Yao Ye found himself engulfed in darkness. An unfamiliar sensation crept over his body, meandering across the skin exposed beyond his clothes.
This chilling touch reminded him of venomous snakes, their cool scales and sinister hissing sending shivers down his spine.
Hss—
Was it a snake flicking its tongue?
A cold sensation brushed against his cheek, cold as the breath of the dead.
Trembling, Yao Ye widened his eyes in the darkness, his soul twisted into a fragile shape by an unseen terror.
“Help me… please… someone… save me…” he murmured soundlessly, but no response came.
Immobilized, he felt an oppressive force pinning him down.
Lying on the floor, aware of every limb yet unable to command his body, subjected to the terrifying caress drifting across his cheek. This dreadful touch tickled, yet it was the fear of the unknown that overwhelmed him.
Yao Ye was not brave; he feared horror films and dared not approach even mildly suspenseful novels.
Yet, he was aware of ancient folk tales, including the widely known phenomenon of sleep paralysis, where a ghost lies upon the sleeper, inducing a sensation of crushing weight and immobility.
Was this touch… that of a ghost?
With his senses dulled, save for touch, Yao Ye shuddered, almost smelling the scent of his impending doom.
Only a ghost could evoke such fear, right?
Yao Ye answered his own question, growing more anxious.
The touch on his body grew bolder, leaving him powerless to resist.
Facing this vulnerability, his heart clenched in fear, his breaths came in short gasps, the air around him thinning to the point of asphyxiation.
No… he didn’t want to die…
He didn’t want to die…
Could this ghost be Blank? Was it that Blank?
The thought of the eerie figure he saw before plunging into darkness, and the feeling of being embraced, filled him with dread. He let out muffled sobs.
Because he had rejected him…
Was it taking revenge?
“Please…”
Understanding the cause, Yao Ye regretted his past actions deeply. If only he hadn’t deceived Blank, he wouldn’t be in this terrifying predicament. But regrets were futile now.
Yao Ye helplessly opened his vacant eyes. With tears tracing down his soft facial contours, sliding into his hair, Yao Ye appeared exceedingly fragile and pitiful.
“I’m sorry… please forgive me… I’m sorry…” he pleaded, tears falling, unable to hear his own voice, feeling the cold presence halt momentarily as if moved by his words.
Apologizing seemed to work!
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.
Like a traveler in despair finding a clear spring, Yao Ye excitedly continued: “I’m sorry, so sorry! Blank, I promise to turn over a new leaf, to give you offerings every year! Okay?”
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His voice hoarse from crying, trapped in a hopeless darkness, he struggled to control his volume, loudly begging for Blank’s forgiveness, swearing never again to commit such conscience-stricken deeds.
However, the unseen ghostly figure, as if deaf to his pleas, continued its silent and obsessive caressing over every inch of Yao Ye’s skin with a ravenous affection.
“Yao Ye, you’re so beautiful,” it praised, unseen to the human eye, admiring sight of the desperately crying the young man, repeating its scant vocabulary of compliments as the cold touches induced shivers in Yao Ye.
Time seemed to stand still until the eerie sensation finally ceased.
Yao Ye could no longer feel the chilling touch on his body, his desire to live reigniting. He attempted to rise, but his limbs refused to cooperate, still weighed down by a heavy sensation.
Tap… tap…
Suddenly, the sound of keyboard typing echoed beside Yao Ye’s ear. With a jolt, he opened his eyes wide, only to find himself in a dimly lit room.
The pungent smell of blood permeated the air as he struggled to sit up, regaining some sensation in his limbs. He found himself sitting at the foot of a single iron-framed bed in the corner of a small room, leaning against the cold metal, goosebumps covering his back.
Where was this place?
Yao Ye looked across the room to see a figure with his back to him, a lean and tall young man typing at a computer desk.
Was he the one typing…?
As if spellbound, Yao Ye staggered to his feet and walked towards the young man.
Who was he?
With this question in mind, Yao Ye approached within half a meter of the young man, observing the protruding shoulder blades under the black long-sleeve shirt, which seemed somewhat fragile and lonely.
Standing behind the young man, Yao Ye looked up to see the familiar chat room interface on the computer screen, its dark background and dialogue boxes exuding a suffocating atmosphere. Having used this chat room before, Yao Ye had never found its color scheme oppressive, but now it suddenly felt nauseating.
The computer screen displayed a series of messages appearing continuously:
—[Please, don’t leave me]
—[Please, don’t leave me]
…
Observing the messages on the screen, Yao Ye felt something was amiss. “Huff! Huff!”
Yao Ye breathed heavily in panic, the unease growing within him, trying to alleviate the mounting fear with deep breaths.
Click—
The conversation in the chat room came to a chilling conclusion:
—[If I died, would Yao Ye come back?]
Terrified by the message, Yao Ye finally recognized the identity of the young man.
—Blank. This person was Blank.
“…Blank?” Yao Ye called out timidly, his pupils trembling, fearing the young man would turn and snap his neck the next second.
The young man, with his back to Yao Ye, remained silent, offering no response.
Yao Ye, not knowing where he found the courage, reached out and gently pushed the young man’s shoulder.
“Blank, is it you?”
Crash—
The young man’s previously upright body slumped onto the computer desk, pressing a series of gibberish onto the keyboard.
!!!
Yao Ye’s face turned pale as he looked at the scene before him, bringing his hand, which had just touched the young man, up to his eyes to see the crimson blood spreading across his palm.
The dim light in the room had obscured his vision, and Yao Ye had only seen the young man dressed in black. Only now did he realize that the young man’s clothes were soaked with blood, so much that a mere touch left his hands bloody.
A cold, slippery sensation came from below his feet.
Yao Ye numbly looked down to see a dark, crimson liquid spreading from beneath the computer chair, the smell of blood so intense it made it hard to breathe.
All of it was blood from the young man.
If Blank was already dead…
Then who had been typing?
In that instant, Yao Ye’s pupils contracted. He staggered back, running towards the door of the room.
Just as Yao Ye was about to reach the doorknob, a mournful voice came from behind him.
“Yao Ye, it hurts so much.”
The man’s tone was cold yet soft, as if pleading for affection from a beloved.
Hearing the voice, Yao Ye’s lips trembled, and he dared not look back, gripping the doorknob tightly, frantically trying to open the locked door.
“Hurry, hurry, please! Hurry! Ugh, please!!”
Yao Ye cried out, desperate to open the door that symbolized a hope for life.
“Yao Ye, you finally came to see me. I’m so happy.”
The man’s icy breath brushed against Yao Ye’s ear, his bloodless lips tenderly kissing Yao Ye’s delicate ear.
Yao Ye’s frantic movements stopped abruptly, shaking uncontrollably.
He slowly turned his gaze to see, at his left, a face so pale it had not a hint of blood, resting on his shoulder.
The head, with its handsome features, stared unblinkingly at him, its pupils dark as if emitting a chill from the depths of hell.
Its skin was pallid, exuding a discomforting aura of death, its appearance dreadfully somber to the extreme. Even a gentle smile could not conceal the eerie presence.
Below the head, a deep gash was visible on the man’s neck, with dark red blood spreading from the wound down to Yao Ye.
Yao Ye watched as his white vest turned crimson, his skin stained with blood, feeling as though he had plunged into an abyss.
The man gazed at Yao Ye’s beautiful eyes with an obsession, his gloomy features from life filled with deep love.
“Now, we can be together,” he whispered.
“Forever…”
Yao Ye’s mind went blank, unable to accept this grim reality, and he screamed in horror.
“Ahhh!!!”
He woke from the nightmare, finding himself lying on the floor, the cool temperature of the wooden floor seeping through his skin, chilling to the bone.
Outside the uncovered floor-to-ceiling window, sunlight poured in, the room silent.
He sat up in a daze, his black, shoulder-length hair slightly disheveled. Trembling, he lifted his hands, inspecting them closely until he was sure they bore no trace of blood, finally allowing himself to breathe a sigh of relief.
“Was it… a dream?”
Yao Ye curled up at the foot of the bed, the dark circles under his eyes giving him a smoky look, making him appear somber.
“It was all a dream, all a dream…” he hugged himself, trying to shake off the lingering fear in his heart.
After a while, Yao Ye managed to gather himself. Dragging his numb and sore body from sleeping on the floor, he headed to the bathroom, not noticing the black silhouette that seemed to follow him in the glass window behind.
Perhaps, a hot bath would help.
Yao Ye washed his face, staring at his ghastly reflection in the mirror, his fingers trembling subconsciously. He felt like a frightened rabbit, jittery and lost.
Splish splash…
The sound of water filling the bathtub echoed as Yao Ye hastily immersed himself in the hot water before it could cool down, his pale, delicate skin turning red from the heat. Yet, the scalding temperature was exactly what Yao Ye needed, giving him a sense of being alive.
Curled up in the bathtub, Yao Ye enjoyed the security of being embraced by the hot water.
“It’s all a dream… all a dream,” he murmured.
But was it really all a dream?
An incorporeal black shadow embraced its beloved human from behind, emitting a satisfied sigh unheard by humans.
Yao Ye scrubbed his body with a washcloth soaked in hot water, rubbing vigorously as if to erase the eerie sensations from before, uncaring of the stinging pain from the scrubbing.
Splash…
After bathing, Yao Ye stood up from the bathtub and noticed blue marks on his skin where the hot water had washed over him, resembling bruises from a beating.
His face, which had just regained some color, turned pale again. He bit down on his finger hard, leaving a deep imprint on the knuckle.
After calming down, Yao Ye took a deep breath, stepped out of the bathtub, and walked to the half-length mirror by the sink. Turning his back to it, he looked over his shoulder at his reflection.
In the mirror, the pale, smooth skin of the young man’s back was covered in blue bruises, especially around the distinct vertebrae, where each bone seemed to bear marks of licking and biting.
Marks left by a ghost.
Thank you for the chapter!! 💖