The Yu Brother’s Case Book - S2: Book 6: Chapter 9

“That’s pretty much it.”

The next morning, Li Lin Yue knocked on Yu Yin’s door with breakfast in hand. She then passed a list over to him. “I asked the other half that ran off as well, and told them to keep their mouths shut. It was just asking around anyways.”

Since it had been Yu Yin’s request, she had basically sorted out everything that night.

“Thanks.” Yu Yin carefully read through the paper and patted her shoulder. “I’ll treat you to a grand meal next time.”

“Heh, considering our friendship, there’s no need to be so courteous with spending money. At most, you just need to…”

“No, I think that treating you to a meal is less frightening than any alternative.” The reason Yu Yin was firmly suggesting repayment was because he had known her for too long; he was certain that not settling things ahead of time would result in him being screwed over in various ways by this woman. Acting as her boyfriend to get rid of pests was just a small token; the most terrifying thought was some kind of sorority underwear carnival being organised at his house.

Which was why he would rather spend away his money and treat her to a grand meal so that he didn’t fall prey to her schemes.

“So unfriendly.” Li Lin Yue had originally just wanted to suggest a peck, but she hadn’t expected to be rejected so quickly. She clicked her tongue in boredom and asked, “Is Xiao Yu not awake yet?”

“He woke up ages ago, he went to shower.” In the beginning of the trip, Yu had been extremely fascinated by the beach and sunrise, so he had been waking up very early these past few days. It had been the exact opposite of Dong Feng, who had been going out every night. Yu Yin directly let Li Lin Yue inside and then casually shut the door. “The others are alright?”

“Miss Pin Si is doing great, she’s even been worried about you overworking and keeps asking if she can help you out somehow. Honestly, I think you should try a serious date when we get back. Maybe you two will unexpectedly be a good fit?” She jabbed her friend with her elbow and then plopped down on a chair to open the bags of breakfast. “Or Jia Jia…”

Before she could finish her sentence, a series of thuds suddenly replaced the sounds of running water from the bathroom.

“Xiao Yu?” Yu Yin knocked on the bathroom door, but before he could ask what was wrong, the door suddenly opened to reveal Yu already dressed and a towel in his hair. He grabbed onto Yu Yin and pointed into the bathroom.

Yu Yin followed his finger and immediately knew why the other person had run outside.

The faucet that should have been running water now had long hair densely sticking out from the holes. The blocked water dripped out from between the hairs, drawing out multiple small streams.

Before he could figure out what was going on, they heard shrieks from next door, awaking the other girls that were still asleep. Immediately, a series of clatters and bangs of opening doors followed as everyone charged out from their room.

In the end, a clamour in the boys’ room that was further away arose as well. Their door was forcefully slammed open and a flurry of people ran out from there as well.

Finally, the new visitors joined the ruckus, screaming and fleeing outside too.

It was evident that escaping did not resolve the dilemma. Various curses and cries continued to rise successively, and everything instantly fell into chaos.

“What’s going on?” It looked like this was not a small deal. Yu Yi immediately dashed over to open their door. But before he could even clarify things, he felt something on his hand; when he lowered his head to check, he spotted a bunch of soaking wet hair wrapped around the handle. It wasn’t just their room either, there were tons [of hair] stuck on the handle of the door next to them as well. Naturally, the other rooms were the same.

With just one step outside, he noticed that the doormat was drenched as though it had been dunked in water.

The visitors began to yell about finding the guesthouse owner, while Ah Guan and the others simply stared at the late-arrived Yu Yin in wait for an explanation.

Yu Yin really wanted to seek out an explanation as well. He shrugged, indicating that he currently had no answer.

“Jia Jia’s hurt.” Before their panic had yet to fade, Meng Pin Si suddenly spotted that the tightly clenched hands of the girl next to her were dyed red. Immediately, she let out a cry of alarm.

“I was cut by that hair when I was washing my hands…” Jia Jia fearfully gripped the bleeding wound on her hands, her eyes turning red. “Will something bad happen…”

“Don’t worry, it’ll be fine once I help you disinfect and bandage it…” Meng Pin Si consoled the girl on the verge of tears, then flashed Yu Yin a smile before leading the girl off to the side. “Is this on your hand also a cut?”

“Ah no, that’s a tattoo.”

As Yu Yin heard the girls’ soft chatter, he shrugged his shoulders at Li Lin Yue.

The guesthouse owner was brought over. Upon seeing the faucets in every room that had all pores clogged by hair, they were just as astonished and furiously apologised to everyone. They then quickly found people to clean up and eventually arranged for everyone to temporarily stay at another place nearby.

“This really makes me recall some unwanted memories.”

“Indeed…” Yu Yin honestly wished he could go out and have a normal and fun time with friends, like he had in the past.

“What a unique trip.” Xiang Zhen Rong and Ah Guan finished helping the girls move some of their larger luggage and then slowed their pace to join the conversation. “This is my first time seeing such long hair coming out from a shower head.”

Apparently, Ah Guan had been the first to shower on the boys’ side. When he had turned on the shower head, a large clump of hair had spurted out. Xiang Zhen Rong and the others had run out along with him, only to discover that the door crack was also filled with hair.

Compared to the foreign visitors, they were not as alarmed by the sight.

“I told you that Ah Yin is the type of person that anything can happen around,” Ah Guan described his friend.

“As if it’s any of my damn business!” Yu Yin kicked the butt of the bastard in front of him.

“It’s definitely your damn business!” Ah Guan stumbled forwards, then swiftly spun around to return the kick.

“Childish.”

Li Lin Yue watched her two friends kicking each other’s asses and let out an exaggerated long sigh. She hooked an arm around Yu and said, “Don’t become like your idiot brother when you grow up.”

Yu glanced at her without a reply.

The temporary residence that had been arranged was a small villa.

Although it did not have a large courtyard for barbequing, it had a beautiful garden with comforting decor. The place was approximately a ten minute walk away from their original guesthouse, but it was likewise by the sea.

Though now that they had to divide the floor with other visitors, things were slightly more troublesome.

The other visitors clearly had some words to say about it too, but seeing as the rooms were all being covered, they accepted it nonetheless.

Yu Yin put away their luggage, then heard knocking on the door.

Meng Pin Si stood there. She looked at him in faint embarrassment and said, “Um…could I trouble you for a second? There’s something I want to tell you.”

“Huh? Sure.” Yu Yin gave Yu a heads up, then went down with the girl to the small lounge on the first level.

Meng Pin Si confirmed no one else was around before quietly stating, “Actually, I found something a bit weird when I was bandaging Jia Jia just now…”

“Weird?” Yu Yin was puzzled.

“Jia Jia had what looked like a wrist-cutting scar.” Meng Pin Si motioned the area while continuing, “I’ve seen some girls cut their wrists before. But there’s also a tattoo on Jia Jia’s scar, a very strange tattoo. It seems like some type of scar, but it gives off an inexplicably strange feeling…so I wanted to tell you.”

“What does the tattoo look like?” Now that she was mentioning it, Yu Yin felt that something was wrong.

“Like this…”

Meng Pin Si pulled out a notebook and bowed her head to earnestly sketch out the appearance, then passed the notebook over to Yu Yin.

For some reason, Yu Yin felt as though he had seen this tattoo somewhere before, but he could not recall where. It looked extremely familiar though.

“But why are you specifically telling me about this?” He returned the notebook to her, finding the fact that she had gone out of her way just to say this was somewhat bizarre.

“It’s just because so many weird things have been happening on this trip, and I thought the tattoo looked odd. I figured since your father is a police officer, I might as well let you know…”

This did sound pretty reasonable, so Yu Yin could only nod. “I’ll make sure to look into it. I can have Zhen Rong-gē ask Wei Jun later.” If his memory served correctly, the two of them were classmates, so there should be some information there.

Assuming he was able to ask.

“Ok. Also, Jia Jia keeps watching you guys. I figure she might have some intentions towards you, so it’s best if you pay attention to her.” Meng Pin Si paused for a beat, then smiled warmly. “Someone that cuts their wrist must wish for someone to understand them, even if just a bit.”

“I understand.” Yu Yin scratched his head, a bit lost on how to handle these matters.

Having completed her objective, Meng Pin Si returned to her room.

Since there was no one else around, Yu Yin simply stayed collapsed on the couch there as he silently pondered the meaning behind them being chased out of the guesthouse.

He had asked Li Lin Yue about what had happened that night. His friend had said that after reporting to the police, the police had swiftly sealed off the site where the body had been, then brought it away without a hitch. Nothing unexpected had happened.

That’s strange then. If the body has already been handed to the police, all that’s left is to wait for an autopsy. Why did it run back here?

He randomly turned his head only to abruptly catch sight of the wooden clock on the wall that was pointed at 3:10. Yu Yin automatically started, instantly going rigid. Then he realised that he wasn’t currently dreaming—he was very much in reality right now.

The clock on the wall did not move; even the seconds hand had frozen. It seemed to have malfunctioned.

He did not know if it was a coincidence or not, but it had definitely shocked him. He was no longer in the mood to continue sitting around, so he decided to return to the room and discuss going home with Yu.

When he stood, he naturally glanced down.

Only to see half of a pale face staring straight at him before slowly shrinking back underneath the couch, leaving behind a mound of long, knotted hair.

…So what exactly does it want?

“Ah Yin.”

“!”

Startled by the sudden voice behind him, Yu Yin immediately spun around to see Xiang Zhen Rong looking at him with a strange expression. “You should at least make some noise when you walk.”

“Huh? Sorry, it’s probably a habit.” Xiang Zhen Rong shrugged and tossed a paper bag at him. “Take a look at this, it’s the stuff Jia Jia gave us yesterday. I only thought of it just now when I went to organise the car.”

Yu Yin caught the somewhat hefty paper bag and opened it to see many local products inside that had likely been purchased in the past two days. There were even some mochi balls that he wasn’t sure were still edible. After rummaging through the contents, he discovered apiece of paper hidden inside.

Right as he was about to pull the paper out, the lights in the room instantly died out.

Despite it being daytime, the small lounge was in an area of the house without windows, so it was on the darker side.

“Seems like the power is out. I’ll go look for the circuit box.” Xiang Zhen Rong heard several complaints coming from rooms, confirming that all electronic devices had stopped working. He added, “You should go back to your room first. Be careful, don’t wander around.”

Yu Yin watched him turn and leave. Scratching his head, he had no other option but to bring the paper bag with him back to his room.

While this was his original plan, his first step landed straight into water.

“Damn it, this is the second place already. Please have mercy.”

Yu Yin surveyed the lounge that was now completely covered in water, feeling quite flabbergasted. He also began to pity the guesthouse owner for their undeserved treatment.

Before he could return to his room, he suddenly noticed that the entire hallway was covered in hair. It wasn’t just on the floor, but extended upwards along the walls as well. Even all the doors to the rooms were tightly blocked, and he could faintly hear people shouting with their failed attempts to open up.

A woman with her head lowered stood in the middle of the dim corridor, water dripping down non-stop from her soaked body.

She lifted a hand that was rotted to the bone and turned her body so that she was pointing at the staircase that was similarly surrounded by hair.

Upstairs or downstairs?

He had not seen which way Xiang Zhen Rong had gone earlier, but Yu was in the room upstairs.

A minute later, the woman vanished once more, and the hair along the hallway began to slide downwards. Yu Yin swiftly passed through, racing up the stairs in large strides. As he expected, the top was similarly full of water and hair. There was even water and hair flowing down the steps—he had no idea if they would disappear by themselves or if they would give everyone another fright.

Before he reached the room, he spotted another person in the hallway aside from him. The person appeared to be alarmed by the house full of hair and was currently hesitating on whether or not to enter the room.

“What’s going on?”

When Wei Jun spotted Yu Yin, he immediately ran up. “Is there some kind of luck related to encountering haunted houses everywhere while on vacation? This is way too abnormal! Plus it’s another pile of hair. Where does this woman have so much hair left to leave around? Don’t tell me ghosts can grow hair endlessly?”

“I don’t know about that.” Yu Yin ripped apart the large amount of strands on the handle with a suspicious feeling. His room had more hair than others, to the point where the entire door was covered.

“It really doesn’t know to just stay dead. What’s the point in doing all these tricks?“

“I don’t think that’s how it is. Also, how do you know ‘this thing’ is a woman?”

He lurched to the side right before the object behind him struck. The butterfly blade missed, flying straight through the hair and embedding itself into the door.

Yu Yin spun around and saw Wei Jun nonchalantly staring at him with a cocked brow and a fake smile. “When did you start becoming wary of me? Considering how quickly you dodged that, you must’ve been prepared, right?”

“…Although I don’t know what Dong Feng and the others are lying to me about, I can still tell that there was something wrong with the strangulation marks. It’s actually pretty easy to guess why they so stubbornly refuse to tell me things.” Yu Yin recognised that he was not smart compared to Yu and Dong Feng. Their brain capacities were over a dozen times larger than his. Even so, he knew they had an identical common point: whenever they encountered certain situations, they would forcefully push away related people or those close to them. Following this train of thought, he could basically surmise that the issue fell onto him. Moreover, he could tell that Dong Feng’s memory loss was undoubtedly a lie. He could count on one hand how many scenarios would make Dong Feng that fearful of the consequences. “So I requested for others to help me ask around most of the group; quite a few classmates coincidentally said the same thing: that you were the one who told Zhen Rong-gē I had been the one who had gone out. If the attack was because of the clothing worn, I can’t imagine any possibility aside from you also being the one that created a ruckus on the night before the stranger appeared, allowing you to go out and have an outsider confirm the clothes.”

In reality, Yu Yin had not been entirely certain if his hypothesis was correct, but being overly cautious was not a bad thing.

“If it wasn’t me, then I’m being very unjustly accused right now.” Wei Jun smirked and leaned against the door. “How can you randomly suspect others?”

“It’s not like you’re a close friend of mine anyways. Worst case, we’d just cut ties. I’m not worried about any interpersonal relationships being affected.” Yu Yin kept his eyes locked on the other’s movements while slowly retreating so that he could potentially let people leave through the door first. “I had no idea you would suddenly make a move so soon by yourself. Considering how many people are here, you have quite the guts.”

“You know just as well that if it weren’t for that retarded Jia Jia, there wouldn’t be a need for me to rush and show my hands now. I could’ve just made things into another accident.” Wei Jun casually opened his backpack and pulled out a gun. “Didn’t she already give you guys a disclosure letter?”

Yu Yin noticed Wei Jun’s gaze fall onto the paper bag in his hands. He immediately tossed aside the souvenirs inside and withdrew the piece of paper that said: Wei Jun wants to kill you, don’t come!

No wonder Jia Jia kept looking for me.

“Tch, backing out after just two scares, then trying to adjunct. Couldn’t her brain stop to remember what happens to those that try to rebel?” Wei Jun quietly cocked the gun and aimed it at him. “By the way, our target actually isn’t you, the timing just very coincidentally matched up with our revenge. The people that want to get at you guys are another bunch. Originally, we wanted them to act first so that it would be easier on us after. But then it ended up becoming so troublesome because that guy somehow didn’t confirm their target before getting the wrong person. Such a pain.”

“Getting the wrong person?”

“Plus, from my knowledge, that guy’s order was simply to teach you a lesson. Killing you or whatever wasn’t in the plan. He probably got over his own head while in the act.” Wei Jun smirked and commented, “The damned idiot did something unnecessary, yet didn’t do it cleanly.”

“So it really was because of me that Dong Feng went through all that?” This was originally his own theory, but after hearing the answer come almost directly from the other party’s mouth, Yu Yin instantly felt extremely guilty. If he had known things would come to this, it would’ve been better to not invite Dong Feng from the beginning. Then Dong Feng could have just stayed at home alone, perfectly fine while doing his carvings. None of this would have happened.

“Yep, what else did you think it was?” Wei Jun openly replied, “But the current situation is different. If you want to blame anyone, go blame Jia Jia~”

“You—”

Before he could finish his words, Yu Yin abruptly heard the door open. The door on Wei Jun’s left somehow freed itself from the hair and swung out.

“…Huh.” Li Lin Yue’s eyes were wide, having not expected to see such a shocking sight upon opening the door.

“Idiot! Hurry up and close the door!” Why are you spacing out?! Yu Yin frantically shouted at his friend.

“A fake gun?” Li Lin Yue took two steps back, but realised after some thought that something was wrong. She strode forward with her head tilted to study the gun in Wei Jun’s hands. “Damn, it looks pretty real. But isn’t it immature for you guys to be playing with this kind of thing in the guesthouse? Don’t tell me you’re going to break out into a pillow fight later too? That’s a bit too childish~”

Yu Yin felt like he was about to faint. If the current situation wasn’t so dangerous, he would be whacking that foolish woman’s head right now.

“Cut the act.” Wei Jun snorted and turned the gun to point at the intruding girl.

“Oh, sure, let’s all cut the act.” Li Lin Yue flashed an extremely beautiful and stunning smile, then ferociously shot out a leg to kick the opponent directly in the groin. The man that had not at all anticipated the attack clutched his injury and bent over in pain. “Bloody murder! Ah Guan, get out here right now!”

Ah Guan, who had been in the girls’ room for some reason, charged out with a toilet plunger. Seeing the abnormal scene, he flew over to Wei Jun and began to wildly pump the plunger with suspicious stains on the other person’s hands and face. “Fuck! Who the hell are you!”

The hair in the hallway had at some point slid down. Several doors opened upon hearing the commotion, and the people that ran out joined the gang to attack Wei Jun.

“Ah Guan, toss that thing in your hands!”

“It’s fucking disgusting!”

“It’s not like I’m using it on you guys!”

As Yu Yin watched the crowd focus entirely on disciplining the person they had suppressed, completely ignoring the bizarre sight of large amounts of hair across the hallway, he suddenly felt the faint urge to laugh.

The person being held against the floor was kicked a few more times. Li Lin Yue picked up the gun that had fallen by his side. “Hmph, the basics never fail. I’ve always used that move to teach perverts a lesson.”

“Woman, don’t fool around. That gun is—”

Before Yu Yin could tell her that the gun was cocked, Yu Yin heard a gunshot, then a painful ringing in his ear immediately after. The fired bullet had landed right in the wall behind him.

“…” Because Li Lin Yue hadn’t been standing stably, she had fallen to the ground. Her and the others blankly stared at each other for a few seconds, then she switched to the professional smile she used specially to hoodwink men. “I’ll treat you to a grand meal?”

Yu Yin swiped the gun away and instantly dumped out all the bullets.

“Are you guys alright? I thought I heard a gunshot just now.”

Xiang Zhen Rong frantically dashed up the stairs to see the bunch of people and Wei Jun, who had already been tied, wrapped, and beaten into a swollen pump. For a moment, he felt somewhat bewildered and dumbstruck. “What the…?”

The fact that the entire room had turned into that haunted wreck was strange enough. Yet up here, there was Ah Guan pointing a toilet plunger at their travel companions, and for a good while, Xiang Zhen Rong honestly had no idea where to start asking his questions from.

“Just don’t ask for now.” Yu Yin watched the fallen hair begin to recede with the water. He yanked the long hair away from his own room’s door—actually, the hair had already loosened significantly when it had started falling, and was no longer as tightly coiled. It was easy to rip off most of it with just a light tug, and he swiftly opened the door without a hitch. “Xiao Yu, are you hurt?”

Yu instantly ran out of the room he had been trapped in, then shook his head.

“I’ve called the police, they’re heading over.” Li Lin Yue closed her phone and surveyed their surroundings. She had gotten a bit of a fright earlier, so this hair no longer seemed like much to her. Rather, she was now collected enough to notice they were missing someone. “Weird, why don’t I see Jia Jia?”

“Oh true, I didn’t see her when the toilet got clogged,” Meng Pin Si added, then cautiously avoided the remaining strands of hair that were flowing away with streams of water.

“…Didn’t you guys call me over to unclog the toilet the moment you came in?” Ah Guan, who had been summoned to handle the common disaster, waved the plunger that had already been wiped clean by someone.

The others exchanged confused looks with each other.

“Where’s Jia Jia?” Yu Yin frowned as he crouched down to ask the attacker.

Wei Jun sneered back.

“We should search for Jia Jia first.” Li Lin Yue clapped her hands to have several of them start. “Ah Guan, watch this guy. If he dares to try pulling something, give him a good beating.”

Ah Guan flashed an OK sign with his fingers and aimed the plunger at his target.

They searched through every room, but there were no signs of Jia Jia. Eventually, a huge ruckus from other visitors exploded from the floor below, and they heard screams of: “There’s a dead person!”

Yu Yin and a few others quickly flew down the stairs and found Jia Jia in the garden, covered in blood.

“She’s still breathing. Quick, call an ambulance.” Yu Yin untied Jia Jia’s bound wrists and tore off the tape on her face. Then he noticed that the fatal wound was a very deep cut on her wrist.

Yu took off his backpack and swiftly helped stop the girl’s bleeding.

Yu Yin saw that the girl seemed to still have traces of consciousness as she trembled non-stop. He took a jacket that someone else passed over and covered her body with it, before bending over to quietly tell her, “Don’t worry, the ambulance is almost here. You don’t need to be scared, everything’s fine now.”

Jia Jia opened and closed her lips repeatedly like a fish, tears flowing out from her eyes. However, she did not utter a word.

“We’re all by your side, there’s no need to be afraid.” Meng Pin Si crouched down and held the girl’s other hand. Then she leaned towards Yu Yin and whispered, “Her tattoo was cut out.”

Yu Yin shifted his gaze over to the hand Yu was treating. The wound was indeed too large, with the blade having directly penetrated through old scars. The section of skin above it had completely disappeared, as though gouged out. Thick blood was gushing out and dripping downwards as she shook.

Jia Jia stared at them. Aside from being terrified of death, there was another fear in her eyes.

Then, the ambulance arrived.

“We’ll head to the hospital first. You guys stay and handle things here.”

Li Lin Yue held back Yu Yin from following and added, “There’s no knowing what’s going on with the one upstairs. In any case, just use that ultimate move of mine if anything goes wrong! Be careful.”

Yu Yin watched his female classmates leave with the ambulance, then returned to their floor of the guesthouse.

“Do you have an idea of what’s going on?” Xiang Zhen Rong asked as he walked with them. His clothes were stained red with blood.

“Ah…more or less.” It was no wonder Dong Feng had lashed out at him. Yu Yin honestly felt helpless when he thought about the exchange just now. While he could already piece together everything in his head, it wasn’t anything worthy of celebrating.

At some point, the room full of hair and water had completely faded, as though the scene from earlier was merely a hallucination. Now there was not a single trace of water nor hair to be found; the room was as clean as it had been when they had first entered this morning.

Thinking back carefully, aside from them, the other visitors had not appeared to have seen this bizarre hair phenomenon. They had merely been locked in their rooms. The people that had screamed about there being a dead person hadn’t been alarmed about anything else…it looked like the ghost had been affecting them alone.

However, the person that had been beaten to a pulp still looked like a pig’s head. His swelling had not receded at all.

“Who exactly are you?” Yu Yin crouched down in front of Wei Jun and sternly interrogated, “You were the one that broke into the room to search through our belongings too, weren’t you? Or was that Jia Jia?”

Wei Jun coldly stared back without replying.

Yu Yin pondered to himself briefly. He was starting to wonder if the female ghost had kicked them out of the guesthouse for this reason.

Because someone was searching the room?

Or because they were in danger?

“…That woman stayed in our room before?” Yu Yin spotted the shock flash across Wei Jun’s face and knew that he had guessed in the right direction. He stopped Ah Guan from speaking and continued, “She was killed when she left, but she left something behind, didn’t she?”

He knew that the ghost had crawled up from the bottom of the sea. This meant that at the very least, she had been alive when she had left the room. That was why she had not directly appeared in the room, but had “come back” to it.

“Did that woman tell you?” Wei Jun stared at Yu Yin for a beat before slowly opening his mouth to sharply reply, “Ah Guan and the others said you had yin-yang eyes and whatever, but I didn’t quite believe it…Knowing too much won’t do you any good. You should just behave yourself.”

“You won’t ask me what I found?” Yu Yin was a bit surprised.

“It doesn’t matter what you found. Since it’s already in your possession, you just need to watch out so you don’t drop dead. I’m saying this with sincerity; at least you’re alive now and still have a home for you to go back and cry about being overly meddlesome.”

After saying this, Wei Jun refused to open his mouth again. No matter how Ah Guan tormented him or used the plunger on his face, he did not spit out a single word.

Thus, the trip came to a close.