When taking a shower, Qi Qi liked to put something on in the background to listen to. Today, she happened to tune into a local channel dedicated to gathering urban legends and strange anecdotes, even though they were mostly unverified rumors or stories deliberately framed out of context just to catch people’s attention.
However, because the writer and the storyteller both did a great job, Qi Qi simply set aside any concerns about accuracy and listened to them purely as suspenseful stories to pass the time.
Recently, the channel had updated twice. Judging by the titles, both sounded very intriguing. The newest one was [The Dragging Sound from the Midnight Street], but after pressing play, it automatically resumed from where she last left off, jumping to the second to last episode, [Pseudohumans].
【Have you noticed any changes in the personalities of people around you lately? Or perhaps strange behavior? We are certain this is a case of serial disappearances. Today, we will share all the relevant information we’ve gathered and compiled with everyone. We hope you will pay attention to your own safety, and we also welcome everyone to submit any strange occurrences you encounter in your daily lives to our email.】
【The person who submitted to us is Ms. Z. She said that recently she felt her friend had turned into a completely different person.】
【Ms. Z said that previously, even with flattery, this friend’s personality could hardly be called likable, she was arrogant, domineering, extremely willful, always acting on a whim without thinking. But starting from a certain day, she suddenly transformed into a textbook model of a distinguished young lady from a prestigious family. Even small habits and food preferences that only those close to her would know had completely changed. Ms. Z had subtly mentioned these recent changes to her friend’s family, but the family merely felt that the child had grown up and become sensible, feeling nothing but relief.】
【As her only friend, every time Ms. Z spent time alone with her, she felt only unfamiliarity and an indescribable dread. Sometimes she even saw her friend’s body deform into something hideous, only to revert to normal the next second, as if it were merely a hallucination brought on by her highly frayed nerves. Thus, she couldn’t help but suspect that this friend was no longer the original person, but had been replaced by someone else or rather, something else.】
【Of course, we didn’t believe such an unscientific and baseless suspicion at first. However, holding fast to the principle of not overlooking any piece of information, we arranged a follow-up interview with her. But when she contacted us by phone later on, her account changed completely, and she refused the in-person interview.】
The highly persuasive female voice lent an immersive sense of realism, and her pauses were perfectly timed, each one making listeners feel as though their hearts skipped a beat right along with her.
【When Ms. Z spoke with us the first two times, she gave the impression of lacking confidence, her logic somewhat disorganized, and she liked to repeat the same points three or four times. But during that final phone call, her words were flawless and leak proof, her tone exceedingly gentle and refined. The colleagues who heard the recording all inexplicably thought of the same person.】
【That’s right, she sounded just like the personality-shifted friend Ms. Z had described.】
Hearing this point, Qi Qi let out a soft “hiss.” Today’s story really gives you goosebumps, pretty good.
Lately, because the Little Monster had become overly initiative, it actually drained her of her previous interest and enthusiasm, leaving her with a numb feeling like she was just punching the clock at work.
Or perhaps she was simply tired of it. Either way, she decided that starting tomorrow, she would stay away from the Little Monster for a while. Maybe her interest would return later? Who knew.
Qi Qi turned off the water valve. The cooling, transparent water continued to stream down along her strands of hair, disappearing beneath the skin faintly visible under her bathrobe.
She let out a deep breath, as if attempting to purge all her gloomy emotions at once.
After taking a shower, the lingering irritation from her nightmare was washed away along with the water.
Qi Qi opened the bathroom door in a pleasant mood. Just as the warm steam surrounding her was replaced by fresh air, she saw Bai Zhi sitting on her sofa, reading the trashy romance novel she hadn’t finished yet with great relish.
Even the sunlight favored her extraordinarily. After fluttering in through the window, it lazily settled on the tips of the girl’s hair, turning her originally dark brown strands into a bright, almost pale gold color under the autumn afternoon sun.
The girl didn’t show the slightest panic at being caught. Instead, she looked up, her eyes curving into sweet crescents as she greeted her.
“Qi Qi, so you like reading this kind of novel…”
The person who had broken in without permission behaved as naturally as if this were her own home.
Qi Qi stared at the trashy novel, which she had deliberately wrapped in a white book cover, being read by someone else. Her earlobes turned hot from embarrassment. She tried her best to act as if she didn’t care, forcing her eyes away in an attempt to change the subject.
“How did you get in?”
Bai Zhi shook a set of tools in her hand, though it was unclear what they were specifically used for, they looked quite professional. She smiled with a look of pure innocence, yet deep within her honey colored eyes lingered a hint of sly provocation. Her gaze brazenly landed on Qi Qi’s slightly pinkish skin peeking out from her loosely wrapped bathrobe.
Even though Qi Qi knew she was doing it on purpose, it was genuinely hard to dislike her.
She was just like a snow-white little fox proudly raising its tail.
Qi Qi spaced out for a second.
“I came to hang out with you! Aren’t we good friends? But I felt like we still know too little about each other, so I decided to come over to foster our relationship.”
The girl unconsciously wiggled the tips of her toes; her snow-white cotton socks looked strikingly like the white paws of a fox.
“When did we become good friends?”
Even as she said that, Qi Qi still grabbed a bottle of milk from the fridge and handed it to her while grabbing one for herself.
“We share a secret, don’t we?”
Bai Zhi finally closed the novel with its bizarrely convoluted plot and character relationships and put it back. Taking the icy glass bottle, she tentatively opened the cap and brought it to her nose to sniff. A rich, sweet fragrance greeted her, and she whispered a complaint. “Milk is so childish.” Despite saying that, she obediently took a sip anyway.
So sweet.
It’s already generous enough that I gave you something to drink, and you dare to be picky?
When she looked up, she saw that Qi Qi’s eyes clearly conveyed that exact message.
“Finish it and leave quickly.”
Before stepping out of the bathroom, Qi Qi felt as though she had washed away all her bad luck, feeling extraordinarily refreshed. But the moment she saw Bai Zhi, the personification of trouble itself, an ill omen crept into her heart.
The words Bai Zhi had said turned over in her head, and she finally found the matching context.
“You don’t need to worry about me telling anyone about that matter. I’m not close with them anyway…”
Bai Zhi puffed out her cheeks, displaying a bit more coquettish willful spoiledness than her usual delicate, pitiable “white lotus” persona in front of others.
“I told you, I didn’t come here for that! I trust you. I really just came to spend time with you!”
“Why?”
She watched with satisfaction as Qi Qi’s gaze remained on her face two seconds longer than before.
As expected, compared to my previous act, Qi Qi prefers me being a little willful and acting spoiled like this.
She slowly leaned closer.
Having just showered, the girl with a trace of relaxed fatigue between her brows seemed much easier to approach than usual.
“Because I like you! You’re the most special person I’ve ever met. Now that I’ve finally become good friends with you, I can’t help but want to get even closer,” Bai Zhi’s sweet words poured out effortlessly. At the same time, seeing through Qi Qi’s lazy nature, she asked tentatively, “How about I help you dry your hair?”
Qi Qi rested her head on one hand and stared at her for a long moment before looking away, giving a lazy nod in agreement.
Slightly raising her chin, she pointed out the location of the hairdryer.
She didn’t think there was anything wrong with letting someone she had just met dry her hair.
Arrogant to the extreme, to the point where it almost felt natural.
Bai Zhi’s mind raced with countless thoughts, but her hands were already gently drying Qi Qi’s hair.
Once it was mostly dry, she patiently combed through the tangled strands.
The hair was thick, lustrous, and smooth like a piece of jet black satin.
It felt cool and comfortable to the touch as her knuckles brushed against it.
Bai Zhi kept a close watch on Qi Qi’s expression. Those eyes, which usually looked tired and indifferent no matter what they saw, gradually closed in relaxation under her soothing movements. Her eyelashes cast dark shadows on her lower eyelids, adding an air of mystery.
Even when Qi Qi accidentally witnessed the bloody scene where Bai Zhi exposed her true nature, she had remained completely unfazed. Her slight frown back then was only out of annoyance at the hassle, not fear, which was what had made Bai Zhi change her mind about attacking her at the time.
Yet, a person who cared about nothing was uniquely different toward a gloomy, reclusive scholarship student.
This made Bai Zhi, who had been observing her for a long time, feel a rare pang of unwillingness.
Under this comfortable massage technique, Qi Qi felt herself drifting off to sleep again.
Speaking of which, have I been feeling sleepy too easily lately? Although I do love sleeping, and it’s easy to get tired in autumn, sleeping for over ten hours a day is really a bit… Ah, but before I met the Little Monster, I used to spend my days like this too.
After meeting the Little Monster, she had rediscovered joy and enthusiasm in life, unconsciously reducing her daily sleep time. But she hadn’t expected that once she got tired of it, her body would demand to make up for the lost sleep.
Unexpectedly, she slept until the night turned pitch black.
On her way, she continued listening to the latest episode, [The Dragging Sound from the Midnight Street]. The host’s storytelling skills were as sharp as ever, bringing listeners right into the atmosphere in just a few sentences.
【This submission comes from Mr. H. Next to his apartment building lies a garden; the flowers there were always sparse and dismal, but this year they grew exceptionally lush and brilliant.】
【However, starting this year, he began hearing strange sounds in the middle of the night like someone dragging a heavy burlap sack along the asphalt road. The sound wasn’t loud, but every time he heard it, it felt as though it were echoing directly inside his brain, causing his sleep quality to plummet.】
Qi Qi unconsciously took off her headphones. Listening up to this point, she already felt it was a ghost story.
To someone whose sole hobby was sleeping, a decline in sleep quality was a horror far worse than any urban legend.
Yet, after taking off her headphones, on the dimly lit street, she actually heard a sound almost identical to the one described in the story.
A heavy, intermittent scraping sound.
Like someone dragging a burlap sack stuffed with heavy objects, rubbing against the pavement stones.