TBWE Chapter 25

Eating Her

The whispers of the evil ghost flowed past Chu Li’s ear.

In the silent room, the rapid breathing was unable to be concealed.

A string of red beads hung with tassels of the same color, slightly itching as they brushed against the skin.

The carotid artery pressed by the fingertip was throbbing continuously. He stroked it with a gentle but firm touch, as if considering whether to cut her throat.

Then he bent down, like a lover pressing against her earlobe, licking with his tongue, whispering, “Broken your promise three times. Tell me, how should I punish you?”

One hand gripped her shoulder, forcefully turning her over. Pretending was meaningless; Chu Li slowly opened her eyes. Despite being mentally prepared, her heart still pounded heavily when she saw him again.

On the cold, pale wrist was a pure black robe, with knot buttons neatly fastened one by one.

His face was hidden in shadows, like chaos flowing in black mist.

“We meet again, Li Li.”

The black mist gradually gathered into a familiar face, long black hair draped behind, making that face even more ghostly.

He twisted the corner of his lips, a smile that was incredibly eerie.

“…” Chu Li thought, if she had heart disease, her body would already be stiff.

Not seen for a while, he looked even more like a ghost.

When she was forced to turn over just now, she conveniently touched under the pillow—the copper coin sword and a stack of talismans were now in her hands, hidden beneath the thin quilt.

She had a trump card but dared not act rashly. Because she was unsure whether dying here would mean death outside the dream, she cautiously kept silent and kept hypnotizing herself to wake up soon.

This silence made the look in Xi Chu’s eyes even colder.

He leaned close, noses almost touching, staring intently into Chu Li’s eyes, as if wanting to pierce her exterior to see her true thoughts.

“Regret it?”

When deciding to return to her family home, Chu Li was prepared to meet Xi Chu and had thought of countless scenarios for their encounter.

But she never expected him to ask that question.

A flood of thoughts passed through her mind in an instant.

Chu Li forced herself to look at him, staring into the black pupils, moving her lips, “Xi Chu, I…”

Her voice was low and light; Xi Chu instinctively leaned in a little, wanting to hear her answer clearly.

“Cough, cough cough…” She was choked by saliva, her face blushed, covering her mouth coughing painfully, “Cough cough... water.”

Xi Chu’s gaze scanned her furrowed brows and reddened skin from the pain, his eyes dark and somber as he stood and went to the small living room to get water.

Just after he left the room, a hurried sound of getting out of bed came from behind.

He turned sideways, the swirling black mist forming tendrils gruesomely curling toward Chu Li.

Bang—

She pulled open the wooden floor-length door, raised the copper coin sword in her hand. Though her swordsmanship from half a month’s practice was not perfect, it had a sharp posture.

The copper coin hummed and vibrated, cutting through several curling tendrils.

Xi Chu stood still, expressionless, staring at her as more tendrils frenziedly pounced.

Chu Li leaned her body backward, using momentum to flip out over the scenic corridor railing, a talisman burning between her fingers. As she fell, the flame stretched out like a falling star.

The talisman burned out instantly, and the tendrils became disordered like headless flies.

The black figure stepped forward, staring rigidly at the place Chu Li had jumped.

She had tricked him once again.

The moonlight dimmed suddenly, the black writhing substance covering the entire night sky.

“Last time.”

He would not let Chu Li escape again.

****

The wind howled past her ears; Chu Li covered her head, jumping down from the second floor.

Three meters was not low; the stone pavement in front of the small building provided no cushion, and she almost cried out in pain upon landing.

She bit back the scream, her left shoulder hurting dullingly, and her left foot twisted slightly.

No time to check injuries, she ran in pain.

The vast building complex fell into absolute silence. The sounds of wind, insects, and candle flames all vanished.

Chu Li ran through the intersecting corridors, her aura and sound concealed by a hidden talisman.

Outside the eaves, the waning crescent moon hung at the tip of a mountain.

She remembered when she fell asleep, it was not in that position.

This dream could not be ended by willpower alone; it would only end at a certain special time.

She gasped for breath, turning around another corridor, realizing Xi Chu was playing a ghost-catching game with her.

Being caught meant death.

Suddenly, the world darkened rapidly; Chu Li’s shadow faded until she was enveloped in pitch black.

She was unable to adapt to the darkness and could only reach forward, feeling her way.

She did not know where to go but just needed to get away from where Xi Chu was.

Her hands wildly touched something thick and cold, smooth to the touch.

“..…!”

Chu Li’s heart almost stopped; she turned and ran.

That thing reacted faster than a human, moving like lightning, wrapping around her waist and pulling back, emitting warm buzzing sounds.

Soon, a series of buzzing sounds responded like waves.

Chu Li strangely understood its meaning.

[. . . . .$. Smells good $¥ * & % … .$. Caught, here…]

She struggled desperately, swinging her sword backwards.

The copper coin sword cut through a soft object, the air filling with a metallic sweet smell.

Chu Li quickly lit a second talisman.

With the light of the burning talisman as she jumped, she looked around; she felt like falling into an ice cave.

The night sky was covered in viscous blackness, with countless tendrils hanging from the sky, moving around searching for their only prey.

Hearing the call of their companions, the nearby tendrils moved and gathered here.

The scene far exceeded human comprehension.

Chu Li covered her mouth tightly, forcing all screams or sobs into her palm.

The talisman quickly burned out; her vision fell into darkness again.

Her presence disappeared; the gathering tendrils searched confusedly nearby.

Chu Li lowered her body, moving bit by bit, pushing open a door at the end of the corridor.

She slowly slipped through, carefully closing the door without making a sound.

The door and windows were all covered with destruction talismans given by Ming Pu.

She curled up in the corner of the room, burying her head in her knees, breathing heavily, tears flowing endlessly.

She had already used up nearly a third of her talismans; at this rate, they would run out in three days.

If falling asleep meant entering this dream, she would rather stay awake.

Earlier Xi Chu asked her if she regretted it; Chu Li was sure she did not regret at all.

If she could redo it, she would stab harder.

Such a terrifying monster, just looking at it caused half a year of nightmares. How could she stay beside him?

Chu Li kept glancing at the window, praying the dream would end soon.

Time passed like years.

After an unknown duration, she suddenly heard loud banging.

The tendrils that couldn’t find her started breaking doors, searching every room.

Almost immediately, dark shadows appeared on the door and windows; then the whole house shook violently.

Bang, bang—!

The edges of the talismans attached to the doors and windows started to blacken.

Chu Li looked hurriedly around; except for a large door and two windows, there was no other way.

Outside the doors and windows, tendrils tried forcibly to break in.

“It’s just a dream, just a dream…” she murmured to calm herself.

Clenching the copper coin sword tightly, she was on full alert, ready to fight.

The movements outside vanished without warning.

Before she could relax, a long shadow slanted across the door and windows.

“Knock, knock.” The other party curved two fingers, lightly knocking on the door.

A flat voice slipped through the door crack. “Come out.”

Chu Li suddenly calmed, counted her remaining talismans, tightly grasped the copper coin sword, and looked at the east wall.

Those tendrils were recklessly searching and destroying the building; a wall had cracked.

The buildings of the Chu family’s main residence were made of wood; this was a wooden plank wall.

Breaking it might be a way out.

She picked up a heavy copper pot and turned without looking back, saying, “Go out? Should I go out to die?”

Silence fell outside the door.

The hand pressing on the door changed into black mist, then forcibly condensed into a human hand, snow-white skin cracking with eerie blue seams.

The tendrils buzzing nearby shrank together, quietly slipping away.

They sensed the body’s anger, near madness.

Bang—!

A loud crash, the door and windows and the entire wall shook; the talismans burned halfway away.

The shadow outside stretched and twisted; his voice was icy cold, “You have five seconds.”

Another loud crash.

Chu Li swung the copper pot with all her strength, smashing the cracked wall.

Rumble!

“Five, four, three…”

Wood chips and dust flew everywhere.

Chu Li crawled through the broken hole on her knees, clutching a talisman.

Once out of Xi Chu’s sight, she would immediately light it.

Splinters penetrated her skin through clothes; she felt nothing.

Half of her body had already crawled out.

Behind her, the door and windows on the front wall collapsed.

A cold hand, like an iron clamp, grabbed her ankle mercilessly and pulled back.

At the same time, a thick black mist swept away the wood chips on the ground.

“Get lost!”

Chu Li tried to kick backward but was flipped onto her back and pinned to the ground.

Talismans scattered everywhere; the copper coin sword was harshly swept away by black mist.

Chu Li couldn’t move at all.

Her wrists were pressed on the cold wooden floor, legs pinned.

One hand grabbed her neck.

Breathing became difficult; she could only endure the unavoidable gaze scanning her from head to toe like an examination.

Chu Li didn’t know what he was looking for but noticed his anger growing.

The skin on his face writhed uncontrollably but was forcefully suppressed to barely maintain the human facade.

Xi Chu stared coldly, seemingly contemplating how to kill her.

Chu Li wanted to shrink back but the hand on her neck tightened, breaking her movement.

Only then did she realize he hadn’t used force before, just held her.

In her sight, his face was cold as he leaned down.

This was… intending to eat her?

She guessed right; this monster wanted to eat people.

It didn’t matter; if eaten in the dream, she would wake up afterwards.

But she hoped to be eaten in one bite, to reduce the pain because this damned dream’s sensations were too real.

Facing the threat of death, Chu Li’s chaotic thoughts scattered uncontrollably.

Until a crushing kiss pressed on her lips.

Chu Li’s eyes slightly widened, all thoughts blanked.

She subconsciously bit hard; the hand on her neck tightened, forcing her to open her mouth.

As her jaw loosened, his tongue violently thrust in.

This was not a kiss, but more like biting.

She had no chance to resist, firmly pinned on the ground.

A faint bloody smell spread in her mouth; he sucked the blood from her bitten lips and swallowed.

The hand on her neck relaxed, sliding down her side to her smooth thigh under the sleep dress, then moved up two inches, hooking the edge of her underwear.

Her pupils trembled, a thunderbolt seeming to strike her mind.

Until this moment, she fully understood what this monster wanted to do.

He wanted to eat her, but in another meaning of eating.