True Chinese Horror

Wen Xishu knew this was probably what the second room contained.

He suddenly felt a little guilty. He knew he should not feel that way, and it irritated him.

Tang Rui wiped away the tears at the corners of her eyes.

"Does my voice sound awful now?"

Wen Xishu did not shake his head and offer false comfort. He nodded.

"It really does sound awful."

Tang Rui smiled rather awkwardly, then filled her cup again.

"Again! Again!"

"I'll stay with you to the end."

Wen Xishu began shaking the dice.

The girl's luck had clearly started to turn against her. This time, she rolled an odd number again. Seven points.

"Name another similar pain that you can never forget."

There had been four doors at the beginning.

That meant Tang Rui had experienced four events that could be called despair. The beasts she had encountered were not limited to her parents and Teacher Yan.

Perhaps affected by the strange wine cups, the red liquid was especially intoxicating.

Tang Rui felt a sense of shattering release. Her initial resistance gradually turned into a desire to confide. After downing another full cup, her eyes carried faint sorrow and a hazy look.

"It was my best friend. She made me unable to show my face anywhere."

It was only a very short sentence.

But before Wen Xishu's eyes, another series of suffocating memories appeared.

"My name is Xiao Ru. Starting today, we're roommates."

"Mm, you can call me Xiao Rui..."

"Hey, what's wrong with your voice? It's all scratchy. It doesn't match your appearance at all."

"It's... it's nothing. I was born with an ugly voice."

"Hehe, it's fine, I don't mind. Oh, we just met today. Let's go sing together?"

"I-I can't sing. My singing is terrible."

"It's fine. I don't mind if you sing badly."

The scene quickly shifted from the freshmen dormitory to a private KTV room, where male and female freshmen were singing.

Xiao Ru was not a good singer either, but at least her voice was normal. She also spoke in a somewhat affected manner. Though her singing skills were poor, she had the sweet type of voice boys liked.

She seemed to enjoy being cheered on and surrounded by the boys. To emphasize how sweet her own voice was by comparison, she handed the microphone to the friend she had just met that day—Tang Rui.

The ignorant girl did not know that this was actually a humiliation. She innocently believed that after accepting her fate, compromising with her parents, and getting into college... she would finally be loved.

She took the microphone and sang, thinking that she could not refuse her friend's kindness. Every line she sang tugged at those wounds from high school... wounds that had once driven her to despair.

In the KTV room, some covered their ears, some frowned, and some used their phones to record the hoarse, ugly singing. Only Xiao Ru smiled, delighted beyond measure.

Seeing Xiao Ru's smile, Tang Rui still insisted on finishing the song. She thought, How wonderful... she doesn't mind that I sing badly.

Tang Rui thought the smile on Xiao Ru's face meant acceptance and lack of disdain. Little did she know that it was merely mockery and amusement.

Sometimes, life was like that.

When you desperately longed to be loved, clutching at it like a drowning person clutching a plank, what often came toward you was evil that would push you into the abyss.

So Wen Xishu had understood from a very early age that only when people no longer needed love could they recognize it for what it was.

Tang Rui could not.

Even after graduating from university, she believed she and Xiao Ru were very good friends. She had never imagined that she was merely a prop meant to make Xiao Ru look better.

The inferiority deep in her bones made her feel that if someone liked her, she should not doubt them. If something made her uncomfortable, she only needed to endure it.

She had been willing to protect that friendship until death. But fake was fake. It could never become real.

After graduation, Tang Rui worked hard and steadily improved herself. Though she had not taken the civil service exam as her parents wished, she was doing fairly well.

Xiao Ru, on the other hand, had lofty ambitions but little ability. Coupled with her poor academic performance, she could not find a good job.

In the end, Tang Rui arranged for Xiao Ru to interview at the company where she worked. The two went from classmates to colleagues.

This was, of course, not the continuation of some heartwarming tale of friendship. School was a microcosm of society. The evil hidden away during one's student days only became worse once it entered society.

The seeds of evil took root and sprouted, drawing nourishment from every inch of soil Tang Rui needed to survive. Finally, one day, malice bloomed.

That day, Tang Rui arrived at work and discovered that almost everyone was pointing at her and whispering.

"How could she be that kind of person?"

"My God, I never thought she had something like that in her past."

"Tsk, I told you. The colder some people look on the surface, the more slutty they are in private."

"Back in her student days, she already... Oh my, you really can't tell. You really can't tell."

In her memories, there was a murky yellow candlelight. Dark figures overlapped in layers, forming a rolling sea of darkness.

"Slut."

"Seducing her superior."

"Shameless."

"She did those things just so she could sell herself for a better price to the boss, right?"

Those figures spewed vicious words one after another, like a tide of bats in the darkness, fluttering through the girl's soul.

The girl had worked diligently and conscientiously for years. She had never made enemies, quietly working and quietly putting in overtime, never complaining no matter how difficult it became.

Her boss had also noticed this steady, serious employee and began assigning her more important work.

She did every task well, giving everything her all and proceeding carefully. She was afraid of being disliked, afraid of embarrassing others.

She had thought such days were not bad. She had thought that perhaps the deity who ruled over misfortune had forgotten her. Perhaps she would finally receive a little luck of her own.

But she was wrong again.

Tang Rui never could have imagined that Xiao Ru had embellished her past, turned it into rumors, and spread them throughout the office building.

Their graduation photo still sat on that desk. She had been supposed to be Tang Rui's best friend.

"You saw it, right? This was my good friend, Xiao Ru."

Tang Rui suddenly looked at Wen Xishu and said with bitter self-mockery.

"I never fought her for anything she wanted. She wanted to be adored by everyone, so I was willing to be a dim firefly. She wanted to be the center of attention, so I would retreat into the shadows."

"Because many years ago, when I was at my loneliest, she handed me the microphone. I thought... that was the turning point in my life."

"I trusted her so much. Her smile healed me. I never thought about whether malice was hidden behind that smile."

"I even told her about what happened to me, just as I told you today. But I could never have imagined that she would maliciously spread rumors about me."

"Just because the boss did not accept her invitation, just because the boss appreciated me... she believed I had stolen her happiness."

"To make people hate me, she twisted my past and said that all the pain I had suffered was something I had asked for myself!"

Tang Rui spoke those words almost through gritted teeth.

She had worked hard to live, spending many years covering the wounds of her past.

It was as though she had finally become a normal bird, one that could blend into the forest.

But when her life was about to enter a new chapter, her best friend tore open her wounds again and reminded her in an even crueler way...

She was a parrot. She had never left the parrot cage.

Wen Xishu sighed softly and finally understood why Wen Renjing regretted it so much.

This girl, who had never been loved from beginning to end, truly longed to be loved.

But Wen Renjing had thought too simply. He had actually believed that a good lover could make up for the absence of family and friendship.

"I couldn't stay there. The rumors about me grew more numerous and more vicious. They even said I'd had an abortion and slept with many different people."

"Am I a terrible person? I thought about that more than once."

After saying that, Tang Rui fell silent for a long time. Her voice gradually lowered.

"I thought I wasn't, but then I suddenly realized that I was. Only if I was that kind of terrible person would they leave me alone."

"If I tried to defend myself, they would only torment me even more viciously."

"I began drinking heavily. I began getting tattoos. I changed how I looked too, and started becoming the person they wanted me to be."

"That way, everything became reasonable. Their story... was finally complete."

Yes, their story was finally complete.

Just like the rumors said, that girl was rotten to the core. She drank heavily, got tattoos, frequented nightclubs, and had all sorts of bad habits. How perfectly she fit the stereotype people had imagined.

Every rumor about her matched what she did now. Every fabrication and every shred of malice reasonably became a label stuck to her body.

Wen Xishu could not help thinking that it was fortunate Wen Renjing had not truly anchored this story.

Meeting the most perfect person in the world after emerging from a completely shattered world... that was certainly wonderful.

But that person would disappear.

Perhaps Wen Renjing had realized this very point, realized just how cruel the thing he had done was—

In boundless darkness, you raised a fire. Others thought it was a lamp, believing that if they flew toward the light, they would meet its owner and be led out of the darkness.

But you had merely raised the fire, then left.

That was what Wen Renjing had done. For seven days, he loved a girl and let her feel happiness, then disappeared completely. He thought love could overcome everything. He thought that once she had been loved, the misfortunes of her past would be healed.

The pain that had run through someone else's entire life seemed to be nothing more than a minor problem you could solve by loving them once.

What arrogance.

"Fortunately, Wen Renjing did not anchor this story. Your tragedy has not yet been defined."

The past could not be undone, but the future could be reckless.

Perhaps because of the alcohol, Wen Xishu now wanted to pull Tang Rui up and do something crazy.

He looked at the date and was surprised to find that it was close to the date when Jack in Moen City had "evolved."

He suddenly thought that perhaps it was not only Moen City. Perhaps, at a certain moment, the entire human world would fall apart.

The apocalypse was descending everywhere.

So the countdown had already begun, counting down to the collapse of all rules and the loss of human order.

Wen Xishu did not know how to heal someone, but he knew how to find happiness, especially... happiness through revenge.

He simply had not yet obtained the final piece of information.

He already knew what the three items from the three scenes corresponded to. Once he returned to the Strange Tower, he could clear the three scenes quickly.

But there were four doors in total. There was still one final door, corresponding to the final item.

He could hardly wait to take this already shattered girl and do something crazy.

"Continue?"

"Continue!"

The dice fell. One and four. Five points. Tang Rui smiled indifferently and drank another cup of wine.

She was beginning to get drunk.

Her consciousness was already growing hazy. The people around them seemed to have been affected by some force, and everyone thought of sad memories from their past.

"Ask. Ask me. I'll tell you everything... anyway... everything is about to end."

"The fourth thing. What was the fourth thing in your life that made you collapse?"

Wen Xishu asked more directly than before. But to his surprise, Tang Rui shook her head.

"There wasn't... there was no fourth thing."

The Truth Serum Wine Cups were still in effect. Those who drank from them could not lie. There truly was no fourth thing.

Though Wen Xishu was confused, he did not ask further. He remained silent for quite a while, as though he vaguely understood something.

At the end of this Truth Serum conversation, he picked up his wine cup and readily drank the wine inside.

Tang Rui rested her head on one hand, looking sleepy and confused.

"You... what are you doing?"

"I've learned everything I wanted to know, so I'll repay you with a secret here."

Tang Rui smiled and asked somewhat incoherently.

"Then why... have you never been loved? I've always been curious. You clearly had a happy family."

Her shattered life had left her no time to concern herself with other people's pain. Yet she had become interested in this young man who had barged into the end of her life carrying magical wine cups.

He had clearly had such a beautiful childhood. Why did he say that he had never been loved?

Wen Xishu smiled as well.

"Because we're the same kind of people."

He said those words with a smile, but it was not a pleasant smile.

Those familiar scenes had turned out to be carefully embellished lies. Only at this moment did Tang Rui see the complete memories.

"Xiaoshu, Xiaoshu, look, look! What's this? It's the ROG handheld console Mommy bought you. Are you happy?"

Of course the child was happy. But as the camera shifted away and his hand touched the game console's box, his eyes suddenly went blank.

"Mom, is it another empty box?"

The woman did not respond. She merely stared happily at the video on her phone, adjusting the beauty filter settings and wondering how many likes it would get after she posted it.

The child did not ask again. Sensibly holding the empty box, he walked toward home.

"Xiaoshu, Mommy brought you something to eat. After school, we'll celebrate your birthday together! Hehe."

The scene shifted to the classroom door, where countless children looked at Wen Xishu with envy. His mother was so pretty and beautiful, and she loved him so much.

But they did not know that once they walked outside the classroom, the child's smile slowly faded.

"Mom, my birthday was many days ago. You don't... you don't remember at all, do you?"

"That doesn't matter. Come, Xiaoshu, sit here. Hurry and open the loving lunch Mommy made, then smile. Yes, look happier."

The little boy smiled. The camera used a warm-toned filter, and the caption read: Mommy will always love you.

But beneath that filter, the undercooked rice could not be seen clearly.

The memories continued.

"What about Mom and Dad? Are they high-level NPCs too?" the boy asked.

The man shook his head.

"To everyone else, Mom and Dad are very powerful NPCs. But no matter whether you become poor or rich in the future, no matter whether you amount to anything..."

"From the moment you were born, we were already on your team. That will never change."

When those words were spoken, the little boy felt happiness. At least for one moment, he had believed he had once been happy.

But before long, the camera was switched off. The man urged the child to go to sleep, and a while later, he walked out of the bedroom and shut the door.

The woman said:

"Honey, how much longer do we have to wait? I really want to have a child of our own."

"Soon, sweetheart. We're almost financially free. Look, the whole internet is saying we're a happy family now. They're all praising how much we love children. Quite a few people are even copying us and starting parent-child video channels."

"Just a few more days. When the time comes, all we need to do is cry. Countless people will sympathize with us. No one will suspect we did it!"

"When our own child is born, they'll even bless us."

The man and woman embraced and laughed. They did not know that on the other side of the door, the child stood barefoot with his ear pressed against it, silently shedding tears.

Tang Rui shuddered and looked at Wen Xishu in disbelief.

She had never imagined that this boy, several years younger than herself, had such a horrifying past.

She seemed to understand why, in her memories, there had been a child standing amid flames, saying those words about loving himself. Fear gripped her, and chills ran through her entire body.

A sudden downpour began outside the bar. It came without warning, as though it meant to extinguish some distant flame.

Wen Xishu chuckled softly.

"Tonight, we can count it as having exchanged secrets."

"You see, I'm also a dead child nobody wanted. But so what?"

Tang Rui did not know how to respond.

In another version, Wen Renjing had once given Tang Rui the utmost love.

But now, what Wen Xishu wanted to do was teach Tang Rui how to please herself.

Wen Xishu suddenly raised his glass again and took a sip, as if to prove that he was telling the truth.

His smile gradually became charming once more, though a bone-deep chill hid within his words.

"Tang Rui, when I was little, I loved horror movies the most. Everyone said Chinese horror films were terrifying—grim, venomous, hair-raising—far more thrilling than American horror that had nothing but gore. But I didn't think so."

"Chinese horror films really are interesting. As a vengeful ghost, you repay resentment with resentment and revenge with revenge. Sometimes I thought that, from a ghost's perspective, Chinese horror films were practically fairy tales."

"People don't know that true Chinese horror is being bullied and yet being unable to voice your grievance."

"When you want to laugh, they tell you not to lose control. When you want to cry, they tell you that tears should not be shed lightly. When you want to be angry, they tell you to learn patience."

"They clearly don't love you, yet they constantly tell you that everything they do is for your own good."

"They show all their light to irrelevant spectators, proving how well they have done, while leaving the darkness to us alone."

"They are good people who reap honor and praise. We are malformed, twisted monsters."

Wen Xishu's smile grew gentler.

"The place I came from was wonderful. Everyone lived within unspoken rules, loving one another. But because of that, those who broke the rules never got a good ending."

"I believe the things people praise truly exist. They just don't belong to cursed people like us. In that world, bad seeds like me could only accept our bad luck."

"But now, things are different."

Wen Xishu drank the wine in his glass again, once more emphasizing the truth of his words.

"I won't deceive you. This world is about to shatter, and all order will vanish completely. Every shackle placed upon you will shatter along with it."

"You will evolve. You will become powerful. You will make everyone fear you. Perhaps by then, many people will beg for your protection. But that won't mean they love you. It will only mean they need you."

"Promise me that when that day comes, you won't do something foolish like reconciling with your past self."

Tang Rui froze slightly. The man still wore a captivating smile, but savagery and evil burst from his eyes.

For some reason, she found it deeply attractive.

Wen Xishu was like a demon tempting humans into crime, his voice gradually rising.

"In your unhappy life, shouldn't there be at least one satisfying release? Repay resentment with resentment, repay revenge with revenge. Let scum meet a scum's end, and let trash meet a trash's end. Those wrongs cannot and should not simply be written off."

"I promised to bring you luck. If you want to be a parrot, then tonight is merely an ordinary night of drinking away your sorrows. Whether you jump off a building in a few days or wallow in self-pity, that is your freedom."

"But if you don't want to be a parrot, if there is still hatred and unwillingness in your heart, still anger and bitterness, then come with me!"

Facing Wen Xishu's outstretched hand and listening to the torrential rain outside the bar, Tang Rui asked in a trembling voice:

"Where... where are we going?"

Wen Xishu smiled gently and said, one word at a time:

"Of course, we're going to find them."

That's all for today. The rain-soaked night massacre will have to wait until tomorrow. Mass updates during a new book's free period do not really earn much, so I just hope everyone won't stockpile chapters.