Chapter 33: The Boy and the Uncanny

Lin Fan locked himself in his room.

The curtains were drawn tight, not a sliver of light could get in.

The air was filled with the sour rot of spoiled food, mixing with the despair emanating from him, almost suffocating.

On the table, the food had hardened into a lump.

But he wasn't hungry.

His stomach felt like a huge stone had been stuffed inside, heavy yet empty.

He didn't turn on the light, relying only on the faint glow of his phone screen.

On the screen was a close-up of him and Ling Xinyu.

The girl smiled, eyes crinkling, making a scissor sign at the camera, while he beside her tried to look cool, but the corner of his mouth couldn't help turning up.

Lin Fan stared at the photo, his eye sockets dry, not a tear could flow.

Just a day ago, the police informed him that Ling Xinyu, the girl he loved most, had died.

He picked up his phone, mechanically, for the umpteenth time, and dialed the number he knew by heart.

【The number you have dialed is turned off......】

The cold automated female voice repeated it over and over.

He knew.

He of course knew.

But he just couldn't control himself.

What if?

What if all this is just a nightmare?

What if she answered the phone the next second, laughing and scolding him, "Idiot, missing me again?"

Just then.

Buzz—buzz—

His phone suddenly vibrated violently, the shrill ringtone exploding in the silent room!

Lin Fan jerked, his whole body springing up from the bed.

He trembled as he picked up the phone.

On the screen, those two words made his blood rush to his head in an instant!

【Xin Yu】

That was the note he had given her.

Lin Fan's mind went blank, his fingers shaking, and almost instinctively he swiped open the green answer key.

"Hello? Hello! Xin Yu!"

He pressed the phone hard to his ear, his voice hoarse, choked with tears.

"Where are you? Answer me!"

On the other end, there was no response.

Only a worrying rustle of electrical noise.

"Speak! Don't scare me!"

Lin Fan roared into the receiver, and tears finally burst forth.

Then he froze.

A chill shot from the soles of his feet straight to his Heavenly Spirit Cover.

He remembered.

Xin Yu was already dead.

So who is calling him now......?

Pa!

Pa! Pa!

The overhead light tube began to flicker wildly, emitting an unstable crackling of electricity.

The whole room alternated between bright and dim, like a patient about to flatline.

Lin Fan, terrified, threw the phone away, scrambled into the bathroom, turned on the tap, and splashed icy water wildly on his face.

Hallucination.

It must be a hallucination.

Surely it's because he's overly grieved, mentally weakened, and hallucinating.

He lifted his head and looked at the mirror.

The boy in the mirror had hair messy like a nest, deep-set eye sockets, and a face as pale as a ghost.

He opened his mouth, trying to force an ugly smile to prove he was fine.

But the next second, his gaze, past his shoulder, caught the bathtub behind him.

In the bathtub, at some point, it had filled with black wastewater.

The water was as viscous as ink, with strands of dark, wet hair floating on the surface.

Lin Fan's breath suddenly stopped.

He felt that something was standing behind him.

A bone-chilling cold, mixed with the strong smell of river water and rot, clung to the back of his neck and slowly spread.

His body stiffened like a stone, his neck making a "ge-ge" sound, turning inch by inch.

A soaking-wet person stood right behind him, less than half a meter away.

She was wearing a white T‑shirt, but now it was soaked in sewage, dirty and wrinkled.

Her skin was deathly pale and swollen, like a steamed bun soaked in water for too long.

The most terrifying thing was her face.

No color in her face, her lips were purple.

And her eyes had become two black holes.

No eyeballs, no pupils, only endless darkness.

Two streams of thick, bright red blood tears were slowly flowing from those black holes.

"Ah——!!!"

Extreme fear clenched Lin Fan's throat, preventing him from uttering any complete syllable; he could only squeeze out a beast‑like howl from his chest.

His legs gave out, he sat on the ground, and using his hands and feet he scrambled backward until his back slammed hard against the wall, with nowhere else to retreat.

Ghost!

It's a ghost!

Am I going to die?

However, that terrifying female ghost did not lunge at him like in the movies.

She simply stood there silently, her black eye sockets "watching" him.

Suddenly, she moved.

Several strands of wet black hair extended from the back of her head, like living tentacles, swaying in the air.

The hair strands passed over Lin Fan, went out to the bathroom, and gently curled back to the crumpled fried‑chicken store coupon on his bedside table that he had been squeezing.

That was the coupon for the fried‑chicken place he and Ling Xinyu had planned to go to this weekend.

Then the hair floated to the desk and wrapped around the cheap steel pen he had given her, costing only a few dozen yuan each.

She treasured it dearly, saying she would use it to get into the best university.

Finally, the hair curled around the fallen selfie on the floor.

The memory‑laden items were picked up one by one by the hair and hovered in midair.

The female ghost's aura of resentment and chill, which almost drove people mad, eased somewhat at that moment.

Lin Fan watched this scene, his whole body frozen.

The fear in his heart that wanted to burst through the heavens was gradually replaced by a more surging, sour emotion.

He looked at that terrifying, utterly inhuman "thing".

Trembling, he reached out his hand.

"Xin Yu......"

His voice was as tiny as a mosquito's buzz.

"Is it you?"

The female ghost's body trembled slightly.

The two streams of blood tears flowing from her eye sockets grew more urgent.

Enough.

This is enough.

Lin Fan could no longer restrain himself; he crawled up from the ground, lunged at her like a madman, and with all his strength clung tightly to that icy, damp, lifeless ghostly body.

So cold.

It was like holding a slab of ice just fished out of an ice river.

His clothes were soaked, dripping with foul‑smelling river water.

But Lin Fan didn't care.

He buried his face deep in the girl's icy neck hollow, greedily breathing in the scent mixed with the aura of death, yet uniquely hers.

"I knew...... I knew you wouldn't abandon me......"

The boy clung to the female ghost, crying like a child abandoned by the whole world under the flickering light.

After crying for a long time, Lin Fan slowly lifted his head, his bloodshot eyes filled with heartache and anger.

"Tell me, what exactly happened?"

Ling Xinyu's ghost opened her mouth, but could not make a sound.

She could only emit a hoarse "heh‑heh" breath, and the blood tears in her black eye sockets flowed even more fiercely.

She hastily raised her hand; several strands of black hair gathered together like a brush soaked in thick ink, and quickly wrote on Lin Fan's outstretched palm.

The handwriting was crooked and wet.

【Qin Yu】

【He brought people to block me】

【He accidentally beat me to death】

【He dumped my corpse in the river】

Just a few short lines made Lin Fan's eyes blaze with fury!

Qin Yu!

A torrent of rage exploded from his chest, burning his limbs and bones with pain!

He wished he could rush out right now, take a knife, and hack that beast into pieces!

Ling Xinyu's hair then wrote on his palm again.

【I hate so much】

【I want to kill them, I want to kill until I lose control】

This feeling is just like a drug.

But...

I want to see you even more.

I'm afraid... I'm afraid I'll become a monster who only knows revenge and killing, and you won't be able to accept me anymore.

I don't want you to hate me.

Seeing those last words, Lin Fan's heart felt as if it were tightly gripped by a big hand, hurting so much he could hardly breathe.

This fool.

Even after becoming like this, he's still worried about whether she'll hate him.

This ultimate love, transcending life and death, moved Lin Fan beyond words, yet his heart felt as if torn by a knife.

He raised his hand and, with his fingertip, gently wiped away the blood and tears on her face.

His movements were so gentle, so precious.

"No."

Lin Fan looked into her eyes, word by word, with utmost solemnity.

"You're not a monster."

"You are the girl I love most, my whole world."

He paused, and all the sorrow and vulnerability in his eyes vanished in an instant, replaced by a kind of unprecedented, almost mad determination.

"Xin Yu, don't be afraid."

"I'll help you."

"Together, let them... pay blood for blood!"

Ling Xinyu's body trembled violently, her hair strands rapidly writing in his palm.

"No way!"

"I can't drag you into this; you're just an ordinary person."

"I don't want anything to happen to you."

"An ordinary person?"

Lin Fan smiled.

That smile was infatuated and crazy.

"You've become like this; what's the point of me living alone?"

"If you won't let me help you, I'll go find Qin Yu and fight to the death right now!"

His attitude left Ling Xinyu completely helpless.

Because she knew him well, she knew he would really do that.

She had made a mistake...

Even if she wanted to see Lin Fan again, she shouldn't have come straight like this.

But things have come to this point and can't be reversed.

The two stared at each other—a living person and a dead person—and at this moment reached an agreement.

Revenge!

Lin Fan calmed down and began to think.

"You're... a ghost, right? How do you kill people? Like in the movies?"

Ling Xinyu's hair strands, in his palm, explained everything.

She has her own murder rule, and her ability is very strong and terrifying.

But the murder rule has certain limits; one cannot act on whim and strike directly.

At first it can be unexpected, but after killing a few people and having the rule seen through, it becomes difficult.

But if...

She possesses the body of someone affected by her murder rule.

Using that body as a medium, she can have no limits and freely wield that terrifying killing ability.

Lin Fan's eyes lit up instantly.

"Possession?"

"I have a way!"

"Come!"

He hesitated not at all and directly reached out his hand.

"Use my body as your weapon!"

"Use my hands to take revenge for you!"

"From now on, the two of us are one person!"

Ling Xinyu looked at the boy's eyes burning with flame, feeling heartache and worry.

Yet under the influence of his strong will and intense hatred, she gradually stopped hesitating.

She extended her pale hand, crawling with black blood threads, and clasped fingers with Lin Fan's hand.

The next second.

Ling Xinyu's entire ghostly form suddenly dissipated, turning into a surging black torrent that frantically rushed into Lin Fan's body!

"Ugh—!"

Lin Fan's body convulsed violently; he lifted his head and let out a painful groan.

A force icy to the bone surged and crashed inside his body!

It was unknown how much time had passed.

When he opened his eyes again.

His left eye still held the clarity and steadfastness of youth.

But his right eye had become a deep, unfathomable azure, flashing with a vicious, bone‑chilling cold light!

He felt the icy, powerful force within his body, and slowly raised his hand.

Strands of black, damp hair spilled from his fingertips, like living poisonous snakes, dancing nimbly in mid‑air.