TBWE Chapter 6

Red Mole

Chu Li had shown tendencies toward schizophrenia since high school, and was diagnosed with mild schizophrenia two years ago.

She always felt there was an invisible gaze spying on her in daily life. After attempting self-reconciliation proved ineffective, she became increasingly paranoid and suspicious.

The first six months after diagnosis were the worst, with frequent episodes where she treated imagined events as reality, believing everyone around her harbored ill intentions. Huo Xiu stayed by her side day and night. After six months, her condition gradually stabilized, and she was able to stop medication.

Dr. Chen was her attending physician, who would regularly call to inquire about her condition and schedule follow-up appointments.

The next follow-up appointment was in two days.

Dr. Chen was a gentle woman who was very responsible toward her patients, but Chu Li subconsciously didn’t want to see her.

Perhaps it was due to her attitude of avoiding medical treatment.

During this follow-up, Dr. Chen had her redo the assessment scale. Based on her drowning experience and recent behavior, she diagnosed a relapse of Chu Li’s condition with a trend toward deterioration.

Dr. Chen provided psychological counseling and prescribed new medication.

Chu Li followed the doctor’s orders and took the medication on time, spacing it out from the eye medication prescribed by the hospital.

After taking the medicine, she indeed felt much better. She no longer frequently felt eyes watching her, and the hallucinations were significantly reduced.

Huo Xiu canceled all unnecessary schedules, moved most of his work to handle from his study at home, and changed most company meetings to online mode.

His hand injury had completely healed, and his cooking had recently returned to normal standards.

Life gradually returned to calm. Those previous incidents seemed like mere delusions from Chu Li’s episodes. After taking medication, those abnormalities disappeared.

****

Hai City had frequent rain in summer.

A thunderstorm began in the evening, with rumbling thunder and violent wind and rain beating against the windows.

Chu Li had feared thunderstorm nights since childhood and had bathed early. The hair dryer behind her was nearly silent as slender fingers ran through her long hair, carefully drying each strand.

She wore headphones, listening to IELTS listening practice. After starting her senior year, she would need to prepare for internships and her graduation thesis. She planned to go abroad after graduation and wanted to take the exam early while school wasn’t too busy.

Huo Xiu had already planned to relocate the company to Europe. In his original plan, he would gradually transfer projects overseas this year, and after Chu Li’s graduation, they would hold their wedding abroad and settle there.

An accident had disrupted the plan, and their engagement was also postponed.

English dialogue played in her headphones as a sandalwood comb moved from root to tip through her hair, stroke after stroke, making her scalp slightly tingle.

If one ignored the incessant thunderstorm outside, this could be considered a peaceful evening.

After Huo Xiu finished combing her hair, he brought over a packet of medicine and warm water. “Take it, then rest early after taking it.”

Chu Li said nothing, waving her hand in front of her eyes, still seeing complete darkness. She felt somewhat discouraged.

When would it ever get better?

Huo Xiu caught her fingers and asked with a smile, “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t want to take it. I’ve been taking it for over half a month with no effect at all.”

He placed the medicine in Chu Li’s hands and squeezed her fingers. “We’ll go for a follow-up tomorrow. Finish this round first.”

Chu Li sighed, pinched her nose and poured the pills and capsules into her mouth, then gulped down water to swallow them.

These medicines had a strange taste. After swallowing, a faint sweet fishy taste lingered on the back of her tongue, which she disliked greatly.

Tonight’s bedtime was two hours earlier than usual. After taking the medicine, Chu Li wasn’t sleepy yet. With lightning and thunder outside, she slowly slid down and wrapped herself completely in the blanket, her mind constantly conjuring supernatural stories she’d heard.

A hand settled on her waist, pulling her backward until her back pressed against a warm chest.

“Don’t be afraid.”

Chu Li turned and nestled into Huo Xiu’s embrace, her nose tip touching the collar of his silk pajamas. “I can’t sleep. I’m thinking about the stories Aunt Chen told. Are there really ghosts and spirits in this world?”

Lightning briefly illuminated the bedroom.

Huo Xiu looked down at the person in his arms, only the top of her head visible, his gaze deep as he chuckled softly. “What does Li Li think?”

Chu Li closed her eyes, listening to his slow, steady heartbeat. “I don’t know, maybe there are. Anyway, my family is very reverent of ghosts and spirits, especially my mother. Her hometown has mysterious beliefs – they worship a deity. Come to think of it, it’s strange that my mother never brought me and my sister back to her hometown.”

Huo Xiu spoke slowly, “Never went back to her hometown?”

“Not in my memory. I rarely see my mother contact people from home. She probably doesn’t get along well with grandmother’s family… I remember your hometown is in Hu Province. Have you encountered any supernatural events?”

“No. But there was something interesting.” Huo Xiu gently stroked her slender back, his low, calm voice flowing like spring water. “Many years ago, I met a lost child in the woods, crying like a little dirty cat.”

“And then?”

“Then I sent her home. Oh, she also praised me as a good person and said she’d bring a gift to thank me.” When saying this, Huo Xiu seemed to chuckle faintly.

Chu Li suspected Huo Xiu was making it up.

He hadn’t been such a warm-hearted character as a child – he’d thrown cherries at her the first time they met. Only after returning from years abroad had he become the gentle, tolerant person he was now.

“Were you really that kind-hearted as a child?” Chu Li whispered. “What gift did that child bring to thank you later?”

Huo Xiu picked up a strand of long hair, twirling it between his fingers, and said lightly, “Nothing.”

“Nothing?”

He said leisurely, “She didn’t come. She broke her promise.”

****

Chu Li fell asleep to the sound of wind and rain.

This sleep was restless – she had nightmares again.

In the dream, the passenger ship sailed into damp sea fog, struck a reef and capsized. The sky and sea surface were both lead-gray. She’d never seen such a strange sky – like an overturned bowl, blocking out all light.

Beneath the dark sea surface, a deep red bloomed before her eyes.

Usually the dream ended here, but today’s dream continued. From the deep red extended an ice-cold, pale hand, gripping Chu Li and pulling her forward.

Chu Li’s vision became clearer and clearer until she finally saw the source of this deep red.

It was a person.

His head had struck a reef, and his entire body was wrapped in a blood mist. His face was pale blue, pupils cloudy, the muscles on his face like frozen meat, incredibly stiff.

It was Huo Xiu.

One hand gripped Chu Li’s wrist while the other slowly caressed her face. His lips curved in a sinister arc as he spoke in his usual gentle tone. “Li Li, I won’t give you to anyone else.”

“Stay and keep me company, won’t you?”

His five fingers clamped around Chu Li’s throat like iron pincers.

She clearly smelled the cold, fishy scent of the sea on him.

Chu Li struggled to pry away that hand, but her strength was like an ant trying to shake a tree – he didn’t budge an inch, the obsession hidden in his eyes fully exposed.

The air in her lungs gradually thinned.

“…Li Li, Li Li!”

Chu Li suddenly opened her eyes, covering her neck and gasping for breath.

The thunderstorm continued. The bedroom seemed draped in black gauze, all furniture showing only the vaguest outlines.

Her vision had returned!

She widened her eyes slightly, temporarily pushing the terror from her dream to the back of her mind as joy surged in her heart.

“Huo Xiu, I…”

A flash of lightning tore through the night rain, briefly illuminating the bedroom.

Huo Xiu’s face was close before her. He wasn’t wearing glasses, half his face lit by lightning, half hidden in darkness.

Chu Li’s voice stopped abruptly as she stared blankly at the face before her.

The familiar, gentle features looked at her with concern. Behind him, countless winding shadows writhed – on the bed, ceiling, floor… turning the bedroom into a cage.

“What’s wrong, Li Li?”

Ice-cold fingers gently caressed her face. Huo Xiu’s tone was tender and caring, but his expression was like a monster wearing human skin, clumsily imitating.

Deep black eyes stared at her without pupil light or blinking.

The lightning disappeared, and the bedroom plunged back into darkness.

“Ahhhhh——!!!”

Chu Li had never realized she could be so strong or run so fast.

Her heart pounded violently, fast enough to make her nauseous.

She pushed away Huo Xiu, ran barefoot from the bed, yanked open the door, and stumbled downstairs in the darkness.

It had to be a dream.

She must still be dreaming.

“Thud——“

Chu Li missed a step and tumbled down several stairs, landing heavily on the living room carpet.

“Li Li, where are you going?”

Footsteps came from upstairs, from the bedroom to the stairs, getting closer and closer.

The “tap tap” sounds seemed to step on Chu Li’s heart.

The sharp pain in her ankle and dull pain in her elbow confirmed this wasn’t a nightmare.

This was more terrifying than any nightmare.

Chu Li crawled toward the front door using both hands and feet, cold sweat continuously rolling down her forehead and nose.

Faster… just a little faster…

A hand unexpectedly gripped her injured ankle.

“Don’t touch me!” Chu Li instinctively kicked.

A muffled grunt and the sound of metal hitting the floor rang out simultaneously. The person behind her didn’t let go, saying calmly, “Li Li, it’s me.” After a pause, he added, “Yuan Bao, turn on the lights.”

The first floor lights turned on one by one, brightness dispelling the darkness.

Chu Li’s vision gradually changed from blurry points of light to clear furniture. She propped up her upper body with her elbows, stiffly and slowly turning her head.

The young man wore dark gray silk pajamas, his hair somewhat disheveled, with a red swollen patch on his left eyebrow bone. His gold-rimmed glasses had fallen to the side.

His expression was relatively calm as he bent down to pick up Chu Li and place her on the sofa, opening the medicine box to rub medicinal oil on her injured foot.

Under the crystal chandelier, he kept his eyes lowered, revealing a red mole on his left eyelid.

As if possessed, Chu Li reached out and touched it.

The skin under her fingertip was warm. That scene from before seemed like a hallucination. The current Huo Xiu appeared completely normal, while she seemed like she’d gone mad.

Had she seen wrong because her vision had just recovered…

“Has your vision returned to normal?” he asked.

“…Mm.”

“Did you have a nightmare?”

The suffocating feeling from the dream resurfaced. Chu Li shivered physiologically and said vaguely, “I dreamed… we fell into the sea, and you were choking my neck and wouldn’t let go. So when I woke up and saw you, I was startled.”

Huo Xiu’s movements paused. When he looked up at her, that red mole disappeared into his eyelid. “Li Li, I would never hurt you. It was just a nightmare, don’t be afraid.”

His slender hand gently stroked down from the top of her head.

“Do your eyes feel uncomfortable anywhere?”

“A little dry.” She blinked her sore, swollen eyes and glimpsed Huo Xiu’s swollen eyebrow bone, slowly pressing her lips together. “I’m sorry, I hurt you again.”

Similar incidents had happened frequently when she’d first fallen ill.

“Let me put medicine on it for you.” Chu Li felt guilty, poured some medicinal oil, and knelt on the sofa, gently rubbing his swollen area. “Next time when my mental state is unstable, you should stay away from me…”

Huo Xiu kissed her finger. “It doesn’t hurt, don’t worry.”

Chu Li sighed. Seeing his red mole, she lightly touched it. “You have a red mole here. When did it appear?”

Huo Xiu looked up at her, a smile on his lips. “It’s always been there. You just didn’t notice it.”