Lin Xihang felt a chill run down his spine, and he instinctively swallowed.
His back was already ice-cold.
If his mouth hadn't been stuffed with paper, he would have let out a shriek like a marmot.
Just as the faceless woman leaned her head further forward, Lin Xihang smelled a fragrance.
He was only a fingernail's distance from the faceless woman's face, their faces almost touching.
The faceless woman sniffed the air, seemingly detecting the scent as well, and quickly retracted her elongated head.
Lin Xihang lay on the floor, not daring to move, until the faceless woman disappeared.
His tense heart relaxed, and he was about to take a breath to recover.
Suddenly, he felt someone staring at him from a corner. Before he could turn around, his feet were grabbed tightly by two hands, startling him into a shudder and causing him to make muffled sounds.
His feet thrashed about, trying to shake off the hands holding his ankles, but no matter how he moved, the grip was incredibly strong.
His strength was like that of an infant facing a grown man against those hands.
Suddenly, the hands exerted even more force, yanking Lin Xihang out from under the bed.
Lin Xihang was stunned, feeling a tightness in his chest. Looking further, he realized that the one pulling him was not the faceless woman, but Zhao Yan.
Zhao Yan first glanced at Lin Xihang's crotch. Seeing that he hadn't wet himself in fear, she nodded approvingly.
She grabbed Lin Xihang's collar and pulled him onto the bed.
The bow that he had struggled to untie was easily undone by Zhao Yan.
After helping him remove the paper from his mouth, Lin Xihang looked utterly panicked, his heart still pounding rapidly.
"Go outside and check. If that thing comes back, give me a heads-up."
Zhao Yan's calm demeanor made him feel safe, and he was no longer as terrified as before.
He walked to the window and cautiously peeked out.
He saw a woman in red, squatting on the ground, with three incense sticks burning in front of her.
The woman in red inhaled the incense deeply, and the incense burned rapidly, visible to the naked eye.
As if sensing something, the woman in red suddenly turned her head.
Lin Xihang's legs almost gave out from fear. He immediately sidestepped and hid against the wall, pressing his body tightly against it.
Seeing no movement, he slowly poked his head out from behind the wall.
As his head reached the glass, he suddenly saw the face of the woman in red pressed tightly against the windowpane.
Their eyes met, and Lin Xihang's legs went numb.
He dared not move, covering his mouth tightly, and slowly looked back, noticing that Zhao Yan was lying motionless on the bed.
Lin Xihang whispered to Zhao Yan, "Hoo!"
Zhao Yan rolled her eyes, shook her head, and signaled him to stay still.
Lin Xihang froze.
The woman in red slowly moved away and walked towards the door.
With a creak, the door was pushed open.
Lin Xihang's heart pounded wildly, almost making him faint. He slightly turned his head towards the bed and saw Zhao Yan execute a beautiful roll, tumbling off the bed onto the floor.
Once on the floor, she rolled again, disappearing under the bed.
And on the bed, a paper effigy suddenly appeared.
The front of the paper clearly bore Lin Xihang's name, followed by his birthdate and time.
The woman in red walked straight over, passing by Lin Xihang, and suddenly stopped.
Lin Xihang's shoulder brushed slightly against the woman in red.
At this close distance, he could see the woman in red's condition even more clearly.
The woman in red's body was paper-thin, like a paper cutout standing beside him.
Fortunately, the stop wasn't long. The woman in red clearly didn't sense Lin Xihang's presence and walked directly towards the bed.
She reached the bedside, looked down at the paper effigy, and grabbed its face, inhaling as she had the incense earlier, drawing in the essence with force.
This continued for about ten minutes before the woman in red released her grip and turned towards the door.
As she reached the doorway, she stopped, her gaze fixed on where Lin Xihang was standing.
Lin Xihang thought he had been discovered and was about to break down when the woman in red vanished.
Just then, his shoulder was suddenly patted.
"Ah!"
The physical contact made him shiver involuntarily. He instinctively closed his eyes and punched backward.
His fist felt like it hit cotton and was immediately grabbed tightly.
"It's me," Zhao Yan said softly.
Lin Xihang cautiously opened his eyes and saw Zhao Yan holding his fist while looking out the window.
The moment he saw Zhao Yan, he breathed a sigh of relief.
Seeing Zhao Yan staring intently out the window, he followed her gaze.
He saw a swaying shadow outside the window and let out a cry, jumping into Zhao Yan's arms.
Zhao Yan instinctively raised her arms and, in a princess carry, held Lin Xihang in her embrace.
"Master Zhao, there's something outside. That woman is still out there," Lin Xihang said, clinging tightly to Zhao Yan, his voice filled with fear.
Zhao Yan looked and saw a camphor tree swaying back and forth in the wind, its shadow also swaying.
"That's the tree's shadow. That thing has already left," Zhao Yan said calmly, releasing her hold and letting Lin Xihang down from her arms.
Lin Xihang cautiously looked over, confirming it was the camphor tree's shadow, and forced a smile.
This was his first encounter with such a ghostly entity, and he had almost collapsed from fear.
Now he fully understood Zhao Yan's methods.
Especially seeing Zhao Yan's composure, he felt a surge of security, but he couldn't help but glance behind him. The outside was pitch black, scaring him into quickly moving behind Zhao Yan.
He almost wanted to stick to her.
Seeing Zhao Yan looking down at the paper effigy on the bed, he noticed it bore a slight resemblance to himself.
"Master Zhao, what kind of technique is this?" Lin Xihang asked.
He recalled the paper-thin entity from earlier, constantly inhaling something from the paper effigy, as if trying to suck out its very marrow.
The more he thought about it, the more Lin Xihang shivered.
Zhao Yan said, "Can't you tell? This is you. To be precise, it's your substitute."
"If not for this substitute, you would be even more depleted after tonight."
"Thank you, Master Zhao," Lin Xihang said gratefully.
Zhao Yan asked, "With your mouth?"
Lin Xihang paused, then immediately understood. He quickly walked to the bedside table, opened it, and took out a thousand yuan.
He apologized, "I only have a thousand yuan in my bedside table."
He handed the thousand yuan over, and the moment Zhao Yan took the money, she smiled, "That's enough."
Looking at Zhao Yan's smile, Lin Xihang realized for the first time how beautiful she was when she smiled.
Zhao Yan put the money away and walked towards the door.
Halfway there, she turned back, finding Lin Xihang hugging a pillow, and asked doubtfully, "Why are you following me?"
Lin Xihang pleaded pitifully, "Master Zhao, can I sleep with you?"