Chapter 15

Had Yun Jizhou’s paper doll left the coffin just like Fang Lan’s?

The more he thought about it, the more he could feel that burst of chills spread down his spine. Right then, he felt a push from behind. He faltered and lost his balance, falling into the coffin.

The next thing he knew, his nose slammed against the bottom of coffin. His vision dimmed and the world went black.

When Xiao Tangqiu regained consciousness, he realized that he was lying in the coffin, flat on his back. There was a swirl of darkness all around him; it seemed as if someone had shut the coffin.

Who shut the coffin? Was it Tang Mianmian? No…… that’s impossible! Then……….. was it Yun Jizhou’s paper doll?

Countless suspicions flashed across his mind, but he didn’t have time to get to the bottom of the matter because he could feel that the air in the coffin was running out. If he didn’t get out of the coffin as soon as possible, he would probably die from the lack of oxygen!

“Let me out!”

“There’s someone in here!”

“Someone get me out of here!”

The desire to live kicked him into high gear; he desperately pounded at the four walls of the coffin with all his strength, hoping to push open the coffin lid or get Tang Mianmian’s attention with the noise. But the coffin was like an impenetrable fortress, able to withstand his relentless pounding and trapping in any sound he made.

Was he really going to die in the coffin just like that?

Xiao Tangqiu was about to give up all hope when he noticed something off about the coffin. This coffin was obviously much smaller than the coffin in Yun Jizhou’s room. On top of that, the clothes he was wearing seemed to have been changed; this wasn’t what he had been wearing all along………

Just as Xiao Tangqiu was about to lose consciousness from the lack of oxygen, the coffin was suddenly opened! He reflexively closed his eyes, expecting to be blinded by the glare of light.

Contrary to his expectation, there was no bright light. Instead, he was met with an emotionless face the moment he opened his eyes. The man pulled him out from the coffin and then placed something inside. Xiao Tangqiu turned to look at what that thing was – it was a paper doll he was familiar with.

&#k2026;&#k2026;&#k2026;&#k2026;&#k2026;.. Fang Lan’s paper doll!

His immediate reaction was to run away, but he soon realized that the paper doll seemed to be just like any old paper doll. It didn’t have lifelike features, nor could it move, much less attack him.

After the man had placed the paper doll into the coffin, a few other people walked over and surrounded the coffin. Then, they started to pile soil on top of the coffin.

Xiao Tangqiu noticed that the others had on the same wooden expression as the man who had opened the coffin……. It turned out that the coffin had been partially buried when he was inside earlier. It’s no wonder the coffin was so stuffy. If someone hadn’t opened the coffin, he surely would’ve suffocated to death.

It was then that he noticed that it was already night. Through the dim moonlight, he could tell he was at the back of Fang Lan’s house. And more shocking still, he was wearing the exact same crimson wedding dress as that paper doll!

Xiao Tangqiu’s heart skipped a beat. Before he had any time to contemplate what was going on, he suddenly heard drums beating and the loud clangs of a gong in the distance. That uproarious clamor shattered the silence of the night and gave rise to a vague sense of foreboding.

Sure enough, a group of people carrying a red wedding palanquin swiftly arrived at the front door.

Xiao Tangqiu seemed to have realized something; he turned, wanting to run away but was grabbed tightly by the man who opened the coffin and dragged all the way to the wedding palanquin. The man completely overpowered him, leaving no room for struggle at all.

The bridal escort party looked just as impassive as the others. After dumping Xiao Tanqiu into the wedding palanquin, the bridal escort party set off.

Xiao Tangqiu laughed bitterly. In all his 25 years, he hadn’t even had the chance to hold a girl’s soft hands. How did he end up wearing a red wedding dress and on his way to be married off to someone else? Where did he go wrong?

The palanquin bounced up and down for a short while before coming to a complete stop.

Xiao Tangqiu was forcefully dragged down from the palanquin and into the wedding hall.

In the hall, the Old Madame was seated at the seat of honor. Beside her were the womenfolk with equally deadpan expressions as the Old Madame. This amplified the eerie atmosphere the entire Yun family gave off.

Soon, it was time for the groom to show up. Just as he expected, it was a paper doll wearing a wedding suit except the features painted on its face were rather average, completely unlike the portrait of Yun Jizhou that he had seen. Its face was as white as the whitewash on the walls; its lips were so red that it resembled the appearance of someone who had just vomited blood….. That strange, painted-on face seemed to stir up fear in his heart.

Xiao Tangqiu was forced to kneel with the paper doll, to pay their respects and complete the wedding ceremony. Then, he was brought to Yun Jizhou’s room.

Right until he reached the coffin, Xiao Tangqiu hadn’t found a chance to escape. Once again, he was violently pushed into the coffin from behind. Immediately after, the paper doll was placed down beside him.

“No!” He desperately cried.

Then, the coffin was shut once more.

“Let me out now!”

Xiao Tangqiu frantically pounded the coffin lid, but it didn’t move an inch. When he had finally pounded till his hands were numb, he suddenly felt the paper doll beside him move.

For a second, he was like a deer caught in the headlights, paralyzed with fear. But then, he quickly reacted to the situation by shuffling to the side, terrified that the paper doll would come to life.

The more afraid Xiao Tangqiu was, the more he sensed that the paper doll was really alive. He even seemed to hear the paper doll breathing, its steady breath brushing across his ear…….. But how could the paper doll be breathing? Ghosts didn’t breathe either! It must’ve been a hallucination! Yes, he must’ve been frightened to the point of hallucinating!

His heart beat turbulently in his chest, the cacophonous thrum accompanying all sorts of wild thoughts as he tried to distract himself. However, his mind refused to cooperate, focusing on the fact that the paper doll was lying so close to him.

Huff……

Huff…. Huff….

The sound of breathing got louder and louder. Xiao Tangqiu could no longer lie to himself that it was just a hallucination. There was no way that what he heard was his own breathing because he was panting as if he had just ran up ten flights of stairs………………. And since that wasn’t the sound of his breaths, then whose was it?

The fear made his limbs go weak. He hated how mentally strong he was! If it was Tang Mianmian, he surely would’ve already fainted in fright! Instead, here he was, scared beyond belief yet still conscious. The more afraid he felt, the more alert he was. He showed no signs of fainting at all!

Sometimes, fainting could be considered a form of self-protection. Why couldn’t he also have this sort of self-defence mechanism?!

In the next second, Xiao Tangqiu could feel the paper doll beside him move even more. He felt someone or something push aside the wedding dress he was wearing, and then it placed something cold against his chest.

Frightened out of his wits, he tried not to think about what that cold thing could be. He took a deep breath and firmly pushed the paper doll away. Holding onto the believe that it was better to die a man than live a coward, he steadied himself and slammed against the coffin lid with all his might.

Xiao Tangqiu slammed his head so hard that he almost got a concussion. When he regained consciousness, he discovered that he had managed to slam the coffin lid open. He turned to look beside him, but the paper doll that had almost scared him to death was now gone.

……….What’s going on?

He looked up and realized he was still inside Yun Jizhou’s room but he had a hunch that he had returned……… But now, there was another problem. Where was Tang Mianmian?

“Tang Mianmian? Tang Mianmian!”

Xiao Tangqiu stumbled out of the coffin and immediately started to search the room, but Tang Mianmian was nowhere to be found so he rushed outside to continue looking for him.

He searched outside the room but still found no trace of Tang Mianmian. When he turned to look back into Yun Jizhou’s room, he found that the candle had been blown out when he wasn’t paying attention. Yun Jizhou’s room was once again immersed in the murky darkness.

Xiao Tangqiu took a deep breath to steady his nerves and went on to search the entire courtyard. He wasn’t even sure where all that courage came from.

But to his dismay, even after looking in every nook and cranny, he hadn’t even come across a strand of Tang Mianmian’s hair, much less the person himself.

His heart sank; he could only accept the fact that Tang Mianmian had disappeared.