"That's a picture of the Young Master." A boy's voice suddenly came from beside me, startling me badly. I realized then that I had been hunched over, staring at the photograph for a long time, with Hou Dayong, who was waiting behind me to get in, looking at me with helpless exasperation.

"Sorry, sorry!" I said repeatedly, my face flushing bright red.

I looked up carefully at the person who had just spoken and saw a youth. No, to be precise, a beautiful youth. He stood about one meter eighty tall, with a high-bridged nose, a pointed chin, and a pair of clear, transparently beautiful eyes. Staring fixedly like that for a few seconds gave me a sensation like an electric shock. I figured very few girls could resist the gaze of those beautiful eyes. Thank goodness I was a boy!

"Hello, I'm Li Xiaoshu! You must be Ming Xiaoyu, right?"

"Uh, sorry to bother you." That moment of zoning out had been quite rude. Now that the host had appeared, I felt awkward, not knowing what to say. I only managed a tentative reply.

Hou Dayong grumbled from the side, "Why waste money? She said she was coming, didn't she?"

"She just arrived. She's having tea in the study. How did you two get here?"

"We took the bus, transferring twice."

"I didn't go to school this morning. You should take my car next time!"

"Haha, it's fine, it's fine. We chatted the whole way here. This buddy is also a badminton expert; we can have a friendly match with him next time."

Hearing "badminton expert," Li Xiaoshu turned her head towards me with a smile. "There's a badminton court in the complex. Shall we go play in a bit?"

Uh... I looked down at my dusty leather shoes, feeling a bit embarrassed.

Seeing my reaction, Hou Dayong quickly changed the subject. "We're both exhausted. Can we rest a bit before deciding?"

"Oh, I forgot about that. Let's go to the study; Uncle Ou has already prepared tea and snacks."

Li Xiaoshu turned and led us deeper into the house.

It was a typical European-style villa. Along the corridor from the entrance hall to the rooms, walls were covered with various brown photo frames—some held photographs, others stamps—making the walk feel like entering a history museum.

At the end of the corridor were two doors; one was closed, the other ajar, occasionally letting out faint drafts of air. We filed in one by one.

The room was very bright, lined with bookshelves on all four sides, with only the exterior wall opposite the door left open by a large glass sliding door. The sliding door was also of European design, draped with pale green, floral-patterned curtains. A gentle breeze blew through the curtains, lightly wafting into the room. Outside the sliding door was a garden with a table and four chairs. On the table sat a tea set, a book, and a plump girl sitting in one of the chairs, elegantly sipping from a teacup—it was none other than Bai Huajian.

The three of us sat down around the table in sequence. Bai Huajian poured two cups of tea for me and Hou Dayong.

Li Xiaoshu enthusiastically opened a book to show us. It was a stamp album, ancient, so old that the stamps inside were already starting to fade. For an ordinary person, seeing such ancient stamps would be a blessing in three lifetimes.

I was engrossed in identifying the patterns on those old stamps when I suddenly heard Bai Huajian say, "Xiaoyu, give me your hand."

I looked up at Bai Huajian in confusion. She smiled at me, extended her chubby hand, grabbed my left hand resting near the teacup saucer, placed it flat on the stamp album, and pressed down with her hand.

I turned to look at Hou Dayong, completely bewildered about what was about to unfold. He looked back at me expressionlessly.

Just then, Bai Huajian said, "Begin!"

A flash of bright light cut across my vision, immediately followed by a heart-rending, agonizing pain shooting from my left hand. I looked down to see a gleaming dagger plunged into my left hand, piercing straight through the palm and deep into the stamp album. Blood gushed out profusely.

Li Xiaoshu, her eyes bloodshot, gripped the other end of the dagger, pushing down harder while smiling ominously: "Tomorrow there will be a news report: Xiangcheng First High School's new transfer student died from electric shock!"

In the blink of an eye, the Bai Huajian before me was no longer the chubby little Yueyue, but clearly a gaunt, female demon with murderous intent radiating from her, pressing down on my palm with bony, withered hands.

Suppressing the intense pain, I reached out with my right hand to grab Li Xiaoshu's icy wrist. She twisted her wrist in a counter-grip, and instantly five dark blue finger marks appeared on my right hand, intensifying the agony.

I violently yanked my right hand back and, seizing the momentum, grabbed the teapot and smashed it down over Li Xiaoshu's head.