Chapter 241: Qiao Nason's Photo

Qiao Nason has been in great pain lately; his beloved younger brother has died, but his mother denies the fact and even brings a self‑proclaimed medium, a fraud, to the house to perform a ritual.

High school life in 1982 was already brutal; United States students liked to engage in school bullying, especially picking on poor, bookworm kids.

Qiao Nason unfortunately experienced both.

His home underwent a drastic change, and at school he still had to endure the mockery of those bullies.

He could only rely on his hobby of photography to numb himself.

After school, he took the film he had just shot a short while ago, intending to go to a photo shop to develop it. It was taken a few days earlier while queuing at school heartthrob Shi Difa's house.

Don't get it wrong; a student like him, unpopular and bullied, certainly has no right to attend such a party—he only secretly snapped photos outside Shi Difa's door.

Unfortunately, just as he stepped out of the school gate, he ran into Shi Difa and his friends.

"Hey, look, it's Qiao Nason, that bookworm!"

Standing beside Shi Difa were one man and two women; the man gave Shi Difa a mischievous grin and poked him.

Shi Difa nodded, "He seems to have something going on at home lately, he's in a bad mood; don't mess with him, Te Rui."

Te Rui clicked his tongue, looked at Qiao Nason with contempt; he loved to tease these school losers for his own amusement.

When Qiao Nason passed by them, Te Rui snatched the sheets of film from his hand, looked up and laughed loudly, "Hey, Nan Xi, look, he's secretly filming you!"

The long‑haired, big‑eyed girl beside Shi Difa paled; she was Shi Difa's girlfriend and also the best friend of the recently missing girl—Ba Ba La.

Shi Difa frowned upon hearing this, grabbed the film, and although the undeveloped film was rather blurry, a few frames contained photos of Nan Xi.

He angrily flung the photos onto the ground, grabbed Qiao Nason by the collar and roared, "What do you mean!"

Nan Xi's expression changed drastically; she despised Shi Difa's friends for their constant thug‑like demeanor.

She immediately seized Shi Difa's arm, her round eyes staring at him, "What are you doing!"

Shi Difa was irritated; Nan Xi was actually shouting at him because of this guy?!

But as the school heartthrob, constantly adored, he couldn't bring himself to explain his jealousy, and simply gave Qiao Nason a cold shove.

"What, are you two having an affair?" he asked.

Nan Xi's face grew sullen; she had always been a top‑scoring, well‑behaved girl, and during her relationship with Shi Difa, her best friend Ba Ba La had constantly warned her that Shi Difa was not on the same wavelength and that she shouldn't get too entangled.

Now, watching Shi Difa's meddlesome behavior, she felt a bit weary, but held back her breath and said, "Think whatever you want."

Shi Difa also grew impatient, violently flung the film onto the ground, and left, pulling Te Rui and his girlfriend along.

Only Qiao Nason remained, silently crouching on the ground, gathering the film.

Nan Xi, seeing his dejected state, felt a pang of sympathy, crouched down, and helped him pick up the film.

Qiao Nason's heart trembled for a moment; he dared not meet her eyes and whispered, "Thank you."

Nan Xi had just finished arguing and felt uneasy, but after hearing Qiao Nason's words she forced a smile and said, "It's okay, I should apologize to you; Shi Difa is a scumbag, don't follow him."

Mid‑sentence, her face froze, and she stared rigidly at the film in her hand.

Qiao Nason looked puzzled, lifted his head toward her, and saw her hand holding the film trembling, her eyes fixed on the film like nails.

"What's wrong?" he asked. Nan Xi only then reacted, her eyes filled with startled doubt, "Is this... from the day you shot at Shi Difa's party?"

She handed over a photo; the picture showed Shi Difa's backyard, where a slightly plump, bespectacled girl sat by the pool, staring blankly at the water.

Qiao Nason glanced at it and nodded.

Nan Xi swallowed, that day had been the last day she saw Ba Ba La; the next morning Ba Ba La vanished.

She had thought Ba Ba La had gone home that night, but the photo revealed that after the party ended, Ba Ba La was alone by the pool.

But that wasn't the point; it was what she saw in the photo.

"Look, there's a person behind her!" Nan Xi said, trembling as she pointed at the shadow behind Ba Ba La in the photo.

Qiao Nason examined it closely; his expression changed. Indeed, the shadow contained a vague, tall human figure, but the film was too blurry to discern any features.

Nan Xi hurriedly asked, "Can we make the photo clearer?"

Qiao Nason quickly nodded, "We can; let's go to the photo shop and develop it."

!

The two rushed to the photo shop, and in the dim room lit with a twilight‑like glow, they developed the film.

During the few seconds while the photo formed, Nan Xi felt each moment like a year, yearning to immediately find a clue to her friend's disappearance.

But when the photo emerged, Nan Xi and Qiao Nason's expressions had changed.

"How is this possible, what is this thing!"

In the photo, the creature in the shadow behind Ba Ba La revealed its true form: a towering, lanky human silhouette.

Terrifyingly, it had no head; in place of a head was a massive, blood‑filled mouth like a sunflower, bristling with sharp teeth.

Ba Ba La was unaware of what was behind her, while one of the monster's hands already reached toward her!

"Is that a monster, did the monster grab Ba Ba La?" Nan Xi said, a bit bewildered.

Qiao Nason was stunned, recalling his mother's words. Wei Er hadn't died; the family had hired a medium to look for the missing Wei Er.

Now that Ba Ba La was also missing and a monster appeared behind her, could it mean that Wei Er might also have been taken by this monster?

He suddenly regretted it, wondering why he had been so certain his brother was already dead; perhaps his mother was right!

Qiao Nason suddenly turned to Nan Xi and said, "My mother might know something; I'm going to ask her. Will you come with me?"

Nan Xi froze for a moment, then nodded resolutely. She wouldn't give up until Ba Ba La's whereabouts were found!

Soon, the two set out again, heading to Qiao Nason's home.

At that moment, Qiao Yi Si had just arrived home; seeing Qiao Nason burst in like a headless fly, she was taken aback.

Before she could speak, Qiao Nason took the photo from Nan Xi's hand and asked Qiao Yi Sen, "Mom, do you know what this monster is?"

Qiao Yi Si looked at the photo; the snarling monster behind Ba Ba La made cold sweat bead on her back.

Weird, twisted, bloody, dark.

Is this the monster Mr. Naimi Xisi spoke of?

She swallowed, looked at Jonathan and Barbara, and said: "It should be a monster from the Ying Ying Ming Jie; your brother Wei Er is there!"

(End of chapter)