Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Wen Yuhe was stunned by the person in front of him.

But he chose not to press further, instead waiting patiently for a response.

At the same time, his gaze quietly fell on the other's face.

"..."

Looking at it up close.

That face was actually his type.

Why had he never noticed it before?

If they were from the same school—

Someone like this, no matter what, wouldn't be overlooked.

Was it because their presence was completely overshadowed by those around them?

But what a perfectly proportioned face it was.

Wen Yuhe's eyes gradually filled with infatuation.

...

Because both his parents were renowned doctors at top-tier hospitals, in order to cultivate a so-called academic atmosphere, the walls of his room had been adorned since childhood with nudes divided according to the golden ratio, faces with half their skin peeled away, anatomical bodies with organs exposed, and diagrams of brains with the cerebral tissue removed—next to these images, various academic names of human tissues were labeled.

Like price tags on products, they made the images even more enticing.

At night, he lay alone in bed.

The flesh-like images on the walls seemed to writhe and creep towards him in the center of the bed, like affectionate, slobbering dogs, rubbing against his body, licking his cheeks, instilling in him the thought, "It's good to be alive."

So good.

Pieces of flesh, streaks of blood.

Human tissues, how wonderful.

Throughout his sweltering, sweat-drenched adolescence, even as his shirt clung to him like a second layer of skin, all he needed was to gaze at the posters covering the entire room for a long time, and a serene smile would spread across his lips. And as long as he kept smiling, his parents would praise him as "such a talented child," their "pride," and other such foolish talk.

The moment he saw Yan Mei, he knew it was the most perfect face he had ever seen.

But now, as he looked—

Wen Yuhe fixed his gaze on that face and abruptly said, "Why do you have a mole on the bridge of your nose?"

Ye Jishu looked puzzled: "?"

As soon as he spoke, the other seemed to snap out of his reverie, immediately offering an apologetic smile and saying, "Sorry, I was a little lost in thought just now. Could you consider sharing your contact information? I won't send you random messages or disturb you."

"No," Ye Jishu said firmly.

He had neither the desire nor the patience to get to know someone else, especially someone who was, nominally, his "romantic rival." Although from their brief interaction, the other's personality seemed quite good, that still wasn't a reason to exchange contact information.

He simply wanted to live a peaceful college life, intern in his third year, and smoothly submit resumes in his fourth year to secure a well-paying job, day after day.

But now, this norm has shifted.

As long as Ye Jishu is in a romantic relationship with Yan Mei, his life can't be called ordinary.

Everything has been thrown into chaos since the day they met.

"Ah, got it," Wen Yuhe said. "I see what you're saying."

He still smiled, not pressing further.

"I'll wait for you to change your mind."

The last line wasn't pushy at all.

His face still had that cool, refreshing look, soothing even in the summer heat.

"..." Ye Jishu.

He faintly sensed the pressure.

This retreat-to-advance tactic made it seem like not sharing contact info was too harsh.

Ye Jishu actually thought well of him.

So, he paused and said, "Well, it's not completely out of the question—"

"No way."

The person resting on his shoulder suddenly looked up and turned to the person behind.

Their eyes locked in mid-air.

Wen Yuhe's pupils narrowed.

Thud—! His heart seemed to stop, echoing in his chest.

From all around him, a thick, heavy darkness closed in, a fear he'd never known.

Was the presence before him... one of his own?

But no, that couldn't be. A Source of Infection couldn't hide its aura like that.

If that were possible, he wouldn't have worked so hard to dodge those things.

But what was it...? What the hell was it?!

His stomach churned.

His brain felt crushed, and he wanted to throw up.

Wen Yuhe hung his head, his hair hiding his twisted expression.

His eyes widened uncontrollably, the flesh around them twitching, pain spreading from his cheeks to his neck.

His body felt like it had melted into a heap of mud and meat.

The nerves in his fingers throbbed intensely, making it impossible to even lift his arm.

He wanted to do more, but he couldn't move at all...

Even after Ye Jishu and Yan Mei had left, he remained standing there, staring at his outstretched fingers, his pupils so wide they looked like they might fall out.

That look just now.

It unmistakably said, "This is mine."

His heart felt icy cold.

The chirping of insects in the grass accompanied the scene.

His refreshing face, still smiling with the same curve, gradually took on a stiff and eerie shadow.

...

The two walked side by side without speaking.

But unlike before, the atmosphere didn't feel oppressive.

Instead, there was a sense of relaxation.

Soon, they arrived at Yan Mei's dormitory building.

Ye Jishu looked at the person standing before him.

"I'm heading back," he said. "Don't forget to get some sleep early."

Yan Mei hummed in acknowledgment but didn't turn to leave. Instead, he stood facing Ye Jishu for a moment, then suddenly reached out and gently took both of Ye Jishu's hands, lowering his head. His slightly long black hair fell, hiding his expression.

Their school was renowned for its lush greenery.

As a result, the area beneath the dormitory was filled with dense, dark green shrubs.

Even as a gentle breeze passed, the lush leaves above rustled softly, accompanied by the buzzing of cicadas and unknown insects around them. As they breathed in, it felt like the moisture in the air enveloped their bodies.

The hands held by the other felt warm, yet they conveyed a coldness.

"Is something wrong?" he asked.

"Jishu, are you happy with your life now?"

The cicadas buzzed around them.

The person before him spoke in a low voice.

"As for me, I can't live without you, Jishu."

"No matter what happens, as long as you only see me, only hear my voice, as long as I can cling to you like this and you won't leave me, that's enough. I can live this way."

Even if others don't get it.

Still, he admitted to everyone that this was his "everything."

"Because Jishu is special, those guys will come looking for you. But I don't want you to see anything disgusting other than me, which is why I didn't immediately tear apart the limbs and guts of that thing that dared to talk to you."

His words had a chilling undertone.

"……What?"

Ye Jishu wondered if he had misheard the last sentence.

But the other person just continued to talk to himself.

"But I'm disgusting too. If Jishu sees what's inside me, he'll definitely hate me."

The grip on his hands tightened gradually.

Ye Jishu felt a sharp pain in his knuckles and was sure bruises would form.

"You're... not disgusting."

The grip loosened.

Hearing this, the other person was clearly stunned for a moment before quickly raising his head.

"You're not disgusting at all."

In fact, it's the opposite.

Ye Jishu had never met anyone as perfect as him.

And in this world, there probably isn't anyone who would dislike Yan Mei.

"Really...?"

"Lots of people like you."

Isn't that proof enough?

The wind tousled their hair.

The rustling sound above returned.

The other person gazed at his face.

A few seconds later, he smiled softly at Ye Jishu, his dark eyes seemingly absorbing all light.

"...Oh, is that so?"

He said in a low voice.

"Then it's settled—you mustn't hate me... Otherwise, I wouldn't know what to do. As long as you like me as I am now, I'll do anything to keep things this way..."

It was the usual playful banter.

But for some reason, Ye Jishu felt a cold, damp sensation creeping up from where their hands touched, his cheeks and neck prickling as if something slimy and tangled had coiled around him.

So much so that even on such a muggy night, he felt a bone-deep chill spreading through him.

...

Ye Jishu was scrolling on his phone.

Using your phone while walking is a bad habit.

But since he was walking back alone, it didn't matter—it was just a way to kill time.

The sound of clashing special effects from the game echoed in his ears.

In the narrow nighttime path, only his silhouette was visible, his shadow stretched long under the moonlight.

Combat games were too simple for him.

Since he could quickly master any game, he easily got bored.

He didn’t even have to focus.

He had already topped the leaderboards.

Ye Jishu played the game absentmindedly.

But suddenly, his gaming action stopped, and a thought crossed his mind.

"By the way, I wonder if there’s any update about the mathematical modeling competition."

He needed this scholarship.

Otherwise, he might not even make it through finals, and he would need to find a part-time job to cover his daily expenses.

...What a pain.

Ye Jishu switched out of the game.

Returning to his phone’s home screen, he opened the school forum’s icon.

Generally, if there were updates, others would share them there, and he just needed to pay attention to the keywords.

He skimmed through the forum’s homepage.

However, the trending posts that caught his attention were not quite what he expected—

"Does anyone know what’s going on with Chen Heming?"

"I saw guts for the first time today..."

"Damn, an ambulance even showed up, what's going on? Can anyone explain the situation!?"

A haughty face flashed in Ye Jishu’s mind.

...Chen Heming.

That was the name of the rich kid from the lake.

He had deliberately knocked off the pink octopus keychain from the other's phone to start a conversation with Yan Mei.

After the argument ended, Ye Jishu left with Yan Mei.

Just before completely leaving, he instinctively looked back, but for some reason, the other person had that expression.

His neck was slack, his head hung low.

His eyes were empty and lifeless, sitting dazedly on the ground, his pupils unusually trembling.

Ye Jishu snapped out of his thoughts, lowered his head, and the words on the phone caught his eye again.

Guts.

An ambulance siren wailed in the distance.

What exactly is going on?

What’s happening now?

Was the other person hit by a car?

Or was there some kind of violent incident on campus?

But something in Ye Jishu’s gut told him—

No, it's not like that.

This is a feel-good campus story—nothing so gruesome could happen here.

So what’s really going on?

Feeling a strange sense of unease, Ye Jishu tapped on the first post.

"This afternoon, someone mentioned that a guy kept jumping into the artificial lake over and over. Is that true? They said water kept gushing into his throat, and his body was bloating grotesquely. It’s horrifying. His skin stretched and split, his organs spilling out... Is this some kind of horror movie?"

The phone screen glowed faintly in the blue light of eye protection mode.

The words seemed to twist and blur, making it hard to process what he was reading.

What is all this?

He was about to keep reading when an unfamiliar voice cut through the air.

"Ye Jishu—is that really you?"

Ye Jishu froze, his thumb hovering over the screen.

He glanced up and locked eyes with someone studying him intently.

The man was dressed in a uniform, his expression more serious than Ye Jishu had ever seen.

"Excuse me," the man said calmly. "I’m Lin Lin, and I’m leading a homicide investigation. I’ve got a few questions for you. Do you have a moment?"