At night, someone woke up.
The woman entered the bathroom with her hair swept up in her hand, closely followed behind by a man.
Wang Huiwen was startled and was about to scream before a hand clamped over her mouth. Zhang Rui quickly whispered, “It’s me.”
Wang Huiwen’s nerves steadied, her hand lightly slapping the man’s arm as she chided softly, “What are you up to? You nearly frightened me to death.”
Zhang Rui pecked the woman’s lips. Wang Huiwen, having showered earlier, emitted a subtle fragrance from her body. Upon catching a whiff of her scent, he was immediately aroused and got hard.
“It’s already so late.” Wang Huiwen pleasurably leaned into Zhang Rui’s touch with a mix of resistance and acceptance, her eyelids drifting shut. Zhang Rui liked her body, and she was also happy to use her body to entice him.
Memories of those lingering and deeply poignant moments were stirred up again, injecting a dose of excitement.
In the past, Wang Huiwen had begged Zhang Rui to buy an apartment, and part of the reason he agreed was for the convenience of their amorous activities. Zhang Rui’s affluence was his sole attribute; he was a wealthy but uncultured person, yet also generous and lavish. Wang Huiwen initially followed him was also due to her attraction towards this aspect of his personality.
These past few days of consecutive scares had left them with no energy to think about anything else, so they naturally cherished this rare moment.
Several minutes later, Wang Huiwen and Zhang Rui came out from the bathroom. The woman smoothed out her wrinkled clothes, while the man settled back onto the sofa, sensing that the space had become much larger. He squinted and scanned around the room, only to realize that the two figures who were originally on the sofa were missing.
Nie Shi and Qiao Ran.
…
The scent of blood lingered in the air, saturating one’s senses with its metallic tang.
The sky, a vast expanse of azure, was adorned with billowing clouds. Intense midday heat radiated in shimmering waves, accompanied by the incessant singing of cicadas in the distance.
A youth limped along, leaning on the wall for support, as he passed by the classroom doors, deliberately hunching low to avoid detection through the windows.
The lock on the rooftop door seemed merely decorative; with a gentle tug, the youth effortlessly opened it, and was greeted by a rush of hot wind that enveloped him. A smile danced on his lips, faltering briefly as he grazed the wound on the corner of his mouth, causing him to grimace in pain instead.
There was a sound behind him, and he turned around in fright. A person emerged from the shadows, and the youth exhaled in relief upon recognizing the other party.
“You scared me.”
“You got into a fight again.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
They both spoke at the same time, and the youth ultimately smiled again, albeit with another wince of pain. His eyes, a shade lighter than most, sparkled with a brilliance. “Well, what else could I do? They picked on me for no reason. Should I have just stood there and taken their blows?”
“Who did it?” The person speaking emerged from the shadows, with lowered eyes and a calm demeanour.
The youth waved his hand. “It’s nothing, don’t get involved this time, okay? Have you forgotten what happened last time? It escalated to the point where even your parents got involved, and you were forced to apologize to those bastards with your head held down.” His curved lips, momentarily straightened for an instant, before he resumed smiling again. “Geez, why should you apologize? Clearly, they were the ones who started it.”
No one responded.
The youth muttered to himself, “Forget it, no one will speak up for us anyway.” Limping over to the railing, he cast a cautious glance down at the red and green sports field below, but dared not approach closer, fearing the watchful eyes of the student union.
The wind howled into his chest, filling him with its wild breath, as his amber eyes—forever radiating a gentle and luminous glow—scanned the surroundings.
Suddenly, his shoulder was grabbed. Fang Chen knew he was dreaming. He turned around, but his gaze was fixated on the sky, where a white bird soared, leaving a long streak in his vision before vanishing.
Someone placed a glass bottle on the ground. The rubbing alcohol spilled out, causing Fang Chen to wrinkle his nose at the unpleasant smell.
“Why do you carry this thingy around?” Fang Chen asked, feeling uncomfortable under the other party’s attentive gaze. He sighed as he sat down with his legs drawn close, tightly shutting one eye. “Fine then, just be gentle when you wipe it.”
As the cotton ball soaked in alcohol touched his skin, Fang Chen bit his tongue. His knees hurt, his body ached, yet the taste in his mouth had changed—an intertwining of the flavour of blood with a hint of sweetness.
But the dream was coming to an end.
Someone was nudging him awake.
Fang Chen opened his eyes, greeted by the dimly lit room once again. At the sight of Nie Shi, his heart sank back into his chest. His head throbbed, drowning out the surrounding noise momentarily. Fang Chen surveyed the surroundings, thinking he had a rather decent dream. In that dream, there were no deaths, no malevolence, and certainly no rotting flesh haunting him.
Xie Ying was speaking, and he listened intently, his ear turned as he faintly heard her mention that it was already dawn.
Turning to look out the window, the sky mirrored the same serene blue sky in his dream.
“It’s time for us to go,” Xie Ying said.
Zhang Rui glanced at Nie Shi, scratching his head. “Where’s that kid who just arrived yesterday?”
Realization dawned on everyone, and they began to search. Suddenly, the curtains covering the balcony window shifted, revealing Qiao Ran sitting on the floor, wrapped in the curtain.
“Aiya, why are you sleeping there?” Wang Huiwen exclaimed in surprise.
“I was scared.” Qiao Ran lowered his head, avoiding eye contact. He curled up his legs and spoke softly, “I’m hungry…”
“See? I told you. Eating so little wouldn’t fill you up,” Gao Cheng remarked, also starting to feel hungry himself. He turned to the others. “How about we go to the restaurant and grab some food to eat on the way? In case we get hungry on the road.”
Zhang Rui just wanted to leave this place as soon as possible, beads of sweat starting to form on his forehead. Noticing that nobody appeared prepared nor had an immediate intention to leave, he had no choice but to suggest, “Alright, let’s go and come back quickly.”
Xie Ying proposed, “Let’s go together. After grabbing the food, we’ll take the elevator directly downstairs.”
The route to the elevator involved walking a distance and making a turn before reaching the main building. Upon reaching the twelfth floor, the group noticed a person lying in the centre of the restaurant. They slowed their pace, exchanging uneasy glances, while Fang Chen remained lost in his thoughts, walking with his head lowered.
A sudden scream jolted Fang Chen, prompting him to instinctively move closer to Nie Shi. Then he realized, albeit belatedly, that Nie Shi wasn’t any safer now either, and froze in place. Finally remembering to lift his head, Fang Chen saw a body lying not far away.
Fan Yingying was dead.
The girl’s eyes were wide open, her form sprawled on the red carpet, dried blood staining it dark. Her abdomen lay open, revealing spilled intestines, and her mouth was filled with what Fang Chen first thought were colourful candies, but they were actually pills.
The gruesome sight made several men retch. Wang Huiwen directly sank to the floor, hands over her mouth, as vomit seeped through her fingers. Qiao Ran knelt down again, burying his head deeply in his arms.
Yet, Fang Chen stood there motionless, his thoughts scattered to the depths of his mind. The intermittent sounds of retching became background noise as he suddenly turned to Nie Shi. Sunlight streamed through the windows, casting Nie Shi’s elongated shadow. Fang Chen gazed at it, then at his own.
“Quick, let’s go, let’s go! Don’t stay here anymore!” Zhang Rui urged, retreating.
“Why did she die?” Xie Ying’s voice sharpened. “Her stomach was ripped open, and her mouth was filled with pills. Why did she die in this way?!”
Wang Huiwen screamed, hoping Xie Ying would stop.
Someone else vomited again.
The surroundings were in chaos.
Fang Chen, in a daze, turned to Nie Shi, asking a question he didn’t expect an answer to. “Do you know why?”
Nie Shi actually nodded. “She committed a wrongdoing.”
Fang Chen was taken aback for a moment. “What?” He asked again, but Nie Shi didn’t answer anymore.
Zhang Rui ran downstairs frantically, shouting for the others to follow. “Quick, let’s go!” When he saw Nie Shi, his eyes dodged, seemingly fearful. He then added, “If you guys don’t follow, we’ll just leave without you!”
He wanted to leave behind Nie Shi.
Xie Ying, unusually resolute, leaned weakly against the wall. “If we don’t figure out the cause of her death, none of us can escape! She’s the fourth victim. If she vanishes like the others, we’ll be aimlessly wandering to escape forever!”
Wang Huiwen, terrified by Xie Ying’s grim words, covered her own ears. Gao Cheng regained some composure and ran after Zhang Rui, attempting to placate him. “Let’s discuss this calmly…”
But Zhang Rui shook him off violently, his finger trembling to the point where no one knew whom he was pointing at. “If any of you want to stay with a murderer, be my guest! I’m leaving!”
The group stood in shock, even Wang Huiwen, who was following beside Zhang Rui, was stunned.
“Last night, he wasn’t even in the room at all!” Zhang Rui’s expression was frantic, standing in a posture as if ready to flee at any moment. He fixed his eyes on Nie Shi as he continued, “If he wasn’t in the room last night, then where did he go?!”
All eyes turned to Nie Shi.
Gao Cheng cleared his throat.
Nie Shi only looked at Fang Chen and responded, “I didn’t kill her.” He lowered his head, and for a fleeting moment, Fang Chen even sensed a hint of grievance in him.
“If it wasn’t you, then who was it?” Zhang Rui retorted, and when he saw Nie Shi looking over, he finally couldn’t bear it and bolted downstairs, following behind was Wang Huiwen.
Gao Cheng widened his eyes, while Xie Ying glanced at Nie Shi and said, “Wait here, I’ll go and seek clarification from them.”
Now, only the four of them remained upstairs.
Fang Chen had reached a point where he could no longer feel fear. With Fan Yingying’s gruesome death behind him and the rotting flesh beside him, he was momentarily unsure which to fear more.
Qiao Ran hugged his head and huddled in a corner while Gao Cheng stood at the bottom of the stairs, finally asking stiffly, “Nie Shi, where were you last night?”
No answer.
“It wasn’t him,” Fang Chen said. He didn’t even understand why he was speaking up for Nie Shi. He was simply acting on instinct to defend him. “Why would he suddenly kill someone? Does that mean he was also responsible for the previous two incidents?”
“It’s hard to say,” Qiao Ran suddenly chimed in from the side, surprising Fang Chen, who turned to him only to see him shrink back in a ball once more.
“What do you know?” Fang Chen asked, puzzled. Qiao Ran had only joined them yesterday, so what could he possibly know?
Qiao Ran seemed on the verge of tears at any moment. “He was very angry when you left with that big sister yesterday.”
Gao Cheng, who was still standing at the bottom of the stairs, caught sight of Nie Shi’s evident joy as the latter stood behind Fang Chen, his lips curled into a smile simply because Fang Chen spoke up for him.
Gao Cheng’s scalp felt like it was about to explode. Even if Nie Shi wasn’t the one who killed Fan Yingying, there was still something off about him!
Nie Shi seemed to sense something, turning his head and adopting a completely protective stance as he shielded Fang Chen from Gao Cheng’s line of sight. Then, he lowered his gaze and looked back at Gao Cheng.
—As if he were looking at a dead thing.
I’m really sorry if I ruin atmosphere for someone, but Nie Shi is obviously dog type boyfriend
Thank you for your translation 💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙
I feel like Nie Shi knows who will be targeted next…