"He's dead."
Realizing she'd let it slip, Yu Ning immediately shut her mouth.
"Is that true?"
Jiang Xian pressed on, hardly believing it: "You lived here with him for an entire year. That's how you got through this year with him?"
His questioning made her uncomfortable. "Y-yeah, so what? Isn't this place safer than outside?"
She couldn't bring herself to meet his eyes, her chest feeling tight and suffocated. She couldn't help but retort, "I've lived with him this long. I know him better than you do. I'm a hundred percent sure he's human just like us—his behavior just isn't very socialized. You can't judge him as not human just because he's pale and doesn't talk, can you?"
If he really wasn't human, then what did all that time she'd spent with him mean? Dancing with wolves?
Yu Ning admitted that she'd had the same doubts before, occasionally entertaining thoughts like "Is he really human?"—but those were just self-deprecating jokes about his incomprehensible behavior. She still firmly believed he was just a little different from ordinary people.
It wasn't like she didn't know what real monsters looked like. And what monster could be as well-behaved and beautiful as him?
This was Yu Ning's first time snapping at someone. She felt she hadn't said anything wrong, but her cheeks still burned and her palms grew sweaty.
This time, it was Jiang Xian's turn to fall silent.
He hadn't expected Yu Ning to genuinely treat the mute as her husband. He'd assumed it was just a matter of survival—that she'd given him that title to coax the mute into being her bodyguard. So it wasn't just a week of knowing each other; they'd truly been together for over a year.
That made sense. How else would they have become husband and wife?
Jiang Xian wished he could slap himself for speaking too fast.
Forget the current situation—even in the real world, people who advised couples to break up ended up hated by both sides.
The eyeball rolling on the floor gradually lost its bloody tint, and without leaving a trace, it followed the mattress and the hem of her dress, returning to Yu Ning. It found a suitable hiding spot, concealed its presence, and couldn't help but lightly nuzzle against the fabric of her clothes.
"That's not what I meant." Jiang Xian racked his brain to smooth things over. "I just feel like ever since he came back, something's been very wrong around here."
Yu Ning remained unmoved, only her slender brows slightly furrowed—clearly unconvinced by his explanation.
His voice gradually faded. After a moment, Yu Ning twitched her nose and asked quietly, "So what do you plan to do? Leave this place?"
She'd only asked casually, with no intention of driving him away, but the words took on a different tone when they reached Jiang Xian's ears.
His expression stiffened.
It wasn't that he hadn't considered it—at least during every waking moment, he'd thought about leaving. But as Yu Ning had said, this place was far safer than outside. So he tried to stay awake as much as possible, refusing to sink into those chaotic, terrifying nightmares.
But those dreams had already taken a severe toll on him. He was afraid of the wind rustling the curtains, so he'd sealed the doors and windows shut and torn down the drapes. He was afraid of lying in bed, so every night he slept on the floor beneath it, pressed against the wall. He was afraid of every crack in the bedroom, so he stuffed them all with tape and tissues.
Thinking of those dreams still sent chills down his spine, but at this moment, with Yu Ning by his side, his heart seemed much more at ease.
Jiang Xian didn't dare gamble on whether the outside world was better than this place, so he could only cling to this life of survival here. He still didn't believe that mute was a normal person, but he truly had nowhere else to go.
He felt like the kept man Yu Ning had taken in, someone who could be discarded at any moment—and that mute was the legitimate wife he could never surpass.
This was too stifling.
"Your leg isn't well, so don't bother with all that." Seeing him fall silent, Yu Ning softened her tone and offered him an out: "I wasn't trying to drive you away either."
Jiang Xian's expression eased slightly. He flexed his fingers and quickly apologized: "I'm sorry. I said some nonsense to you."
Better to live in disgrace than die in glory—when in doubt, get on your knees first. He could think this over more carefully later. Having sorted his thoughts, Jiang Xian hesitated before asking again: "These next couple of days… can you stay with me a bit more?"
The eyeball in his pocket tightened with bloodshot veins, glaring at the man, then shifting to the woman's face.
Yu Ning inexplicably felt a chill. She lowered her head to tuck a stray strand of hair by her temple and went along with it: "Even if you didn't ask, I would. I'd be bored staying there by myself anyway."
Jiang Xian gave her a relieved smile.
The lighting was dim. His face was covered in stubble, his eyes bloodshot—no longer the clean-cut man he used to be. Even his smile made Yu Ning feel uneasy, and she could only politely curl the corners of her lips.
She wanted so badly to remind him to take a shower, to wash off the filth and stench of sweat, but she was afraid it would only make the atmosphere more awkward.
And also…
Her gaze settled on the jade stone he was wearing. Yu Ning hesitated for a moment, then said quietly: "If you don't need it anymore, could you give that back to me?"
Jiang Xian looked up and saw she was pointing at the Protection Stone hanging around his neck.
He paused for a second, then took it off and handed it back.
"This thing really does work." Jiang Xian tried to lighten the mood, then added: "But mainly it's because you came."
Yu Ning clutched it in her hand without putting it on right away. She lowered her head and explained: "He gave this to me."
"And the reason he went out this time was to find another one for you."
Jiang Xian was struck speechless. He tugged at the corner of his mouth: "I see."
They sat in silence for a moment. Yu Ning rose from her seat and suggested softly: "Let's eat. I'll open the window for you to let some air in."
Just as she was about to walk over, Jiang Xian's scalp tightened. He grabbed her hastily: "Don't open it!"
Yu Ning turned her head and saw the terror-filled expression on Jiang Xian's face. Gone was his earlier composure—his lips quivered, and he became rambling again: "You can't go over there. Don't go near the window. There's something there…"
Jiang Xian swallowed his voice, not daring to say that word casually, nor able to describe Its appearance in words. He tried to avoid it, but that avoidance often triggered deep-seated memories, making him recall those fragmented flashes—some real, some false.
The thick black hair hanging from the chandelier. The bony giant hand that pulled open the curtains. The massive thing clinging to Yu Ning's shoulder… He had stared at it face to face, and he clearly remembered the pain of having all ten fingernails torn off, of being gutted open.
If it were just one nightmare, Jiang Xian could have dismissed it as stress. But time after time, the nightmares escalated step by step, forcing him to be paranoid about everything.
Even though when he woke up, he could see his fingers and body were intact, the visceral pain in the dreams was so real it stimulated his brain nerves—as if it were something he had experienced in another world.
Jiang Xian's breathing grew heavier, and the grip of his thumb and forefinger around her wrist tightened.
Yu Ning winced in pain and tried to pull her hand back, but she heard his muttering grow faster and shriller. She looked up and her heart jolted—his face was contorting into something increasingly twisted and ferocious. His once-normal eyes rolled back so far that only the whites were visible, rolling past the limit. Unable to bear the strain, the eyeballs began to seep bloody tears with a faint hissing sound.
Yu Ning recoiled in terror, her lips slightly parted, too frightened to speak.
He had been perfectly fine just moments ago.
Adrenaline surged, but her mind had already gone blank. Yu Ning tugged desperately at her hand, pounding against him, trying to wake him up or break free from his grip, but Jiang Xian kept holding onto her hand without letting go, even pressing closer and closer.
Yu Ning had nowhere left to retreat, pinned against the wall by him.
Bloody tears dripped onto her hand, then onto her collar.
Jiang Xian leaned in extremely close—Yu Ning shrank her neck back and could still feel the heat of his breath on her cheek.
She was so terrified she choked on her sobs, pushing against him with all her strength. At that moment, the eyeball in her pocket suddenly dissolved into a wisp of black mist, seeping silently into Jiang Xian's body. In an instant, his limbs went limp and he collapsed to the floor.
The restraint on her disappeared. Yu Ning pressed herself against the wall, taking deep breaths. Blinking through her tear-filled eyes, she saw the motionless man at her feet. A single glance was enough to make her legs tremble with fear. She didn't pause to catch her breath—scrambling on all fours, she found the doorknob, twisted it twice with her sweaty hands, opened the door, and fled the room entirely.
Yu Ning's legs were still weak. She managed to run a short distance before collapsing to her knees at the entrance of the building.
Outside, the sky was overcast, with gusts of cold wind blowing—it looked like rain was on the way.
Yu Ning shivered from the cold, still unable to process what had just happened. She quickly fished the Protection Stone out of her pocket, put it on, and clutched it against her chest.
A gust of wind howled past, whipping her hair around and forcing her eyes shut.
When she opened her eyes again, Yu Ning saw a familiar figure.
The man was tall and impeccably upright, holding two large bags of luggage in his hands, striding toward her.
Yu Ning froze for a moment, then immediately stood up and ran over, throwing herself into his arms.
The scent of soap and the warmth radiating from him gave her an immense sense of safety. Without even thinking about when he had come back, she burst into tears against his chest.
Pei Chongqing gently stroked her hair, offering hoarse, fragmented syllables of comfort that could barely be pieced into words, the corners of his lips curling upward despite himself.
Back at home, it took Yu Ning a while to steady her emotions. She lay on the bed, gazing at the curtain of rain outside the window and her own reflection in the light. Her unfocused gaze snapped back to the present as a cup of hot tea was offered before her. Yu Ning looked up at Pei Chongqing, moistened her dry lips, took the tea, and lowered her head for a small sip.
"Feel… better?"
Pei Chongqing leaned down to ask, the translator on his neck flashing a red dot with each vibration.
Thinking of the last sight of Jiang Xian, Yu Ning's eyes grew hot and damp again. In a tearful voice, she said, "I'm not okay."
"I don't know why he suddenly became like that…"
"He—"
"He's. dead."
Pei Chongqing finished her sentence calmly.
His silver-white eyes curved, carrying a faint, barely perceptible trace of cold delight.
Yu Ning's heart trembled. She shook her head in disbelief. Her tear-misted vision blurred Pei Chongqing's smile, so she didn't see it at all. Her lips parted, and she whispered, "Impossible."
She threw off the edge of the blanket and got out of bed, wanting to go check for herself. The moment her feet touched the floor, a powerful arm blocked her.
Pei Chongqing refused to let her go, insisting she stay here and rest, while he would handle checking on the situation alone.
Yu Ning clutched tightly at his clothing, holding on for a long, long time before finally letting go.