chapter 2

After locking the bathroom door behind me, I swept my gaze around the room. It settled on a wet clump of black hair caught in the shower drain.

I walked over and poured the entire saucer of garlic juice onto it. Then I took out my phone and aimed the livestream at the drain.

The hair began to writhe.

Several long black strands swelled to many times their original size and turned into dark-green waterweed. Worse, they kept squirming, each strand twisting like a green earthworm.

Cold sweat beaded uncontrollably across my forehead. My hand shook.

Lin Dayao really was a water monkey!

The chat flew past in a frenzy.

[!!!]

[Are my eyes broken? Did that hair actually turn into waterweed?]

[This isn’t some stunt the streamer planned, is it? The last person who tried that got banned everywhere. Don’t get cocky!]

Lingfengzi: [Clean the waterweed out of the drain first. Whatever you do, don’t let the water monkey know that you’ve discovered the truth. Otherwise…]

Before I could answer, the lock behind me clicked.

I planted my foot over the drain, shoved my phone into my pocket, and spun around.

Dayao stood there in her shower cap, staring at me with dark, chilling eyes.

“Qingqing, what are you doing over there?” She sniffed. “What’s that strange smell?”

Her scrutiny made my scalp prickle. I swallowed and forced my voice to stay calm.

“I was about to shower. I wanted to see if there was any hot water left.”

“All right, but what is that smell?” Dayao sniffed again and approached without expression.

I hurriedly pointed to a coil of incense in the corner. “Zheng Rou said there were bugs in here yesterday. I just lit some insect-repelling incense.”

Dayao glanced toward it and stopped. Her voice lightened. “It’s been so damp lately. That always brings the bugs out.”

I breathed an inward sigh of relief. Thank goodness I had lit the incense and masked the garlic.

“By the way, how did you get in? I could have sworn I locked the door,” I countered.

An apologetic look instantly crossed Dayao’s face. The sinister stare from a moment ago seemed like my imagination.

“I’m sorry, Qingqing. The bathroom lock is broken. I noticed this afternoon and meant to tell you, but I never ran into you.

“You always shower in the morning, and Xiaomei and Zheng Rou were already done. I thought no one was in here, so I didn’t knock.”

I stared at her.

Hadn’t Dayao just seen me from outside the bathroom?

No.

The two drying caps were the same color, but the one I had seen a minute ago was soaked in a ring at the top. The cap in front of me was visibly dry. It could not possibly have dried that fast.

This Dayao and the woman I had just met were not the same person.

Before I could sort out the implications, she spoke again.

“I showered seven times today, Qingqing. Did I keep you waiting long?”

Seven times?

My stomach dropped.

I had assumed the Dayao outside the bathroom was the water monkey, but now this Dayao claimed she was the one who had showered seven times.

Were both twins water monkeys?

Lingfengzi had said there was only one. Besides, only some of the hair in the drain had turned into waterweed. The rest had remained ordinary hair.

A chill crept across my back. My heart rose into my throat.

“Not long. I was in my room gaming with friends.”

Dayao’s lips curved. “Good.”

She left with a hair dryer and even pulled the door shut for me.

Fear no longer mattered. I wrapped the waterweed in my jacket and rushed out of the bathroom.

At almost the same instant, someone charged in from the hall.

It was my other roommate, Zheng Rou.

She was soaked through, rainwater dripping from her hair. Head lowered, she spoke so softly I could barely hear her.

“I’m sorry. Could I shower first? I forgot my umbrella when I went out.”

I nodded and waved her in.

I was in no mood to bathe. The only thing that mattered now was calling the police and getting out. Whichever of them was the water monkey, I could leave it to the professionals.

Back in my room, I sent Lingfengzi a private message.

[I’m calling the police.]

The reply came at once.

[Don’t! If you call the police, you won’t survive the night!]

[As soon as midnight comes, the water monkey will shed her old skin. There’s a storm outside, and a water ghost’s power doubles in water. She won’t even need to flay you. She can possess you and take your place outright.]