Hidden Shadow – CH 003

Chapter Three: Going in the Wrong Direction

Angel snorted.

Mei Jiu tensed upon hearing this. “You, are you a human or a ghost?”

“Guess.” Angel would never have paid attention to her nonsense if she were not trying to confirm her own existence.

Recalling the various instances of her body losing control earlier, Mei Jiu had a guess, her face paling. “What are you trying to achieve by hiding in my body?”

“To be able to say something so plausible is truly astonishing. I thought you were brainless,” Angel replied with cool sarcasm.

This girl had not asked a single question since waking up, her carefree attitude drawing utter contempt from Angel.

Mei Jiu pondered, her grip on the bedside slowly relaxing, a bit of color returning to her face. “Whether you are a human or a ghost, I feel you have no ill intentions towards me.”

“Your feeling is correct.” Angel was not lying, but in her understanding, whether someone harbored ill will towards another person and whether they would kill them were not necessarily related.

Hearing her words, Mei Jiu felt slightly relieved, but because humans and ghosts were different, her voice remained tense. “What’s your name? Why are you following me?”

This time it was Angel’s turn to be confused. The girl in front of her had just been pounding her heart, yet she had let her guard down because of some unseen and intangible feeling! It was truly inexplicable.

After waiting for a long time, Mei Jiu heard no reply. “Are you still there?”

“Name…” Angel was a little dazed. She only remembered the codename and had no recollection of her real name. “Angel.”

“An Jiu?” Mei Jiu’s tone became more familiar, and she whispered, “My name is Mei Jiu, the ‘Jiu’ in ‘Chang Shun Jiu An¹.’ Do you also have this character?”

An Jiu it is; it did not matter anyway. She was too lazy to explain and only said lightly, “Your parents’ wishes are good, but with your intelligence, I am afraid it will not last long.”

Mei Jiu did not quite understand, but she could tell it was not a nice thing to say, and her face immediately turned red.

“Hey, do not get excited!” An Jiu said angrily.

She could sense Mei Jiu’s feelings; that unfamiliar emotional fluctuation made her uncomfortable. It was like wanting to curse someone but accidentally cursing yourself as well—the feeling was too bizarre!

An Jiu felt that seizing the body was urgent.

“You’ve gone too far!” Mei Jiu said angrily.

Wen-Cui, who was waiting outside the door, heard the sudden voice and immediately replied, “Fourteenth Young Lady, do you need any servants?”

“No, no,” Mei Jiu said in a panic.

An Jiu sighed deeply into the distance. She must have committed too many sins in her past life to be suffering this punishment in this one.

“This sister,” a familiar voice faintly came from outside the house.

Mei Jiu’s spirits lifted, and she jumped out of bed, running excitedly to the door to open it. “Ah Shun!”

Wen-Cui smiled. “Fifteenth Young Lady just woke up and came right over! The two young ladies are truly sisters.”

Mei Jiu pulled Ah Shun’s hand and led her into the room. Seeing their excited and eager expressions, Wen-Cui wisely refrained from disturbing them, gently closing the door behind her.

“Ah Jiu, you have to save me!” Ah Shun’s tears suddenly streamed down her face, the fear in her phoenix eyes genuine.

Mei Jiu paused for a moment, then smiled. “Do not be afraid. Mother said this is my home; no one will harm you.”

An Jiu could not help but chuckle, and Mei Jiu froze at the sound.

Ah Shun, flustered, did not notice her subtle change. “Last night, those black-clad men tried to kill me. When I saw they did not intend to harm you and even wanted to take you away, I… said I was your younger sister…”

Ah Shun had assumed Mei Jiu had no close relatives and that she could simply tell her when the opportunity arose. Who would have thought Mei Jiu’s mother was still alive! If she were exposed, would she even survive?

“After I was separated from my mother, I was only able to survive thanks to your care. I’ve always considered you my own sister.” Mei Jiu pulled her to sit on the edge of the bed. “Do not worry, I will tell my mother in a bit.”

An Jiu had absolutely no interest in this pointless display of sisterly affection. She had previously thought that the Mei family had rescued them from those black-clad men, but it turned out that those black-clad men belonged to the Mei family! Recalling the situation at the time, those people definitely did not intend to save anyone. An Jiu did not doubt her keen sense of danger.

Considering Mei Yanran’s reaction, An Jiu guessed that the Mei family might have originally intended to kill her to silence her, but for some reason, they spared her.

“I cannot thank you enough!” Ah Shun rose and knelt before Mei Jiu.

“What are you doing? Please get up quickly.” Mei Jiu quickly bent down to help her up.

The two girls held hands and talked, the warm, soft touch making An Jiu incredibly awkward. If it were not for their close-quarters combat, she had rarely touched anyone’s body like this in her entire life. She hated that she could not shake off Ah Shun’s hand! Adding to that, she had to listen to their tedious conversation, which nearly drove An Jiu to a mental breakdown!

So, as soon as Ah Shun stepped away, she immediately said, “Can you please not have physical contact with other people so casually in the future?!”

“What is…physical contact?” Meijiu asked, puzzled.

“It means do not shake hands, hug, kiss, or sleep with other people casually!” An Jiu said.

Meijiu blushed. “You, you…” She was too embarrassed to talk about such a topic. “Ah Shun is a woman.”

“Not even women!” An Jiu had no leverage over her now, so she resorted to threatening her. “You know I am a ghost. If you do not behave, I will kill your mother!”

“I will behave, I will behave; please do not hurt my mother,” Mei Jiu said hastily.

An Jiu realized she had overestimated the girl. The way she had so easily intimidated her was almost disheartening.

“Think about your current situation! I bet Wen-Cui overheard your whispered conversation with that girl outside,” An Jiu warned. After all, they shared a body, and she did not want it to be damaged before she understood the relationship between soul and body.

“But she did not ask anything?” Mei Jiu asked, somewhat incredulous.

An Jiu snapped, “She did not react, so she did not hear? Is your head filled with nothing but intestines?! Someone like you is only good for nothing!”

An Jiu never thought being unintelligent was a mistake—the girl was not bothering her! But now, sharing a body with Mei Jiu, she could not ignore her; she had to communicate deeply!

At this moment, rather than hating Mei Jiu’s naiveté, she felt a profound sense of powerlessness regarding her current situation.

She did not even have the chance to shoot herself!

“You are utterly unreasonable!” Even a clay idol like Mei Jiu could not help but show some temper after being insulted like that.

She angrily got up to leave, forgetting that An Jiu was right beside her.

“Fourteenth Young Lady, you have not fully recovered yet; please do not go out,” Wen-Cui said with a gentle smile, stopping her.

Mei Jiu was stunned. “Why can Ah Shun leave the room?”

“Fifteenth Sister is perfectly fine,” Wen-Cui said.

Mei Jiu did not insist on leaving, lowering her head and saying, “I want to see Mother.”

“Coward,” An Jiu’s cold voice inexplicably sounded resentful.