My Sister Never Said She Was a Creepy Tale - Chapter 67

“…Yiyao.” Gu Nanqiu forced a bitter smile, a smile that Yue Yiyao felt was even more bitter than the smell of coffee lingering in the coffee shop they passed.

“Although this sounds preposterous, it’s not impossible, but for safety’s sake…” Scrolling the mouse, Yue Yiyao quickly scanned the screen. Her gaze stopped at a certain point, and the speed of her scrolling slowed.

She pointed at the information on the screen: “Look at this.”

In one corner of the screen, there was an inconspicuous small photo, taking up only a small section. The caption read: “Art pieces crafted while alive.”

Yue Yiyao’s hand grasped the mouse, zooming in on the image. The photo showed different marble pillars lined up, each topped with a meticulously carved plaster head. Their expressions varied, but what they all had in common was a lack of eyes.

Just one glance, and Yue Yiyao recognized Gu Nanqiu’s face. She had traced this face in her mind countless times. And after they met, she had observed it intently on certain nights.

After a brief silence, Yue Yiyao looked cautiously at Gu Nanqiu: “Nanqiu, do you feel that… if you want to, we can go back now.”

Although she knew they definitely couldn’t leave, she still had to pretend, making her reaction consistent with the normal logic of an ordinary college student encountering such an incident. After all, no one knew if there were others watching in this room…

“Yiyao, let me ask you: if you were in a place where you had a certain degree of power, and the people there all feared you,” Gu Nanqiu looked at the photo, contemplating, “In this situation, if you encountered an item identical in appearance to the contents of your collection room, would you just watch her walk away?”

Although she didn’t particularly like the word “item,” Yue Yiyao tried to ignore the subtle unpleasantness in her heart and instead looked at the plaster sculptures well-preserved in the glass cabinets on the screen.

“If it were me, I would. But if it were the person in this scenario, they definitely wouldn’t.”

“And judging from the incident this morning, it’s clear that she doesn’t want to let us go.”

Especially herself. It seemed she was resented because she was Gu Nanqiu’s good friend. Of course, Yue Yiyao didn’t mention the monster’s warning to Gu Nanqiu; that was a minor detail.

But having already known that Gu Nanqiu was the target and the reason for the targeting, Yue Yiyao felt that this plot thing was truly interesting; no matter what, it would arrive as scheduled.

She recalled the first instance, where that monster was only vaguely aware of affection. The affection for Gu Nanqiu this time could be described as brazenly over the top.

Moreover, Yue Yiyao’s biggest concern was: if the monster’s true goal was Gu Nanqiu, would it manipulate humans to hunt Gu Nanqiu?

“We are very passive right now, confined to this hotel.”

“I need to find a way to gather more information.” Yue Yiyao sighed: “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have come to City A. This was truly the wrong choice.”

Yue Yiyao rubbed the tabletop. She felt an itch in her hands, a strong urge to crush something. But there was nothing around to alleviate this itch: “Let’s not go out to play anymore. Let’s just go visit the nearby ecological mall. Maybe we can gain some useful information.”

Knowing she had completely entered the plot, Yue Yiyao gave up the wishful thinking she had been clinging to.

Both were people of action. After Yue Yiyao suggested it, Gu Nanqiu stood up to change her clothes and took out a large hat.

The somewhat thick windbreaker looked heroic and stylish on the tall Gu Nanqiu. She zipped it up to the top, the collar covering most of her face. With the mask on, only her bright eyes were exposed.

Yue Yiyao looked and looked, then reached out and pressed down the scattered hair on Gu Nanqiu’s forehead: “If you let your bangs down a bit, they might not recognize you, but if the other party has some special means, then we’re just out of luck.”

“I’ll go find something to wear too.” After saying that, Yue Yiyao walked towards the cloakroom.

“I prepared something for you,” Gu Nanqiu followed, taking out a dark-colored windbreaker from the cloakroom: “Yiyao, I specially prepared this for you. Go try it on.”

She pushed Yue Yiyao into the changing room, then took out a mask of the same style but a different color and slipped it in: “I’ll pack the bag.”

The Ecological Mall, as the name suggested, was marketed with 70% green plant coverage and featured some free-roaming animals.

As soon as Yue Yiyao entered, she saw a flowing waterfall. The water hit the stone surface, splashing, and humid mist hit her face.

A loud female voice in the adjacent broadcast announced the safety precautions. Customers came and went, some sitting in the spacious rest area, and others finding secluded spots to sit on the floor. They had bottles and lunch boxes beside them, looking like they had been there for a while.

A few passersby lingered nearby, quietly complaining: “Why do we need a lottery draw to get in here? And why does it close at six? Seriously, you can’t book a room in the hotel no matter what. Wuwu you can’t live here even with money… I heard several rooms are still empty…”

“Yeah, yeah. Yesterday I saw the lights on at the very top. I’m so envious.”

“Don’t say that. It’s enough to have a place for a brief sanctuary. Besides, if there were no lottery, do you think we could really squeeze in?”

Yue Yiyao quickly understood the relationship between the hotel and the building opposite. It seemed this place was a special shelter for some people. It sounded like some people were no longer satisfied with just daylight protection.

Quickly observing the surroundings, she saw that some people were carrying large bags of goods, looking like they were shopping. Everyone seemed unconcerned.

Yue Yiyao then abandoned the idea of going to the rest area and walked with Gu Nanqiu towards the navigation sign.

This mall had twelve floors, featuring entertainment, recreation, and some art exhibition halls. A large LED screen in the center of the mall displayed the currently exhibiting items.

This was the first time Yue Yiyao had seen a large comprehensive mall integrated to this extent. Especially since the LED navigation sign showed a whopping 30 pages, and a note beside it indicated these were only the more famous ones.

This place… had something special about it…

If it were truly the end of the world and zombies arrived, Yue Yiyao genuinely felt that if they could secure this place and open up a vegetable patch on the roof, they could live for a lifetime.

After staring at the navigation sign for a long time, Yue Yiyao managed to memorize the locations of a few shops she wanted to visit. She looked at Gu Nanqiu, who had been distracted: “Nanqiu, is there anywhere you want to go?”

“This place,” Gu Nanqiu pointed to a spot in the corner called the Sculpture Museum: “Maybe we can find some relevant information here.”

The Sculpture Museum was on the top floor, but not exactly the highest floor.

Following the sign, the two walked out from the top floor and arrived at an open-air garden, and this garden had several more layers above it. Yue Yiyao roughly counted, noting about 10 layers.

She stood still, a little confused, unsure where she was or if she had taken a wrong turn.

“This place is more complex than I imagined. What are these areas for?” Yue Yiyao curiously looked around, staring at the blue glass, extremely curious about what lay behind it.

“It looks like a nice little garden.” Gu Nanqiu looked at a tree nearby, which was hung with many long red strips of cloth. She walked up and carefully hooked one: “Yiyao, look.”

Black characters on the red cloth read: “Hope to survive well through this catastrophe.”

“Hope to be safe and sound.”

“Wish our whole family can walk out of City A alive!”

“Thank you, Boss, for granting us time. Wish you all the best!”

“Grateful to the Boss. Hope you continue to work hard in the new year, and we will continue to work hard too.”

The wind blew, making the cloth strips sway. The tree, carrying the wishes of many ordinary people, rustled.

“Would you like to write one?” The elderly woman managing the tree smiled at the young people in front of her: “The wishes on our tree are crucial. Thanks to everyone’s wishes, in a city where one can be pulled into strange rules and killed at any time, there is a small piece of pure land.”

“You two don’t look like locals.” The elderly woman kindly handed over a pen and a red cloth strip: “Go write over there. After you finish, walk through that spot, and that’s the Sculpture Museum. You’ll find what you’re looking for there.”

The old woman’s sharp eyes flashed with a knowing gleam that seemed to penetrate everything. She smelled… she smelled the scent of the person she had encountered before… If she was here… City A was saved.

Yue Yiyao didn’t hesitate, taking the brightly colored red cloth strip from the old woman’s withered hand: “Thank you.”

It seemed the boss of this place was someone who had acquired special abilities, and the old woman in front of her seemed to as well. The boss’s ability was likely to convert the wishes of ordinary people into a resistance against the rules. It just wasn’t particularly strong. Aside from the time limit, it might also require wishes to maintain, which was the reason for the existence of these trees.

As for the old woman’s ability… Yue Yiyao glanced at the old woman standing nearby, listening to the broadcast reporting the morning’s incident.

Perhaps it was foresight, or maybe she sensed Nanqiu’s protagonist aura.

Yue Yiyao devoutly wrote on the red cloth strip: “Hope the rules in City A disappear soon, and everyone can return to normal life.”

After writing, she craned her neck to look at Gu Nanqiu. The elegant handwriting on her red cloth strip read: “Hope the annoying things disappear quickly, and the journey with Yiyao goes smoothly.”

Capping the pen, Gu Nanqiu took the red cloth strip from Yue Yiyao’s hand. She found a branch without any other red strips, stood on her tiptoes, and hung the strip up.

Afterward, she stood still, watching the two red cloth strips tangle and intertwine in the wind. After a moment, Gu Nanqiu’s voice sounded faintly, carrying a hint of grievance: “Yiyao, you didn’t include me in your wish.”

“Because I knew you would write about me,” Yue Yiyao had already anticipated Gu Nanqiu asking this question: “If the rules disappear, we won’t have to worry about all this.”

Yue Yiyao pulled Gu Nanqiu away, who seemed about to say more. She pointed to the highest layer: “Do you think the view up there is as good as the view from our hotel?”

“Probably not,” Gu Nanqiu was interrupted. She followed the direction Yue Yiyao pointed: “Although this building is a twin tower with our hotel, this one is shorter.”

Listening to Gu Nanqiu’s explanation, Yue Yiyao looked at her in surprise: “You know what else is in this building?”