Forced into a romantic relationship

Chapter 361 Calmness and Cold-Bloodedness
"Teacher Ouyang, don't rush, tell me slowly, what was that scary thing you just mentioned?"

Gu Zheng gently soothed the frightened Ouyang Lianyu, while Han Zhou went straight to the balcony, drew back the curtains to check the situation outside.

The sky was terribly overcast, and it was pitch black outside; nothing could be seen except for the continuous heavy rain.

What could possibly frighten Teacher Ouyang like this...?

He was suspicious. It was late at night, and there were no wild animals around. It couldn't be that he had seen a ghost, could it?

Before Ouyang Lianyu could fully calm down, a series of hurried and noisy footsteps suddenly sounded outside the door. Zhong Yin and the others rushed into the room and asked, "What happened?"

Seeing that everyone had run upstairs because of her, and Xiao Xiaoxiao looked exhausted and out of breath, Ouyang Lianyu felt a little embarrassed and said apologetically, "I'm sorry to have worried everyone, I..."

Just as she was about to continue speaking, she suddenly saw Han Zhou standing on the balcony looking around. Her expression changed slightly, and she quickly reminded him, "Han Zhou, come back quickly!"

"what happened?"

Han Zhou was puzzled, but seeing Ouyang Lianyu's tense expression, he retreated back into the room.

"Close the door."

Ouyang Lianyu hesitated for a moment, then said tentatively, "There might be... something unclean outside..."

As soon as she finished speaking, a bolt of lightning flashed outside the window, illuminating Ouyang Lianyu's bloodless face. Coupled with what she had just said, the atmosphere in the room instantly became more terrifying.

Everyone was stunned when they heard this.

Zhong Yin and Zhong Ling instinctively moved closer to each other, Wang Lengqiu tilted her head, and Mo Yixia seemed to be deep in thought.

"Dirty stuff?"

Han Zhou glanced at Xiao Xiaoxiao, whose mouth was covered in oil, with surprise, suspecting that this might be related to Xiao Xiaoxiao, but he quickly dismissed the idea—Xiao Xiaoxiao looked quite energetic and probably wouldn't cause the villa to be "haunted".

According to his judgment, there is a very important prerequisite for Xiao Xiaoxiao to cause a "ghost" in a certain area, which is that she needs to enter a state of being very tired but unable to sleep. Only in this way can the environment become abnormal, thus causing the "ghost" to appear.

Xiao Xiaoxiao is clearly very sober now.

Perhaps sensing his scrutinizing gaze, Xiao Xiao glared at him fiercely, then a confused expression appeared on her face, as if she also suspected that this matter was related to her.

"Listen to me, everyone. Here's what happened."

As a teacher, Ouyang Lianyu knew she shouldn't say such unscientific things, but seeing is believing, and verification was a matter for later. She quickly told everyone what had just happened.

"Just now, Xiaoxiao and I were having a barbecue downstairs. I accidentally splashed oil on my jacket, so I went back upstairs to change my clothes. Just as I was about to go downstairs, I saw what looked like a light outside the balcony, so I went out onto the balcony and took a look."

At this point, Ouyang Lianyu's face showed a lingering fear as she said, "Then I... I saw a car in the rain, with a sinister light shining from it. I was about to take a closer look when suddenly a pale-faced woman appeared by the car window, clinging tightly to it with both hands, staring at me with a terrifying expression, as if she wanted to jump out of the car."

Gu Zheng was startled upon hearing this. Although she was afraid of ghosts, she did not believe in them. Her first guess was that this might be a female victim who had been dragged into a car. So she quickly asked, "Teacher Ouyang, could that person be trying to ask you for help?"

Xiao Xiaoxiao looked worried and quickly nodded in agreement: "I also think that might be the case!"

Mo Yixia glanced at her but didn't say anything.

"Probably not..."

Ouyang Lianyu shook her head, hesitatingly saying, "Although it's too far away to see clearly, the woman's neck was completely cut open, and she was covered in blood, just... just like a vengeful ghost in a horror movie, in short, she doesn't... she doesn't look like a living person..."

Doesn't look like a living person?
Upon hearing this, the temperature inside the villa seemed to drop several degrees instantly.

Han Zhou looked serious and immediately pulled back the curtains to look outside again, but still saw nothing.

“But I haven’t seen any vehicles outside since the beginning,” he said.

"That's why I suspect it's something unclean..."

Ouyang Lianyu took a deep breath and said nervously, "I was terrified when I first saw that woman, and I quickly hid in the room. But when I looked out again, the woman and the car had disappeared. The whole process took less than three seconds."

"You mean that car disappeared too quickly?" Mo Yixia asked.

“Yes, there’s only one straight road leading to the villa. It’s impossible for this car to have driven off in three seconds. And there’s something strange about it too: the car never turned on its headlights…”

It's definitely not normal to not turn on the headlights so late at night... everyone thought.

"Is it possible that it drove into the villa next to us?" Zhong Yin analyzed.

"Will not."

Xiao Xiaoxiao shook her head and explained, "When I won the lottery, the cashier said that the villas around here haven't been put on sale yet and no one will be living there."

"Could it be that someone else also won the lottery?" Gu Zheng asked.

Xiao Xiaoxiao shook her head again: "I am the only winner today, and if it weren't for the typhoon making the concert tickets unusable, the supermarket wouldn't have given this villa as a prize. Therefore, we are the only residents in the Silver Lake Villa area. In other words, there shouldn't be anyone else around here besides us."

"Besides, if someone really lived in that villa, the lights would be on at this time. I don't believe anyone would go to sleep so early."

"What the short story says makes sense."

Han Zhou carefully observed the villa next to him. Because it was too dark, he could only see a blurry outline. However, since the lights were off so late at night, it did not look like anyone lived there.

After a moment's thought, he continued, "You all stay here, I'll go out and take a look."

He was largely responsible for the reason why everyone gathered at this villa, so he should be responsible for everyone's safety. He wouldn't feel at ease until he figured out what had happened so late at night.

Everyone was startled by this, and Zhong Yin immediately stopped them, saying, "No, it's raining so hard outside, it's too dangerous to go out."

Zhong Ling quickly nodded and echoed, "It's too dangerous."

"I need to find out exactly what Teacher Ouyang saw," Han Zhou said firmly.

He doesn't believe in ghosts. Even if they do, he has his status bar to rely on. At worst, he can just transform into Lam Ching-ying to catch ghosts.

"I'll go with you if you want to!"

Gu Zheng said loudly, she would not feel comfortable letting Han Zhou go out alone.

“I’ll go too.” Wang Lengqiu took a step toward Han Zhou. “I don’t think there’s any need to go out.”

Just then, Mo Yixia spoke up.

She said calmly, "If you're trying to confirm the danger of that thing to ensure our safety, the safest thing to do is stay in the room with us, rather than opening the door and giving it a chance to come in."

“If that thing is a person, then as long as the door isn’t opened, it can’t enter the villa; but if that thing is really a ghost in the traditional sense, even if you don’t go out, it will probably come in and come looking for us.”

Don't make it sound so scary... What do you mean by "coming in to find us"?

Han Zhou inwardly scoffed, realizing that Mo Yixia's words made sense, so he temporarily abandoned his plan to go out and asked curiously, "Then do you think that thing really is a ghost?"

"Not very likely."

Mo Yixia shook her head slightly, seemingly lost in thought, and said, "Of course, if we follow the logic of the movie, perhaps the reason we were able to stay in this villa is because it is a so-called haunted house. Someone arranged such a villa as a reward to find a scapegoat. That might explain why we can see ghosts."

The expressions of the crowd changed slightly. After hearing what Mo Yixia said, it seemed that such a possibility was not out of the question.

"Don't scare everyone," Han Zhou said irritably.

"I'm just suggesting a possibility."

Mo Yixia disagreed, saying, "In fact, there are many possibilities, but no matter which one, I don't recommend going out to check the situation."

“But what if it really is just a victim?” Ouyang Lianyu said worriedly. “I don’t agree with going out either, but… I’m just wondering if we should call the police…”

"We're currently experiencing extreme weather with a typhoon and torrential rain. I suggest we avoid causing trouble for the police. Besides, no one would believe that a body with its throat slit could still be making faces at people outside the car window."

Mo Yixia said calmly, "Unless it really is a ghost, a person whose throat has been completely slit should have been a corpse long ago. This means that the murder has already happened and we no longer have the possibility of stopping it. So as long as we remember the current time and can truthfully tell what we saw today when we are summoned, it will already be considered as contributing to the peace of this victim."

Why are you all staring at me?

She glanced at everyone, quickly discerning their thoughts, and calmly said, "Being too calm is always better than being too panicked, isn't it?"

The group exchanged bewildered glances, experiencing firsthand the terrifying power of "mind reading."

Finally, someone understands my feelings... Han Zhou sighed inwardly and asked, "Are there any other possibilities?"

Mo Yixia seemed thoughtful and casually said, "As I said, there are many possibilities. Maybe someone wants to take advantage of this weather to shoot a shoddy horror movie, and it's possible that Teacher Ouyang happened to see the actors in makeup."

"It can't be that much of a coincidence..."

Han Zhou gave a wry smile, and the others clearly didn't agree with this possibility either.

"So, you mean to put this matter aside for now?"

Gu Zheng stared at Mo Yixia for a while, then suddenly asked a question.

“That’s right.” Mo Yixia met her gaze with a half-smile. “Or do you have some other brilliant idea?”

"No," Gu Zheng shook her head, somewhat unconvinced, and said, "What you said makes a lot of sense."

"Then let's forget about this for now." Ouyang Lianyu forced a smile and changed the subject. "Alright, let's go downstairs and continue eating barbecue, it'll get cold soon."

"Are you alright, Teacher Ouyang?" Zhong Yin asked with concern.

Others may be able to forget about it for a while, but as someone who saw the "ghost" with her own eyes, Ouyang Lianyu may not be able to forget it so easily, and may even be left with psychological trauma.

"Don't worry, I'm fine," Ouyang Lianyu said with a smile.

"Should I go out and take a look?" Han Zhou was also worried that Ouyang Lianyu wouldn't sleep well tonight.

"You child." Ouyang Lianyu rolled her eyes at him helplessly. "I told you to stay in your room. Teacher will be fine."

"Ok."

Han Zhou had no choice but to give up.

Everyone went back down to the living room to continue the barbecue.

Although they were told to temporarily forget about the "ghostly" incident, it wasn't something that could be forgotten so easily. The girls were all quite nervous, and they couldn't help but look over whenever they heard any noise. They even needed a companion to go to the toilet.

However, as everyone got more and more into the conversation, the fear gradually faded. Apart from still needing someone to accompany them to the toilet, they weren't so scared at other times.

It's worth mentioning that Wang Lengqiu, who seems indifferent to everything, doesn't actually seem to be a very brave girl. She needs someone to accompany her when she goes to the toilet. However, what shocked everyone was that she didn't ask any other girl to accompany her, but instead asked Han Zhou.

Although it was Ouyang Lianyu who accompanied her to the restroom in the end, this scene still attracted everyone's attention, and all sorts of suspicious eyes swept over Han Zhou.

Han Zhou felt like he was sitting on pins and needles. Just as he was about to explain, he suddenly heard Xiao Xiaoxiao ask, "I heard you guys are going to watch a horror movie tonight, are you going to watch it again later?"

Upon hearing this, the living room immediately fell silent.

To be honest, after what just happened, apart from Mo Yixia and Han Zhou who didn't care at all, everyone else was actually a little upset, including Gu Zheng.

However, seeing Mo Yixia's calm demeanor, she was immediately intrigued. She puffed out her chest and said nonchalantly, "I don't care. It's just a matter of whether some people dare to watch."

Mo Yixia knew, of course, that the "some people" she was referring to were herself, and said calmly, "I'll play along to the end."

"I'm quite interested, what about you guys?" Xiao Xiaoxiao looked at the others.

"When did you become so bold?"

Han Zhou gave the other person a strange look. He remembered that Xiao Xiaoxiao was not very brave to watch horror movies.

"There are so many people here, what's there to be afraid of?" Xiao Xiaoxiao said disdainfully.

“Xiaoling and I have no objections either,” Zhong Yin said.

Apart from Wang Lengqiu and Ouyang Lianyu, who went to the restroom, no one objected to continuing to watch the horror movie.

Han Zhou had no choice but to agree.

(End of this chapter)