After Being Watched by My Paranoid and Gloomy Deceased Wife - Chapter 36

Without any warning, They dispersed like smoke. I tried to grip Their wrist, but only a faint black mist vanished from my tightly clenched palm.

Why?

My gaze fell back to the ground. The shadow had its back to me. Its hair drooped, a few fuzzy strands sticking out, clearly revealing Its refusal to answer.

Guan Lan was reading the content of a letter to me. I wasn’t listening closely because I had a more important matter.

“You are Guan Zhi, aren’t you?!” I stared intently at the shadow, my tone unconsciously heavier.

The shadow remained motionless, as if It were truly just a shadow, but Its behavior only made me believe my guess more.

I even wanted to laugh because I was so speechless. Did It think that not answering would make everything fine?

I got up from the chair and walked toward the French window.

“Shua—” The curtain was drawn open.

But the shadow stayed put, not daring to move. My tone was very certain.

“You are Guan Zhi.”

It had been secretly reaching up to touch Its hair, but It froze the moment I spoke, not daring to move, maintaining the posture of Its hand suspended in mid-air.

“I’ll take your silence as an admission.”

As soon as I finished speaking, It finally moved. The shadow, which had been human-shaped, suddenly solidified into a deep, dark ink color, then transformed into a curled-up black mass.

Even though It is such a bizarre existence, It still made people feel annoyed and amused.

At this moment, both It and I heard Guan Lan say, “I remember playing in the Tengger Desert with Lulu back then. When you left, you were reluctant to part with the camel that carried us. Today, I found something. Does Lulu want to guess what it is?”

The shadow, which had shrunk into a ball, suddenly stretched out. I glanced at It, not understanding what madness it was possessed by, frowned, and turned on the microphone.

“What is it?” My voice sounded no different than usual, and I was surprised by my own composure.

Guan Lan’s voice carried a smile. She deliberately wanted to pique my interest.

“Won’t Lulu guess? It’s very easy to guess~”

The shadow returned to its usual appearance, standing upright with arms folded, one hand playing with a strand of hair.

“Hmm… I can’t guess. Lanlan, just tell me directly,” I said, holding back the corners of my lips, my face cold, but my tone light.

Guan Lan laughed. I heard another crisp sound of paper tearing on her end. My heart trembled, and I inexplicably had a bad feeling, but I couldn’t find the source of this panic.

“I found the surprise I hid, planning to give it to Lulu back then. I forgot to give it to Lulu, but luckily I found it today.”

The unease in my heart grew stronger. My heart was practically leaping out of my body. I pressed my hand against my chest and could still feel the intense vibration under my skin.

The room suddenly darkened. I saw the shadow outside the window being seemingly sucked into a vortex. The shadows of flowers, plants, and trees, along with the silhouettes of eaves and passing birds, were all absorbed through the window.

It was bright outside, but the room was concentrated with all the surrounding shadows, enveloping me in this darkness.

All light was blocked outside the transparent glass, leaving only the faint glow of the phone screen, barely illuminating my face.

In the dense darkness, I was like a sightless person.

It turns out that when a person’s vision is restricted, even their hearing is affected.

“Is that so? That’s great,” I said.

The screen went dark. For a moment, I saw my face. The barely forced smile had dropped, leaving only paleness and numbness.

My heart was pounding frantically. The force I was pressing onto my skin increased, yet I felt like I could barely hold it down.

Why am I so panicked? I asked myself, my eyes vaguely fixed on the phone screen and also on the shadow.

It was the deepest ink color in the darkness, reaching out to me.

The wind swirled back and forth in the room. The curtain was blown open, and finally, some light could enter the room, but not much light spread across the interior. It seemed to be intercepted outside by the darkness, by the shadow.

Guan Lan was saying, “It’s related to the camel. Is Lulu really not going to guess?”

And It said to me, “Lulu.”

“She’s lying.”

Its voice was distorted and fractured by the wind, almost hysterical in my ears.

The sound of the wind was sharp and whistling. My senses were overloaded. I felt dizzy, and I couldn’t hear clearly what they were saying.

Guan Lan’s voice was blurred into obscure characters by the wind. I only vaguely caught surviving fragments.

“Lulu… I… the camel’s… was specially… all these years… do you still remember?”

And the shadow solidified again. It seemed to have gone mad. Every strand of Its hair was aggressively thrashing. The wind closed the window, but then hammered against the door and windows with loud “bangs.”

I couldn’t help but take a step back, grabbing the curtain blown by the wind, gathering it with the tie-back, and hanging it aside.

“Lulu, she’s lying.”

It reached out and pulled me. The shadow was as black as ink. I instinctively dodged.

“She’s lying.”

Its voice became aggrieved, sounding very pitiful.

The howling wind diluted the coldness and added a sense of fragility.

I had a splitting headache and really didn’t want to adjudicate a case here.

Right now, I was only glad that I had turned off the microphone before the shadow spoke.

Although I wasn’t sure if anyone besides me could see the shadow’s abnormality or hear Its voice, it’s always better to be safe.

I don’t want any more trouble or twists and turns in my life.

But the shadow couldn’t calm down. It grabbed my wrist and practically cornered me against the wall, so that my back was pressed tightly against the wall.

“Lulu.” Its arm rested against the wall, trapping me between It and the wall.

This posture is a bit ambiguous, but we’ve already done more intimate things, so this isn’t much of a big deal.

Faced with an existence so beyond imagination and reality, even if Its demeanor was friendly and normal, I could never fully drop my guard.

“Is something the matter?” I asked politely.

Because I was startled, my phone slipped out of my hand and almost fell to the ground. The shadow beneath Its skirt lifted the phone, which was dangerously close to needing a screen replacement.

I was very grateful to It for this. The cost of replacing the screen on this phone, which I only got after the car accident three years ago, wouldn’t be much different from buying a new one.

“Thank you,” I said to It, then reached out, wanting to take back my phone.

But It didn’t return it to me. Innumerable thin shadows extending from beneath Its skirt steadily held the phone on the desk.

Guan Lan was telling me about things she had encountered recently. The non-cooperation of a partner was slowing down the project, making it impossible for her to return earlier. Even the souvenir she prepared for me had to stay in Lishan with her.

She said, “The gift and the surprise should be handed to Lulu by me personally.”

The shadow stubbornly stared into my eyes, repeating, “Lulu, she’s lying.”

It was much taller than me. I had to tilt my head back to see Its face.

But even as I tried to discern Its expression, I could only see a patch of blackness. Only the area of Its eye sockets was empty, revealing the painting on the wall behind It.

Only Its extravagant hair and the deep ink skirt formed by the shadow, which seemed to absorb all the surrounding light, allowed me to perceive Its angry mood.

It wouldn’t let me take my phone and wouldn’t listen to what I wanted to say, only insisting on what It wanted to express.

Being a person… no, being a ghost like this… isn’t it a bit too authoritarian?

Feudal society ended a hundred years ago. To still engage in this kind of personal tyranny and strong-arm oppression in the new era is truly inhumane.

“I want to revisit all the beautiful memories with Lulu.”

I heard Guan Lan’s voice, full of gentle anticipation for the future, and then she softly inquired.

“Will Lulu keep me company? This year, let’s go to the Tengger Desert again to see the sea of sand, to see the stars, just like…”

“It used to be.”

Even though her attitude was just like when we reminisced about the past, carrying a hint of subtle joy, I felt an odd sense of incongruity in my heart.

The distance wasn’t too great. I didn’t know if the shadow had kindly turned on my microphone, but I still raised my voice to respond to Guan Lan’s words.

“I don’t want to travel far this year…” As soon as the words left my mouth, I saw a long, thin black shadow stretch out from beneath Its skirt, like a tentacle, tapping the screen.

Guan Lan’s voice on the other end suddenly grew louder. She probably switched to speakerphone.

I understood the shadow’s meaning. I was silent for a moment and cooperated, “This year? I don’t really want to travel far. I just want to stay in Xizhao and not go anywhere.”

That long, thin black shadow seemed very satisfied and tapped the screen again.

Quite flexible, I thought to myself.

And the desert Guan Lan mentioned, the Tengger Desert—

I still remember that near-perfect profile. Although the setting sun’s afterglow tinted her overly pale cheeks with a golden hue, and even the light favored her beauty, making her almost blend into the light, the unique aura of an unmatched beauty couldn’t be faked.

Guan Lan is beautiful, she’s good-looking, but she’s just good-looking; she’s not stunning to that extent.

If the shadow is Guan Zhi… wait, no one told me Guan Zhi had passed away. Maybe she’s still alive!

Furthermore, Guan Lan’s stepsister—why would I assume so naturally that her name is Guan Zhi?

She’s her stepsister, not her biological sister. They don’t have the same birth mother. According to social custom, children take the surname of the parent who gave birth to them. Why would both their birth mothers coincidentally be surnamed Guan?

The same surname is probably just a coincidence. I’ve over-associated things and was complacent in thinking I had found the answer.

Moreover, regarding the desert trip, all my current impressions came from the dream, and dreams often romanticize everything and splice together memory fragments. Their authenticity is unconfirmed and completely unreliable.

It was a bit awkward. I had to overturn my previous conjecture.

The shadow was blocking me here, forcing me to answer Its question.

“Um… you mean, Lanlan lied?” I asked It in return.

It seemed to have finally gotten a satisfactory answer.

The flying hair was soothed, and as It lowered Its head, it draped over me, bringing a chill so intense it felt like the extreme cold of winter ice, making me shiver uncontrollably.

“Lulu.” It continued to call my name, each call overlapping the last, gentle and deeply affectionate.

It was strange. Both were gentle, but Its gentleness felt extreme, while Guan Lan’s gentleness always felt separated by an unbridgeable distance.

Yet, I am emotionally closer to Guan Lan.

Could the physical negative distance contact also cause this sensory gap?

I don’t have much experience, so I can’t be sure. I can only guess that perhaps I have a voice fetish, and even though both of their voices are gentle and stable, Guan Lan’s voice simply doesn’t attract me as much as the shadow’s.

Ignoring the bizarre aspect, the shadow, in terms of features, voice, and every other aspect, fits my aesthetic preferences very well.

However, humans and ghosts follow different paths. I have no intention of interspecies dating.

Actually, one-night stands are also forbidden, but I couldn’t refuse and even enjoyed it. The main thing is that I’m not entirely satisfied with the timing and Their appearance. Other than that… I’m quite satisfied.

My mind was wandering with random thoughts, but I didn’t forget my current predicament.

“Hello, is there anything else?” My tone was polite and gentle, hoping It would feel my goodwill.

As for Guan Lan… I didn’t know when the call ended or what she said before hanging up. Right now, I couldn’t worry about that much.

Because… the shadow seemed to have been strengthened by the wind. It, along with the wind, enclosed me in the domain It controlled.

“Lulu.” I couldn’t tell if it was the sound of the wind or Its voice.

It emphasized to me, “Lulu is mine, belongs to me.”

I really wanted to roll my eyes like Xi Rong, but I resisted. When under someone else’s roof, one must bow one’s head. I should be sensible.

As if sensing my cold attitude, It became a little anxious.

“Lulu, my Lulu.”

A cold wind coiled around my calves, winding its way upward, causing me to involuntarily gasp.

The chill wrapped around my arms and also brushed the ticklish skin on my waist. I actually guessed what It was about to do.

I will not allow it!