Chapter 15 (2/2)

Xiao Tangqiu was forced to kneel with the paper doll, to pay their respects and complete the wedding ceremony. Then, he was brought to Yun Jizhou’s room.

Right until he reached the coffin, Xiao Tangqiu hadn’t found a chance to escape. Once again, he was violently pushed into the coffin from behind. Immediately after, the paper doll was placed down beside him.

“No!” He desperately cried.

Then, the coffin was shut once more.

“Let me out now!”

Xiao Tangqiu frantically pounded the coffin lid, but it didn’t move an inch. When he had finally pounded till his hands were numb, he suddenly felt the paper doll beside him move.

For a second, he was like a deer caught in the headlights, paralyzed with fear. But then, he quickly reacted to the situation by shuffling to the side, terrified that the paper doll would come to life.

The more afraid Xiao Tangqiu was, the more he sensed that the paper doll was really alive. He even seemed to hear the paper doll breathing, its steady breath brushing across his ear…….. But how could the paper doll be breathing? Ghosts didn’t breathe either! It must’ve been a hallucination! Yes, he must’ve been frightened to the point of hallucinating!

His heart beat turbulently in his chest, the cacophonous thrum accompanying all sorts of wild thoughts as he tried to distract himself. However, his mind refused to cooperate, focusing on the fact that the paper doll was lying so close to him.

Huff……

Huff…. Huff….

The sound of breathing got louder and louder. Xiao Tangqiu could no longer lie to himself that it was just a hallucination. There was no way that what he heard was his own breathing because he was panting as if he had just ran up ten flights of stairs………………. And since that wasn’t the sound of his breaths, then whose was it?

The fear made his limbs go weak. He hated how mentally strong he was! If it was Tang Mianmian, he surely would’ve already fainted in fright! Instead, here he was, scared beyond belief yet still conscious. The more afraid he felt, the more alert he was. He showed no signs of fainting at all!

Sometimes, fainting could be considered a form of self-protection. Why couldn’t he also have this sort of self-defence mechanism?!

In the next second, Xiao Tangqiu could feel the paper doll beside him move even more. He felt someone or something push aside the wedding dress he was wearing, and then it placed something cold against his chest.

Frightened out of his wits, he tried not to think about what that cold thing could be. He took a deep breath and firmly pushed the paper doll away. Holding onto the believe that it was better to die a man than live a coward, he steadied himself and slammed against the coffin lid with all his might.

Xiao Tangqiu slammed his head so hard that he almost got a concussion. When he regained consciousness, he discovered that he had managed to slam the coffin lid open. He turned to look beside him, but the paper doll that had almost scared him to death was now gone.

……….What’s going on?

He looked up and realized he was still inside Yun Jizhou’s room but he had a hunch that he had returned……… But now, there was another problem. Where was Tang Mianmian?

“Tang Mianmian? Tang Mianmian!”

Xiao Tangqiu stumbled out of the coffin and immediately started to search the room, but Tang Mianmian was nowhere to be found so he rushed outside to continue looking for him.

He searched outside the room but still found no trace of Tang Mianmian. When he turned to look back into Yun Jizhou’s room, he found that the candle had been blown out when he wasn’t paying attention. Yun Jizhou’s room was once again immersed in the murky darkness.

Xiao Tangqiu took a deep breath to steady his nerves and went on to search the entire courtyard. He wasn’t even sure where all that courage came from.

But to his dismay, even after looking in every nook and cranny, he hadn’t even come across a strand of Tang Mianmian’s hair, much less the person himself.

His heart sank; he could only accept the fact that Tang Mianmian had disappeared.