Thank you @Beo for the Kofi. (1/5)
Yang Siguang asked Xu Lu for a bit of formalin solution.
The latter always enjoyed boosting his presence online. Not long ago, he had posted a picture in his social media circle, claiming he had specially bought formalin solution to preserve the testicles removed from his cat after it was neutered. Shortly after, he pretended to be troubled, saying there was still a lot of formalin left, and he didn’t know what to do with it.
A group of people chimed in below with all sorts of mischievous ideas, some downright unscrupulous.
As usual, Yang Siguang just glanced at it and moved on without commenting.
This time, he simply sent a brief message, and Xu Lu’s response came almost instantly.
[What do you want that stuff for?]
Before Yang Siguang could reply, the boy sent another message.
[Good thing you messaged me quickly; I was just about to throw it away. So, uh, do you need it urgently? Should I bring it over to you?]
Yang Siguang’s expression remained indifferent.
[No, I’ll just pick it up downstairs at your dorm.]
He replied.
In truth, if he could avoid it, Yang Siguang didn’t want to interact with Xu Lu at this time.
Even though he had long understood Xu Lu’s personality and knew that those outrageous posts online were just his nature, seeing him repeatedly and gleefully recounting the details of Li Chen’s death online still made Yang Siguang feel an indescribable sense of irritation and disgust.
However, ordering formalin online would take far too long.
It wasn’t until he snapped out of his initial frenzy and despair that Yang Siguang realized what he had done.
The moment he discovered Li Chen’s eyeball, he should have contacted Li Chen’s family immediately. But he hadn’t.
Instead, the eyeball was hastily soaked in water. While it remained miraculously clear and fresh, a faint, almost imperceptible stench of decay seemed to be creeping into his room.
He needed to preserve Li Chen’s eyeball properly.
That was what he thought.
—
Before leaving, Yang Siguang glanced in the mirror.
He didn’t think he looked any different from usual, nor did his outfit seem inappropriate. Yet, when he arrived under A University’s dorm building and saw Xu Lu, the latter appeared visibly startled.
“Ah, what happened to you… looking like this?”
Xu Lu, carrying a crossbody bag, hurried toward Yang Siguang. As he spoke, he raised a hand to touch Yang Siguang’s face, only for the latter to step back and avoid him.
“For a moment, I thought there was a ghost downstairs. You look terrible!”
The young man stared at Yang Siguang for a few seconds, his expression tinged with concern.
“Wait a minute—this isn’t because of that incident, is it? Did it scare you?”
His last sentence carried a deliberate hint of comfort and intimacy.
Xu Lu had to admit that he had feelings for Yang Siguang.
Yes, ever since he first saw Yang Siguang in a freshman elective class, Xu Lu realized he was attracted.
It wasn’t just because Yang Siguang had an exceptionally beautiful face; there was also something special about him—an indescribable… aura.
Xu Lu couldn’t quite put his finger on what it was, but staring at Yang Siguang made his chest tighten involuntarily, his throat growing parched.
Yang Siguang’s personality wasn’t exactly pleasant. When they first entered university, everyone thought he was somewhat creepy—always sitting silently in a corner, expressionless, working on his own things. Compared to the lively and energetic classmates, he stood out as someone entirely out of place.
But the more distant he was, the more he drew attention.
The more Xu Lu watched him, the more a strange desire welled up—to provoke him, to peel away that cold exterior layer by layer, and to hear him gasp and cry out in pain.
…It was intoxicating.
These days, people matured early, and Xu Lu had long since figured out his orientation. Over the years, he had dated several boyfriends—some around his age, others already working in society. But none of them were like Yang Siguang.
In any case, he didn’t seem like a straight guy.
And yet, after four years of hanging around him, Xu Lu hadn’t found any evidence that Yang Siguang liked men.
Because Yang Siguang looked at everyone with the same disinterested, world-weary gaze. It felt like even if a celestial being stripped naked and lay in his bed, he’d still curl up in the corner and stare blankly.
Then came the horrifying car accident.
Xu Lu finally noticed something had changed about Yang Siguang.
It was as if the glass shell that had always enclosed him had shattered. The once withdrawn and skeletal youth now seemed fragile, even pitiably helpless.
The faint ember of hope Xu Lu had nearly extinguished suddenly flared back to life.
“Yeah, it’s bad luck to run into something like this. You’ve got a heavy heart, so it’s normal to be scared.”
Not waiting for a response, Xu Lu’s face unconsciously lit up with a faint, eager smile.
“How about this—come up to my dorm for a drink? They say alcohol can dispel bad luck. If you’re feeling upset, just let it out. Once you talk it out, you’ll feel better—”
Yang Siguang’s eyes shifted slightly, their dark pupils hollow and vacant.
“Did you bring the formalin solution?”
It was as though he hadn’t heard a word Xu Lu said, his gaze skipping over Xu Lu’s face to fixate directly on the bag slung over his shoulder.
Xu Lu’s smile froze.
“I brought it,” he replied stiffly. “After all, you asked for it. I’d forget my shoes before I forgot this. But what do you need it for?”
Before he could press further, Yang Siguang had lowered his eyes and taken the formalin solution from his hands.
“I want to preserve something… very important.”
Xu Lu heard him reply, the voice light and dreamlike, as though the speaker was in the middle of a dream.
As soon as he finished speaking, Yang Siguang seemed ready to leave.
Recalling how Yang Siguang had visibly thinned over the past two days and seeing his current dazed state, Xu Lu suddenly felt a chill in his chest.
A strange thought flashed through his mind.
“Hey, Yang Siguang, are you really okay? You and Li Chen…”
“Hmm?”
Hearing that name, Yang Siguang finally reacted.
But that only made Xu Lu’s expression darken further.
“You and Li Chen weren’t close, right? Otherwise, you wouldn’t be this upset.”
Xu Lu probed cautiously.
Yang Siguang paused for a moment, then very slowly shook his head.
“I… I didn’t have much of a connection with him.”
The young man’s voice was hoarse, but Xu Lu’s heart sank.
“That can’t be.” Xu Lu forced a strained smile and said, as if casually, “If you really weren’t close, why would Li Chen have been so eager to stand up for you when Zhang Zhe tried to cause you trouble before?”
Yang Siguang finally focused all his attention on Xu Lu.
He widened his eyes in utter astonishment.
“What do you mean, standing up for me?”
Xu Lu was also stunned for a moment before realizing that, at the time, the person before him must have been unconscious.
It happened during their first year in university. Joining a student club could earn an extra 0.5 credits, so almost everyone joined one, including both Xu Lu and Yang Siguang, who randomly chose a literature club. However, there was an upperclassman in the club named Zhang Zhe, who, for some inexplicable reason, constantly picked on Yang Siguang.
It escalated when Zhang Zhe intentionally forced Yang Siguang to drink various mixed drinks at a dinner gathering, despite others trying to intervene. Before the meal was halfway through, Yang Siguang had already passed out from drinking.
Still unsatisfied, Zhang Zhe, taking advantage of his high standing in the club, drunkenly urged others in the private room to strip Yang Siguang and take photos.
—But it didn’t happen in the end.
No one expected Li Chen to show up at that moment.
Xu Lu, though tipsy himself, sobered up significantly when confronted with Li Chen’s icy glare, a chill running down his spine.
“…Everyone was stunned. You wouldn’t know, but when that guy put on a stern face, he was truly intimidating. He carried you out without a word. Zhang Zhe tried to stop him but froze after a single glare from Li Chen.”
With Xu Lu’s reminder, Yang Siguang recalled the unpleasant incident from his freshman year.
His brow furrowed unconsciously.
“I thought it was you—”
He stared directly at Xu Lu.
The main reason Yang Siguang tolerated Xu Lu as a “friend” was largely because of that incident in his first year. After being forced to drink, Xu Lu had apparently taken care of him, brought him back to his dorm, and ensured he was alright.
After all, he had no other friends in the club at the time.
When he woke up the next day, feeling refreshed in his dorm, Yang Siguang hadn’t thought much about it. After all, it could only have been Xu Lu who brought him back.
But now Xu Lu was telling him it was Li Chen?
Hearing Yang Siguang’s questioning, Xu Lu’s expression stiffened. He stammered for several seconds before replying awkwardly, “I… I was going to take you away, really. But before I could, Li Chen had already barged in… Honestly, I thought you two were close, but then later, you didn’t interact much with him, so I didn’t think much of it…”
Xu Lu wasn’t sure how his attempts to probe had backfired on him. He was about to come up with something to smooth things over when he suddenly felt a chill.
Something was watching him.
A wave of goosebumps swept across his back, followed by a cold sweat.
His thoughts were abruptly severed, and he instinctively turned to look behind him.
When arranging to meet Yang Siguang, Xu Lu had deliberately chosen a quiet location. Now, with the sun blazing at noon, most students were resting in the shade, leaving the area silent and deserted.
Behind him, there was nothing but emptiness.
Yet, the sensation of being intently watched was so overwhelming that Xu Lu could no longer feel the heat of the summer sun.
What was going on…
Just then, Xu Lu caught sight of a pair of eyes.
A University’s campus boasted lush greenery, with towering trees and thick shrubs around the dormitories.
Amid the dense foliage, a pair of blood-red eyes stared out from a deathly pale face, unblinkingly fixed on him.
Xu Lu had never seen such a venomous and sinister gaze.
What was even more disturbing was that the position of those eyes was unnaturally close to the ground.
It was as though the person staring at him… was nothing more than a head lying on the ground.
“Holy sh—!”
Xu Lu’s mind went completely blank.
He let out a hoarse curse, stumbling backward uncontrollably.
Who knows what he tripped over, but in the next second, he fell hard to the ground.
Yet, he couldn’t even feel the pain.
Clutching Yang Siguang’s ankle with one hand and pointing at the bushes with the other, he stammered frantically.
“T-th-there, what is that?!”
“Xu Lu? What’s wrong?”
Yang Siguang’s voice sounded utterly bewildered.
That confusion immediately alerted Xu Lu—his companion hadn’t noticed the terrifying presence.
“The bushes, the leaves, on the ground, eyes! Eyes!”
Just then, a sudden breeze stirred the heavy summer air.
As the sound of rustling camphor leaves filled the air, a pale, bloodless face slowly emerged from the foliage.
Then, carried by the wind, it drifted upward, spun a few times in the air, and floated gently to the ground.
It was then that Xu Lu realized, to his disbelief, that the face… was just a design on a plastic bag.
Perhaps some sort of celebrity merchandise, the white plastic bag bore the faint imprint of a lifeless face. Time and weather had faded the colors, leaving only a vague outline.
The recent gusts of wind had dislodged the bag from wherever it had been stuck, just in time for Xu Lu to catch a glimpse of it.
Realizing this, Xu Lu finally began to calm down, though his heart still pounded uncontrollably, taking ages to settle.
After such an embarrassing misunderstanding, Xu Lu felt so awkward he wanted to disappear. He quickly made an excuse and left, abandoning his earlier probing attempts and efforts to get closer to Yang Siguang.
Yang Siguang watched silently as Xu Lu’s figure disappeared into the distance, letting out a quiet sigh of relief.
As Yang Siguan prepared to head home, his steps faltered suddenly.
…The plastic bag from earlier was gone.
Blown away by the wind?
Just as he was puzzling over it, a faint rustling sound, like plastic being rubbed, came from above.
Following the sound, Yang Siguan looked up and saw that, at some point, the plastic bag had drifted to the second floor. It was now caught on the glass window of one of the dormitory rooms, swaying gently in the air.
Due to the bag’s twisting and contorting movements, the face printed on it appeared distorted.
At first glance… it faintly resembled Xu Lu.
That face smiled faintly, gazing fixedly at Yang Siguan with unblinking eyes, its focus unnerving.
A shiver coursed through Yang Siguan.
When he raised his head again, the plastic bag had already broken free, floating further away with the wind.
—
It must have been an illusion.
Yang Siguan exhaled deeply and pressed a hand to his chest.
He couldn’t pinpoint why, but his heartbeat was unnaturally fast at this moment.
