Chapter 51: The Intimate Thread

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“The red thread... What I saw—was that really the ghost girl from the urban legend, the one who sews human faces?”

Judging by what he’d seen with his own eyes, the little girl Qi Yan had glimpsed by the roadside was definitely a spirit. Even though it was only a few glances, there was no way she was human.

Red dress, long black hair—she matched every description from the stories, except for one thing: she wasn’t skipping along, nor did he hear any chilling children’s songs.

The more Dong Ye thought about it, the more worried he became for his friend. “Hey, Qi Yan, you’re actually seeing these things so easily now. That’s no small matter.”

His words brought Qi Yan out of his thoughts. “Huh?... Well, you’re right. It troubles me too. But you don’t need to worry so much. It’s just a shadowy urban legend, nothing more. There are stories like this everywhere. If we let every little tale scare us, aren’t we just inviting trouble?”

The more Qi Yan brushed it off, the more anxious Dong Ye grew. Before, they might have just laughed it off and forgotten about it.

But now... Dong Ye had witnessed the most terrifying case of possession with his own eyes—right in his girlfriend. No rumor could ever be as convincing as what you’d seen yourself.

At the very least, Dong Ye now believed that supernatural phenomena truly existed in this world.

“Don’t give me that, Qi Yan. You think I don’t know you? You only act like it’s nothing—every time something happens, you just grit your teeth and power through it. That’s not being responsible, that’s just being stubborn—arrogant!” Dong Ye was getting more and more worked up, but only a true friend would show concern in such a way.

Qi Yan, hearing this, gave him a heartfelt pat on the shoulder. “Don’t worry. It’s true, I don’t like to trouble others, and I hate owing favors. But it depends on what it is. If I were really targeted by a ghost or something, I wouldn’t try to tough it out. I’d call you for help right away, I promise. Hahaha…”

“Tch... You really don’t know what’s going on.”

It was already late. Even the night market stalls were packing up. After a few more words, the two of them went their separate ways and caught taxis home.

Dong Ye lived farther from the city center, in a newly built public housing block in the northern district.

After drinking earlier, and then taking a bath, he started to get drowsy in the taxi, leaning against the back seat with his hand propping up his chin, soon dozing off.

Late night radio was playing soft, emotional programs. The female host’s voice was sweet and intelligent, soothing to listen to.

“Good evening, listeners. You’re tuned in to Xinzhou’s late-night lifestyle program, FM90.18. I’m your friend… Weiwei.”

“Next, we have a message from… bzzzzt—let’s… bzzzt… blood-soaked… bzzzzzt—a red… bzzzt.”

The radio had been coming in clear, but before the host could say much, static and interference began to cut in, as if the signal was failing.

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Amidst the harsh buzzing, it seemed like there were other sounds mixed in—voices that didn’t match the program, even out of sync with the audio track.

The driver frowned, steering with one hand while fiddling with the radio. “Huh? That’s strange. Why’s the signal acting up all of a sudden?”

The volume wasn’t high to begin with, and Dong Ye had already fallen asleep in the back seat, so he didn’t hear any of it.

“Bzzzt… chirp chirp… can’t make it home… bzzzt…”

The driver fiddled for a while, but the static wouldn’t clear. Thinking his car’s equipment was at fault, he simply turned it off.

Dong Ye, leaning against the left window in the back seat, didn’t notice a small red figure softly reflected in the glass—a fleeting shape that vanished as the headlights of an oncoming car flashed by.

About ten minutes later, they arrived at Dong Ye’s destination. He smacked his lips in his sleep, yawned, and woke up, then reached into his pocket to pay the fare.

Stepping out of the car, he shivered, feeling a chill. “Whew—it’s just because it’s nearly midnight, right? Or did I catch a chill from dozing off?”

He didn’t notice that a curved strand of red thread was stuck to the inside of his sleeve at the elbow.

He walked home while scrolling through his phone.

The buildings in this public housing complex were all tall and new, but since it had only recently opened, there weren’t many residents. It was especially quiet at this hour.

Dong Ye’s phone was almost out of battery. Before he could browse his feed for long, the phone shut off by itself, the screen going black.

He happened to be passing under a streetlight. The glossy, darkened screen reflected a faint, child-sized shadow behind him.

He quickly turned around. The lawn, flowerbeds, and concrete path were all empty. Nothing there.

“Must’ve been seeing things.” Dong Ye pocketed his phone and glanced around. Once he confirmed no one else was there, he picked up his pace and headed for his building’s entryway.

A wave of inexplicable unease rose up in his chest, as if something was about to happen.

He took the elevator up to his apartment, only to find the lights were on and someone was rummaging through his room.

“Dandan? Is that you?” Other than himself, Xu Dan was the only one with a key to his place, so he called out before even taking his shoes off.

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Sure enough, Xu Dan’s voice came from the bedroom, sounding anything but friendly. “Who else would it be? Hmph… Where’ve you been, huh? Coming home at this hour.”

Dong Ye walked in and said, “What do you mean, where? I was just with Qi… What are you doing?” He saw Xu Dan packing up some of her clothes and belongings.

Xu Dan was stuffing her things into a suitcase, not even bothering to look at him, her face dark. “What? Can’t I collect my stuff from your place? Now that you’re here, I’ll just leave the key on the coffee table. See for yourself.”

Packing up… Dong Ye sighed helplessly. “Come on, look at the time! Did you have to do this tonight? Petty…”

Xu Dan threw a folded shirt onto the bed, put her hands on her hips, and shouted, “I’m petty for packing my own things? What, am I not allowed? I just want to cut ties with you as soon as possible—can’t be bothered to argue anymore…”

Dong Ye wouldn’t back down either, curling his lip. “Hmph! Don’t think I’m going to beg and plead with you like before, trying to make you stay. If you want to go, go. I’m not apologizing. Forget it!”

“Bah! Who needs an apology from you? Dong Ye, you really underestimate me, don’t you? Hmph!”

“Hmph!” Dong Ye snorted as well and went to sit in the living room, refusing to bicker further.

The tension froze the air between them to its breaking point; neither wanted to say another word, for fear it would be seen as an attempt to patch things up.

After a quarter of an hour, the living room was silent.

Xu Dan seemed to be angrily throwing her things together in the bedroom, but in reality, she was purposely moving slowly, making as much noise as possible to show she was really angry, that there was no turning back.

But after all this time, Xu Dan was baffled. She thought: Hah! Has this jerk really changed? Not coming to stop me today? I waited for him so late, put on this whole show, and he doesn’t even come grovel like before?

She waited and waited… still no sign of him. Waited some more… still nothing. Getting restless, Xu Dan grew agitated.

No way… Is he really going to break up with me? How dare he! I’ll go out there and give him a piece of my mind.

Fuming, she stormed into the living room—only to see Dong Ye sitting rigidly on the sofa with his back to her, holding an embroidery needle threaded with red silk, about to stab the needle into his own face…

“What are you doing? Trying to hurt yourself for pity points? Hmph… Bikini with suspenders—don’t even try that trick with me, I… Hey! Hey! Are you really going to stab yourself?!”