The fifth time.
Fang Xiu had completely understood. Escape was futile, fear was useless. He couldn't stay in bed forever. To survive, he had to face his wife head-on, truly ignore her. Otherwise, he'd never leave the house.
"Honey, it's time for breakfast."
Fang Xiu ignored her, his eyes vacant as he stood up, got out of bed, and headed for the bedroom door.
His wife was blocking the doorway.
Fang Xiu remained unmoved, as if he hadn't noticed, and "bumped" straight into her.
The imagined collision didn't occur. Fang Xiu seemed to pass through air, unimpeded.
He had already guessed that physical contact wouldn't be possible until his wife was sure he could see him.
Her infiltration into the bed just now clearly proved this point.
Soon, he successfully exited the bedroom.
But his wife didn't seem to intend to let him go. Like a playful butterfly, she kept flitting before him.
And then Fang Xiu died.
Death from poor acting skills, from an inability to overcome his instinctive reactions. It's hard to not blink when someone punches you. Even if the punch only misses a centimeter from your nose, you'll instinctively blink.
My wife is like that. The more you ignore her, the closer she gets to you. She might even float in front of you like a ghost, so close that your noses are touching, and you could kiss her with just a pout.
At such moments, even a professional actor would be startled.
Sixth time.
Fang Xiu, expressionless, successfully exited the bedroom. He didn't immediately bolt out, fearing his unusual behavior would arouse suspicion. Instead, he decided to go to the bathroom first.
His wife seemed "shy" and didn't follow him.
Just as Fang Xiu breathed a sigh of relief and began to release his desire, a beautiful head slowly emerged from the toilet bowl.
Fang Xiu died again.
Seventh time, eighth time, ninth time, tenth time.
Fang Xiu was dead in despair, numb to death, and devastated.
He couldn't do it. He really couldn't. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't overcome his instinctive reaction. His wife would suddenly appear in various ways, causing his vision to waver uncontrollably.
Once, she even emerged from Fang Xiu's chest.
Escape wasn't an option either; any unusual behavior would simply trigger his wife's transformation. The repeated deaths had completely broken Fang Xiu's frayed nerves.
He resisted, he fled, he abandoned himself...nothing worked, nothing worked.
It was as if he were destined to die at the hands of his wife.
The eleventh time, the twelfth time, the thirteenth time...
"Honey, it's time for breakfast."
"Hey, my wife is so kind."
Fang Xiu went mad.
His mental state had completely deteriorated, from his former clarity and rationality to a state of madness and confusion.
But his wife wasn't a judge; she wouldn't let him off just because he became insane.
The cycle of death continued.
What happens when a stimulus drives a person insane, and then, after their madness, they are stimulated again?
No one knows...
The eighteenth time. Fang Xiu lay peacefully in bed. If it weren't for his barely perceptible breathing and the instinctive beating of his heart, he would have looked like a corpse.
If anyone could see his eyes at this moment, they would be horrified to discover that they were not the eyes of a living person.
They were filled with deathly silence, like a pool of stagnant water, devoid of any trace of human emotion.
They say the eyes are the windows to the soul, but Fang Xiu's windows were sealed shut with cement.
But if anyone could peer through the thick cement, into those eyes, so calm and still, they would discover...
Beneath this calmness lay an unimaginable, utterly suppressed madness! And a hatred that could ignite the very blood in his veins!
The flames of that insane hatred burned fiercely: hatred for his wife, a monstrous hatred for having been murdered eighteen times!
Some people are alive, yet they are actually dead.
Some are mad, yet they are incredibly lucid.
This was Fang Xiu's state at this moment. The repeated deaths had driven him mad, but in the end, a surge of hatred, even within the midst of his madness, pulled him back to his senses. It could be said that his hatred for his wife had reshaped his rationality.
Suddenly, Fang Xiu calmly sat up from his bed, murmuring unconsciously, "Die, die, die, you deserve to die. As long as I live, you must die."
His voice was low and calm, devoid of any emotion.
In the calmest voice, he spoke the most chilling words.
"Hubby, it's time for breakfast," his wife's gentle voice echoed at the perfect moment.
Fang Xiu ignored her, stood up, put on his shoes, got out of bed, and walked straight through his wife's body. Then he went to the bathroom, washed, and changed his clothes.
During this time, his wife continued to interfere, but throughout, Fang Xiu's expression remained unchanged, as if he truly could not see.
After getting dressed, Fang Xiu even sat at the table and calmly ate a breakfast. Of course, he made his own breakfast: a fried egg with a sausage, sandwiched between whole-wheat bread, and washed down with a glass of milk. Simple and nutritious.
It's obvious that the more beautiful a woman is, the more deceptive she is.
His wife was just like that. She'd said it was time for breakfast, but she hadn't made any.
After finishing breakfast, Fang Xiu headed straight for the door. He wanted to leave, to search outside for clues about his wife, to discover the anomalies of this world. Only then would he have a chance for revenge.
Just as he placed his hand on the doorknob, his wife's beautiful face appeared against the door, a gentle smile on her face.
"Honey, please don't go out. Can you stay home with me?"
Click!
The doorknob was unscrewed, and Fang Xiu calmly walked out.
Bang!
The door slammed shut.
His wife didn't follow him out.
After eighteen near-death experiences, Fang Xiu finally made it through the door, but he felt no joy at having survived.
His mind was now preoccupied with only one thing: revenge!
And nothing but revenge! "No one can kill me eighteen times and still get away with it! No one!"
Tap, tap, tap...
Fang Xiu's steady footsteps echoed in the hallway.
He lived on the fifth floor, in an old residential complex with no elevator, so he had no choice but to walk downstairs.
Soon, after passing through the dim, shabby hallway, Fang Xiu's apartment door appeared before him.
He slowly pushed it open. Bright, warm sunlight filtered through the crack, filling the dim hallway as it swung open.
It was as if the world outside was a warm, sunny world, and the sunlight bathed Fang Xiu in warmth.
After eighteen deaths, he finally saw the sun outside alive.
He took a step outside, wading into the sunny world. Then, Fang Xiu froze in place, his blood practically frozen.
At this moment, enveloped in sunlight, he could no longer feel the slightest warmth.
He stared blankly at the outside world, muttering subconsciously: "Is this... hell?"