The ninth rule was divided into three sentences.
The method used to kill the black cat was also highly questionable.
Su Qingyu observed that the only trash can in the entire home was in the kitchen.
And Mom, who made three meals a day, was certainly in the kitchen.
Mom hated cats; even a single cat hair could cause her pollution to worsen.
If she saw the cat's corpse, it might cause more severe alienation.
Flipping open the album left by the black cat, the photos inside made Su Qingyu's pupils contract and her breathing quicken.
In the photos was a little girl.
The little girl in the photo wore a blue and white school uniform, the same as the girl in the family photo in the living room.
The faces of the people in the family photo had been scratched out with a knife.
This indicated that "it" did not want Su Qingyu to match the faces of everyone in the family.
The first photo was a large group photo from school.
Flipping further, the perspective of the later photos was very strange, all snapshots taken from various corners.
There were photos of the girl leaning on the school railings, photos of her exercising on the sports field, photos of her with her head down doing homework, photos of her talking to others, and even photos of her about to enter the women's restroom.
Could it have been taken by the girl's secret admirer?
And in the last photo of the album, Su Qingyu saw a selfie.
In the photo, the girl was beaming with a happy smile, while the boy only showed half of his face.
He was tall, had a buzz cut, wore a tracksuit, had a ferocious gaze, and a tattoo on his arm.
The girl held the black cat in her left hand, leaning on the boy's shoulder.
Su Qingyu carefully observed the photo; in the flower bush behind this group photo, a figure was hidden.
The figure was blurred, and the face could not be seen clearly.
Su Qingyu remembered the love letter.
Who was Xiao Hei?
Was it a person's name, or a cat's name?
The love letter was written very artistically, making it difficult for Su Qingyu to connect the delicate words with the delinquent youth in the photo.
The girl had many secrets.
At night, with the lights off for sleep, darkness engulfed the entire house. Because there were no windows, it was pitch black in the room.
Shuangxi stood by the bedside on the side of the large wardrobe.
Su Qingyu lay on the bed, relaxing her whole body.
She needed sufficient sleep to ensure her concentration.
Whenever she returned to her room, she would always lock the door.
Regarding the night, the rules only mentioned three points.
【 From 12 AM to 8 AM, you cannot leave the bedroom. If you absolutely must use the toilet, remember not to look back.
【 Do not look in the mirror when using the toilet at night.
Laughable, Su Qingyu would never go to the toilet at night.
【 The night is beautiful. If you can't sleep, you can go to the balcony to chat with Grandma. If you feel someone is watching you from outside the window, don't worry. You can open the window, and Grandma will scare away the peeping tom.
This rule was clearly a contaminated trap.
After bribing Grandma with spirit money during the day, Grandma clearly stated that she should rest well at night and not disturb her.
This corresponded to Rule Seven.
【 If you don't want to see them, you can enter the bedroom and lock the door. They won't disturb you.
The "them" here referred not only to Mom and Dad but also to "it."
After figuring it out, Su Qingyu stopped overthinking.
"Shuangxi, absolutely do not leave the bedroom tonight. If anything unusual happens, wake me up immediately." Su Qingyu's intuition told her it would be a restless night.
"Also, wake me up at precisely 7:30 tomorrow morning."
She had an online class tomorrow and couldn't be late.
"Yes, Master." Shuangxi did not need sleep; she guarded Su Qingyu's side.
Su Qingyu pulled the quilt up and soon fell asleep.
When sleeping, her mind would relax, no longer thinking about those complicated rules.
At midnight, the sound of knocking woke her up.
Su Qingyu opened her eyes and said softly, "Shuangxi, are you there?"
"Master, I am here," Shuangxi's voice came. "It is 1:15 AM."
The door was locked from the inside, and the bedroom was temporarily safe.
Su Qingyu listened to the knocking and did not respond.
"Good granddaughter, open the door, it's Grandma... Ka Ka Ka... I know you're not asleep. Do you want to come to the balcony and chat with Grandma? Grandma has something good to show you... Ka Ka Ka..."
"Knock, knock, knock—" The knocking continued.
Whatever was outside the door was definitely not Grandma from the daytime.
"Open the door, don't hide from Grandma... If you don't open the door soon, Grandma will tell your secrets to Mom and Dad... Ka Ka Ka... Grandma knows you're secretly keeping a cat in your room..."
"Mom is allergic to cat hair. If Mom finds out... Ka Ka Ka... we'll have cat soup..."
Grandma's voice sounded like a broken bellows.
Su Qingyu continued to ignore it. The sound outside the door changed from knocking to banging.
"Duang, Duang, Duang—"
It lasted for half an hour.
Su Qingyu went back to sleep, trying her best not to be disturbed by the environment.
But shortly after she fell asleep, Shuangxi patted Su Qingyu with a hand as cold as a corpse.
There was a disturbance!
Shuangxi hadn't alerted her when Grandma arrived.
Now, she was being woken up instead.
"Master, there's something in the room."
Su Qingyu felt something scratching at the bed board.
The bed was vibrating slightly!
In the darkness, a weak cat's meow could be heard.
【 The black cat loves you. There is no black cat in this house. If you see a black cat acting cute towards you, please kill it. The corpse can be thrown into the trash can, and Dad will take the trash away.
This rule, "kill the black cat," led Su Qingyu to initially judge it as contaminated.
And "the black cat loves you" and "acting cute towards you" implied the black cat's stance.
In the darkness, Su Qingyu's eyes could see nothing. She ignored the cold sweat on her palms, concentrating all her attention on the strange noises happening in the room.
A blurry black mass slowly gushed out from under the bed. It coiled into clumps by the head of the bed, curling up by Su Qingyu's ear like a black cat.
Su Qingyu felt a tongue with barbs gently lick her face.
It was sticky, damp, and carried a slight sting.
This was the black cat acting cute.
At this moment, the sound of things being smashed came from outside the door.
"Damn it! Cat meows! How many times have I told you, cats are not allowed in the house!" Accompanied by Mom's furious voice, the cat by Su Qingyu's ear stopped meowing.
There was a gap under the bedroom door. It was pitch black outside, with only sounds.
Dad's voice sounded even more normal in the darkness: "Mom's crazy. You believe what she says?"
"She pretends to sleep every day! Things in the refrigerator often go missing! Did you secretly give her food? We agreed, if we starve her, we'll be free. What do you mean? Are you reluctant?"
Mom's words were chilling.
"And that damned little white-eyed wolf, she even asked that old geezer if she ate lunch! She has no idea how much I've sacrificed for this family!"
As Mom spoke, she actually started crying.
Her weeping sounded remarkably like a cat's meow.
At night, Mom had undergone alienation.
Disturbed twice, Su Qingyu went back to sleep, isolating the sounds of scratching at the door, the cat's meows, and the arguing.
The next morning when she woke up, the black cat was gone, and a single black cat hair lay by Su Qingyu's bed.
The black cat hair had a glossy sheen under the light.
She cleaned the hair away.
"Shuangxi, what else happened last night?"
Shuangxi stood by the head of the bed all night, like a doll: "Someone used a key to open the door from the outside, but the door was locked from the inside and wouldn't open."
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