Chapter 14: So Bad

Tan Xueci’s eyelids were flushed red, but he had forgotten to continue crying. He just stared blankly at He Xunye, his lips trembling. He was about to speak when another series of sharp knocks sounded from the door.

Thump, thump, thump.

A violent shiver ran through Tan Xueci. He snatched the quilt back from He Xunye’s hands and scrambled unsteadily back underneath it.

He Xunye reached out to pull it away again, and Tan Xueci screamed and struggled incessantly. However, his voice was already hoarse; his screams weren’t loud, and instead, he sounded like he was weeping piteously.

He was a tiny, thin ball huddled under the covers, his sobbing so tragic it was heart-wrenching.

He Xunye pulled the boy into his arms, but Tan Xueci struggled violently. He cried for a long time until he finally quieted down, and only then did He Xunye peel the quilt down a little.

The small face that had been muffled underneath was soaked with tears. His vision was blurry, and he let out an occasional sob.

…So beautiful.

He Xunye’s dark eyes lowered as he wiped away the tears at the corners of the boy’s eyes. “It’s gone, Xiao Xue,” he said gently. “There’s nothing outside. Should I take you to see?”

Tan Xueci shook his head desperately, trying to hide under the quilt again.

He Xunye held him half-wrapped in his arms, waiting patiently for him to come out on his own.

Indeed, the knocking had stopped.

With bright red eyes, Tan Xueci curled his fingers and stared down at his hands. After a long time, he moved slightly, reaching out to touch He Xunye’s shoulder, only to flinch back as if burned.

He repeated this many times until he finally managed to reach out bit by bit and wrap his arms around He Xunye’s neck.

He Xunye placed the lamb plushie back in his arms, then hooked his arm under the boy’s knees and picked him up—quilt and all. He carried him effortlessly, as if there were no difference in weight between Tan Xueci and the toy lamb.

Startled, Tan Xueci reflexively clung tighter to He Xunye.

Only then did he realize how cold He Xunye was. Even through the quilt, the cold made him shudder; it was like being pressed against a block of ice.

“Xiao Xue,” He Xunye carried him to the door. His thin, red lips curled into a smirk, and he spoke coaxingly as he prompted the boy to look through the peephole. “Look, there’s nothing out there.”

Tan Xueci was resistant, but the man’s arms were unshakeable, showing no intention of putting him down. He could only fearfully press his eye to the hole. Indeed… he saw nothing.

Because it was pitch black outside.

Pure black.

Tan Xueci shuddered. He felt, quite inappropriately, as if someone else had pressed their eye against the other side and was staring back in.

He Xunye lowered his head, his gentle, cool voice sounding right behind the boy’s ear. “Is anyone there?”

“Hu… Husband,” Tan Xueci’s eyes welled up. He slumped against He Xunye’s shoulder and sobbed softly. “It’s dark outside. I can’t see.”

He had only called him “Husband” once before at the funeral hall; after that, he had always called him “Mr. He.” But because He Xunye had just identified himself as his husband, he had followed suit subconsciously. Realizing what he had just said, the tips of his snowy-white ears turned a deep red.

“Is that so?” He Xunye laughed softly. “The lights must be off. See? There isn’t a single person out there.”

Is that true?

Tan Xueci remembered that the hotel hallway lights were always on. Even if they weren’t, they should be sound-activated. He had screamed so loudly—how could it be dark out there?

He couldn’t figure it out, so he leaned in and peered through the hole for a long time.

He didn’t know that the ghost outside—the one covered in eyeballs—was currently holding its breath so hard its eyes were nearly popping out. Its eye sockets ached, but it didn’t dare move a muscle. it didn’t dare blink or shift, terrified of scaring Tan Xueci again.

Sensing the smiling evil spirit on the other side of the door, the ghost’s eyeballs began to tremble uncontrollably with a soul-deep chill.

When spirits “eat” people, it isn’t always through swallowing them whole. This ghost’s method was more like a parasitic takeover: first scaring the victim until their mind shattered, then making them eat its eyeballs to merge into one.

It had targeted Tan Xueci at the hospital entrance, but it hadn’t sensed any other spirits around him the entire time. Just as it had been about to push the door open, someone had tapped its shoulder from behind.

It had turned around to face the devastatingly handsome face of the evil spirit.

“You’ve been staring at him for too long,” the evil spirit had told it, his tone mild yet regretful. “I don’t really like that.”

Tan Xueci wrapped his arms around He Xunye’s neck and huddled into his chest, refusing to look anymore. Only then did He Xunye carry him away.

As he turned, a ghostly wind whipped through the hallway. One by one, the eyeballs on the ghost behind the door exploded, turning it into a bloody mess. The bloody figure, dragging its grape-like eyes, dropped pieces of itself as it crawled toward the window. There, a pale, bony ghost hand shoved it out, and it fell with a silent splash of blood.

The evil spirit happily carried his little wife back to bed. Tan Xueci sat cross-legged on the mattress, wrapped in the quilt, his body still shaking slightly.

It was raining outside, with occasional thunder and the wail of the wind. Every time he heard the wind, he would flinch and fearfully clutch He Xunye’s arm to his chest.

“Don’t be afraid, Xiao Xue,” He Xunye stroked his head, comforting him like a considerate husband. “Everything is fine now.”

Tan Xueci couldn’t take anything in; he just leaned against him, trembling. He Xunye pulled the boy onto his lap so they were face-to-face. Tan Xueci clutched his lamb and leaned against the spirit’s chest, his fingers gripping He Xunye’s suit jacket. It took a long time for him to finally calm down.

Then, he realized something wasn’t quite right.

Isn’t my husband dead?

Tan Xueci shook his head. No, no. Whether it’s He Xunye or the ghosts I met tonight, they’re all fake.

Zhai Fang hadn’t come to the set, so he had finished work early. He had come back to the hotel, taken a nap, and then gone to the hospital… Was it possible he never woke up? That he never went to the hospital and had been dreaming this entire time?

He used to have nightmares like this—extremely vivid ones. He’d dream he was trapped in a “ghost wall” at home, unable to escape. He’d finally see his mother ahead, run up to hug her legs, only to look up and find she had no face. Then he’d wake up terrified.

I must be dreaming.

Tan Xueci let out a small sigh of relief.

Every time he had called for He Xunye before, the ghosts had vanished. Subconsciously, he was very dependent on He Xunye. In any case, He Xunye made him feel much safer than the things outside.

He even grew bold enough to look up and study He Xunye closely. He noticed a string of black prayer beads on He Xunye’s left wrist. The man’s wrist bone was pale and lean, making the beads look like a deep, ghostly black. But this actually made him feel more at ease—it had to be a dream. How could a ghost wear prayer beads?

Who was he even trying to provoke?

He didn’t speak; he just carefully reached out and hugged He Xunye’s waist. When he wasn’t pushed away, he finally felt completely grounded.

It was definitely a dream. Otherwise, why would He Xunye let him hug him? He Sui (He Xunye’s brother/cousin) never let him get close and rarely smiled at him.

Dr. Xie said that what you think about during the day, you dream about at night. His near-drowning as a child had left him so traumatized that he was terrified of the world, which is why he started seeing ghosts.

Perhaps he simply wanted a husband who would smile at him, so he dreamed of He Xunye this way.

He knew it—unless it was a dream, how could something this good happen? Someone holding him, smiling at him tenderly, and stroking his head to comfort him. It felt like a luxury even for a dream.

Tan Xueci sat on the man’s cold thighs. Because of the height difference, sitting on He Xunye’s lap meant his face was buried right in the man’s chest.

The man had a great physique; his narrow waist had no excess fat, and his chest muscles were perfectly firm. The well-tailored suit outlined every inch of muscle vividly.

Tan Xueci’s cheeks began to turn red.

Was he… was he really this “bad”? What on earth was he thinking, dreaming about He Xunye like this?

He suddenly remembered the rumors he’d heard—that He Xunye had “special hobbies” and could play with people until they ended up in the hospital. Apparently, more than one person had been affected; ambulances supposedly carted them out of clubs by the truckload at night.

Tan Xueci swallowed hard and peeked up at He Xunye. He looked like the type of person who could send someone to the hospital. He must be dreaming this because of those rumors he’d heard.

As for He Xunye being cold to the touch, that was likely because his subconscious knew his husband was dead.

Tan Xueci had a sudden realization. He wasn’t as scared as before, but he felt embarrassed sitting on He Xunye. He scrambled down to lie back in bed, though he kept a persistent, clingy grip on a few of He Xunye’s fingers.

He rested his face on He Xunye’s leg and looked up at him piteously. “Hu… Husband, can you please not leave?”

He was so tired his eyes were barely open, but he was afraid that if he closed them, He Xunye would vanish.

He Xunye reached out and pinched his cheek; it was incredibly soft. Every time he pinched, Tan Xueci would shudder with teary eyes. So piteous… The evil spirit’s eyes were dark and intense, and his voice carried a strange sense of amusement. “Husband won’t leave.”

Tan Xueci was still afraid, so he kept opening his eyes to check on him. After several times, he finally fell asleep.

He had cried for a long time that night; his eyes were swollen like peaches. Oblivious to the difference between man and ghost, he slept soundly next to the evil spirit.

He Xunye observed his little wife with great interest for a while. When he turned his head away, the smile slowly slid from his lips.

The evil spirit’s narrow eyes tightened, becoming gloomy and cold. He looked down at the grape-like eyeballs that had rolled near his feet—the ones he hadn’t finished dealing with—and crushed them under his heel without expression.