Chapter 501: Innocent

The second-floor girls' bathroom.

This was a dark, gloomy place.

Beneath a large, stained, cracked mirror was a row of peeling stone sinks. The floor was wet, and a few candle stubs were burning low on the brackets, casting a dim light that made the floor look eerie.

The wooden doors of the stalls were peeling paint and covered in scratches; one door had its hinges broken and was hanging precariously.

Curfew had already passed, and it was empty here.

Only two strange sounds.

"Someone's coming, oh dear, you're going to be discovered. Once you're discovered, he'll definitely be talking about you."

Xiang Xien knew this was Peeves's voice, and soon, he saw a ghost cautiously poke her head out.

It was a short, chubby girl. Her face was melancholy and gloomy, half-hidden by straight long hair and thick, pearly glasses.

After poking her head out, she shrank back like a startled ostrich.

Xiang Xien heard Peeves saying slyly:

"He saw you, oh dear, I bet he's talking about you! Remember what they all say?"

"Are you talking about me?"

Myrtle darted out and sniffled.

"Not at all..."

Xiang Xien's words were quickly interrupted.

"Don't lie to me."

Myrtle said, gasping for air, tears rolling down her cheeks incessantly, while Peeves giggled happily behind her,

"Do you think I don't know what others call me behind my back? Fat Myrtle! Ugly Myrtle! Poor, crying, miserable Myrtle!"

"You missed one, 'pimple-faced'."

Peeves whispered in her ear.

Moaning Myrtle suddenly sobbed sadly.

Peeves threw some small stones at her, shouting:

"Pimple-faced! Pimple-faced!"

Things changed quickly; as Xiang Xien watched Peeves quietly, Peeves's annoying face froze.

"My god—why is it you—"

Peeves fled in a flash, shouting as he ran:

"My lord, I didn't see anything."

The bathroom finally quieted down.

Only Moaning Myrtle remained, floating in the water tank of the toilet.

Xiang Xien didn't speak, just waited quietly.

Moaning Myrtle, she was the first student killed by Tang Mu at Hogwarts.

She had suffered much unfair treatment during her life and had not found peace after death.

"Peeves won't come back."

Once Myrtle's sobbing subsided, Xiang Xien said.

"Maybe, hopefully... but this is the girls' bathroom, you're not a girl."

Myrtle sniffled and sized up Xiang Xien with a suspicious gaze.

"I'm here to ask you some things, how did you die?"

Xiang Xien said; he knew this question would make Myrtle happier.

Myrtle's entire demeanor changed instantly.

It seemed no one had ever asked her such a question that made her feel honored.

"Oh, it was terrible,"

she said with relish,

"It happened right here. I died in this stall, I remember it very clearly. At the time, Olive Hornby was mocking me for wearing glasses like a four-eyed dog, so I hid in here.

I locked the door and cried inside, when suddenly I heard someone come in. What they said was funny, I think it must have been another language. But what annoyed me most was that I heard a boy's voice speaking, so I opened the door and scolded him to go away, to his own boys' bathroom, and then—"

Myrtle puffed out her chest, thinking she was quite something, her face glowing,

"I died."

The bathroom fell into a period of silence.

The gloomy sky of late September poured down a light drizzle; it wasn't heavy enough to make the windows rattle, nor light enough to soak the entire sleeping castle.

"Who was the killer?"

Xiang Xien asked.

"Don't know,"

Myrtle lowered her voice mysteriously,

"I only remember seeing a pair of terrifyingly large yellow eyes. My whole body felt like it was grabbed, and then I floated away..."

She looked at Xiang Xien in a daze.

"Later I came back, you know, I was determined to settle the score with Olive Hornby. Oh, she kept mocking me for wearing glasses back then."

"She was startled, right?"

Xiang Xien asked.

"Of course! Of course! You don't know the expression on her face when she saw me, she was extremely regretful... so, so, I let her go."

Myrtle's mood grew increasingly cheerful,

"I know you must have come with a purpose, no one wants to listen to a crying, miserable ghost talk. But what you said made me very happy. Go ahead, if you have any questions, I will answer them for you."

Xiang Xien fell silent again.

The Centaur teacher was right; innocent people are always the first to be hurt, and it has been this way for thousands of years.

"If the killer were found and punished, would you be happier?"

Xiang Xien asked.

"Why is it this question—ah, ah—but I only know how to cry, my life here has no joy, only sorrow. Now that I'm dead, people still haven't let me go.

I just hope people don't talk about me behind my back. I have feelings too, you know, even though I'm dead."

Myrtle said sadly.

"I will help."

Xiang Xien said.

"Oh, oh, I rarely see someone like you. But you can't help, I'll tell you a secret—people's mouths can't be shut!"

Myrtle was quite proud,

"Oh, by the way, what's your name?"

She asked.

"Xiang Xien Green."

Xiang Xien said softly.

"Ah—you're that Xiang Xien Green! My god!"

Myrtle covered her mouth.

"What?"

Xiang Xien didn't quite understand.

"You're very famous, in the whole castle: those house-elves say you're a knight; those oil paintings praise you to the heavens; I also know that many witches are talking about you—the kind of... good talk..."

Myrtle said a lot at once; she was a bit shy,

"I'm very happy to tell you, someone like you... if you want to find those eyes, they're just about there."

Myrtle said, pointing vaguely at the sink in front of her.

Xiang Xien walked over to check; the sink looked very ordinary, but when Xiang Xien lowered his head slightly, he saw it:

On the side of a copper faucet, a small snake was carved. ===== CHAPTER 502 =====