NOVEL NEXT Chapter 121: Skin
Chapter 121: Skin
The room was quiet. There was only Xia He Yin’s own voice.
She was originally not completely awake, but she instantly sobered up. She turned and saw that there was no one next to her.
Xia He Yin pried away the blanket and went to the bathroom. There wasn’t anyone inside. Song Nan Nan wasn’t in the room.
She recalled the incident last night and panicked.
Last night she was too sleepy and confused so she didn’t think much of Song Nan Nan’s words.
Xia He Yin couldn’t help but ask: “Nan Nan, are you there?”
Before she could get a response, knocking suddenly came from outside the door, startling her: “It’s me, Qin Mu Yin.”
Xia He Yin opened the door. Qin Mu Yin was standing outside alone. He looked to be in much better condition than yesterday.
Qin Mu Yin still didn’t know anything. He asked: “Were you guys okay last night? Did anything happen?”
It would have been fine if he didn’t ask. Hearing his questions, Xia He Yin’s expression took a turn for the worse.
Xia He Yin took a few deep breaths. She thought of several possibilities and finally asked: “Did you see Nan Nan this morning?”
“No.........” Qin Mu Yin replied with confusion. He quickly looked into the room, “She’s not in?”
Xia He Yin nodded, “No.”
As the two spoke, Su Min came down from upstairs. He had woken up early and had just returned after a quick stroll outside.
Seeing that their expressions didn’t look too good, Su Min asked as he walked over: “What are you two doing in the corridor?”
Qin Mu Yin said: “Song Nan Nan doesn’t seem to be here.”
Su Min wasn’t surprised. After analysing the situation yesterday, he understood that it was most dangerous when you didn’t know what was going on. Take Tang Yishu as an example. No one knew whether he died because of the clothes hanger or because of something else.
And Song Nan Nan’s hint yesterday was water. How water could make someone die was still a question. You couldn’t stop people from showering.
Though Su Min did warn them about it last night.
Su Min said: “I just came down from upstairs and I didn’t see Song Nan Nan. She probably shouldn’t be anywhere else.”
The meaning behind those words of his was clear.
Xia He Yin’s face instantly paled, “Nan Nan was still talking to me last night. I was too sleepy and didn’t know anything.”
If she knew, how could she not have found out?
Su Min thought about it and asked, “Did you encounter anything strange last night. For example, clothes hangers or water?
As soon as he said that, Xia He Yin cried out: “Yes!”
She swallowed and said: “I felt water dripping onto my face last night but when I got up I couldn’t find the source of the water.”
Su Min frowned. Why would it fall onto Xia He Yun? Xia He Yin is the movie protagonist so, under normal circumstances, it shouldn’t happen to her.
But after thinking about it, even if the female protagonist encountered something like that, the one who ended up meeting an unfortunate fate was Song Nan Nan.
Xia He Yin didn’t know he was thinking this. She continued: “Then I went back to sleep. Afterwards, I was awakened by Nan Nan. She kept on saying that I was hitting her, but I didn’t hit her. I fell asleep again after that.”
She spoke very normally and there was nothing special with the way she worded it but Qin Mu Yin imagined that scene vividly in his mind. It sent a chill down his spine.
If what Xia He Yin said was true, then who was the one hitting Song Nan Nan?
With an extra person in the room, it would be impossible for the two not to notice. The room was only so big but something like this had happened.
Qin Mu Yin hesitated and asked: “Maybe you remembered wrong? Or maybe you were hitting her but you didn’t realise?”
Xia He Yin directly denied that: “That’s impossible. I was sleeping properly. No matter whether it is my mum or anyone at home, my roommates or my friends, this has never happened before.”
With her saying this, Qin Mu Yin had nothing to say.
Su Min seriously recalled the incidents and asked: “Can we go in and see?”
Xia He Yin said, “Of course you can.”
Each of the rooms were of the same design so at first glance nothing looked out of place. The blanket on the bed pulled open halfway.
Xia He Yin pointed to the opened side and said: “I slept here last night. Nan Nan slept on the other side.”
Su Min walked over to the bed and saw that there weren’t any traces left behind apart from the fact that Song Nan Nan had slept there.
But apart from that, there wasn’t anything else. Unlike Tang Yishu’s case with the skin, Song Nan Nan truly went missing.
Xia He Yin said: “I don’t know when she disappeared.”
Su Min touched the bed and then looked up at the ceiling. Because they are on a ship, the ceiling wasn’t that high, and he could reach it by stretching his arms up.
There also weren’t any cracks above.
Su Min turned to Xia He Yin and asked: “Can you lie down for me? So that I can see where the water could be dripping from?”
Although Xia He Yin was confused, she laid down obediently.
She knew where she laid last night. She laid down and then pointed to her forehead, “I felt it drip here.”
Su Min made a comparison and mentally noted the location.
Qin Mu Yin asked: “Su Min, did you find out anything?”
Su Min said, “Wait a minute. I need a chair.”
Su Ying just happened to walk in. She asked: “What are you guys doing? Did someone go missing?”
Qin Mu Yin: “Kids shouldn’t ask too many questions.”
Hearing this Su Ying pouted, “I’ll get a chair.”
She ran upstairs and grabbed a chair from where they ate last night before carrying it back down.
But on her way back, she ran into the short-haired woman.
The short-haired woman smiled and asked: “Do you need help?”
Su Ying kept her mouth shut. She pretended to be introverted and shook her head. She then pretended to be doing her best carrying the chair.
The short-haired woman saw this and reached over.
Before she could reach, Su Ying released her grip causing her to fall onto the chair which then fell onto the short-haired woman.
The short-haired woman was clearly unable to support the weight of a chair and a nine-year-old child when caught off guard. She took a step back in surprise.
Su Ying also used this opportunity to grab her clothes.
Since their first encounter, the short-haired woman had always worn a jacket over her dress. With this impact, her neckline of her dress was ripped open.
The skin inside was then exposed. It was scarily pale and there were also some purple patches in the centre.
Before Su Ying could see it clearly, the short-haired woman pulled it up and looked at her. Su Ying deliberately acted like she didn’t see anything.
The short-haired woman asked vigilantly: “What did you see?”
Su Ying timidly shook her head.
Seeing her like this, although the short-haired woman was still a little sceptical, she didn’t continue asking. She pushed her off with some force.
But she quickly released her hold of her when she saw her look of pain.
There were still people coming over behind them. They saw the short-haired woman’s frown and asked: “What’s wrong?”
The short-haired woman glanced at Su Ying, “Nothing.”
Su Ying continued to pretend to be timid as she walked down the stairs. She didn’t walk quickly so she could still faintly hear the conversation above.
“.......I think she probably can’t speak. I haven’t heard her say anything the whole time.”
“Do you think it’s still okay if she’s mute?”
“Of course. For a nine-year-old girl, the future is very bright. It’s not a big deal if you can’t speak.”
“That’s true. They’re all pretty young.”
Su Ying couldn’t hear the rest. Afraid of being discovered, she continued to act the entire time as she made her way back to the room.
As soon as she entered the room, she immediately closed the door. Qin Mu Yin who saw her was surprised.
Su Min asked: “What’s wrong? Was someone chasing you?”
Su Ying shook her head. She whispered, “I just pulled off that short-haired woman’s clothes.”
Su Min: “...........”
Qin Mu Yin: “!!!”
Xia He Yin: “???”
Su Min was the first to return to his senses, “Why did you pull off her clothes for no reason? Did she do something to you?”
Su Ying giggled, “She wanted to help me. I pretended to accidentally fall and then I tore her clothes. Guess what I saw?”
Qin Mu Yin asked anxiously: “What did you see?”
Su Ying said: “It wasn’t much. Her skin was very pale. The only strange thing was that there were some purple patches. The entire area under her chest.”
Only the exposed skin was normal.
Su Min also subconsciously frowned, “Purple skin?”
Just the sound of it wasn’t normal. Could it be that the people on board were some form of unknown beast?
Su Ying said: “Yeah. Everything else was normal apart from that. I couldn’t see anything else that was strange. She treated me very kindly.”
Though it was because she had ulterior motives.
Su Min knocked on her head, “Don’t take risks like this next time. You might be dead before I find you.”
Su Ying: “Bah! What are you talking about?!”
Qin Mu Yin and Xia He Yin felt that this pair of brother and sister interact with each other very strangely. They also felt that Su Ying was rather mature for a nine-year-old.
Su Ying also said: “I heard them discussing about us. They said that we’re young and our bodies are young.”
Qin Mu Yin: “Why does that last part sound strange?”
Su Ying spoke with surprise: “I added that last part myself.”
Qin Mu Yin: “........”
Xia He Yin thought more deeply about this than he did, “Why were they discussing this? They also aren’t very old. Some are at most 27-28 years old and most of them are only in their thirties.”
Qin Mu Yin said: “But compared to them, we are still younger. Though I also don’t know why they’re discussing this.”
And the people on this ship gave him a strange feeling.
Su Min glanced at the two of them and asked: “Don’t you think they care a lot about us?”
From their first day until now, they would worry about whether they’ve eaten, whether they’re sick etc. It was something families tend to do for one another.
Xia He Yin said: “I was talking about this with Nan Nan earlier, but we couldn’t reach a conclusion.”
Qin Mu Yin: “Compared to that, I think that they’re fishing a little strangely. They keep fishing all the time even though they’re not getting anything. Don’t tell me this is the only source of entertainment on a ship?”
It was as if they would never get tired of it.
Su Min said: “How can that be? Let’s observe more today. I want to know if there’s anything else on this ship and what the captain does all day long.”
He was relieved that the male and female protagonist this time noticed that something wasn’t right. At present, there are only the four of them remaining. The male and female protagonist would naturally be the last for something to happen to them so the next one would be either himself or Su Ying.
Qin Mu Yin nodded, “Okay.”
Su Min placed the chair onto the bed, “Help support me. I’ll stand on it and see if I can find anything.”