Chapter 4: The Mysterious Florist Father and Son

  I couldn't care less about being scared; if this matter isn't solved, I'll never be at peace.

  I ran swiftly with light footsteps, feeling the slippers on my feet getting wet from the dew along the way. My rapid breathing was particularly distinct in the quiet night, and even my heartbeat had an eerie tone. The night wind blew softly and eerily beside my ears, and the sky and earth seemed to be spinning together. I knew I was afraid, but I didn't dare look back, fearing it would make me even more terrified.

  I never knew that this section of the road would be so thrilling and I also never knew that this section of the road would take so long to walk. All I hope is that when I arrive at the small wooden house, the light will still be on.

  At last I ran to the front of the wooden building, fortunately, the light was still on.

  But strangely, the light that came through was not from an electric lamp, but rather something similar to a candle flame, yet without any signs of flickering.

  I took a deep breath and stepped onto the wooden stairs of the building with a sense of fear.

  I tried to tread as softly as possible on the stairs, but the wooden steps still inevitably let out a creaking sound. I clenched my fists, feeling that every soft echo seemed to be walking right into my heart.

  What kind of person is inside the small wooden house? If he's in there right now, he should be able to hear my footsteps. What will his reaction be... or am I just overthinking and it's all just a false alarm?

  I walked up the last step of the stairs with a nervous heart, pushed open the small door with a raised hand, and the flames went out in that instant.

  Chilling, that's what I'm feeling right now. Although there is no wind, I feel like my whole body is shivering in the wind. Trying to calm myself down, I still stepped into the small hut.

  By the window of a small wooden building, under the faint moonlight, there is a vague white shadow leaning against the window, which can't be seen very clearly.

  "Who! Who are you!" I plucked up the courage to ask, but didn't see his response, only two faint sighs remained.

  My hair stood on end, and I froze in place, afraid to take another step forward.

  "Who are you, anyway? Stop pretending to be a ghost here!" Half a moment later, I couldn't hold back the anger in my heart and slowly took half a step forward.

  I heard a sinister laugh and then the white shadow floated down from the window.

  I can confirm that I didn't see it wrong, the figure wasn't jumping down but floating down from the window, and in an instant fear filled my chest.

  My emotions are on the edge of disorder, I plucked up the courage to chase to the window, but that figure had long since disappeared.

  In the dark garden, an ancient song is heard: "At dusk, remove the remaining makeup, outside the window, the cold west wind blows through the gauze, listening to the sound of banana leaves, a gentle rain falls. Where can I meet with someone and chat? Gazing across the autumn water, not seeing him return home, tears like hemp seeds, thinking of him again and hating him, holding red sleeve shoes to divine the ghostly fate...

  I could no longer hold it in, and let out a loud "Ah!" that sounded extremely terrifying and abnormal in the darkness of night.

  All of this is too eerie, and I just so happen to be a spiritualist. I was scared out of my wits, stumbling down the wooden stairs, no longer able to tell east from west or north from south.

  I only felt dizzy and the willows by the artificial lake seemed to have turned into ghosts at this moment, pouncing on me with their teeth and claws.

  "What are you yelling about in the middle of the night?"

  In a daze, someone grabbed my hand. Under the moonlight, I took a closer look and found that it was a man over fifty years old who held my hand tightly.

  I was like a person floating in the ocean who grabbed onto a piece of driftwood and said nervously: "Uncle, there's a ghost in this garden!"

  "Hmph!" He disdainfully brushed off my hand and said coldly: "Ghost? Your Shen family's old mansion is full of ghosts, be careful that one day you'll also become a lonely spirit wandering in this garden..."

  "What do you mean?" I shrieked.

  I can't say I'm not angry, but at this moment, fear is a bigger part of it.

  "It doesn't matter..." The man let out a cold laugh and handed me back the slippers I had just run away with: "If you're so timid, don't go running around in the middle of the night, or you might get eaten by ghosts."

  "You..." I was furious, and swung a punch, but unexpectedly lost my footing and fell to the ground.

  Actually, I twisted my foot when I rushed down from upstairs in a flurry just now. At this moment, the piercing pain replaced my anger and fear. I struggled to get up, but my feet couldn't exert any strength at all.

  "This young master is really troublesome." The man complained as he picked me up from the ground. To say "picked" would be a polite way of putting it - his actions were downright rough and rude to the extreme, completely disregarding the injury on my foot, directly dragging me towards the main house.

  "My god, Marago wall's... who are you? How can you do this? You damn bastard, let me go quickly, or I'll kill you..."

  Being dragged by this man all the way, I scolded him non-stop. He didn't retort much, just said calmly: "Young Master Shen, if you don't care about your identity, then your voice can be a bit louder..."

  Who is this man and why would he appear in my garden at midnight, saying such inexplicable things? It's clear that he knows who I am. I immediately shut my mouth, not wanting to be seen in such a sorry state by someone who knows me.

  But in my heart I still ruthlessly cursed this man's ancestors for eighteen generations.

  I was dragged back to the main house by him, and after finishing the medicine, it was already past 5 o'clock in the morning.

  I locked eyes with this man, both of us awkwardly silent.

  I don't know how to express the doubts in my heart, why did he just happen to appear there at that time, was it to scare me? That's also too boring...

  I hesitantly expressed the thoughts in my heart: "That... just now, were you at the small wooden house? Was that person singing you?"

  "Mr. Shen, your imagination is quite rich, your father didn't have such a rich imagination..." The man replied while picking up his medical box.

  I was about to retort when the man said: "Young Master Shen, do you know that curiosity can kill a cat? In this garden, curiosity can kill a person. You'd better be careful. Also, please don't cause any more trouble and stay in your room at midnight."

  After saying these words, he turned around and left the room, without even looking back at me.

  "Who are you?" I shouted loudly.

  The man replied to me: "My name is Shen Rukuan, I am Shen Lan's father, and your father is a good friend of mine."

  Oh, so he's Shen Lan's father... I stared at his back, and my mind was shocked to think that the white figure in the garden couldn't be Shen Lan's father. He had a tall and powerful build, with a low and deep voice, completely different from that slender white figure... Who was that person? Why did Shen Rukuan also appear at that time? How many secrets were hidden in this garden? Or is everything just my illusion...

  When I woke up again, it was already three poles high in the sun. Because I sprained my foot, I couldn't go downstairs.

  I was worried about breakfast, but unexpectedly Shen Lan, whom I met yesterday, came with breakfast in hand.

  Shen Lan's face was full of smiles: "Yu Ge, my dad asked me to bring you breakfast."

  My god! I didn't expect Shen Lan's mysterious old dad to be so thoughtful, knowing that I sprained my foot and letting Shen Lan send me breakfast.

  Shen Lan looked at me eating breakfast and didn't seem in a hurry to leave, standing still with a puzzled gaze.

  "Shen Lan, what do you want to say? Just say it." Looking at Shen Lan in front of me, thinking of his eccentric old father, I tried hard to control the unpleasant tone in my voice.

  "Yu Ge, my old man told me to remind you that there are some places in this garden that it's better for you not to go."

  What does it mean? The less I go to my own garden the better. I restrained my anger and squeezed out a smile on my face, nodding slowly.

  I warned myself not to argue with Shen Lan, not to pay attention to his father's kind or malicious reminders, and watched Shen Lan's thin back walk out of the room.

  "Ah!……” After Shen Lan's back disappeared from my line of sight, I finally couldn't control my anger and let out a loud roar. The experiences of the past two days had already been enough for me, this eerie and gloomy garden, this strange father-son duo of florists, what secrets did they hold? You don't let me touch it, but I'm determined to get to the bottom of it.