“Hey…..little brat…..why the hell are you trying to play dead?”

“Fuck, you’re playing tricks again…..”

Fang Qian’an dimly felt someone pull his hair, kick him in the stomach, and slap him.

Wait…..who dared do this to him?

Before the anger could rise to the surface of his consciousness, he first felt a chill radiating from his bones and an unprecedented feeling of weakness.

He felt as if he had turned into a ball of cotton, which was then soaked in ice water.

His body was so heavy that he couldn’t even move his fingers. It was a very strange feeling, but mysteriously and inexorably, Fang Qian’an felt that it was supposed to be like this.

So weak, miserable, and hopeless.

When he exerted all his strength, Fang Qian’an managed to open his eyes despite the stinging pain. Several blurry-looking people in housekeeping uniforms appeared in his hazy field of vision.

“You finally stopped playing dead.”

Seeing “Fang Qian’an” open his eyes, the man sneered and dragged him up by his arm.

“Stop pretending to be pitiful in here. Stand up on your own. Do you want us to carry you away in a sedan chair?”

Amidst the harsh insults, “Fang Qian’an” struggled to stand steadily.

He realized then that he had just been huddled in a small, windowless room that was extremely cramped and cold. Now, he was suddenly pushed into the outside world, and the light shining in from the floor-to-ceiling windows made his eyes tear up. His body shook uncontrollably.

The housekeeper next to him let out an irritated grunt. “What are you waiting around for? The Madam wants to see you. Hey, I’m telling you, don’t pull in tricks here and get us scolded—” As she spoke, she slapped “Fang Qian’an” hard and he almost fell to the floor again.

How dare these people do this to him—

No…..

Hadn’t they always been like this?

Why was he angry? He was obviously accustomed to it already.

Two completely different emotions intertwined in “Fang Qian’an’s” heart.

“Fang Qian’an” vaguely remembered that his status was very high and everyone should be supporting him, but at this moment, what emerged inside him was a strong feeling of helplessness.

“He” couldn’t even feel any resistance within himself.

It was like…..like his body had long been used to this sort of treatment.

And he also knew very well that any resistance would only lead to even more brutal beatings and beratement.

Yes, this was his daily life. Why would he think he could resist these people?

Biting his lip, “Fang Qian’an” staggered up expressionlessly.

He was shoved by the housekeeper behind him, and walked with dragging steps to the living room of the luxurious villa.

A woman was sitting on the sofa, holding a cup and slowly enjoying her afternoon tea.

“Fang Qian’an” couldn’t see her face clearly. He could only see bright red lips embedded in a pale face, like a fake and terrifying mask.

When she caught sight of Fang Qian’an, the woman’s lips curled downward. It was an expression of extreme disgust and dislike.

The woman’s voice sounded harshly: “Tsk, after teaching you for so long, you still don’t know any manners. What’s the matter, you won’t address me when you see me?”

“Fang Qian’an’s” lips moved slightly.

But after trying for a long time, he still didn’t make a sound.

To the side, a housekeeper speculated on the madam’s mood with a frown and moved to slap the frail boy again.

The woman sneered and signaled for the housekeeper to stop.

“Forget it. If you don’t want to address me, then don’t address me. It’s actually very unlucky to be called “Mom” by a little bastard. Oh, by the way, I called you here to tell you something.”

The woman put down her teacup and gazed at Fang Qian’an with two dark, empty eyes.

“That cheap mother of yours is dead.”

“……”

The woman said with a smile: “I heard that her death was quite tragic, and that she must have jumped to her death. The body no longer looked human. Tsk, tsk, she used to use her face to win men over. This must be her punishment, you see, having no face after death.”

Time seemed to have stopped inside the villa. The surroundings were quiet and cool.

“Fang Qian’an” continued to stand a distance away, staring blankly at the woman before him.

He didn’t make a sound.

The woman continued to stare.

“Fang Qian’an” had the strong, inexplicable feeling that the reason why this woman was looking at him so intently was just to see his expression of pain, despair, and collapse.

However, he was unable to fulfill the woman’s wish. His heart was numb.

“Fang Qian’an” happened to look behind the woman.

In the sunny living room, there was a faint shadow behind her.

Barely visible, it looked like a person with their head hanging down.

The child’s silence made the woman frown in dissatisfaction.

“Your mother died and you don’t even react. What can I say, you were born a bastard, a white-eyed wolf,” the woman said icily.

“If Xiao Wei’s brain wasn’t muddled, I certainly would have never let you into this house. Li Yu, if you have any sense, you had best behave in the future. You must know that if I hadn’t taken you in, now that you’re an orphan…..”

“I’m not an orphan.”

“Fang Qian’an” heard himself suddenly speak up in a hoarse tone, saying to the woman word by word, “I still have a younger brother.”

When the frail boy spoke, his voice was unusually stubborn.

“Mama took me to see him. My little didi is very pretty and well-behaved.”

“Ha? When did you—”

“I still have my grandmother, and she’s with Didi.”

Gradually, very gradually, the child’s voice finally took on a tearful tone.

“I don’t want to be your child at all. Just throw me out. I’ll go find Grandmother and my didi.”

“I don’t want to live with bad people like you at all—”

There was a crash as the woman smashed something.

The expensive bone china teacup shattered to pieces on “Fang Qian’an’s” forehead. Hot tea poured down, burning half of his face to such an extent that even the blood continuously oozing from his wounds felt cold in contrast to the hot liquid.

In extreme pain, “Fang Qian’an” heard the woman scream: “Even at such a time, you want to make me angry. Lock this bastard away!”

“Lock him away until he’s sensible!”

Soon after, they threw “Fang Qian’an,” or rather, Li Yu, back into the cold, cramped room at the end of the hallway.

The lock clicked, and darkness enveloped the child once more.

In the room, there was suddenly a kind of faint scratching sound.

The child who remained unmoved in the face of beatings was now huddled in the corner with a look of fear on his swollen face. He raised his eyes to look at the wall on the other side of the room — on the filthy wall, a small red door had appeared at some point.

A sort of vague murmur sounded from behind the door.

However, no matter how hard “Fang Qian’an” listened in his dream, he couldn’t clearly hear what the voice was saying.

He only knew that he was shaking his head unceasingly as he held himself tighter.

There was no telling how long it was like this until the door opened again.

“I just came to see how he’s doing, don’t tell my sister…..”

“Fang Qian’an” lay shivering on the floor, lacking the strength to raise his head.

He sensed someone coming in.

However, the man didn’t shove him or dump rank food into the stainless steel bucket for him like a dog.

The person just came in and crouched beside him, then click, click, took photos of him.

“Wow, he really is pitiful, ah.”

The voice was clearly that of a young man, but it sounded particularly murky.

The man clicked his tongue and took a few more photos, then reached out and manipulated the child’s body so that the wounds would be more exposed to the camera.

Gradually, his breathing became heavier.

Just like that, he grabbed the child’s hair and turned his face toward him, then let out a low exclamation. 

“Damn, it turns out you’re still awake.”

“Fang Qian’an” blinked slowly.

He looked toward that person, and a familiar face came into view.

It was Ou Yang.

It was Ou Yang in his youth.

The young Ou Yang held a camera in his hand. When he met “Fang Qian’an’s” eyes, his mouth stretched into an uncontrollable grin.

He looked like a starving feral dog drooling over a piece of meat.

A strange light flared in the depths of his eyes.

“Hey, Li Yu…..” he heard Ou Yang called out.

“It’s easier now that you’re awake, little guy. I heard you haven’t eaten in a long time, right? Are you very hungry?”

“……”

“Look how pitiful you are like this. I’ll start a video in a minute, and you, just follow my instructions and take off your clothes. How about you take off a piece of clothing and I’ll give you a cookie?” As Ou Yang spoke, he took a cookie from his pocket and waved it in front of the child.

Although it sounded like he was making a suggestion, his hand was already on the emaciated child’s lapel.

In the next second, Ou Yang screamed.

“Ouch—”

He never expected that the child who was already on death’s door would still have the strength to scratch him. If he hadn’t been able to dodge quickly, his eye might have been gouged out by this bastard.

“You’ve got a fucking death wish!”

Immediately after, he kicked the child.

“Fang Qian’an” whimpered and curled in on himself.

He had no way to avoid the man’s beating. In the hands of a wealthy second-generation like Ou Yang, the expensive XLR camera became an easy-to-obtain tool for pummeling someone to death.

Thwack—

Thwack—

Thwack—

In severe pain, the child’s consciousness began to blur.

The floor became wet, slippery, and a little sticky.

“Fang Qian’an” tried to speak, but was in too much pain. Just by opening his mouth, a sweet, pungent liquid spurted from his mouth and nose.

He couldn’t even beg for mercy.

At last, Ou Yang suddenly stopped.

Panting heavily, he climbed to his feet next to the unmoving boy and looked in bewilderment at the mass of flesh and blood on the floor that no longer looked human.

“Fuck, did I make a mistake—”

He scratched his hair, a trace of fear flashing through his eyes.

“Hey, little bastard!”

Ou Yang swallowed a gulp of saliva and softly tapped the child on the ground with his toes……he was soft.

As soft as mud.

Ou Yang’s expression truly became ugly now.

He picked up the camera on the floor and held it in his arms, wiping off the blood. Then he hastily ran out of the room and slammed the door.

Through the door, he could faintly hear someone else talking to him.

“Young Master Ou, what’s wrong? Oh, heavens, why is there so much blood?

“What are you asking for? It has nothing to do with you. Oh, and you’re not allowed to tell anyone about this.”

“…..”

“Talking too much won’t save you money. So don’t tell anyone about this if you can’t handle the consequences, you hear…..”

“Y-yes, Young Master Ou.”

The voices started to become hazy and distant.

“Fang Qian’an” lay silently on the floor, and the fierce, stabbing pain gradually left his body.

His body began to grow cold.

“He” was going to die.

Although he was only a young child, he was unusually clear about the fact that he would die soon.

In sharp contrast to his gradually weakening flame of life, a fierce hatred rose continually in the child’s chest.

“It hurts, ah…..”

“It hurts…..”

“These bad people…..”

It was at this time that, in the darkness, he heard a moist rubbing sound.

The previously vague voice now became extremely clear.

[“Oh, you want all those people killed?”]

[“Then, what will you give in exchange?”]

[“All of you?]

[“Okay, even though I’ve been hungry for so long…..”]

[“Then from now on, everything about you belongs to me.”]

[“Your name.”]

[“Your body.”]

[“And your existence itself.”]

Something slowly covered his body.

It was a chill that could almost penetrate into the depths of the soul, bringing a pain even more unbearable than death.

It was like something was chewing him up.

Before his consciousness faded completely away, “Fang Qian’an” struggled to open his eyes and look at the thing on his body.

It was an evil, foul, disgusting thing.

It was eating him.

It was very hungry.

*

*

“Wu….cough, cough, cough…..”

Fang Qian’an woke up screaming.

The residual fear from the dream went deep into his bones, and he was so terrified that he had to keep gasping for breath. He began to cough violently.

Countless small, hard particles spurted from Fang Qian’an’s mouth, and when he covered it, he realized in a trance that he was spitting out rice.

Raw rice.

His mouth was actually full of uncooked rice.

After half-kneeling on the ground and coughing for a long time, Fang Qian’an was finally able to take a breath.

Only then did he realize that he was crouching in the kitchen. But the kitchen, which was always neatly tidied by Aunt Su, was now in a state of disarray. A sealed container of rice had been roughly dug out at some point and dumped on the floor.

Rice was scattered everywhere in front of Fang Qian’an.

Some of it had been spat out by him and was covered in his spit.

“What the hell?” Fang Qian’an looked around in horror, utterly confused.

What was he doing?

Why…..why was he here?

Right then, a hoarse question sounded from behind him.

“Does it taste good, ah?”

A chill ran down Fang Qian’an’s spine. He stood up unconsciously.

At this time, the one who came to check on the situation was his caretaker, Aunt Su.

The young school bully said in a panic: “Aunt Su, it’s like I’m fucking dreaming—”

But before he finished speaking, his words abruptly cut off. He looked behind him in shock and found that the person standing in the corner of the kitchen was not the familiar Aunt Su at all, but a somewhat familiar old lady.

The old lady’s face was pallid, and her eyes were a cloudy gray.

There was the smell of disinfectant, along with the very faint odor of a corpse.

Fang Qian’an trembled all over.

“G-Grandmother?”

Fang Qian’an’s mind went blank and he staggered back.

He recognized her. Wasn’t the old lady before him the same one who’d brought him and Li Xiu out of that other world?

He’d later heard that Li Xiu’s grandmother had died saving them.

But now, the body that was supposed to be lying in a funeral home had actually appeared in his kitchen?

Was this a nightmare?

Was he having a series of nightmares again?!

Fang Qian’an bit his tongue hard.

But the pain from the wound made him realize desperately that he wasn’t dreaming.

But Fang Qian’an would rather he was dreaming—

Because just as he was backing away in terror, he watched powerlessly as the old woman staggered toward him on tiptoe.

“Eat more, ah…..good boy, eat more…..”

Inarticulate mumbling came from the corpse’s mouth.

While speaking, the old woman actually put her skinny, chicken-foot-looking hand directly into her mouth.

First the palm, then the wrist, and finally the arm…..

The sense-defying action caused the corpse’s cheeks to burst open.

Drops of thick black blood continuously flowed from the open wounds.

Bit by bit, the old woman’s corpse took something out of its stomach.

Then it turned its head toward Fang Qian’an and smiled.

If that could even be called a smile.

The action just now had completely torn the old person’s jaw, and a gray-red tongue fell out limply. Black blood continued to gush out. In the corpse’s palm, covered in black blood, was a ball of broken bones covered in meat.

“Eat, eat. You’re so hungry,” the old person said.

“Grandmother hid it for you. Eat well. Only when you are full will you grow taller…..”

He watched as the old woman’s corpse drew closer and closer to him with its hand raised. 

Fang Qian’an was so terrified that he snatched the knife block near the sink and slammed it at her.

The heavy knife block hit the old person with a dull thump.

Fang Qian’an’s vaunted arm strength finally had a practical use.

Unlike those ethereal ghosts, the corpse’s body shook after being hit by the knife block and fell backward heavily.

This was his chance. Fang Qian’an screamed and ran directly over the old person’s body and out of the kitchen.

He reached out instinctively to press the house alarm and alert the security guards.

But before he could touch the screen, several familiar figures appeared in front of him.

When he saw them, Fang Qian’an’s pupils instantly shrunk.

“Is there a mistake…..” the boy whimpered desperately.

Those people were Aunt Su and the housekeeping staff on duty that night.

They were still the same people, but looking at them now, Fang Qian’an knew that something was wrong with them. Were they still alive? Fang Qian’an didn’t know.

Because each of them was walking in a strange, extremely stiff manner. And their eyes had all turned white, their faces circles of gray.

Fang Qian’an keenly spied a deep tooth mark on Aunt Su’s neck, as if it had just been bitten.

Terrifyingly, as they approached Fang Qian’an, they repeated in unison what that old corpse had said before.

“Eat, eat well.”

“Don’t be afraid.”

“You’re hungry.”

Without the slightest hesitation, Fang Qian’an lifted a nearby chair and hurled it at them.

Several of them were knocked down, but Fang Qian’an failed to escape as smoothly as he had in the kitchen — for no other reason than that there were too many “people.”

The most horrifying thing was that after being hit, those “people” were clearly covered in blood, some of them even bearing obvious fractures and distortions on the shoulders and arms, but they seemed to be completely immune to the pain and continued to approach Fang Qian’an in that utterly bizarre way.

They urged Fang Qian’an: 

“Eat.”

“It’s time to eat.”

Without knowing it, Fang Qian’an was forced into a corner.

The former school bully was so scared that his face turned ashen and his voice trembled.

“Don’t come over here…..”

Fang Qian’an screamed and kept waving the weapon in his hand, a broken chair leg.

And at this moment, Fang Qian’an felt something tickling his neck. When he touched it, he found that at some point, his neck had been covered in foul, sticky black blood. 

“ ? ! ”

A chill rushed straight up his back. Fang Qian’an raised his head stiffly.

A twisted, broken face came into sight.

The old woman’s deformed corpse currently stood upside down on the ceiling, its hands hanging straight down.

The cracked mouth now looked like a pitch-black cavern.

“It’s time to eat…..” the corpse said fervently.

Thin, stiff fingers latched onto Fang Qian’an’s jaw.

“Wu —”

No matter how hard Fang Qian’an tried, he was entirely unable to move.

His eyes widened helplessly as he watched the corpse bring the thing in its hand to his lips little by little.

“No…..”

“Help…..help me…..” 

Fang Qian’an sobbed.

His whole body was ice cold, his face covered in tears and snot.

The whole world seemed blurry right then, and only the corpse’s deformed body and cloudy eyes seemed incredibly clear.

When he was about to be forced to eat the unknown object that had just been taken from the corpse’s belly, there was suddenly a loud noise at the door of the room.

The door was forcefully broken open.

“Grandmother! Don’t—”

A clear, alarmed voice immediately exploded in Fang Qian’an’s ears.

Fang Qian’an shook violently, and his consciousness instantly returned.

Li Xiu was panting as he knelt in the Fang family’s luxurious foyer. When he raised his head, the youth caught sight of the desperate scene in the corner.

With tears streaming down his face, he shouted at the familiar yet unfamiliar corpse by the wall:

“Grandmother! Grandmother, don’t do this! Let him go—”

When it heard Li Xiu’s call, there was a slight pause in the corpse’s movements.

---

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Chapter 50 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 52