhen subtly withdrew her hand. Out of the corner of her eye, she glanced at the jade hairpin in Si Wan’s hand, and a shadow of some obscure emotion flickered in her eyes. But it was quickly concealed by the smile she forced, replaced with a hint of pride as she spoke.

“Rouge and powder, fine silks and lavish robes, galloping through the streets on horseback.”

Hearing the last part, Si Wan spoke with a touch of seriousness: “Galloping on horseback is illegal.”

Sheng Zhen tilted her head and let out a disdainful hum, pursing her lips as she spoke with arrogance. “In those days, my word was the law.”

Hearing this, a flicker of confusion passed through Si Wan’s eyes, but she didn’t voice her question. Instead, she looked away and spoke softly, changing the subject. “Where will you go next?”

Her gaze never dared to linger on Sheng Zhen. The hand holding the hairpin tightened its grip, nearly crushing the delicate object, as she struggled to maintain an air of indifference.

Upon hearing Si Wan’s words, Sheng Zhen let out a derisive laugh. Then Si Wan felt the blanket covering her being tugged.

When she finally looked at the figure beside her, she saw that Sheng Zhen had already lain down next to her, her back turned, exactly as it had been on the night she left.

Sheng Zhen could feel Si Wan’s gaze. Though Si Wan couldn’t see it, the smile in her eyes deepened, yet she restrained her laughter, feigning an aloof demeanor as she spoke, her tone carrying an air of condescension.

“As you know, I always keep my word.”

At these words, an unidentifiable emotion flickered in Si Wan’s eyes. Her gaze toward the figure beside her seemed to carry a rare hint of delight, an emotion she herself might not even have been aware of.

During this time, a nurse came in to check on Si Wan and, confirming that everything was fine, left.

The sun had already set, and twilight was about to envelop the sky.

Sitting on the bed, Si Wan unconsciously softened her movements as she fiddled with her phone, deliberately trying not to disturb the ghost beside her, whether asleep or awake.

She glanced at Guan Yue’s latest reply, in which the other party once again explicitly urged her not to worry over the next couple of days and to continue resting.

With a soft sigh, Si Wan stole a sidelong glance at Sheng Zhen, who had her back turned. Her fingertips tapped lightly on the phone screen as she sent a brief reply before turning it off.

She lay down with extreme care, as if afraid of disturbing Sheng Zhen beside her. Despite her usual cleverness, it didn’t occur to her in that moment that ghosts don’t need sleep.

Only when she sensed the breathing beside her gradually steady did Sheng Zhen, who had been facing away, finally turn over.

Si Wan still held the hairpin in her hand, and before falling asleep, her movements seemed as though she had intended to hand it over.

Sheng Zhen stared at it for a long while but did not take it. Instead, she gently brushed the stray strands of hair from Si Wan’s forehead, tucking them behind her ear. Noticing the slight furrow between her brows, she reached out to smooth it away.

However, as her cold hand brushed against a trace of warmth, she froze for a moment. Her gaze softened, and she drew the other into her arms, gently patting her back while murmuring words of comfort.

…