WHI – Chapter 14

Chapter 14

This was his first time in the study. He had passed by it a few times before, and sometimes Gu Jiang worked in there.

The study was a little smaller than the bedroom, a simple rectangular space. A mahogany bookshelf took up almost an entire wall. In the center sat a matching mahogany desk and an executive chair. Lin Ting thought about it and decided not to sit, leaning against the wall and picking up his phone to look at some physics problems he had bought online a few days ago.

Just as he was looking at the explanation for the third problem, the door was pushed open.

Su Li was wearing a Chinese-style qipao today. The pale blue silk fabric made her face look delicate. There was no way to tell she was in her early forties. Lin Ting had inherited the best of Su Li’s and Lin Fang’s looks, and now, with the two of them, so alike, sitting and standing, the air was filled with a sharp silence.

It wasn’t until Su Li spoke that Lin Ting felt the noise, which had been irritating his eardrums, finally stop.

“Gu Yi came home last night with a face full of blood, saying he slipped in the hot springs.” Su Li looked Lin Ting in the eyes and said calmly, “And you hid at home again all night.”

Slipped? It seemed Wen Lan’s warning was quite effective.

Lin Ting smiled, “I didn’t come home at night, is Mom worried?”

Su Li sat down in the executive chair, her eyes narrowed as she glared at Lin Ting. “You know what I’m talking about. It’s Gu Yi’s business to cover for you, do you really think we’re idiots?”

Lin Ting sighed deeply, put his phone away, and stuffed it back into his pocket. “I hit him because he was asking for it first.”

“You have the nerve to hit someone and still be in the right?” Su Li’s face showed disgust, her eyebrows furrowed, and her tone became rapid and angry. “I knew long ago that you and that Lin Fang were the same kind of thing! If it weren’t for your Uncle Gu taking you in out of pity because Lin He passed away and you were alone, not only would you not be grateful, but you would also cause such a huge mess! How long have you been here, and how many fights have you gotten into?”

“Yes, half of my body is Lin Fang’s blood, and the other half is yours, Su Li!” Lin Ting’s voice was a little agitated, and his nose felt slightly sore when he said Su Li’s name.

Su Li scoffed. “I never taught you to fight.”

“Right, my dad taught me how to ‘kill’ hands-on.” Lin Ting said this, the corner of his mouth curled up as he looked at Su Li, his eyes filled with extreme loneliness. He stared for a long time, but Su Li’s face still held that familiar disdain.

“If there’s nothing else, I’m leaving.” Lin Ting turned to go.

“Gu Jiang isn’t a pushover, and neither are we.” Su Li’s voice returned to its usual tone. “Think it over yourself, it’s only half a year anyway…”

Half a year.

Lin Ting walked out of the study and closed the door. In half a year, he would have nothing to do with the Gu family anymore.

He actually knew very well that if it weren’t for the fact that he was still a high school student, and if it weren’t for Uncle Gu’s insistence, he would probably still be in Lin He’s old house, studying alone, taking the college entrance exam, going to university. He wouldn’t starve to death anyway, and he wouldn’t have specifically told his mom: “Hurry up and fulfill your responsibilities as a guardian.”

And all of this would end after the college entrance exam next year.

He was happy to leave the Gu family, but this also meant he would be cast into loneliness again.

The difference was that in junior high, he would still chase after the car, shouting and running until his voice was hoarse, until he lay on the ground, until Old Lin brought him home.

Now, he couldn’t do such foolish things anymore.

– Do you think women have no hearts?

He entered his room, took out his phone, and sent it to Wen Lan.

– Got dumped? Serves you right! With your foul mouth, someone should have dealt with you long ago.

– Fine, I’ll come stink you up tomorrow.

– We’re planning an adventure next week, want to come along?

– I refuse.

Wen Lan’s typing indicator appeared again, but no words came for a long time. Just as Lin Ting was about to close WeChat, he finally sent two words: Look at the group.

What was this guy up to again?

Lin Ting doubtfully opened the group chat ‘Brother Wen and His 108 Little Brothers’ – this group was too noisy, and he had already set it to do not disturb. The latest message was a link, and above that, they were discussing where to go for an adventure, and some obviously fake urban ghost legends.

Lin Ting was not used to speaking in groups, so he still clicked on Wen Lan’s chat window.

– It’s our senior year, guys. Are you still in elementary school? Adventure? Why don’t you try summoning a spirit board?

– Did you click the link? Let’s go together on the weekend.

– Not interested, didn’t click. That link picture looks dark and gloomy, I’m afraid my phone will get a virus.

– If you don’t go, I’ll make you pay for the hot spring cleaning fees and damages.

– How much? Is the 5 million the other party gave me enough?

– That’s not nearly enough. The step where I dragged you to the bed last night would cost 8 million, and with all the miscellaneous things added up throughout the night, it would be tens of millions.

– Wen Lan, you’re really greedy.

– Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on!

– Fine, fine, fine, fine, fine!

Lin Ting smiled and clicked on the link in the group chat that seemed to carry a 3GB virus.

It was a somewhat crudely made urban legend website. The website had a red and black color scheme. Both the bloody, terrifying font and the inexplicably bloody handprints were doing their best to create a terrifying atmosphere. There weren’t too many posts. Apart from a few featured ones that had discussions, the rest were just meaningless filler posts.

And what they shared in the group was a featured, elaborate post.

The poster shared over three months ago that their phone’s navigation had accidentally led them to an abandoned villa. They intended to leave the way they came but encountered a supernatural maze and couldn’t get out. As it got late, the poster had no choice but to stay in the abandoned villa for the night. That night, they had a very long and realistic dream, in which they were chased, fled, and resurrected within the villa. Lin Ting only skimmed through it. This part was written so fake, watery, smelly, and long that he couldn’t bear to read it. The next day, as soon as dawn broke, the poster quickly took a taxi home. Who knew their family cried when they saw them, insisting that they had been missing for a whole month.

The poster said they had no food or drink in the abandoned villa, so they couldn’t possibly have been missing for a whole month. The date displayed on their phone when they took the taxi that morning was indeed only one day later, but when they got home, the date on their phone had jumped exactly one month ahead.

They wanted to click on the ride-hailing app to confirm the date and time on the order information but found that their ride history had disappeared. When they tried to find that abandoned villa again, they couldn’t find it at all. Three months ago, they suddenly discovered a photo saved on their phone – it was taken at the abandoned villa, but the poster themselves had no recollection of it.

Lin Ting clicked on the photo. It was a panoramic view of an abandoned villa. The overall tone of the photo was dry and gray, with a desolation that didn’t match the season.

In the center of a square courtyard, covered in weeds, at least dozens of square meters, stood a Western-style villa. The highest point of the villa was a tall, pointed spire structure on the far left, hexagonal in shape. The central main building was the shortest, only about three stories high. Through the three large windows side-by-side, one could vaguely see collapsed wooden beams and dilapidated furniture inside. The building on the far right was between the two, with a moderate spire slope, but the windows were tightly sealed. The three buildings were connected, and the interior should have been opened up.

Withered ivy at the outer corners of the walls had only climbed a little over a meter before losing its strength and was hanging precariously from the wall. On the exposed red bricks where the wall had peeled off, there were still some fresh red or black liquid stains. In the half-human-high weeds within the courtyard, stubborn branches that had long since withered and were bare were interspersed with tenacious growth.

All the details suggested that this place had been uninhabited for a long time.

What a shame, this house looked quite high-class. This was Lin Ting’s only thought.

Below the photo, the shooting location that came with the photo was also screenshotted. Lin Ting opened his phone and searched for it. It wasn’t too far, suitable for a day trip on the weekend.

– When are you planning to go? Saturday?

Wen Lan replied quickly:

– Look at the group.

Then he sent another message:

– Can you have some sense of collective spirit?

Lin Ting suppressed the urge to leave the group and delete his friends, rolling his eyes at Wen Lan’s shameless profile picture.

– I’m not familiar with them.

– It’s okay, you wait.

Lin Ting felt something was wrong, but before he could stop Wen Lan, he saw a new group announcement: “Given that your Brother Lin is face-blind, please change your group nicknames to your real names as on your ID cards.”

Wen Lan’s message arrived at the right time:

– How is it, is that thoughtful enough?

– …Thank you.

Wen Lan’s status remained stable as ever. Not long after this announcement was made, the few people who had been chattering in the group quickly changed their names. The remaining few who hadn’t probably hadn’t seen it yet. It had to be said, after the changes, Lin Ting felt the group was much more serious.

After all, “Wang Xingzhi patted Song Mi and said, ‘Baby, wait for me tonight,'” was better than “Cool Guy Wears Gauze” patting “Rose Boy Forces a Smile and Says, ‘Baby, wait for me tonight.'”

– (Song Mi) Brother Lin, I changed mine first. Should I send my photo to the group again to help you remember? It’s a new one.

Lin Ting carefully chose his words and sent a very tactful message:

– I’m very touched, but I need to sleep well tonight.

Lin Ting’s WeChat nickname was his real name. Wen Lan’s was simply “Wen.” In this regard, their tastes were the same.

– (Wen) Adventure, when are we going?

– (Wang Xingzhi) Brother Wen, I’ve investigated it. There’s a hotel 700 meters away from the villa. We can set off on Saturday afternoon, put our things in the hotel, and then go for the adventure at night. If there are no ghosts, we’ll go back to the hotel to rest. If there are ghosts, we’ll come out a month later. Let’s first arrange with the hotel front desk to reserve a room for us for a month. What do you guys think?

– (Lin Ting) …

– (Song Mi, Han Ziqiu, Qin Wan, Li Ziyao, Fang Ran) +1

– (Yu Zhile) It’s perfect, a whole month without school, hehehe. If it works, let’s go a few more times!

What? Who were these people?

He, a top student, and arguably a top student, was really going to do such a brain-damaging activity with these people who had spent all their brains at the moment of their birth?

Wait, Han Ziqiu?

Lin Ting clicked on Wen Lan’s private chat.

– Han Ziqiu? How did you get him into the group? Is he from our school? Is he going to the villa too?

Wen Lan directly sent a voice message: “There’s nothing I can do, your Brother Wen is just that popular.”

– Can I not go?

– 20 million.

That day’s dinner was only for Gu Yi and Lin Ting. Gu Jiang had taken Su Li to some banquet.

Lin Ting had intended to finish dinner quickly and go upstairs, so he didn’t even glance at Gu Yi opposite him.

Just as he was about eight parts full and was about to drink the yam and beef soup in front of him before going upstairs, Gu Yi opposite him, with a face that could be described as bruised and swollen, spoke: “Do you know that kid from the Wen family?”

“What do you want to say?” Lin Ting clicked his tongue impatiently.

“Nothing, you’re quite capable, managing to get involved with the Wen family.” Gu Yi had probably also finished eating. He put down his chopsticks and looked at Lin Ting. He tore off his mask of contempt, which surprisingly made Lin Ting feel a bit more comfortable.

He hated pretense.

“The word ‘involved’ doesn’t sound very nice, and besides, do you have some strange misunderstanding about me? Using Han Ziqiu to test me, what’s the point?” Lin Ting also put down his soup bowl, leaned back in his chair, and casually tossed his chopsticks onto the table.

“No, no, it’s just that my Chinese isn’t good. Let me use another word… ‘clinging’?”

“Whatever you say.” Lin Ting couldn’t be bothered to argue with him. He quickly finished the soup in his bowl and stood up to go upstairs.