Chapter 12: Little Brother: Brother, You Actually Didn’t Know I Wasn’t Home Last Night

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At the sight of the monster, Zhao Yu’s eyes immediately widened: “So many hands, I envy that...”
With that many hands, it must be really formidable in a fight, right?
The creature, still chuckling strangely, looked at Zhao Yu, but the chuckle abruptly faltered.
The room fell into a brief silence.
Soon after, Zhao Yu seemed to come to a realization. He grabbed a machete and shouted, “This is my home! Who gave you permission to come in? Where’s my sister-in-law? Did you kidnap her?”
The monster said nothing, silently squatting on the floor before transforming into a string of white bone beads.
The necklace drifted back up to the wall and hung itself back in place... So it was a white bone necklace hanging on the wall all along.
“That scared me to death. I thought an outsider had broken in...” Zhao Yu patted his chest and breathed a sigh of relief.
Deep down, he felt a twinge of inferiority. With so many hands, that thing would definitely overpower him in a fight... Thankfully, it wasn’t a bandit from outside.
He, Zhao Yu, head of the household, couldn’t even overpower a necklace from his sister-in-law’s room?
It was utterly unfair.
Feeling down for a while, Zhao Yu suddenly snapped back to attention: “Wait a minute, this thing isn’t just an ordinary object that talks—it can transform into that kind of form...”
By family tradition, objects that can take on a “complete humanoid” form like this were usually thrown out. Otherwise, what if it turned out to be a man-eater?
The more he thought about it, the more Zhao Yu felt he had to throw the white bone necklace out. Otherwise... he probably wouldn’t be able to defeat it! If it ate people, wouldn’t he be next?
Life was precious.
As for his envy of the creature’s many hands, there was no way he would allow such a powerful being to exist in his home... Zhao Yu was certainly not so narrow-minded.
Anyone who thought otherwise, Zhao Yu would definitely use the machete to teach them a lesson!
Without hesitation, Zhao Yu approached the wall.
The white bone necklace, quietly hanging on the wall as a “handsome” ornament, grew anxious and immediately floated to the ceiling.
Zhao Yu, exasperated, shouted, “Come down!”
The tiny skull at the center of the necklace glowed with an eerie light before its bony mouth uttered, “I... I don’t eat people...”
Its voice was hoarse and broken, as if it had rarely spoken before.
Zhao Yu widened his eyes: “Not obedient at all, this is rebellion... definitely must be thrown out!”
The eerie glow in the skull’s eye sockets flickered, then it silently floated down.
Only then was Zhao Yu satisfied as he took the necklace and left.

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The white bone necklace stammered, “Th-that... I am your sister-in-law’s object. My owner is your sister-in-law. If you’re going to throw me out, shouldn’t you ask her first?”
Zhao Yu halted just outside the door.
He touched his chin, pondering for a moment. The necklace had a point.
Although his innocent and lovely sister-in-law surely wouldn’t refuse, if he threw her object away without telling her... once or twice might be okay, but if it happened repeatedly, she might grow distant from him.
As head of the family, he absolutely couldn’t let that happen.
“Then you float back first. I’ll talk to her before I throw you out,” Zhao Yu said, releasing the necklace.
The white bone necklace said nothing and quietly floated back to the wall to hang once more.
Though it was just a necklace, Zhao Yu could sense a hint of loneliness in its silhouette, as if, given a chance to start over, it would have gladly served as a lucky charm rather than become a creature with eight hands.
Pulling his gaze away, Zhao Yu closed the door behind him.
He cursed inwardly, “An eight-handed necklace, and I only have two hands. It’s just not fair... Wait, did I forget the real matter?”
Thinking of the real issue, Zhao Yu was puzzled again.
Where had his sweet and innocent sister-in-law gone?
A poor, weak, helpless young girl not returning home overnight surely meant she’d encountered some powerful figure.
Moreover, the fact that she hadn’t come back all night suggested it was possible... very possible she had met with disaster.
Zhao Yu recalled how yesterday, the four Ling Xuzi cultivators were hunted down and died at his home... The pursuer must have been a formidable evil spirit if it could chase down four experts.
This greatly increased the likelihood that his sister-in-law was in grave danger.
Overcome with sorrow, Zhao Yu staggered, overcome by grief.
“My poor sister-in-law, how could you die so horribly...” He rubbed his eyes, squeezing out a few tears.
He should have gone looking for her last night.
*Creak...*
Suddenly, the courtyard gate opened.
Still grieving, Zhao Yu instinctively felt a glimmer of hope: “Little Maru, you’re not—”
Before he could finish, he swallowed his words.
The one who entered was not Little Maru, but his brother, the Faceless Mu Han.
The Faceless one looked speechless: “Brother, do you really think Little Maru and I look alike?”
Zhao Yu felt embarrassed.

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He quickly thought of something and his voice trembled: “You weren’t home last night?”
His brother hadn’t come back all night?
“I didn’t come back last night. Didn’t you know?” Mu Han said as he lifted his shirt, revealing a human face growing on his chest, looking at Zhao Yu with disbelief and extreme grievance.
Zhao Yu was speechless and felt a flush creeping over his face.
He really didn’t know.
Last night, he had thought his brother returned to his room after dinner... After all, his brother’s health was weak; he couldn’t bear sunlight or wind.
Sure enough, he hadn’t cared enough about his brother.
Of course, as head of the household, Zhao Yu couldn’t admit fault to his brother. He had to maintain his elder’s dignity.
Without hesitation, Zhao Yu changed the subject, glaring angrily: “How dare you say that? Where were you last night? Why didn’t you come home all night?”
“Brother, it’s not my fault. I wanted to come back early too, but on my way back, I happened to see a good show and just watched from the sidelines.”
After speaking, Mu Han absentmindedly rubbed his stomach, lamenting, “I finally got to go out, hoping to grab a bite, but they never fought, so I couldn’t eat anything.”
“I wasted the whole night—so frustrating.”
His tone was full of indignation at the end.
Zhao Yu thought for a moment and scolded, “Your body’s already weak. Don’t eat strange things!”
What if he got sicker because of something bad?
“I haven’t eaten anything yet...”
Muttering, his brother quietly changed the subject: “Enough talk. I’m going back to my room.”
He lifted his foot and headed off.
Though Zhao Yu wanted to continue lecturing, thinking of his sorrow, he choked up again: “My poor sister-in-law...”
“What happened to her?” His brother, already at his door, poked his head back inside.
Zhao Yu didn’t hide it and squeezed out a few more tears: “She hasn’t come back all night. It’s very likely... very likely she met some powerful evil spirit and has already been harmed.”
His brother said nothing, but the face on his chest twisted strangely.
Zhao Yu frowned: “What’s that expression? Brother, I know you don’t get along with Little Maru, but we’re family...”