It is ten o’clock in the morning, and there is still no phone signal.

I’ve devised three plans to escape from this nightmare.

The first plan is to go through every room in this villa to try to find the Black Nanjia.

This plan is the most basic solution. I tried once last night, but unfortunately, time was too short and I failed.

And today, I plan to try again for two hours.

If I can’t find it within two hours, I’ll give up.

But when I get up, I feel dizzy and quickly grasp the stair railing for nearly a minute before my head clears.

Only now do I remember that I have not slept or eaten all night. My body has reached its limit.

Before everything begins, I need to eat something.

The refrigerator is full of food, but it is all fresh vegetables and meat. All I can make do with are a few pieces of hard butter bread and some fruit. I take out a package of bread and nimbly stuff it into my mouth, then swallow it with a glass of water.

I don’t have the heart to eat in earnest, and when I finish eating, I still don’t know what the food tasted like. But bread easily fills the stomach, and refined carbohydrates will easily turn into sugar and enter the bloodstream. Within a few minutes of eating this piece of bread, I feel like I have some strength.

I raise my head and drink the glass of water in one gulp, then leave the kitchen and begin to search the house.

Previously, I had limited time and could only check what I could see, along with some cabinet drawers. This time, I don’t miss a detail.

Behind and under tables, chairs, and appliances, in the corners behind the doors, inside hollow handicrafts, and even behind the paintings on the second floor.

In addition, there are six bed sets in this house, three of which have spaces beneath them. Because it is dark under the beds and the power is out in the house, I fear that I won’t check them thoroughly, so after scanning them with the naked eye, I find a broom and search under every bed. After that, I stand on a chair and check the top of every large item. In the end, I even inspect every vase and kettle.

But very regrettably, I find nothing.

Excessive anxiety causes me to suspect that the doll isn’t even in the house, but I don’t think the divine attendant would make up such a thing and lie to me.

Anyhow, I don’t have much of a choice.

So I find a small shovel in the kitchen and dig out all the soil in the big flower pots at home.

There is nothing in the soil either.

The house has no electricity. I’m able to find the remaining candles from the previous candlelight dinner, and after lighting them, I take one to check the third floor attic again.

The third floor attic is very large but very empty, and easy to inspect. I even look around the ceiling.

I’ve tried my best, but still achieved nothing.

The time soon reaches twelve noon.

I can only give up.

Plan one, failed.

As the morning passes, I go to the kitchen and take another piece of butter bread to stuff into my mouth. At this time, my mood becomes even lower.

My physical exhaustion has reached its limit. I feel dizzy and the kitchen spins before my eyes. The excessive mental fatigue makes me want to vomit. I have to take measures to save myself, but I’m really too tired.

After taking two bites of bread, I give up due to the strong urge to vomit. I look at the clock on the living room wall and intend to get up as soon as possible, but my consciousness gradually dies away…..

It’s like being in a coma. My whole body has sunk to the bottom of the sea. I am not in good health, and this short nap is a biological instinct to save myself after my body has reached its limit. I fall into a very deep sleep.

Until…..

“A-Zhen—” A familiar male voice shouts anxiously in my ear.

I’m not yet conscious when my body makes me open my eyes.

It’s that voice again!

Mingcheng!

I’m sure I heard it right this time. It’s Mingcheng!

I clutch my chest with a gasp, constantly looking around to find him, but just like last time, there is no one around me.

I just sit there slumped on the ground for a few minutes. All at once, I recall my surroundings and immediately look up at the clock in the living room.

1:20pm.

I actually slept – or passed out – for so long!

Without overthinking it, I stuff the bread I hadn’t finished before falling asleep into my mouth, try hard to get up from the floor, and walk toward the second floor.

My eyes are dry and sore due to fatigue and a bad headache. I rub them, but the soreness spreads from my eyes to my heart. Finally, I look back at the time and murmur something that only I can hear.

“Mingcheng, you’re trying to save me…..”

. . . . . . .

The first plan failed, so I must begin the second one.

This plan is simple.

There should be a lot of people outside during the day. As long as I can escape to the street outside, I don’t believe he would kidnap me in public.

Although human beings are vulnerable, in all the stories about monsters I have heard since I was a child, I’ve never heard of monsters that prey on people in public.

What’s more, I feel that he seems to be more restricted during the day.

The question is, how should I escape?

This house originally had two exits, the front door and a back door to the garden.

At this time, I don’t know if that thing that scares me is at the main entrance, and the back door is even more unfeasible. Back then, Mingcheng blocked the back door in order to make the garden more beautiful.

This means I have no way of escaping outside through the two doors.

So I climb up to the second floor.

The balcony on the second floor protrudes outward, and its outermost extension is in line with the wall of the backyard. If I can find a way to get down from the balcony on the second floor, I can reach the outside.

Without stopping, I tie the long-sleeved clothes at home together to make a rope. Once the rope is long enough, I tie one end to the foot of the bed inside and the other to my waist.

I will drop right outside the house in this way, then run to the guardhouse to find enough people.

When everything is ready, I walk to the window and open the curtains, preparing to open the window and escape quietly.

But just as I’m about to open the window, I take two steps back!

A pale, bony hand hangs from top to bottom in front of the window.

When I back away in horror, I see the other party raise a finger and knock proactively on the glass. Then I see a face slowly hang down from above. The light frames this person’s head. His features are exquisite, but his eyes are extremely dark, like a doll that has never opened its eyes.

His abyss-like eyes rotate in their sockets, and then he stares straight at me and curves his lips.

In a flash, I am absolutely horrified.

God, this is not what a living person would look like. Why did I turn a blind eye to him even though he has been frightening me for so long?

He is here, and I dare not stay long. I quickly close the curtains again and run to the first floor.

But on the stairs, I stop again.

A tall, lean man stands outside the floor-to-ceiling windows on the first floor.

At this time, the flowers and plants outside are luxuriant, and the hydrangeas are blooming in large clusters. Pink and white bougainvillea twine around the flower stands in lush clouds, like a paint bucket has been overturned, exaggerating the beauty of early summer. There are also several pots of succulents placed by the window, crisp, tender, and plump.

However, the “man” stands there in darkness, and the light seems to avoid him.

He is telling me that he will appear wherever I think of him.

He will guard me until day turns into night, and then he will enter the house and give me new nightmares.

Time is something that goes by quickly.

I have a third plan.

But I don’t want to do that.

If I hadn’t heard Mingcheng call me just now, I would choose the third option without hesitation, my last show of resistance as a human being.

But now I don’t want to. Mingcheng wants to save me. Whether that night or today at noon, I twice heard him call out to me at the most dangerous moment.

I believe this is because he wants to save me, and for me to live well.

Then I also can’t give up. I must save myself.

. . . . . . .

July 27th.

A fire breaks out in a high-end villa community of Nanshan, Yuhua City.

A house burns violently that evening.

Several firetrucks surround the house to rescue the person inside. People watch the fire fearfully and speculate about the fate of the house’s owner.

Indoors, a cabinet smashes against the wall, trapping me in a corner.

And before the cabinet falls, a burning chandelier is heading straight toward me. At the critical moment, the stable wardrobe standing next to me suddenly falls to shield me from this fatal injury.

Thick smoke chokes me. I can’t breathe. I cough, grinning at the “person” outside the window.

Not long ago, I poured varnish from my oil painting in the attic, lit a candle, and threw it in.

The thick smoke quickly escaped, and the fire alarm in the house blared.

He immediately began to put out the flames. I knew I couldn’t stop him, so I poured a bottle of orange peel oil over my body and pointed the lighter at myself.

Things inside are constantly being smashed against the walls. Without electricity, the TV turns on and off, on and off, before finally exploding. He is losing his temper.

But he has really given up putting out the fire.

It’s really funny that an evil spirit can actually be threatened by a human being.

The flames continue to spread, and they soon ignite the fireworks Mingcheng stored on the top floor. Explosions sound one after another, and gorgeous fireworks soar into the sky. In an instant, the entire city seems to be wrapped in fireworks.

Nestled in the corner, I see a rain of colors falling from the sky outside. Beautiful lights flicker across my body.

At this time, there should be many passers-by stopping to watch.

These fireworks were prepared for me by Mingcheng. They bloomed for me once when we married, and they are blooming for me again today.

Wen Mingcheng.

I don’t like fireworks, but yours amaze me every time.

Numerous rescue workers rush into my home.

The sound of an ambulance rings across the sky, and countless people gather around my house.

With fifteen minutes left before 5:25, I am carried out under a sky full of fireworks.

It is cloudy outside today, and it got dark very quickly, but the fireworks in bloom light up the sky as bright as daytime.

As I lay on a stretcher, the sky above me looks like my wedding day. A doctor puts a respirator on my mouth. I also see the young guard from last night. He is running after my stretcher, his young face filled with shock.

Before losing consciousness, I look in the direction of my home.

His figure appears at the door of the main room, looking at me from a distance.

I can’t see his expression clearly, but this time, I think I’ve won.

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Chapter 14 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 16