Chapter 82: Daily Life
For a moment, Xiang Er was frozen.
Their bodies pressed together, their breaths mingling, the warm, intoxicating scent of wine and the subtle intimacy of months of shared moments, a familiar dance.
Xiang Er swayed, almost losing her balance, falling into Akhe’s arms.
Akhe’s eyes were bright, like two small suns, her desire and anticipation unconcealed.
It wasn’t just desire, it was also anger, anger at Xiang Er’s mercy towards the small eyeball, a mercy she hadn’t shown to It.
Its emotions were a tangled mess, It had even briefly hoped that Xiang Er would cut off the small eyeball’s tentacle, and yet, a part of It had also thought, perhaps Xiang Er’s mercy… was because of It?
Perhaps… she still felt the same way about It?
Akhe held Xiang Er close, expecting her to push It away angrily, even prepared for their relationship to further deteriorate.
But… Xiang Er, for a moment, was stunned!
And in that moment, Akhe’s heart soared, a burst of hope, like a wildflower blooming in a barren wasteland.
The next second, Xiang Er pushed her away, stepping back.
Xiang Er stared at that beautiful face, the face that had once captivated her, and felt a pang of sorrow, the depth of her past love now a measure of her present pain.
She was hurting too! Why wouldn’t this creature just leave her alone!
“Get out!!!”
She shouted, her voice filled with rage, then raised her hand, her arm trembling, her teeth clenched.
She wanted to slap Akhe, but… she didn’t have the strength.
The pervasive sweet fragrance in the room had weakened her, her arm still sore and numb from pulling at the small eyeball earlier.
But… Akhe’s eyes were bright, tears glistening on her cheeks, yet she smiled, a complex, almost grateful smile, and she leaned closer to Xiang Er, her voice soft:
“Be careful, you’ll hurt your hand.”
Xiang Er’s hand trembled even more violently, her teeth biting into her lip, the metallic taste of blood, the memory of that kiss in the clouds, flooding back.
The sweet fragrance, the vivid memories, swirling in her mind, she hadn’t forgotten, she had simply refused to remember, but the intoxicating scent, like a key, unlocked the floodgates…
She remembered. That first dream, in front of the mirror… Akhe had revealed Its true form to her…
She screamed:
“Ah!!! Get out!!!”
Xiang Er lashed out, her hand striking blindly, landing against something cold and silken. She didn’t care, she didn’t look at Akhe, just turned and ran back to her room, slamming the door shut.
She buried her face in her pillow, her body pressed against the bed.
She knew how distorted her expression must be, and she knew that she was starting to uncontrollably think about “Shen Yuhe”… but that soul, it was Akhe! The one who had shared those intimate moments with her, who had been by her side, who had taken care of her, it wasn’t “Shen Yuhe,” it was “Akhe”!
Because Shen Yuhe didn’t exist, the only one who existed was Akhe!
She couldn’t accept it!
But even her pillow carried that faint, sweet fragrance, assaulting her senses.
Xiang Er’s heart ached, she couldn’t understand why her life was like this, why she was so weak!
But life was truly difficult, every choice, or even the lack of choice, a constant struggle, a painful loss…
She lifted her head, turned over, and stared at the ceiling, a single tear escaping her eye, rolling into her ear.
She was so sad, why wasn’t Shen Yuhe real, why was it Akhe?
The following days blurred into a monotonous cycle.
Xiang Er didn’t attempt suicide again, but she seemed to have lost her soul, going through the motions, rarely speaking, her gaze unfocused.
After a month, a clear pattern had emerged in their lives. Xiang Er would wake up naturally to the aroma of breakfast, and after washing up, she would find the table set, a fresh bouquet of flowers beside her plate.
The flowers were different every day, beautifully arranged, each day a different color theme, the dew on their petals always fresh.
And Akhe, displaying her remarkable learning abilities, had become a surprisingly good cook, now able to prepare a wide variety of dishes, even mastering the art of soup dumplings, but Xiang Er never ate anything Akhe made, just sitting there for a while, occasionally sipping some soy milk or coffee.
After breakfast, Akhe would take Xiang Er for a walk. They would stroll through the residential compound, then through the nearby park, looking at the new spring buds, observing the elderly people exercising, dancing.
After their walk, they would have lunch at a nearby restaurant, then buy groceries, snacks, small trinkets, pretty clothes and shoes, milk tea.
Two cups of milk tea every time, one extra sweet, one unsweetened.
Xiang Er would eat the restaurant food, and drink the milk tea, but whenever Akhe tried to take a picture of them together, she would turn away, sometimes even throwing her milk tea away.
In the afternoons, in the quiet, warm apartment, Akhe would disappear, hiding somewhere, giving Xiang Er various forms of entertainment, movies, exercise equipment, origami paper, a sewing machine… everything a human could do at home, to occupy her time.
But Xiang Er rarely engaged in these activities, preferring to sit on the balcony lounger, basking in the warm sunlight, her eyes closed.
The small eyeball would curl up at her feet like a cat, no longer daring to touch her with its tentacles, just a small, black ball, content to be near her.
Sometimes Xiang Er would fall asleep, and when she woke up, a hand-knitted blanket would be draped over her, but Akhe would be nowhere in sight.
Akhe seemed to be learning to knit. Once, she must have forgotten to conceal herself, and Xiang Er saw her sitting on the bed in the master bedroom, two hands and three tentacles manipulating four knitting needles simultaneously, a colorful blanket rapidly taking shape.
Whenever the yarn got tangled, a few small tentacles would deftly untangle it.
Xiang Er watched her for a few seconds, then returned to her lounger, her eyes closed, her thoughts like ripples on a still lake.
She thought:
“Tentacles are quite useful…”
Akhe’s head snapped up, her gaze fixed on Xiang Er’s lounger, her eyes shining, a happy smile curving her lips. She had indeed forgotten to conceal herself, completely engrossed in her knitting, only a small part of her mind monitoring Xiang Er’s safety, unaware that Xiang Er was watching her.
So… Xiang Er didn’t mind her using tentacles to knit?
From then on, she deliberately didn’t hide anymore, spending her afternoons knitting in the master bedroom, her tentacles on full display.
Although Xiang Er didn’t stare at her for as long as she had the first time, even a fleeting glance was enough to make Akhe happy for the entire day.
The apartment filled with blankets, mountains of colorful, hand-knitted blankets, and besides blankets, there were sweaters, scarves, vests, even socks… there was barely any space left.
In the evenings, Akhe would prepare elaborate meals, occasionally even candlelit dinners with mulled wine, and under the flickering candlelight, Xiang Er’s usually cold and distant expression would soften slightly, a sight Akhe couldn’t get enough of.
But Xiang Er would only eat a few bites, and she never drank the mulled wine. She would always lock her bedroom door before going to sleep, a symbolic gesture, even though she knew it was meaningless.
Of course, it didn’t stop Akhe. Every night, after Xiang Er fell asleep, Akhe would sneak into her room, hold her for a while, even entering her dreams.
Xiang Er’s dreams were now filled with monsters, all sorts of terrifying creatures, all with black and red tentacles and blood-red eyes, just like Akhe. Akhe would enter her dreams, defeat the other “Akhes,” then quietly leave before she woke up.
Under Akhe’s meticulous care, Xiang Er’s physical health was perfect, but the color never returned to her cheeks, her eyes remained dull and lifeless, no longer reflecting the vibrant emotions of before.
Her thoughts were also chaotic and confused, a constant source of bewilderment for Akhe, who even wondered if her SAN value had dropped too low.
Aside from Xiang Er’s silence, their life together was almost perfect, Akhe having researched human relationships and concluded that this was what couples did, it was called “peaceful, domestic bliss.”
If only Xiang Er didn’t hate It so much, it would be perfect.
Meanwhile, for the past month, Lǜ’è City had become the focus of the world’s attention, the nation’s top investigators gathered there, yet none dared approach the entity, only maintaining a tight security perimeter around the old residential compound, on high alert whenever the entity and its girlfriend appeared.
The only person who could communicate with the entity was An Yue, who had become a global celebrity, responsible for liaising with Akhe, delivering fresh flowers every day, which Akhe would retrieve with its tentacles, even occasionally sitting with Akhe in the stairwell, discussing relationship problems.
An Yue had even taken a crash course in relationship psychology, although it was all theoretical, for now, that was all Akhe needed.
One morning, a month later…
An Yue, summoned by Akhe, arrived at the sixth floor, and after waiting for almost an hour, finally knocked on the door.
She occasionally knocked before, but Xiang Er never seemed to hear, it was always Akhe’s tentacles that opened the door.
But today, after only three polite knocks, the door opened.
…A human!
An Yue’s heart sank, had Akhe taken a new hostage?
But then the door opened wider, and Xiang Er’s pale, expressionless face appeared.
An Yue was holding a bouquet of flowers, her appearance professional, her hair styled in its usual wolf cut, her angular face radiating a wild, romantic charm.
Xiang Er’s eyes lit up slightly, and she spoke, her voice hoarse from disuse:
“Officer… Officer An?”
An Yue:
“Ah… it’s me. I’m here to… deliver flowers.”
Xiang Er looked at the flowers, then suddenly smiled:
“You’re holding the flowers, so the flowers are the ones that are alive.”
Just then, Akhe, wearing an apron, emerged from the kitchen, tentacles holding a spatula, a kitchen knife, a steamer basket, a rolling pin, and dumpling wrappers.
Her beautiful face was calm, her gaze fixed on An Yue, her jealousy undisguised.
The air in the room grew heavy, the pressure almost crushing An Yue, who stood firm, her willpower and strong physique her only defense.
But Xiang Er, glancing back at Akhe, added, her voice laced with a hint of malicious amusement:
“Unlike that thing, which can’t even pretend convincingly.”
Akhe’s tentacles lashed out, the kitchen knife raised menacingly, like a hydra’s heads poised to strike.
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