The Beauty with Terrible Luck Falls in Love with a Ghost - Chapter 39

A hissing sound came from behind her, clinging close like a snake.

Zuo Lihua didn’t dare to look back. She rushed down the stairs in a few quick steps, swerving just as she was about to crash into the door,

Crash!

An He slammed headfirst into the door. The flimsy wooden door couldn’t withstand the impact and collapsed as expected, sending An He tumbling into the room.

At the same time, Zuo Lihua shot back up the stairs like a cannonball, charging upward without a second thought.

This was a survival skill she had picked up from following Han Hai’er around, create distance from the ghost, then run for your life.

As long as the ghost couldn’t catch up, it couldn’t harm her!

Running too frantically and with her nerves stretched to the limit, Zuo Lihua tasted blood in her throat, her heart pounding as if about to leap out of her chest. She forced herself to keep moving her legs, refusing to let herself collapse helplessly as she had the first time she encountered Han Hai’er.

“Aaaaaaaah!!!!”

A piercing scream erupted behind her, so horrifying that Zuo Lihua’s legs trembled, her heart hammering wildly as if trying to burst free.

The image of An He’s smiling face, when she had praised Han Hai’er’s cat for being cute, flashed before her eyes. Unable to resist, Zuo Lihua paused and glanced back, just in time to see the ghost inside the room curled up on the floor, its flesh sizzling and dissolving as if doused in concentrated sulfuric acid, rapidly rotting away amid plumes of white smoke.

Zuo Lihua pressed her lips together, turned around, and sprinted up the stairs with her eyes shut.

The staircase wasn’t long, ending in a corridor that led to the first floor. Only when she stepped onto the final stair did she let out a sigh of relief, leaning against the wall to catch her breath.

Her lower abdomen still ached, but it was nothing compared to the turmoil in her heart.

The first-floor hallway was dim and lightless, a pitch-black tunnel stretching endlessly into the darkness, as if leading straight into an abyss.

The aftermath of overexerted muscles sent sharp, needle-like pains through her abdomen, layered over the dull ache. Adjusting her breathing, Zuo Lihua slowly made her way upward along the wall.

Staying here wasn’t wise. If An He’s ghost could come, so could others. Though she didn’t understand why An He had dissolved upon entering the room, what if the next one didn’t? The basement had no exit, one wrong move and she’d be like a turtle trapped in a jar, torn to pieces.

No matter what, finding Han Hai’er was the top priority now.

It wasn’t that she was heartless and indifferent to her companion, she knew her own limitations. She was just another dish on the menu. Rushing in recklessly would only serve up a full-course feast for the ghosts.

Only by staying close to Han Hai’er could she hope to be “eaten” with a little more dignity.

With no visibility, Zuo Lihua felt her way along the wall, stepping onto the final stair in an almost eerie silence.

She had emerged from the basement.

Crack!

Something shattered at her feet, warm liquid splashing onto her ankles, tingling slightly.

Zuo Lihua’s hand on the wall trembled, but she didn’t stop, continuing forward at a steady pace.

Huff, huff…

Heavy, ragged breaths faded behind her. The stench of decay mixed with the cloying sweetness of blood filled her nostrils, a deeply unsettling odor that, despite lacking any distinct temperature, seemed to freeze her nerve endings.

Someone was watching her, standing right behind her, following closely at an uncomfortably near distance. Zuo Lihua couldn’t see them, but she knew, her brain was sending signals, signals that made her feel as if needles were pricking her back.

She pretended nothing was wrong and continued walking forward, step by step.

“Zuo Lihua!” someone called her name.

Zuo Lihua’s eyelashes fluttered slightly. She wasn’t sure if it was an auditory hallucination, after all, it was so dark here that hearing things wouldn’t be unusual.

The next moment, a gust of wind brushed past her ear, followed by a dull thud right behind her head, and then the sound of something heavy hitting the ground.

Thump!

“What are you spacing out for? Hurry, come with me!” The voice was urgent, clearly from a man, but it was so hoarse and distorted that Zuo Lihua couldn’t immediately recognize who it was.

Her wrist was grabbed.

Zuo Lihua’s mind buzzed. The other person’s body temperature quickly transmitted to her, giving her a signal: “This is a living person.”

A living person, in a house full of ghosts, instinctively meant trust.

Zuo Lihua was pulled along.

Unlike her, this person seemed to be able to see. He pulled her into a nearby passageway and broke into a run.

“What are you doing wandering around alone? And walking so slowly, are you really not scared at all?”

He kept chattering.

Zuo Lihua’s strained eardrums finally recognized who this was.

“…Yang Luoyu?” As soon as she spoke, she realized her own voice had gone hoarse as well.

Yang Luoyu paused briefly before responding, “Mm… it’s me. All of you disappeared. I’ve been shouting until my voice gave out, but I couldn’t find anyone.”

There was something odd about his words. Zuo Lihua’s eyelashes trembled again, but she said nothing.

This was the first time she realized Yang Luoyu was such a chatterbox.

“You’re really brave. Just now, a bloody thing was clinging to your back, and you didn’t even run or hide. And me, I just pulled you, and you followed me without a word…”

What could Zuo Lihua say? She couldn’t utter a single word.

“Let’s go in.” Yang Luoyu stopped and, in the pitch darkness, pushed open the door in front of them.

Light spilled out from the doorway first. Zuo Lihua reflexively squinted and saw Yang Luoyu’s tall silhouette and the chestnut-brown edges of his hair.

“Ahhhhhhhhh!!!!” A scream pierced their eardrums without warning.

Yang Luoyu was momentarily stunned. He stepped inside and said, “Sister An He, stop screaming! It’s us! I found your Sister Lihua!”

In the room, An He was hugging a pillow, curled up fearfully on the sofa. Her face showed a mix of lingering terror and the joy of seeing familiar faces, an odd combination.

She blinked, tossed the pillow aside, and rushed over.

“Lihua, wu wu wu wu…”

Zuo Lihua’s heart leaped. She quickly grabbed a nearby chair and blocked her front. An He’s knee hit the back of the chair, and she let out a pained cry.

“Who are you?” Zuo Lihua asked, her pupils slightly dilated from fear.

“I’m An He.”

A voice suddenly came from behind Zuo Lihua.

She stiffened and turned her head slowly. Another An He was closing the door, looking utterly dejected.

“Lihua, don’t believe her! She’s a fake!” The An He in front of her clutched her knee, gritting her teeth. It was unclear whether it was from pain or anger at seeing another version of herself.