Chapter 18: Night Without Return
“Huh? Wait, wait, going to your place?!”
“Mhm.”
With a faint reply, she pulled my hand and we left the park bench.
My feet dragged on the ground as I tried to stop, but I couldn’t at all!
It wasn’t that she was pulling me with great strength, but she always managed to disrupt my balance perfectly, causing me to stumble along behind her.
“Wait, Xueqing, you can just tell me the homework! There’s no need for me to go to your house, right?”
I didn’t want to go…
Rather, I just wanted to get away from Xueqing as quickly as possible right now.
The nauseating smell of blood emanating from her, as well as the killing intent she had just exuded, made me instinctively defensive.
Although there was no concrete evidence yet, in my mind, Xueqing and the dismembering murderer had become synonymous.
It was impossible not to suspect, it could only be her!
The method of dismembering a corpse into countless pieces, her active obsession with deformed people, and the fact that she always carried two knives – too many clues pointed to Xueqing.
And then there was… that coldness, which was bone-deep, yet exuded a palpable killing intent.
Killing stems from hatred, hatred arises from the heart, and is born from enduring humiliation.
There must be a reason why a person develops killing intent, and that is what is called a motive for murder.
So Xueqing… why did she kill?
Was it simply because she wanted to turn others into cripples?
Did she bring me home to turn me into a cripple as well…
She had just put Kaoru Tsukiyose’s finger in her pocket… What if Xueqing also dismembered me into seventeen pieces with that dagger like Qiye’s short knife, strangely dismembered me into seventeen slices of meat, and then stuffed them into her pocket…
A chill ran down my spine.
“…”
“Is my hand… dirty…”
“Ah, ah?”
She suddenly stopped walking and asked a question with no context.
Because her voice was too soft, I didn’t hear it clearly, so I asked a series of questions.
For some reason, Xueqing didn’t repeat herself, just muttered in an even softer voice.
“Hand… Mhm…”
Hand? What was wrong with her hand?
As I wondered, Xueqing suddenly let go of my hand!
She let go! She actually let go! I was free!
What a good opportunity! Run quickly!
This was an excellent chance! If I missed it, I might never get another chance to escape!
I kept telling myself to escape, my brain sending instructions to my limbs, and just as I was about to turn and run.
Looking at Xueqing’s actions, I suddenly froze.
She placed her blood-stained hand on her clothes and began to wipe herself.
After a few wipes, her hand wasn’t much cleaner. After all, some of the blood had already congealed, and even washing it with water might not remove it all.
But she kept wiping, smearing her clothes with blood, and even licked her palm, moistening it with saliva before wiping again.
So she had been asking me if her hand was dirty…
Because I had a look of reluctance and kept frowning, she thought I was disgusted by her dirty hands…
She was thinking of me, while I was only thinking of escaping… A sense of guilt washed over me.
Tsk, what was I afraid of? Xueqing’s title was blue.
That was a color of safety, one that only those who could be trusted possessed.
Even when Ji Lianbing’s title was blue, she didn’t do anything to me…
So, what was I afraid of?
Tonight was indeed a bit neurotic… Because I witnessed the ghoul eating a corpse, and I experienced the loss of my five senses again, coupled with Xueqing’s red title earlier, the multiple shocks had made me lose my composure…
She wasn’t emotionless, definitely not.
I hadn’t realized it before because I couldn’t figure out what Xueqing was thinking… I always felt like she was a doll, completely devoid of emotion.
But in reality, she was a living human being…
Perhaps a little twisted, but still a human being with flesh and blood and emotions.
Escaping now would be counterproductive and would only make her feel betrayed. Betrayal would breed hatred, which would then stimulate her, and her title might turn red again.
Calm down, I can do this.
Since I could chat and laugh with Ji Lianbing, I could surely get along with Xueqing too.
Moreover, in a sense, Xueqing was much more stable than Lianbing.
“It’s alright, I don’t mind.”
I stepped forward and took her hand. The stickiness returned, but this time I didn’t feel disgusted.
Just thinking that not only blood but also her saliva was on her hands made me feel much more comfortable.
Hmm… Does this thought sound a bit perverted?
“…Mhm.”
Xueqing nodded slightly and, taking my hand again, continued to walk forward.
After leaving the park through an inconspicuous small path, we arrived at a street.
“It’s so dark…”
Although it was past midnight and the streetlights were off, so it was understandable that it was dark, but…
It was a little *too* dark.
Not a speck of light, not from shop signs, not even moonlight.
It was pitch black.
Depressed, I took out my phone and tapped the screen twice. Only then did the sole source of light appear in this area.
Then, just as I was about to pull down the menu to turn on my phone’s flashlight, I suddenly noticed 101 missed calls…
“Uh…”
“Hm?”
“Ah, it’s nothing, I was just looking at my phone. It’s almost one o’clock.”
101 missed calls, all from Keling.
This, this is a bit…
Keling is such a good kid, why would she suddenly act so drastically?
Even with her black-bellied trait, she wouldn’t do something like this, right?
Ah, damn it, my phone is about to die.
Seeing that only 8% battery remained, I abandoned the idea of turning on the flashlight. I needed this little bit of battery for other things.
But how could the phone be draining so quickly? I remember it was still 50% when I left home?
In less than four hours, the battery is almost drained?
Could it be because of these over a hundred missed calls?
Keling should be asleep by now… She usually goes to bed early. It was already close to her bedtime when I left, so she must be asleep now.
Should I call Xinran? Hmm…
After thinking about it, I decided not to call. Instead, I edited a message that read “[I’m sleeping at a friend’s place tonight and won’t be back. Don’t worry about me.]” and sent it to both Xinran and Keling. After seeing the word “Sent,” I put my phone away.
I’ll have to call her later…
Although the street was dark, Xueqing seemed to be able to see in the dark, and she led me steadily towards our destination, holding my hand.
After walking for about fifteen minutes, she stopped. It seemed we had reached our destination.
“Are we here?”
“Mhm.”
I couldn’t see the exterior of the house clearly, but it seemed to be quite large, as this mansion even had a small courtyard.
This is Xueqing’s home…
Xueqing walked ahead of me to the door. I didn’t hear the sound of a key unlocking it. Was it an electronic lock? It couldn’t be that the door was unlocked…
Following her into the house, Xueqing didn’t turn on any lights or even take off her shoes before walking into the living room. I searched for a light switch near the entrance, but found nothing.
I had no choice but to follow her into the living room. Since there were no slippers to change into, I didn’t take off my shoes either.
As we entered the living room, I heard a click, and then a dim light appeared in the room.
It was the faint glow of a lighter, illuminating Xueqing’s small face. Then, I saw her light the candles in the living room one by one… The living room finally became a little brighter.
But using candles, how retro…
The house was silent, and it seemed like no one else was there. The living room was modernly furnished with everything it should have, but under the candlelight, the atmosphere suddenly became eerie. For some reason, one of the windows was boarded up, looking like a temporary repair.
I guess a haunted house would look something like this…
“Are you living alone?”
“Mhm.”
“I see…”
I became even more curious about who Xueqing really was.
She lived in such a simple house?
No, it wouldn’t be right to call it simple. The house itself was quite large, but it gave off a strange feeling… Yes, it felt like an abandoned mansion.
Even though Xueqing lived here, this house gave me the feeling that no one had lived here for a long time, or in other words, it lacked the warmth of a lived-in home.
“Ah, anyway, let’s go take a bath first, to clean up the bloodstains on you. Oh, and you can’t wear those clothes anymore, change into something else.”
“Mhm.”
Xueqing nodded obediently, listening to me… and took off her clothes on the spot!
Kaoru Tsukiyose aside, why are you like this too!
Before I could even stop her, she had quickly taken off her clothes.
Perhaps because of her slender figure and flat chest, there were no obstacles when she took off her clothes. Her top was pulled off easily, and her skirt slid down after unbuttoning it.
The most frightening part was when she took off her underwear. She actually pulled out her dagger and, with a performance worthy of an acrobat, cut through both sides of her underwear. The white underwear, adorned with a touch of red, fluttered down like snowflakes.
The only remaining items of clothing on Xueqing were a pair of black thigh-high socks and two sheaths for her knives…
Under the flickering candlelight, her slender and petite body appeared a little ethereal.
After taking off her thigh-high socks, she looked up at me and said faintly.
“Help me.”
“Uh…”
What could I help with…
Ahhh, the dilemma!
But Xueqing didn’t share my dilemma. Taking my silence as consent, she, as usual, grabbed my hand and led me towards the bathroom.
Entering the clean bathroom, Xueqing reached out and turned on the light… Why was there a light only in the bathroom? This was making me see more clearly!
After turning on the bathroom light, Xueqing walked directly under the showerhead and turned it on…
Sizzle. The water hit her body and then splashed onto me.
It was freezing! So cold it gave me goosebumps!
I quickly reached out and turned off the faucet. My sleeves were soaked.
“That’s cold water! Why are you showering with cold water!”
It’s not summer yet. Aren’t you afraid of catching a cold by showering with cold water!
Xueqing acted as if she didn’t see anything wrong with using cold water. She placed her small hand on the showerhead switch, tilted her head, and looked at me with a confused gaze.
“Hm?”
“You haven’t been using cold water all along, have you…”
“Hot water, is there?”
This is your house, don’t you even know if there’s hot water…
I rolled my eyes and looked around. I immediately spotted the water heater above the washing machine, and it was plugged in.
“Oh, here’s the hot water.”
The water heater was operating, with a green light indicating it had already heated up.
Then I looked at the clean bathtub… Since there was a bathtub, I might as well fill it with bathwater.
Indeed, if conditions allowed, a bath would be more comfortable. At home, I usually just showered quickly, and only went to public baths occasionally on weekends.
I turned on the faucet, and hot water gushed out with steam.
“Just wait a moment, we’ll have hot bathwater soon… Uh, um, you should put on some clothes first? You’ll catch a cold…”
Xueqing, her hair curled by the cold water, said softly.
“It’s fine, I’m not cold.”
“Then let me wash your knives first… If you don’t mind, I can help you wash them?”
I casually suggested.
I just need to get her to put down her weapons first…
“………Mhm.”
Xueqing hesitated for a rare moment. After thinking for two or three seconds, she untied the thin strap and handed me the sheath along with the knife. The waist-worn sheath was the same.
I let out a sigh of relief in my heart and took the two knives to the washbasin to clean off the bloodstains.
It was surprisingly easy to clean… I mean, there was hardly any blood left.
I initially thought the blood had gotten into the sheaths, but when I rinsed the inside of the sheaths with water, no blood came out… What the heck…
Could it be that these sheaths have some kind of blood-absorbing and stain-removing function?
“The water is ready.”
Xueqing’s voice suddenly came from behind me, almost causing me to cut my finger.
“Ah? Oh, oh, you go in first.”
“Mhm.”
I stood facing the bathroom wall like a meditating monk…
“It’s very warm…”
“Y-yes…”
It’s warm?
“I feel like I’m going to melt…”
Huh? That’s a strange feeling? No matter how warm it is, you shouldn’t feel like your body is melting.
I sensed something was wrong and called her name.
“Xueqing?”
Xueqing didn’t respond to my call, and her body weakly slipped into the water, bubbles gurgling up.
She fainted from the bath!
Was the water temperature too high for her?
Why didn’t she tell me!
No, it’s not that she didn’t tell me, it’s that she herself didn’t realize it! After all, she always showered with cold water… so she didn’t know she was sensitive to heat!
Ugh…
After a brief struggle, I still picked her up from the bathtub.
Wrapping her body in a bath towel, I hastily tied a towel around my waist and rushed out of the bathroom, frantically looking for a bedroom.
Sigh…
Having to take care of a loli who fainted in the bath…
It seems I won’t be going home tonight…
