My new husband and I were childhood sweethearts. Our families were neighbors, so we grew up together and had accompanied each other for more than ten years.

When we graduated high school, he discovered my feelings for him, and fortunately, he also liked me. We secretly fell in love when we were teenagers, and got married six months ago.

He was gentle and romantic, with a tolerant and kind personality. We were very in love.

And just a few days ago, I felt that something wasn’t right with him.

The peephole in my house turned dark, as if someone was peeping at me from outside. The fingerprint lock sounded alarms one after another, and my husband was not allowed to enter.

He told me that the fingerprint lock was not secure enough, so he used a key to open the door and changed the peephole in front of me.

Although I noticed from the day it was put on that I couldn’t see clearly, it didn’t prevent me from seeing light, so I just thought it was a problem caused by it being left in the basement for too long. For instance, things in coastal cities are vulnerable to moisture.

But now, my student’s words shock me hard.

The peephole in my door is installed backwards.

You can only see inside from the outside, but you can’t see the outside from inside.

If the peephole is reversed, then these days when I’ve been at home…..

And why did my husband install the peephole backwards?

Xiao Pi also notices that there is something strange about me. His round, white face looks a little more serious, and he comes back to take me with him to the door. First he leans down and looks through it with one eye closed, and then he asks me to look at it too. “It really is backwards, Teacher. Fortunately, you have a courtyard gate at home. Is it a problem with the installation company, ah? I didn’t expect such a nice house to have such a problem. Is this something that came with the house?”

When he pulls me over, I lean in to take a look.

I am currently standing outside the door, and everything in the room is displayed before my eyes through this small peephole, clearly visible and unobstructed. 

My heart freezes, and the creepy feeling is like a cold shadow crawling up my calves from the ground to my back, then to the side of my face. I feel a layer of goosebumps instantly appear on my neck.

I can’t help but start thinking about recent days.

On the first day, I discovered that there was something strange about Mingcheng. He was standing in the middle of the living room with his back to me, and I opened the door without attracting his attention, until the alarm clock sounded…..

When we had dinner at noon, I misunderstood the reason why he couldn’t swallow the food. I tried to unbutton the collar of his shirt, and the scene of spurting blood shocked me.

That afternoon, I found that it was pitch black outside the peephole. When he came home at night, the fingerprint lock failed to detect his fingerprints at first, and the second time, he passed the test but it wouldn’t let him in.

I know why the living person test failed.

When I raised my suspicions, he changed the peephole in front of me, dispelling my doubts. I felt guilty and began to suspect that I was sick.

The next day, after listening to Mingyi’s words, I remembered the black doll that Mingcheng had brought back after traveling abroad. Following the advice of the divine attendant, I took it out of the house and placed it in the basement. Mingcheng came home very late that night. When he returned, he was covered in dust and was in a bit of disarray. He asked me twice at the door if I would let him in…..

I asked him to eat, but he picked up his favorite orange juice and fed it to me instead of drinking it. His remarks and personality were a little different from before. It wasn’t that I didn’t notice this, but I tried my best to ignore it.

On the third day, Xiao Pi brought me a scary story and discovered that my peephole was installed backwards…..

These things that I am trying not to think about can no longer be ignored.

My eyelid begins to twitch uncontrollably, and the ominous premonition develops claws, crawling into my heart bit by bit, gnawing at my flesh and blood.

If….I mean if. It’s just a guess.

If I was not wrong on the first day, and if the fingerprint lock was not wrong either…..That peephole was deliberately installed by Mingcheng, and he even boldly told me to check it out, because he knew that I was sick. But I really love Mingcheng. As long as he explained, I would doubt myself, but I wouldn’t doubt Mingcheng.

If I discovered that all the peculiarities in his personality were true.

If he really had something to do with that kind of thing, then I let him into my house that day…..

Like lightning exploding before my eyes, an extremely terrifying conjecture appears instantly in my mind.

“Teacher! What’s wrong with you? Look at me, Teacher! Teacher—” The student calls anxiously into my ear, and I feel my body sinking.

My student is frightened, and half-hugs me to support me. He calls out to me with anxiety and fear: “Teacher—”

This cry abruptly wakes me up. All at once, I recall that I seemed to have heard a similar cry before, and the emotions contained in it were also very similar.

“A-Zhen—”

This cry I heard while half asleep comes to my mind again. I open my eyes suddenly, lean against the wall, and gasp for breath. Cold sweat flows from my scalp to my ears, and the hands pressed to my chest shake.

At a loss, Xiao Gao takes out his mobile phone. I see that he seems to be planning to call the emergency number, perhaps thinking I’m ill.

I swallow and try to calm down. I push against the wall and stand up straight, then grab his phone and stuff it into his jacket pocket. I say to him solemnly and apologetically: “Xiao Pi, you go home immediately and don’t come here unless I tell you to. Teacher has very important things to do. If…..I don’t notify you for a long time, go to the school and apply for a change of tutor. I will tell the school in advance that your new tutor will only be more accomplished than me…..”

My expression is probably very unsightly. The boy seems frightened, his eyes red and wet: “Although I don’t know what’s wrong with you, I will wait for you, Teacher. If you have any trouble, how about…..we call the police. The police will protect us.”

I smile. What I suspect is too fantastical, and there is no evidence or substantial damage. There is also my mental illness. Even if I call the police, there is nothing they can do.

But this is the best way the recent graduate can think of. I express my gratitude to him.

When I send him to the courtyard gate, I look at his guilty and confused face and feel indescribably sour and uncomfortable at heart, so I can’t help but stop him when he steps out of the courtyard: “Xiao Pi.”

“Teacher?” He looks back.

I hesitate, then speak again: “You…..go worship at a temple after you go back.”

“Ah?” He is stunned.

“…..Just think of it as studying.”

“Okay, teacher!”

. . . . . . .

After sending the student away, I look at the time. It is now 16:00 in the afternoon, one hour and forty-five minutes before Mingcheng gets off work.

I can’t live in doubt any longer. I have to do something to either verify my suspicions or dispel my concerns.

First is my guess: something is wrong with Mingcheng. Although it isn’t good to rashly suspect my lover, I grew up with him and am most familiar with his appearance, temperament, and every move. But now, I feel like he is a different person.

This person is very similar to him. It could be said that he is exactly the same, but there is an indescribable sense of dissonance in him.

The Wen family is well off, and Mingcheng, as the eldest son in the family, received an heir’s education. He has read books and poetry since childhood and is proficient at various musical instruments. He likes Chinese opera, Western oil paintings, and all kinds of flowers and beautiful things. Since he became an adult, he has taken care of his family’s property in an orderly manner, and looks at people with gentle, steady eyes.

And Mingcheng is still gentle now, but his eyes occasionally appear eerie and cold, bottomless like an endless night, like an abyss that people dare not look directly into.

When Mingcheng and I are together, he likes to have brief tastes of intimacy. He likes to lightly kiss my lips and cheeks, and look at me affectionately. He is very restrained in his physical intimacy.

And now he likes all close contact with me. He likes kissing, hugging, being skin-to-skin with me…..in the past three days, half of the time we spent together has been spent in bed.

Something is definitely wrong with him.

But where should I begin to verify it?

The mysteriousness scares me and also makes me want to escape. As time passes in minutes and seconds, I suddenly think of someone.

“Mingyi……”

The woman on the end of the phone is doing something unknown. She probably isn’t at the gym, because I hear a sound similar to paper flipping. She takes my call and hears me call out to her. She is silent for a moment, and then asks me: “What’s wrong?”

I think and think, not knowing what to say.

I could tell her, I suspect that your brother has been replaced, although this person looks exactly like your brother and even has the same fingerprints. Oh, by the way, he might not be a human.

It is likely that she will immediately call for a psychiatric evaluation.

“A-Zhen?” She asks this with some confusion when I don’t say anything.

Hesitating over and over, I choose the question that is, strictly speaking, the most realistic: “Do you think Mingcheng could have a twin? What I mean to say is, do you also have an older brother who looks…..the same as Mingcheng?”

“Haha.”

She makes a mocking sound. “Really? Then how come Mother doesn’t know?”

I fall silent.

We are silent for a long time.

“You…..” She seems like she can’t stand me anymore, and is a little agitated. “I said it, you really love my brother like crazy. I also grew up with you. I was your favorite when we were children. You said I was pretty and cute, and that my brother was rigid and only knew how to study, but why were you so biased once you grew up? You said you cared about me, but in the end, the one you care for is my brother!”

Her sudden loss of control leaves me at a loss. I probably did say those words when I was a young, but weren’t they just to coax a child? And I don’t feel like I was biased. It was obviously Mingyi who didn’t want me to care about her, right?

Besides, hadn’t I said that I was worried about her recently? The only contact I had with her was when we were hanging out.

In any case, I quickly apologize to her: “I’m sorry, Mingyi. It’s just that something happened recently…..”

“Shut up!” She scolds me angrily, “I don’t want to hear you talk.”

She hangs up the phone.

I don’t understand why she lost her temper. Her accusations make me feel even worse when I was already panicking, but there isn’t enough time left for me to wallow in my feelings of loss.

I go to the bathroom and wash my face, forcing myself to calm down. 

At least now I have the piece of information that Mingcheng does not have a twin brother.

Then there are two possibilities left.

One: my mental illness has become more severe.

Two: he is not human.

Because he is not human, his disguise is impeccable. His fingerprints can be verified, but he can’t pass the living person test, and because he is not human, he needs permission to come into my house.

I shudder to think of what the second option would mean if it were true, so I actually hope it is the first one. But the panic and discomfort in my heart prevent me from ignoring it all.

Then I need to think about it. If he isn’t a human being, what is he?

Is he a monster? A devil? A ghost?

How did he show up at my house? Where did the real Mingcheng go?

Mingcheng…..I feel so awful.

I look out the window and see that the flowers planted in my backyard are already blooming beautifully and prosperously. We have wedding photos hanging in our bedroom. In the photos, he has a gentle smile, and on my left ring finger is the diamond ring he put on me when he promised me his entire life.

There are traces of him in every corner of my life.

We have only been married for half a year…..

In the past twenty, almost thirty years, he has been the most beautiful young man in my heart. The most handsome young man, the most considerate lover, he is tolerant and gentle, and lets me do everything I want. He discusses with me what I want to do, and the only thing he insisted on was going to a small country in Southeast Asia for our honeymoon.

Wait!

My mind suddenly lights up.

Could it be related to that trip?

Such a small, religious country has no connection to the eldest son of the Wen family. Why did he insist on going to such a small country? Why did he yearn for that statue so much? And why did he bring back that little doll? 

I connect these pieces of information together, and the first thing that comes to mind is the horror story Pi Gao brought me.

Perhaps Pi Gao is the guidance given to me by god.

If my suspicions are correct and this is not all due to my mental illness, then “Mingcheng” must have an inseparable relationship with that black and gold figure. That was why it was difficult for him to come in when I sent the doll out.

I have to find it again!

In for a penny, in for a pound. I find the key to the basement and take a flashlight with me.

This basement was given as a gift for buying the house. Because it isn’t used much, there is no electricity. I didn’t have so many thoughts in my mind before, so I didn’t have any psychological barriers to coming in and out. But now, I don’t know if it is a psychological effect, but I feel that this dark space is a little eerie and frightening.

The leftover materials from the renovation have been thrown down here carelessly. There are cobwebs in the corners, and at the end of the room is a cabinet I had discarded. It was used to store my painting tools, but now it has accumulated a lot of dust.

And the middle grid is where I put the doll.

I am instinctively afraid of this inhuman thing and my heartbeat speeds up, but I can’t be afraid. I raise my flashlight and face the small lattice door. With my other hand, I touch the little pixiu on my chest that my mother had begged for me.

After a few minutes, I make up my mind and open the lattice door.

In the next moment, my eyes open wide.

It is empty inside.

The doll is gone.

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Chapter 7 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 9