Alone, Beautifully – Chapter 98
by Little PandaMy Wife (10)
“Peony flower…”
Time has already passed twelve o’clock.
In the room, silence prevails. Xu Jiao lowers her eyes, looking at the position of the cup in her hand. The cup, which was clearly very hot earlier, now seems much cooler. However, her fingertips still feel slightly painful from holding the cup, indicating that the cool air is merely an illusion.
Human eyes do not easily adjust from the brightness of earlier to the current darkness, so Xu Jiao cannot see anything now. Zheng Zhiyu, who was originally close at hand, is swallowed by the darkness. Previously silent, she now blends into the room’s color, as if she has completely disappeared.
Noticing Xu Jiao’s breath lighten, Zheng Zhiyu seems to understand her momentarily vigilant state. She gently raises her hand and covers Xu Jiao’s eyes with her cold hand.
Xu Jiao slightly turns her head, instinctively knowing who is close to her. This action seems to silently ask Zheng Zhiyu what’s wrong.
Zheng Zhiyu did not answer her, only released her covering action. Xu Jiao originally thought it was just Zheng Zhiyu teasing her, but unexpectedly, when she opened her eyes, everything in the room reflected into her eyes.
It was as if she had suddenly gained night vision ability.
This experience was somewhat magical. Xu Jiao blinked several times and suddenly saw a dark mass appear slowly on the clean bed. At the same time, a very strong, pungent smell of iron rust reached her nose.
Xu Jiao belatedly remembered that when she came out of the bathroom just now, Zheng Zhiyu had placed her on this small sofa and hadn’t looked at the bed from start to finish.
So it was…
The unclean place is inside this bed.
If other people were here, they would likely have been startled by the moment the lights tripped, and then smelling that strong scent of blood in the darkness, even if not driven mad, their spirits would be greatly disturbed.
Only Xu Jiao seemed as if someone had pulled away her fear, not only did she not avert her gaze, but she also focused it on the position of the bed, seeing the dark color slowly spread.
Large masses, the middle part is the darkest, while the outer edge is somewhat lighter.
Combining the iron rust smell she sensed, she guessed that the color inside the bed was likely spread blood.
At this moment of thought—
A strange sound suddenly appeared beside her ear.
“Ha… ka… ka…”
It was like an opened broken bellows, or like someone hidden in the corner of the wall, struggling to make a sound, trying to attract attention. Just a few fragmented noises, yet it made Xu Jiao feel as if she was empathizing, as if she was suddenly inflicted with great pain.
As if someone was choking her neck.
She slightly widened her eyes, realizing that this pain was not an illusion, but her mouth and nose were suddenly blocked by some force, nearly suffocating her.
Zheng Zhiyu, who had been standing by her side, suddenly moved, raised her hand, and patted her shoulder once, shaking something off. At the same time, an extremely strong coldness spread from her body, carrying an indescribable pressure throughout the room, and a somewhat displeased voice sounded beside Xu Jiao’s ear:
“Get out.”
“Is this your attitude towards people who come to help?”
In the tightly closed room, a sudden gust of wind blew.
The strong bloody smell wafted in front of Xu Jiao. The entity originally intended to devour this soul, which smelled extremely sweet, but was deterred by the presence of the evil ghost beside her. It could only stop not far away, turning to face the two, revealing an extremely pale profile.
Immediately after, it scrutinized her with a terrifying gaze full of hatred, as if wanting to devour Xu Jiao directly. At the same time, a slow, nearly breathless hoarse voice sounded:
“I… truly appreciate your help…”
“Bringing such a person before me…”
“As long as I can consume her, I can take my revenge… isn’t that so?”
Xu Jiao remained silent, quietly staring into those pure black eyes filled with resentment, yet she was not affected by the extremely bad emotions in those eyes, and sat there calmly.
Zheng Zhiyu, however, was staring at the person not far away, whose body was only partially stained with blood. After the extremely hoarse and unpleasant voice had fallen silent for a while, she spoke up:
“You can try—”
“As long as you dare to touch her once, I do not mind sending you off physically.”
This voice, neither light nor heavy, carried a clearly discernible threat.
Xu Jiao then realized that when Zheng Zhiyu spoke to people other than herself, her voice could actually be so cold, rather than having that aura that could even draw away a ghost’s soul at every moment.
Hearing Zheng Zhiyu’s words, the woman looked at her own blood-red wedding dress, then at Xu Jiao, and after a moment, as if understanding something, tilted her head and slowly said:
“I… understand… she is the one you fancy…”
She did not continue further but instead agreed, “Alright… I will not touch her… then you came, for… what purpose?”
Zheng Zhiyu answered this question even faster: “To help you fulfill your wish, but you must pay compensation.”
On the pale half side of her face, the woman’s eyes, filled with resentment, moved as if judging the credibility of Zheng Zhiyu’s words. She constantly looked at the wedding dress on Zheng Zhiyu, her gaze lingering on the beautiful red dress, uncertain if it was envy or fear. After a long time, she finally responded:
“I… don’t need…”
She seemed to have too many things to say, and a multitude of emotions surged in her eyes, including hatred, resentment, and sarcasm. Xu Jiao had never seen such completely negative eyes on a human before. She thought distractedly that perhaps ghosts, being a collection of negative emotions, could embody all these terrible existences together.
Thinking this way, the saying “people die like lights going out” really signifies non-existence—
After death, no matter what remains, it seems they are no longer the original person.
A thought flashed through her mind, and Xu Jiao thought again of Zheng Zhiyu beside her. She couldn’t help but slightly raise her gaze, looking at the figure in the red dress standing beside her, seemingly protecting her, and her thoughts became a bit confused:
What about Zheng Zhiyu?
How does she maintain such a state almost indistinguishable from humans?
If you don’t consider her strange abilities, like penetrating objects and teleportation, and her stiff control over expressions, she is really too different from these emotion-composite ghosts. She seems too much like a human.
Xu Jiao didn’t realize she had spaced out at such a tense moment.
She also did not realize that when Zheng Zhiyu stood beside her, she would inadvertently relax, even able to ignore the danger in front of her, as if knowing that the presence beside her would not let anything happen to her.
At this moment.
The figure not far from them suddenly moved, no longer maintaining the posture of facing them with just half of her face, but slowly turned her head. Her messy long hair was draped down, and as her head mechanically turned, Xu Jiao thought this person might have some malicious intent again, even guessing whether the head might fall directly to the ground in the next second.
However, it did not.
As she turned her head, the full appearance of that face slowly came into view in front of the two, and it was a… somewhat shocking face.
It is frightening, yet not because of horror.
The other half of the face is covered in scars, with a mark on the forehead seemingly carved with a knife, and the blood marks have all dried. What was once a delicate face bears terrible wounds, with finger marks, burn marks, and swollen remnants resembling whip marks.
The pale neck also bears frightening bruises.
Xu Jiao thought of the bloodstains that appeared on the bed and, for a moment, did not know whether this person was ultimately strangled to death or wounded by some sharp blade. However, she somewhat guessed that the woman before her must have been in extreme pain before death.
Suffered abuse.
Seeing Xu Jiao staring at the other half of her face, the woman smiled a little. What should have been a beautiful smile appeared ferocious and bizarre due to the wounds on her face and the emotions in her eyes. She suddenly seemed unafraid of Zheng Zhiyu’s presence, stepped forward two steps, and stared at Xu Jiao, speaking in a breathy voice with difficulty:
“Do you know… how he treated me?”
Perhaps because her voice was lowered and she no longer needed to strain her vocal cords, her tone became much smoother and no longer broken, she simply said: “I was with him for eight years, I was so obedient, I loved him—”
“But he took a knife and stabbed me, even afraid my screams would spread, he viciously strangled my neck.”
“I am in so much pain… I am really in so much pain…”
Xu Jiao placed the water cup she held onto the nearby table, not checking whether it was cold or not, then supported her chin with one hand, her elbow resting on the sofa’s armrest, and met the resentful eyes.
She softly asked her: “Why do you want to love him?”
The woman, already almost in front of her, was stopped by Xu Jiao’s question, her expression was completely blank. She thought for a long time, numbly and blankly shook her head, yet in the next second, a bizarre smile appeared:
“I love him.”
“I want him to, like me, die in a foreign land, and forever accompany me in this place.”
Xu Jiao did not continue the conversation, she only looked at Zheng Zhiyu beside her. Perhaps because she never placed emotions like love above anything else, she couldn’t understand such extreme love, nor why someone would find a partner from the trash.
And wholeheartedly entrust herself and her trust to such a person.
Seeing that Xu Jiao didn’t want to stay longer in this place, Zheng Zhiyu prepared to resolve the topic quickly: “Now the hotel has completely sealed this floor. It will become increasingly difficult for you to trick people into checking in, borrowing the act of consuming them… to amplify your own power.”
“Before you become completely strong and can leave this place, the possibility that this hotel cannot continue operating is greater.”
“And he has already done such a guilty thing, he certainly wouldn’t dare to come to this place again, so the possibility of making him die here is very slim.”
“Alright, either offer the reward and entrust us to help you fulfill your wish, or goodbye.”
By the end, her voice had already lost patience.
The woman who revealed her scars to Xu Jiao remained silent for a while, as if truly considering the feasibility of what Zheng Zhiyu had said. She glanced somewhat resentfully at Zheng Zhiyu’s clothes again, and then stared at Xu Jiao.
After a long silence, she once again spoke in her original hoarse voice:
“I will give you my ghost core…”
“I want him to appear in this room within seven days.”
After speaking—
Her figure suddenly disappeared.
The coldness in the room dissipated as well, and the previously dimmed lights turned back on, revealing the hotel room still as tidy as ever, with the bed clean and neat. The blood-stained colors seen earlier in the dark had already vanished, as if they were an illusion.
Xu Jiao pressed her lips and turned her head to Zheng Zhiyu, asking, “Is it over?”
Zheng Zhiyu made a “hmm” sound and reminded her: “The dormitory building should just be under curfew, and the auntie hasn’t gone to bed yet, so it’s still in time to return.”
Xu Jiao indeed didn’t want to stay longer in this place.
Firstly, staying at a hotel brought some guilt, even if this room was a place people avoided like the plague; secondly, having such a big and soft bed but not being able to sleep on it, and having to make a floor bed in such a place, was too psychologically unsettling.
She pulled the quilt off herself, intending to carry it to the bed edge and fold it neatly, but saw Zheng Zhiyu take over her task, pressing her back into the small sofa. After tidying the room back to its original look, she came over, extended her hand, and led her downstairs.
The front desk was still manned by the same young lady as before.
She saw Xu Jiao come out and was momentarily stunned. Recalling that her male colleague had previously asked her which room this visitor was from, she conveniently checked the surveillance and noted the floor Xu Jiao had pressed when entering the elevator.
A few seconds later, she broke into a cold sweat, sat in her chair, unscrewed the lid of her hot water cup, and took a long time to recover.
Until someone patted her shoulder: “What are you doing? It’s not hot tonight, so why are you sweating so much?”
The uniformed front desk clerk forced an awkward smile, opened her mouth, her mind filled with thoughts of resigning from this haunted place, and after a long while, managed to utter two particularly difficult words:
“Nothing (沒事)…”
“What is a ghost core?”
Under the bright streetlamp, Xu Jiao felt a hint of the approaching summer heat, dispelling the chill from the long stay in that room. Except for the lingering soreness in her lower abdomen, those previous memories seemed more like an absurd scene.
Under the lamp, her elongated shadow was a dense black, like a bottomless vortex. Hearing her question, the shadow slightly moved, avoiding the overlapping shadow traces of Xu Jiao’s walking and the surrounding people. A melodious and gentle voice softly sounded by Xu Jiao’s ear:
“Can you guess?”
Xu Jiao: “…”
Usually, she would never pay attention to this kind of boring question trick, but now, as she looked at the increasingly bustling night market past midnight, she unexpectedly moved her lips and softly answered as if talking to herself:
“I guess… it’s the thing you gave me to eat before, right?”
“It can help me resist the ghost aura from your body, right? But if ordinary people eat it, won’t there be any side effects? Just like in horror novels, where people who stay with ghosts for a long time slowly become unlucky.”
Zheng Zhiyu was silent for a while and then praised her for being smart, saying: “There is always a solution for everything. In fact, the best thing to resist ghost aura is the ghost core. It’s quite magical, isn’t it?”
“The thing that emits the eerie ghost aura itself is the antidote to solve this cold aura.”
Xu Jiao showed a thoughtful expression.
It feels like the logic from those legendary stories where, if bitten by a poisonous snake, there must be an antidote within five steps.
She did not ask further, but Zheng Zhiyu enjoyed the atmosphere of chatting with her, as if they were just the most ordinary couple in the world, who would go out to the night market together and casually chat about daily life gossip.
The pleasure of hearing Xu Jiao chat with her, for a moment, actually surpassed the nonsense from earlier in the hotel room bathroom.
Zheng Zhiyu secretly thought her appetite had become smaller, as even a starter course could satisfy her like this, yet when Xu Jiao walked into the campus, she again actively spoke:
“Nothing else you want to ask?”
Xu Jiao thought seriously: “You previously said she tricked people into that room and then ate something of theirs? It seems like some content was omitted in the middle.”
Zheng Zhiyu unhurriedly answered: “Fear.”
Xu Jiao didn’t react for a moment: “Hmm?”
Zheng Zhiyu repeated: “What she ate was fear—she hated those unfaithful men, and those staying in hotels are often couples, so she loved to trick lovers on the same floor into that room, then transform it into terrifying scenes, scaring those men out of their wits, and then consuming the fear they produced.”
“She is a collection of negative emotions, so she kept staring at you, wanting to see your fear.”
Xu Jiao softly said: “Ah, we let her down.”
After a moment of quiet, Xu Jiao continued: “Did she want to lure the man who betrayed and killed her into the hotel to kill him? That seems illegal.”
At that time, she was walking through a sparsely populated campus path.
Along the path, unknown trees planted like clustered bushes became bizarre under the dim and flickering campus streetlights, forming twisted shadows on the ground that covered Xu Jiao’s figure.
With no one around, Zheng Zhiyu reappeared, lazily leaning on Xu Jiao’s back as if playfully wanting her to carry her, her low voice containing a hint of laughter:
“Don’t you trust me?”
“You already said not to let you do anything illegal or criminal, how could I bear to go against your wishes?”
Xu Jiao was caught off guard by her unthinking sweet words, and her steps inexplicably paused for a moment.
Zheng Zhiyu saw her reaction and knew she had unknowingly fallen for it, her mood suddenly improved. But before she could let herself get carried away with teasing, Xu Jiao calmly continued:
“Oh? Then what do you plan?”
Hearing her pull the topic back to the original subject, Zheng Zhiyu lost the best chance to tease her, with slight regret, she kept a secret: “When the time comes, you will know.”
She dragged her tone, sounding somewhat dissatisfied that Xu Jiao always asked an outsider, her voice containing a somewhat obvious perfunctory attitude: “Do you have any other questions?”
Xu Jiao: “I do.”
Zheng Zhiyu: “?”
Xu Jiao seriously said: “Did you say this part-time job can earn money? Where’s the money?”
Zheng Zhiyu: “…”
Thinking about how the female ghost just automatically assumed the ghost core as the transaction reward, she vaguely felt a headache and subconsciously began to change the topic: “Don’t you want to know how the woman in the hotel just now died?”
Xu Jiao, with a cold face: “Right now, I only want to know how I can earn money.”
Zheng Zhiyu’s fingertips, loosely holding her shoulder from behind, tightened a bit, as if feeling somewhat guilty, and after a few seconds, she fawningly said: “I get it, I get it, next time we’ll take on a human’s order, that should work, right?”
Xu Jiao: “…”
She slowly asked: “So… if I didn’t ask this today, you were planning to keep leading me astray, only earning ghost cores, not money, right?”
Zheng Zhiyu, an evil ghost with a perfectly fine voice, suddenly began to cough violently as if she had caught a cold, trying to move past this topic.
Yet Xu Jiao had no intention of letting her off: “As for the reason you want to obtain the ghost core… I don’t need to say more, do I?”
This evil ghost had only one purpose from beginning to end—
To sleep with her.
Xu Jiao, thinking about nearly ending up with neither person nor wealth, wished she could immediately take out the talisman paper from her pocket and fiercely stick it on the face of this ghost who was a lustful ghost inside.
Zheng Zhiyu, having her purpose exposed, attempted to find some grand excuse for herself, but before she could speak, she saw Xu Jiao’s right hand drawing in the air, and the talisman she had seen before quickly formed in the air.
As she just opened her mouth, her whole body was enveloped by a golden light.
This speed was much faster than when they were in the hotel before.
Zheng Zhiyu, looking at her déjà vu ending, saw Xu Jiao’s figure leaving without hesitation, wanted to cry but had no tears as she called out to her: “Jiaojiao…”
“Baby…”
“Listen to me explain…”
However, facing her was only the gradually receding back of Xu Jiao.
A little after one o’clock in the early morning.
Xu Jiao had been asleep in the dormitory for a long time when a bone-chilling cold suddenly pressed against her back, waking her from her sleep.
Just as she wanted to turn around, someone held her waist, lying behind her, insisting on squeezing into this small student bed without the slightest awareness, softly coaxing in her ear:
“Sleep, I won’t disturb you.”
Pressed by that coldness, Xu Jiao raised her hand to pull the quilt higher over her shoulder. Her foot inside the quilt hooked backward, seemingly trying to kick the person out of her bedding. Zheng Zhiyu sensed this small action to drive her away and inexplicably found it a bit cute.
Smiling, she kissed Xu Jiao’s nape and said softly, “I was wrong, don’t be angry.”
Zheng Zhiyu’s actions were domineering and strong, but her voice was extremely soft. Seeing Xu Jiao unmoved, unsure if she was asleep or just too lazy to respond, she quietly added:
“I like you, that’s why I want to be close to you.”
“I want to hold you, meld you into my bones and blood, that way we can never be separated.”
In her gentle voice was a blatant desire, and just hearing her say this, Xu Jiao felt her bones go weak, uncertain if it was the aftereffects of today’s mischief in the hotel.
Clearly, these were words of extremely strong possessiveness, even with a touch of obsession, but somehow, Zheng Zhiyu managed to say them with an illusion of deep affection.
Woken by the cold in the middle of the night, Xu Jiao’s thoughts drifted for a while, and she recalled the woman she saw in the hotel. In the quiet dormitory, Zhou Qili and Qian Ai were both asleep, and only her voice gently sounded:
“You… how did you become this way?”
Zheng Zhiyu, holding her, thought seriously for a moment: “I don’t remember.”
But quickly, she adjusted her arm, and with that satisfied smile in her tone, she slowly said: “However, seeing you, I think…”
“I should have died under the peony flower, right.”
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