Chapter 25: The Vacation Villa

Judging by his expression, even if he tried to recall, he likely wouldn't remember anything more. Instead, Su Man suddenly remembered, "Didn’t Zhou Bin, whom we contacted through mediumship, mention they encountered a home invasion robbery?"

Xiao Liang had long forgotten about it. "Did he?"

"He did!" Su Man looked again at the fat man, her gaze sharp. "Did you ever commit a home invasion robbery?"

The fat man stammered, "Well... it's not that I don't want to tell you, it's just... there were too many. Which group are you talking about?"

Su Man's expression grew colder, and the fat man's words revealed everything. They weren’t Xin Ling’s friends—they were habitual home invaders.

"Wait, wait, let me think. Was it the family at Golden Bay? No? Then Hu Hai?" The fat man blurted out, desperately racking his brain.

"And this villa?" she prompted. "What happened here?"

"This villa? No, I've never been here!" he denied, but then his eyes widened abruptly, as if recalling something.

Seeing his reaction, Su Man knew he remembered.

"We... we robbed a group of young people here," the fat man replied, eyes darting—clearly lying.

"I’ll give you one last chance," Su Man said.

"That’s all, I..." The fat man tried to keep lying, but Su Man suddenly brought her blade down, severing his head. "I told you it was your last chance."

Crimson blood splattered across her face, but her expression remained unchanged as she looked at the skinny man, now frozen in terror, shaking uncontrollably.

She didn't even have to speak before he screamed, "We raped a woman! I’ve told you everything, please don’t kill me!"

He hadn’t known who she was initially, but when Su Man mentioned this place, the memory returned—he’d just been focused on the home invasion and hadn't made the connection before.

"Who?" Su Man felt the truth was finally surfacing. "Speak!"

"She was an incredibly beautiful woman!"

At the time, Skinny Monkey and his gang had just pulled off a big job and came here on vacation, not intending to commit another crime. But on their way back, they ran into Xin Ling’s group, who were here for a birthday party.

If everyone had just kept their mouths shut, nothing would have happened. But Xin Ling's group had been drinking, and were in high spirits. Zhou Bin, emboldened by alcohol, mocked Skinny Monkey and his friends as they passed, sneering that they had nothing, wore cheap clothes, were ugly, and chose tasteless women. He thoroughly insulted Skinny Monkey, and the others burst out laughing.

Skinny Monkey, sensitive to such remarks, was humiliated and enraged. A fight broke out between them. The rest, fueled by alcohol, joined in, and chaos ensued.

Skinny Monkey's gang were vicious criminals, always armed and quick to act. In no time, they overpowered Xin Ling's group.

Initially, Skinny Monkey's group hadn’t intended to escalate things—they were just there to relax and didn’t want trouble with the law. But Zhou Bin, still defiant even while lying on the ground, continued taunting, calling them garbage.

So, Skinny Monkey’s gang tied up Xin Ling's group and threw them into the villa. They looted the place and intended to burn the group along with the villa.

"We just wanted to kill them all to eliminate any loose ends!" Skinny Monkey nearly swore an oath. "And it wasn’t really us who raped the woman—she volunteered!"

From Skinny Monkey’s account, Su Man learned that Xin Ling was the most beautiful among the women. The gang had considered harming her, but worried that lingering would attract attention. Their plan was murder. Then the woman herself stood up, offering herself in exchange for the group's safety.

"Lies! Lies!" A sharp, unfamiliar voice pierced the air. Su Man felt a chill sweep before her, and in an instant, Skinny Monkey was hacked into a mangled pulp.

When she snapped back, Xin Ling—her spectral white figure—stood in the room, blood-tears streaming from her eyes. She wielded a large axe, swinging it madly at Skinny Monkey. "Lies! Lies! I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you!"

The man beside Skinny Monkey tried to escape, but the frenzied Xin Ling chopped him to pieces as well.

When both men were well and truly dead, Xin Ling’s gaze slowly shifted to Su Man and Xiao Liang.

Xin Ling said nothing. She simply stared at them, her expression growing ever more deranged. "It’s all lies. It’s all lies. You forced me!"

She looked at Su Man, both weeping and laughing, her voice rising in a furious wail. "You heard it all, didn’t you? Didn’t you?! I was obviously better than you, better in every way—so why did I end up like this? They’re all lying! I was never willing!"

Her emotions raged, and without hesitation, the axe in her hands swung at Su Man.

"Su Man, her neck! Strike her neck!"

Xiao Liang, unable to intervene, shouted desperately from the side.

At his words, Su Man noticed a black line encircling Xin Ling’s neck.

She mustered all her strength and struck, not even trying to avoid the axe.

A heart-wrenching scream tore from Xin Ling’s lips, her face twisting as she vanished from the room.

"Did it work?" Xiao Liang murmured.

Su Man frowned, then shook her head after a moment. "I don’t think so."

She hadn’t felt any impact—her blade had struck only empty air. Most likely, Xin Ling had disappeared on her own.

But why?

"Su Man, come look!" Xiao Liang suddenly called from the window, as if he’d made a discovery.

"What is it?"

"Look! The fountain’s dried up!"

The two hurried downstairs to the fountain. Where once a clear mist had hung in the air, now only a bone-dry basin remained—not a single drop of water.

"Bones," Xiao Liang shouted, pointing to a spot inside the basin. Before Su Man could look, he pointed again. "Bones everywhere! Look, there’s something drawn here!"

"A skull—this looks like a hand." Su Man examined the bones closely. Moss had grown over them, blending with the stone. If you didn’t look carefully, they looked like artful sculptures.

Suddenly, she recalled the first night she came searching for the resurrection card and saw the bloated figure of Xin Ling soaking here.

"Perhaps this is the dumping ground," she guessed.

As for the strange symbols painted there, she said, "This could be the source of the curse."