Chapter 15: The Gu Tribe Village 14
It was already very dark.
Zhou Zhou stared at the man standing like a guardian at the door, regretting why she had begged him to escort her back.
Now, she could only stand there with him by the entrance.
But at that moment, she had been utterly, unbearably terrified—
Even though the insects had vanished, she still felt something lurking in the shadows, staring at her with an insatiable, malicious hunger. That clinging gaze was fixed relentlessly on her.
That thing—
A cold, sticky gaze that seemed intent on stripping her bare—it could not belong to any human.
Like a snake, it writhed and twisted in the corner, repulsive and icy, filthy as the insects themselves, its immense, disintegrating body convulsing in the darkness, obsessively entangling her.
A monster.
Her mind felt frozen; the word slipped out late.
An indescribable monster had set its sights on her.
It would torment any outsider until death, never letting go.
Zhou Zhou had a strong premonition.
Such an unmistakably inhuman creature was hiding somewhere unknown, a place no one could find, peering at her from the shadows in filth and darkness.
She could feel every inch of her skin trembling under this heavy gaze of craving, “it” was right beside her...
Always, always watching—
This uncontrollable terror shook her body.
“Please, please don’t look at me, don’t come near me—”
She begged silently.
—No one answered.
But in her daze, she caught sight of a pair of pale golden eyes, wild and profound.
The owner of those eyes seemed like a golden butterfly, murmuring obsessively:
“Zhou, Zhou Zhou—”
“Zhou Zhou, Zhou Zhou, Zhou Zhou Zhou Zhou—”
“You are mine—”
A hoarse yet clear, deathly voice echoed:
“My, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my—”
“Zhou Zhou—you are mine—”
Zhou Zhou heard every word distinctly.
At that moment, she cursed her own sharp hearing; it was as if some strange presence had invaded her eardrums, stubbornly lodging itself in her mind.
Her terrified gaze was swallowed, a scream caught in her throat, unable to escape. Her body froze as if encased in ice, staring blankly ahead.
“What’s wrong? You haven’t said a word since I brought you back...”
The man’s deep, questioning voice sounded.
“Why are you trembling like that...”
Zhou Zhou was suddenly jolted awake.
She took a deep breath, staring blankly at the man—no monsters, no golden eyes...
Only Chu Mingxiu stood outside like a statue: tall, handsome, strong, and cold.
The girl’s violently shaking eyelashes slowly calmed, her face as pale as ever, her expression filled with inexplicable fear.
She seemed deeply frightened.
Chu Mingxiu pressed his lips together.
“...Are you alright?”
Zhou Zhou instinctively dared not recall the images in her mind just now.
“I’m... I’m fine!”
When she said this, Chu Mingxiu did not ask further.
He had already wasted more time than he should have; it was time to leave.
It was absurd enough to stop midway to take care of a little fool and then escort her home.
“I’m leaving now.”
Before leaving, the man couldn’t help but say in a hoarse voice, earnestly:
“Kids need to behave. Don’t run off next time.”
...
After seeing Chu Mingxiu off, Zhou Zhou stumbled to her bed, still dark, broken, and damp.
She lay down, her mind as if stuffed with glue.
Everything was chaotic.
The room was quiet, so quiet she could only hear her own breathing.
N-no...!
It wasn’t just her breathing.
“Hoo...”
She seemed to hear a faint, trembling breath inside the room.
Low and slow, very soft—if not for Zhou Zhou’s overly sensitive hearing, she might not have noticed.
Her body grew colder; fear spread from her heart.
She slowly clutched the blanket, moving almost mechanically, covering herself deeper and deeper.
Only when she was completely hidden beneath the covers did she tremble and whisper:
“022...”
“Is there someone... under the bed?”
The empty room’s gaps between wooden beams were sealed with mud, coarse black stains swelling on them.
Some mud had fallen off the unpatched gray walls, resembling dark, ghostly eyes.
The air was filled with a chilling dampness and a faint, elusive metallic stench.
She hadn’t seen any place to hide a person in the room.
Except...
Under her own bed.