Autumn winds swept away the fallen leaves, and the evening breeze in Huai’an City felt bone-chillingly cold.
It was an old, rundown building. The potted plants downstairs had withered almost completely, and a faint stench hung in the air around it.
Several young men forced a middle-aged man in his forties out through the narrow stairwell.
Two vehicles were parked downstairs. The young men shoved the middle-aged man into the back of the rear van, leaving only the driver outside—a man in his thirties—and a refined young man.
Everyone except the young man wore distinctive Miao Frontier attire, adorned with silver ornaments that jingled with every movement.
“Ning Shuang, you handled this well. I’ll report everything truthfully to the clan when we get back. You’ve worked hard,” the man said, patting Ning Shuang’s shoulder in praise.
The man whose shoulder had been patted was Ning Shuang, a student at A University in Huai’an City.
He wore a brown short-sleeved T-shirt and knee-length shorts. The subtle lines of muscle on his calves and arms were visible, and paired with his height of over six feet, he cut a tough and sturdy figure.
Yet his features were refined and gentle, with thick eyebrows framing a pair of clear, bright almond eyes. His cheeks were slightly flushed, tiger teeth flashed when he spoke, and dimples appeared at the corners of his lips when he smiled—an open, likable face that drew people in.
“Good. Thank you, Fifth Uncle,” Ning Shuang replied with a warm smile. “Be safe on the way back!”
Fifth Uncle and the driver climbed into the car. Hearing Ning Shuang’s words, Fifth Uncle rolled down the window and looked at him. “Kid, study hard. Don’t go down the wrong path.”
“I know.” Ning Shuang stepped back to clear the way for the two vehicles.
The “wrong path” Fifth Uncle referred to was using gu for evil deeds.
Ning Shuang was a Miaojiang person, though his bloodline wasn’t entirely pure. Two years earlier, everyone from the Miao Frontier had been confined to cramped villages, with clan members forbidden from freely entering or leaving the Miao Villages.
But policy reforms had changed that. The Miao Frontier was compelled to enforce the Forbidden Gu policy, banning the creation and use of gu entirely. In compensation, Miao clan members gained the freedom to leave the villages and live among ordinary people outside.
Ning Shuang fully supported the reform.
Not everyone accepted the Forbidden Gu policy, however. Among ordinary folk, Miao gu held immense value, so some Miaojiang people outside used it to profit at society’s expense.
To address this, the Miao elders dispatched enforcers to drag back those violating clan rules for punishment in the Miao Frontier.
Fifth Uncle’s group had been sent for exactly that purpose.
This offender had used gu to drive people insane, leaving them raving and erratic as if possessed by ghosts. Then he would remove the gu for exorbitant fees. The scandal had grown huge, prompting the clan to send a team. Given Huai’an City’s labyrinthine terrain, they enlisted the local Ning Shuang to assist.
That led to the scene that had just unfolded.
The man was now in custody.
Ning Shuang had no further role to play.
He brushed imaginary dust from his hands and pant legs, turned to leave, then suddenly noticed his ever-present round jade bracelet was gone from his wrist.
Ning Shuang froze for a moment. He checked his pockets, then scanned the ground behind him. Nothing.
If it wasn’t downstairs, had he lost it upstairs?
Ning Shuang pulled out his phone, switched on the flashlight, and plunged back into the narrow stairwell. The beam illuminated stairs coated in thick grime, while a strange odor permeated the passage.
Covering his nose and mouth, he scanned the floor with the light as he climbed.
Their captive had lived on the top floor, so the bracelet could have fallen on any landing.
Ning Shuang searched with full focus. Nearly ten minutes passed before he realized something was off. Why hadn’t he reached the roof yet? In a six-story building, even at a crawl, ten minutes should have been plenty.
Had he been caught in a ghost wall?
The “ghost wall” Ning Shuang meant wasn’t supernatural—it was the effect of Hallucination Gu, trapping him in illusions. He had seemingly climbed forever but likely hadn’t budged an inch.
Unpanicked despite the gu now afflicting him, Ning Shuang came from a branch line but still carried Miao Clan blood. He simply needed to wait for the effect to fade.
It must have been the captive’s failsafe, a spiteful jab even in custody. Ning Shuang grumbled inwardly.
Leaning against the railing at the stairwell corner, he felt the cold wind blowing through the window. Then, bells began to chime through the empty passage.
Someone coming? Ning Shuang traced the sound and looked up.
Ding-a-ling. Jingle-jingle. Jingle-jingle…
His ears twitched. Amid the bells came footsteps descending.
Gripping the railing, Ning Shuang reminded himself it was all illusion—no cause for fear. Instinctively, he squeezed his eyes shut. He knew such hallucinations fed on terror; the gu would pass soon enough.
The footsteps drew nearer and nearer until he could even smell the intruder’s scent: the subtle aroma of aged wood, or perhaps sandalwood kissed by fresh snow. It was pleasant, reassuring.
But this was too close! The figure felt right there on the step before him, gaze appraising. Could an illusion feel this vivid?
The bells fell silent.
Ning Shuang cautiously peeked through his lids, needing to confirm if the person inches away was real.
Chilly moonlight filtered through the window, cloaking the man before him. Silver-white gossamer veils lent an otherworldly chill.
Ning Shuang’s gaze locked instantly on the man’s eyes, glowing with dark purple light.
The man had long hair past his shoulders, loosely bound by a pale purple ribbon, with strands draping his shoulder. His nose was high-bridged, lashes long and dense, his whole presence radiating aloof detachment.
They stood mere steps apart—one riser, really—and Ning Shuang felt the man’s scrutinizing stare fixed on his face. His breath caught.
The man possessed a near-perfect face: prominent brow bones, eye corners slightly upturned in a naturally seductive shape. Yet the shadows cast by his long lashes and the dark, enigmatic depths of his pupils lent it a stern edge, utterly devoid of softness.
Most strikingly, he too wore Miao Frontier garb: dark purple hues over a form-fitting black embroidered inner robe, topped by a waist-length jacket heavy with silver ornaments. An intricate necklace hung at his throat, while his waist flowed into a long, skirt-like garment also trimmed in silver finery.
The draft through the window rustled his clothes, sending the silver trinkets jingling.
A gust lifted his long hair, silken strands brushing across Ning Shuang’s face.
Ning Shuang stared, lips parting to speak—but a sharp sting pierced the back of his neck. His vision blurred, legs gave out, and he pitched forward.
In his daze, it felt like tumbling into a shroud of frost. Icy chill enveloped his body as consciousness frayed. In the last hazy moment before blackness claimed him, he thought he heard the man murmur, “Found you.”
~~~
A twisted dream wove itself around him.
Suffocation and despair coiled like invisible ropes around Ning Shuang’s throat. A cacophony of cries wrenched him from the nightmare.
As his eyes fluttered open, the overlapping sobs still echoed in his ears. He braced against the bed’s edge and sat up slowly. The shirt draped over his chest slipped down to pool on his lap. Sweat beaded his forehead, matting strands of hair, the dream’s horrors soaked into damp reality.
That dream again—so vividly real, yet utterly forgotten upon waking.
Outside the Ancestral Hall in his hometown, the acrid scent of incense mingled with thick blood flooded his nostrils. His mother clutched him tight, her wails blending with the crowd’s: Second Uncle, Eldest Aunt, Third Aunt…
They stood vigil outside. From within came the crack of a long whip striking flesh. In the hall’s center knelt a boy of eleven or twelve. The Clan Leader’s whip fell mercilessly on the boy’s back. Rows of candles flickered in the wind of its arc; blood flecks hitting the flames sizzled.
“Rebellious whelp!” “You’ve destroyed him—and yourself!” The Clan Leader’s voice thundered with rage, his arm never faltering.
Young Ning Shuang stared in curiosity. The boy whipped his head around. His face blurred, but those gloomy, icy eyes met Ning Shuang’s.
The gaze brimmed with raw aggression and possession, like a serpent slithering from the abyss. It crawled up his spine, coiling tight around his neck. Icy chill engulfed him as it squeezed, tighter and tighter…
Childish cries merged with his adult gasps into a shrill keen.
Voices nearby dragged him back to reality.
The air reeked of strong disinfectant and medicine. Ning Shuang blinked at the stark white room, momentarily disoriented, then realized: a hospital?
“Young man, you’re awake?” A gentle female voice sounded at his ear.
Ning Shuang looked over and discovered it was a nurse.
“How did I end up here…” Wasn’t he supposed to be at that residential building in the Old City District? Ning Shuang shook his head vigorously, trying to clear his mind and regain some clarity.
The nurse smiled sweetly. “A pretty good-looking guy brought you here. He said he found you passed out in their neighborhood and brought you over.”
“What did that guy look like? What was he wearing? Did he have long hair?” So the person he’d seen before passing out wasn’t a dream?
The nurse thought for a moment. “He was wearing one of those shirts students like you wear, and he had on a hat. Short hair, I think… I didn’t get a clear look at his face. He left a phone number, but it was disconnected. He’s already paid all your fees, though, so you can be discharged soon.”
Ning Shuang gazed around in bewilderment. Could that beautiful person from the Miao Frontier really have been a hallucination?
After leaving the hospital, Ning Shuang returned to that neighborhood, but to his surprise, there were no security cameras. He also couldn’t find anyone who had seen a long-haired guy around.
Of course, the round jade was still missing from his hand.
Even after Ning Shuang made it back home from the Old City District, the incident still weighed on his mind.
“Goo-goo.” A bird call snapped him back to reality.
Ning Shuang looked up and saw a little bird with pure white feathers flying over to perch on a tree in the courtyard.
He then turned, opened the courtyard gate, and went back inside the house. In the end, after taking a shower, he temporarily pushed the matter aside.
~~~
It was now early September, the start of the school season. Huai’an City’s daytime weather was sweltering, making everyone irritable. Three or four days had passed since that night.
A stifling heat blanketed the city. The green leaves of the plane trees lining the streets drooped listlessly in the heat waves. The asphalt roads scorched people’s feet, and the cicadas droned on endlessly, as if complaining about the interminable torment of this summer.
At the gates of A University, private cars lined up in a long dragon, while school buses shuttled nonstop, ferrying new students from the station to campus.
The entire school buzzed with energy, the air thick with clammy heat—even the breeze carried warmth.
Banners from various departments stretched across the area under the teaching buildings, and the seniors from the Student Union scurried about below them, busy as bees.
【Your new roommate should be moving in tonight to share the place with you. Keep an ear out for the doorbell.】
Ning Shuang had just received this WeChat message from his mom after leading a group of freshmen to the dorms to complete check-in procedures. Now he was on his way to find his faculty advisor.
He cradled his phone in both hands, typing rapidly: 【What’s the new roommate’s name? What time’s he arriving tonight?】
His mom replied almost immediately: 【His name is Ji Huaizhi. No idea what time he’ll get there tonight, though.】
Ning Shuang sent a voice message: “Do you want to ask him? The Student Union has so much going on today—I’m worried I might not get back until late.”
His voice was clear and gentle, with a youthful lilt that sounded lighter and more upbeat than a typical young man’s.
Sure enough, he watched as the chat showed [Typing…] from the other side, frozen in place. A few minutes later, his mom finally messaged back: 【I don’t have his WeChat…】
Only then did it hit Ning Shuang. He slapped his forehead. Damn, he’d forgotten—his parents had social anxiety, so they’d left all the renting arrangements to the real estate agent.
Ning Shuang came from the Witch-Gu Clan. Even though they no longer practiced Gu Technique these days, regulations required that he couldn’t live in the school dorms. So his parents had used their life’s savings to buy him a small house off-campus.
The house they’d bought was a two-story bungalow. The first floor had a living room, kitchen, and storage room; the second floor had three large bedrooms. It had cost them a pretty penny. To cover Ning Shuang’s living expenses, they’d decided to rent out one room.
And that was how this situation had come about.
Terrified of social interactions, they’d packed up early and returned to the village—just to avoid meeting the tenant face-to-face.
Ning Shuang had no choice but to message: 【Send me the agent’s WeChat then. I’ll ask him.】
As if she’d been waiting for him to say it, the moment he sent the message, his mom forwarded the agent’s WeChat.
Ning Shuang added the agent and smoothly got the tenant’s WeChat info.
The tenant’s profile picture was a butterfly clipped from a leaf, and the display name was a butterfly emoji. From that alone, Ning Shuang couldn’t tell what kind of person the guy was.
He edited the friend request note and sent it: 【Hi, I’m the landlord of the house you’ve rented. Please approve.】
