USWHC -Chapter 73 A Curse About Water (Part 3)

Huaihua looked at her, a trace of fear in her eyes, but curiosity flickered through them as well. “I—I was just worried about you… I wanted to come check on you!”

Then, Huaihua spoke even more quietly, tentatively, “What… what? Someone tried to kill you?”

Zhu Jie studied her, noticing the faint curiosity behind her fear. She tugged at the corner of her lips with a playful smirk, her tense expression softening to its usual gentle look. “Yes! Someone just tried to kill me. So… what? Do you know something?”

Seeing Zhu Jie’s gentle smile, Huaihua’s fear immediately eased by half. Her curiosity, instead, took over everything. She leaned in mysteriously, almost whispering, “Did you see it? Did you see the person?”

Her voice was strange, full of both fear and excitement, an odd mixture of emotions.

Zhu Jie immediately matched her tone, feigning panic. “No… I didn’t see anything. That’s why… that’s why I suspected it was you!”

“No, it wasn’t me!” Huaihua quickly denied it, moving even closer in a mysterious way, nearly pressing against Zhu Jie. “I’m telling you, it was a ghost! Really, it was a ghost!”

“A ghost?” Zhu Jie let out a cold snort, unconvinced by any talk of ghosts.

But Huaihua nodded adamantly. “Really, I’m not lying to you!”

She lifted her chin slightly, and seeing Zhu Jie’s skeptical expression, she hurriedly added, “Really, I’ve seen it too!”

She seemed desperate to prove her words weren’t false. Tears lingered at the corners of her eyes, but her expression remained serious as she stared at Zhu Jie, as if afraid she wouldn’t believe her. She rushed to explain, “You know, I was once engaged to Brother Ji Ye. The only reason I broke it off was because of that thing!”

“You were engaged?” Zhu Jie’s curiosity was piqued more by this than by the ghost story.

Hearing her, Huaihua looked even more shocked than Zhu Jie. “Huh? They didn’t tell you?” She immediately covered her mouth in regret, as if realizing she had said something she shouldn’t have.

Zhu Jie merely smiled faintly and said calmly, “No.”

At that answer, Huaihua grew uneasy and awkward, standing there stiffly. The excitement on her face remained, but she pressed her lips together, hesitant to speak further.

“But even so, it doesn’t matter anymore!” Zhu Jie said softly. “That’s all in the past, isn’t it?”

Huaihua, seeing her speak so nonchalantly, finally relaxed a little. After a moment’s hesitation, she let out a long sigh. “Yes… it’s all in the past.”

She followed with a faint smile. “Brother Ji Ye really is a good person. Don’t misunderstand!”

“I know. He really is a good person,” Zhu Jie replied affirmatively.

Watching the calm smile on her face, Huaihua couldn’t help but feel a twinge of jealousy. She didn’t even understand why she was jealous.

“You probably haven’t heard about it… the curse of the water, right?” Huaihua exhaled slowly and spoke in a low voice.

“The curse of the water?” Zhu Jie frowned, confused, looking at the little girl in front of her. Huaihua spoke so solemnly, as if it were a very serious matter.

“Every girl who was ever engaged to Brother Ji Ye had some accident, and it was always connected to water!” Huaihua said very seriously. “That’s why I was so worried when I saw you by the water! Really, I was just worried about you—that’s why I couldn’t help but come check!”

Zhu Jie saw the genuine concern in her eyes, not feigned. “An accident? What kind of accident?” she finally asked, unable to suppress her curiosity.

“Some died, some nearly died. It was all water-related!” Huaihua sighed softly. “At first, I didn’t believe it either… until I almost died myself!” She shivered at the memory.

“Someone died?” Zhu Jie looked at her in mild shock, disbelief written all over her face.