Chapter 12: A New Friend
Another day arrived, and just like the entire previous month in Lü’e City, it was a gloomy, overcast day, without a breath of wind, everyone trapped in a damp, suffocating shell.
Xiang Er woke up, sat on the bed, and stared blankly for a while, her head throbbing.
She looked down. The sculpture lay on the floor beneath the desk, covered in dust, tilted at an odd angle, wedged in the gap between the desk and the wall, one of its large eyes half-covered, looking rather pathetic.
After thinking for a long time, Xiang Er finally remembered that last night, she seemed to have been… a bit delirious, holding the sculpture and talking to it, then falling asleep, causing the sculpture to fall to the floor.
She hoped the god wouldn’t be too angry with her.
Xiang Er got up, retrieved the sculpture from under the desk, gently brushed off the dust, and after a moment of thought, placed it upright on the small bookshelf.
She hesitated, looking at the sculpture’s grayish-red eye, and whispered:
“Thank you… regardless.”
It had indeed saved her, and she should thank the god for that.
If this were a real god, she should probably offer some kind of sacrifice. But if she did, wouldn’t that mean she had become a believer?
Xiang Er decided against offering a sacrifice. She wasn’t a believer, she wouldn’t worship it, she couldn’t let the god misunderstand.
She got up to change her clothes. Just as she lifted her nightgown, revealing her slender abdomen, she suddenly turned and glanced at the sculpture.
A glint of light flashed in the sculpture’s large red eye, fleeting, almost too quick to catch, but Xiang Er still… noticed it.
Could it be that… It had been watching all along?
She suddenly felt so embarrassed she didn’t know where to put her hands. She quickly grabbed her nightgown to cover herself, and with her lotus-root-like, white, delicate arm, gently turned the sculpture around so that the large eye faced the wall, away from her!
Xiang Er quickly put on her clothes, her hand on the doorknob, intending to change in the bathroom. She paused just before opening the door.
Her roommate’s boyfriend seemed to be here… and the bathroom door didn’t have a lock.
Xiang Er gritted her teeth and lowered her hand, turning back.
Her face flushed, her body feeling weak, she didn’t know what to do. So, all this time, every time she changed clothes… had It been watching?
Although It wasn’t human, this was still… embarrassing.
Xiang Er tried her best to ignore the sculpture, turned towards the wall, took off her nightgown, curled up, and started putting on her underwear.
From behind, her slender waist and abdomen had a soft, gentle curve, without an ounce of excess fat, her figure delicate yet shapely, a lovely petite frame. The skin on her back was smooth and white, with a pinkish glow. The dimples of her waist were slightly compressed, almost invisible, but her spine was prominent, the bones almost piercing through her fragile, white skin as she bent over.
Her beauty was subtle, classical. Her slender, sloping shoulders didn’t conform to current beauty standards, and her pale skin wasn’t the picture of health, but… that frail allure, deep in her bones, was unforgettable.
Quickly, Xiang Er finished dressing. Today, she wore a creamy white sweater and jeans, her legs long and slender, her aura as gentle and soft as her sweater. She turned around and immediately looked at the sculpture—fortunately, it was still facing the wall.
After washing up, Xiang Er returned to her room, picked up her bag, and as she reached the door, she couldn’t help but glance at the sculpture one last time.
The tentacles around the sculpture were swaying, light and graceful, like ripples on water. Although it was facing away from her, it seemed to be greeting her with the movement of its tentacles.
Xiang Er wasn’t surprised. She knew the sculpture would do something; it had never been still for a whole day. Just moving its tentacles was a minor thing.
She waved at the sculpture and whispered:
“Well, I’m leaving.”
After saying this, she felt a surge of absurdity and quickly closed the door, hurrying to the entrance, still berating herself as she changed her shoes: Was she losing her mind? Why was she saying such embarrassing things to a sculpture… to an Evil God?
Was she so desperate for companionship that she was treating an Evil God as a friend? Had she forgotten that she was the Evil God’s food supply?!
Just as she was about to leave, Li Wan’s boyfriend suddenly appeared at the entrance, looking at her eagerly:
“Are you going to work?”
Xiang Er simply replied with a sound of acknowledgment and, without waiting for him to speak, opened the door and left. Seeing men now reminded her of the black dog-man from yesterday, making her feel nauseous.
Li Wan’s boyfriend, left inside, rubbed his chin, his eyes narrowing in a smile, before returning to the bedroom.
The journey to work was uneventful. She arrived early, and her mood was relatively calm.
She put down her bag, sat at her workstation, and just as she unlocked her phone, a local news notification popped up:
“Last night, a local man killed two people and is currently at large. Police are conducting a citywide search. Citizens are urged to exercise caution…”
The notification included the man’s ID photo. Xiang Er glanced at it casually, then immediately sat up straight, her heart sinking.
It was the drunken man with the mouth on his neck. Although his appearance had changed slightly, she recognized him.
But the news didn’t mention any physical transformations… Xiang Er read the news carefully again. The wording was cautious and factual, with no hint of the monstrous nature of the crime, only stating that he was a confirmed murderer.
But… the man must have transformed before the murders. The news said that he had killed a man and a woman. The man weighed over two hundred pounds. Without transforming, he wouldn’t have been able to kill him quickly and escape.
Besides, when she encountered the monster yesterday, there were traces of blood in its mouth!
So, the police were withholding information. The authorities already knew that the world wasn’t normal! She should contact them, provide clues, let them handle the capture…
Xiang Er wanted to call the police. She took out her phone, her fingers trembling as she dialed 110.
“The number you have dialed is not in service…”
Impossible! Xiang Er checked her phone. She hadn’t dialed incorrectly! But how could 110 be out of service?
She redialed, redialed, countless times, but the number remained out of service!
A vein throbbed in Xiang Er’s forehead. She looked around. Her colleagues in the office were chatting and laughing. Under the bright fluorescent lights, there were no shadows, the world seemed perfectly normal.
But in broad daylight, her emergency call wouldn’t go through!
She put down her phone, covered in cold sweat, and started sending text messages to 110, but the messages disappeared without a trace.
She typed a message:
“Hello, I’m a citizen. I recently traveled to X and bought a sculpture that seems to be possessed by a deity. Many strange things have happened, and I even saw the murderer. Please contact me!”
After sending the message, it turned into a string of garbled characters. 110 didn’t reply with any message or call, clearly not having received it.
Just then, Zhu Minmin arrived at work and greeted Xiang Er:
“Morning!”
Seeing her, Xiang Er suddenly grabbed her arm and whispered:
“I’m going to tell you something. Don’t scream and don’t disbelieve me. Everything I say is true!”
Zhu Minmin’s expression turned serious:
“What’s wrong?”
Xiang Er said:
“I @%￥@%!”
Zhu Minmin frowned in confusion:
“What are you saying?”
Xiang Er tried to enunciate clearly:
“I said my house %#@￥#!!!”
Zhu Minmin cupped her ear:
“Speak clearly! I can’t hear you!”
Xiang Er suddenly raised her voice and shouted:
“My house %￥…%**!”
Zhu Minmin shook her head:
“I still can’t hear you! What are you trying to say?”
Xiang Er let go of her in despair, looking around. The other colleagues hadn’t heard her shouting.
Xiang Er slumped back in her chair. She couldn’t tell anyone about this, just as no one else could see what she saw!
This was all the Evil God’s doing! That Evil God had placed her in a cage, rendering her struggles useless, just to revel in her fear and pain!
It had saved her last night only to savor her increased pain and despair now… As expected, It only took pleasure in despair and suffering!
Xiang Er felt like she was about to break down. She couldn’t stay here any longer. She grabbed her phone, turned around, and stumbled towards the company entrance. She had to leave this place, leave this world that had gone mad, she needed to breathe, she was suffocating under the weight of this invisible cage!
“Hey, hey, hey! Where are you going? Xiang Er! Come back for the meeting!”
The supervisor shouted after her, but she didn’t want to listen. She even walked past the surprised general manager without a glance.
She took the elevator downstairs, panting as she ran outside. She didn’t stop until she reached the gate of the industrial park, her strength finally giving out.
She gasped for air, her hands on her knees, her chest heaving with the damp, cold wind. The dark sky and grey earth pressed down on her, suffocating her in this terrifying world, eternally alone…
She was so lonely!
She wanted to share everything with someone, anyone, but there was no one to share it with!
She could only bear it all alone, struggling desperately in the exquisite cage woven by the Evil God… How long would this struggle last? Months, years, or even a lifetime? She couldn’t predict…
Xiang Er’s eyes were dry and painful. It wasn’t tears, it was cold sweat stinging her eyes.
And beneath her feet, a black river slowly flowed out, a manifestation of her despair. She looked at the river, her expression indifferent, just watching.
She even considered throwing herself into the river, to end it all. But she also knew clearly that the Evil God wouldn’t let her die so easily. It would probably be a fate worse than death.
Just as her thoughts were in complete turmoil, a voice reached her ears:
“Xiang… Er.”
The voice was slightly hoarse, a little hesitant, but with an underlying magnetism, like a cello being played slowly on a moonlit beach, the alluring voice of a mature woman.
Xiang Er looked up in surprise.
A strange white light pierced through the clouds and shone onto the ground, forming a bright beam like a spotlight, the damp, lush greenery behind her serving as a backdrop, the silver-grey walls adding depth to the scene.
It was a beautiful sight, like an oil painting.
And in the center of this painting, right in front of Xiang Er, stood a woman in a red dress.
The woman was tall and slender, her soft, slightly wavy hair cascading over her shoulders. The sharply tailored red dress accentuated her curves perfectly, the skirt flowing to the ground like petals, revealing her creamy white ankles and the smooth, taut lines of her feet.
Her high heels clicked against the ground, a slow, unhurried rhythm, as she walked towards Xiang Er with an air of leisurely grace. She looked down at Xiang Er, her dark pupils reflecting Xiang Er’s bewildered face.
With her cello-like voice, the woman whispered, her tone a mixture of sigh, amusement, and pity:
“Xiang Er…”
Xiang Er couldn’t answer. She was so stunned by the woman’s beauty that she seemed to have lost her hearing.
She had never seen, never even imagined, someone so beautiful, so unique. She was struck by this overwhelming beauty, frozen in place.
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