The small screening room was dim and drafty, illuminated only by the faint, eerie glow of an old television set. The video tape wasn’t high-definition; the grainy, vintage footage was slightly blurred, accompanied by a bone-chilling background music score that made one’s scalp tingle.
A young man and woman sat pressed tightly together on a small sofa, staring intently at the television screen.
On screen, a man wielding a chainsaw hacked ruthlessly into his victims one by one, laughing maniacally. The brutal visuals assaulted the senses, making each horrific and disgusting scene hard to watch. Suddenly, the chainsaw maniac dragged a hidden victim out from the corner. High-pitched screams blended with the music, torturing the audience’s ears and nerves.
As blood splattered across the screen, Xia Miao instinctively leaned a little closer toward Lu Yan.
With a few dripping sounds, the blood on the screen seemed to splash right out, splattering onto the floor. At the same time, the murderer on television turned his face. Wearing a white mask with only two beady, bean-like eyes exposed, his towering figure inched step by step closer to the camera, as if he might step right out of the screen at any second.
Amidst the chilly gusts of wind, Xia Miao covered her mouth and sneezed.
“I’m cold,” she said.
Leaning back against the sofa, drowsy and half-asleep, Lu Yan scoffed at her upon hearing this.
“Who told you to wear so little? Good thing I’m dressed warmly—I’m not scared of the cold.”
Xia Miao pressed her lips together. After waiting for quite a while without seeing a single considerate gesture from Lu Yan, she raised her eyes only to find that this scoundrel had completely slumped against the back of the chair, eyes closed, head drooping, fast asleep.
As far as Lu Yan was concerned, this movie was utterly boring, pulling out every single sleepy bug hiding inside him.
The chainsaw killer on the TV drew closer and closer, his footsteps growing heavier and heavier, while the roaring sound of the chainsaw in his hands became increasingly terrifying.
The room grew colder and colder.
Xia Miao stared at the dozing boy for a moment before lifting the hem of his hoodie.
His build was already much taller and broader than hers, and the hoodie he wore was loose-fitting; it was more than enough room for Xia Miao to wiggle right up underneath it.
Lu Yan gradually began to feel that something was wrong. Muddled and half-asleep, he cracked his eyes open to find that half of the girl’s body had wormed its way inside his clothes. The tactile sensation of her body against his became increasingly pronounced, and he cried out in shock:
“What are you doing?!”
“I’m cold!” Xia Miao huddled her body, sitting right in his lap as she poked her fluffy head out from his collar. Her face was completely expressionless, her tone a matter-of-fact, “Your body is warm and very comfortable.”
Lu Yan’s face flushed bright red, his body burning hot.
Beneath that hoodie, he wasn’t wearing a single thing underneath!
With her wriggling and rubbing back and forth randomly inside his clothes, it was absolute torture!
“Get out of here right now!”
“No.”
Lu Yan tried to yank Xia Miao out from his clothes, but the moment his hands touched her, they uncontrollably wrapped around her and pulled her even tighter instead.
Xia Miao lifted her face to look at him, leaned up, and planted a quick kiss on his jawline.
“Plus ten points.”
Lu Yan raised his head to stare at the ceiling, his deadpan eyes overflowing with emotions that were hard to tell whether they were excitement or annoyance. Black smoke began to rise from the bandages on his face, his arms wrapped around her trembled, the dark veins on the hands pressing against her body bulged, and his finger joints cracked incessantly.
On the television screen, the chainsaw killer stopped closing in.
Enjoying the sensation of being enveloped by a pleasant scent, Xia Miao narrowed her eyes comfortably before looking back up.
“I want another kiss.”
Stiffening his neck, Lu Yan tried to refuse, determined not to obey her—otherwise, he’d look like a dog on a leash being led around by her. Yet, as his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down, all his persistence dissolved into nothingness. Lowering his head, he cupped her face in one hand and rapidly planted a series of quick pecks at the corner of her lips: mwah, mwah, mwah.
It genuinely looked like a baby chick pecking at rice.
With a sharp click, the chainsaw still whirling in the hands of the killer on TV dropped to the floor, instantly severing one of his own feet into a bloody mess. Reacting a beat too late, he clutched his leg and howled at the top of his lungs.
Following Leng Yeting into the cafeteria kitchen crammed with miscellaneous clutter, Ruan Zhizhi was so nervous she didn’t even dare to take a deep breath.
She had long since heard rumors that the conjoined twins liked to wander around the kitchen, yet their luck was so rotten that the Dare challenge they drew actually required them to sneak into the kitchen and steal the conjoined brothers’ favorite kitchen knife.
Usually, Leng Yeting didn’t miss an opportunity to tease Ruan Zhizhi, but this time he really stepped up with some genuine masculine charm.
“Stick close to me, don’t be scared.”
Ruan Zhizhi’s heart skipped a beat, suddenly finding Leng Yeting rather handsome, but she quickly reminded herself in the depths of her mind: No way, she cannot let herself be seduced by this man!
Other figures were moving about inside the kitchen—evidently, they weren’t the only ones who had drawn the Dare challenge to sneak into the kitchen and steal something.
A row of gleaming, different-sized kitchen knives hung on the wall, exuding a chilling aura.
“Hide right here and don’t move, I’ll go steal it,” Leng Yeting whispered.
Ruan Zhizhi squatted down to hide behind the counter, nodding as she gave a soft, “Mn.”
Leng Yeting carefully crept forward. Seeing him move, someone else mustered up the courage to follow. Glancing at the others just once, Leng Yeting reached up and plucked the cleaver right from the middle of the rack.
Suddenly, a scrawny, petite figure leaped down from the ceiling. With lightning-fast reflexes, Leng Yeting grabbed the person next to him and shoved them forward as a human shield. The falling figure landed squarely on that unfortunate person’s head, baring its claws with a high-pitched, cackling laugh: hee-hee-hee!
“A little thief! Caught you!”
The victim’s face was shredded to pieces in an instant. He let out a blood-curdling scream, scaring everyone else around them into scattering in all directions.
The younger conjoined twin threw back his head, stretching his vocal cords to let out a sharp, ear-piercing screech. From not far away came an even heavier set of footsteps—the older conjoined brother was on his way.
“Run!” Leng Yeting grabbed Ruan Zhizhi, hauling her up and dragging her out of the back kitchen.
Ruan Zhizhi’s entire body stiffened as she couldn’t help recalling how Leng Yeting had just pulled someone in to “block a blade” for him. His movements had been so swift and decisive. If she were in a similar crisis next time, standing just as close to him, what choice would he make?
The younger conjoined twin wormed his way into the hole in his brother’s chest. Reunited, their speed doubled, and with just a few bounds they could catch an unlucky soul and tear them limb from limb.
Even in the pitch-dark night, the conjoined brothers could pinpoint their prey with absolute accuracy; even those hiding motionlessly in corners were quickly sniffed out.
Guessing that the conjoined twins tracked their prey by scent, Leng Yeting hurriedly pulled Ruan Zhizhi into a dumpster pit to hide. The overwhelming stench here would conveniently mask their scent.
The blood-stained conjoined brothers prowled around the garbage pit for a bit, and sure enough, failed to find the hidden humans.
As soon as the conjoined twins left, Ruan Zhizhi couldn’t hold it in any longer. She scrambled out of the pit and leaned against a tree trunk, retching violently.
Leng Yeting supported her by the arm.
“Are you alright?”
The knife in his hand was razor-sharp, flashing with a cold glint in the darkness that caught Ruan Zhizhi right in the eye. Subconsciously, she took a step back, putting some distance between herself and Leng Yeting.
Meanwhile, the younger conjoined twin whined:
“So boring! Are there really no more prey left?”
The older conjoined twin twitched his nose:
“No. There’s still the scent of living humans.”
Climbing up onto the abandoned experimental building, they slipped through a fourth-floor window into the hallway, sprinting all the way to the deepest corridor. Right outside the screening room door, two pairs of faces pressed against the wood, peering through the gap to witness a mind-boggling sight.
Xia Miao was curled up inside Lu Yan’s clothes, snuggled tightly in his arms. Lu Yan’s arms wrapped tightly around her, their bodies pressed so closely together that the boundaries between them blurred.
A horror movie was still playing on the television, yet the two of them had their eyes closed and were actually fast asleep!
The conjoined brothers blinked.
The younger brother said:
“I’m a little jealous.”
The older brother said:
“He must be feeling pretty proud of himself right now.”
In unison, they declared:
“Let’s go stir up some trouble.”
Inside the small room, the television screen flickered. After a flurry of static snow appeared and vanished, the broadcast on the screen shifted.
Inside a steel-cast prison cage, a toddler of only two or three years old wore white clothes. His bruised and purple skin was covered in rotting sores, as if the foul stench of decay could waft right out through the screen.
His limbs were limp as he sprawled across the concrete floor. Only a few patches of withered yellow hair remained on his head, and his eyes were murky and lifeless.
“Hungry… So hungry…”
He parted his lips, revealing only a few jagged, beast-like teeth remaining. Shivering, he crawled toward the outside of the iron bars and rasped:
“Hungry… Hungry… So hungry…”
Xia Miao had only been in a light sleep; hearing the unusual sound, she opened her eyes.
The next second, a blade came hurtling through the air, striking dead center into the television screen. After a shower of sparks, the screen went pitch black, shutting down for good.
Xia Miao raised her face.
The boy’s eyes were icy cold, just like his body—completely devoid of any scorching warmth.