Fang Yuan knew that what was to come would eventually happen. It was as if a mysterious force was manipulating her life's destiny. She trembled, not from the cold, but from fear—the fear of the terrible events to come. This scenario had happened many times in her past, and each time it had come true. Each tremor of fear was followed by a heart-wrenching tragedy. Now, this strange tremor returned, and those bleak memories of the past surged back, drawing her in like an unfathomable black hole. But she resisted, desperately trying to escape this terrifying feeling—she didn't want to live in the past.
She thought of the balcony of dormitory 441 a year ago, where the girl was said to have jumped. The cement road below the girls' dormitory now looked pristine, unnoticed by anyone. Once, a vibrant life had perished there. She seemed to see the vibrant body of a young girl slamming into the cement road, blood splattering, bones shattering, and her head shattered. Her beauty turned disgusting in a fleeting moment.
What was the girl thinking as she died?
Fang Yuan found herself a little amused. What did any of this have to do with her? They were all just passing through this world, living in the same dormitory by chance. Even with this comforting thought, Fang Yuan still felt a strange sadness. Perhaps she saw herself reflected in the girl who committed suicide.
Xu Zhaodi was still wiping the windows, her head down, silent. Everyone is unique, with their own story, and she was no exception, it was just that she had no one to share it with.
Fang Yuan sighed and shook her head, ending her wandering thoughts and returning to reality. She turned around and wanted to tell Xu Zhaodi to rest.
It was around eleven o'clock in the morning. Xu Zhaodi stood on a chair, the harsh sunlight casting a shadow on her, dragging her into the corner of the balcony. There, the sunlight was blocked, leaving a semicircular shadow.
The woman appeared in the shadows behind Xu Zhaodi, shrouded in a black windbreaker that swayed slowly. She moved with it, silently, like a ghost. Fang Yuan couldn't see the woman's face; a faint mist hung before her. Two withered claws jutted out from her black sleeves. They were claws, not hands, because, aside from the bones, they were covered with a layer of aged, shrunken skin. Fang Yuan knew the woman was smiling, a sinister smile, like a hunter spotting its prey.
The woman's target wasn't her, but Xu Zhaodi.
Xu Zhaodi was standing on a chair. If it were overturned, her balance would be unstable and she could easily fall. If she fell to the balcony, she would face the hard concrete pavement, a repeat of the tragic scene of the girl who jumped from the building a year ago.
Fang Yuan's heart sank.
The woman approached Xu Zhaodi, and the mist on her face suddenly dissipated. Her head resembled a skull, only with a covering of old skin, some tangled hair, and a pair of malevolent eyes. Fang Yuan feared those eyes. Even as the woman's body drifted toward Xu Zhaodi, her eyes stared back at her, bulging outward, piercing Fang Yuan's heart and devouring her fragile soul.
Fang Yuan wanted to scream, but couldn't. She tried to rush over and support Xu Zhaodi, but she couldn't. The nerves in her brain no longer controlled her body. At that moment, as if she were under a spell, she could only watch helplessly as the eerie, ghostly woman approached Xu Zhaodi.
The strange woman came closer and closer. Though she drifted slowly, the distance between them was too close. Her fingers had already touched the chair, and her black energy had seeped into Xu Zhaodi's body. Fang Yuan could even clearly see Xu Zhaodi stop wiping the window and stood frozen in the chair, dazed.
Then—then a look of fear crossed Xu Zhaodi's face, as if she had seen something terrifying. Her fingers trembled slightly, and she bit her lip. Suddenly, she leaped from the chair, collapsing onto the strange woman. Then, her whole body trembled, and her feet seemed unsteady, but she reached out to hold on to the balcony.
Everything disappeared.
The strange woman disappeared.
Fang Yuan's feeling of being unable to move also disappeared.
It seemed as if nothing had happened, the only difference being that Xu Zhaodi now stood across from Fang Yuan. Her eyes shared Fang Yuan's bewilderment.
The two stared at each other in silence for several minutes, each sensing fear in the other's eyes.
It was as if a breeze blew gently past.
Their palms were wet with sweat, cold sweat.
Xu Zhaodi finally spoke, "Did you see it?"
Fang Yuan nodded. She didn't want to lie to Xu Zhaodi. At least, in her heart, she already considered Xu Zhaodi a friend worth relying on.
Xu Zhaodi's expression darkened. "I saw it too, the reflection on the window glass."
Fang Yuan finally understood why Xu Zhaodi had leaped from her chair just in time.
"That person... disappeared?" Xu Zhaodi's tone was uncertain. It turned out she hadn't realized she'd covered the strange woman when she leaped.
"Yes, the woman disappeared." Fang Yuan, fearing she'd panic, didn't elaborate.
"What did you say? A woman?" Xu Zhaodi practically jumped up as if bitten by a snake.
"Yes, a woman. What's wrong?" Fang Yuan couldn't understand her reaction.
"Are you sure?"
"Of course."
"But...but what I saw was a man!" Xu Zhaodi groaned in pain.
"Ah..."
Fang Yuan was certain the strange person was a woman, not just because of her long hair and her clothes, but also because of her eyes—that vicious, resentful look only a woman could give to another woman.
Fang Yuan gathered herself and asked, "Can you describe the man you saw?"
Xu Zhaodi's face was filled with uncertainty. "He was a very handsome man. I couldn't see his face clearly; it seemed as if a thin mist had covered his face, but I could sense his smile. It was a sinister smile that frightened me and made me instinctively want to run away."
Xu Zhaodi's words were incomprehensible, her thoughts somewhat disorganized and illogical. If she hadn't seen the man's face clearly, how could she say he was handsome and sense his smile?
Fang Yuan believed it. Hadn't she felt the same way just now? Xu Zhaodi was speaking of intuition. Women's intuition is often much sharper and more reliable than men's.