Shen Jianqing was simply having another bout of madness.
His words were full of malice, so naturally, I didn’t believe he could produce anything good. Taking advantage of his momentary inattention, as his grip on my arm slightly loosened, I immediately exerted force, turned sideways, and bit down hard on his forearm.
“Hiss—”
Shen Jianqing gasped in pain, but his hand didn’t move, letting me bite him. I hardened my heart, frowned, and bit down harder and harder, wanting to vent all the resentment and anger inside me. Soon, I tasted a metallic, salty flavor spreading in my mouth.
It was the taste of blood.
Shen Jianqing seemed to feel no pain, just holding out his arm and letting me bite. But ultimately, I wasn’t a ruthless person; I couldn’t bring myself to bite off a piece of his flesh. In the end, I could only reluctantly release my mouth.
On Shen Jianqing’s slender, pale forearm, a ring of tooth marks was clearly visible. His skin was broken, and fresh blood was gushing from the wound.
I had already given up, so I simply looked him directly in the eyes, as if in defiance.
But the anger I expected from him didn’t appear; instead, Shen Jianqing smiled at me gently.
In my most chilling moment, he said, “Is this a new gift you want to give me?”
My mouth was full of the taste of blood, and my chest churned with nausea, but I still sneered, spitting out two words I had long dared not say from between my teeth: “Madman!”
Shen Jianqing’s pupils constricted, and his brows furrowed. For a moment, he seemed lost in thought, as if recalling something from long ago. But he ultimately said nothing, instead immediately taking action.
Shen Jianqing stepped forward, raised his leg, and pressed his knee heavily against my lower back, pinning me to the bed. I was unable to move. Then, with a crisp “rip,” it was the sound of fabric tearing.
In two or three swift movements, he roughly tore the bedsheet, grabbed my wrist, and was about to tie it to the bedpost of the wooden bed.
I struggled to hit him, but he caught my fist with his backhand and threatened in a low voice, “Don’t force me!”
Who forced whose for us to end up like this today?!
It was only in that momentary lapse of my attention that Shen Jianqing seized the opportunity to bind my wrists. I was like a frog in a laboratory, lying on my back, awaiting dissection.
Shen Jianqing gathered his long hair, which had come loose during our struggle, and looked down at me, who was powerless to resist.
I didn’t want to yield to him, and I knew he wouldn’t easily untie me, so I simply turned my face to the wall, no longer looking at him.
Shen Jianqing scoffed and turned to leave, but his footsteps suddenly paused.
Then I heard rummaging in the corner of the room. I silently recalled that there were some insect-repelling herbs that Wan Ying had left for me in that corner. I was scared at the time, so I hadn’t scattered them, just put them away in the corner.
Soon, I heard Shen Jianqing’s gritted teeth, “It seems you had quite a carefree time when I wasn’t around. Who was so good to you? Who gave you these insect-repelling herbs?”
So, they were indeed insect-repelling herbs; I had misunderstood Wan Ying before. Given Shen Jianqing’s madness, if I said Wan Ying’s name, it would inevitably bring her trouble. Thinking this, I closed my eyes and played dead, not responding to him.
The next moment, my jaw was seized, Shen Jianqing’s grip so strong it felt like he was trying to crush me to death. I couldn’t help but open my eyes to look at him, only to see his eyes filled with the flames of jealousy, threatening to consume him entirely.
“Even if you don’t say it, I know. Among the villagers, only Lu Qi can concoct herbs. Was it that fool Ah Song who gave them to you? I told you before, Li Yuze, you’re very good at seducing people.”
If my wrists weren’t bound, I definitely would have punched him hard in that face!
“Stop judging me with your filthy thoughts!” My chest ached with anger. “Besides you, whose mind is filled with…” I didn’t want to repeat those dirty words.
Ah Song had become like that, yet he suspected some private connection between us. How ridiculous!
Shen Jianqing stared at my face with suspicion, trying to find any flaw or clue.
I looked back at him openly and honestly.
Fortunately, he didn’t dwell too much on the source of the herbs and turned to leave the room.
But his final look at me was truly eerie; I didn’t believe he would simply leave like that.
Sure enough, a series of unhurried footsteps sounded outside the door again, like drumbeats, tapping on my heart one by one.
No matter what he wanted to do, I wouldn’t respond to him. I told myself this in my mind, believing that once he realized he was facing something as uninteresting as a corpse, he would naturally stop.
But after he entered the room, he said nothing.
The room was so quiet that I could hear a pin drop.
They say death itself isn’t terrifying; what’s terrifying is the process of waiting for death.
As time passed, my heart pounded higher and higher, and I couldn’t help but open my eyes to look at him. Just then, an abrupt mechanical ringing began.
“Ding-a-ling-a-ling—”
I was stunned for a moment, my first reaction being how familiar the sound was. It took me a while to realize it was the sound of my camera turning on!
What was he going to do?
Shen Jianqing looked up, met my gaze, and actually curved his lips very innocently, smiling sweetly. “Yuze Ah-ge, aren’t you fond of playing with this? Why do you have such an ugly expression now? Aren’t you happy?”
As he spoke, he walked closer and started gesturing with the dark, hollow camera lens at me!
I was instantly terrified.
This was the first time I felt that a camera lens was so bizarre and terrifying, like a bottomless black hole, ready to devour a person’s soul.
I struggled again, but my wrists were tied tightly. I struggled in vain for a long time, squirming on the bed like an insect, but it had no effect whatsoever.
“You, you can’t do this…” I said to Shen Jianqing, my voice trembling.
“It’s so good to have you look at me like this.” Shen Jianqing’s voice was soft, and his demeanor gentle. Just when I thought he was only trying to scare me, his entire presence suddenly turned chilling. “But why can’t I? You are mine, Li Yuze.”
He said it so matter-of-factly, as if I had truly been his private property, an object he could manipulate at will, from the very beginning.
“Let go of me! You lunatic!” I cursed.
“Don’t call me a lunatic!” Shen Jianqing suddenly pinched my chin, stopping all my words. “When Ah-ba had an attack, all he would shout was ‘lunatic.’ You won’t repeat that, right, Yuze Ah-ge?”
I forgot to breathe, just staring at him blankly. Shen Siyuan’s pleas and anger, in his mother Ah Qing’s teaching, were merely “having an attack.” So Shen Jianqing would believe they were in love, and his father just occasionally had “an attack” that caused minor trouble for the family.
It took me a long while to snap out of it, realizing my whole body was trembling. It was clearly the height now, but I still felt cold, a chill that originated from deep within my heart.
Seeing that I had quieted down, Shen Jianqing finally moved his hand from my chin. But his cold hand didn’t leave my body; it just moved down, sliding to my collar. His fingers were nimble; with just a light flick, a button came undone, revealing a large expanse of my chest.
“Don’t be like this…” I pleaded.
Shen Jianqing held the camera in one hand, his face hidden behind the dark lens, revealing only a pair of crimson lips. His lips parted, his tone both innocent and cruel: “Aren’t you determined to leave? If you really do go one day, you’ll have to leave me something to remember you, right? Don’t you think so, Yuze Ah-ge?”
His cold fingers, like nimble snakes, roamed wantonly over my body, as if this form truly belonged to him, to be manipulated at will.
“Ah, I’ve actually seen it, in Dongjiang Miao Village. Camera pictures can turn into thin sheets of paper, held in your hand.” Shen Jianqing suddenly moved the camera away, looking at me very seriously, as if that day had truly arrived. “How amazing! When that time comes, don’t worry, I’ll remember everyone who’s looked at your camera, and I’ll have Honghong personally bite out their brains.”
I trembled all over, unable to utter a single word.
The demon continued to whisper, “So don’t worry, and don’t be so stiff. Come, relax…”
This was the longest and most painful night I had ever experienced. In the long years that followed, occasionally waking from a midnight nightmare, I would vaguely return to this moment, and that drowning sense of suffocation and despair would still envelop me.
Finally, I couldn’t remember if I had passed out or fallen asleep. In any case, I didn’t know when Shen Jianqing left.
Half-conscious and half-awake, I seemed to drift into a dream.
Dreams are projections of the subconscious, reflecting one’s deepest desires or fears.
But I seemed to be back at the stilt house that day, the first time I showed Shen Jianqing how to use a camera.
The lush green forest was so dark it was almost black, and the rustling of leaves as the wind blew through was utterly silent.
Shen Jianqing raised his innocent and curious eyes, gazing at me, his pupils holding only me, watching me with such focus.
“Can you teach me how to use it?”
No! No!
Strange, why was there a voice roaring in my ear?
I looked around confusedly, but there was nothing, only Shen Jianqing’s handsome and delicate face.
“Of course, you can try holding it.”
I handed the camera to Shen Jianqing, guiding him little by little on how to use it. Yet, deep down, I felt an inexplicable unease.
“What’s wrong?” Shen Jianqing asked.
I smiled and replied, “Nothing.”
Seeing this, Shen Jianqing began to fiddle with the camera on his own. He was very clever; I only taught him once, and he learned it completely.
“Li Yuze!” He suddenly called out to me.
I leaned against the railing of the corridor, subconsciously turning my head to look.
I saw Shen Jianqing holding the black camera, his face hidden behind the dark, hollow lens, only his crimson lips visible.
That dark, hollow camera lens inexplicably instilled fear, like a black abyss, ready to swallow one’s soul!
He parted his thin lips slightly and said, “Don’t be so stiff. Come on, relax…”
My pupils suddenly dilated, my heart pounded violently, and a roaring sound filled my ears. At the same time, the scenery before me began to spin, twist, distort, and darken…
This was a dream!
I suddenly opened my eyes.
