It was too late—too soon. I, who had reacted long ago, rushed over the moment the old lady pushed Zephyr down.
Luckily, it was only the second floor, and Zephyr wasn't too heavy. Desperately, I managed to catch him.
At this time, Zephyr was unconscious, stiff as a piece of wood. Shouting couldn't wake him up. Frozen in my arms, he seemed to be under some evil influence.
After I caught Zephyr, everyone reacted. Following a noisy outburst of exclamations, the old woman disappeared into the corridor again with a weird smile.
"Zephyr, are you okay?" Nova pushed her way out of the crowd with Daphne at this moment.
"The old lady—it was Nova's grandmother—she pushed him down the hallway. She's upstairs! Send someone to find her!" I said hurriedly to Nova.
Nova waved her hand at a group of servants, and immediately, several men rushed up to the second floor.
"Zephyr, what's wrong with you? Why aren't you saying anything? Are you freaked out?" Nova took Zephyr from my arms, but Zephyr, with his eyes wide open, still didn't react. His whole body was frozen stiff, like a wooden chicken.
Zephyr wasn't scared at all—he'd already been like this when he stood up there. I didn't know if the old lady had done something supernatural, but Zephyr was Nova's family, the only male. Why would she want to harm him? Could it really be a ghost?
Stein examined Zephyr and said it was night terrors, also known as "nocturnal crying baby"—a state where the soul is frightened out of the body, common in children. He told Nova to prepare a fire pit.
Nova didn't dare to delay and hurriedly ordered a subordinate to bring a fire pit. Following Stein's instructions, they lit it, and immediately, the dark mansion was illuminated by the flames.
Stein held Zephyr in his arms and walked him back and forth over the fire pit while calling his name.
After about a dozen passes, Zephyr's expression finally flickered, and he began to respond. Stein then slapped Zephyr hard on the forehead three times and bellowed, "BACK!"
Immediately after the slaps, Zephyr let out a wail. Stein finally breathed a sigh of relief, said he would be okay, and handed Zephyr back to Nova.
Nova coaxed Zephyr for a long time before he stopped crying. Only then did she rush to ask him what had happened.
Zephyr, after all, was still a child. Shaken and disoriented, his words were fragmented. But from his broken speech, we pieced together what had occurred.
It turned out that Zephyr had been playing in his room when suddenly the power went out. At the same time, the nanny who was supposed to be watching him had disappeared. Zephyr, crying, ran out—and that was when a woman in a red dress appeared. She said she wanted to take Zephyr to find something fun. In his confusion, Zephyr somehow followed her.
The woman in the red dress led Zephyr up to the rooftop, but just then, Nova's grandmother appeared. Her face was hideous, and she frantically snatched Zephyr away. The woman in the red dress did not chase after them, merely chanting, "Old thing, you will die!"
Nova's grandmother ignored her and carried Zephyr downstairs. At that moment, Zephyr saw the red-dressed woman's stomach split open with a clatter, her intestines spilling onto the ground. Horrified, he watched as the woman stood there with an eerie smile, making no move to follow. The sight was so terrifying that Zephyr fainted on the spot—perhaps his soul had been scared out of him.
In this case, was Nova's grandmother actually saving Zephyr, not harming him? Then who was that woman in the red dress? I'd encountered her twice already on the second floor—she didn't seem human, just unnaturally eerie.
"Crap, the old lady is in danger!" Stein suddenly exclaimed, as if remembering something, and bolted upstairs.
"Stein, where are you going?" I asked in disbelief.
"The rooftop!" Stein shouted.
The rooftop?
A realization struck me, and I sprinted after Stein. Nova handed Zephyr to the babysitter and followed with Daphne.
Stein had been the first to run, but with his short legs, we caught up within seconds. By the time we reached the rooftop, Stein had fallen behind.
An old woman stood on the rooftop, her back to us. Her silver hair and gaunt frame made her look weathered beyond words.
"Grandma…" Nova called out hesitantly, but she didn't dare approach. The old lady had been acting abnormally all day—not only had she been cruel to Nova, but she'd also pushed Zephyr down the stairs.
At Nova's voice, the old woman turned around. Her face was deathly pale, her wrinkles deep like gnarled tree bark.
She let out a choked gasp—then suddenly, a mouthful of blood sprayed from her lips. Yet she kept laughing, her expression and smile grotesquely twisted.
"Grandma… what's wrong with you?" Nova cried out in horror and concern, but she still couldn't bring herself to move closer.
Then, Nova's grandmother turned fully toward us—revealing a gaping slash across her stomach, her intestines spilling out, exactly like the red-dressed woman Zephyr had described.
"Hehehehehe… die, die, die!" The old woman didn't seem to feel any pain. Blood dripped from her mouth as she cackled, her stiff, unnatural grin sending chills down our spines.
"AH—GRANDMA!" Nova let out a bloodcurdling scream before her eyes rolled back, and she collapsed in a dead faint. After all, this was her grandmother—no one could endure such a gruesome sight.
Daphne was just as terrified. She'd never witnessed anything like this before. Her face turned ghostly pale as she dropped to her knees and vomited.
"Little Boss, this... this is too terrifying!" Stein stammered, his forehead drenched in cold sweat.
I felt just as shaken as them, but I rushed forward anyway. Fighting back my disgust, I tried stuffing the old lady's intestines back inside. I didn't know if she would survive, but I had to try.
"Don't just stand there! Call an ambulance!" I shouted.
That snapped Stein into action. Fumbling with trembling hands, he pulled out his phone and dialed 120.
"It's no use... no use... already too late..." The old lady suddenly spoke. That eerie smile vanished as I approached her, her expression becoming much gentler.
"Old lady... you weren't actually possessed or crazy? You were faking it all along?" The realization hit me suddenly.
The old lady managed a weak smile. "If I didn't pretend to be mad, I would have died. She would have killed me. But tonight... to save Zephyr... I had to..."
As she spoke, another mouthful of blood gushed from her lips. The situation worsened - the intestines couldn't be pushed back in at all. Even when she tried holding them, they kept slithering out like snakes.
"Who is she?" I demanded. This "she" might be the key - probably that woman in the red dress.
"Jade ... Jade ..." Nova's grandmother gasped out these two words before suddenly choking and going still. My hands loosened, and the intestines I'd been holding dropped to the ground again.
Dead.
Old lady... who actually killed you? And who was that woman in the red dress?
Does this all connect to the jade pendant?