Chapter 7: The Rose Garden and the Burned Room

On the way back, Pei Liu found a doghouse; it was empty.

Inside sat a dirty dog bowl and a worn-out collar with characters carved onto it, though they were unfortunately too blurry to decipher.

After a few brief glances, Pei Liu returned to the villa.

He didn’t know that a Shiba Inu had dashed out of the kennel to follow him, appearing incredibly excited and lively as it barked and circled around him.

Pei Liu ignored it, but the dog remained undeterred, persistently reaching out its paws to scratch at him and howling for someone to play with.

If it hadn’t been for the fact that it couldn’t make physical contact, Pei Liu would have certainly been knocked to the ground by its force.

The Shiba Inu was full of energy and seemed like an expert at making a mess.

As Pei Liu headed upstairs, the Shiba Inu followed, even racing ahead of him to crouch on a step with its tongue hanging out, waiting.

Pei Liu regrouped with the other guests and explained the situation.

“There’s a doghouse, and I found a hand buried in the garden wearing this ring.”

“It’s a man’s ring, possibly the CEO’s wedding ring.”
Wu Kai gave a subtle shiver.

“You’re really brave—you didn’t scream when a ghost hand grabbed you, and you even had the mind to take the ring.”

Pei Liu asked: “There might be more than just a hand under the flowers; there could be an entire corpse. Should we go dig it up and see if there are any new clues?”

Everyone else was shocked.

Was he really going this far?

It was just a variety show; was there a need to be so hardcore?

Tong Jiaqi and Wu Kai shook their heads decisively, fearing that if they were too slow, Pei Liu would drag them off to dig up a grave.

Jian Yongge’s expression soured slightly.

Was Pei Liu insisting on stealing his “wise and brave” persona?

Couldn’t he change his act after realizing they overlapped?

Zhao Hai, however, remarked: “Come to think of it, didn’t that severed head we found earlier have animal bite marks? Could it have been bitten by a dog?”

Tong Jiaqi gasped.

“No way?!”

“It’s a possibility.”

Beside Pei Liu, the Shiba Inu tilted its head, its ears twitching as it let out an innocent-sounding whine.

When it reached out again to scratch at Pei Liu, trying to gnaw on his pant leg but biting only air, its ears suddenly folded back into “airplane ears.”

It retreated two large steps with extreme vigilance, looking as if it had seen its most dangerous and terrifying natural enemy.

With its tail tucked between its legs, it turned and bolted.

As it sprinted around the corner, a pair of pale, small hands caught the Shiba Inu and carried it away.

The shadow behind Pei Liu slowly elongated, reflecting onto the wall like a tall, dark silhouette.

It had long arms and legs, appearing to hold Pei Liu in its arms from behind, wrapping around him tightly.

As Jian Yongge turned his head, his peripheral vision caught this sight, and his eyes widened in shock.

But when he looked closer, Pei Liu’s shadow had returned to normal—just a small dark patch on the floor without any abnormality.

His heart raced as he took a breath, feeling the lingering fear but subconsciously convincing himself that he had simply seen things.

****

They reached the end of the second floor.

Zhao Hai was the first to open the door.

A stench hit them—the smell of something charred, making everyone instinctively frown.

The entire room was a dull, dark grayish-black, with the wallpaper peeling away.

It had clearly been burned by a great fire and was severely damaged.

Looking at the layout, one could tell this was originally a very beautiful girl’s bedroom, featuring a princess bed, delicately patterned tables and chairs, and a European-style wardrobe…

But everything had been consigned to the flames.

“This is the daughter’s bedroom.”

A child of only five years had been burned alive right here.

Zhao Hai also had a child, and seeing this, even knowing it was just a scripted setting, he felt a flicker of pity in his heart.

He paused his steps and asked the others: “Shall we go in and look?”

They walked in one after another, subconsciously lightening their footsteps as if afraid of disturbing something.

Searching here was even more difficult; the items were burned and damaged, some becoming hollow and brittle to the point where they would shatter with even a little force.

The debris on the floor kicked up dust as they moved.

The bedside table, drawers, desk, and pillows were checked one by one.

They were just children’s things, nothing special, until they opened the wardrobe…

Wu Kai went to pull the handle, but it was stuck and wouldn’t budge.

He exerted all his strength, his entire face scrunching up as he gave a sudden yank.

He ended up ripping the entire wardrobe door right off.

Wu Kai was dazed as he held the door in his hands, but when he looked inside the wardrobe, he was so terrified he let out a shout of “Crap!”

He retreated repeatedly, stumbling and unable to stand straight, finally falling onto his backside.

Because inside was the shriveled corpse of a child, charred by fire.

Pei Liu was also stunned for a moment.

When the fire had spread rapidly and high heat enveloped the room, the little girl had nowhere to run.

She could only hide inside the wardrobe in fear, but in the end, no rescue came, and she died in there alone.

Two seconds later, he remembered that he was recording a show and that this wasn’t real.

Pei Liu observed the corpse and spoke up: “She seems to be holding a box in her arms.”

He looked toward the others and found that Wu Kai and Tong Jiaqi were terrified, Zhao Hai couldn’t bear to look, and Jian Yongge’s eyes were even rimmed with red.

Pei Liu paused.

‘Should I be crying right now? Did I mess up my job?’

Tong Jiaqi guessed: “That box might be the one that needs the key, but…”

She didn’t dare touch it. It was in the arms of a corpse; what if the corpse suddenly lunged at her?

Pei Liu pinched himself secretly but still couldn’t produce any tears.

Thus, he gave up and said instead: “I’ll go get it.”

Tong Jiaqi’s eyes lit up as if they were saying, I respect you as a brave man.

Seeing this, Wu Kai took a step forward, wanting to say he could do it too, but after a glance at the corpse, he silently pulled his foot back.

Forget it…

Pei Liu stepped forward and carefully reached through the child’s arms, attempting to slowly slide the box out.

But the two small hands held it very tightly.

Pei Liu didn’t want to damage the prop corpse, so he used the caution of someone playing Jenga, focusing intently and even subconsciously holding his breath.

Because his attention was so focused, he didn’t notice that the corpse right in front of him suddenly lifted its head.

Its hollow black eyes stared at him, its burned and shriveled face twitching grotesquely.

Its mouth opened to an incredible size, revealing long, ghastly white teeth as it lunged to bite Pei Liu’s neck.

But just as it was about to touch his skin, it suddenly froze.

Its gaze fell behind Pei Liu, as if it had seen something utterly terrifying.

Pei Liu felt something and looked up; the corpse was still in its curled-up position with its head buried deep, its neck almost appearing broken.

“What’s wrong… Pei Liu?”

Seeing him stop, Wu Kai gripped the door handle hard, his voice trembling with tension.

Pei Liu shook his head.

“Nothing.”

He then successfully slid the box out and carried it to the other guests.

It was a delicate small box with a keyhole right in the center.

Jian Yongge took out the key and, under everyone’s gaze, inserted it. It fit perfectly.

A look of joy appeared on everyone’s faces.

Jian Yongge turned the key, but after only a slight rotation, it became stuck.

He tried turning it the other way, but that didn’t work either.

After some back-and-forth struggling, Wu Kai grew anxious.

“Let me try.”

“Wait…”

Jian Yongge wanted to keep trying, but Wu Kai also reached out; a small box didn’t have enough room for four hands.

Wu Kai gripped the lid of the box, and with a sudden crack, he accidentally snapped it right off.

“…”

For a moment, the scene was frozen.

Wu Kai was stunned, and Jian Yongge was shocked.

Pei Liu and the other onlookers, after a moment of speechless silence, couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

“Wu Kai, we should give you a ‘Popeye the Sailor’ award.”

“First the door, and now the box. You’ve completely rendered the production team’s arrangements useless; we don’t even need a key now.”

Wu Kai scratched his hair, looking a bit embarrassed, then laughed along, showing off his biceps.
They hadn’t been trained for nothing.

“Pei Liu, if there’s ever any heavy lifting to be done, just come to me.”

Wu Kai patted his chest with the bravado of a big brother.

Jian Yongge smiled, but his expression carried a trace of subtle, complex emotion.

He likely never expected that the important prop he had snatched away would end up being completely useless.

Pei Liu glanced at him, the corners of his mouth curling into a cold smirk.