Chapter 153

It was truly despair—the overwhelming sense of desperation from the insects was palpable.

Some viewers initially typed a string of question marks, but quickly caught on and followed up.

“Could the other painting be called ‘The Scream’?”

The man in the oil painting, forcibly pulled out, suddenly homeless and whose house was ravaged by insects, indeed somewhat overlapped with the famous painting The Scream.

Shi Jian not only simplified things for her teammates, but many viewers also began to simplify.

“Wow~ Wife Shi is a gifted artist, able to complete two highly artistic works in just over ten seconds. Just asking, who else can do that?!”

Absolutely brilliant.

A desperate counterattack!

Viewers’ adrenaline surged with each escalating crisis, reaching a peak as Shi Jian handled this situation.

Gifts in Shi Jian’s personal livestream room flooded the chat.

...

Highly praised, Shi Jian was also satisfied with her actions. After examining carefully and confirming it was truly feasible and safe, she smiled and said to Xu An, who was still somewhat shaken, “No hotel property was damaged.”

See? She didn’t damage any hotel property.

The frame and canvas were both perfectly intact.

As for the change in the painting’s content?

What did that have to do with her? She only saw a poor man imprisoned in the painting and lent him a helping hand.

Shi Jian: He reached out his hand to her just now, asking for help.

Two crises solved in succession, Shi Jian’s heart settled a little, allowing her heartbeat to slow somewhat.

The man in the oil painting didn’t seem very strong in combat; after being pulled out of the frame, he made no counterattacks. Realizing he couldn’t stop Shi Jian, he gritted his teeth and snarled at the “home-invading robber boss” Shi Jian.

“A vengeful spirit, and you actually raise her? Are you even human?”

Before Shi Jian could answer, he muttered to himself, “Oh right, you’re not—no human dealings at all, what kind of person are you...” filled with pain.

His house, his warm and cozy house, was completely destroyed by the thief before him!

“??? What does he mean?” a viewer asked in the livestream chat.

The man pointed at the bride ghost, talking to himself, “Don’t you know what she really is? She’s not a ghost or demon. She has normal thoughts and feelings—she’s purely a mass of grudges, impossible to reform... You just wait to be killed by her!”

The man in the painting showed a satisfied smile; since he couldn’t beat the person before him, he tried to mess with her mindset.

After revealing the truth, she’d surely be terrified, right?

Shi Jian glanced down at the bride ghost. She did know the bride ghost was formed from grudges, but her knowledge of spirits and demons wasn’t that detailed.

Unlike the ghosts who had died, did the bride ghost really have no thoughts, no feelings?Shi Jian laughed and commented on the sick and weak bride ghost, "No wonder you’re not smart!"

Another point for the “not smart” argument.

Painting Man: ?

He seemed to be trying to intimidate the other party, but was this reaction off?

Shi Jian lifted her gaze from the bride ghost in her arms and smiled at the Painting Man.

“Maybe you should worry about yourself first.”

“I might not be the one who gets killed, but you’re probably close.”

The Painting Man turned pale with fright. He already sensed danger, but before he could react much, Shi Jian had already moved closer holding the bride ghost.

Shi Jian’s actions were smooth and fluid.

First, she used the bride ghost—working overtime without pay even when sick—to corrode the Painting Man. The Painting Man shrieked in pain as he was continuously burned. Then Shi Jian swung her chainsaw.

This time the chainsaw was powerful; instead of passing right through like it did with the undead, it cut through the Painting Man.

The Painting Man’s twisted face disappeared without leaving a trace.

Eradication—Shi Jian feared the Painting Man might cause more trouble, so she left no chance for future harm.

“Is that enough? Shall we go?” Shi Jian said to Xu An after finishing everything.

She was completely unaffected by the Painting Man’s words—no provocation could get to her.

Was there even any need for provocation?

The bride ghost wanted to kill her—wasn’t that obvious? No need for his nonsense.

Xu An looked at Shi Jian deeply and nodded, “Alright.”

Xu An helped put the removed painting frame back where it belonged, and the two continued downstairs.

After a few steps, both they and the livestream viewers simultaneously saw the noblewoman in another sketch on the wall quietly replace the small knife in her hand with a flower basket.

The conscious paintings were not limited to just the Western man, but after seeing what happened to him, no other painting dared to test Shi Jian.

The noblewoman’s face clearly said—

“Don’t come near, don’t come near. Just pretend you didn’t see me.”

Shi Jian: ???

Xu An: Can feel how scared she is of Shi Jian.

...

But no matter what, after this warning, no ghost or demon would try to drag them back into a painting frame again.

Shi Jian and company felt much more at ease.

The two plus the ghost successfully reached the lobby, where the waitress was sitting calmly behind the counter.The bride ghost had never been this peaceful before. Although her body felt very uncomfortable, it seemed like all the resentment had disappeared.

There was only a warm temperature and the pounding heartbeat under her ear.

The bride ghost allowed herself to nestle more comfortably in this gentle sea.

Snuggling close.

...

The crow’s prophecy came true one by one, but after successfully getting the medicine, no other disturbances arose. It seemed there was no further danger for the moment.

Shi Jian and Xu An both stopped talking at the same time.

“What’s that smell?”

Shi Jian first sensed a pungent stench lingering around.

It was a hard-to-describe smell, like the terrible stench of rotting fish and shrimp mixed together, fermented for many days to produce an overwhelming foul odor. Shi Jian felt nauseous without even trying.

She immediately forced herself to hold her breath.

Xu An also smelled it. “...Sounds like it’s coming from the fridge.”

While speaking, Xu An moved toward the fridge. He wanted to open it to check but signaled to Shi Jian before doing so.

Shi Jian nodded.

The chainsaw was ready.

Though Shi Jian appeared calm, inside she was already going crazy. They had gone through a lot on this trip downstairs — and now more?

Fortunately, when Xu An “swished” the fridge door open, no terrifying creatures appeared.

As Xu An opened the fridge, brown, foul-smelling dirty water flowed out and dripped onto the tiled floor.

Inside the fridge were rotten fish, spoiled shrimp, meat, vegetables... all spoiled, turning the whole fridge into a garbage heap.

The smell was overwhelming. Xu An quickly covered his nose and mouth and closed the fridge.

He said bluntly, “There wasn’t this smell in the kitchen when we came in. This smell should be noticeable even outside.”

Shi Jian confirmed this and had a new discovery.

She put away the chainsaw and looked at the items on the counter. She told Xu An, “Several packages of food suddenly appeared here.”

Shi Jian was certain. “This area was empty just a moment ago. There was nothing here.”

But in the blink of an eye, several packages of food appeared out of nowhere.

Shi Jian and Xu An checked together: ham, compressed biscuits, candy... three kinds, divided into several portions.

Xu An rummaged through the goods. “These expired five years ago, but they still look fresh.”

He tore open a pack of compressed biscuits and pressed one with his fingertip. “Crispy.”

Food carefully divided; biscuits expired five years ago yet still crispy; rotten fish and shrimp in the fridge...

Shi Jian felt like something in her head was about to burst out.Shi Jian suddenly looked up and asked Xu An, “Is the waitress still in the lobby?”

Xu An checked around and his expression instantly turned serious. “She’s not here.”

The waitress wore high heels, so her footsteps were quite loud, but they had heard no sign of her leaving.

“And something’s different outside.”

Shi Jian also leaned forward to look outside.

The corridor and lobby were empty. The waitress who usually waited most of the time at the service desk was not there, and Shi Jian quickly sensed what Xu An meant by “different.”

The decor was not quite the same.

Still a rustic, outdated style, but without the old, worn feeling. The crystal chandeliers were bright, and the marble tiles looked newly laid.

However, the lobby was a mess, with many things scattered on the floor.

They were still inside the villa, but it felt like they had entered another dimension.

Shi Jian’s heart thundered: The offhand remark about possibly finding clues downstairs seemed like it was really about to come true.

Xu An looked down at Shi Jian. “Do you have any thoughts?”

Of course she did!

A vague idea in Shi Jian’s mind suddenly broke through. Her pupils constricted and she spoke quickly.

“Why is the food divided into equal portions? Does this mean someone was trapped in the villa during a certain period, facing a shortage of supplies?”

So they had to ration carefully, eat sparingly.

A small pack of compressed biscuits, a small sausage, two pieces of candy… unknown if that was one meal or one day’s ration.

“There is food in the fridge, but it’s spoiled. That means either the fridge is broken or it can’t be used properly…”

The most common reason for a fridge not working properly is “power outage.”

Shi Jian felt very uncomfortable by this point.

Xu An sighed and lightly finished Shi Jian’s unfinished sentence.

“If that’s true—power outage and food shortage—surviving in an ice and snow villa where snow never melts year-round would be an extreme test.”

Terrifying to think about.

...

“Gurgle—”

Before Shi Jian could ask whether they should go explore, or discuss whether going out might bring unbearable dangers, the sound of something cooking started.

The pot lid was lifted by steam, knocking repeatedly.

Xu An looked toward the stove. “The medicine is ready.”

Shi Jian immediately shouted, “Don’t burn it!” Clues were important, but so was the medicine.

In an instant, she was pulled back from the intense survival daydreams into reality.Relying on his long legs, Xu An extinguished the fire under the pot in just a few strides. Fortunately, because they noticed in time, “It didn’t burn.”

However, Shi Jian noticed, “It seems like everything’s back to normal again…”

Along with the boiling medicine, the waitress reappeared in the lobby, looking exactly as before. The fridge no longer smelled of rotten fish and shrimp; inside, various fresh ingredients were neatly arranged.

Only the food in Shi Jian’s hands indicated that what had just happened wasn’t an illusion.

Shi Jian put away the key evidence. “Let’s discuss it with Tang Tian tomorrow.”

Tonight had brought a surprisingly fruitful harvest.

Xu An had no objections.

During the medicine feeding to the bride ghost, Shi Jian completely set aside the clues for the time being.

No kids, no cats like to take medicine… Once the prepared medicine cooled to a suitable temperature, Shi Jian tried to give it to the bride ghost, only to face fierce resistance.

The bride ghost, who had seemed almost dead, flailed wildly after taking a sip of the medicine, struggling as if Shi Jian was trying to poison her.

In the end, only by having one person hold her down and another feed her did they barely manage to get the bride ghost to drink the medicine.

But the result was good: after the medicine was fed, the bride ghost’s temperature dropped.

Shi Jian thanked Xu An again; the bride ghost was her spirit pet, but Xu An had really endured a lot to accompany her tonight.

As Xu An watched Shi Jian close the door and head back to her room, he stopped in his tracks.

The waitress stood not far away, looking at him with a complicated expression.

She said to Xu An, “You don’t have to tell stories tomorrow. I saw everything.”

Xu An was puzzled, “What?”

The waitress gave a look that said, “Do I really need to explain this?”

But since Xu An asked, she didn’t hold back: “It’s the whole process of you busying yourself with her, risking your life, taking care of her kid, and still getting friend-zoned…”

“You don’t need to tell stories tomorrow, because your own story is already a tragedy.”

So tragic — what an ultimate backup!

The key was that Xu An seemed to endure being a loyal simp without complaint.

Xu An didn’t argue; he politely said to the waitress, “Okay.”

So he could skip his story tomorrow.

Xu An thought for a moment, then added with soft eyes, “Actually, I’m glad she comes to me for help when she’s in trouble, not others. Doesn’t that prove I’m different from the other men in her heart?”

The waitress burst into tears again, “You don’t have to tell stories the day after tomorrow either!”

...

On the third morning, after meticulous grooming, Bai Xiangnan left the team amid the teammates’ seeing-off.

He stopped on the floor where Shi Jian was.

“Where are you going?” Shi Hao, the leader of Bai Xiangnan’s team, shouted.Bai Xiangnan waved his hand. “You don’t need to worry about me. I’m going to see jiejie.”

The “jiejie” in Bai Xiangnan’s mouth naturally referred to Shi Jian. After repeatedly being snubbed by her, he was unwilling to let it go. His competitive and possessive urges had reached their peak. This time, he decided to go straight to her door and call out.

“Jie…”

But before Bai Xiangnan could knock, Shi Jian’s door opened from the inside.

Xu An walked out from her room.

Bai Xiangnan furrowed his brows hard: ? Why is Xu An inside?

He tried to walk past Xu An into the room but was blocked by him.

Bai Xiangnan bumped into Xu An’s arm, getting stopped directly. He squinted his eyes, revealing his small tiger teeth with a provocative look. “You—what’s the meaning of this?”

Xu An looked down at him and asked, “You’re here to see Shi Jian?”

Bai Xiangnan had decent looks and wasn’t short; with the right shoes, he could just about hit 180 cm, and with lifts, he could pretend to be tall. But he was still noticeably shorter than Xu An.

After realizing this, Bai Xiangnan grew a little impatient. He stepped back, trying to keep some distance to avoid the height comparison.

“So what if I am? So what if I’m not?”

But since this was all being livestreamed, Bai Xiangnan came up with a more dignified excuse. “I need to discuss something about the dungeon with jiejie.”

Xu An responded with a casual “Oh,” then lowered his arm, slowly adjusting his cufflinks, and said to Bai Xiangnan, “She’s asleep. If there’s anything, you can tell me first.”