The Beauty with Terrible Luck Falls in Love with a Ghost - Chapter 36

The Ragdoll cat beside her lifted its fluffy little head and let out a soft meow, melting An He’s heart. She reached out and gently patted the cat’s head.

Han Youyou found it unbelievable. The matter of the true and false heiresses should have been Zuo Lihua’s Achilles’ heel, how could she remain so calm, even leisurely heading to cook noodles?

What noodles! Even pigs wouldn’t eat the food Zuo Lihua made!

And what was wrong with these people? After hearing her plight, they hadn’t even come to comfort her!

The more Han Youyou thought about it, the angrier she became. She threw out the words, “I don’t want eggs!” and stormed upstairs without looking back.

“Youyou!” Zuo Lihua instinctively called out to her.

“Meow~” Han Hai’er let out a cry, stopping Zuo Lihua from chasing after her.

Zuo Lihua picked up Han Hai’er, lost in thought.

The Zuo family placed such importance on Han Youyou yet hadn’t publicly announced her identity, there must be a reason for it. For Han Youyou to reveal it so carelessly…

Based on her understanding of Zuo Jianyu and Zhou Ying, Han Youyou was likely in for trouble.

They loved their child, no doubt, but deep down, they loved themselves more.

An He asked her, “Sister Lihua, what was that about just now?”

Zuo Lihua smiled gently. “My little sister is throwing a tantrum. Sorry for the scene.”

Jiang Pingcheng feigned surprise. “Aren’t you an only child?”

His words were rather blunt, but given his seniority, no one found it inappropriate for him to ask.

“I only found out recently…” Zuo Lihua paused, biting her chopsticks, and frowned. “In any case, she’s my sister, and her original surname is Zuo.”

“Oh… I see.”

When others asked further questions, Zuo Lihua handled them tactfully, only reiterating that Han Youyou was her sister and offering no additional details. The others didn’t press further and let the matter drop.

After the meal, everyone cleaned up together, played some games, and then retired to their rooms when they grew tired.

Zuo Lihua and Han Youyou’s bedrooms were adjacent, located on the left side of the hallway. As Zuo Lihua passed by Han Youyou’s door, she faintly heard sobbing from inside.

She hesitated for a moment but didn’t stop, continuing to her own room.

Once inside, she immediately checked her phone and, as expected, found a message from Zhou Ying: [Come back and explain this to your father yourself.]

The message was cold, devoid of even a single punctuation mark.

Zuo Lihua closed her eyes, tossed her phone aside, and couldn’t be bothered to reply.

Han Hai’er, having spotted something interesting, hadn’t returned to the room with her and was off playing on her own. Zuo Lihua couldn’t control her and let her roam freely.

Perhaps it had been a long time since she’d done so much work, but Zuo Lihua felt drowsy soon after lying down, as if she were about to fall asleep, and indeed, she did.

In her hazy state, she seemed to hear footsteps padding from the door to the window, followed by the sound of the window being pulled open.

Crack! A sharp sound.

Like a thunderclap on a calm day, Zuo Lihua jolted awake, her eyes snapping open.

The world was shrouded in darkness, the unique black of night.

Instinctively, she glanced at the window, it was shut tight. Then she looked at the door, it was closed as well. Han Hai’er wasn’t there; she was alone in the room.

Only then did she remember she had gone straight to bed after returning and likely hadn’t removed her makeup.

She sluggishly got up, intending to turn on the light and wash up. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of the window, froze, and then turned to look directly at it.

The window was fine, but the curtain inside was swaying gently, as if blown by the wind, over and over again.

It was as though something was tugging at the curtain playfully.

Zuo Lihua’s heart leaped into her throat.

Her first thought was whether this was a prank by the film crew. But no matter how bold the crew might be, they wouldn’t install cameras in a guest’s bedroom without prior notice.

Han Hai’er was nowhere to be seen.

Zuo Lihua took a deep breath, grabbed the nearby desk lamp, and tiptoed over.

As she approached, she yanked the curtain open in one swift motion.

Unexpectedly, there was nothing behind it, absolutely nothing.

Tap, tap.

Two knocks sounded on the windowpane.

Zuo Lihua turned to look.

It was pitch black outside, nothing was visible, nothing could be seen.

Her heart pounded in her throat.

If a ghost had appeared right before her eyes, Zuo Lihua might not have been so afraid. But this lurking, unseen presence was far more terrifying. Sometimes, the unknown was the most frightening of all.

Steeling herself, she repeated internally not to be afraid as she inched closer to the window.

Tap, tap.

Two crisp knocks echoed again.

Zuo Lihua’s pupils contracted sharply.

This time, she saw it clearly, a tiny, chubby hand, clenched into a fist, lightly tapping on the glass.

The hand was pale and plump, starkly visible against the pitch-black night outside, almost as if it were glowing.

“Hehehe…” A baby’s giggle sounded right beside her ear.

She remembered Han Hai’er telling her that infant ghosts were among the most vengeful. Because young children were innocent and had limited understanding of the world, if they became ghosts, it meant they had suffered immense injustice. Their hatred was purer and more intense. If one were unlucky enough to encounter such a ghost, the only thing to do was run, maybe then, they could escape with their life.

Zuo Lihua spun around and bolted. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a ghastly pale face peering in from outside the window, its pitch-black eyes fixed intently on her. Its mouth hung slightly open, as if surprised by her escape.

“Waaahhh!!!”

A deafening cry erupted behind her.

Then came the sound of something scurrying rapidly toward her.

Ignoring it, Zuo Lihua dashed straight for the door, her heart feeling as if it might stop at any moment.

She grabbed the doorknob and pulled it inward,

Only to come face-to-face with a skull on the other side.

They were so close she could even see the deep gashes etched into the bone.

The skull tilted its head, its jawbone clacking against its collarbone like a car ornament: Clack, clack, clack…

The visual shock was so overwhelming Zuo Lihua felt she might go blind. Trapped and cornered, she felt death was only a second away.

“Waaah, gurgle…” The infant crawled swiftly, its fleshy little hand grabbing onto Zuo Lihua’s pant leg.

Her neck stiff, Zuo Lihua looked down and saw the baby grinning widely at her, its mouth stretching almost to its ears. Inside, it was a vivid, bloody red.

“Oho, a human! Alive!” A slender figure squeezed forward, peering closely at Zuo Lihua as if pleased with what it saw.

Fang Yiyi didn’t dare to breathe.

Suddenly, something cold, slimy, and foul-smelling wrapped around her from behind.

“Eat it, eat it!” The lanky, fly-like creature rubbed its hands together eagerly.

Another figure dropped upside-down from the ceiling, its tongue lashing out to lick Zuo Lihua’s face without warning. “Hehe, I want this one. Tender and delicate, it looks delicious.”

They carried Zuo Lihua out, the infant ghost tugging at her pant leg before climbing onto her body, staring at her face with an eerie grin.

Thanks to them, Zuo Lihua saw that Han Youyou’s room door was wide open, pitch-black inside, with a trail of blood stretching out from within, disappearing at the staircase landing.

At the landing, several “people” were gathered in a circle, bustling about. Listening closely, she could hear them speaking: “Slow down, don’t damage it! If the brains spill out, how will you repay me?”

“The intestines are delicious, don’t fight me for them.”

“Tender skin and delicate flesh really are different.”

Occasionally, there were sounds of chewing, grating on the ears and nauseating.

Zuo Lihua felt utterly absurd.

Who was the one being eaten? Combined with the bloodstains on the ground, she couldn’t help but think of Han Youyou.

Had Han Youyou died? Or was it someone else?

What about her? Would she die too?

A scream came from An He’s room. Zuo Lihua was held tightly, unable to muster any strength. She couldn’t save anyone.

The ghosts carried her down the stairs to a hidden underground entrance. Once inside, Zuo Lihua realized it was an underground cave, vast, with unrecognizable chunks of meat hanging crookedly all around.

Several shabbily dressed ghosts stood motionless, as if guarding the entrance. Upon seeing them, they turned their stiff necks, dust cascading down.

“Who is this?”

A lanky ghost replied, “Fresh meat.”

Another said, “She looks familiar.”

“Whose descendant is she? Descendant meat is delicious!”

“No, she seems to be the cat demon’s bride.”

At these words, the ghosts were all startled.

They exchanged glances, then looked at Zuo Lihua. The infant ghost closed its blood-drenched mouth, its pale, delicate hand gripping Zuo Lihua’s chin, its pitch-black eyes filled with thick malice.

After a long moment, it averted its gaze.

The ghost carrying Zuo Lihua loosened its grip, and she fell to the ground.

“Can’t eat her, can’t eat her.”

“Take her away, take her away.”

“Offer her to the cat demon!”