Chapter 48: CH 47

Great Demon King 06

Qi Haolin only saw Xin Lan’s lips move, but he couldn’t make out what she was saying. He felt that Xin Lan was only expressing her fear, and his expression became gentler.

As a low-level entertainment journalist and part-time paparazzo, Ren Difei understood Xin Lan’s lip movements. He gave a strange look at Qi Haolin and decided to keep his distance from him.

Someone who gets scolded as an “idiot” by the boss lady is undoubtedly a cannon fodder character. Better to make preparations in advance.

Feng Xinyu’s diary entries are not many; for an elementary school student, writing two or three lines in a diary daily is considered good enough. And Feng Xinyu’s entries are even simpler, just expressing her emotions.

Whether she is happy or unhappy today, whether it’s sunny or raining, that’s how it goes for several pages.

Just like her sketchbook had a turning point, there’s something unusual happening in her diary as well.

For several pages, she expressed her anger, frustration, and sadness.

Xin Lan noticed that several sheets of paper were even crumpled, indicating that tears had once fallen on them.

What was truly shocking was the diary’s last entry. On that page, the words “bad person” were written all over it.

Crammed together in a dense and disorderly manner, it revealed the child’s restless inner world.

“So, this is a story about a family of three, let’s sort it out.”

As the one who understood all the tricks inside, Ren Difei had the privilege to speak first. After he spoke, everyone’s attention focused on him.

“We saw the photos, and inside, there were only the mother and the daughter. A family photo was hidden at the back, blocked by another picture. From the findings in the kitchen, there’s a contradiction. If it was the mother living with the child, why would there be so many traces of fast food? But the presence of vegetables in the kitchen clearly shows that someone was preparing to cook.”

Sheng Lifan: “Is it possible that only the father and the child live in this house? The father can’t cook, so they order fast food. Also, the child’s messy room could be a reason; no mother would leave her child’s room uncleaned. The child’s parents got divorced, and then the mother came to visit the child, so she brought many groceries to cook. That’s why there are only photos of the mother and the child in the album, to help the child remember her?”

Pi Tianzi: “It sounds reasonable, but if we follow your explanation and assume that the child’s father wanted her to remember her mother, so he displayed the photos, then why didn’t he put up a family photo? Wouldn’t that help the child remember they were a family of three? Why hide the family photo within one of the pictures?”

Molly: “Why can’t it be that the child’s mother can’t cook, so she orders fast food, and the child’s father comes to cook? The child’s mother might be too busy to clean the room, which explains why there are only photos of the child and the mother. Hiding the family photo might be because she doesn’t want the child to see it, but deep down, she still cherishes those memories. The divorce is certain, and perhaps the child’s father did something to hurt the mother, which led to this situation.”

Ke Xuguang: “If I take care of my daughter, I wouldn’t want her to eat fast food every day, and I wouldn’t only show her photos of her mother. I would definitely show her photos of the whole family, so I think what she said makes sense.”

Ke Xuguang pointed at Molly and mentioned the words “daughter,” and even the ferocious expression of the middle-aged man softened quite a bit.

Molly was recognized and looked smugly at Pi Tianzi.

Qi Haolin: “There’s still one more question here. If it’s the mother and the daughter living together and they have issues with the child’s father, why are there still many men’s clothes in the cloakroom?”

Ren Difei: “Maybe they didn’t have time to tidy up? From what we’ve gathered from the child’s situation, the breakdown of the couple’s relationship is a fact, and no matter if the mother or father took care of the child, something definitely happened here. They died, and at least the little girl is dead. Generally, in a story, ghosts don’t suddenly scare people. Her appearance at the staircase must have some warning purpose. If she wanted to threaten us, she could have done it earlier.”

Ren Difei: “So, I have reason to believe that she just doesn’t want us to go upstairs. The reason for not letting us go upstairs might be because there’s something upstairs, or it’s to keep us on the ground floor. If this isn’t a simple supernatural story but a mystery to be solved, should we find out her cause of death and the culprit who killed her?”

Xin Lan tapped her fingers on the sofa, breaking free from the group’s discussion, indeed, she could analyze many things.

The truth is similar to what Ren Difei said. They have indeed deciphered this layer of secrets, and obtaining the key is the way to go upstairs.

If Xin Lan came alone, there wouldn’t be such a hassle.

She could directly confront the little ghost from last night, ask her how she died and who did it. There would be no need to waste time analyzing things here.

Qi Haolin’s expression showed some fluctuations in his eyes after listening to Ren Difei’s words, as if pondering something.

Qi Haolin: “If we are guessing the culprit, then is it her father or her mother?”

Ke Xuguang: “There’s no reason to suspect them.”

If the culprit is the parents, there should be a motive, right? Tigers won’t eat their own cubs. As a father, Ke Xuguang can’t imagine hurting his daughter, especially if he has done something wrong and caused the family to break apart, he would feel guilty and wouldn’t harm her.

Pi Tianzi: “The ‘bad person’ mentioned in the child’s diary should refer to her parents, right? She might have developed a hateful emotion towards them due to their broken relationship. Usually, when parents divorce, children can feel abandoned.”

Sheng Lifan: “So, why did she die, and who killed her?”

Good question, everyone has been discussing this all along.

Ren Difei: “Let’s continue searching for clues. There must be clues hidden somewhere here, even small things can serve as hints.”

Ren Difei is no longer dwelling on why there were no sudden events last night. Perhaps it was because the lady boss encountered some trouble and got possessed.

However, he hasn’t figured out the connection between the lady boss and this incident. Could she be the mastermind behind all this?

The room remained dim as always, and the crystal chandelier above emitted its light.

Xin Lan got up and went to the child’s room. The door was left wide open by the person who had just entered.

As soon as she entered, she saw many toys scattered on the floor, making it difficult to walk around.

There were snack crumbs on the bed, and candy scattered among the toys.

The little girl’s toys were mostly dolls like cloth dolls or Barbie dolls, and those were the ones scattered on the floor.

Xin Lan noticed one Barbie doll, with its arms and legs detached, lying there with only half of its body intact, but the smile on its face remained unchanged.

The wallpaper in the room had marks of scribbles and drawings, which was normal as most kids love drawing on their walls. However, what was abnormal was that the things drawn on the wall couldn’t be called “drawings” at all; they were just messy lines and circles overlapping each other, filled with a sense of venting.

Xin Lan opened the child’s wardrobe and found a shredded dress hidden at the back.

She suddenly recalled what the little ghost said last night, repeatedly mentioning “Mom said.” It indicated that she was someone who listened to her mother or had a good relationship with her. However, when she complained last night, she also mentioned the “bad person.”

The cause of death should be related to fire, whether it was the thick smoke, the smell of burning in the master bedroom, or the self-combusting photos, everything was related to fire.

The large patch of red in the sketchbook indicated blood, or perhaps flames.

Xin Lan wanted to try going upstairs, perhaps she could encounter the little ghost in the staircase and have a chance to question her.

Otherwise, she would feel bad for the little ghost’s words last night, where she complained about being so angry but unable to find a target.

As Xin Lan turned around, she suddenly slammed on the brakes, finding herself just a few centimeters away from a man. Her brow furrowed with disgust.

If she hadn’t reacted quickly, she might have bumped into this man’s arms.

The mere thought was nauseating.

Qi Haolin, seeing Xin Lan’s unexpected expression, thought he had scared her.

“Are you okay?”

Xin Lan didn’t want to respond, trying hard to restrain the urge to strangle the man right then and there.

“What’s wrong? Are you scared? It’s all my fault, I shouldn’t have brought you here.”

“If you have any self-awareness, stay away from me.”

Otherwise, she wasn’t sure if she could bear the already crumbling character setting.

“Lan Lan, don’t be angry.”

Qi Haolin took a step forward, wanting to grab Xin Lan’s hand, but she evaded him.

“I know you’re scared of the current situation, but I will protect you. We will survive together. Did you bring any food in your bag?”

Qi Haolin showed his previous gentle smile to Xin Lan, which might have confused the original owner, but Xin Lan only felt that this person had an inflated ego.

On what basis did he think the original owner would rely on him after going through so much? Well, the truth was that the original owner indeed would.

In that previous environment, the original owner had no other choice but to rely on her ex-boyfriend, who brought her here. She was weak and timid, so in the end, not only the things she brought were consumed, but she ended up being consumed too.

“Even if there’s food, it’s mine, not yours. Stay away from me.”

Qi Haolin’s expression remained unchanged, looking at the woman in front of him with disbelief.

Was this the same silly and naive girl he had deceived before? Why did she seem like a completely different person now?

How could it be possible? She loved him so much, even if she discovered something, she would willingly stay by his side. If he hadn’t initiated the breakup, this woman would probably continue to accompany him. Now, he wanted her to stay away from him?

How could it be?

“Lan Lan, can you forgive me?”

Qi Haolin still wanted to approach her, but the moment he tried to grab Xin Lan’s wrist, she grabbed his collar and fiercely kicked him in the stomach.

“Can’t you understand human language? I told you to stay the f*ck away from me, do you understand?”

Xin Lan usually didn’t use foul language, but sometimes, for some self-righteous and disgusting people, using such terms was the only way she could make them realize how detestable they were.

Trying to spare his dog life for a few more days, yet he’s still rushing to seek death?