My Partner Always Wants to Dig My Grave - Chapter 42

Just as Si Wan was about to go to bed at her usual time, she reluctantly walked downstairs after hearing Sheng Zhen’s overly domineering words and borrowed the kitchen from the innkeeper.

The process of borrowing it wasn’t exactly smooth. The landlady looked at her with a strange expression, as if she hadn’t even heard what Si Wan said. It wasn’t until Si Wan politely repeated herself that the landlady nodded with that same odd look and instructed her, “You’d better hurry. We have a ritual to perform tonight.”

Si Wan nodded politely without asking what kind of ritual the woman was referring to and simply said, “Thank you for the trouble.”

The landlady didn’t seem particularly welcoming and quickly waved her off, muttering under her breath, “You educated folks, always up to who knows what, stirring up unclean things and making the rest of us uneasy too.”

Si Wan didn’t understand the dialect the woman used at the end, so she simply ignored it.

Though Sheng Zhen didn’t understand it either, she could tell the woman’s words were far from kind. Since no one could see Sheng Zhen, the only person the woman could be cursing was Si Wan.

Beneath her wide sleeves, Sheng Zhen’s hands clenched tightly. A flicker of ruthlessness flashed in her crimson eyes as a cold, fierce wind swept in from nowhere, sending withered leaves falling like a desolate rain.

Just as an eerie pressure was about to descend, a hand gently rested on Sheng Zhen’s head, stroking her smooth, long hair. The voice that spoke carried a mix of helplessness and affection. “Don’t be angry, my Nan’an. Don’t be angry.”

At these words, Sheng Zhen’s body stiffened abruptly. She turned to stare at Si Wan in a daze. The steam rising in the kitchen blurred the other’s features, but the faint smile at the corner of Si Wan’s lips was one she knew all too well, it had taken months for that smile to appear on Si Wan’s face.

Si Wan didn’t seem to realize how intimate her address for Sheng Zhen had sounded; she was merely acting out of habit to soothe her.

It wasn’t until Sheng Zhen stared at her, her voice trembling slightly as she spoke, that Si Wan finally understood. “What did you call me?”

Si Wan froze, suddenly aware of how unconsciously affectionate her address had been. She immediately wanted to apologize.

But before Si Wan could utter a word, a cool touch pressed against her lips, Sheng Zhen’s fingertip gently stopping her.

The clear moonlight streamed through the glass, piercing the hazy steam and falling upon Sheng Zhen, making her captivating eyes seem to hold a galaxy of stars.

Sheng Zhen parted her lips, emotions stirring within her as if she had a thousand things to say but didn’t know where to begin.

In the end, she simply shook her head slightly, her eyes concealing deep affection as she spoke. “I won’t accept your apology. From now on, you shall call me Nan’an.”

Just as Si Wan was about to say that this wasn’t appropriate, Sheng Zhen seemed to see through her polite reservations. The hand that had been pressed against Si Wan’s lips shifted to cover them. Tilting her chin up slightly, Sheng Zhen spoke with a touch of haughtiness, her tone leaving no room for refusal. “Si Wan, you know the consequences of defying my orders.”

Si Wan: “…”

Her expression shifted slightly. Truth be told, she really didn’t know what consequences Sheng Zhen had been threatening her with all along. As a ghost, and with Si Wan being someone who used to be afraid, the most Sheng Zhen could do now was turn off the lights after dark or play pranks to scare her.

At this thought, Si Wan couldn’t help but laugh, causing the pale face before her to flush faintly with embarrassment as Sheng Zhen retorted in annoyance.

“Nan’an, Nan’an, I insist on hearing you call me Nan’an.”

Si Wan knew that Sheng Zhen’s courtesy name was “Nan’an.” In ancient times, this was considered an intimate form of address used only among those with a close relationship.

That was why Si Wan had hesitated earlier. But hearing Sheng Zhen’s domineering, almost reckless words felt like a feather gently brushing against her heart, leaving behind an inexplicable itch. Almost instinctively, she complied with the other’s request.

“Nan’an.”

Her voice was like a clear, cool stream flowing down a high mountain, making the two syllables sound utterly natural.

Hearing Si Wan’s acquiescence, the blush on Sheng Zhen’s face did not fade. Instead, her expression turned smug, as if she took great pleasure in hearing Si Wan call her by that intimate name.

Si Wan sighed softly, deciding not to dwell on whether this was proper or not. She lifted her hand to remove Sheng Zhen’s fingers from her lips, then shifted her gaze toward the stove where firewood was burning. Only then did she remember why they had come here in the first place.

After a moment’s thought, she turned to Sheng Zhen and asked, “Well… are you hungry?”

Sheng Zhen pursed her lips slightly. The blush on her face had finally receded, but she pouted and replied, “I am.”

Her tone sounded almost coquettish, as if she were acting spoiled, a stark contrast to the domineering Sheng Zhen from earlier.

A faint smile touched Si Wan’s lips. Before Sheng Zhen could notice and try to cover her mouth again, she whispered softly, “Stop fooling around.”

Sheng Zhen hummed in agreement and then settled down, behaving “properly” without causing further mischief.

As Si Wan busied herself, Sheng Zhen did not complain about the heavy kitchen fumes. She had only grumbled earlier about the small size of the kitchen, but after Si Wan retorted that it couldn’t compare to the kitchen in the Princess’s residence, she fell silent for a while.

She stayed close by Si Wan’s side, watching her every move with a gentle gaze.

“Are you making noodles?” Sheng Zhen asked, tilting her head proudly as she watched Si Wan drop a handful of noodles into the pot. “I don’t want any.”

Hearing this, Si Wan did not pause her movements. A hint of indulgence flickered unconsciously in her downcast eyes as she replied slowly, “Then… I’ll eat them for you.”

Sheng Zhen pouted again, turning her head back toward Si Wan and speaking with feigned indignation, “Si Wan, how dare you let me go hungry!”

As a ghost, Sheng Zhen couldn’t feel hunger, couldn’t eat, and naturally couldn’t smell anything either. She was simply teasing Si Wan.

For some reason, Si Wan felt that their banter held a unique warmth in that moment. The emotions hidden deep in her chest surged uncontrollably, making the feelings she had long tried to blur seem a little clearer.

Yet, as she became aware of this, Si Wan’s movements faltered. In the flickering light of the stove fire, the emotions in her eyes grew ambiguous and hard to decipher.

Sheng Zhen waved a hand in front of Si Wan’s face and complained, “Si Wan, don’t get distracted while cooking.”

Her words snapped Si Wan out of her reverie. She looked at Sheng Zhen, her gaze flickering with unspoken thoughts.

As she observed Sheng Zhen’s loose, flowing hair, Si Wan seemed to recall something. Her hand reached into her pocket, where she always carried the hairpin, the one that had been with her for so long.

The jade hairpin still felt smooth and warm to the touch, as if it had absorbed some warmth from being carried close to her for so long.

Even though she now knew for certain that this was the token the general from her dreams had given Sheng Zhen, Si Wan still hadn’t returned it. Instead, she kept it with her out of a private, selfish desire.

Si Wan knew this was wrong, but for the first time in over twenty years, she realized her selfish desires were uncontrollable. Only when it came to Sheng Zhen did she find it hard to remain calm, though she was reluctant to admit it.

Her fingers traced the jade hairpin as her thoughts drifted away again.

Si Wan thought that perhaps because of her selfishness, she was now facing retribution because of this hairpin, she had developed unusual feelings for Sheng Zhen.

Just then, footsteps echoed from outside the kitchen, and the scent of rusted blood wafted through the air. The previously silent surroundings suddenly grew noisy.

At the smell of blood, a sharp glint flashed in Si Wan’s eyes, though it was mostly concealed by the gold-rimmed glasses perched on her nose.

Liu Yaoyao walked in holding a bowl and paused upon seeing Si Wan, speaking uncertainly.

“Professor Si?”

Hearing the voice, Si Wan turned to look at Liu Yaoyao, who then noticed Si Wan’s hand preparing to serve noodles.

Liu Yaoyao stared at Si Wan’s indifferent face, shrouded in the steam, and after a moment of silence, asked with a hint of confusion.

“Are you making a midnight snack?”

Si Wan’s expression remained unchanged. She nodded slightly and replied smoothly.

“Yes, I’m hungry.”

As she spoke, she glanced out of the corner of her eye at Sheng Zhen, who had drifted beside Liu Yaoyao, then lowered her gaze to ponder how to get Sheng Zhen to eat the noodles she had just served.

At that moment, Sheng Zhen glanced at the bowl in Liu Yaoyao’s hand, her crimson eyes reflecting an even deeper red. A cold, sinister smile curled at the corners of her lips as she looked out through the kitchen window and sneered.

“What kind of beast’s blood is this? How dare they try to deal with me?”

Liu Yaoyao felt an inexplicable pressure, causing her hands to tremble slightly as she held the bowl. She muttered in confusion.

Hearing Sheng Zhen’s words, Si Wan shifted her gaze from the noodles in her hand to the object Liu Yaoyao was holding.

On the outside of the white porcelain bowl, splatters of unknown blood had stained its surface.

“What you’re holding…” Si Wan frowned as she spoke.

Liu Yaoyao was still wondering where the wind blowing toward her had come from when she heard Si Wan’s words. Remembering why she had come here in the first place, she quickly explained.

“Oh, this? When I first arrived looking for you, the landlady asked me to bring in some extra black dog blood.”

“She asked you to bring it in?”

Liu Yaoyao nodded, but Si Wan narrowed her eyes slightly, her peripheral vision catching a glimpse of the figures hiding outside the window. Her cold gaze sent a shiver down their spines.

Si Wan recalled the landlady’s reluctant expression when she had asked to borrow the kitchen earlier. Though the woman had agreed, now, combined with what Liu Yaoyao had brought in, Si Wan roughly guessed that someone suspected a ghost was attached to her. They had been looking for an opportunity to get close to her, hence the reluctant loan of the kitchen.

Thinking this, an unreadable emotion flickered in Si Wan’s eyes. She glanced at Sheng Zhen with concern, only relaxing when she saw Sheng Zhen’s indifference toward the bowl of blood. Just then, Liu Yaoyao continued speaking.

“It’s because the landlady insisted that the guesthouse has been haunted lately, so she paid Ma Banxian to perform an exorcism. But as you saw, that fraud was taken away by the police today. I thought it was over, but unexpectedly, they went ahead and used the method he suggested, killing a black dog and splattering its blood everywhere.”

By the end, Liu Yaoyao’s tone was filled with helplessness.

After hearing this, Si Wan roughly guessed what was happening outside and realized that the people whispering were probably gossiping about her.

Si Wan’s expression returned to normal, and she set the bowl of noodles aside before speaking.

“Did you come here specifically to tell us about this?”

Liu Yaoyao shook her head, her expression tinged with distress, and said,

“It’s because I overheard them planning to splash black dog blood on the tomb as well. I tried to stop them, but it was useless, so I came to tell you and ask you to go check it out.”

Upon hearing this, Si Wan’s expression turned serious, and she spoke coldly.

“This is utterly absurd.”

The idea of a haunting had no basis whatsoever. Moreover, Sheng Zhen had always stayed by her side and never deliberately caused any strange disturbances.

Yet someone was so certain that her inn was haunted and deliberately guided others to splash blood on the ancient tomb, it all seemed like a targeted move against her. It could only mean someone was doing this intentionally.

As she thought this, a deeper chill settled in Si Wan’s eyes, and her mind flashed back to the strange behavior of Ma Banxian when he had stared at Sheng Zhen earlier that day.

…