chapter 5

From where Dayao stood, she should have seen me fleeing Zheng Rou’s room in a panic. Yet she showed no curiosity about that. All she cared about was the cactus.

Was she the water monkey after all?

“Zheng Rou bought some plant food. I asked her to put a little on my cactus.” My back went cold, but I forced a smile. “It’s late, Dayao. Get some rest. I’m going to bed.”

Without waiting for her answer, I retreated into my room and locked the door.

The livestream chat was in an uproar, comments flying by too quickly to read.

[Streamer, are you okay?]

[The screen was black for ages. Did the water ghost really skin her?]

I told everyone I was safe, then sent Lingfengzi another private message.

[Are you certain there’s only one water monkey?]

Lingfengzi: [Only one.]

Me: [I finally found a fistful of dry earth. I just add a drop of blood, wait until 11:58, and throw it at the water monkey, right?]

Lingfengzi: [If that’s all the earth you have, you must be certain which person is the water monkey. Whatever happens, don’t hit the wrong person. Once your blood touches someone else’s living aura, it loses its power.]

Me: [What else is there to confirm? I have spare keys to all their rooms. Whoever changes skins is obviously the water monkey.]

Lingfengzi: […]

[You have no spiritual power. How could you possibly see a ghost changing its skin? During those two minutes, the water monkey will look and move like an ordinary person to you. By the time your senses catch up, she will already have peeled off her skin.]

I squeezed the phone.

[Then what do I do? I suspect someone, but I can’t be completely sure.]

Lingfengzi: [Do you have a photograph of her?]

I bit my lip. After a moment’s thought, I sent a group photo of Dayao, Xiaomei, and me.

The answer came quickly.

[The one with the longest hair is the water ghost. She has a dark point on her forehead and a gray mole on her ear. The ear is the opening of the kidneys, the gateway through which Water enters and leaves the body in the Five Elements. The dark point and gray mole signify corrupted energy – the physiognomy of malign Water.]

In the photograph, my hair and Xiaomei’s both stopped at our collarbones. Dayao’s fell to her waist.

I had been right. The water ghost was Dayao.

It was 11:50. I mixed a drop of blood into the earth, clenched it in my fist, and prepared to wait in my room for eight minutes.

Then another thought struck me.

If Dayao was the ghost, Xiaomei was an ordinary woman. Judging from how frantically Zheng Rou had put his disguise back on, Xiaomei clearly did not know that he was a man or a cat-killing psychopath.

The two of them were alone together. Could Xiaomei be in danger?

After wrestling with myself, I tried to video call her.

Xiaomei’s ringtone was an old love song, Love Like a Tide. It played all the way through, but she did not answer.

I called again. Still nothing.

Had something really happened?

Panic stirred inside me. Xiaomei had saved me, even if she had not meant to. I could not leave her to die.

I slipped the bloodied earth into my coat pocket, fetched an iron hammer from the kitchen toolbox for courage, and went to her room.

Knock, knock, knock.

“Xiaomei, are you in there?”

Three seconds later, her drowsy voice came through the door.

“Qingqing? What is it? I was asleep.”

I glanced back at Zheng Rou’s room. The door still stood wide open. He had not returned, which meant he had to be inside Xiaomei’s room.

“Open the door, Xiaomei. I have something important to tell you.”

“Ugh… Fine. Give me a minute to put something on.”

She sounded annoyed, not like someone grateful to have been rescued.

Had I misunderstood?

I pressed my ear to the door and heard a faint rustling inside. Then Xiaomei’s footsteps drew closer.

She opened the door in pajamas, bleary-eyed, and switched on the light.

“What could possibly be so important that you had to tell me now?”

Standing in the hall, I tried to invent a lie while covertly inspecting her room.

It was not large. Apart from a big wardrobe, the entire room lay open to view.

Remembering how I had hidden in a wardrobe myself, I became more cautious.

“Why don’t we talk in my room?”

Xiaomei pressed her lips together, irritation flashing in her eyes.

“Just say it here. I’m exhausted.”

I chose my words. “Xiaomei, Zheng Rou is actually -”

My phone vibrated twice.

Two voice messages from Zheng Rou.

To avoid making noise, I tapped the speech-to-text button. As the words appeared one by one, each felt like a bolt of lightning striking my skull.

[Help… me…]

[Lin Xiaomei… is going to kill me. Help…]