Chapter 3: Wrapped Around

The sound of running water echoed in the bathroom.

After a while, the water stopped, and Ming Ci buried his face in the half-filled basin of cold water.

It was just an auditory hallucination.

It must have been because he was too tired these past few days that he experienced auditory hallucinations.

Tomorrow, he would quit his part-time job. After all, school was starting in two weeks. During this time, he would browse the internet for study materials for his freshman year and prepare for classes at home.

As Ming Ci gradually calmed down and made plans in his mind, he lifted his face from the water.

The bathroom light was not turned on. He reached for a towel in the dark and slowly dried off the water stains.

Just then, the iron door of the living room creaked open from outside.

Ming Ci paused, turned his head to glance outside, and saw Ming Hui returning.

This time, he didn’t seem to have been drinking. His steps were light, and he walked briskly after closing the door.

Ming Ci couldn’t be bothered to talk to his father. He silently walked out of the bathroom, intending to sneak back to his bedroom.

But as soon as he stepped out, he saw his father standing at the doorway of the bedroom, slowly pushing the door open to look inside. Not finding him there, he slipped inside stealthily, as if he were a thief.

Ming Ci furrowed his brows slightly and silently walked over. He stood by the door without saying a word, watching Ming Hui turn on the desk lamp and rummage through the drawers.

What was he doing? Stealing something? Coming back at night to steal from his own son?

Ming Ci felt absurd and ridiculous. He watched his father’s back and reached out to press the light switch.

Ming Hui, thinking his son was not at home, had just found what he was looking for in his son’s room when suddenly, with a snap, the ceiling light turned on!

Then, a familiar voice sounded, “What are you looking for?”

He froze in place, turned around, and saw his son looking at him expressionlessly, his dark eyes unusually cold.

“Xiao… Xiao Ci, you’re home.”

Ming Hui’s remaining sense of shame surged up, and he awkwardly made up an excuse, “I came in to look for something, um, my lighter, where did it go? Do you know?”

Ming Ci tilted his head slightly and glanced down, clearly seeing his father’s frozen hand and the silver-gray laptop he was holding.

It was the laptop he had bought with his scholarship money for attending online classes, only used for a few months, and he cherished it very much. It looked clean and new. If he were to sell it as second-hand goods, he could at least get three to four thousand yuan.

Ming Ci’s face was as dark as water, barely suppressing his anger. “Put my laptop back.”

Ming Hui’s face turned liver-colored, his lips trembling violently. “I just…”

“Put my laptop back, Ming Hui,” Ming Ci repeated.

This condescending attitude, calling him by name, hit Ming Hui’s sore spot instantly. His cowering and embarrassed demeanor disappeared in an instant, replaced by widened eyes filled with bloodshot veins. His voice suddenly rose, “Ming Ci! How dare you call me by my name? You rude brat, just because you’ve grown up doesn’t mean I can’t discipline you—”

“Heh.” Ming Ci let out a contemptuous sneer. “Getting angry out of shame again?”

He walked up to his father, his tone still calm. “Stealing my laptop and you don’t even allow me to speak. Ming Hui, how do you want to discipline me? Beat me up like you did when I was a child, or make me kneel outside the door?”

Ming Hui’s mind was in a whirlwind of rage. “You—”

“What are you doing with my laptop? Selling it to support your drinking, gambling, and whoring? My mom had an accident, and the boss compensated her with hundreds of thousands. You squandered it all, and now you come to steal my things. Ming Hui, why can’t I call you by your name? Have you ever raised me?”

With each word Ming Ci uttered, Ming Hui’s face grew uglier. Until the last word fell, it felt like a punch to his face.

Veins popped on Ming Hui’s forehead, and he instinctively raised his hand to slap, but the next moment, his arm was gripped and he couldn’t move.

These past few years of indulgence in alcohol, women, and gambling had weakened his body. He never expected to be restrained by his just-adult son.

Ming Ci squeezed hard, the veins on his hand bulging, his pitch-black pupils staring straight at him with a chilling aggressiveness.

Ming Hui stood still for two seconds, feeling that his familiar son had become incredibly unfamiliar in that moment, like some kind of monster disguised in human skin.

His head buzzed, finding it hard to believe he was losing the upper hand in front of Ming Ci. Immediately, he roared with anger, “Ming Ci, you’ve gone too far! I’m your father, it’s my duty to discipline you! What’s wrong with taking your things? What do you have that isn’t mine? Without me, would you even exist?”

Ming Ci raised his lips slightly, a mocking smile on his face. “Ming Hui, I never expected you to be this shameless.”

“What did you say? Say it again! Let me see if I don’t kill you today—”

Before he could finish his harsh words, the wall on the left suddenly banged. The neighbor pounded on the wall and cursed, “What are you making noise for in the middle of the night! Let people sleep, if you want to make noise, get out and make noise!”

Ming Hui felt like he was being choked. He didn’t speak for a while, just gasping for air heavily.

At least he had to maintain some dignity, not wanting the neighbors to hear about this disgraceful incident.

Ming Ci looked at his dad’s embarrassed and angry appearance, feeling a wave of irritation rising within him.

He shook off Ming Hui’s arm and snatched the laptop away, then took a couple of steps back, staring indifferently at Ming Hui.

Ming Hui didn’t want to admit it, but for a moment, he was actually intimidated by his slender and young son.

The atmosphere stagnated, and after several minutes, Ming Hui finally made a move.

With a bang!

He slammed the door and left in a fit of anger, kicking over the chair blocking his path before he left.

Good riddance, don’t come back.

Ming Ci’s brows furrowed, placing the laptop aside and lying back on the bed.

Every time Ming Hui came back, it always ended in conflict, arguments, or even fights.

Every time, when Ming Ci saw his face, negative emotions grew like weeds, spreading uncontrollably in his heart, filled with dark and sinister thoughts.

—Why wasn’t it him who died two years ago? Why is he still alive and well?

Ming Ci covered his eyes with one hand, took a deep breath, and tried hard to suppress the dark emotions flooding his mind.

After a while, he lowered his hand and gently placed it on his chest.

During the confrontation with Ming Hui earlier, he had moved too much, aggravating his wound. Now, the wound on his chest felt hot and itchy, causing waves of pain.

The smell of blood lingered in his nostrils, and his auditory nerves once again caught the faint whispers.

“Ming Ci…”

Ming Ci didn’t know how he fell asleep. When he woke up, the sky outside the window was already bright.

He checked the time on his phone, it was 6:30 in the morning.

The memories of last night flooded back to his mind, and the last scene was him lying in bed, touching his hot and throbbing wound.

Thinking of the wound, Ming Ci didn’t continue to lie in bed. He immediately got up and walked to the bathroom, pulling down his collar in front of the mirror, tearing off the medical tape, and slowly removing the gauze.

After a night, the exposed wound looked ghastly, but it had already clotted and scabbed over, showing signs of good recovery.

Ming Ci breathed a sigh of relief.

Although the scabbing process was a bit fast, it wasn’t too strange. He didn’t need to worry about it for the time being.

It was a little after 7 a.m. Outside the gate of the residential area, near the bus stop, people were coming and going at the breakfast stall.

Chen Xiu arrived early every day, occupying the best spot. The aroma of the multigrain Chinese crepes was enticing, and they were sold at a reasonable price, so business was always good.

Her breakfast cart was surrounded by five or six people, all waiting to get their crepes, with the sound of transactions ringing out one after another.

Ming Ci blended into the crowd, quietly scanning the QR code while Chen Xiu was busy flipping crepes, and then paid the money.

Feeling relieved after paying the bill, he stepped onto the cart with a light stride.

Around eight o’clock, Ming Ci got off the subway and walked into a branch of an educational institution.

After receiving his college entrance examination results, he found this part-time job for summer self-study tutoring and had been doing it ever since.

Upon seeing the principal of the branch, Ming Ci got straight to the point, “Principal, I’ll finish today’s tutoring and then quit. Something sudden came up at home, and I won’t have time for part-time jobs later. I’ve come to resign.”

Part-time jobs during the summer were unstable, so the principal wasn’t surprised to hear this and calmly replied, “Alright, you can talk to Miss Yang from HR later to process your resignation.”

“Thank you, Principal. I’ll see Miss Yang after class,” Ming Ci responded.

The principal nodded and then asked, “Xiao Ming, have you received the admission notice from Nanzhou University?”

“I have.”

The original copy of the notice was at home, so Ming Ci had taken a photo and voluntarily opened his phone’s photo album to show it to her.

“Good, send the photo to Miss Yang, we need to keep it on record.”

After discussing official business, the principal noticed the medical gauze under his collar and asked with concern, “Xiao Ming, how did you get injured on your chest? Are you okay?”

Ming Ci lowered his eyelashes and calmly replied, “Just accidentally scratched it. Thank you for your concern, Principal. I’ll head to the classroom now.”

Perhaps because his chest wound had been noticed, Ming Ci felt uneasy throughout the day.

Even after work, that sense of unease didn’t dissipate. It wasn’t until he stepped out of the building that he finally realized—his wound wasn’t hurting.

It had been normal in the morning, but after lunch, he could hardly feel any pain from the wound.

Ming Ci stopped in his tracks, unable to resist raising his hand and scratching his collarbone through the gauze.

No pain.

The blurry wound on his flesh seemed to have completely disappeared.

Ming Ci stood still in shock for a few seconds, then quickly walked to a corner behind the building, unbuttoned his shirt, and removed the gauze.

In the thickening twilight, the light from his phone illuminated the small space in front of him as he looked down at his chest.

His skin was smooth, without a trace of injury.

What was even more bizarre was that the red mole on his collarbone was still there, and it had even grown larger, no longer deserving the name of a mole. It spread downwards like a crimson brand, almost occupying his entire chest.

Ming Ci shivered involuntarily, his fingertips slowly tracing the eerie crimson mark, various terrifying conjectures flooding his mind.

Skin disease? Hemangioma? Cancer?

Whatever the case, his body was definitely not normal.

If it was a serious illness… could he afford the treatment? If he couldn’t afford it, what would he do, wait for death?

Ming Ci took a deep breath and fiercely clawed at the skin, the sharp stinging sensation following immediately.

The sensation of pain helped Ming Ci to barely calm down. As he opened the web page on his phone, he murmured to himself, “It’s okay, don’t panic. Maybe it’s just a common ailment. I’ll go to the hospital tomorrow for a check-up, there must be a way to get rid of it, it’s nothing serious…”

He booked an appointment through the city hospital’s app, then buttoned up his clothes and headed towards the bustling street.

At 7:30 in the evening, Ming Ci returned home.

He had no appetite at all, feeling extremely exhausted as if his body had been emptied, even his mind was hazy.

He hurriedly took a shower and lay down on the bed, closing his eyes and quickly falling asleep.

Time passed silently, the night grew darker, strange shadows spread and undulated in the darkness, continuously growing.

Soft, warm, and moist, like crimson flesh coalescing.

Without a brain yet capable of thought, without lips yet able to speak, without eyes yet able to gaze, without hands yet able to touch.

“Ming Ci.”

Uttering human words in a distorted and bizarre tone, the only proficient word was the host’s name.

“I, mine… is, mine… mine…”

The words were fragmented and intermittent, each syllable flowing with a strong and burning possessiveness.

The crimson figure unfolded, the thin blanket of flesh completely covering the sleeping host, sensing his gentle breath, slow heartbeat, gazing at his flushed cheeks, trembling skin,

tasting his sweat, the moisture of his lips.

Until the host’s breath gradually became rapid, heart rate accelerating continuously, and the eyes that had been repeatedly licked suddenly opened.

“Get away!”

Ming Ci woke up from his dream, screaming in confusion.

It seemed like he had a horrifying nightmare.

Falling into an endless swamp, with monsters entangling his legs, dragging him down. He sank deeper and deeper into the viscous mud until his whole body was engulfed.

The terrifying sense of drowning in the dream had not yet faded, Ming Ci stared blankly into the dim void, his mind still not quite clear.

After a moment, he came to his senses, realizing that his throat was extremely dry, and his body was unusually hot.

Ming Ci turned on the bedside lamp, got up, and went to the living room to pour himself a glass of cold water, which he drank in one gulp.

Then he put down the glass and went to the bathroom to wash his face. The cool water rinsed his flushed and feverish face, making his mind feel much clearer.

After drying his cheeks, Ming Ci subconsciously glanced at the mirror before leaving the bathroom—the exposed collarbone was fair and clean.

His eyes widened, and he walked back to the mirror in two steps, swiftly unbuttoning his shirt.

The chest skin was snow-white and flawless, and that unsettling crimson hue that had troubled him completely disappeared!

Ming Ci meticulously checked his entire body several times, but found no trace of the red mark from head to toe.

It really disappeared.

He breathed a sigh of relief, a smile crept onto his lips, and his eyes brightened.

Ming Ci relaxedly went to turn off the light, his fingertips just about to touch the switch when the familiar whisper floated gently from behind.

“Ming Ci…”

A sense of unease surged within him, causing his hair to stand on end, and he slightly turned his cheek, anxiously glancing at the mirror.

The crimson figure slowly approached, stopping behind him.

The soft and smooth limbs continuously split and elongated, branching out more soft limbs, eagerly reaching out.

“You can’t… abandon me… we… should be together forever.”

The moist and warm sensation slid over the nape of his neck, Ming Ci’s pupils contracted, and his entire body trembled with a tingling numbness, as if electrified.

“You’re mine… we can’t… be apart… Ming Ci, Ming Ci… needs… me, wants… Ming Ci… is mine.”

Countless soft limbs entwined around his body like red ropes, licking his earlobes, repeatedly murmuring low whispers.

A monster.

He was about to be swallowed by a monster.

In extreme fear, the body would weaken, the throat would go silent, and even the brain would become dull.

Ming Ci knew he should move quickly, but his legs felt like they were encased in concrete, unable to take a single step.

Cold sweat trickled down, soaking his clothes and hair, the smell of fear emanating from every bursting pore.

The crimson soft limbs entwined from behind, caressing his dark hair and pale neck.

It was impossible to discern how large it actually was, but he felt like an insect trapped in resin, about to be engulfed from head to toe, soon to become solidified amber.

Ming Ci was completely stiff, his lips trembled, and a weak and pitiful whimper escaped his throat.

“Wu…”

This sound only excited the monster even more. One of its soft limbs moved to his now pale face, the tip splitting into slender soft fingers, touching his slightly parted lips, even attempting to invade his mouth.