Fang Qian’an knew that Li Xiu was very pale.

But he didn’t expect him to be this pale.

Because it was bedtime, there was only one desk lamp turned on in the room. Under the dim light, Li Xiu was changing clothes with his back to him. His skin was as white as a handful of fresh snow, or a dollop of fine, soft cream.

Every inch of the boy in the corner seemed to glow.

His back was so slender, the contours of his shoulder blades fine and delicate with the furrow of his spine sandwiched between them. Li Xiu weighed far less than his peers, which made his waist look extremely narrow.

Fang Qian’an unconsciously raised his hand, grasping in mid-air. He felt that he would be able to hold Li Xiu’s waist with one hand.

And what made Fang Qian’an unable to take his eyes away the most was the red rope tied around Li Xiu’s waist.

To facilitate movement, it was loosely tied. Following Li Xiu’s movements, the red rope continuously swayed around his thin, narrow waist, leaving Fang Qian’an’s dry mouth tongue-tied.

Fang Qian’an couldn’t figure it out. It was just a simple red rope tied to a boy, but why did the red rope look so…..like that?

It felt like something inside his body was on fire.

Fang Qian’an’s Adam’s apple kept bobbing. He knew he shouldn’t continue to stare at Li Xiu, but his eyes wouldn’t obey him at all.

The gaze from behind was so intense that it was impossible to ignore.

Li Xiu put on his pajamas and abruptly turned his head to face Fang Qian’an’s burning eyes. He asked with a frown, “What are you looking at?”

It was just a casual question, but Fang Qian’an instantly shrank under the quilt as if frightened. Li Xiu’s bed gave several overburdened creaks as he moved.

Li Xiu: ……

After a few seconds’ pause, Fang Qian’an put a fisted hand in front of his lips and lightly coughed.

“I was just looking at that red rope Teach Xu gave you yesterday. It turns out you’re so obedient that you tied it on now, ah?”

Li Xiu tilted his head in confusion. 

“Otherwise?” He asked back, “It’s better to believe it works rather than think it doesn’t. Haven’t you tied yours?”

Fang Qian’an shook his head.

“I originally planned to tie it on when I got home, but right after I left, I got into a fight with that old beast. When I thought about it later, my shoulder was already swollen…..en, now that you’ve ravaged me, my hand is even more unruly.”

Fang Qian’an’s thoughts moved as he spoke. He looked straight at Li Xiu and blurted out: “This is just right. A-Xiu, can you tie it for me now?”

As these words fell, Fang Qian’an reached for his jacket and took the crumpled red rope out of his pocket, moving to hand it to Li Xiu.

Li Xiu was silent for a few seconds.

His eyes slowly moved from Fang Qian’an’s palm to his face.

Although the boy didn’t actually refuse, Fang Qian’an could clearly see the avoidance and rejection in Li Xiu’s eyes.

Sure enough, in the next second, he heard Li Xiu say faintly: “But Fang Qian’an, I recall that your hand is only injured, not broken.

Fang Qian’an bit the bullet and asked Li Xiu: “But shouldn’t good friends help each other out?”

“Since when am I your friend?” Li Xiu replied.

Fang Qian’an stared blankly, then remembered all at once that just a few days ago, he had watched with indifference as a group of idiots bullied Li Xiu unscrupulously on campus.

For the first time in his life, the prince of the Fang family felt what it meant to be “too late for regrets.”

The tall boy froze on the bed. His lips closed for a moment, and in the end, he couldn’t even say a word — an apology was indeed too frivolous to say to the victim.

However, just as Fang Qian’an was at a loss, Li Xiu’s clear voice sounded in his ears.

“Forget it. Give it to me.”

Li Xiu approached the bed and took the red rope directly from Fang Qian’an’s palm.

The youth lowered his eyes and leaned forward to lift Fang Qian’an’s clothes. Li Xiu’s arm went around Fang Qian’an’s waist as he wrapped the red rope around him.

Li Xiu’s pajamas were very well-used, and the loose collar hung down. Fang Qian’an could even see a flash of something on Li Xiu’s chest…..

Damnit, they were both men. Why were Li Xiu’s pink?

At this time, Li Xiu began to tie the red rope.

And Fang Qian’an stared dumbly at the boy close at hand, his mind completely blank.

Right then, as long as he lowered his head slightly, it was as if he could touch the tips of Li Xiu’s eyes.

Upon realizing this, Fang Qian’an’s movements stiffened. 

His heart was beating so fast that it was practically performing death metal.

As a male high school student, Fang Qian’an could only stiffly and awkwardly try to hide his embarrassment.

Li Xiu’s fingers were quite dextrous, and in just a few seconds, he had tied the evil-warding rope for this young master who was far removed from the lives of normal people.

“Do you have any further instructions? Honorable Young Master Fang?”

When he stepped back, he saw Fang Qian’an’s foolish appearance and narrowed his eyes.

“Of course, even if there are more instructions, I won’t go along with them. I’m already really tired,” Li Xiu said with a sullen expression.

Perhaps his admonition finally had its intended effect. Although Fang Qian’an wore a strange look, he didn’t make trouble out of nothing again.

“Oh….g-good night then,” Fang Qian’an said as if sleepwalking. Then he fell to his side on the bed with his back toward Li Xiu.

The whole bed became extremely narrow and crowded because of him lying there. And Fang Qian’an was so tall that he even had to bend his knees to sleep. Li Xiu glanced at him and felt that his posture would only make the bed more crowded, but considering all that had happened, he really didn’t have the energy to worry about such small things anymore.

“Good night.”

After turning off the light, Li Xiu carefully leaned against Fang Qian’an’s side and found a gap to lay down too.

So crowded…..

This was the first thought in Li Xiu’s mind after lying down.

It wasn’t just that the single bed was now extremely cramped with two boys crammed into it.

There was also the particular scent of Fang Qian’an’s body mixed with medicine, as well as the other person’s body temperature…..

Fang Qian’an’s sense of presence was so strong that it seemed to have substance, pressing toward Li Xiu from all directions.

This made Li Xiu, who had never had close contact with anyone his age since childhood, feel more crowded than ever before.

Li Xiu thought to himself with a wry smile, It’ll be difficult to fall asleep tonight…..

But unexpectedly, enveloped in the unfamiliar scent and body temperature, Li Xiu fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

The youth who had fallen into a deep sleep had no way of knowing that, long after he fell asleep, the boy beside him suddenly opened his eyes. His eyes quivered violently, and the strange double pupils glowed like will-o’-the-wisps in the darkness.

A rough, turbid growl sounded, and it took a long time for the boy’s bent legs to slowly straighten out.

Fang Qian’an, who’d originally had his back to Li Xiu, changed his position.

The large boy lying on Li Xiu’s single bed looked like some kind of ferocious beast in the dark, ready to attack.

The pitch black darkness could not block his gaze. The boy’s eyes continued to wander, greedily licking at the face of the boy sleeping peacefully beside him.

Then, he reached out and enveloped the boy in his arms.

[What should be done?]

[My A-Xiu, ah…..]

[Such an unwary child…..]

[It really makes one worry, ah.]

*

Late at night.

In Li Xiu’s grandmother’s room, the old woman who should have been deeply asleep began to frequently toss and turn in bed.

“Wuwu…..”

“It hurts so much, ah…..Mom…..it hurts so much…..”

“Wuwuwuwu…..wuwu……”

A faint cry sounded from the depths of the night.

A look of pain gradually appeared on the old woman’s sleeping face, and her eyes began to twitch rapidly under her eyelids.

“Wuwuwu…..”

Finally, amidst cry after cry, the grandmother suddenly opened her eyes with a gasp.

“Linlin—”

The old woman turned sideways and held herself up in bed with her arms, looking nervously toward where the cries had been coming from outside the door.

But the crying that had lingered in her sleep instantly vanished when she awoke.

However, just as the grandmother squinted her eyes to look outside the door, something seemed to flash past the gap.

It seemed to be a pale shadow.

The grandmother straightened up at once and murmured, “Linlin? Linlin, why are you here now?”

Supporting herself with the bed, the old woman hurriedly staggered to her feet, tottering out of the bedroom in pursuit of the shadow.

But there was nothing in the hallway.

The night was already very deep.

So deep that even the feral cats outside the window had ceased making noise.

In the darkness, the old wall clock ticked and tocked regularly on the wall.

The grandmother slowly approached the living room with dragging steps.

On this night, something in the house seemed to be different than before. Even though her mind wasn’t very clear, at this moment, the grandmother realized this very clearly.

The red shrine in the living room was still lit, but at this moment, the electronic candle in front of the shrine that was always supposed to be on had dimmed as if malfunctioning. There was only a wisp of red in the light bulb, glowing with an extremely weak crimson light.

It was obviously dark all around, but in the grandmother’s field of vision, the entire room was immersed in a hazy blush. 

A bone-chilling sensation seeped out little by little from the room’s red hue. 

“Linlin? Is that you?”

There was a thick, unpleasant odor wafting in the air, like the fishy stench of accumulated blood stains, or some kind of spoiled and rotten incense.

Shasha—

A soft rustling sound came from deep within the kitchen.

Panting rapidly, the grandmother tremblingly turned her head toward the kitchen.

In the next second, her body began to shake.

She saw a thing, a thing that did not belong in the world of the living, crouching on the floor with its body hunched over as it chewed something.

The thing was twisted and filthy, its shadow so enormous that it filled nearly the entire kitchen.

Crunch—crunch—

A clearly audible chewing sound came from between its teeth.

“Wu—”

The grandmother covered her lips, forcing back her whimper of fear as she looked at “it.”

The old woman stepped back in sheer terror.

However, that thing had already noticed her arrival.

Its head was turned past 180 degrees. The blue-white face and double pupils pointed directly at the grandmother.

[“Grandmother…..”]

A strange, emotionless voice sounded from deep within its body.

Although it called out “Grandmother,” this address was obviously just mimicking what Li Xiu called her.

It grinned, opening its lower jaw to reveal the sharp white teeth inside.

[“I was just so happy today that I got hungry really quickly.”]

[“Grandmother can just go to bed. I…..will be full very soon.”]

There seemed to be something squirming in its nailless hands, dripping with foul blood.

The grandmother felt faint for a moment and staggered back, but happened to step on something wet and cold, and almost slipped and fell.

The old woman lowered her head to look at the floor in horror. Then she discovered that what she had stepped on was a strange thing that looked like a leather bag.

The thing was soft, its skin an indescribable off-white color.

When the grandmother stepped on it, she could hear the squelching sound of wet mucus come out of it.

A brightly-colored advertisement shirt was wrapped wetly in the large leather bag. A red rope stretched out from it like an umbilical cord, connecting it tightly to the thing in the kitchen.

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Chapter 36 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 38