Chapter 23: Perhaps None Are

The curtains were drawn so tightly that not a sliver of light could slip through. The only illumination in the room came from the computer screen, its cold white glow accentuating the dark circles beneath Wei Qingxuan’s eyes.

In three days and nights, he had slept less than seven hours in total. Most of his time had been spent staring at that moving red dot.

After leaving him, she seemed both excited and cautious. In a single day, she had passed through two cities, switching between buses and long-distance coaches. Yesterday, she arrived in yet another new city, and stayed there for quite a while.

Wei Qingxuan glanced at the calendar. It was the university registration period.

“Linbin City.”

He slowly read the three words aloud.

So she had gone there?

‘That’s quite close to me.’

Ring, ring, ring-

A phone call pulled him briefly back to reality. He pressed answer.

“Hello, is this Mr. Wei Qingxuan?” The voice through the receiver, softened by static, remained professionally gentle. “This is a reminder that your scheduled psychological consultation is in thirty minutes. Would you like us to come to you?”

“I’ll come over.”

When the clinic door opened, it carried in a draft from the corridor. Wei Qingxuan walked in, his black hoodie pulled low, shadowing most of his face. Without looking at the doctor, he went straight to the chair by the window and sat down.

“Hello.” The doctor glanced at the A4 sheet his assistant had just handed over. A small asterisk was marked beside Wei Qingxuan’s name. Maintaining a calm gaze, he said gently, “What would you like help with today?”

“I want someone,” Wei Qingxuan said plainly.

The doctor paused, then recovered quickly. “Relationship counseling is next door, but the counselor just stepped out. I can call them back for you.”

“No need.” His voice was flat, his desire to converse minimal. “Attachment. Insomnia. Desire to control. Desire to possess. Self-harm doesn’t relieve it.”

In a few blunt words, he summarized the past three days.

The doctor glanced at the arm hidden beneath his layers of clothing and inhaled slowly. “Then let’s talk about her.”

At that sentence, something in Wei Qingxuan’s expression loosened slightly.

“In your heart,” the doctor asked, “what color is she?”

Wei Qingxuan hadn’t expected that question. He thought for a long while before answering, “Gold.”

“Why gold?”

“She’s radiant. Alive. Adorable.”

“And what color do you think you are?”

“Black. A black that never sees daylight.”

The doctor wrote both colors down on a blank sheet of paper. “You want to control her, to possess her, yet you can’t get close to her.”

At the last phrase, Wei Qingxuan’s expression cooled for a fleeting second before smoothing out again. “Mm.”

“What about your family… your parents? What colors are they?”

He did not answer immediately. The room fell quiet. He stared at the words the doctor had written and hesitated before saying, “My mother is red. My father is… another kind of red.”

A color of trauma, irritability, oppression, unrest. The doctor’s pen pressed harder as he continued along that line of thought.

“You want to get close to gold,” the doctor ventured, “because red overstimulates you? May I ask, did something happen in your family?”

“No,” Wei Qingxuan denied without hesitation.

His defenses were always on standby. Noting this, the doctor set down his pen and met his gaze. “That’s fine. You don’t have to say anything you don’t want to.”

“Perhaps your stress is too high. Try exercising, then getting proper sleep. Shift your attention. Go out, get some air-”

Before the doctor could finish, Wei Qingxuan abruptly stood up. The phone in his pocket was vibrating rapidly, signaling something urgent.

He strode out of the clinic, pulled out his phone, and saw the red dot bouncing frantically.

This wasn’t a program he had set. He had no idea what it meant.

He rushed home as quickly as possible. On his computer screen, a large “ERROR” glared back at him, accompanied by overlapping system alerts. Someone was breaching his system.

He sat down and logged in. As if sensing his return, the intruder immediately stopped and withdrew.

The screen gradually quieted.

Wei Qingxuan did not relax. He quickly checked his phone. Fortunately, the red dot was still stationary.

But that wasn’t a good sign. If his system had been invaded, Qiqi had likely discovered the tracker.

He didn’t hesitate. Grabbing the suitcase he had long packed in advance, he bought a plane ticket and arrived in Linbin City by evening.

The closer he got to the red dot, the more even the slightest movements became visible, making it easier to find Wen Qi.

****

On the first day of university registration, Wen Qi was already considering renting an apartment. Qiao Mi had sent her several voice-acting scripts; staying in the dorm would be inconvenient.

And on the very first day…

The girl across from her, Li Haoyi, had damaged the beauty device belonging to Rong Yi, the girl beside Wen Qi’s bed, while moving her luggage.

Wen Qi immediately lost confidence in dorm life. Besides, all her precious recording equipment had been left at Wei Qingxuan’s house. The chances of retrieving them were zero. Fortunately, Qiao Mi had said she could lend her equipment for now.

But she didn’t want those devices getting knocked around. Unfortunately, being new to the city, she couldn’t find suitable housing immediately.

Li Haoyi and Zhang Jing were still arguing. Zhang Jing’s beauty device had no official sales channel in the country and couldn’t easily be repurchased. Even resellers couldn’t secure stock. In the end, Li Haoyi would have to compensate her.

Li Haoyi argued that since it wasn’t brand new, she should only pay eighty percent of the price. Zhang Jing refused. With both families present, they defended their own daughters.

No matter the final outcome, a grudge had already formed on the very first day.

It was a four-person dorm. Only one girl, Qian Jinghao, had already set up her bed and gone to explore campus with her parents.

Wen Qi seemed to be the only one alone.

She stuffed the issued bedding into her cabinet and left the dorm, planning to return once the argument ended.

Campus was lively, seniors promoting clubs, freshmen everywhere. People, people, people.

And people were exactly what she didn’t want to see right now.

She had glanced at the campus map earlier and headed toward the southernmost area from memory. Soon, she reached a small grove.

Beside it was a lake. She hadn’t memorized its name, only that it was quiet and scenic.

She sat on a stone bench, pulled her hat low, leaned back, and took a can of beer from her bag.

Drinking on the first day of school, probably only she would do that. But after days of intense vigilance, she was utterly exhausted. If alcohol could numb her nerves enough to let her sleep tonight, so be it.

“Want one?”

She swallowed her mouthful of beer and looked up. Her gaze first fell on the convenience store bag in his hand, two cans of iced cola clinking softly.

“Meeting again,” he said.

She remembered. Jiang Tinghao, the senior who had helped her with luggage that morning. He’d added her on WeChat, but she’d forgotten to accept.

“Could you approve my friend request?” he smiled. “If you need anything, you can ask me.”

“Mm.”

She set down her beer and took out her phone.

“Thinking of renting?” she suddenly asked.

“Renting? Sure. I’ve got classmates who rent off-campus. If you want, I can ask around.”

“Thanks.”

She was distant.

Jiang Tinghao was used to girls responding warmly, he was good-looking, in the student council. Rarely did anyone treat him this coolly.

But then again, a face like hers, that faint chill in her aura, she must be accustomed to being admired.

He rationalized her indifference.

“I’ve seen you sitting here for half an hour.” He lifted the bag. “Can’t let you drink alone. Cola for half your beer?”

“…Not interested.”

She only wanted alcohol.

But as he shook the bag, she inexplicably thought of Wei Qingxuan. He always tried to stop her from drinking, but if she acted pitiful, his principles crumbled.

He would even mix drinks for her.

He was absurdly talented at it, far better than Xiang Weishi. She liked his drinks.

Wei Qingxuan had noticed.

Those days, when he held her on the sink and only stopped after hearing her trembling sobs, he would leave the bathroom, mix her a drink, lean close, kiss her ear, and murmur,

“Qiqi, can you spread your legs a little wider next time? I’d like to drink more too.”

His lips were hot and soft.

His movements were not.

He only stopped when her voice broke.

Wei Qingxuan was terrible.

She hated him.

If he were here, seeing this scene, who knew how jealous he’d be? A walking vinegar jar.

Too bad he couldn’t see it.

She couldn’t help laughing softly.

“What’s so funny?” Jiang Tinghao asked.

“Nothing. Just remembered something funny.”

“If you like drinking, there are some nice bars nearby. Good security. I could take you.”

She looked at him silently.

Even he felt a flicker of nervousness.

“Of course, we just met. That might not be appropriate. I mean, you could go yourself later.”

“Senior,” she said.

“Yes?”

She arched a brow. “Are you trying to hit on me?”

****

Wei Qingxuan watched the red dot settle on a food street.

After confirming the location, he immediately took a taxi with his suitcase.

“Accommodation there isn’t cheap,” the driver said. “And it’s noisy at night. If you haven’t booked, I can recommend somewhere else.”

“No need. I’m going to find my… girlfriend.”

“Oh, long-distance relationship, huh?”

“Mm. Please drive faster.”

The driver chatted cheerfully about his own love story.

Wei Qingxuan barely responded, eyes fixed on the red dot.

Finally, traffic forced the taxi to stop short of the street entrance.

He walked the rest of the way.

The red dot showed no sign of fleeing.

His frantic steps slowed. He even paused to straighten his clothes in a roadside reflection.

The dark circles couldn’t be hidden, so he bought sunglasses. He drew more than a few glances.

The closer he got, the faster his heart pounded.

This time, he would not let her leave his sight.

Not again.

According to the signal, he stopped before a café.

Inside was dim, moody lighting, vintage décor. The noise of the street vanished the moment he stepped in.

It took him several seconds to locate the figure in the corner.

He approached quietly and stood beside her.

“Excuse me, can I help you?”

Not Wen Qi.

His aura froze instantly.

He checked his phone. His location overlapped exactly with the red dot.

The tracker was here.

Where was Wen Qi?

He looked up sharply. The girl wore the exact same hair accessory as Wen Qi.

“Where did you get that?”

“My boyfriend gave it to me,” she said. “Bought it from a small stall in his hometown.”

A small stall?

His phone vibrated violently again.

This time, the red dot didn’t just jump, it multiplied.

One by one, red dots spread across the entire country.

Impossible to tell which was real.

Perhaps none were.

Wei Qingxuan stared at the multiplying signals, then calmly shut the screen.

He found a seat, opened his laptop, and began tracing the intruder from earlier that day.

One hour.

Two hours.

Three hours.

‘Qiqi, you’d better not leave even the slightest trace.’

He smiled.

‘…Until dawn.’

In her sleep, Wen Qi suddenly received a call from Xiang Weishi.

His voice was urgent.

“May God bless you.”