Daomu Biji: A Thousand Faces

As the bonfire blazed, the plastic garbage bag melted into a sticky lump, filling the air with the smell of burning plastic. Two easels and some scrap oil paintings had also been burned. Since the canvases were covered in oil paints, the fire was particularly vigorous. 

Liang Yanyan didn’t allow Ah Tou to get close to the fire, so Ah Tou was squatting far away. As the cold wind brushed over her, Ah Tou gradually came to her senses. 

Did Tintin die?

She had at least been clear and rational whenever she faced all the setbacks in her previous life, but now she wasn’t even sure whether her cat was dead or not.

"It will disturb your emotions and gradually break you down,” Liang Yanyan said from her position near the bonfire. “It’s better not to get too worked up." 

Although Liang Yanyan was so certain that the cat had already died, Ah Tou still couldn’t accept it. She hadn’t seen the cat herself, so she didn't know whether she should be sad or confused. But Ah Tou wasn’t the kind of woman who languished in chaos for long. She took a few deep breaths, lit a cigarette, and headed back into the house.

Liang Yanyan looked at Ah Tou curiously, noting that the girl’s back was no longer curled up but was completely straight.

She’s got some personality problems, Liang Yanyan thought to herself. A girl with that kind of personality was generally more impulsive, but also harder to defeat.

Liang Yanyan followed Ah Tou back into the house, but when she saw that Ah Tou was heading upstairs, she stopped her once again. Ah Tou immediately turned around and tried to pull Liang Yanyan’s hand off with all of her strength. Liang Yanyan frowned and let go. 

Ah Tou realized that she had scratched Liang Yanyan’s wrist, so she calmed down and said, “I’m sorry, but I have to go up and see for myself. I only trust what I can see with my own eyes.”

"I'll go with you,” Liang Yanyan said.

Ah Tou looked into Liang Yanyan’s eyes, but the other woman had already walked past her up the stairs and said, "I know it’s not easy for you to cooperate with me, so I won’t force you to. But I won’t let you die either."

"I’ll die if I go up upstairs?" Ah Tou didn't really believe it, but as she reluctantly followed Liang Yanyan up a couple of steps, she looked up at the bend in the stairs and immediately saw a very long body protruding from the second floor platform. It was staring down at them from the top of the stairs. 

That thing was so tall that it had to bend its upper body down in order to peek at them from the second floor. 

Ah Tou staggered back a few steps and almost fell down the stairs. She immediately grabbed the railing to stabilize herself, but when she looked back up, the thing was no longer there.

Liang Yanyan looked at Ah Tou in confusion. It appeared she hadn’t seen it at all, but she immediately understood and laughed, "You saw it again."

Ah Tou pointed behind Liang Yanyan’s head. The other woman instinctively moved away, as if there was something passing through the air.

"You didn't see it?

"It only targets you." Liang Yanyan walked the rest of the way up and looked down at her from the top of the stairs.

Ah Tou had really wanted to go upstairs before, but now she was hesitant. She didn’t expect that the “force” totally ignored common sense and came out whenever it liked. Under normal circumstances, you would expect to see a horrible scene only after going up and exploring for a bit.

Why is this ghost so random?! And this is the real world! Ah Tou no longer had the courage to go upstairs, but after sensing a touch of mockery in Liang Yanyan’s eyes, she felt she couldn’t give up.

In the end, Ah Tou made her way up to the second floor. But this time, she did it without lifting her head up at all. 

Her room was the same as when she had come running down earlier. She called her cat a few times, “Tintin! Tintin!”

She expected a response, but there was none. She slowly walked over to look under the bed, the blankets, and even under the radiator, but there was nothing. Ah Tou went to the edge of the platform and called a few more times. Tintin usually responded to her whenever she called, but there was no response at all this time. Ah Tou felt tears gather in her eyes and a burning sensation in her nose as she realized that the lump in the burning plastic bag just now had really been Tintin. 

Her tears almost fell, but she fought hard to suppress her emotions. Tintin had been her only emotional support for four years. She had never expected to lose her like this.

At this time, the door downstairs suddenly opened. Ah Tou looked down from the second floor and was stunned to see Liang Yanyan walking into the house. 

She was very confused as to why Liang Yanyan had just come in and why she was downstairs. 

Wait a minute, then who’s the Liang Yanyan who came in with me just now? Ah Tou suddenly broke out in a cold sweat and immediately looked behind her. She saw that the Liang Yanyan whom she had followed upstairs was standing extremely close to her and had become extremely tall.