After preparing everything, the housekeeper took the family doctor and the maid away from the table, leaving the entire banquet in silence.
The silent atmosphere lasted for a long, long time, and Su Zimo felt that something wasnât quite right.
The lights and shadows in the picture in the mirror changed, and it seemed that one or maybe even two days had passed in advance.
[Aaahhh!]
After the clock in the picture stopped spinning again, the maidâs sharp screams cut through the silence,and then there was a pleading cry, [No, no. I regret it. I really donât want to die, Iâm still young!]
[We can try again. Letâs smash the roof! Letâs dig a tunnel or do anything! Take the medicine away!]
[We have no food, what else can we do other than die? Do you want to be killed by me now? Or starve yourself to death bit by bit?! Why, why didnât people come to see that old man during his better days! If the family can come take a look at the old man, theyâll find us and weâll be able to live. If weâre to blame, weâll take jobs that nobody cares about!]
[Run! The fat man is crazy, he rushed over with a kitchen knife!]
[What?!]
[Donât just speak, run awayâŚ]
[Wu- Where can we escape to? Fight him!]
[No, ah!]
[Bang! Bang!]
The sound in the mirror was chaotic. Su Zimo even tried to touch the surface, but found that the mirror was still just a mirror. He couldnât interfere with the screaming or the sounds of various things breaking because the mirror only recorded the past. The things that happened have long been unchangeable.
âIt seems that you donât need to do anything with your old hands. Everything is over.â Su Zimo glanced at the old man in the wheelchair. âItâs a pity that the banquet was over before it even started. Youâve always been thinking about it, Elder?â
The old man patted the armrest of his wheelchair lightly, and seemed to respond very calmly, but two red teardrops flowed from his eyes.
Although the old man was unable to speak, Su Zimo felt that revenge wasnât the main reason why the old man became an obsessed spirit. His main purpose may be just like those people said â hoping that his children and grandchildren will return to the villa just one day of the year.
If they return to the villa as scheduled, they would find it sealed. Perhaps the old man would open it. Then, they would find the staff members who are trapped and insane, find the old man imprisoned on the second floor, learn everything about the criminals, and finally take them out alive for a trial. That may be the ending that the old man hoped to see the most.
But in the end, the door to the villa didnât open on the agreed upon date.
[The babyâs babbling wasnât understandable, but she looked like a drop of pearls on a jade plate, very beautiful.]
[The baby couldnât recognize anything yet, but her eyes were as shimmering as the moon, clean and bright.]
Those two sentences were what the old man wrote in âGushan Notes: Postscript.â The old man loved his distressed granddaughter. Even though Pingting was still in her infancy at the time, she was regarded as a treasure by the old man.
But when the old man lost his language skills and could only voice ambiguous babbles, when the old man had difficulty distinguishing between things and people, and often did things wrong, it became a trouble that wasnât avoidable.
Su Zimo no longer looked at the picture in the mirror. The doors to the villa will definitely be opened one day, but no matter when that day comes, it will be too late.
Su Zimo turned to say goodbye to the old man in the wheelchair, but found that the old malicious spirit had suddenly disappeared and reappeared next to the seat at the head of the table. His dry hands were shaking as he touched the grey teddy bear sitting in the chair, and then he stared in Su Zimoâs direction with a pair of eyes like black holes.
[Ahh-]
The old man babbled to Su Zimo, as if he wanted to say something.
âDo you want me to take this thing?â Su Zimo asked carefully. The old man withdrew his hand and continued to sit there calmly.
Su Zimo walked over to the other side of the dining table and hugged the grey teddy bear on the chair. The old man remained motionless. But when Su Zimo went to pick up the other gift, the dress, a thin hand prevented Su Zimo from moving.
The old manâs body didnât seem to want to listen, his fingers even more so. He worked hard for a long time before grasping the princess dress with his wrist. Moving his arms little by little, he pulled the dress into his arms with great effort.
âIf Iâm lucky enough to meet Ms. Pingting, I will remember to give this gift back to her personally.â Su Zimo could see that the old man wanted to keep the dress. After all, when Su Zimo leaves the nightmare world, he would be the only one left.
[Hu.]
The old man didnât know what he had thought of, so he held the dress and laughed.
During those four years when he was unable to control his body, Su Zimo occasionally woke up and thought about that old man who lacked his company. Would he look at the words he had written or read a book in a daze when bored? Would he think of his past stupidity, and occasionally laugh?
Su Zimo suddenly wanted to go back and accompany his grandfather, to talk to his grandfather halfway up that mountain.
âIâm leaving now.â
The malicious spiritâs gaze wouldnât prevent Su Zimo from opening the door behind him, but when Su Zimo opened the door and began to step back, he found that the old man wasnât looking at him either. He was just staring straight at the mirror in front of him with a pair of black hole eyes.
[Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to meâŚâŚ Hahaha, grandpa, I like you the most!]
When Su Zimo left, he could still hear the childâs singing and laughter in the mirror.
He plunged his entire body into the darkness. After he took a step back, he found that he had returned to the bright and comfortable An Yu Yi Yu. He didnât know if he was immersed in the nightmare world for too long. For a moment, Su Zimo even felt that his surroundings were a bit strange.
Moreover, there was some inexplicable singing⌠No, itâs a noise that surrounded An Yu Yi Yu.
*
âHappy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you pigs! Oh, I like you to be fierce and beautiful. I like you to be strong and sweet. I like you, and the most beautiful scenery is when I watch with you. Ah, ah, ah, ah.â
ââŚâŚâ As soon as he turned around, Su Zimo was stunned. He saw the fool, the Ghost Umbrella, holding a rolled up booklet like a microphone and standing with his back facing him next to the upright piano. The ghost was crying and howling like a wolf, making goosebumps appear. It was particularly inexplicable to hear.
Although he couldnât see his face, judging by his hoarse voice, he must be quite engaged.
Su Zimo knew that Mr. Ghost Umbrella was singing, but perhaps the unworldly non-human may not know what singing is. After all, Su Zimo heard someone sing a birthday song completely unlike a birthday song for the first time. Each word was not in the right tone, so it couldnât be called singing. It could only be called random roaring.
The problem is that it wasnât just one âpersonâ who was fooling around. Even Peng Peng, who had never really been in the store, was sitting in front of the piano accompanying himâŚ
And the tone of the accompaniment completely matched the ghostâs crying-wolf-howl.
Simply put, as bad as the ghost umbrella was singing, thatâs how bad Peng Peng accompanied him with his tune.
Are these two guys suffocating because they were locked in the store for too long?
âHai, hai. Peng Peng, as a musician, you have to practice like this frequently so that your sense of rhythm can continue to improve.â Ghost Umbrella and Peng Peng were both turned away from the side door, and they were so focused that they didnât notice Su Zimoâs return.
âHumans often use the words âgodâ and âdemonâ to describe people who have honed a certain skill to the extreme, like sword god or sword demon, piano god or piano demon. The singing voice of this umbrella is often called a demonâs voice by other ghosts. They say that this is the best singing skill, so as long as you can keep up with my rhythm, you will surely be able to make great progress.â The ghost umbrella patted Peng Pengâs shoulder seriously.
âGhost Umbrella, donât bully Peng Peng.â Su Zimo couldnât help but hide his face. How bad does a singing voice have to be that even ghosts rejected it?
Hearing Su Zimoâs voice, the ghost umbrella who had his back facing him immediately turned around. Then Su Zimo saw the ghost umbrella whose face was pale but whose lips were always very rosy. At the moment, he noticed that those lips were pale, even a little chapped?
Even his eyes were a little pitifulâŚ
After a closer look, Su Zimo also found that the ghost umbrellaâs legs were shaking as they leaned against the upright piano.
âHow long have you been standing here and singing?â The corner of Su Zimoâs eyes couldnât help but twitch.
Su Zimo knew that the time lapse in the nightmare world was different from the real world. Some trainers had said before that no matter how long passes in the nightmare world, itâs only a flash in the real world.
However, Su Zimo discovered that not only did his cooldown time to enter the nightmare world differ from other trainers, but also that every time he came back from the nightmare world, time seemed to pass forward a little.
âNot too long, about thirty minutes.â Ghost Umbrella gripped his old waist. His expression looked a little tired.
âGege!â After Peng Peng hopped off the piano bench, he rushed straight to Su Zimo and said with a smile on his face, âUncle Ghost Umbrella is so amazing. Itâs obviously the same tune, but every time he sings, the rhythm and melody are completely different. It particularly tests the accompanimentâs adaptability!â
Su Zimo originally thought that the ghost umbrella was bullying Peng Peng, but when he saw the ghost umbrellaâs white legs trembling, and how he was still standing there tired and holding his old waist, he couldnât figure out who was bullying who during that time.
âUncle Ghost Umbrella, can you sing it again? I think I can continue to make progress. I even feel that I can break through my bottleneck soon! Oh heavens, Uncle Ghost Umbrella is really amazing!â Peng Peng, while holding Su Zimo, didnât forget to turn his head and blink at the ghost umbrella.
âRight? I said I was very good!â Ghost Umbrella said, trying to supporting his body again like a 90 year old veteran desperately holding a gun through a battlefield.
âUncle, you look tired.â Peng Peng tilted his head.
âUncle is fine.â Ghost Umbrella said, suddenly coughing hard with his mouth covered. âHak hak, hak hak.â
âAh!â
What Su Zimo and Peng Peng didnât expect was that a pool of red blood appeared in Ghost Umbrellaâs palm after coughing!
âUncle Ghost Umbrella!â Peng Peng released Su Zimoâs thigh and went to Ghost Umbrella with tears in his eyes. âIâm sorry. Did Peng Peng make you practice with me for too long?â
Could non-humans cough up blood? Su Zimo also tilted his head blankly.
Then, he saw an unusually kind smile on Ghost Umbrellaâs pale face. He stroked Peng Pengâs hair, and said, âIn terms of age, Iâm your grandfather. If you can, can you call me grandpa? As long as my grandson can smile, as long as I can hear him call me grandpa, grandpa is willing to do anything he wants⌠Ah! You bit me!â
âYouâre not my grandpa! You want to take advantage of me! Shameful!â Peng Peng gnawed the ghost umbrellaâs arm, then jumped back a few steps with a grimace.
âThis child made the first move, deliberately bullying me for so long!â In the blink of an eye, the ghost umbrellaâs face was no longer old and tired. Even his lip color had returned to its originally red and shiny appearance. Peng Peng still grimaced.
âKacha!â
Su Zimo took out the oversized gardening shears called âGhost Severerâ from his backpack, half-glared, and snipped them at the two childish ghosts in front of him a few times. He was very satisfied to see the two strong spirits in An Yu Yi Yu close their mouths skillfully and obediently.
âWelcome home, boss!â The ghost umbrella seemed to remember his identity as the store housekeeper today, and quickly gave a ceremonial greeting. âI havenât seen you for half an hour. I really missed you.â
âGege, welcome home!â Peng Peng stood behind the ghost umbrella and poked his head out. Did he want a hug and kiss?
âIâm back.â Although before he had felt that having the two spirits in the store was a little uncomfortable, when he saw them in An Yu Yi Yu, his entire body completely relaxed.
âBoss, this thing seems to be a ghost tool? I see that you had a good harvest in the nightmare world.â Ghost Umbrella glanced at the extremely sharp double-edged blades of âGhost Severerâ and instantly saw that it had more power than just its sharp edges.
Su Zimo smiled, opened his backpack, and took out âGushan Notes: Postscript (Three Stars),â âStupid Old Cane (Unrepaired),â the âHoly Water (Two Stars)â and âNightmare Brand Sleeping Pills (Two Stars) that the snake dropped, and the grey teddy bear that he promised the old man he would take away. With that in mind, he filled the small counter alongside Ghost Severer.
âBoss, did you collect all trash commodities?â He glanced at the things on the counter. Although the ghost umbrella was knowledgeable about ghost tools, he didnât see the real function of those things.
The demonic face of the ghost umbrella was fascinating, and it was also pretty to look at.
âI think theyâre good.â Su Zimo glanced at his new stock with satisfaction, then at the door of the shop that had remained closed so far. âWith thisâŚ. we can open Ayuyuyu now.â
Translatorâs Notes:
SZ: *leaves*
BU and PP: *immediately start playing the trumpet and slamming the oven door*