Li Xiu followed Li Yu to school.

The weather was gloomy along the way, the sky gray. Li Xiu glanced through the car window and felt short of breath.

The car continued to turn corners.

Li Xiu felt faintly uncomfortable, and could only lean his head on the window and take short breaths.

It was strange. Li Xiu had already vomited his breakfast, but there was still a lingering taste of paper in his mouth that made his stomach churn from time to time. In order to divert his attention, Li Xiu could only place all of his focus on the view of the streets outside.

How odd…..

Were the roads from home to school always so narrow?

The sense of dissonance that had been lingering since this morning became even stronger at this moment. And just as Li Xiu was staring out the window, a tall figure suddenly broke into his field of vision.

It was a boy wearing a strange paper mask.

The mask was crudely made and very strange.

The face was white, except for two bright red spots on the cheeks.

The eyes were partially hollowed out, making them seem particularly deep and vacuous.

He was standing amidst the crowds on the street. Through the mask, Li Xiu could clearly sense that the boy’s eyes were staring directly at him.

Wait. Who was that?

Li Xiu initially thought he had seen wrong due to his dizziness, but when the vehicle passed an intersection in the next second, the boy appeared again.

This time, he seemed to be closer to Li Xiu.

The corners of the paper mask’s mouth were curved, almost reaching below the ears.

“Huh?”

Li Xiu’s back tensed. He sat up from the car window.

Li Yu beside him had been watching Li Xiu intently since they got in the car, and asked worriedly: “What happened? Do you feel uncomfortable?”

Li Xiu turned his head with some alarm, but after seeing Li Yu, he shook his head at the unexplainable event: “Ah, I’m fine. A little motion sick.”

“Seriously, you didn’t eat anything this morning and you’re feeling uncomfortable now?”

Li Yu reached out helplessly and gave Li Xiu’s head a gentle rub.

Li Xiu didn’t respond to his gege, turning his head to look out the window again. The strange figure had vanished.

This should have been a good thing, but Li Xiu’s heart clenched uncontrollably.

“A-Xiu.”

Li Yu’s call sounded beside him again.

“Why are you upset?”

“Ah?”

Li Xiu’s mind was full of thoughts about the boy he’d just seen, and it took a moment for him to respond. He didn’t understand what Li Yu was talking about.

“A-Xiu’s brow is all furrowed.” Ice-cold fingers reached over to touch Li Xiu’s brow, rubbing it gently.

The young, handsome brother looked unblinkingly at Li Xiu. His tone was slightly confused: “I don’t know what I should do to cheer you up.”

His face was obviously handsome and cold to the utmost, but at this moment, it revealed an unprecedented helplessness in front of Li Xiu.

Li Xiu was so stimulated by his gege’s sadness that he stammered as he explained.

“Ge, why are you saying this so suddenly? I’m not upset, it’s just…..uh, I’m not in a good mood today.”

“That’s good.” Upon hearing Li Xiu’s words, Li Yu smiled as if relieved.

He took Li Xiu’s hand and pressed it gently against his lips, the kiss falling as light as a feather.

“However, if A-Xiu still has any desires, you must tell your gege. Gege will give it to A-Xiu, no matter what it is.”

The brother’s cold lips fell on the side of Li Xiu’s palm, arousing a thin layer of goosebumps.

Li Xiu resisted the urge to yank his hand back, shaking his head in a fluster.

“I-I don’t have any other desires, ah. Life is really good now. Dad, Mom, Grandmother, and Gege, everyone is living a happy, peaceful life together…..” As he spoke, Li Xiu’s voice went lower.

He looked at Li Yu and asked out of nowhere: “Speaking of this, what’s your desire, ah?”

Li Yu’s movements paused.

He tilted his head, regarding Li Xiu with a very strange look.

“My…..desire?”

Li Xiu blinked.

“Um, yes, ah. Gege is always trying to make me happy and such. I also want to do things for Gege sometimes, although I’m still a student now. B-but didn’t the teacher also say it won’t be a problem to recommend me for North Beijing University? After going to university, I should be able to do something for you, right?”

Under Li Yu’s intense gaze, Li Xiu’s voice grew smaller and smaller, and he became increasingly guilty.

He didn’t know why, but although Li Yu looked the same as before, with that doting look and slight smile, the aura exuded by the other party made him feel shaky and ill at ease.

“So cute.”

After a moment of silence, an enamored, trembling sigh escaped from the gap between Li Yu’s bright red lips.

“I really like A-Xiu.”

“Ge?”

“A-Xiu is the first human to ask me this question. For so many years…..”

Although he looked like a teenager, Li Yu’s current tone made it sound like he had lived for a very long time.

Facing the still confused Li Xiu, Li Yu suddenly stretched out his arms and hugged him tightly.

He buried his face into the side of Li Xiu’s neck. At that moment, Li Xiu’s whole body trembled — he almost thought Li Yu intended to bite him.

But after waiting for a long moment, the sting of that absurd intuition did not arrive as expected.

Li Yu maintained that position, breathing thickly and deeply in the crook of Li Xiu’s neck. Li Xiu could feel him shaking violently.

“Ge…..Yu-ge?”

His brief fear faded away and was replaced by confusion. 

Li Xiu gently nudged his brother’s body without pushing him away.

“Don’t always compel me like this, ah…..”

Li Yu finally spoke up, speaking vague words that Li Xiu didn’t understand.

“I really want to swallow you whole. But, will you cry? Although it’s very cute, I would still feel bad…..”

“Forget it.”

With Li Xiu at a loss, the private vehicle finally arrived at school after countless turns.

Li Xiu was sent right to the door of his classroom by Li Yu. His care for Li Xiu had indeed reached a meticulous level. At first, Li Xiu thought his gege’s excessive concern was unnecessary. It wasn’t until he came to the door of the classroom and saw his classmates sitting there neatly, listening intently, that Li Xiu realized his legs were weak.

Was this…..social anxiety?

Li Xiu’s footsteps came to a hesitant stop at the door of the classroom.

“A-Xiu, don’t be afraid.”

A pair of hands were placed gently on Li Xiu’s shoulders, ice-cold breath next to his ear.

Li Xiu said to him with soft affection: “Your classmates all really like you, don’t they?”

Relying on his gege’s support, Li Xiu mustered the courage to enter the classroom step by step.

“Li Xiu, good morning.”

“Li Xiu, I’m really glad to see you.”

“Li Xiu…..”

As soon as he entered the classroom, everyone greeted Li Xiu enthusiastically.

And after a brief trance, Li Xiu was also confused about his previous fear and hesitation. Yes, ah, his classmates were just as enthusiastic, cheerful, and easy to get along with as his gege said. But why had he been so scared just now that he couldn’t even walk into the classroom?

Li Xiu arrived at his seat and set down his school bag, only to find that Li Yu was still standing at the door of the classroom, staring at him.

“I’ll pick you up after school,” Li Yu said, waving at him with a smile.

“Oh, okay…..”

Li Xiu signaled his understanding.

“Wa, Yu-ge likes you so much, doesn’t he?”

After hearing the conversation between the brothers, a classmate with a vague face spoke to Li Xiu.

“It seems like your ge wants to be by your side at every moment.”

“Is that surprising? Li Xiu is so cute, it’s normal for his ge to want to grow on top of him,” someone else echoed with a smile.

Facing the chattering classmates, Li Xiu smiled stiffly.

“We’re family, it’s normal for us to be close.”

It was odd.

Why were his classmates saying such strange things?

And why were they all gathering together around his seat?

As he thought, Li Xiu’s eyes inadvertently glanced at his warm and friendly classmates. Suddenly, behind everyone, he glimpsed a familiar face.

That boy — that boy wearing the paper mask.

Through the eye holes dug in the mask, Li Xiu could see the boy’s bloodshot eyes.

He stared at Li Xiu with an extremely sharp gaze.

Li Xiu’s breathing stagnated at once.

Bang—

Li Xiu shoved the table and instinctively stood. The loud noise seemed to startle the others.

“Wa, Li Xiu, what’s wrong?”

“Li Xiu?”

“Why did you suddenly lose your temper, ah?”

But when Li Xiu stood up and looked in the boy’s direction, he was no longer there.

Li Xiu stood in a daze for a long while, completely ignoring the inquiries of the students around him.

He almost couldn’t breathe.

The strange feeling that had been looming in Li Xiu’s heart since that morning was almost driving him insane.

Li Xiu’s bafflement and confusion lasted until the teacher showed up for the lecture. In Li Xiu’s impression, he had always been the kind of person who could concentrate easily. No matter what happened in real life, as long as he picked up a pen and a textbook, he could dive into an ocean of knowledge without distractions. But this time, Li Xiu found that his self-perception was inaccurate. The teacher was obviously giving a lecture, but he still couldn’t concentrate on it.

The muddleheaded Li Xiu accidentally dropped his pen on the floor and automatically bent down—

At this moment, he seemed to see the students’ feet pointing backwards, then turn toward the blackboard with a swish.

Everything happened very quickly. So quickly that Li Xiu couldn’t tell whether the scene he had just witnessed was an illusion or reality.

In extreme panic, Li Xiu stood abruptly and apologized to the teacher, then rushed out of the classroom.

He leaned against the corridor railing, breathing heavily.

His entire back was soaked in cold sweat, the muscles spasming slightly due to the excessive tension.

He breathed in the fresh air outside the classroom for a long while

Li Xiu regained his senses with difficulty, no longer frightened and panicked to the point that his brain shut down.

His classmates were obviously so kind and lovely, and they all liked him so much — no, no, concentrate. There was something wrong with them, their feet, their feet just now were backwards, right? How could a normal person be like that?!

But his gege said they…..

Li Xiu bit his lip hard, using the pain to try to avoid the distraction.

It just so happened that at this moment, he inadvertently raised his head and looked toward the nearby teaching building.

His pupils immediately narrowed.

Why…..was his home next to the school?

It had taken so long to get to school by car, but now, he could clearly see his brightly-lit home from the school corridor.

That villa was so close to the school, so close that he could even clearly see the expressionless figures standing motionless in the windows of his home.

Dad.

Mom.

Grandmother.

Their faces were pressed against the window glass. As if they were aware of Li Xiu’s gaze, they suddenly raised their heads and rushed to smile at Li Xiu with the exact same expressions.

“No—”

Li Xiu was so frightened that he stepped back repeatedly.

Then, a pair of hands were suddenly placed on his shoulders.

Li Xiu turned his head at once. Then, he met the gaze of a paper mask with a large grin.

“Wu…..”

Li Xiu’s scream was muffled by that pair of hands before he could make a sound.

He could smell the strong odor of blood from the other party’s palms. Fear swept over him. Li Xiu struggled desperately, but under the grip of this masked person, his movements were weak.

He was dragged into a run by the other party, and the surrounding illumination became very dark.

“Help…..wu…..let go…..I…..”

Li Xiu screamed, trying his utmost to break away from this strange and terrifying existence.

He felt the masked man cover his face with his hand, squeeze his fingertips through his lips, and vigorously jab the tip of his tongue as if trying to dig it out.

Help!

Helphelphelp…..

Help me…..

Li Xiu was unable to resist, and with the tingling sensation on the tip of his tongue, he burst into tears.

“A-Xiu…..A-Xiu! Wake up! Fuck, don’t bite me, ow ow ow…..”

“Shh…..Shhhh…..”

“Hiss, ow, forget it. You’re impressive, just bite. Can you just keep quiet…..”

“Fuck, A-Xiu, I’m telling you…..if this continues, I’m going down with you…..”

In the haziness, a familiar voice pierced the barrier of confusion and reached Li Xiu’s ears.

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Chapter 42 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 44