Chapter 22: Huang Ying's Overbearing Photograph

I handed her the phone. These photos were completely different from how she used to look, especially the one where she was pouting—it was a stroke of genius.

Looking at the photos, she couldn't help but laugh as well. Aside from being the same person, the temperament was entirely different!

Afterward, I took the phone back and fluidly set the photo as my wallpaper.

Once the photo session concluded, I asked her what she remembered. She said she recalled the time we rode the roller coaster. Now that she had finally remembered a complete sequence of events, this was another huge step forward.

No wonder she had let me pose her earlier; it was probably because of the fragments of our life together that she had no reservations about me. I could already see a happy life beckoning to me!

I let Huang Ying go rest. I had originally intended to go "ghost hunting" for her, but remembering the incident in the bathroom last night, I set that aside for now. Resolving the issues right under my nose was the priority.

I called the landlord, who summoned the property manager. The manager just tapped on the water heater a few times and said to me, "The water heater isn't broken."

"How is that possible? I’ve been showering in cold water for the past two days!" To prove it to them, I went into the bathroom, turned on the showerhead, and touched the water. It was genuinely hot.

"See? I told you!"

How could this be? Was it possible that even the water heater had become tainted by something malevolent?

"Oh, I’m so sorry. I must have been operating it wrong." I couldn't be bothered to explain it to them; even if I did, they would just think I was crazy.

I had a vague feeling that the water heater was connected to whatever I had stepped on the night before.

After the property manager and the landlord left, I searched the house inside and out, but I couldn't sense any unclean presence.

The copper coins in the corners were still there, and the slime remained as well. Feeling uneasy, I wrapped a circle of red string around the room. My grandfather had just told me that red and gold strings could restrain those things, while blue and green were their favorite colors.

After setting everything up, I let out a sigh of relief. I had used every method I could think of, short of urinating around the perimeter of the house. If I still had any of Huang Ying's corpse oil, I would have dripped some around the room just to dare that thing to come back—I’d make sure to finish it off, and even if it had already died once, I’d make it die a second time.

Afterward, I took a shower. Nothing happened this time; the water was hot, and I left the lights on because I had tied red strings all over the outside of the bathroom. It seemed I was truly terrified of dying.

As I showered, I thought about the night before. If I had just dropped my pants and urinated right after stepping on that thing, even if it hadn't subdued it, it would have at least given it a hard time.

I’d learned my lesson this time and made sure to get dressed before heading out, though I realized that even if I walked out naked, it wouldn't have been a loss for me. Still, to leave a good impression on Huang Ying, I bundled up tightly before stepping out.

Lying in bed, I thought about the incident where I ended up on the sofa the night before. The more I thought about it, the more wrong it felt. Putting all the events together, my scalp began to tingle.

First, the human leg being carried by a dog in the woods, then the cold water in the bathroom, the thing I stepped on in the shower, and finally, the sleepwalking.

Each of these incidents made me feel like I was spiraling into big trouble again.

Forget it. I’ve seen enough trouble that one more doesn't make a difference. I just needed to be on guard. I had used up all the red string, so I stuffed several copper coins under my pillow. I had intended to tie a string around my own hand, but my grandfather had told me never to wake someone who is sleepwalking, or they might be scared to death.

That made sense. To fall asleep in bed and suddenly be woken up to find yourself in a strange place—you’d either be scared to death or frightened out of your wits!

I was afraid tying the string would wake me up, so I didn't use that method.

Auntie Baiyun once said that simple-minded people have better sleep quality. I don't know if I'm that kind of person, but even knowing there was something unclean nearby, I somehow fell asleep the moment my head hit the pillow.

***

The next day, Huang Ying woke me up as usual. This time, she had already prepared breakfast. Just like before, I didn't feel anything out of place; this was the Huang Ying I remembered.

After eating, I walked to the bathroom and discovered something incredible.

All the red strings I had tied in the bathroom were snapped. I examined the broken ends and saw bite marks; they were cut very unevenly!

It really had come last night. It seemed it had gotten tangled in the red strings and had to bite through them to get away. No wonder it didn't come to find me while I was sleeping.

"What's wrong?" Huang Ying asked, walking over when she saw me crouching in the bathroom.

"Be careful, there are lots of red strings here. Don't touch them!"

Hearing this, she stopped and stood outside.

I didn't know how it had gotten in. The entire room had been surrounded by red strings; it shouldn't have had any opportunity.

After watching for a while, I set off for school. There wasn't much time left before class.

The day at school was uneventful. When school let out, Li Yun blocked my path at the gate.

"Wang Yu, what's your phone number?" she asked, running up in front of me.

I thought for a moment and gave her my number.

She took out her phone, saved my number, and gave me a call.

"That's my number!"

I pulled out my phone and tapped 'hang up'. "Got it. Let's keep in touch!"

I waved the phone in front of her to show I had saved hers.

"Wait..." She suddenly snatched my phone away.

"Who is this woman on your wallpaper?"

Damn, I had forgotten! My wallpaper was that photo of Huang Ying!

"Uh... I downloaded it from the internet!"

"You're lying. Would a photo from the internet have such poor resolution?" she said, not believing me.

My camera had three megapixels, thank you very much! It wasn't that bad.

"It really is from the internet. Have you ever seen someone so ethereal? It's clearly photoshopped!"

"Oh! Really?" Li Yun returned the phone, half-convinced.

Just as I reached to take it, someone suddenly rushed over and snatched my phone away.

"Let me see which beauty this is!" It was our dorm leader.

"Oh ho ho, I didn't know you had such high taste! Not bad, not bad!"

"Give me back my phone!"

The dorm leader looked at my face and said, "Just looking, don't get mad, haha!"

"Yeah, yeah, let us see too!"

I turned my head and my heart tightened. It was Chen Yuming and his three friends. Chen Yuming was the only one there who had seen Huang Ying. I absolutely could not let him see this picture.

I suddenly lunged at the dorm leader to grab my phone, because knowing them, they would definitely start tossing it to one another in the air.

Just as I was within reach of the phone, the dorm leader tossed it away.

"Fuck your mother..." I couldn't help but curse, then raised my fist and punched him in the face.

He was stunned by the blow. They often joked around like this, and I had never gotten angry before.

I saw that Chen Yuming hadn't caught the phone yet, so I immediately turned to rush toward them. He could not see it, or there would be huge trouble!

"Wow... who is this? She's fucking gorgeous!"

"Let me see, let me see!" That's how school was. When they had nothing to do, teasing classmates was their favorite way to find entertainment.

I rushed over and reached for the phone, but in the next second, it was already in someone else's hands.

"Damn it, give it back to me!" I was a young man of the 21st century and shouldn't have been cursing, but in this situation, the fact that I hadn't killed them yet was a blessing from their ancestors!

"Quick, let me see." Chen Yuming was shorter than the others and hadn't managed to grab the phone yet.

There was no time. I swung my fists at them.

Seeing that I was genuinely angry, they all stopped. The phone was currently in the hands of the guy from bed number two.

"Fine, fine, take it back. You're so stingy!" He grumpily handed me the phone.

Just as I felt a sense of relief, Chen Yuming suddenly stared fixedly at the phone screen. They had just been looking at it, and the screen was still lit! My wallpaper had been seen by Chen Yuming after all.

His mouth fell open, and he stared at the screen in disbelief, then looked at it again, his face full of shock.