Who… sent this message?
Yu Ning's mind went completely blank. She had no idea what to do with the phone. Suddenly, two soft knocks came from the frosted glass door beside her.
She turned her head and saw the tall, blurry silhouette. Her heart rate shot up instantly. Without a second thought, she tossed the phone straight into the bathtub and covered it with the board on top.
She was terrified—both that Pei Chongqing would come in, and that he would find the phone. Even the splash of the phone hitting the water made her tremble with fear.
"Wife, let's shower together."
From outside the door, Pei Chongqing made the request directly in his flat, uninflected AI voice, and tried to turn the doorknob.
Alarms blared in Yu Ning's mind. She gripped the handle from the other side with all her strength, terrified that the lock would suddenly give way. She took a deep breath, nearly suffocating from the lack of oxygen in the bathroom: "I'm still soaking in the bath. The tub isn't very big. Can you come in a little later?"
After her refusal hung in the air, there was a moment of stillness.
Pei Chongqing fell silent, then said something utterly unreasonable: "I want to see."
Yu Ning really felt like she was about to faint. What was there to see in a bath anyway? It wasn't as if they hadn't bathed together before.
She racked her brain, betting on his poor knowledge of physiology, and fobbed him off with the excuse that "steam is harmful to wounds." She thought he would keep being stubborn, but unexpectedly, he accepted it completely this time: "Then I'll wait for you."
The tension in Yu Ning's heart eased slightly. But since he hadn't left from behind the frosted glass door, she still couldn't let her guard down.
"Can you go tidy up the walk-in closet for me?" Yu Ning swallowed and said softly, "I don't know what to wear tonight. Once you've organized it, pick out something for me."
Her walk-in closet was huge—big enough to keep him occupied for quite a while, especially with picking out clothes.
In the past, she never let him into the closet for fear he'd tear things apart. Even the clothes he wore were mostly picked out by her. Letting him into the closet made her heart bleed, but she couldn't think of any other excuse to get him away.
She wasn't even sure he'd be willing to spend time in there. That blockhead had no sense of fashion and no concept of dressing for warmth. If she hadn't insisted he wear clothes, he'd probably still be going around shirtless all day like before.
Yu Ning waited anxiously, but to her surprise, Pei Chongqing left the very next second.
Staring at the frosted glass door with no figure behind it, Yu Ning closed her eyes and let out a breath, relaxing a little.
Still, the bathroom wasn't a great place to linger. Yu Ning wrapped her bathrobe around herself, sat down on the toilet, and stared wide-eyed at the bathtub, feeling a headache coming on over that phone.
She needed to get rid of it, but she was terrified that a monster was hiding inside it, ready to fly out at any moment… And on top of that, she was in the bathroom—how unlucky!
Yu Ning couldn't figure out where the phone had come from, or how it had managed to send a message without any network connection. She didn't believe that message for a second. It was probably the monster trying to lure her in, yes, that was it.
Yu Ning clasped her hands together, propped them on her knees, and rested her forehead against them. She spent a long time psyching herself up before standing, determined to destroy the phone before Pei Chongqing discovered it.
She knew this was the kind of thing best left to him. But for some reason, she felt a strong resistance to that idea.
Walking over to the bathtub, Yu Ning puffed up her courage, counted down three, two, one, and flung the curtain open—
The bathwater, crystal clear to the bottom, rippled gently in the breeze, carrying only a few slices of lemon—no sign of the phone she had dropped in. Yu Ning froze, then leaned down to stir the water with her hand. After a few minutes, she drained the tub, fished out the lemon slices, and tossed them away, but still couldn't find the phone anywhere.
Was it her imagination? Or had it simply vanished on its own?
Neither explanation sat well with her—it defied all logic. Without even drying her hair, she fled the bathroom as if a ghost were chasing her.
Hearing the commotion, Pei Chongqing emerged from the walk-in closet, his heavy gaze landing on her as he smiled.
Yu Ning sat on the sofa, her expression stiffening as he approached. She subtly inched away.
He stopped in front of her and held out a lace garment. It was so small and flimsy, clutched tightly in his palm, that she had to stare for a few seconds before recognizing it as the nightgown he'd dug out for her to wear.
Yu Ning's face instantly burned. She hadn't expected him to find that one.
He'd gotten smarter, hadn't he? Learning to pull tricks like this.
They'd been together for a year, living together for over half of it, and Yu Ning didn't enjoy playing games with him, terrified he might do something outrageous. After all, in the beginning, he hadn't even known where his degree was—she'd had to sit on top, feeding it to him bit by bit.
She was traditional, wouldn't even wear flashy clothes on a normal day, let alone something this skimpy to sleep beside him. But she'd already made the promise, so she couldn't back out now.
The lace dress was flimsy, though it was a finely crafted designer piece—who knew how he'd end up tearing it. But then again… she couldn't wear it out, and she couldn't sell it secondhand at a decent price, so torn was torn.
Yu Ning tried hard to convince herself. Even as she sat astride him, she made every effort to ignore his scars.
She hadn't been this proactive in a long time, because it was exhausting, but if she let him take the lead at his usual pace, she was terrified he'd tear his wounds open again.
At first, Yu Ning was reluctant, so much so that the man beneath her found it lackluster.
Suddenly, he sat up. Yu Ning stumbled and tumbled straight into his arms, her lips brushing against those rough, uneven scars.
Yu Ning wanted to cry but had no tears. She silently spat twice.
She tried to get up, but Pei Chongqing wouldn't allow it. One hand pressed down on her, pinning her in place.
What was worse—he'd promised not to change positions, but he broke his word, flipping her around while holding her.
Yu Ning cursed him in her heart for being savage, for being bad, yet she couldn't help but feel a flicker of fondness for his occasional mischief.
Besides, kneeling like this with her back to him, she wouldn't have to see those scars on his body… that wasn't so bad either.
Yu Ning closed her eyes, burying her head in her folded arms, constantly telling herself that the phone message was an illusion, a lure from some monster, not to be taken seriously.
But suddenly, she heard the man let out a low, hoarse laugh. It was thick and sticky, as if it came from the throat of a wild beast.
Yu Ning's mind snapped to full alertness. The fleeting emotions ruled by hormones washed away completely, replaced by primal fear etched into her DNA.
She lay rigid, prostrate on the bed, her heart pounding wildly like a shaken bottle of soda, afraid to move an inch.
Perhaps her reaction was too passive, because Pei Chongqing flipped her around again—this time, face to face.
The bedroom was dim, with only a small nightlight on the bedside table, so his face was bathed in warm yellow light—neither fully clear, nor hiding the deep, ferocious texture of his scars.
Yu Ning stared at him, her ears ringing, still unable to adjust to his current appearance. Yet he insisted on smiling at her, the upward curve of his lips even more exaggerated and eerie than before.
Yu Ning pressed her hand against her chest, tightly holding down the heart that was about to leap into her throat, but her tears refused to obey, pooling stubbornly in her eyes.
When her vision blurred slightly, obscuring his features, Pei Chongqing leaned in closer.
He wanted to do what he always did—kiss his wife one last time before the end.
The smile at the corners of Pei Chongqing's lips deepened. He rose onto his knees, bent forward to kiss her, when suddenly two hands pressed together against his lips, stopping him.
Pei Chongqing paused, then parted his thin lips and, taking advantage of the moment, extended his tongue to lightly lick her palm. Tasting the salty-sweetness of her fingers, the joy in his heart grew even stronger. His throat rumbled painfully, emitting a low, guttural "heh heh" sound.
Saliva soaked into her palm, unable to be contained, dripping down in steady drops.
The moment he licked her, Yu Ning's mind had already stopped working. When she heard that sound as he enveloped her fingers, she was so startled she let out a cry of "Ah!" and quickly withdrew her hand, curling up into a little shrimp.
Pei Chongqing narrowed his eyes, swallowed with a "gulp," and watched her with a puzzled gaze.
He didn't continue. Instead, he brushed aside her hair strands and completed that perfect kiss.
The kiss landed on Yu Ning's forehead. She was trembling again, and faint sobs escaped her.
Pei Chongqing didn't understand why she was crying, but he knew he should ask her.
He turned on the light, went to the bedside table, took out the ointment, and held it in his hand. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he silently watched her for a moment. When he saw her emotions gradually stabilize, he asked, "Wife, pain, where?"
Yu Ning took a while to recover. She refused Pei Chongqing's help, then retreated into the bathroom and locked the door.
Her heart was still racing, and she felt somewhat bewildered. Sensing that the doorknob had been dirtied by her own hand, she immediately let go and went to the sink to scrub her hands.
Both hands were clean, completely intact—not gnawed on, no bleeding…
Yu Ning pressed her lips together, thinking she had been overthinking things, frightened by that phone.
She didn't dare stay long in the bathroom. She quickly turned off the faucet and came out.
The moment she opened the door, Pei Chongqing was standing right there at the entrance, bare-chested, his body covered in scars.
He was still holding that tube of ointment. When he saw her, he raised it slightly and said, "Yu Ning, apply."
Yu Ning's heart ached with sourness, feeling ashamed of her earlier suspicions: "I don't hurt."
"You go back. I'll get a towel to wipe your sweat and disinfect."
Hearing this, Pei Chongqing curled his lips and smiled again.
Yu Ning lowered her head, refusing to look at his smile, and immediately turned around to get a towel and wet it.
It must be the monster's temptation. An illusion.
Yu Ning kept telling herself this inwardly as she wrung out the towel and walked toward Pei Chongqing. Looking at his dense, overlapping scars, she held her breath and carefully, meticulously wiped around them.
She also checked the spot where the skin had peeled before… Fortunately, it had already fused, with no gaps.
So what she had seen that day must have been an illusion too.
After wiping his body, Yu Ning applied the ointment for him. She didn't think it would do much good, but since it was there, there was no reason not to use it.
Even now, Yu Ning still felt saddened by his many scars, yet she couldn't help but feel a secret relief that her husband still looked handsome overall—not disfigured to the point where his human form was unrecognizable.
Yu Ning knew this way of thinking was wrong, even callous, but she also knew that if Pei Chongqing truly became like that, she wouldn't be able to bear it.
An ugly freak and a monster—the only difference was that the former still had humanity.
Her husband, sometimes, didn't seem quite human.
After the medicine was applied, Pei Chongqing naturally stayed to share the bed with her. Yu Ning was afraid of being alone, so she didn't refuse, but she no longer clung to him the way she used to, nestling in his arms to sleep.
Pei Chongqing, as always, wanted to hold her, but Yu Ning made excuses to brush him off, pushing away his embrace. After several rounds of this back-and-forth, Pei Chongqing finally let her be and stopped pressing against her.
After all that fussing, Yu Ning was no longer afraid of him—she was even a little annoyed by him.
She lay on her side, facing away from him, and her hand inadvertently reached toward the pillow, only to touch something square and flat…
A phone.
When she opened her eyes and saw it clearly, Yu Ning's heart nearly stopped.