My Family Is Very Odd

“Where’s your doll?” Shen Chen asked, his gaze fixed on Xili’s bag.

Confusion clouded Xili’s eyes. “What doll?”

Their eyes met—Xili’s innocent and perplexed, Shen Chen’s cool and unreadable. For a moment, they could have been any two classmates, their previous exchange forgotten.

Xili’s brow furrowed as she struggled to understand Shen Chen’s impassive expression.

Shen Chen’s dark eyes held her gaze. He tilted his phone, showing her the photo of the doll in her bag. “This doll,” he said simply.

The doll's face in the photo was eerily lifelike. Its hollow eyes stared straight out from the bag’s opening, and its crimson lips were curled into a sinister smile. The image was unsettling, like a glimpse into a dark abyss.

Xili glanced at the photo and immediately responded, her tone casual, “This is a doll? What about it? I don’t remember having a doll, though. Is that really my bag? Who took this? Maybe they got the wrong person, I don’t own any dolls!”

Shen Chen swiped to the next photo. The doll was closer to the opening of the bag.

In the next photo, the doll’s resin face was pressed against the zipper, one large eye and half of its smiling lips visible.

Xili gasped, covering her mouth with her hand.

Shen Chen swiped again. This time, Li Xiao Gui’s smiling face filled the screen. Her eyes crinkled at the corners, her eyelashes long and dark, her smile revealing pearly white teeth. She was the picture of youthful innocence.

Xili’s breath hitched. She froze, unsure how to react. Her eyes darted between the phone and Shen Chen, her composure momentarily shattered.

Sensing her distress, Shen Chen silently swiped back to the previous photo, the one with the doll’s magnified eyes.

Xili collected herself, forcing a look of confusion. “Where did you get this photo? Who took it?” she asked again, emphasizing her question.

Shen Chen finished scrolling through the photos. “Does it bother you?” he asked quietly.

“Of course it bothers me!” Xili exclaimed a little too quickly. “I don’t even own a doll! He must have taken a picture of the wrong person.”

She seemed about to say more, but then stopped abruptly.

Shen Chen studied her, his expression unreadable. “Aren’t you scared? You see this strange doll, and you’re more concerned about who took the photo? You were pretty scared when you talked about the ghost in the swimming pool.”

Before Xili could respond, Shen Chen continued, “0976. That’s the ghost that pushed you into the pool. It’s been appearing frequently at school since before the semester started. More and more students have been harassed by it, with injuries ranging from minor to severe.”

He continued, his voice flat and emotionless, listing the incidents:

“The ninth incident: A male student was hit in the forehead by a flying chalkboard eraser in the classroom, resulting in bleeding.

Eighth: A male student tripped in an empty hallway, sustaining minor abrasions to his elbows and knees.

Seventh: A female student was stabbed in the palm with a compass while studying in an empty classroom, causing heavy bleeding.

Sixth: A male student's school uniform pants got caught in the wheel of a bicycle while he was riding in the school parking lot. His entire foot was then pulled into the wheel, resulting in severe injuries that required hospitalization.

Fifth: A male student was drinking water from a thermos in the classroom when the lukewarm water suddenly turned boiling hot. He was unaware of the change until the entire contents of the thermos spilled onto his face, causing severe burns and requiring hospitalization.

Fourth: A female student was hit in the face by a stray basketball on the court. Her glasses shattered, and shards of glass became embedded in her eye, requiring hospitalization.

Third: A female student was studying in an empty classroom when the ceiling fan suddenly detached and fell, crushing her. She died instantly.”

Shen Chen paused, letting the weight of his words sink in.

“Second: A female student was inexplicably pushed into the swimming pool but sustained no injuries.”

He met Xili’s gaze, his eyes boring into hers.

“First, and most recent: A male student at the school swimming pool was sitting by the edge, chatting with friends, when he suddenly fell into the water. According to witnesses, he struggled and shouted for help, claiming something was pulling at his legs. However, because he was a strong swimmer and known for playing pranks, his friends initially thought he was joking. It wasn’t until he went under and didn’t resurface that they realized something was wrong. But they were too scared to jump in and help. By the time the police arrived, he was dead.”

Xili’s lips twitched downwards, but she quickly schooled her expression into a neutral mask.

“You were the second victim,” Shen Chen stated pointedly.

Just as Xili was about to speak, he continued, “And you were at the amusement park that day, the day of the chaos.”

Xili froze. “Yes, I was,” she admitted, forcing a smile. “But I have a part-time job there. I’ve been working there for a while.”

“You know which day I’m talking about,” Shen Chen pressed. “You know what I’m talking about.”

Xili’s facade crumbled. Her attempts to appear nonchalant were failing miserably.

“You know what happened that day. You know what those things were. And you’re trying to prove that you had nothing to do with it.”

He leaned closer, his gaze unwavering. “Ordinary people don’t remember what they saw that day. Even if they did see something, they’d forget quickly. The only ones who remember are those who have a connection to ghosts… and those who knew all along.”

Shen Chen then abruptly switched back to their previous topic. “So, you were pushed into the pool and you think it was a ghost. You’re scared, right?”

Xili was trapped, her words caught in her throat.

If she admitted to being scared, how would she explain her reaction to Shen Chen mentioning the amusement park incident? She had immediately jumped to defend her presence there instead of expressing fear.

But if she wasn’t scared, why had she admitted to being terrified of the ghost in the pool before?

If she claimed to only vaguely remember the incident, attributing it to a possible ghost encounter, how would she explain her instinctive need to justify her presence at the amusement park on that particular day? It was as if she knew exactly what had transpired.

If she denied being scared of ghosts and admitted to having a connection to them because of the doll, explaining her vivid memories of both the pool and the amusement park, it wouldn’t hold much weight. It wouldn’t fully explain her behavior.

Furthermore, she had initially pretended not to know about the doll. But even if she were unaware of its existence, as long as it was near her, she was within the ghost’s sphere of influence.

But no one could point this out to her except Shen Chen. And she couldn’t very well reveal this herself without raising suspicion about how she knew.

Xili opened and closed her mouth, unable to utter a single word. Anything she said would only dig her deeper into a hole.

Shen Chen’s words, along with her own previous statements, had effectively blocked off all her escape routes.

She looked up, her gaze colliding with Shen Chen’s. His eyes were like a frozen lake—cold, still, and unnervingly perceptive.

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