She stood behind the bed curtains, her head seemingly tilted slightly to one side.

The light was poor and the mirror dim, making it impossible to see her face clearly.

Madame Ying spun around in alarm, her voice sharp and shrill. “Who’s there?!”

There was nothing behind the bed curtains. No one at all.

She called for Little Lan twice more, but she still received no response. Madame Ying had no choice but to light a candle herself and head into the outer room first.

It was empty.

Madame Ying continued outside, pushed open the courtyard gate, and called twice, “Someone come!”

Yet not a single voice answered from anywhere around her.

What’s going on?

Panic steadily mounted in Madame Ying’s heart.

Just then, a woman’s eerie voice suddenly drifted through the courtyard, “Ying Hongchan, where is my son?”

Madame Ying shuddered violently. She whirled around so quickly that she...