HCILH Ch. 73

Chapter 73: I Like Him

The hallway floor was a checkered pattern, alternating between dark red and black, with the tiles fading into darkness in the distance, creating a sharp, diamond-like visual effect.

Under the dim light, the corridor took on a strange atmosphere. 

The floor, though flat to walk on, seemed to bulge slightly, creating a fisheye effect that made it look like the floor was uneven when they stepped on it.

Black curtains lined the corridor, occasionally stirring with the gusts of cold air, causing cobwebs clinging to them to sway.

On either side of the walls were eerie murals, some grotesque, others ghostly.

Sui Houyu held up the oil lamp, shining it on one of the paintings. The eyes in the portrait seemed to follow them, shifting to wherever they moved.

Sui Houyu stepped back deliberately, watching the eyes follow, then stepped forward again, and repeated the motion.

He was about to try it once more when Deng Yiheng called out: “Brother Yu, Senior Brother is about to be broken by your antics.”

Only then did he look at Hou Mo, bringing the lamp close to illuminate Hou Mo’s face.

Hou Mo looked at him with a pitiful expression, saying nothing, but clearly feeling a bit defeated.

For someone who usually can’t stop talking, staying silent was definitely unusual.

Sui Houyu looked over at the staircase leading to the basement, where an iron gate was locked with chains.

He turned back and said: “This is probably the final checkpoint. We’ll need to enter the basement to uncover the final secret, but first, we need to search the other rooms for a key.”

Hou Mo asked, trembling: “Aren’t we supposed to find the exit?”

“We have a mission.” Sui Houyu replied, pulling out the story overview from his pocket: “We’re new detectives on the case. If we uncover the secrets here, we’ll get promoted. But we’re trapped inside, so while searching for an escape route, we’re also gathering clues.”

Hou Mo took a deep breath and then said: “Let’s go.”

“Alright.”

In the latter part, with Hou Mo no longer clinging to him, Sui Houyu stayed alert, and the escape room continued smoothly. Aside from occasionally adding to the eerie atmosphere, Hou Mo didn’t cause much trouble.

Sui Houyu opened a diary and read: “It’s the young master’s diary: July 6th, today she was beaten again. I saw my sister-in-law crying to my second uncle. After she came out, she was beaten. She cried loudly, a heart-wrenching cry that lasted all night.”

After hearing this, Lu Yanxin leaned against a bookshelf, clicked her tongue twice, and said: “This is definitely a case of the first wife sowing discord. She probably cried about her husband’s relationship with the main character, making the second uncle feel betrayed and turn violent.”

Irritated, Sui Houyu slammed the diary shut and threw it back: “Domestic abusers deserve whatever comes to them.”

Lu Yanxin looked at Sui Houyu, amused, but still reminded him: “We need to keep reading the diary to find clues.”

Sui Houyu tossed the diary to Hou Mo: “You read it.”

Hou Mo took it and continued to look through it, saying:  “I’m also angry. I’m domestically abused by you every day.”

“And you don’t have any idea why I hit you? Besides, have I ever hit you hard?”

“Double standards, scummy man.” Hou Mo muttered under his breath.

“…” Sui Houyu was speechless. If they really fought, it would be an even match. He mainly hit Hou Mo’s chair and backpack; what was there to be so resentful about?

After a moment of thought, Sui Houyu suddenly realized something: “Who’s from ‘your family’? It’s called a fight, not domestic abuse. Different concepts.”

He was almost fooled.

Hou Mo smirked mischievously but said nothing.

The diary recounted family upheavals in simple sentences.

The first to die was not the second uncle but the timid young master, found dead in the dog kennel. His body was covered in scratches, eyes wide open. The butler tried several times but couldn’t get the young master to close his eyes.

From then on, the household was plunged into chaos and terror.

The first wife became a widow, and the family head seemed to age ten years overnight.

The main character, however, appeared to have gained favor with the second uncle. Witnesses confirmed her innocence, so she was not blamed.

Later, the first wife was accused of an affair with a family servant but, due to her family’s influence, was not punished. However, she was shunned and confined at home.

Eventually, someone discovered her dead in her room, three days after she’d passed, in a similarly gruesome state.

The second uncle was the next to die.

The main character became a widow.

After listening for a while, Sui Houyu said: “The main character likely wanted these people to feel true suffering. Simply killing them would be too easy; they had to experience the agony of losing their loved ones.”

Hou Mo nodded as he read the diary: “Exactly. First, the young master died, causing grief for those who cared about him. Then the first wife passed, disgracing her family and bringing ruin to this household. Finally, the second uncle died, forcing the head of the family to bury yet another loved one.”

There were no more diary entries after that.

Hou Mo put down the diary: “Afterward, it was the young master’s turn to die.”

Lu Yanxin, covered in goosebumps, looked at Hou Mo and asked: “Aren’t you scared?”

Hou Mo turned to him, showing his eyes on the verge of tears: “See these tears? My only strength right now is keeping them from falling.”

Lu Yanxin laughed, clucking like a hen.

Later on, they kept solving codes, finding clues, and searching for keys.

At one point, they encountered other actors, including a part where they had to follow the young master to his secret hideout. Hou Mo was too scared to go, so Deng Yiheng and Shen Junjing dragged him along.

Eventually, they needed to gather evidence in the basement without being seen by the main character.

The final challenge was avoiding the main character, who was pacing in the basement as they searched for key evidence. If she caught them, they’d likely be cursed as well.

A curse.

The main character had sacrificed herself to the curse to exact revenge.

Sui Houyu crouched in a corner, carefully reading the steps of the sacrificial ritual and the main character’s confessions written in her final moments.

Initially, she could control herself and only kill those she intended to. But by the time she reached the young master, the curse had taken over, and she began indiscriminately killing anyone in her path.

The figure wandering the basement wasn’t a ghost; it was her body under the curse’s control.

Her fingernails were poisoned with the curse. If scratched by them, one would also be cursed.

After securing the evidence, they prepared to leave, but the main character discovered them, letting out a blood-curdling scream as she chased them.

Terrified, Hou Mo grabbed Sui Houyu’s shirt and shouted, sprinting wildly. With his perfect memory of the map, he instantly located the exit, found the keyhole, and opened the door.

His swift, precise actions left Sui Houyu stunned.

After a successful escape, they emerged from the room.

Lu Yanxin commented casually: “The story was a bit dramatic, but it was satisfying. All the people who deserved to die did. But it’s a pity about the young master; he wasn’t that bad.”

Deng Yiheng agreed: “Yeah, it was thrilling. The effects were great too, and that cold air from the AC gave me real chills.”

Shen Junjing kept glancing back at the two who were still in the middle of their negotiation.

Once they stepped outside, Hou Mo pulled Sui Houyu aside to stand in a corner. Leaning against the wall, Sui Houyu looked at the tall, fair-skinned Hou Mo standing in front of him, a fierce expression on his face, yet with teary eyes as he asked, “Brother Yu, don’t come to such dangerous places in the future, okay?”

“No one forced you to come.”

“I just wanted to accompany you, don’t you get it?”

“Do I need your company?”

“Aren’t we partners?”

With that, Hou Mo rested his head on Sui Houyu’s shoulder, continuing his tough-guy plea: “I was so terrified…”

“Mm-hmm, it must’ve been tough for you.” Sui Houyu gave Hou Mo’s back a few pats, half-heartedly comforting him.

“If it weren’t for this little hand, I’d have lost it,” Hou Mo said, waving a tiny hand stitched on his sleeve as if to say hello.

“Mm, right.” Scumbag Sui Houyu continued his casual response.

“Brother Yu, can’t you just give me a head rub or pat me on the back to console me?”

“…” Sui Houyu wanted to kick him twice.

Sui Houyu couldn’t stand it anymore, so he pushed Hou Mo away and said: “Don’t lean on me anymore. If you fall asleep here, you’re not getting home.”

He finished speaking and tugged Hou Mo by his little sleeve hand as they walked out, instinctively holding onto it.

Hou Mo actually just wanted to spend a little more time with Sui Houyu. As they left, he waved at the other three, saying: “Bye-bye! We’re heading home; you guys can go report back to Uncle Gu.”

Then he hopped onto his bike, with Sui Houyu riding along.

Watching them leave together, Lu Yanxin was stunned: “They live together?”

Deng Yiheng replied: “Pretty much; they live in the same building.”

Lu Yanxin started clapping, “The couple from our school lost to these two; they can’t compare to Brother Yu and Senior Brother.”

*

When they arrived at the community building, Hou Mo saw Sui Houyu walking toward someone as he was locking his bike.

Looking up, he saw Xu Youyi approaching Sui Houyu and speaking to him. It seemed Xu Youyi had been waiting at the entrance for a while.

Sui Houyu stood in front of her, looking down with his back to Hou Mo, hiding his expression.

After a pause, Sui Houyu turned back and called: “I’ll take her home first; you head back.”

This was his way of saying: don’t disturb us at the guesthouse.

Sui Houyu led Xu Youyi upstairs, unlocking the guesthouse door with the code, and closed the door behind them.

Hou Mo, who had followed them, reached the stairs just in time to see them go in. He couldn’t say goodbye; the door was already shut.

He hesitated for a moment but eventually returned to his own room.

Once inside, he poured himself a glass of water, took a sip, then put it down, standing in the kitchen, lost in thought.

His chest felt tight.

He was suffocating.

It was hard to breathe.

He stood there for a while before finally walking back to his room and sitting down at his desk.

Taking out his phone, he checked his WeChat list, thinking about asking Ran Shu what was really going on between Sui Houyu and Xu Youyi. But then he remembered Ran Shu had blocked him, so he put his phone away.

Leaning back in his chair, he sighed deeply. He really minded, didn’t he?

Hou Mo realized that he’d fallen for Sui Houyu. Thinking back, he knew he hadn’t been acting normally ever since he first met Sui Houyu and then went home to research his mania.

Caring leads to curiosity, and curiosity means he probably fell in love with Sui Houyu at first sight, right?

Back when they were kids, he never wanted to play with Sui Houyu, but now, after seeing him again as adults, he was head over heels.

People, huh—so frustrating.

It wasn’t that he was unaware of his feelings. He always knew he liked guys, especially those who were cool, confident, and handsome.

Just like Sui Houyu.

But in the beginning, he was consumed by the thought that someone like him didn’t deserve to be in love. Whenever he started feeling something, he would deny it, brainwashing himself until he could convince himself otherwise.

But he couldn’t help but care about Sui Houyu.

He would use childish tricks to get Sui Houyu’s attention, and seeing Sui Houyu get angry at him made him strangely happy.

But it was so hard.

Why did he have to fall for a straight guy?

To be in love, and to be with him day in and day out—it’s tough to break these feelings, and he only liked him more and more.

Just thinking about it makes him feel miserable.

If Sui Houyu doesn’t date, that’s fine. But if he does start dating, would Hou Mo get so jealous he’d go crazy?

Probably. He knew himself all too well.

So, what was the deal between Sui Houyu and Xu Youyi?

Sui Houyu once said he doesn’t date because of his mania—when it flares up, he can’t control his anger.

It’s probably a way to protect the girl.

But what if Sui Houyu actually liked her? What if he was only refusing her because he couldn’t date, yet he still had feelings for her?

What if, with all her persistence, Sui Houyu’s cold heart softened?

One “what if” after another hammered Hou Mo’s chest, making him feel worse and worse.

He envisioned a whole melodrama in his head, then felt a sharp pain tugging at his heart all by himself.

Sui Houyu was like an isolated island, and Hou Mo had sailed toward him, only to find that the island was already inhabited.

That island wasn’t meant for Hou Mo. This was a pursuit doomed to fail.

Just as he was drowning in thoughts, a WeChat message from Sui Houyu popped up: “Come make dinner. I’m hungry.”

Hou Mo looked at the message and cursed under his breath: “What’s with this jerk, calling me over to eat dog food?!”

Yet he got up, storming over to Sui Houyu’s place.