Chapter 122: Is it the kind that happens seven times a night? (Part 3)

Chai Gou glanced at Qin Tian and Tang Bo with a smug expression before leading Chen Qiaoshan into the interview room.

Sun Simin, who happened to witness this scene, quickly grasped the situation.

"Master, shall I?"

Since the other party had offended his master, it was out of the question for Sun Simin to employ such a person.

"Hire her," Qin Tian said.

"Very well, I will inform them not to recruit this person," Sun Simin nodded.

"No, you misunderstood me. By 'hire her,' I mean you should let her in," Qin Tian clarified.

"Oh?" Sun Simin was bewildered. Why would he want to hire someone like that?

"Hire her. Once she starts working, find any excuse to fire her," Qin Tian sneered. He didn't mind playing the villain for once. He could never forgive someone who had hurt his brother.

"Master, that is brilliant!" Sun Simin gave a thumbs-up. This would send the person soaring to heaven only to plummet into hell.

"I’m leaving now. I should be at the Center Building around one o'clock the day after tomorrow," Qin Tian said. After collecting his herbs and helping Tang Bo, he departed.

"Take care, Master," Sun Simin said, seeing them out of the clinic. After Qin Tian left, Sun Simin turned back toward the interview room, feeling a sense of mischievous delight.

Back home, Qin Tian brewed the herbs for Tang Bo to drink before sending him to bed. Qin Tian was surprised to find that Jiang Yingying and Shen Xiaoqing were not home. There were no classes this afternoon, so where could they be at this hour? However, it was not his place to concern himself with where these two young ladies went, so he sat on the sofa and turned on the television.

The entire afternoon passed, and the two still hadn't returned. Qin Tian thought for a moment, then rose to prepare dinner. He brought a bowl up to Tang Bo and waited for the others to return.

"It is now seven o'clock in the evening!"

As Qin Tian watched the news, the hourly time signal blared. He rubbed his stomach, feeling famished. He waited another half hour, but finally gave in, reheated the food, and ate by himself. By the time he finished cleaning up, it was eight o'clock, and he settled back onto the sofa to watch TV.

"Huh?"

Just then, the chandelier above Qin Tian’s head flickered and went dark.

"Did a fuse blow?" Qin Tian stood up and checked the wall switches, but they were useless. He checked the circuit breaker, but it hadn't tripped. Could a dozen bulbs have shattered at once? That was certainly bizarre.

As he sat back down, wondering if he should call someone to change the bulbs, the television screen flickered and dissolved into static. A low wailing sound emanated from it, resembling a mix of wind and a woman’s muffled sobs. Suddenly, the image shifted to a desolate wilderness, revealing a grave site covered in white spirit paper.

"A horror movie?" Qin Tian was intrigued, assuming the static was just a creative opening. He even commended the director’s ingenuity; making the viewer think the TV was broken, only to show a grave when they approached to fix it—it was a clever scare!

Qin Tian picked up some dried longans to snack on and leaned forward, genuinely engrossed. He had always enjoyed horror movies, but old man Kong had been too cowardly to watch them, let alone let Qin Tian watch them.

"Why is there no other footage?" Qin Tian muttered. The scene of the grave had been playing for nearly three minutes. Even if the director wanted to build suspense, this was pushing it.

Finally, the screen shifted to a mourning hall containing a coffin, surrounded by figures in pale, ghostly makeup.

"Now, that’s better," Qin Tian nodded.

*Creak! Creak!*

The coffin lid moved, revealing a narrow gap. After fifteen seconds of stillness, a hand suddenly shot out and gripped the edge of the coffin. Qin Tian wasn't frightened; he found the trope rather cliché.

The lid was slowly pushed open, and a bloodless woman crawled out, her eyes snapping open wide like copper bells. She thrust her face toward the camera, her expression distorted as if she were about to devour someone.

"Too old-fashioned. Boring," Qin Tian shook his head and reached for the remote, but it was unresponsive. "Is the TV broken?" He frowned, walked up to the set, and pressed the buttons on the console, but the channel wouldn't change.

Confused, Qin Tian crouched down to inspect the device. As he leaned in, he felt a hand rest on his shoulder. He wondered if Jiang Yingying and Shen Xiaoqing had finally returned.

He looked up at his shoulder and saw a pale, ghostly hand. Qin Tian frowned slightly. The hand looked familiar—it was the exact same one that had gripped the edge of the coffin!

He blinked, thinking he was hallucinating, but a closer look confirmed it was real. Even with Qin Tian’s nerves of steel, he was startled and scrambled away. To his utter shock, the hand was emerging directly from the television screen. A figure draped in white slowly crawled out after it.

"Damn it, Sadako?" Qin Tian’s eyes widened. This was too surreal. Was he actually seeing a ghost? He slapped himself hard; it stung, confirming he wasn't dreaming.

The figure crawled out of the TV and remained huddled on the floor, head bowed, in a deeply unsettling posture. Even the boldest soul would be terrified by such a sight.

"Young Master, did you miss me?" the 'ghost' spoke.

"Huh?" Qin Tian paused, finding the voice familiar. Suddenly, his expression shifted, and he dove behind the sofa.

*Thud! Thud!* Two throwing knives pierced the back of the sofa, the tips protruding just centimeters from where his eyes had been. Qin Tian gulped, narrowly escaping blindness.

"Fox Fairy?" Qin Tian called out from behind the sofa.

"The Young Master has a good memory," the Fox Fairy giggled.

"Why is it you again?" Qin Tian muttered. After her previous failed assassination attempt, she actually dared to return?

"Did you not miss me, Young Master? Come out and play with me," the Fox Fairy laughed like silver bells.

"Play? The kind that lasts seven times a night?" Qin Tian teased.

The Fox Fairy paused, then laughed. "If you are capable, Young Master, seventy times a night would be no problem at all!"