Chapter 5: The Ghost Fed Him All Night

The trees outside this abandoned villa were numerous, blocking out the sunlight and casting large shadows.

Gusts of ghostly wind blew constantly, keeping much of the summer heat at bay.

Even during the day, one wouldn’t end up dripping with sweat.

However, to find clues, one had to rummage through trunks and cabinets, occasionally encountering props set by the production team—dust, fake blood, and paint—which left the body feeling filthy.

Pei Liu stood under the showerhead as the water fell like a misty rain.

Steam spread through the bathroom, quickly rising into a faint white fog that made everything look hazy and indistinct.

Of course, this was only from the perspective of the human eye.

Certain abnormal existences were not affected.

After finishing his shower, Pei Liu took a towel to wipe the water off his body and put on his pajamas.

His pajamas consisted of a T-shirt and shorts—loose, soft, and very comfortable.

Yesterday, while he was showering, the faucet had suddenly leaked, the mirror had vibrated, and the lightbulb had flickered.

Today, he was unexpectedly lucky; nothing had happened.

Whether something happened or not, Pei Liu found it normal—it was an old house, after all, and it would be stranger if there weren’t any malfunctions.

Pei Liu dried his hair and walked out of the bathroom.

The black mist wrapped around his ankle suddenly surfaced and then faded away, as if sensing something.

Having just showered, a faint pink flush rose on Pei Liu’s sickly pale face.

His eyes were moist and bright, and his lips were a bit redder than usual, making him look healthy and vibrant.

Usually hidden from view, his legs beneath the shorts were long and slender like white porcelain, exuding a sense of fragile beauty.

He sat down by the bed and dried his hair absent-mindedly, reviewing the clues they had found today and the night before in his head.

The various clues suggested that this family had very good relationships.

The daughter was somewhat introverted and liked small animals, so her father gave her a Shiba Inu.

She often played with the dog, and they were inseparable; she even had to hold it while sleeping.

Slowly, her personality became a bit more cheerful.

However, no matter how he looked at it, she didn’t seem like the type of person who would play with fire recklessly.

How could she have been burned to death? Could it have been murder?

Who was the killer? Was it the nanny?

But she had a good relationship with the family and lacked a motive. What benefit would she gain from killing her employer’s child?

Two months before the daughter died, her behavior became strange.

She liked to crouch in the shadows of corners, her eyes hollow as she spoke to the air and suddenly screamed…

Was there really a ghost in the villa?

It was said that children and animals found it easier to see ghosts.

Did a ghost kill her?

Pei Liu sorted through his thoughts, trying to pull a thread from the messy ball of yarn to slowly unravel it.

But because there wasn’t enough information, he could only list points and draw lines without reaching a clear conclusion.

His hair was short, so it didn’t take long to dry.

It became fluffy and messy, with the ends curling up and a single stray hair standing straight up on the crown of his head.

After putting away the towel, he lay down on the bed.

In the hazy state of drifting off to sleep, he felt a slight chill on his cheek, as if long fingers had gently brushed across it.

But Pei Liu was tired and too lazy to open his eyes, so he fell completely into a deep sleep.

Then, he had a dream.

In the dream, he was targeted by a giant black snake.

He tried very hard to run forward, but no matter how he ran, he couldn’t escape and was eventually caught by the snake.

The snake agilely wrapped its tail around his waist, the grip so tight it caused him pain as his body was forced to hang in mid-air.

He couldn’t control his body’s trembling, and fear filled his heart.

He wasn’t afraid of ghosts because he believed in science and thought they simply didn’t exist.

But ferocious animals were real, and there were indeed news reports of them eating people.

Faced with a life-threatening danger, anyone would be afraid.

The giant snake lowered its head to approach him, flickering its tongue.

Its vertical pupils were deep and cold, devoid of any emotion.

It could easily swallow his entire being into its belly.

Pei Liu thought he would definitely be eaten in the next second.

However, the giant snake stared at him for a while, as if studying some fresh thing it had never seen before; there was even a hint of curiosity in its gaze.

Pei Liu’s scalp felt numb from being watched.

He didn’t feel relieved; instead, he became even more nervous.

The places where the snake’s belly pressed against him also felt a slight stinging pain.

The giant snake didn’t eat him.

Instead, strangely enough, it began to feed him.

It held some unknown food to his mouth, wanting him to eat it.

Pei Liu refused, keeping his mouth tightly shut and shaking his head.

But the giant snake didn’t care at all and continued to stuff it in, forcefully prying apart his lips and teeth.

Pei Liu was forced to eat it.

It was icy cold and had no particular flavor.

It slid down his throat almost instantly.

Pei Liu had no way to spit it out, and his mouth was blocked by black mist.

The giant snake continued to feed him, as if it had become addicted to the game.

Pei Liu couldn’t even speak.

After a while, he was literally stuffed full.

He couldn’t help but suspect that the giant snake was keeping him in captivity, wanting to fatten him up before eating him.

The giant snake wanted to feed him more, but he struggled and dodged with all his might, refusing to eat another bite.

The giant snake seemed to understand his meaning and finally stopped, a trace of pity lingering in its eyes.

****

Outside of the dream.

Pei Liu also had his eyes closed, his brows furrowed and his lips moving as he muttered unclearly: “I can’t eat anymore…”

In the darkness, a pale, slender finger slid across his lips, the fingertip still slightly moist.

Pei Liu’s dreams weren’t entirely fake.

He had indeed been fed—by a specter.

The specter had come uninvited, pushing open the door and entering Pei Liu’s room.

In the middle of the night, he sat by the bed staring at this human.

His gaze was like something physical, stroking from the eyes down to the toes, scrutinizing him closely.

Then, propping his chin on one hand, he reached out with great interest to touch Pei Liu’s face.

It was soft and felt very good to the touch.

He even pinched it, quite naturally.

The sleeping Pei Liu felt his sleep being disturbed.

He tried to swat the hand away in annoyance, but he hit nothing, so he tilted his head and continued to sleep.

The specter furrowed his brows, pinched Pei Liu’s chin, and pulled his face back toward him.

His thumb inadvertently touched Pei Liu’s lips.

They were even softer than his cheeks, indenting slightly at the touch and falling into the gap between the lips.

Strands of black mist drifted out again, entering Pei Liu’s body.

At a glance, it looked as if he were eating black cotton candy.

The specter leaned over, feeding a human.

Suddenly, his fingertip touched a moist softness.

He paused for a moment but didn’t withdraw his finger.

Instead, he hooked it and began to play.

After a short while, Pei Liu was stuffed full and struggled to roll over, wanting to hide.

But in the next second, he was forcefully pressed back.

The specter frowned, feeling a bit of pity.

“Can you only eat this much?”

He used the pad of his thumb to rub Pei Liu’s lips, which glistened with a faint moisture.

After the feeding was finished, he didn’t leave immediately.

Instead, he slowly stroked Pei Liu’s face and watched him sleep, not finding it boring at all.

An entire night passed, and it was nearly dawn when he finally left.

As a result, Pei Liu dreamed for the entire night.

In the latter half, his face was constantly being licked by the snake’s tongue.

He was afraid at first, but when he found the snake was only licking and not eating, he gradually became numb to it, as if a large dog were licking his face.

Later, he had another dream—a dream within a dream.

In the dream, he was lying in bed sleeping.

For some reason, the more he slept, the colder he felt.

Even clutching the blanket and curling into a ball was useless.

He was shivering so much from the cold that he had to reach out to turn on the light, wanting to add another blanket.

But just as he reached out toward the head of the bed, he touched something like a block of ice.

Before his brain could react to what it was, he opened his eyes.

He was caught off guard, coming face-to-face with a small, pale-green face.

It was a little girl of about five years old, standing by the bed.

Her body was unnaturally contorted and covered in dense corpse spots.

Her head rested on his pillow, extremely close to him.

Her eyes were large and black, staring at him coldly.

Upon discovering that Pei Liu had opened his eyes, she suddenly grinned.

There was not a shred of childhood innocence in her smile; it only made one’s skin crawl.

The little ghost reached out and grabbed Pei Liu’s shoulder, her hand so cold it felt like she was reaching through his flesh to grab his bone.

The little ghost giggled and slowly climbed onto the bed, getting closer to Pei Liu as she whispered to him: “Mom.”

Pei Liu remained motionless as if he were frozen with fear.

The smile on the little ghost’s face widened.

But at that moment, Pei Liu’s mouth opened slightly with a look of hesitation, and he suddenly spoke.

“Even though I’m quite handsome, I am a genuine man.”

“If you insist on calling me that…”

Pei Liu corrected her with a serious face.

“Call me Dad.”