Published at 8th of October 2024 3:12 am

Chapter 1411: Elizabeth’s Inexplicably Rapid Progress

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When the knocking echoed, Lin Sanjiu jolted, nearly dropping her teacup. She composed herself, her limbs still trembling slightly, and took a deep breath before opening the door.

Pink stood outside, his lips pursed, his expression unreadable. “I want to come in.”

“Are you here to play? But if you don’t go home, your grandma will worry,” Elizabeth said, her patience for dealing with children thinning. “You should hurry and—”

Ignoring her, Pink shouldered past and entered the house. As she turned, Elizabeth nearly yelped but caught herself. She didn’t dare look up, quickly averting her eyes and following him, murmuring, “I don’t have time…”

Pink turned sharply. “Grandma passed out, just like you saw last time. Ms. Chen searched our house again and just left. nobody will know I’m here.”

Elizabeth froze, her mouth opening and closing, at a loss for words. How did the child know? Wasn’t he unconscious then too?

“What you saw wasn’t the first instance,” Pink continued, settling onto the sofa. “Ms. Chen frequently brings us food. But lately, after eating it, Grandma sometimes collapses. I fell into a deep sleep once, and since then, I’ve secretly spit out everything she brings.”

So, Pink had been feigning sleep?

His mature tone was striking for a child of only five. Elizabeth realized she couldn’t treat him like just any other child. Steeling herself, she admitted, “Yes… I saw.”

“I don’t know what that old hag is looking for,” Pink said, his chin raised, showing a glimpse of his childlike side. “Having seen and heard what you did, don’t you have any thoughts?”

‘Heard?’

Elizabeth thought, confused.

Pink opened his backpack and pulled out the baby monitor she had placed in his house.

“I’m a kid, usually sent out to play alone, so I can’t ever hear anything,” Pink said, sliding the monitor toward her. “But you’ve heard, haven’t you?”

Elizabeth stared at the monitor, a shiver running down her spine. It had been four to five days since she placed that monitor. Ms. Chen must have visited Pink’s grandma several times during this period. Since Pink wasn’t asleep that day, he must have found the monitor early but chose to confront her only now, perhaps to give her time to overhear Ms. Chen.

‘Could such calculated thinking really be from a five-year-old?’

Moreover, Pink’s revelation seemed to be the missing piece of a puzzle she had been trying to solve, making her realize that she had indeed heard something significant.

“I did hear some of their conversations,” she said, looking down. Pink had already shared so much; it was pointless for her to hide anything. “Because your grandma has a poor memory, most of the conversations weren’t very valuable. But once, I heard Ms. Chen mention something about an upcoming population census and that everyone needed to update their identification details at the police station.”

She realized Pink’s blank expression meant he likely didn’t understand what a population census was, so she briefly explained it.

Pink nodded and asked, “So, what’s the problem?”

Although a population census might seem trivial, Elizabeth knew that as one of the adults in the building, she, like everyone else, had never received any notice to update her identification details. Clearly, Ms. Chen had made this up.

Initially, Elizabeth couldn’t understand why Ms. Chen would make up such a thing. But after listening to Pink, it became clear.

“I thought it was an isolated incident… but if you say she repeatedly drugged you to make you faint, it means she hasn’t found what she’s looking for,” Elizabeth said, glancing at a corner to calm herself. “As far as I know, there is no population census. I think Ms. Chen can’t find her target, so she’s trying to get the owner to present it.”

Pink suddenly looked up. “You mean, she’s after Grandma’s identification details?”

That was the only explanation Lin Sanjiu could think of.

“I know you want help, but I don’t know how to assist you,” Elizabeth said, ever self-serving and reluctant to involve herself in a risky situation without any benefit. “I also don’t have any evidence. Maybe you should report this to the police next time.”

Pink rolled his eyes, looking rather adorable.

“Why did you put a monitor in my house?”

“Uh, I accidentally left it there…”

“Behind the flower pot? Do you really think a kid would fall for that?”

Elizabeth clamped her mouth shut. How could she admit the truth? She needed Pink to believe she had psychic abilities. Revealing she was only gathering material for her psychic predictions would destroy that illusion.

The boy bent down, studying the monitor on the table, lost in thought. Elizabeth watched him intently, then quickly looked away.

Lifting his head, Pink seemed to have a realization. “You’re not after us but Ms. Chen, aren’t you?”

Taken aback by his astuteness, Lin Sanjiu watched as Pink chuckled, mischief gleaming in his eyes. “There’s nothing worth eavesdropping on between Grandma and me. But Ms. Chen has been going around calling you a fraud. You couldn’t stand it, could you? She lives alone, so she wouldn’t be talking to herself all day. You thought my house would be a better place.”

He had nearly guessed everything.

Lin Sanjiu suspected that Pink might have even discerned her ultimate goal. After all, everyone acts with a purpose; no one would waste time just harboring resentment. Perhaps this was his way of articulating it, given he couldn’t directly express her true intentions.

She glanced nervously at a corner of the living room, then looked down again.

She wrung her hands, struggling for what to say next. She needed to convince Pink that his assumptions were off, to maintain a shred of credibility. Yet, no words came—her mind was in turmoil, unsure if it was Pink’s maturity or another unsettling presence in the room that disconcerted her more.

“What are you always looking at?” Pink suddenly asked. “Ever since I came in, your eyes have been darting around, especially to the corners.”

Elizabeth hadn’t expected the boy to notice. She glanced past Pink, her eyes resting on another figure behind the sofa. Pink, sensing her gaze, turned to look behind him, then faced her again, puzzled. “Is there something behind me?”

‘He really can’t see it,’

Elizabeth thought, her throat tightening.

It had been four or five days.

When she encountered the second Ms. Chen under the bed, she was almost paralyzed, her thoughts frozen. The imposter seemed to be searching for something, rummaging around under the bed. Abruptly, she stopped and turned her head slowly towards Elizabeth.

In that moment, Lin Sanjiu realized the thing was checking if she had actually seen it.

Although their gazes met, luckily, she hadn’t spoken to the thing, not giving “Ms. Chen” a chance to confirm her suspicions. She held eye contact for a second, then looked away nonchalantly, pretending the exchange was accidental.

What would happen if it discovered she could see it?

Only after the real Ms. Chen outside the bed returned the items and left did she drag herself out from under the bed. The second Ms. Chen crawled out like a large spider newly emerged, its gaze still fixed unwaveringly on Elizabeth.

It had become suspicious. When Elizabeth rose to leave, it followed closely. As Lin Sanjiu bent to unlock her door, she could feel its presence hovering just above her shoulder.

Over the next four or five days, “Ms. Chen” occasionally appeared in her home.

“I… I’m just observing the flow of energy,” Lin Sanjiu said hurriedly, eyes averted. “Everyone has their own energy field.”

Pink didn’t buy it. “What did you actually see?”

Behind the sofa, “Ms. Chen” also leaned forward, stretching its neck, its pale eyeballs seeming to fixate on something. It, too, was eager for Lin Sanjiu’s response.

“Really, it’s nothing…”

“Was it a ghost?” Pink asked, chuckling softly. Then, his demeanor shifted suddenly as a thought struck him, his brows knitting together.

Just as Elizabeth was about to say “Ghosts aren’t real,” she stopped herself, offering a stammered, unclear explanation that made her seem all the more suspicious. However, she managed the situation well enough that Pink didn’t press further.

As he stood to leave, he paused and turned back. “I know where Grandma’s personal documents are. Do you want to know?”

Elizabeth’s heart skipped a beat. If she knew what Ms. Chen was desperately searching for and where it was, convincing Ms. Chen of her psychic abilities would be easier.

“You’re… willing to tell me?” she asked, incredulous. This was crucial information about his grandma.

‘Why would Pink…’

“I can, but I have a condition,” Pink said, smiling slightly and motioning for Elizabeth to lean closer.

His warm breath tickled her ear as he whispered his condition, but his words made her face turn a shade between white and green. Long after Pink had left, she remained unsure if she had heard him correctly.

Turning around, she tried her best to ignore “Ms. Chen,” who lingered close by, and walked into the living room. She absentmindedly pulled out the character manual from her pocket, flipping through it while contemplating Pink’s condition.

She wasn’t sure how long she had been lost in thought, but a glance down at the manual made her freeze. “Huh?”

Below the words “game objective,” the current count of those who believed in her psychic abilities was displayed. For the past two weeks, that number had remained a pitiable “2”—namely, Jetson and Goldie.

Now, it had changed to “4.”

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