Translator’s notes:
To my ten or so readers who’ve read up to this point, sorry for missing a few days. I’ve been on a business trip all week. Flying back tomorrow. Thanks for being the pioneers on this novel :)
*****
Xiao Xia wanted to escape but the sleeves had already tightly wrapped around her arms. She felt the cold, moist, sticky and slippery leather jacket climb up along her arms. She struggled desperately but wasn’t able to move. She wanted to scream but couldn’t make a sound. In the blink of an eye, the bunch of clothes in the closet had layered themselves around her without leaving any gaps.
The scarlet leather clothing slowly slid up her body, wrapping her up inside, sticking to her like a second layer of skin. Xiao Xia felt her head spin and then her expression changed. It became coquettish and charming, filled with satisfaction and scheming. She knelt down and took off her shoes, putting on the pair of white ones. She pushed the clothes in front of her aside and walked out.
“Looks great!” She stood outside the door, lightly stroking her body and face, her expression filled with infatuation.
When Wan Li stepped out of the bathroom, he saw “Xiao Xia” acting this way.
“What happened? Why did you change clothes?” He looked her over and realized those clothes were extremely tight-fitting, completely revealing her dainty physique. Something seemed a little off but it also made her extremely sexy.
“Nothing much. She has so many clothes anyway. It’s a waste to leave it here. And I like this one too much.” She slowly stroked the clothing on her body as she spoke.
Wan Li stood staring for a few seconds. “Let me remind you not to make such gestures in front of men.” He walked towards her. “The alluring effect is too shocking.”
When he was a few steps away, the bloodwood sword in his hand suddenly shook. Because he hadn’t expected this, it fell to the floor.
“What’s going on?” Wan Li’s heart tensed. He picked up the sword but it wasn’t glowing red. It was a bit strange.
“Perhaps you weren’t holding it properly. You just received a shock after all!” Xiao Xia laughed delicately. “Enough, let’s go find Ah Zhan.”
Ah Zhan? Xiao Xia had never called Ruan Zhan that before. This made Wan Li even more suspicious. He looked at the bloodwood sword in bewilderment, and then looked at Xiao Xia’s graceful retreating figure. He could only follow behind her.
In the living room, Ruan Zhan was no longer sitting on the sofa. He was in front of a fish tank, using the glow stick to illuminate the swimming fish. Seeing the two people come over, he hurriedly put the object in his hand into his pocket.
“Find anything?” He asked.
Wan Li shook his head and gave Xiao Xia a worried glance. However, Ruan Zhan didn’t seem to have noticed and completely ignored him. He merely looked at Xiao Xia for a long while before speaking.
“Let’s go. I’ve given the other places a glance. There wasn’t anything to find.” He stretched his hand out towards Xiao Xia.
“Alright!” Xiao Xia very happily agreed and walked over. She wrapped one hand around Ruan Zhan’s waist, almost pouncing onto him. Ruan Zhan still didn’t show any doubts. He merely smiled gently at her and left together with her.
He didn’t notice Xiao Xia was acting weird? Wan Li wondered, standing there for a minute before following them out.
In a corner where the light didn’t reach, a red light flashed. A paper crane sat there askew.
*****
After they got home, Wan Li’s doubts seemed to have faded. He finished watching the game which was at its halfway point. When he went to bed, it was already around three in the morning.
“Xiao Xia” crept quietly out of the bedroom, feeling her way in the dark towards Ruan Zhan who was sleeping on the sofa. She was still wearing that red leather jacket. Although the room was pitch black, her eyes were bright like two small lamps, giving off a green glow. She walked lightly, without any sound, as though she were floating.
She stood blankly in front of Ruan Zhan for a long while before walking towards Wan Li who was sleeping on the floor near the front door. Without hesitation, she stretched her right hand out and grabbed towards the top of his head. Her originally small and beautiful hand had turned into a claw-like ghostly hand.
In that instant, a beam of white light suddenly flashed from the top of Wan Li’s head, viciously reflecting the ghostly hand away.
“As expected, he’s brimming with yang energy to an almost freakish extent.” Xiao Xia said resentfully in a quiet voice. She fished out a talisman from her pocket and placed it over his mouth and nose. His snoring immediately stopped, and he became as quiet as the dead.
She let out a faint, cold laugh before returning to Ruan Zhan’s side. She retracted the abnormal green light in her eyes and crouched down, looking infatuatedly at him. She stretched out her hand again, but this time it was that small, gentle hand, and lightly stroked his face.
Ruan Zhan was sound asleep and showed no reaction.
“Come with me. I will love you more than anyone else!” She muttered to herself. Her hand continued stroking, a smile on her face. However, it was a weird smile, as though the muscles of her face were being pulled. Then, her hand slowly moved towards his chest and dug down forcefully.
“Where do you want to take me?” Ruan Zhan woke up ‘just in time’. He gripped the small hand that was roaming around his body, sensing this icy chill.
“Do you love me?”
“I do.”
“How much?”
“Very, very much.”
“How much is that?”
“It means I’m willing to do anything for you!”
“Then come with me!”
‘Xiao Xia’ said intimately, resentment and ruthlessness flashing in her eyes before fading. She looked alluringly at Ruan Zhan. She felt him grab her wrist with one hand and wrap his other arm around her waist. He moved his hand from her hip to her neck. She thought he was pulling her in for a kiss, and thus lowered herself towards him. However, before she could make contact with those lips she yearned for, she felt a searing pain in her acupuncture points on her wrist and neck. She couldn’t help but scream.
“Who’s making all this ruckus in the middle of the night? Can’t you see I’m trying to sleep?” Another voice rang out. Wan Li stood up.
“You….”
“It’s me!” Wan Li threw the talisman on the floor and waved the bloodwood sword in his hand. “I’ve got this baby protecting me. How could such a little scheme harm me in the slightest?” He pointed the sword towards “Xiao Xia” as he spoke, making her scream again.
“Can you stop her from wailing like a banshee? The police will come knocking.” Wan Li frowned.
“Relax, I’ve set up a boundary.”
“Then you guys should get up. This position is a little too stimulating.”
At this moment, Ruan Zhan was still lying on the sofa. “Xiao Xia” was completely prone on top of him. From the side, it looked like they were in a tight embrace.
“No need.” Ruan Zhan didn’t move. Truthfully speaking, he couldn’t move because he was suppressing the spirit that was possessing Xiao Xia. “Stick the talisman I gave you earlier between her brows.”
“Got it.” Wan Li responded. He held the bloodwood sword in one hand, taking out the talisman with his other.
“What are you guys planning to do?” The spirit shrieked in fear.
“Give Xiao Xia back to us.” Wan Li answered sternly. He stretched his hand out and stuck the talisman between “Xiao Xia’s” brows. His normally gentle and smiling face was now filled with an indescribable austerity.
As the talisman was put in place, Ruan Zhan pulled heavily at the same time. The leather jacket was peeled off like a layer of skin. The spirit and Xiao Xia let out a tragic cry at the same time.
“Hush, hush, I know you’re in a lot of pain. But bear with it a little.” Ruan Zhan sat up and hugged Xiao Xia, who was back in her original form. Although she didn’t wake up, her body trembled from the pain.
The leather jacket was randomly thrown aside. It writhed on the floor like a jellyfish, creeping Wan Li out. When it squirmed passed his foot, he could only jump onto the sofa.
“Hey, can you do something about this? It’ll scare someone to death if it got out.”
“It’s not able to get out!” Ruan Zhan lightly placed Xiao Xia down and stood up. He silently chanted and pointed his finger. The crawling human skin on the floor became fixed in place. Although it continued to writhe, it couldn’t move about anymore. It seemed like a horrifying painting that had fallen to the floor.
“How did you guys manage to do this?” It asked resentfully. “That person promised this would work. When did you guys find out!?”
“We knew the moment you possessed Xiao Xia. We have a thorough understanding of her, and it’s not something you can pull off by just wearing her skin.” Wan Li said. “We came up with the plan while we were discussing the game.”
Gu Yu Fang recalled that when they watched the game, they said something about the team uniform’s color not being good, making the players seem almost unfamiliar. Furthermore, Ruan Zhan had drawn something on a piece of paper, saying this was how the foreign player’s name was written. It turns out they had been planning to capture her, and free that woman from her control.
“Ah Zhan, you lied to me again!” She cried loudly and resentfully. The human skin on the floor curled and uncurled, seeming to be suffering a lot.
She had endured her soul’s torment, the tragedy of having her corpse skinned, and even hiding herself in clothes made of her own skin for the sake of killing her enemy, the person who stole her love. However, it was all for nothing. She never expected that the person she had set her heart on, the person she had known for over two years, was a man with magical powers!
“I’ve never lied to you, and also have no obligation to accept any of your feelings.” Ruan Zhan said coldly, but his voice held a trace of reluctance.
The moment Xiao Xia changed, he knew something had possessed her. The person behind Gu Yu Fang had been skilled enough to conceal her ghostly aura. Even the bloodwood sword showed no reaction and gave no light, but he had felt something was wrong. Was it intuition? He didn’t know. He only knew that he had yet to regain his strength back then and Gu Yu Fang had been vigilant. If he messed up, Xiao Xia would end up getting harmed. Therefore, he pretended not to have noticed anything.
Wan Li had been puzzled by his actions. However, they had been friends since they were children and understood each other too well. Therefore, they just needed some slight hints to communicate.
“Gu Yu Fang, as acquaintances, I’ve already let you off once.”
“I don’t need you to let me off. It’s just unfortunate I failed both times to kill her!” She brimmed with resentment.
“Even if she didn’t exist, I still wouldn’t love you. I don’t want anyone. Do you understand? If you promise to turn back, I’ll let you off once again.” Ruan Zhan raised the bloodwood sword but was still reluctant to pierce down.
The human skin leather jacket was silent for a bit after listening to Ruan Zhan before it suddenly started laughing loudly. It spread out trembling on the floor. “No, I won’t let her off. Never! What I can’t have, she can’t have either!”
Ruan Zhan sighed and raised the bloodwood sword.
“Go ahead! Kill me once again!” Gu Yu Fang shrieked. “Do you think your beloved will awaken? Her soul has long since been sucked away by the white shoes. Right now she must be getting tortured who knows where! Hahahahaha…”
Ruan Zhan turned pale. “Bring the tattered banner over.” He said to Wan Li.