The Curse!

The three of them started searching the bedroom for the key. This room seemed to be a master bedroom, looking like it had been abandoned for years. Dust settled around the place.

Xie Ai used his finger to trace a line across the dressing table. Blackish dust settled on his finger as he dusted it off and frowned.

Looking at the situation of this dressing table, it didn't seem like the floor was burned. But it was indeed abandoned and never used again for years.

Most importantly, this room probably didn't belong to a lady. Otherwise, the dressing table would have been full of ladies' stuff.

He opened the drawer beneath, and just then, a mouse jumped on him.

"AAHHH!!!" Xie Ai screamed at the top of his voice as he backed away, stumbling onto something. A large cabinet full of books fell to the ground with a thud. Some of the books even hit his leg, making him scream again in pain.

Mouse.

Thank God it was only a mouse.

Xie Ai's heart calmed down, thinking that as he looked down. By this time, even the duo had arrived by his side, looking through the scrolls that fell because of his accidental bump.

He also took a deep breath and bent over, looking at the scroll that Yu Weimin was holding. This scroll seemed to be a report on a case the court took up, but the ending part was torn apart. It could be said that the scroll wasn't really complete.

His eyes narrowed when he read the words that were cut off by tearing the paper further.

It read: "The woman was wrongly accused, but she died and—"

After that, the sentence was cut off in the middle. Xie Ai stared at the scroll for a moment before glancing at the one in Qi Jingguo's hands.

It read: "Many people died in a natural calamity. What's the government doing to prevent this?"

This time, the scroll wasn't torn like the previous one. It was a complete report that spoke of several natural calamities and the number of people dying.

A few things were clear from this. First, this was a demonic realm. There was also a rumor among the demons—the natural calamity occurred because their demon lord wasn't powerful enough. So many citizens marched to the fort to complain, telling the demon lord to step down from his throne.

There were several other cases that they checked after that, and they could tell that the demon lord mentioned in these scrolls didn't have a shred of righteousness in his heart. He was completely dark, darker than the night, not caring anything about others. He only looked for cases that gave him personal gain.

Xie Ai's brows furrowed deeper as he remembered the little kid he had seen in that hallucination. That little kid didn't seem like a terrible person at all. On the contrary, his eyes were crystal clear. But as time passed, his eyes turned darker and darker, transforming him into the kind of demon that his mother wanted him to become.

Yu Weimin finally placed the scrolls in his hand on the ground and mused to himself. "The situation is a bit complicated."

No one commented. They had searched this room upside down, but there was no trace of a key. Without that key, they couldn't open the window.

Of course, it wasn't like the window would always be locked with a key. Several times, the duo encountered the windows rather easily. Only this world seemed to be a bit difficult.

Was it because of Yu Chen?

Xie Ai finally made a decision as he said, "I want to save him."

Yu Weimin frowned. "Are you sure? We don't even know if that person is…."

"I know…." Xie Ai muttered softly, "But I still want to save him." He paused for a moment as he raised his head and said, "I know I'm asking too much. After all…. What he did to you guys…. If you are uncomfortable, we can act separately from now on. You can find the key and jump out of the window. I'll be right back. And—"

A hand was placed on his shoulder, making his words stop. Qi Jingguo grinned and said, "Hey little Ai, don't worry. We're good. Did you really think we would let you off so easy?"

Xie Ai felt a little warmth in his heart as he turned to look at Yu Weimin, who also nodded and put his arms around his lover. "That's right. We will help you."

"You guys… thank you," Xie Ai said from the bottom of his heart.

"Now as for the situation…." Yu Weimin frowned and looked at his lover. "Ah Jin, explain."

They really were lovers. The level of tactic understanding they had was terribly strong. Xie Ai felt his mouth twitching for a moment as he heard Qi Jingguo saying—

"From what I saw, there seems to be a curse involved here."

"Curse?" Xie Ai was surprised.

"That's right. Otherwise, no ghost would like to be trapped here. And from what you said about that little kid, he also doesn't seem to want to stay here, locked up. Something must have happened that led someone to inflict a curse upon this demonic kingdom." Qi Jingguo paused as he opened his mouth once again. "I think that the wrongly accused woman is also involved."

Xie Ai nodded. "Does that mean we will have to break the curse to save him?"

Qi Jingguo clapped his hands. "Bravo! Xie Ai, you've grown up in such a short time! You're indeed a quick learner!" His lover silently nudged him on the arms, making him squeal. "What are you hitting me for?!"

Yu Weimin said with a straight face, "You're being disgusting."

"Can you guys focus on saving Yu Chen?" Xie Ai felt his mouth twitch for the second time.

He got up from that place and walked over to the bed. It seemed as if luck wasn't on his side today. So even while getting up, he bumped into the same shelf. It directly fell toward him, making Xie Ai fall right under it.

His eyes widened as he looked to his friends for help. "What the heck?! Hey, pull this up! I'm squashed!"

Just as the others were lifting the shelf, his glance accidentally fell to the bottom of the bed.

It was utter darkness beneath it, but, from that darkness, a mild stench of decay and something burnt wafted his nose, making him vigilant. He finally raised his hands and pointed at the space beneath the bed, saying, "There's something there."