Right now, Northeast Mary and her three roommates were walking through Conglin.
The environnt inside Conglin was terrible. Weeds grew wild, and the air was filled with the buzzing of countless mosquitoes and other insects.
On top of that, it was already late at night. There was no light on the path, no moon in the mirror space—just pitch-black darkness. Every step was taken with trepidation.
Walking along the desolate, dark path, the mory of playing the Bloody Mary ga made all four of their scalps tingle with fear.
Suddenly, a shadow flashed past them. The four of them jumped in fright, huddling together in an instant.
The viewers in the livestream chat were on edge as well. The sudden scare made them jump, and they flooded the chat asking Shen Zhiyao if they had just seen Mary.
Shen Zhiyao said, "Don’t be scared. It was just a crow. Keep moving forward."
The words had barely left their mouth when a large flock of crows took to the sky, circling as if to warn the four of them to leave imdiately.
The livestream viewers began to discuss it:
[Phew~ So it was just a crow! That scared to death. Glad it was a false alarm.]
[What do you an, a false alarm?! Crows are a terrible on! They’re warning you to leave! Danger ahead!]
[Stop walking! You’re going to die!]
Seeing the comnts in the chat, the four of them looked thoroughly spooked, patting their chests to calm themselves.
Xiao Wen lowered his voice and said, "This should be our last loop, right?"
Northeast Mary glanced at a road sign. "Right. One more loop, and we should be able to see the manor where Mary lived."
Xiao Li shone his light ahead. Mary’s manor was right there. "N-No... we don’t have one more loop... This is the last one. We’re here..."
Xiao Zhang spoke up, his voice trembling with fear, "Can we... not go in? I have a bad feeling about this place..."
They really didn’t want to enter Mary’s ho. Who knew what other horrors might be waiting for them inside?
Shen Zhiyao said, "How will you see Mary if you don’t go to her door? Go on. How will you know what she wants if you don’t pay her a visit?"
They peeked through a crack in the gate and saw that the lights inside the manor were still on. It truly looked like a building from the 1980s.
They had really entered Mary’s mories.
The light was pale, casting a cold glow from within the rooms. They couldn’t tell if it was just their imagination or if sothing was really in there.
"Let’s go!" Northeast Mary urged. "The sooner we go, the sooner we’re back. The host is still watching us. It’ll be fine."
The three young n stood by the crack in the gate, peering at the villa’s interior like a trio of thieves.
Xiao Wen said, "Xiao Li, you go knock on the door!"
Xiao Li said, "No, no, no... I’m scared there’s a ghost inside..."
Northeast Mary gave him a shove. "If they’re inside with the lights on, they have to be alive! Stop wasting ti and go open the door!"
A sinister gust of wind blew up from behind, causing the four of them outside the gate to cry out in fear.
Just then, the villa’s main door opened. It wasn’t a monster or ghost that erged, but an old man with graying temples.
The old man looked at them quizzically. "It’s the middle of the night. What are you all doing out here, making such a racket?"
Xiao Li stamred, too flustered to speak.
Xiao Wen’s gaze went past the old man, and he saw a black-and-white photograph on the living room wall.
The woman in the photo was beautiful and young, looking to be in her teens, with a sweet smile. Next to the photo was an incense burner and offerings.
A white-haired old woman was kneeling on the floor, burning joss paper for her daughter.
Xiao Wen quickly explained, "Please don’t be angry. We ca to pay our respects to her. We an no harm."
The old man turned to look at the photograph, his brow furrowing unconsciously. "You know my daughter?"
The four of them nodded repeatedly.
Xiao Wen said, "Sir, is your daughter’s na Mary? We were her comrades-in-arms. We wanted to co and see her!"
Northeast Mary quickly chid in, "We won’t stay long. We just want to pay our respects and have a little chat with her."
Xiao Li nodded along emphatically.
Hearing that the four had co to pay respects to his daughter, the old man’s guard imdiately dropped. "Yes, yes, good children, here to see Mary. How thoughtful of you. Co in, co in!"
He turned and saw the house was thick with smoke from the joss paper the old woman had been burning. He said to her, "That’s enough. The money we’ve burned tonight is enough for our girl to spend in the underworld. Don’t you worry. Mary will definitely be able to take good care of herself down there."
"I still have a few more sheets to burn! Our family has always been poor. Mary suffered quite a bit with us when she was alive. Now that she’s dead, I just want her to have a good life in the underworld."
The old woman tossed the last few sheets of joss paper into the brazier, but she had been crouching for so long that she felt a bit dizzy as she stood up.
Xiao Wen had sharp eyes and reacted instantly, rushing forward to steady the old woman.
The old woman looked at the innocent-faced young people and smiled. "You must be Mary’s comrades-in-arms, right? I rember she sent photos ho when she was alive. She was so full of life back then."
As she spoke, her expression turned sorrowful. "What a pity... she couldn’t co back alive like you all did... If she had, she would be about your age now."
On the table, Mary’s photograph still stood silently, her smile unchanged.
But in Xiao Wen’s eyes, the morial portrait only sent a chill down his spine. He wondered if Mary’s spirit was right behind them, staring intently as she enjoyed the offerings.
In any case, no matter what, the thought of Mary being in the room with them made their skin crawl.
The three exchanged a look, then walked up to the morial portrait together. They bowed respectfully, repeating "I’m sorry!" over and over in their minds.
After bowing and apologizing, the three of them were desperate to leave.
The old man ca over with a tray, saying, "Why are you all standing by the door? Here, sit down. Have so coffee before you go!"
The old woman was holding a large photo album. "The photos Mary sent us were all group pictures from the war. Co and have a look... There aren’t many, so I don’t know if you’ll be in them. Please don’t mind."
Faced with the old couple’s hospitality, the four young n could only bite the bullet and sit down.
The old woman opened it to the first page. A large black-and-white photograph ca into view.
The background of the photo showed a long line of military tents. It was a group photo of Mary and her comrades, and on every face was an expression of imnse strain.
The old man pointed at the photo and said, "You were all in the sa company, weren’t you! Co, find where you’re sitting."
Awkward expressions appeared on the four’s faces, but since they had already lied, they had no choice but to keep up the act.
Fortunately, the group photo was black and white, and their faces were hard to make out in the dim light. They just pointed to a few young people who looked vaguely similar and managed to fool the old couple.
Mary’s parents were not cold people. Seeing their daughter’s comrades, they began to speak endlessly about her past.
The four, who had originally been terrified, slowly pieced together the image of a young woman from these little details—a girl who was warm, cheerful, beautiful, and poised.
It was a complete contrast to the cold, gloomy figure they had seen in the mirror.
As the pages turned, they saw a picture of Mary as a child. She was standing there in a floral princess dress, looking so beautiful.
They also saw Mary during her school days, dressed in a master’s gown, holding a diploma, looking bright and elegant in the sunlight.
And they saw her holding a rifle, looking valiant and heroic at the camp.
That was the last photograph...
Mary was the family’s only daughter, doted on and cherished since she was a child.
She had always made her family proud, excelling in her studies from a young age and eventually getting into the Vienna Art Academy. Later, when the world fell into chaos, Mary enlisted.
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