You're my wife, don't doubt it!

"Ew, that's scary."

"What's so scary about rats?"

Yu Luying didn't answer that question, but instead looked down at her phone and pressed something: "My uncle just texted me saying that the Saint Cloth still hasn't been found, and it's not on Zhao Xiaomei's person or in her bag."

Xiao Yao was taken aback and said, "No way, could it have been lost during the fight? What exactly is that Saint Cloth from?"

"It has most likely already been moved," Yu Luying analyzed.

"It seems we've lost this battle after all," Shen Jie said, somewhat dejectedly.

Transferred? How did they manage that? Xiao Yao fell into deep thought.

According to the information shared among the friends, after Zhao Xiaomei took the Holy Body and the Holy Cloth away from the Holy Body Room, she immediately transformed into Xiao Yao's appearance and bumped into Shen Jie and Yu Bo, who had just returned.

The time gap in between couldn't possibly be too long... Who was her accomplice who came to meet her? Did anyone encounter him during the entire film's duration?

"Could there be a mole among us?" Xiao Yao asked.

“Brother Xiao Yao,” Yu Luying looked up and, once again, answered a question that seemed unrelated, “whose head did you see on the plate in Salome’s hand?”

Xiao Yao felt a chill in his heart: "Why do you ask that?"

“Daiyu said he saw Yan Xiao’s head,” Yu Luying said. “My uncle also said that what he saw in that plate was likely the head of his loved one.”

"Ah, if that's really the case—" Shen Jie was stunned: "Both my silly sister and I only saw your head... This is just too embarrassing, isn't it?"

Where exactly did I go wrong?!

"So, whose head did you see?" Yu Luying asked persistently.

You little brat! Do you want things done? Can't you just let us enjoy a proper vacation as a family?

"I'm sorry, I still couldn't help it." Yu Luying tilted her head, as if trying to detect Xiao Yao's thoughts and extract the answer herself.

Xiao Yao knew she would do this, and immediately forced his mind to go blank: "In the end, this is just a guess and a hypothesis, isn't it?"

"So whose head did you see? Can't you just say it?" Shen Jie pressed gently.

"You two! Do you even want to make things right?!" Xiao Yao roared inwardly.

“What I see is my own head,” the boy lied. “That shows I’m a very self-loving person, but sometimes I’m a little too selfish. I always love myself the most.”

“Keep pulling, keep pulling,” Shen Jie said.

"Aaaaaah!" Xiao Yao clutched his head with both hands: "You two, each of you, stab me in the ribs, just kill me already!"

Just then, the sound of small animals rushing across the floor came again from under the cabinet.

"Ah—!" Yu Luying sprang up, letting out a short, sharp scream: "I saw it, I saw it... It's so big..."

"What's there to be afraid of? Even if it's big, it's just a mouse. Can it be bigger than a cat?" Shen Jie seemed to have discovered some new adventure, instantly perking up: "Xiao Yao, your precious house has mice? We didn't have any when we lived with your grandma—"

"Ah, yes." Xiao Yao silently thanked the giant rat that saved his life: "This dilapidated house."

Shen Jie landed on the floor with a "thud," then ran to a corner of the room and grabbed a mop handle.

The sound of children running barefoot on the floor was indeed very loud, Xiao Yao thought.

Actually, the reason Shen Jie was so excited, besides being a mischievous child—well, an adventurer's nature and restlessness, was also because she didn't really want Xiao Yao to fail to get through this tonight.

I'll let you off the hook today, but next time we're alone, I'll use pepper spray to force you to tell the truth.

Don't even think about speaking human language to humans and ghost language to ghosts.

Little Apple was curled up in a ball on the bed. Xiao Yao wanted to hug her and comfort her, but he was afraid of upsetting the cat's mother. At that moment, the cat's mother was indulging her feline nature and was happily catching mice.

She brandished the mop handle in her hand with fierce gestures, like a valiant warrior wielding a long naginata.

The girl's naginata followed the mouse's footsteps, sweeping under the furniture until it finally reached the bed.

The mother cat failed to catch the big mouse, but she caught another "mouse" under the bed—meaning she discovered something that shouldn't be discovered.

"What is this thing?" Shen Jie asked, puzzled, as she used the mop handle to lift up the grayish rag.

Xiao Yao and Yu Luying looked in the direction of the sound and seemed to see a tattered national flag slowly rising on the mast. Both of their expressions changed.

Although it was filthy, it was still easy to recognize at a glance that it was a pair of white... pantyhose.

These pantyhose are so tattered they're practically unusable; they're covered in runs, holes, and rips.

"Whose?" Shen Jie asked coldly, her face and voice equally cold.

Xiao Yao deliberately squinted and examined it for a while, then forced himself to answer, "I think it looks like a woman's."

“I know it’s a woman’s, not the King of France’s,” Shen Jie asked with a straight face. “Whose? Don’t tell me it’s your mother’s.”

Hey, you know what a great reason that is!

Xiao Yao said, "That's right..."

“It’s mine,” Yu Luying interjected. “Xiao Yao tore it that day, so I took it off and threw it in the trash can. I don’t know how it ended up under the bed again?”

“You 90s kids really know how to have fun!” Shen Jie blurted out.

“Um,” Yu Luying corrected softly, “I think I was born in '89…”

“You should have said you liked this earlier,” Shen Jie stared at Xiao Yao. “I could have torn it for you. Tear it however you want, whichever strip you want, however you want.”

"Don't be angry, listen to me..." Xiao Yao said anxiously.

"What do I have to be angry about?" Shen Jie said, along with her mop, and climbed onto the bed with her legs up. She lay down on her side with her back to Xiao Yao: "I'm tired, so please take your leave now."

"No, this?" Xiao Yao reached out to touch Shen Jie's back, but she didn't even flinch or shake his hand away; she remained silent and motionless.

"Don't be angry, listen to me," Xiao Yao shook Shen Jie's shoulder, "It's not what you think..."

"I wasn't thinking anything, and I wasn't angry," Shen Jie finally replied, her back to him. "I just felt really upset, but I'll be fine after a good night's sleep, and I'm just really tired and sleepy..."

"Is it really okay?"

"It's okay."

Having said all that, Xiao Yao didn't press the matter any further. He simply turned to Yu Luying, gave her a helpless look, and gave her a slightly bitter smile.

Unfortunately, he saw another dark face.

Xiao Yao was slightly surprised, but quickly sensed what was wrong with Yu Luying.

It was that tattered pantyhose that reminded her of that unhappy night, that unhappy event.

Xiao Yao reached out to stroke the top of the girl's head, but she instinctively dodged away—then glanced at Xiao Yao, and took the initiative to come closer, snuggling into the boy's arms.

The young man gently stroked Yu Luying's head, and she looked up at him and said, "I'm fine, let's watch the game."

Xiao Yao wasn't really in the mood to watch the game. He kept his eyes glued to the screen while whispering to Yu Luying. He was also afraid that Shen Jie might wake up suddenly and get even angrier if she saw this, so he didn't dare to hug her too tightly or sit too close.

This worry was unnecessary—by the time the game was over, Shen Jie was fast asleep, making a "whoosh" sound.

Yu Luying turned off the lights and the TV again, plunging the room back into a deathly, pure darkness.

Xiao Yao felt uncomfortable, both physically and mentally.

Three people lying in a double bed is really cramped. You're even worried about pushing the people next to you off the bed if you turn over.

Besides, even if the girls weren't throwing a tantrum, he was worried that the other girl would object no matter which one he hugged, and hugging them all at once was incredibly uncomfortable, so he simply lay there stiffly like a corpse.

Sure enough, three people are not as good as two, Xiao Yao thought to himself.

No matter who you're with, you can always expect some unplanned, unspeakable developments. But with three people, you can't rely on anything and can only act like a good boy.

Going out with one girl is called a date, but going out with two girls is just carrying bags for your girlfriends...

No wonder Yu Bo emphasized, "The three of you are not allowed to separate..."

"Then how about I go to sleep in the small room?" Yu Luying said softly.

"Stop messing around." Seeing that Shen Jie was sleeping soundly, Xiao Yao gritted his teeth, turned over and pulled Yu Luying into his arms.

"Don't hug me, hug her instead," Yu Luying silently instructed in her mind.

"Huh?" Xiao Yao judged the tone of her inner thoughts.

“I’m fine now,” Yu Luying explained to herself, “If you don’t make her feel better, it will be the two of us who suffer.”

Xiao Yao pondered for a moment, then released Yu Luying and turned back to Shen Jie.

Just as he was about to reach out and touch her, Shen Jie turned around on her own initiative.

Looking at her tightly closed eyes, Xiao Yao figured she probably hadn't woken up yet.

Shen Jie clung to him like an octopus again, giving him a hard peck on the lips, muttering something Xiao Yao couldn't understand in his sleep.

Xiao Yao felt much more at ease.

The mouse started running around on the floor again, squeaking and chewing on something.

Yu Luying hugged him silently from behind.

Just as Xiao Yao was about to turn around, Yu Luying silently told him not to move.

Amidst the commotion of the mice, Xiao Yao stretched his head and snuggled up to the cat mother.

Silent all night.

……

Xiao Yao woke up in the quiet morning. The morning light pierced through the thin curtains and the gaps between them, casting golden beams into the room.