Chapter 1 Appetizer
The rain poured down relentlessly, the air thick and humid. Heavy moisture permeated the small house.
A window stood open, banging rhythmically against its frame in the wind and rain. Fat raindrops splattered onto the windowsill and the floor below, forming rivulets that snaked and twisted across the surface.
A woman stood by the window, her hair as black as night, her lips a vibrant red. She gazed out at the rain-blurred night, still as a doll, devoid of any discernible life.
Slowly, she turned. A flash of lightning split the sky, momentarily bathing the world in an eerie white light. The stark contrast made her appear almost ghostly.
Zhu Ming felt a jolt, a sudden icy clutch around her heart.
She didn’t want to hear it.
But she had to.
“Why not extract Zhu Ming’s soul directly?”
“It’s not time yet. I want to change the plan.”
“Have you truly fallen in love with her?”
A soft laugh echoed. “Love? Can beings like us fall in love with humans? It seems like a novel experience. Unfortunately, I haven’t. I wouldn’t call it love… Hmm? Awake?”
The woman by the window glided towards the girl lying half-conscious on the floor. She knelt down, her long, cool fingers gently brushing aside the girl’s hair. Zhu Ming struggled to open her eyes, looking up at the woman looming over her.
This was the lover she cherished, the most beautiful being in her heart.
Yet now, through stinging, heavy eyelids, Zhu Ming saw something she shouldn’t have. At the center of her lover’s form, composed of countless overlapping phantom images, was…
BOOM!
A clap of thunder jolted the woman awake. Sitting up in bed, she clutched her head, pressing hard against her temples.
Another dream. The same nightmare.
Zhu Ming pounded the bed in frustration. Glancing up, she noticed the window, blown open at some point during the night, now rattling in the wind. Rain lashed into the room, mirroring the scene from her dream.
…Zhu Ming’s mood darkened further.
She got out of bed, intending to close the window she’d forgotten to shut the previous night.
But something outside caught her eye, momentarily distracting her from her task.
A figure huddled under an umbrella, shivering, paced back and forth in front of the gate downstairs. Suddenly, as if sensing something, the figure looked up, revealing a pale, blurred face.
Their eyes met. The figure shrieked and turned to flee.
Zhu Ming, living in a small two-story house, swung one leg over the windowsill, ready to jump. The figure with the umbrella, glancing back, saw this and slipped in the accumulated rainwater.
Just then, the front door swung open. Another person rushed out, grabbing the fallen visitor before they could get up.
Moments later, the living room downstairs was bathed in warm light, illuminating everyone present.
Having dropped her umbrella in the fall, Li Xiuya was soaked to the bone. Used to being impeccably dressed, she hadn’t been this disheveled in years, but right now, she had more pressing concerns.
The girl who had pulled her inside wore a long, glossy black braid that reached her hips. She didn’t look Han Chinese, possessing an air of ethnic simplicity and charm. Her light-colored eyes held a calming clarity… which would have been even more effective if Li Xiuya hadn’t just experienced her incredible strength.
Li Xiuya offered a polite smile and turned to the woman opposite her.
Earlier, this woman had been at the second-floor window. In the flashes of lightning, she had appeared as nothing more than a shadowy figure. A figure lurking at the window in the dead of night, staring… Having just experienced something truly unsettling, Li Xiuya couldn’t handle that kind of fright.
Her fear had led to a misunderstanding. Now, seeing clearly, she realized it wasn’t a ghost but a living person.
This woman possessed a completely different aura from the innocent-looking girl. Her shoulder-length, choppy hair was a mess, streaked with red on the left side. Her features were delicate, but her eyes held a sharp, almost aggressive glint.
However, now she was looking at Li Xiuya with a friendly smile, her usual aloofness masked by polite conversation.
“Why did you run away just now? Since you’ve come all this way in the middle of the night, just tell us what’s wrong.”
Zhu Ming offered a warm welcome. “A-Zou, get our guest some hot water and a towel.”
She gestured to the girl with the ethnic features. “My name is Zhu Ming, and this is Yun Zouchuan, my employee. Since you’ve come here so late, you must know what we do, right?”
Li Xiuya nodded quickly. “I do.”
The Small Fire God Supernatural Studio, located at 126 Ping’an Street in the southern district of Hua City, was a bit out of the way. If it weren’t for the unbelievable events of tonight, Li Xiuya would never have driven here alone in the early hours of the morning.
She had heard that this place dealt with matters that defied common sense. To put it bluntly, they caught ghosts. Li Xiuya had never believed in such things before, but now she had no choice.
Soon, the hot water and towel arrived. Li Xiuya clutched the cup, shivering as she recounted her story.
“Something strange has been happening in my house. Or rather, it happened half an hour ago. My house… is haunted!”
Li Xiuya’s voice rose in agitation, nearly spilling the tea. Seeing her fear override even the heat of the water, Zhu Ming reached out and took the cup from her.
“Take your time. We’re experienced with these things. We’ll help you no matter what’s happening.”
Zhu Ming’s calm demeanor and encouraging smile helped Li Xiuya regain some composure. “Actually, strange things have been happening for several days now, but when I told people, they didn’t believe me. Until tonight… I just couldn’t take it anymore. I saw… I saw my husband crawling on the floor like an insect!”
Li Xiuya covered her mouth, the sheer terror threatening to make her vomit. “I called out to him, but he didn’t seem to hear me. The lights wouldn’t turn on, and my phone had no signal. Everything was fine before I went to sleep. Oh, right… I woke up because I felt cold.”
The stormy night had made sleep restless, and the chill had woken Li Xiuya. She found her blankets pulled off. Turning her head, she saw her husband at the door.
The familiar man looked strange and terrifying. His upper body was inside the room, facing her, while the lower half was hidden in the darkness beyond the door. His eyes were closed, his head slowly turning from side to side.
He moved, inching forward, writhing, like a giant insect in human skin, crawling towards her.
Frozen in terror, Li Xiuya watched helplessly until a clap of thunder jolted her awake. She scrambled out of bed, desperate to escape the nightmare.
But it wasn’t a dream. In the end, she could only flee her once-loving home and seek help.
Li Xiuya wrung her hands anxiously. “What should I do? How could this happen?”
A man crawling like an insect? Zhu Ming considered this. “What other strange things have happened? When did it start?”
Li Xiuya swallowed hard. “Thinking back, it started six days ago. My husband came back from a business trip that day, and we… were intimate. But then I dreamt I was with someone I couldn’t see clearly. It felt wrong, so I woke up. And I found my husband… continuing in reality. I was angry and pushed him away, but he just went back to sleep as if he didn’t know anything.”
After that, things became increasingly bizarre. She frequently dreamt of being intimate with someone, the figure in her dreams becoming clearer… and more terrifying. It wasn’t human. It was a monster.
The strangeness seeped into her waking life. Li Xiuya had to confide in her friends.
First, her husband became clingy at night, sleepwalking, but with no memory upon waking. Then, his personality and even his appearance began to change. Yesterday morning, while brushing her teeth, Li Xiuya caught sight of her husband behind her in the mirror.
The familiar man stared at her with cold, sinister eyes. In the reflection, his features seemed to melt and distort under the harsh bathroom light. The corners of his mouth stretched upwards in a grotesque, unsettling parody of a smile.
Startled, Li Xiuya turned around. Her husband yawned sleepily, looking much the same as always, just a little tired.
At that point, Li Xiuya still didn’t fully believe she was dealing with something supernatural. She told herself her friends were right, that it was just stress and hallucinations. But the doubt lingered, and she began searching for solutions in the realm of the paranormal.
She had found the Small Fire God Supernatural Studio advertised on a local online forum. The account posting the ad had a low rating, and most of the replies were mocking, ridiculing the idea of such things in this day and age. Only one supporting comment claimed their problem had been solved, but this person was either accused of being a paid shill or delusional.
Li Xiuya read that account’s comments repeatedly, sensing a genuine conviction and trust in their words.
So tonight, when her husband underwent that terrifying transformation, Li Xiuya, driven to desperation, had come seeking their help.
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