Chapter 31

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Gu Fengyi and Liu Qingqing hurried through the tottering building, trying their best to minimize the noise they made so they wouldn’t alert Dan Liang

There was no trace of his scent on floor one or two. The two walked up another flight of stairs then suddenly heard crumbling from below, shaking the concrete floor beneath their feet. Liu Qingqing faltered and she almost fell off the stairs before Gu Fengyi quickly pulled her up. Nestled in Gu Fengyi’s arms, Liu Qingqing took a few quick gasps and patted her chest as if in fear.

The girl’s refreshing and playful movement made Gu Fengyi smile subconsciously as she mouthed at her to be careful.

Liu Qingqing pointed downwards and asked silently, Is it them?

Gu Fengyi nodded. Lin Jue and Song Hanzhang had probably just stepped on a weak spot and caused something to break, but it didn’t sound very serious and there was no need to go down to help them. The important thing right now was to find Dan Liang.

Gu Fengyi closed her eyes and scented the air, then pointed at the corridor outside the staircase. Liu Qingqing nodded and the two silently turned and approached where the scent came from.

It was a long corridor, dormitory rooms lined on one side, the other covered in open windows. Moonlight silently spilled down the corridor through the mist, and they were like sprites walking lightly in the moonlight, heading for a dangerous enemy.

The scent grew stronger; it was just behind that corner up ahead.

Gu Fengyi motioned for Liu Qingqing to stay still as she activated her sneak skill and silently advanced.

Just behind this corner. This L-shaped corner was short on one side, and long on the other. The end of the corridor was only about ten or so meters from the corner, she would be able to hit the target if she caught him by surprise.

Gu Fengyi pressed herself against the wall and raised the loaded bow in her hands.

Three, two, one, now!

Gu Fengyi suddenly lunged and aimed, the arrow soaring out through the air… into the jacket fluttering in the wind, until it disappeared outside the window.

Gu Fengyi only then realized that the distant ‘figure’ was not Dan Liang, but a jacket he had hung on the window. He himself had already run away.

“He’s not here. He left behind a jacket.” Gu Fengyi turned to Liu Qingqing.

Liu Qingqing let out an ‘ah’ and ran up with small steps, looking at the jacket hanging by the window in shock.

“I was careless. His reward from the last round was a scent blocker, it seems he didn’t finish it. He deliberately left a piece of clothing here to deceive my senses while he ran elsewhere with that spray,” Gu Fengyi said. “There are two exits to this building, and there are so many dormitory balconies to climb out of that it wouldn’t be hard for him to run.”

“…Then what do we do?” Liu Qingqing asked with difficulty.

Gu Fengyi didn’t reply. She strode towards Dan Liang’s jacket.

The jacket was hung on a rusted metal hanger that was hooked onto the open window at the end of the corridor. As Gu Fengyi took off the jacket, the piece of paper stuck to it was exposed.

On it were some crudely drawn stick men.

From left to right, they spoke of a terrible story.

In the first drawing, a long-haired stickman was killed by a monster. In the second drawing, a short-haired stickman came over and saw the long-haired one sit up, a pair of devil’s horns growing from her head. On top of the long-haired stickman’s head was written: you act as Judas. In the third drawing, the long-haired stickman left, challenging another monster with a stick. In the final drawing, a large smile was drawn onto the short-haired stickman as he wrote three words on the ground: She is Judas.

“Fengyi?” Liu Qingqing’s voice came from behind Gu Fengyi with a sliver of confusion.

Startled, Gu Fengyi quickly crumpled the note in her hand into a ball and hid her hand in Dan Liang’s jacket as if nothing had happened. She replied without turning around. “Nothing. Let’s go, who knows, maybe Dan Liang has decided to play hide and seek with us.”

Saying that, Gu Fengyi squished Dan Liang’s jacket into a ball and threw it outside the window, as if carelessly throwing rubbish into the bin – along with that note.

Trust her, you need to trust her. Gu Fengyi told herself over and over again. You are a normal person, you can learn how to trust, she is worthy of your trust.

Really? Then why didn’t she explain everything that didn’t make sense? Because she had no way of explaining, a mocking voice sounded in her heart.

Of course it’s true, she even tried to prove her innocence with her death, what else do you want from her?! Has she ever hurt you? No, she’s never hurt you!

Then look at her eyes. Raise your head, look at her eyes, that mocking voice said again.

Gu Fengyi looked up slowly towards Liu Qingqing.

Bathed in the moonlight, Liu Qingqing was slender and soft as she looked intently at Gu Fengyi, faint confusion and worry lingered in her eyes. That pair of ink-black eyes were filled with light, gentle like water.

How long has she been looked at with such gentleness? Gu Fengyi couldn’t remember herself, as if she had been looked at like this from the first day they met, treated like a goddess, treated like salvation. Liue Qingqing had even said to her: The only fortune in my life was meeting you.

That sickly obsession was above friendship, but it wasn’t love.

Another might feel fear, but Gu Fengyi didn’t.

She desired this almost sickly love with no reservations, she allowed this love to burn brightly, to let her feel warmth in her icy cellar. So she greedily held onto that bonfire, until she herself was lit.

But that fire, was meant never to warm her. It was to light up… her reflection in that person’s eyes.

Liu Qingqing caressed her wounded hand. This hand was still in pain, but she could endure it. She was used to enduring: when she was starving and scarred all over, she was always silently enduring, until it seeped into her bones and became a part of her.

She thought she could endure everything, but there was one thing…

Liu Qingqing stood in the moonlight and looked at Gu Fengyi’s eyes, the suspicion that she was trying so hard to restrain was obvious there. She couldn’t breathe.

At the bottom of her blackened heart, countless negative emotions rose up madly and screamed in her soul, dragging her down into the abyss. At the depth of all the corruption, her younger self curled up and cried, bruised and hungry, and she asked the world, why would no one love me? Why?

It was only to be expected, she answered that child. You’re just a ragged monster filled with nothing but hatred, yet you desire so desperately for another person’s love. How laughable.

The air surrounding them became thicker as darkness devoured the moon.

Standing in the middle of the darkness, Liu Qingqing murmured, “Fengyi, the sky darkened.”

The world was engulfed by darkness. The suffocating darkness made Liu Qingqing recount those countless winter nights. Only she knew, as she woke up starving in her icy bed and listened to the thundering snores of her drunkard father next door, how much she hated this world.

The fridge had broken a long time ago. They had no money to fix it, and no need to either. There was nothing except roaches and beer bottles in that dirty kitchen. Her leg had been kicked violently by that drunkard a few hours ago and it still ached faintly. Wrapped in a thin cotton jacket, she shivered and limped down the stairs. The hunger that almost digested her own stomach made her forget her dignity as she rummaged through a bin for something that could be eaten.

A wildcat’s green eyes lit up in the cold wind as it looked loathingly at this human who tried to steal its food.

She picked up a stone from the ground and smashed it at it with all her might. The stray cat shrieked and ran into the bushes.

Her eyes were green from hunger as she shivered regretfully in the cold air, wondering how she could miss it? If she hadn’t, then she could bring it home, skin it, and boil it in water. Cat meat was sour and terrible to eat, but so what? Was there anything in the world more painful than starvation?

She continued searching through the bin. On this day, God blessed her. She found a small mousse cake wrapped in a paper bag. The scent of the cake was mixed together with the rest of the kitchen rubbish; it should’ve been a disgusting smell, but her overly hungry body had forgotten everything. She eagerly peeled open the plastic wrapping, smelled the cake greedily, and licked it carefully.

Sweet, soft, filled with energy. She held the cake devoutly as she ate it with small bites, even licking clean all the cream on the plastic wrapping around it. The wrapping still smelled of cake, but there was nothing left.

Reluctantly, she opened the paper bag that held the cake, wanting to find more food inside. But apart from an empty glass milk bottle, there was only a thin card.

She took out this card with a love heart drawn on it. It was a boy’s handwriting: To my dear Qingqing, cake tastes better with milk – With love, your boyfriend.

Qingqing? Was it the name of a girl living here? She crouched by the rubbish bin and imagined this girl named “Qingqing” with jealousy, believing surely that it was the best name in the entire world.

How come they were both ‘peasants’ living in a place like this, yet she was the only one with nothing?

She was so envious, envious of that girl’s boyfriend, envious of the fact that she was loved. But who would love her? Her mother abandoned them a long time ago and her father indulged in alcohol all day long, even beating her if he was in a bad mood. She had to carefully cover up the wounds on her body so her classmates and teacher wouldn’t notice.

But even if she could hide her scars, she couldn’t hide the washed-out marks on her clothes, she couldn’t hide the pitying eyes of others as they looked at her, she couldn’t hide the mocking words that pierced her soul.

“Look at her clothes, how many patches are in them, who even wears that sort of stuff these days.”

“Goodness is that really necessary, she eats like a starved ghost.”

“I heard her mum was a prostitute and her dad is a drunkard. and she’s so broke she can’t even afford the school fees. If I was her, I would have left school to go work; why is she still here?”

“Hehe, maybe she’s got great ambitions and wants to change her fate through education?”

“She can’t afford it anyways.”

“So what, she can follow her mom’s footsteps. Hey, did you hear? The good-looking guy from the class next door seems to pity her, he even gave her the breakfast someone else gave to him. The nerve of her to eat it though, she deserved that beating in the bathroom.”

“Stop it, she’s coming.”

She pretended she heard nothing and walked away with her head lowered to her chest.

No one loved her.

She curled up by the bin and whimpered.

“Be careful, there’s movement from that building!” Gu Fengyi’s voice startled Liu Qingqing who was staring dazedly at the bin beside the greening.

Liu Qingqing moved her gaze slowly to the dilapidated building in front of her.

The dark entrance was like a monster’s mouth, its stomach filled with gamblers, alcoholics, and prostitutes.

Click, clack, click.

The sound of high heels sounded from within the building. Even though she had yet to appear, Liu Qingqing could already trace out her appearance in her mind – she had long, thick curls, a bright red coat, and black high heels. Even in the cold winter, she dared wear only a pair of black stockings.

A monster with high heels walked out from the dark.

The thick coat couldn’t hide her sexy figure. The creature, with only one bright red lip painted on its face, ‘gazed’ at them and spread its mouth full of sharp teeth.

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