Chapter 35: Followed Home!

He felt as if he were submerged in seawater, enveloped by boundless icy cold.

Bobbing up and down, unable to touch solid ground.

Vines from the ocean floor reached up, entwining around his limbs.

Pei Liu struggled to open his eyes, but his gaze met only pitch blackness.

Pei Liu looked closely and discovered it was a dense black mist, forming a tangible cage that trapped him inside.

He frowned and tried to struggle, but his body felt entirely devoid of strength.

After a long while, his consciousness blurred, and he fell into a deep slumber once again.

The next day.

When Pei Liu woke up, the sky was a clear blue, and bright sunlight streamed into the room. Such a radiant, beautiful day easily gave one a sense of security.

Lying on the sofa, he stretched leisurely, his body uncoiling like a long, lithe cat.

His hand rested on the sofa’s armrest, brushing against the golden sunlight, his fingertips catching its warm temperature.

So comfortable.

It felt like ages since he had last seen the sun.

That dilapidated house was far too cold and gloomy.

Finally free.

Pei Liu’s heart swelled with joy. Feeling thoroughly relaxed, he casually patted his stomach.

So hungry. Time to get up, wash, and find something to eat.

He slowly climbed up, planted one foot on the floor, took two steps forward, and suddenly felt he had stepped on something soft. He looked down, and instantly, his entire body froze.

It was… that doll. Wh-why was it here?

Pei Liu’s mind went blank, buzzing incessantly.

Those two black button eyes stared back at him eerily, as if alive, emitting a bone-chilling coldness. Worse still, it looked as though it might open its mouth at any second to tear at his flesh.

Fear seized Pei Liu’s heart, and he hurriedly yanked his foot back.

He couldn’t help but start doubting: Did I really make it back?

He had once seen a horror movie with three layers of existence: the surface world, the inner world, and the real world. The female protagonist finally escaped and returned home, thinking everything was over, but in reality, she was still trapped in the surface world, never able to leave.

Could what’s before my eyes be just an illusion? Is everything I see fake?

Pei Liu’s throat felt parched, and he swallowed hard.

Drawing on his experience from horror movies, he didn’t dare throw the doll away carelessly, nor did he want to return to the haunted house to put it back. Instead, he placed it in a drawer and locked it.

Unable to think of a better solution for now, he could only temporarily avoid it and try to forget the matter.

Pei Liu walked over to the floor-to-ceiling windows and stood quietly, bathing in the sunlight. Waiting until his chilled body warmed up and he felt his yang energy replenished, he let out a sigh of relief. Curling his lips into a smile, he turned to take a shower.

After showering, he stood in front of the mirror, unaware that a shadowy figure formed from black mist embraced him from behind. The entity’s movements were filled with possessiveness, using its embrace as a prison to lock him in.

Pei Liu looked up. Water droplets clung to his thick, long eyelashes, clumping them together and shimmering faintly. As he trembled, the droplets rolled down his cheek, looking like tears.

His heart tightened as he caught a glimpse of a blurry black shadow out of the corner of his eye.

But upon closer inspection, there was nothing there.

Am I being too sensitive?

Pei Liu turned around, hesitating as he took a few more glances.

He didn’t know how incredibly close he was to the unseen entity in that posture; a little closer, and his soft lips would have brushed against the entity’s mouth.

Finding nothing amiss, Pei Liu turned his head back and hurriedly left the bathroom.

Silk-like long hair, reminiscent of cold, fine snow, lightly brushed against his neck, causing a very faint tickle.

Pei Liu ignored it, wanting to go somewhere lively.

He put on a face mask, grabbed a black baseball cap, and headed out.

The city’s central business district was filled with towering skyscrapers, bustling crowds, and endless traffic—a scene of vibrant prosperity.

Pei Liu looked up at a massive billboard, hooked a finger over the edge of his mask, and let out a soft breath.

This is great.

The lively human atmosphere is everywhere.

His stomach let out a growl.

It was mealtime; being hungry was only natural.

Pei Liu found a teahouse, went in for morning tea, and decided to combine breakfast and lunch into one meal.

To comfort and reward his exhausted self, Pei Liu scanned the QR code to order, tapping rapidly on his phone, ordering almost every kind of dim sum available.

Then, he sat obediently, waiting for the waiter to push the little cart over and fill his table.

When the waiter saw he was alone, he paused and asked: “Sir, are you waiting for someone? Should we wait a bit before serving?”

Pei Liu shook his head: “It’s just me.”

The waiter was shocked, but his excellent professionalism allowed him to quickly regain his composure. With a smile, he placed the bamboo steamers onto the table one by one.

Steamed chicken feet, crystal shrimp dumplings, dry-steamed siu mai, tripe, durian pastry, red rice rolls, sampan congee, Chencun flat noodles with spare ribs, pork knuckle vinegar…

Excellent in color, aroma, and taste—just looking at them made one’s mouth water.

Pei Liu took off his mask, picked up the chopsticks that had already been rinsed with hot water, and decisively grabbed a piece of his favorite red rice roll. He dipped it in sauce and popped it into his mouth.

The soft and chewy red rice outer layer, the fresh, sweet, and bouncy large shrimp, and the thin, crispy fried dough fused together perfectly; one bite and he couldn’t stop.

As Pei Liu ate the delicious food, he felt moved.

This tastes so good, it’s definitely the real world.

The surrounding tables were fully occupied. People were chatting and laughing loudly—the lively atmosphere of human life was everywhere.

Pei Liu couldn’t help but sigh, It’s great to be alive, before lowering his head to focus entirely on eating.

But he didn’t know that sitting in the seat next to him was the unseen entity, lazily resting its chin on its hand, watching him eat with great relish. With a hint of curiosity in its eyes, it leaned in and took a bite as well, perfectly covering the spot where Pei Liu had just bitten.

Indeed.

The entity chewed slowly and deliberately.

When the dim sum was first served, Pei Liu worried he wouldn’t be able to finish it all. Yet, one bamboo steamer after another was emptied. When the waiter came to clear them away, he was quite surprised. A satisfying sense of happiness vaguely appeared on the customer’s face. Was it so good he… cried?

Is it really that delicious?

At a table near Pei Liu sat a young male college student. He hadn’t noticed at first, but suddenly felt the person looked familiar. After a while, he realized why, sneakily took a photo of Pei Liu, sent it to his girlfriend, and asked: “Is this the star you like?”

Almost instantly, a string of exclamation marks arrived, followed by various shocked emojis; her excitement practically spilled through the phone screen.

“f*ck! Why?! Why do you get to run into my Liu-bao just drinking morning tea! Send me the location, I’m rushing over right now!”

The boy felt both speechless and amused, replying: “He’s already finished eating; it’s useless for you to come now.”

Pei Liu had indeed put his mask back on, stood up, and left.

The girl didn’t even have time to ask her boyfriend to get an autograph; she only hated that she wasn’t there herself.

Pei Liu had a reason for getting up so hastily. Lacking experience as a celebrity, he thought wearing a mask and a hat when going out was enough. At a teahouse, people usually focus on eating or chatting, so he never expected to be recognized.

When he noticed several people nearby frequently looking at him and whispering, he realized something was wrong. He hurriedly put his mask back on, got up to pay the bill, and left.

Because he walked too fast, he felt a slight pain in his right abdomen.

He had originally wanted to stroll around, but given the situation, he had no choice but to take a taxi and give his home address.

He inputted the password, opened the door, and changed into his slippers.

He walked over to the sofa and flopped backward, lying there like a salted fish.

According to his plan, he was supposed to study acting to prepare for future work. But Pei Liu really didn’t want to move, thinking: I’ll deal with it tomorrow. I just survived a ten-day haunted house; I need to rest first.

He lay on the sofa, resting his hands peacefully on his stomach, lying completely flat.

The entity sat beside him, leaning over slightly to observe him with a hint of curiosity. Its ink-black hair cascaded down, lightly brushing against Pei Liu’s face like falling snow.

Pei Liu suddenly sat up again, walked to the TV, turned it on, grabbed the controller, sat on the carpet, and started playing games.

Thus began his joyful life as a homebody—eating, drinking, and playing—living extremely comfortably.

During this time, he talked to his parents on the phone and replied to his friends’ messages.

Pei Liu had practically turned into a true salted fish.

Yet he remained unaware that no matter what he did, a silent but overwhelmingly oppressive black shadow watched him closely. All the wandering spirits in the residential complex had long since caught wind and fled; not a single strange or paranormal event occurred in any of the homes.

Finally, a few days later, his assistant came over to deliver the script for his upcoming audition. The assistant casually mentioned that Heart-Pounding had started airing and asked if he had watched it.

It was exactly the paranormal variety show Pei Liu had participated in recording.

The title truly reflected how he felt.

However, Pei Liu still intended to watch it; he was very curious about how the final edited version turned out.

As soon as he opened the video, dense bullet comments floated across the top half of the screen.

Pei Liu paused for a moment and didn’t turn them off.

Bullet comment protection is very necessary.

When Pei Liu saw the pre-interviews of the other guests, he suddenly had a bad feeling.

Sure enough, the next second, it was his turn.

“Do you think ghosts exist in this world?”

“No.”

“Rumors are usually passed by word of mouth, making them prone to exaggeration and distortion. Besides, there has never been any actual evidence proving the existence of ghosts. I still believe in science.”

“Aren’t the ghosts all just staff members in disguise?”

“Unless you show me a real ghost. That would count as a new species, wouldn’t it? Thinking about it, I’m actually quite looking forward to it.”

Line after line, Pei Liu silently covered his face, his toes curling in embarrassment.

Why didn’t he remember saying such stupid things? He had planted so many flags he was practically a hedgehog!

He really wanted to travel back in time and punch himself.

Pei Liu’s face, buried in his hands, was flushed red, and a beautiful pink hue spread to his ears. Under the sunlight, his fair skin looked incredibly translucent.

The entity’s eyes flickered. It reached out and pinched his earlobe, rubbing its fingertip against it. It absorbed the scalding temperature, feeling as if it were about to melt.

Pei Liu looked up and saw the bullet comments.

“Wow, so confident and arrogant, huh? Watch out you don’t crash and burn. The last star who acted tough in the horror hospital theme ended up crying for his mommy.”

“Liu-liu is the best, but don’t push yourself too hard! Hugs.”

“Daily face-licking, prprpr.”

“Hahaha, I love this kind of guest the most. It’s especially fun when they get a slap in the face.”

“Let the vase pretend. If he doesn’t cry from fear, I’ll do a handstand and eat shit on a live stream.”

Skimming through a few comments, even his fans had no confidence in him.

However, they weren’t wrong.

Pei Liu felt even more dejected.

He silently picked up a cherry and bit into it. The sweet and sour flavor burst in his mouth, and the plump, dark red juice dyed his lips a deeper shade.

The entity stared intently at him, its burning gaze landing on his soft, moist lips.