Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Li Zhu came to see me the day before he died.

He pulled a piece of chocolate from his pocket and handed it to me with a smile.

I was surprised.

“Zhu Zi, where did you get this?”

Li Zhu was my cousin and a left-behind child. His parents had both gone to the city to work, so he usually lived at home alone.

Our families lived right next door to each other. My mom would occasionally call him over to our house for dinner. He didn’t have much pocket money, so he definitely wouldn’t have been willing to buy such expensive snacks.

“It’s for you.”

Li Zhu smiled, his face looking simple and honest.

I accepted it without ceremony. I had only ever seen this kind of imported chocolate with my wealthy classmates. I peeled off the golden wrapper and had just stuffed the chocolate into my mouth when Li Zhu’s expression suddenly turned distorted.

He stared at me and hissed, “Run!”

I jumped in fright. The chocolate got stuck in my throat, and it took a lot of effort to swallow it. But then Li Zhu returned to normal, laughing as he patted my shoulder.

“Tell Auntie I won’t be coming over for dinner tonight.”

“I’ve got a pack of instant noodles and some ham sausages over at my place.”

Instant noodles were a luxury, much tastier than the sweet potato porridge my mom made. I felt a bit envious, wondering where Li Zhu had managed to get those things.

I nodded.

“You nearly scared me to death just now.”

Li Zhu smiled and turned to leave.

The young man wiped his face after finishing his sentence, then continued in a low, somber voice.

The next time I saw him, he was already a corpse.

His hands and feet were tightly bound with rope, and he was hanging from a roof beam in a bizarre posture. He was wearing a woman’s swimsuit, and over the swimsuit was a bright red dress. His bare feet dangled, with a scale weight hanging between his ankles.

Terrified, I let out a scream and collapsed onto the floor.

Li Zhu’s tightly closed eyes suddenly snapped open. His pupils were pitch black as he stared at me.

“Run-”

I shrieked and scrambled out the door.

“Mom! Something happened to Zhu Zi! Quick-something happened to Zhu Zi!”

The police arrived quickly, and the villagers gathered outside the house, whispering among themselves.

“My god, I’ve never seen such a way to die in all my life. Who did Zhu Zi offend?”

“If you ask me, this feels like some kind of sorcery. What decent person kills someone like that?”

“Listen to yourself. What ‘decent person’ kills anyone at all?”

Everyone was talking at once. My mom was crying as she called my uncle, who bought a train ticket to rush home that same day.

My aunt was wailing and rolling on the floor in grief. The house was a mess, and I couldn’t bear to watch the scene, so I went outside by myself.

The night in the mountain village was exceptionally quiet. The moon was full, and the occasional sound of insects chirping drifted from the distance.

I crouched by the door alone, hugging my knees and crying. After a while, I suddenly felt uneasy-that specific discomfort of being watched.

I wiped away my tears and looked up, only to find a figure standing under the locust tree not far away.

“Who’s there?”

I shouted twice, but the figure just stood there, shrouded in the flickering shadows of the tree, neither moving nor speaking.

I was a bit scared, so I turned and ran into the house to get the others.

By the time I brought my mom and uncle out, there was no one under the tree.

“Xiao Yuan, are you sure you didn’t see things?”

Everyone said the same thing, but I knew I hadn’t been mistaken.

Today was a bright, sunny day. I stood under the locust tree, staring down at a large puddle of water on the ground.

“A huge puddle of water, reflecting the moonlight, just like the one Li Zhu left behind when he committed suicide.”

The young man looked terrified, his shoulders hunched as he stood nearby, continuing his non-stop chatter.

“I know it. That person killed Li Zhu. Li Zhu kept telling me to run; he’ll definitely come to kill me too. Sister Qiao, I can’t escape.”

He covered his face, his expression filled with despair.

“I can’t escape.”

I rolled my eyes impatiently and reached out to pinch his ear.

“So that’s why you snuck into my room in the middle of the night to steal things?”

“Ah! Ow, ow, ow-let go! Sister, waah… I just thought I was going to die soon. When you guys entered the village today, I saw the snacks in your bag. I figured since I’m about to die, I wanted to have one last good meal before I go.”