Zhang Xianyu didn’t continue looking any further.
He took a deep breath, carefully stepped away from the doorway, and headed upstairs.
The commotion downstairs had lasted for some time, yet the second floor was completely silent.
Zhang Xianyu had a lingering sense that something was not quite right.
The stairwell was dark.
Zhang Xianyu stepped cautiously, and the farther up he went, the fainter the faintly discernible scent of blood and chill became.
When he reached the entrance to the second floor, the temperature was almost normal again.
It was somewhat cold, but not the kind of bone-chilling cold that lingered.
It seemed to signify that everything here was apparently normal.
Zhang Xianyu first went to the twins’ room.
The door was ajar and gently pushed open with ease; the room was empty.
Chen Zhaodi was downstairs, but Chen Pandi was nowhere to be found.
He then headed toward the master bedroom of Chen Xifa and his wife.
The master bedroom door was tightly shut, and inside it was silent.
Zhang Xianyu tilted his ear to listen.
His hearing was always sharp, but this time he couldn’t detect a single sound—not even the faintest breath.
“Let’s go in and have a look.”
Zhang Xianyu touched the Red Jade Bead Bracelet on his left wrist and whispered to Lin Wushui.
Lin Wushui naturally couldn’t respond, so Zhang Xianyu placed his hand on the door handle and gently turned it open.
The door creaked quietly as it opened.
Everyone inside immediately turned their heads to look at him.
Zhang Xianyu kept half his body inside the doorway, motionless, locking eyes with the people inside.
The inconspicuous Hu Fenglan was lying on the bed.
Chen Pandi was tied to a chair beside the bed, and Chen Xifa stood in front of her, legs crossed and face darkened, no longer showing any trace of the naivety he had displayed during the day.
As the door opened, all three of them twisted their necks in an unnatural way to stare at him.
After staring for a moment, Chen Xifa turned his face away and resumed scolding Chen Pandi, who was tied to the chair with a belt.
Chen Pandi lowered her head in fear, hunching her shoulders as if that could protect her from her father’s scolding and the bamboo cane.
Hu Fenglan on the bed also hid her face in the blanket, only a pair of terrified eyes peering out in the direction of the father and daughter.
The three sank back into their own worlds, completely ignoring Zhang Xianyu at the door.
Perhaps a hereditary obsession, Chen Xifa held a thin bamboo stick as well.
He raised it high, growling harshly, “Are you still going to run away?”
Chen Pandi trembled and tearfully whispered, “I won’t run anymore.”
But Chen Xifa was not satisfied.
He swung the bamboo stick violently across her body twice, cursing angrily, “I’ve raised you two worthless brats all this time, and you still want to run? If you run, what am I supposed to sell to make money?!
“Run all you want! Today, I’ll beat you to death, you worthless brat!”
He cursed while beating Chen Pandi mercilessly.
The girl was still young and couldn’t help but sob after a few hits, red tears flowing from the corners of her eyes and trailing down her neck.
Chen Xifa seemed to have gone mad.
Like a machine that couldn’t stop, he wildly wielded the thin bamboo stick.
The tender skin on Chen Pandi’s body was cut open in strips that soon burst into deeper wounds, flesh torn open with blood spurting out.
“I’ll sell you off tomorrow, you worthless brat!”
Exhausted, Chen Xifa gasped for breath, stopping for a moment.
He shook his aching arm; the thin bamboo stick was stained red with blood.
He didn’t care and casually went to the Water Dispenser to fill a cup, gulping it down, then stood before Chen Pandi again, pressing the bloodstained bamboo stick against her forehead.
“Where did you hide your sister?”
Chen Pandi twitched but kept her head lowered without a sound.
“You won’t talk, huh?”
Chen Xifa’s mood fluctuated wildly.
Like a mad dog provoked, he raised the bamboo stick high and struck the bound girl hard again.
Chen Pandi twitched a few times at first but gradually stopped moving.
Except for her pale little face, there wasn’t a single spot on her entire body without injury.
Chen Xifa was oblivious, mechanically swinging the bamboo stick again and again, not even caring as blood and flesh splattered onto himself and his wife.
Zhang Xianyu furrowed his brows tightly.
The cruelty and stupidity of this family were far worse than he had imagined.
His cold gaze swept across the bed.
Hu Fenglan was not asleep; she stared wide-eyed, her waxy yellow face splattered with her daughter’s blood and flesh, but she cowardly hid under the blanket, watching everything unfold in terror.
The little girl tied to the chair was no longer recognizable as human.
Below her head was a mass of inverted red flesh.
Fresh blood trickled down her tiny body and pooled on the floor beneath the chair.
Zhang Xianyu could almost piece together what had happened to these twins.
“Why do you torment yourself like this?”
Zhang Xianyu pushed the door open fully, his pale eyes deeply fixed on the panting Chen Xifa.
“I hate! I really hate!”
Chen Xifa turned his body, his tall figure shrinking until it transformed into Chen Pandi’s shape.
Her body was a bloody blur, but her face remained intact with two streaks of blood tears.
She threw herself at Zhang Xianyu’s legs, clutching tightly and sobbing, “It hurts so much, it hurts so much…”
“He can only hurt you once.”
Zhang Xianyu let her cling to him, pointing to the chair where the almost unrecognizable Chen Xifa lay, “See? He can’t hurt you anymore.”
Chen Pandi turned her head to look at her “masterpiece” on the chair, then suddenly smiled sweetly and said to Zhang Xianyu, “Right, he doesn’t dare hit us anymore.”
“Good child.”
Zhang Xianyu seemed not to notice her terrifying appearance.
He raised a hand to gently stroke her head, then took her hand and said softly, “I’ll take you to find your sister, okay? She’s waiting for you.”
Chen Pandi blinked, as if wondering if he was lying.
Zhang Xianyu stroked her head again, patiently waiting for her reply.
“Okay,” Chen Pandi smiled and squeezed his hand in return, “Let’s go find my sister.”
Zhang Xianyu held her hand as they went downstairs.
The child was still small and couldn’t walk fast, so Zhang Xianyu slowed his pace, leading her down gently.
They reached the first floor slowly, and the intense bloodstain smell and chill returned.
Yet Chen Pandi looked very happy.
She softly called, “Sister,” then let go of Zhang Xianyu’s hand and eagerly ran toward the master bedroom. Zhang Xianyu followed behind.
Inside the bedroom, the sisters held hands and cuddled closely.
Zhang Xianyu’s gaze shifted behind them; the elderly man was already lying on the bed, his body covered with so many wounds that the blood had soaked through the sheets.
Zhang Xianyu crouched to look the twins in the eye.
After a moment’s thought, he said, “Have you played enough? If you’re done, I’ll help you move on.”
Pandi didn’t say much and simply stared at him.
Her sister Zhaodi smiled brightly and said, “What if we haven’t played enough?”
“Not played enough…”
Zhang Xianyu pretended to think for a moment, “Then keep playing. Uncle hasn’t seen anything.”
“Uncle, you’re so nice.”
Zhaodi’s eyes widened in surprise.
She drew a big circle in the air with her arm, “You’re better than Mom, Dad, Grandma, and all the bad uncles put together.”
“Because Zhaodi and Pandi are both good children.”
Zhang Xianyu smiled, affectionately patting each of their heads, “Bad people will be punished. Staying here too long isn’t good for you.”
The two little girls exchanged a glance, seemingly making a decision.
Each clung to one of Zhang Xianyu’s arms, reluctantly rubbing against him, “Then we’ll go now.”
“Go ahead.”
Zhang Xianyu quietly recited the Anhun Spell, sending the two sisters on their final journey.
Hand in hand, the twins waved at him.
Their forms gradually disappeared into thin air.
The frost on the floor and the bloodstain scent in the air quickly dissipated.
Faint light filtered through the curtains.
Zhang Xianyu straightened up and drew the curtains open.
He glanced back at the elderly man lying on the bed.
The bed was clean and empty of anything unusual.
The old man lay peacefully, his face waxy yellow with patches of blue and black.
It looked like his remaining days were few.
Zhang Xianyu returned to the secondary bedroom.
Chen Yang was awake, curled up in the corner hugging his knees.
When he heard the door open, he screamed in fright, “Don’t come near! Don’t come near! It wasn’t me who hurt you all, really, it wasn’t me…”
He didn’t even dare to look up, and yellowish dampness trickled out beneath him.
Disgust flickered in Zhang Xianyu’s eyes.
He let Lin Wushui return to his own body and said, “They’re gone already.”
Chen Yang’s screaming slowly calmed.
His swollen red eyes lifted, and upon seeing Zhang Xianyu, he joyfully threw himself at his legs, begging, “There are ghosts here, ghosts! Please save me, take me away, I’ll pay you, lots of money…”
“You’ll have to wait a little longer before going back.”
Zhang Xianyu curled his lips coldly, “Wait for the Jinghua to arrive and clarify the truth before going home.”
Chen Yang stared blankly, his hands unconsciously loosening, mumbling, “You’re in cahoots with them… in cahoots…”
Zhang Xianyu ignored him and called the police.
He didn’t say too much—only that two children’s bodies had been found here.
After leaving the address and phone number, Zhang Xianyu guessed the police would still take some time to arrive, so he and Lin Wushui went upstairs again.
Chen Xifa and his wife sat dazedly on the bed.
Chen Xifa hung his head, looking much older than when Zhang Xianyu had seen him yesterday.
Hu Fenglan stared fixedly at the Mirror on the bedside table.
After a long time, she suddenly screamed, viciously pounced on Chen Xifa, biting his ear, making guttural sounds like “devil, bite you to death.”
Zhang Xianyu didn’t intervene, standing coldly by the door watching.
Hu Fenglan tore at Chen Xifa’s face like a madwoman.
His ear was ripped off, half his face scratched until it bled profusely…
Chen Xifa sat dumbfounded, allowing her to tear at him.
After a long while, he finally realized and howled in pain, throwing his wife to the floor.
Hu Fenglan had gone insane.
She acted like a rabid dog, recklessly lunging at Chen Xifa, eyes bloodshot, trying to tear flesh from him.
Chen Xifa was strong, but Hu Fenglan was a farmer’s wife—when mad, Chen Xifa couldn’t handle her alone.
The couple screamed and wrestled violently.
Zhang Xianyu watched the scene long enough before separating them.
Coldly, he asked, “Where did you hide Pandi and Zhaodi’s bodies?”
Chen Xifa and Hu Fenglan stopped fighting.
Hu Fenglan suddenly tore at her hair, screaming in heart-wrenching agony.
Chen Xifa’s face twitched uncontrollably.
Pointing upward, he said in a numb voice, “In the Water Storage Tank.”