Chapter Twelve: Watching from Below
In the family community of Huacheng University, rows of semi-old buildings constructed at the beginning of the century stood neatly.
At noon at the end of August, the weather still carried a hint of summer’s residual warmth.
After lunchtime, more and more elderly people began to gather under the shade of the street trees along the main road of the community, fanning themselves, playing chess, and card games.
Nanling Yaohua, with her good looks and warm heart, was well-loved by these elderly in the courtyard. In addition, with Luxianbei, the legendary son of Wang Meili, accompanying her, the elders couldn’t help but chat about family matters and ask after each other’s wellbeing.
“Xiao Hua, thank you so much last time. The lamp you bought for me online is bright and energy-saving,” an amiable grandmother smiled at Nanling Yaohua.
“What are you thanking me for, Grandma Zhang? It’s what I should do! If your lamp breaks again, feel free to call me anytime!”
“Xiao Hua, you’re right. That group selling health products last time were real scammers. My friend, Lao Xie, spent over ten thousand on health products, which his son took to test, and guess what? The main ingredient was actually sweet potato flour! Lao Xie was so angry he had a stroke.”
“Isn’t that something?” Nanling Yaohua pouted, “And Grandpa, you wouldn’t believe it, using sweet potato flour is already considered having a conscience at least; it’s not deadly, right? Haha!”
“Xiao Hua, when are you and Xiao Bei going to have a banquet? My old body isn’t doing well lately; you two should hurry, as I still want to be alive to celebrate your wedding!” One elder paused from his chess game to ask.
“Well…” Nanling Yaohua’s cheeks reddened as she hesitated to reply.
“You only know how to talk nonsense!” another elder chimed in, “She’s about to be a university student; students are meant to study, why get married now?”
“Xiao Hua, don’t listen to Old Wang; he won’t live to see you and Xiao Bei’s wedding. It’s just his bad luck!”
“General!”
“Hmm?” The talking elder turned back to the chessboard, pausing momentarily. “Wait, Old Wang, did you switch my pieces? Your horse was clearly dead just now, how did it jump over here?”
“Stop talking nonsense. This is my White Dragon Horse; it can leap over Eagle’s Cry Gorge!”
“Then…” The elder picked up his general piece and, crossing half the chessboard, captured the other elder’s general, “This is my Marshal Tianpeng!”
“…”
Watching the two elders arguing, turning chess into a duel of words where victory depended solely on their talking, Luxianbei and Nanling Yaohua exchanged glances and nodded in agreement, then fled towards Building Five of the community.
At times like this, they had to escape quickly; if things continued like this, the two old men would definitely call for them to be the referees later.
A moment later, in the corridor of Unit One on the third floor of Building Five.
Nanling Yaohua looked up at the staircase leading upward and raised an eyebrow at Luxianbei, “Do you want me to take you upstairs?”
“Please…” Luxianbei shook his head, “Xiao Hua, I’m just a bit neurotic from insomnia last night; it’s not to the point of needing someone to take care of me. You can rest easy.”
“Just go back, take a hot bath, drink some milk, and get a good sleep.”
“Okay, then you take a good rest when you get back!” Nanling Yaohua patted Luxianbei on the shoulder, while continuing to take out her keys, “If you need anything, just call me, and I’ll come up.”
“Yeah, you also have a spare key.” Luxianbei nodded.
After saying that, he waved at Nanling Yaohua and walked upstairs.
Nanling Yaohua unlocked the door but lingered on the threshold, watching Luxianbei leave until his silhouette faded from view, then sighed and entered.
————
Luxianbei trudged up to the fifth floor, pulled out his keys, opened the door, and softly called, “I’m back.”
Saying “I’m back” upon returning home was a rule established by Mrs. Wang Meili in her early years, aimed to prevent her from bringing home “uncles” and being caught by Luxianbei, which might hurt his young soul.
Though it was just Mrs. Wang Meili’s nonsense, for over a decade, she had never brought anyone home, yet this rule had subtly become Luxianbei’s habit.
After waiting a moment and hearing no other sounds from the house, Luxianbei sluggishly changed into slippers and headed for his room, collapsing onto his bed like a corpse as soon as he entered.
Having spent a sleepless night plagued by strange dreams left him utterly exhausted, yet now that he lay on the bed, he started to feel scared.
He feared that if he closed his eyes, that bizarre dream would again manifest before him.
“Dingling—!”
A chime sounded, and Luxianbei glanced at his phone. It was a message from Nanling Yaohua.
Nanling Yaohua: “This weekend, it’s the high school graduation gathering. I’ve already replied to Old Classmate for you; just remember to come!”
Luxianbei, “…”
Having just finished the college entrance exams, he was supposed to be the one organizing this graduation gathering as a former class monitor. Yet nearly two months had passed, and he had done nothing.
Throughout one’s school life, each graduation means watching familiar faces part ways, never to meet again.
Luxianbei wasn’t inherently indifferent; he simply couldn’t stand the scenes of farewell.
Before everyone went their separate ways, gathering together for a feast and a farewell ceremony, where classmates would take turns raising their glasses, choking back words from their hearts made Luxianbei feel as though he was attending someone’s funeral.
However, now that someone else had taken the helm to organize the gathering, he feared he wouldn’t be able to escape.
Luxianbei: “Alright, I’ll definitely go. This is it, right? I’ll take a nap first.”
After sending the message, Luxianbei tossed his phone aside and lay on his back, staring at the ceiling for an unknown stretch of time before finally drifting into a state of drowsiness.
————
On the other side, in Nanling Yaohua’s room.
After reading Luxianbei’s reply, she set her phone down, fell silent for a moment, then seized the plush toy of her Storm Battle Axe from the bedside, angrily slapped it against the bed, then lifted her pillow and buried her head in it, letting out muffled groans while her feet kicked the air helplessly.
Her temper had always been straightforward; even when she was with Luxianbei, she preferred directness over coyness, like an adept swordsman.
However, ever since last night—or even earlier, about half a month ago—she had gradually observed that Luxianbei seemed to be somewhat different.
It was as if he had donned a protective heart mirror and put on prickly armor, making it hard for her to reach him.
The sense of distance was strange; despite being less than ten meters apart, speaking over the internet made her feel like he was a thousand miles away…
————
Finding someone was something Gu Qiqi excelled at.
With the skills honed from years of searching for people, while she couldn’t find her missing uncle’s family, locating Luxianbei wasn’t too difficult.
Although, in this city, nearly everyone was blind to her situation, which posed a considerable obstruction.
However, after spending over half a day, she finally identified the family community of Huacheng University.
Of course, this process, while simple in description, largely benefited from Gu Qiqi’s ridiculous hacks.
“Calamity” was the primary goal among the seven legendary tasks issued by the system.
Though Gu Qiqi wasn’t very good at remembering things, she had long since memorized the relevant information on Calamity by heart.
Not to mention, simply knowing that Calamity’s old house was on Mudan Street meant that with some effort, she would eventually find him.
Moreover, Gu Qiqi had been hungry for several days.
If her hunger were represented as a rage bar, she could transform into a furious berserker at once just to eat a meal, with an incredibly strong action capability.
In the evening.
Gu Qiqi stood at the front gate of the family community of Huacheng University, hands on her hips, gazing at the small buildings bathed in the red glow of sunset as she rubbed her nose.
Next, she just needed to look around and see which household mentioned the name Luxianbei, and she could find him, right?
If not, she could go house to house; surely, she would locate him eventually.
After that, she would find a way to enjoy a large meal! Gu Qiqi thought confidently.
However, reality soon dealt her a heavy blow.
In this community, she found at least a dozen households mentioning “Luxianbei” or “Xiao Bei”…
————
Around seven or eight o’clock in the evening, as darkness began to set in.
Luxianbei, having slept for a long time, suddenly woke from his dream in a violent wave of pain.
Inside his chest, it felt as if some ferocious beast clawed and tore at his heart, sending cold, bloody sensations radiating from his chest to his limbs.
An indescribable agony appeared without warning, causing Luxianbei to curl up on the bed, his body convulsing uncontrollably.
Something was trying to escape from within him… a thought flashed through his mind.
He struggled to reach for his phone on the bedside table to call Nanling Yaohua for help, yet at that moment, his eyes suddenly burned with pain.
In an instant, he felt as if his bl**d had ignited, rushing through his body with incredible heat.
He even saw golden-red light flowing through the veins on the back of his hand, and the sweat on his hand stood upright; each pore opened, continuously sweating, and the moment the sweat seeped from his skin, it evaporated into wisps of white smoke.
The next moment, the phone he had just grasped exploded with a “bang!” releasing a foul-smelling black liquid that splattered everywhere.
At that instant, a surge of heat rushed through him, crashing into the chilling sensation building up within his chest.
His heart seemed to stop for a moment; Luxianbei’s body convulsed violently before collapsing to the floor beside the bed.
“Ugh—!”
His painful groans escaped his lips uncontrollably.
Luxianbei felt as though his body had turned into a chaotic coliseum where cold and heat fought against each other, unleashing their full force.
They didn’t care whether the coliseum would be destroyed in the process.
In the instant Luxianbei felt he might lose consciousness from the agonizing pain, his lips suddenly moved as if beyond his control, trembling as he whispered.
“There are those at Zhongshan. There is a girl in a green dress…”
“It is both fog and star, her child, and the lips that extinguish fire in the darkness…”
In a nearly unconscious state, Luxianbei mumbled those two lines, and soon after, he felt the strange sensations within him begin to slowly fade.
At that moment, he suddenly sensed a terrifying aura rising from the depths of silence, as if awakening from a slumber, casting a cold glance over the city from below, from the depths of the earth.
That feeling was reminiscent of when he once had a score of 18 turned into a score of 98 and presented it to Mrs. Wang Meili, only to see her pull out a bamboo stick from under the sofa with a terrifying gaze.
At that time, Luxianbei, pure and innocent, had indirectly insulted Mrs. Wang Meili’s intelligence.
Yet he could sense that if it hadn’t been for Nanling Yaohua coincidentally coming to his house that day, he might have been beaten to d*ath.
That god-like gaze settling upon the mortal world lasted about a second before dissipating into nothingness as if it had never appeared.
Cold sweat soaked Luxianbei’s clothes as he lay on the floor, too frightened to move.
On this early autumn night, the weather was beginning to turn cool.
Half an hour later.
A breeze blew in through the window, brushing across Luxianbei’s sweaty face, causing him to tremble slightly; he awoke from his dazed state and cautiously scanned his surroundings until he confirmed there was no danger, then he propped himself up with the edge of the bed and headed to the bathroom.
It must be because of that dream last night… Luxianbei thought.
After the terrifying experience he had just endured for almost an hour, he felt even more convinced that everything he saw in the dream was real.
Because, in the dream, he had indeed had a similar experience.
And the fragmented pieces of the phone embedded in the wall testified that none of it was an illusion.
————
“Shhhhh—shhhhh—squeak—!”
After a quick rinse of his sweaty, sticky body, Luxianbei turned off the faucet and stepped out of the shower, his eyes betraying his fatigue.
He had clearly slept for quite a while, yet due to what had just happened, he felt more mentally exhausted than ever.
Every part of him ached as if he had been afflicted with some joint disease.
While drying his hair with a towel and walking out, as he passed by the mirror at the washstand, Luxianbei paused, then stepped back.
Something in the mirror’s reflection… seemed a bit off?
Frowning, he leaned in closer, widening his eyes.
Humidity filled the bathroom, like stepping into a sauna with a rush of fog.
Watching the reflection in the mirror clear as the steam dissipated felt akin to waiting for a mobile game’s draw, knowing almost nothing good would come out, yet still longing for a favorable outcome, leaving him a bit breathless.
Then…
As the image in the mirror finally came into full view, Luxianbei couldn’t help but curse.
“Dammit! What the hell is this?!”
Reflected in the mirror was a tall, curvaceous silver-haired girl, water droplets dotting her fair, smooth skin, as if every inch radiated terrible allure.
Staring at the girl in the mirror, Luxianbei found himself unintentionally entranced, the towel slipping from his hand, revealing an even more astonishing sight…
