CH 63

lu ye felt uncomfortable all over, and his mind was in turmoil. tossing and turning, he didn’t even know when he had fallen asleep.

as the night grew darker, the last few lights in the building gradually went off. outside the window, the moonlight was dim, but in lu ye’s dream, it was snowing heavily.

a piercing cold wind, mixed with snowflakes, howled past. the young man downstairs in the family building tightened his coat and checked his empty pockets, sighing with a troubled expression. he paced back and forth on the ground floor as if hesitating, then finally seemed to make up his mind and headed upstairs.

the facilities in that old residential building were outdated, and there was a large hole in the glass of the unit door. the stairs had chunks missing, and a thick layer of dust had accumulated on the iron handrails. a touch would leave rust marks.

the door to the room on the third floor, on the right-hand side, was not properly closed. light spilled out from the narrow gap in the door.

the young man went up the stairs step by step, and casually opened the door.

the scent of fried food still lingered in the room. the young man stood at the doorway, took a deep breath, and mentally prepared himself before summoning the courage to walk in the house.

the room was warm, but the atmosphere was as cold and tense. the young man saw his father sitting alone on the sofa, smoking, with a stern and unforgiving expression on his face, as if he had been sitting there for a long time. the makeshift ashtray on the wooden coffee table, made from a soda can, was overflowing with cigarette butts, leaving distinct white marks on the wooden surface.

the young man’s footsteps hesitated for a moment subconsciously, and then he heard his mother’s voice from the kitchen doorway.

“lu ye,” the middle-aged woman asked coldly, “where did you go?”

the room was devoid of warmth, filled with the acrid smell of cheap tobacco. the stern middle-aged man on the sofa finally spoke. his voice seemed distant and cold, with a hint of distortion, sounding indifferent and detached.

lu ye stopped in his tracks, realizing belatedly what was happening. he thought to himself, “yeah, why did i come back?”

in an instant, the dream began to distort, and the scene in front of him shattered into fragments. lu ye’s thoughts were pulled away and detached from the young body in front of him. he suddenly remembered that he seemed to be having a completely fictional dream.

“it’s all fake,” lu ye thought.

but his “awakening” didn’t last long. the dream quickly shifted, and the young man at the door first shrank, then returned to normal. lu ye observed coldly, seeing his younger self in the house, breaking things in frustration and revealing his childish and naive cards. he also saw his adult self standing at a bar entrance, coldly staring at a man who was drunk.

what followed was all too familiar to lu ye. he constantly shuttled between his adult and teenage selves, sometimes observing from a distance, sometimes experiencing firsthand. he witnessed the bottles on the table shattering on the floor, with the sharp scolding of his parents filling the room.

under this chaos, the room shifted again and the young man in the dream seemed to have stepped into some extremely evil place in an instant. a sense of imminent danger pierced his heart like a needle. lu ye was startled, turned around instinctively, and started running, seemingly trying to escape from this place. however, he didn’t get far before he felt a shadow closing in behind him.

the figure reached out and wrapped its arms around his shoulders, sliding gently, and placed its chin lightly on his shoulder, sighing softly.

“they don’t love you anymore, do they?” the figure seemed regretful, but there was a subtle hint of amusement in his tone. he slightly tightened his arms, whispering seductively, “that’s okay; you can be mine alone.”

as soon as the words left the figure’s mouth, lu ye felt something cold and soft winding up his limbs from below.

when he lowered his head to look, he discovered that thin tendrils were climbing up his ankles, coiling around him bit by bit, and tightening around him.

the moist and soft sensation wrapped around lu ye’s wrists and ankles, drawing closer to him irresistibly, caressing him. they clung tightly to him, leaving no room for refusal.

that sticky, soft sensation wandered and entwined on lu ye’s skin. they slid across lu ye’s body as if trying to please him, bringing with them an enchanting sense of moisture.

underfoot, the old building had turned into a desert at some point, and the swirling heavy snow from outside had silently filled the entire space.

there was a profound silence in the world, with only the faint sound of rustling behind him. lu ye suddenly turned around and saw another figure in the wilderness.

in the white expanse of snow, a man stood naked in the center of the snow with his back to lu ye. dark-red tendrils twined and moved around him, like chains enticing and pleasing him, using every means to keep him in place.

however, the man’s expression remained indifferent; he neither responded nor struggled. he stood there with an ambiguous attitude, only occasionally tilting his head to allow those tendrils to touch his lips and cheeks.

the eerie sensation on lu ye’s body faded away like a tide at that moment, and his vision was suddenly pulled into the distance. the man’s figure gradually became shrouded in mist, but before disappearing completely, he seemed to sense something. he slightly tilted his head back and looked at lu ye.

his eyebrows raised slightly, and his eyes seemed to carry a sinister intent. lu ye met his gaze for a moment, and in that instant of seeing the other’s face clearly, he stepped into nothingness and abruptly woke up from the dream.

a night had passed, and the outside world was bright and sunny. lu ye, with his eyes half-closed, raised his hand to shield his face and realized he was covered in sweat.

the lingering feeling from the dream remained. lu ye recalled the last glance in the dream, and in a daze, he wasn’t sure if he was looking at himself or seeing another “lu ye” from the perspective of “qi yanbai.”

he wanted to delve deeper into it, but the dream quickly faded as time passed, turning into a vague and hazy outline. the once-clear impressions were gone in an instant, becoming like a soap bubble that shattered lightly in his memory, leaving only a faint and pale watermark.

his phone on the bedside table rang just in time, and the alarm for work appeared on the screen. it rang twice and was promptly silenced by lu ye.

he sat up in bed, rubbing his nose in drowsiness, then stepped barefoot on the floor and took a quick shower in the bathroom.

after a night’s sleep, the sharp pain in his stomach had vanished, leaving only a dull ache. lu ye rubbed his stomach absently while changing clothes, then walked to the kitchen and took out a pack of shredded pork buns he had bought a week ago from the fridge.

as he sat on the edge of the bed, biting into the bun, lu ye’s thoughts were still undecided about what to do with his future with qi yanbai. however, his mood had calmed considerably. he chewed on his bun while briefly considering his options, ultimately deciding not to format his phone’s memory. instead, he retrieved a spare phone from a drawer and switched the sim card.

the location-tracking software went into temporary hibernation when the original device lost power, and the receiving end produced a light “ding” sound, displaying a notification that read “location tracking paused.”

qi yanbai’s heart tightened at first, but then he felt puzzled. the tracking software had a self-destruct program, and if it was deleted from the lu ye’s end, the receiving end’s software on qi yanbai’s end should disappear as well. qi yanbai had initially thought that with lu ye’s personality, he would have immediately rid himself of this privacy-invading thing. however, after waiting all night, he seemingly never deleted it.

did he not delete the software? qi yanbai leaned against the door, lost in thought. or he still doesn’t know how to deal with it?

as he pondered over lu ye’s thoughts, he heard a faint sound from the opposite door. lu ye came out dressed neatly, holding his old phone and car keys. he was adjusting the collar of his coat and appeared to be going to work.

qi yanbai’s scattered thoughts suddenly merged, leaving only the person in front of him. he instinctively opened his door and straightened himself up, but before he could step forward, he saw lu ye raise his head and notice him.

their eyes briefly met in mid-air. lu ye’s expression shifted from surprise to calm, and his gaze quickly scanned qi yanbai before furrowing his brows subtly, almost imperceptibly.

“lu ye.” qi yanbai’s gaze had brightened considerably when it landed on lu ye. he lowered his eyebrows and eyes, speaking softly, “i waited for you all night.”

after a night apart, qi yanbai seemed more disheveled. he hadn’t changed his clothes, his collar was slightly undone, and his eyes appeared somewhat red, as if he had been crying all night.

despite his irritation, lu ye didn’t want to escalate the situation further. seeing qi yanbai in this state, he let out a quiet sigh and took a step back.

qi yanbai’s voice was gentle. “i miss you.”

“lu ye.” qi yanbai continued, “i want to fix this, please.”

lu ye:

qi yanbai had always been skilled at understanding others, maintaining a balance, and knowing when to stop. he had never been this “unreasonable” before. for a moment, lu ye didn’t know how to respond.

after revealing his feelings, qi yanbai probably didn’t want to pretend anymore. he locked onto lu ye with a possessiveness that was now evident in his eyes. he held lu ye’s wrist tightly, and lu ye just watched him closely.

qi yanbai’s warm breath was so close. he blinked, then called lu ye’s name again.

“lu ye,” qi yanbai said, “i can be patient. i’ll wait for you, just don’t ignore me.”

qi yanbai’s attitude was very stubborn, almost to the point of being unreasonable. lu ye felt the strength of his grip on his wrist but didn’t resist. instead, he calmly looked at qi yanbai, attempting to reason with him.

“we agreed to take some time apart to calm down,” lu ye said.

“i know, but…..,” qi yanbai responded quickly. “i’ll give you space to calm down, but i don’t want to give up on you.”

his tone was gentle, and his posture sincere. he appeared submissive, but when lu ye glanced at him, he suddenly felt a dangerous and thrilling intuition.

“lu ye.” qi yanbai said, “i don’t want to give up on us.”