Chapter 4: Out of Control

The voice was indeed Xu Dan's, but her tone was wholly different—so chillingly cold it sent shivers into the marrow. This abrupt and shocking turn of events had lasted no more than a dozen seconds from start to finish.

Worst of all, Qi Yan couldn't move even a single finger; no matter how terrified he was inside, he could only watch helplessly.

"Who...? Who's speaking?!"

The voice echoing in his mind was definitely not an illusion. Though he still couldn't tell where it came from, Qi Yan instinctively called out.

But there was no reply.

The twisted smile on "Xu Dan's" face grew even more grotesque. Her hair moved as if caught by an invisible wind, half-veiling her features.

Then, right before Qi Yan's stunned eyes, "Xu Dan" thrust her right hand violently into her own mouth. Four fingers pried at her lower lip as she dug inward, her eyes still alight with laughter.

"What are you doing?!" Qi Yan shouted again, aghast. Xu Dan's behavior was wildly abnormal—was she... hurting herself?

Soon, a trickle of blood mixed with saliva began to seep from the corner of her mouth. Her frenzied actions had torn the inside of her cheek.

Qi Yan, propelled by instinct, wanted desperately to rush forward and stop her, but his body remained stubbornly beyond his command!

"Gaggh—" At last, "Xu Dan" seemed to reach her throat with her fingers and gagged violently, vomiting a mouthful of blood. Still, she showed no sign of stopping and was about to thrust her hand in again when Dong Ye—who had been thrown aside earlier—suddenly lunged toward her. He wrapped his arms tightly around her from behind, trying to restrain his girlfriend's madness.

"Xu Dan," blood streaming from her mouth, let out a piercing shriek so sharp it hardly seemed human. She writhed and struggled with desperate force.

Neither Qi Yan nor Dong Ye had any idea what was happening, but one thing was certain: if Xu Dan's fit wasn't curtailed, there was no telling how far she might spiral out of control.

Strangest of all, her screams and the commotion failed to draw any attention from passersby—or perhaps, on this tree-lined path, the three of them were utterly alone.

"Ah—!" Xu Dan screamed again, her face contorted with hatred, all traces of that earlier smile gone.

She found she couldn't break free from Dong Ye's arms no matter how she twisted, so she reached back and seized his hair, yanking mercilessly.

Dong Ye was still reeling from being thrown down, and now, with his hair being pulled, the pain made him bare his teeth—but he refused to let go, shouting at Xu Dan to calm down.

Just minutes ago, they had been a couple laughing and teasing each other as they walked along; now, they were locked in a desperate, vicious struggle, rolling on the ground like mortal enemies.

Qi Yan stood just two meters away, helpless to intervene, his mind a whirl of confusion, stunned by the scene before him.

After the initial shock, a powerful resistance surged up within him.

Dong Ye and Xu Dan were both close friends, companions since their university days. Now, these two—who never shied from showing affection in front of him—were brawling violently without the slightest warning. The abruptness was simply too much to accept.

"Stop... stop..." At first, it was a dazed mumble, but then Qi Yan seemed to draw on every ounce of strength. From deep in his throat, he roared, "Stop!"

In that instant, all the tension inside him burst forth, the intangible shackles binding his limbs fell away, and the mysterious whispers that had been filling his ears were suddenly stilled.

Once free, he rushed over without hesitation to help Dong Ye restrain Xu Dan.

But as he moved, it became clear there was no longer any need. At the very moment he regained control, Xu Dan ceased all her frenzied struggling. Her grip on Dong Ye slackened, her eyes fluttered shut, and she collapsed into unconsciousness...

...

It was not until after nine that evening that Xu Dan, lying in her hospital bed, finally regained consciousness. She awoke groggily, her head splitting with pain and her body utterly exhausted, as though she had slept through the end of the world. An IV dripped into her arm.

Dong Ye and Qi Yan kept a silent vigil at her bedside. When she awoke, they summoned a doctor to examine her.

Though there was a language barrier, the attending physician's expression and gestures suggested there was no serious harm. Xu Dan was simply in a very weakened state and needed rest. She was advised not to return to the hotel that night, but to remain for observation.

Qi Yan was unscathed. Dong Ye, however, had injured his right arm during the struggle, and his face and neck bore obvious scratch marks.

As for Xu Dan, her memory was a complete blank. She had no recollection whatsoever of her actions just hours before, her last memories lingering on playful banter with Dong Ye.

Dong Ye went downstairs to buy some fruit and drinks from the supermarket. When Xu Dan was clearly lucid, Qi Yan sat at her bedside and waved his hand in front of her eyes.

"My mouth hurts... Why are you waving your hand in front of my eyes?" Xu Dan's speech was slurred—her inner cheeks were badly injured, and a split marked the corner of her mouth. Fortunately, they'd stopped her in time, and the wounds were not irreparable, though eating would be difficult for some time.

Qi Yan frowned deeply. "You... you really don't remember what you just did?"

"I swear! Ouch, my tongue... I really can't recall a thing."

So, Qi Yan and Dong Ye recounted the entire episode. As Xu Dan listened, she grew more and more bewildered, her face the picture of disbelief. "Me? I hit him? And then hurt myself? I have no memory of that at all."

"Dan Dan, do you think... maybe you have... split personality?" Dong Ye, still bearing the scars, was no less bewildered than the others.

If Xu Dan hadn't been so drained, she would have jumped up and kicked him. "You and your wild imagination! Split personality—how many years have we been together? If I had something like that, wouldn't it have shown up before? Enough, enough! Stop with the questions. I really don't want to talk; my mouth hurts..."

It was no wonder Dong Ye leapt to such a conclusion. What had transpired in those few minutes defied all reasonable explanation.

But Qi Yan disagreed with Dong Ye's theory. Regardless of whether Xu Dan had a mental disorder or whether the hospital could diagnose it, what she'd shown was hardly the symptoms of schizophrenia.

Would schizophrenia cause one's skin to turn ashen? Or one's eyes to go completely white?

No. And only Qi Yan knew: during those frenzied minutes, his body had been paralyzed by some mysterious force. If that was merely a case of shock-induced catatonia... then how did he explain that voice resounding in his mind?

Qi Yan was sure—it was no hallucination. Even now, recalling it, it struck him with a clarity as sharp and real as a thunderclap.