Fortunate to Have You This Lifetime

The dishes were typical farmhouse fare, and the taste was quite ordinary. Only the fish soup was exceptionally delicious. Thus, the only remaining “feature” of Peachwater Village seemed to be the haunted legend.

Guests at the next table were discussing the fish in Peachwater Village, saying, “Around fifty years ago, there was a flood here that drowned countless villagers. The dead bodies floated on the river, and it was impossible to recover them all. Eventually, they all ended up feeding the fish, and since then, the fish here have been particularly tasty – because they grew up eating human flesh!”

“Ugh…” Jane McCain almost threw up.

Purple Summers gently patted her back, “Don’t worry about it. There wasn’t any flood here fifty years ago. It’s just a rumor that’s gotten out of hand.”

After saying that, she mused to herself, “The students didn’t have anything problematic to eat or drink. How did they get food poisoning?”

It was truly bizarre.

Zara Jameson asked, “Do the three who died have anything in common?”

“Three of the five college students were male, and two were female. Coincidentally, the poisoned ones were all males,” Purple answered.

“Is there anything the men ate that the women didn’t?” Jane asked.

“Yes,” Ryan Wesley pointed at the menu, “grilled kidney – not many women eat that.”

Jane’s stomach churned again. “Stop talking about it. It’s disgusting.”

Purple said, “They had hot pot for lunch and instant noodles for dinner that day. The police have investigated and found no issues.”

Not wanting to spoil everyone’s appetite with talk of the autopsy, Purple just smiled and said, “Let’s eat and not think about it for now. We’ll explore more tomorrow.”

Actually, many attractions in Peachwater Village were open at night as well. But looking at Zara and Jane’s reactions, it seemed better to wait until tomorrow.

All of them have grown up with luxurious and sumptuous food, so it was not easy to satisfy them with the meals at the scenic area. They quickly finished their dinner and returned to the inn.

Though the inn was styled like an ancient mansion, the rooms were equipped with modern bathroom facilities and hot water supply was available 24/7.

After a long day, the girls wanted to freshen up with a shower. Purple Summers was in no hurry and let Zara Jameson and Jane McCain shower first.

While she was waiting, she heard the window making banging noises.

It was Tiny coming back.

Purple opened the window, and the crow hopped inside. It seemed like a child who had played enough outside and now wanted to eat and drink before settling down comfortably in a corner.

She smelled a strange odor, leaned closer to Tiny and sniffed. There was a faint scent of sandalwood, mixed with something else.

“Where did you go to play?” Purple smiled and patted the crow’s head.

Zara found Tiny adorable and patted it as well, saying, “So well behaved.”

The crow enjoyed the attention, squinting its bean-like eyes almost to the point where it couldn’t open them.

At that moment, a horrifying scream came from the bathroom!

“Aaaaahhhhh!!!”

Purple Summers and Zara Jameson were both startled. They looked up to see the bathroom door flung open, and Jane McCain, wrapped in a bath towel, running out in a panic!

She yelled uncontrollably, “There’s a ghost! There’s a ghost!!!”

Jane ran to them, not caring about her dripping wet body, and clung to Purple Summers’ arm with tears in her eyes, clearly terrified.

“Janie, are you sure you didn’t see it wrong?” Zara asked. Although she was scared herself, she knew that this kind of inn relied on gimmicks and that there might not really be any ghosts. Moreover, she had just taken a shower and didn’t notice anything unusual in the bathroom.

Jane cried, “There really is a ghost! I saw it! The mirror had a human face in it!”