Free Web NovelChapter 54: Chapter 54: His Sky-Shattering Breakdown
A ghost??
Gu Xulin froze for a second, then seemed to understand.
He burst out laughing, a harsh, unsympathetic GAK GAK GAK.
"HAHAHAHAHA, it’s not a ghost, HAHAHA, that’s your oldest brother, HAHAHA."
Gu Zhao was even more horrified. "Oldest Brother is dead??? When did that happen!"
Gu Xulin was laughing so hard he was rolling around on his hospital bed. He only stopped when he pulled at his wound.
"Your oldest brother has extreme social anxiety. Don’t worry about him. He uses the sewers to get around," Gu Xulin said, gently blowing on the nearly healed wound on his arm.
Gu Zhao: ???
"Brother, I’m five, not a moron. Who actually uses the sewers to get around?" Gu Zhao said, exasperated.
Gu Xulin didn’t argue with her. The two chatted for a bit longer before hanging up.
Before hanging up, Gu Xulin even reminded Gu Zhao, "If things suddenly disappear around the house, that’s normal."
Gu Zhao thought her fourth brother had gone crazy too.
’Is this what ’normal’ is supposed to look like?’
But crazy or not, a girl’s gotta eat. She plopped down on the sofa, eating and playing on her phone.
After a while, she felt thirsty again. In the instant it took her to grab a juice box from the fridge, the fruit she’d put in there earlier was gone!!
’What a vicious thief!!’
As for what Gu Xulin said about her socially anxious oldest brother, she didn’t believe a word of it!
’Ghost or thief, I don’t care! I’m catching them today!’
Silent footsteps, huh? She scanned her surroundings and, sure enough, spotted cameras in a few corners.
Gu Zhao looked at the cameras and chuckled out loud.
After she stopped laughing, she acted as if nothing had happened and ran to the room Zhang Bai had prepared for her. Once she confirmed there were no cameras in the room, she found a few small spiders hiding in the corners.
She quietly whispered a few words to the little spiders, and they scurried out the window.
When they returned, they had a few lizards with them.
The lizards tilted their heads and began to chirp in unison, "Big sister~ Big sister~ Big sister~"
Gu Zhao patted their heads, hid them in her clothes, and carried them downstairs.
"Go up there, face that head, and smile," Gu Zhao whispered, pointing them toward a camera.
The lizards were very smart. They each found a camera, quickly scurried up, and then smiled with their heads pressed against the lens.
A few even added their own flair, sticking their tongues out as they smiled.
Seeing that they had all taken their positions and blocked the cameras, Gu Zhao ran to the kitchen and rummaged around, finding some unopened seasonings.
’The owner of this house clearly doesn’t cook.’
Gu Zhao’s small frame effortlessly lifted the oil container, and she poured some on the floor in front of the refrigerator.
After setting the trap, she looked around to make sure no one had seen her. Then she went and got some flour, spreading a thin, not-so-obvious layer on the staircase.
Once everything was done, Gu Zhao returned to her bedroom with her snacks and phone.
「Night fell.」
The entire villa was as quiet as if it were uninhabited.
Gu Xingyu finished his last task, rubbed his sore neck, and suddenly felt thirsty.
He subconsciously moved to open the door and get some water, just like he always did, but he froze before he reached it.
’It seems a troublemaker has been sent to my house.’
Gu Xingyu’s brows knitted tightly. He felt extremely annoyed.
"This is so troublesome!"
He walked over to his monitor to check if anyone was outside.
But one look nearly gave him a heart attack.
He panted heavily, clutching his heart.
On the monitor, each screen was filled with the head of a lizard, smiling at him...
Gu Xingyu: ...
A few of them even scratched their heads.
’See! I told you having someone in the house was annoying! Why didn’t they send her away?!’
He had no choice. He cracked the door open, peeked outside, and only stepped out after seeing no one was there.
His footsteps were light, not making a single sound.
He walked out, his eyes darting everywhere, terrified of running into someone.
He breathed a sigh of relief after reaching the bottom of the stairs and headed for the refrigerator.
He completely failed to notice the flour sticking to the soles of his shoes, let alone the oil in front of the fridge.
He walked right into it, completely unprepared.
SLIP.
It was the sound of a shattered tailbone.
He slipped and fell flat on his butt. His face was contorted in pain, but he didn’t dare cry out!
’This is my own house!! Why am I living like a thief!’
When Gu Zhao heard the lizards calling for her, she immediately opened her door. The moment she did, she heard a muffled THUD.
She ran downstairs, even more excited. Time to see what kind of ghost-thief it was!
But when she got there, there was nothing.
’Where’d he go??’
"Big sister! Big sister! I saw it! He went into the wall!" a lizard shouted from the kitchen camera.
’Into the wall??’
Gu Zhao’s face screamed, ’I knew it was a ghost!’
She pressed against the wall, examining it, but couldn’t find any mechanism. This only made her more certain it was a ghost.
But that was fine!
She ran upstairs and, sure enough, found footprints on the floor that weren’t hers.
"So it’s a ghost that can’t even float," Gu Zhao mumbled.
Following the footprints, Gu Zhao arrived at the second floor, at the room at the very end of the hall.
The door was unlocked. Gu Zhao carefully pushed it open and went inside.
She carefully closed the door behind her and then surveyed the room.
There was a lot of mechanical equipment, and lots of guns!!
’Did my oldest brother steal all this?!’
’No, wait, what oldest brother? I don’t have an oldest brother.’
Gu Zhao looked around, then crawled into a cabinet.
’Whatever it is, I’ll find out soon enough!’
Having escaped into the basement through the secret passage, Gu Xingyu had no idea someone had entered his workshop.
He irritably changed his clothes.
The basement was his second bedroom, so he had plenty of supplies there. There was also an entrance to the sewer in the basement.
He cleaned himself up, but even though he sensed no one was outside, he still didn’t dare go out.
He didn’t have his phone either!
All he could do now was hope that Zhang Bai would realize he was missing and come rescue him!!
「A night passed.」
Gu Zhao slept peacefully in the cabinet.
The certain someone in the basement also slept soundly.
Only the person delivering the food was terrified.
"Miss Gu Zhao?" The delivery person was a young man.
’Weren’t they told there was a child in the villa??’
Figuring she might be asleep, he went upstairs and knocked on her door.
No one answered. Not a single response!
He started to panic.
He checked the other rooms—no one! Now he was really panicking.
He frantically pulled out his phone. "Assistant Zhang!! She’s gone!!"
Zhang Bai didn’t react much at first. He was busy with his work; since the commander-in-chief didn’t handle things, he was in charge of the entire base.
"When is the commander-in-chief ever around? It’d be stranger if you actually saw him."
"It’s Miss Gu Zhao! She’s missing!"
Zhang Bai shot up from his seat. "Who?"
"Miss Gu Zhao!"
"She’s a kid. She’s probably just sleeping in her room," Zhang Bai said, quickly calming down and analyzing the situation.
The voice on the other end replied, "No, I knocked for a long time! No one answered!"
Zhang Bai rushed over, still panting when he reached the villa’s entrance.
He grabbed a spare key from a drawer, then led the young delivery man to Gu Zhao’s door.
Zhang Bai knocked first. "Miss Gu Zhao, are you awake? I’m coming in."
He opened the door, and the room was empty.
Zhang Bai: !!!!
’Where is she where is she where is she where is she!!’
He ran downstairs, out of the villa, and called out to the guards stationed around the perimeter. "Did Miss Gu Zhao come out?"
"No one has come out."
Zhang Bai was on the verge of a breakdown. Having to track down Gu Xingyu all the time was one thing, but why was Gu Zhao missing now, too?!
’Does this villa eat people?!’
’Go on, then! Eat me too!!’
The villa: ...
