Chapter 2
August 8, 2021, 10:23 AM.
When Xia Weishuang woke up, for a moment she forgot who she was and where she was. The overly intense sunlight filtering through the curtains made the room a murky, bright yellow.
After a while, Xia Weishuang fully awoke in the muggy heat. She sat up and touched her neck, which was covered in sweat.
The heavy rain had ended. The sweltering summer gave people not even a moment’s respite, immediately followed by absurdly high temperatures. The extreme weather was incredibly unfriendly, making everything feel terribly uncomfortable.
A hoarse mumble sounded from beside her. “You’re awake…”
Xia Weishuang turned her head and was surprised to find Xia Qingxue lying next to her, face flushed red, looking weak and pitiful. Her lively almond-shaped eyes were listlessly narrowed, and she seemed to close them in relief upon seeing her awake.
Her lips were chapped, and she had dark circles under her eyes. A simple touch to her forehead revealed a frighteningly high temperature; there was no need for a thermometer to know she had a fever.
Xia Weishuang quickly grabbed the remote and turned on the air conditioner. Luckily, the power was back on; otherwise, it would be hard to bring a fever down in this heat. Worried that the direct blast of cold air would be bad for her, Xia Weishuang didn’t set the temperature too low and put it on the low fan setting.
“How did you suddenly get a fever?” Xia Weishuang helped straighten the bunched-up quilt to make Xia Qingxue more comfortable. She felt a little guilty. “Could it be that I gave it to you?”
Xia Qingxue shook her head and whimpered, “It’s not that.”
“I finished all the fever medicine in the house yesterday.” Xia Weishuang poured a glass of warm water and had Xia Qingxue take an anti-inflammatory pill first. “You rest for a bit. I’ll go downstairs to buy medicine and get some congee while I’m at it.”
Xia Weishuang had a fever the day before yesterday, but it was gone by yesterday. It was unlikely she had passed it to Xia Qingxue. As for why she herself had a fever… Xia Qingxue guessed it was probably from the shock, fear, and staying up all night.
After Xia Weishuang had fallen asleep last night, Xia Qingxue had clutched her phone, too scared to sleep. Her heart was pounding and a chill ran down her spine; she hadn’t had a moment of peace all night.
She didn’t dare tell Xia Weishuang what she had seen, because she knew all too well about Xia Weishuang’s obsession. If she said there were truly traces of Sang Lu outside, Xia Weishuang would definitely open the door and walk right into trouble.
Someone who had been dead for three years suddenly returning—it was abnormal no matter how you looked at it. Didn’t they say that if a person has a lingering obsession when they die, they will stop at nothing to fulfill it after becoming a ghost… Sang Lu must want to take her cousin away!
Xia Qingxue would never let Sang Lu do such a thing. Since she was already dead, why should she continue to entangle the living? Amitabha, the living and the dead cannot mix!
To prevent the ghost from launching a sneak attack in the middle of the night, Xia Qingxue guarded Xia Weishuang’s bed, not even sleeping to escape when her phone battery died.
Xia Qingxue waited until dawn. By then, she was already starting to feel a headache and dizziness. When Xia Weishuang finally woke up, Xia Qingxue grabbed her hand and managed to instruct her:
“And while you’re at it, buy some sticky rice, salt, black dog’s blood…”
Xia Weishuang: “???”
Xia Qingxue closed her eyes, feeling like the air she exhaled was high-temperature steam. “Sticky rice, salt, and a rooster should be fine… I want to eat sticky rice chicken.”
Xia Weishuang smiled and said okay, but she’d have to wait until her fever went down to eat it.
Afterward, Xia Weishuang placed a damp towel on Xia Qingxue’s forehead, then quickly washed her face, changed her clothes, and grabbed her phone, ready to go downstairs to buy medicine.
As she walked out of the bedroom, the smile on Xia Weishuang’s face vanished instantly.
She lowered her gaze slightly, her steps hesitant as she walked to the front door.
She hadn’t forgotten what she saw last night, but Little Xue said it was all fake, a hallucination.
In truth, Xia Weishuang knew full well that a hallucination was the most likely possibility. In August of the past two years, she had seen Sang Lu come back to find her countless times, but every single time, it was a false vision.
Xia Weishuang knew that Sang Lu was dead, and dead people could not come back.
Just like her parents, who had passed away when she was young. Xia Weishuang had once prayed for them to return, but eventually, with the comfort of time, she had slowly moved on.
And this time, how long would it take for her to completely accept Sang Lu’s departure?
Xia Weishuang didn’t know. At least for now, she was still hoping Sang Lu could come back, in any form.
And…
For some reason, Xia Weishuang felt that last night’s hallucination was exceptionally real, making her not want to believe it was a hallucination.
Xia Weishuang turned the deadbolt.
The hallway outside the door was already dry. The summer heat had evaporated the moisture. No matter how damp it had been last night, it would become dry and hot shortly after the sun came out.
She stared blankly at the spot where she had seen the water stain in the dim light last night. The light had been too dark; she could only find the approximate location. But the more carefully Xia Weishuang looked, the more she focused, and finally, she knelt on the ground.
She extended a finger and gently traced a very faint mark.
This area was a different color from the rest. Although it wasn’t very obvious, she could make out an irregular circular edge.
Xia Weishuang rubbed the ground with her finger, brought it to her nose, and sniffed. There was a faint, sea-salty smell.
**
Because she had woken up so late, the breakfast stalls had already closed. After buying the medicine, Xia Weishuang got two servings of light noodle soup to go.
The noodles were the kind that cooked quickly and were easy to digest. They tasted quite good, but Xia Qingxue was too sick to have an appetite and only ate a little before stopping.
However, although she had no appetite for the noodles, she was still fixated on her sticky rice chicken.
Xia Weishuang had been in a hurry to get back and give her the fever medicine, so she hadn’t had time for a big shopping trip. Besides, her cooking skills were mediocre at best. A dish of this difficulty was better off ordered as takeout.
But seeing Xia Qingxue’s mournful little eyes, Xia Weishuang had no choice but to promise her that she would go buy it after she fell asleep.
“A rooster, it has to be a live one,” Xia Qingxue emphasized.
Xia Weishuang didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “I’d have to go to a live poultry market for that, and I’ve never been. Besides, even if I bought one, we don’t know how to kill a chicken.”
Xia Qingxue was stunned for a moment, then said slowly, “Ah… can’t you ask the stall owner to help kill it? And I want to eat the chicken blood. Remember to bring the blood back.”
“That’s too much trouble,” Xia Weishuang said. “How about I get you a ready-made one from a restaurant?”
Xia Qingxue tossed and turned in bed, whining and pestering, “No, I just want to eat what my sister makes!”
“Alright, alright, I’ll make it for you, okay?” After all, this was her sister, four years her junior, who she had grown up with. Xia Weishuang really couldn’t bear to refuse Xia Qingxue’s pleading.
Especially after her parents passed away when she was young. At first, many relatives were extremely enthusiastic, but they were actually after her parents’ inheritance. Xia Weishuang knew this in her heart. She would rather live alone in the large, empty house than let them have their way. After some snide remarks, that group of relatives left her alone.
Only Xia Qingxue’s parents would cook an extra person’s portion every holiday, saying it was for Xia Weishuang to come over and help Little Xue with her homework, but in reality, they were afraid the sensitive and reclusive girl would be too shy to come over.
And every time Xia Weishuang left, they would pack a bag of buns, dumplings, and side dishes so that Xia Weishuang could eat well when she was at home by herself.
Xia Qingxue’s parents were a major reason Xia Weishuang had grown to a tall 168 cm.
It was just that after Xia Weishuang’s relationship with Sang Lu was exposed, the two families gradually lost contact. Xia Qingxue’s parents lived in a small county town, and traditional values had a far greater impact on them than on Xia Weishuang.
But Xia Qingxue was not affected by this; she was still on very good terms with Xia Weishuang.
So, after watching Xia Qingxue take her medicine and fall asleep, Xia Weishuang went downstairs again, preparing to buy a chicken.
But the thought of having to buy a live chicken and watch the owner kill it still made her a little nervous, and she really wasn’t good at handling this kind of ingredient. As she walked, Xia Weishuang searched on Qiandu: “Does sticky rice chicken have to be made with a rooster?” “What’s the best way to prepare rooster meat?” “How to cook rooster blood?”…
Suddenly, the words on a link caught her eye.
“Ward off evil…” Xia Weishuang stared at these two words for a moment, then suddenly smiled.
She thought she now knew why Xia Qingxue was so insistent on live rooster blood.
Searching for sticky rice and salt, she found that, sure enough, they were also rumored to have some exorcising properties.
Xia Weishuang sighed softly, put down her phone, and turned to go to the supermarket.
She didn’t use the matter of the water stain at the door to question why Xia Qingxue had lied to her. After all, some things were not something everyone could accept. In the dead of night, she had been overwhelmed by ecstasy. After calming down during the day, she also felt the strangeness of it all.
Besides, Xia Qingxue had been taking care of her for a long time. There was no need for her to continue taking risks with her, so how could she question her when she was sick?
But this secretive behavior and buying “exorcism” items truly made Xia Weishuang feel both annoyed and amused.
As a staunch atheist, she had to let Little Xue know that feudal superstitions were unreliable.
Arriving at the supermarket, Xia Weishuang bought sticky rice and salt, then went to the fresh food section to pick out some chicken. She had already prepared what she would say when she got back. She would just pretend she didn’t know anything and tease Little Xue a bit first.
At this time, the small supermarket wasn’t too crowded. Coincidentally, a couple was also picking out chicken. The woman was wearing a mask and looked like she might be sick.
Xia Weishuang, carrying her basket, walked around them to get to the other side. Suddenly, the woman staggered backward and bumped right into Xia Weishuang.
Caught off guard by the impact, Xia Weishuang fell to the ground. The basket overturned, and the plastic bag of sticky rice, which hadn’t been tied tightly, spilled all over the floor.
The woman looked thin and weak, but when her whole body pressed down on Xia Weishuang, she was actually quite heavy. Xia Weishuang’s elbow hit the floor, sending a dull pain through it, but she had no time to worry about herself, because the woman on top of her was convulsing all over.
A hoarse, rapid gasping sound came from the woman’s throat. As if she was having trouble breathing, she tore off her mask. Her face was sallow, her lips purple, and the whites of her eyes were bloodshot. Then, she suddenly rolled over and vomited a mouthful of stomach acid onto the floor.
Xia Weishuang held her breath and helped pat the sick woman’s back.
Her husband hurried over to help her up, gave Xia Weishuang a perfunctory “sorry,” then turned to his wife and said irritably, “I told you I could come alone! You just had to come along. You have a fever, why can’t you just stay at home? What are you doing out here!”
The wife was dry-heaving and couldn’t speak. Xia Weishuang frowned, stood up, and helped support the wife.
However, the moment she touched the wife’s arm, her vision suddenly blurred, and a bizarre and extremely realistic scene appeared before her eyes.
She saw the couple walking slowly down the road, and it was as if she was seeing it from the husband’s perspective. The sick wife suddenly lunged at her husband, tearing at him frantically. The shopping bags in their hands fell to the ground, and the chicken they had just bought rolled out. The bag was torn by the rough ground, and some pale yellow liquid slowly seeped out.
The scene was so intensely real it was as if it was happening right in front of her, as if the one being pounced on and bitten by the wife was not the husband, but herself. For a moment, Xia Weishuang couldn’t tell what was real and what was fake. She took a horrified step back, letting out an involuntary “ah” and pushing the wife away.
“What are you doing!” The husband caught his wife and furiously spat at Xia Weishuang. “She just bumped into you, is that really necessary? So young, yet you have no manners!”
Xia Weishuang’s face turned ugly. The sensation of being bitten just now had been too clear. The phantom pain still lingered on her shoulder, making her muscles twitch as if it were a real, aching wound.
“I think I just saw her bite me… no, she bit you.”
“Are you crazy?” The husband looked at Xia Weishuang suspiciously. “Cursing people for no reason. Women are so petty.”
With that, he helped his wife and hurried away.
Xia Weishuang remained where she was, pinching the bridge of her nose with a headache. She thought to herself that she was now having hallucinations unrelated to Sang Lu in broad daylight. Could her illness have suddenly gotten worse?
If that was the case, the water stain she saw might not have been real either.
