Human Shadow

The glass reflected only a shallow, blurred outline under the sunlight.

He rose and walked closer.

Below the window lay a meticulously manicured lawn and evergreen trees, enclosed in the distance by tall, spear-tipped cast-iron railings.

Yet, it was not these things that Hu Long cared about, but the reflection on the glass.

As he drew near, the reflection gradually sharpened: dry, disheveled hair reaching his shoulders and a gaunt, blurred face—the original appearance of this body.

Though this body was only twenty-one years old, it looked as if it were in its sixties, a result of its wretched condition, bloodless skin, and extreme emaciation.

But this was not what concerned Hu Long.

His gaze sank deeper, toward a point further back.

Behind the shoulder of his own reflection.

There, where there should have been only an empty corner of the room.

Now, an incredibly jarring, emerald-green figure stood.

Because of the glass, the figure was as blurred as if veiled in mist, revealing only the silhouette of a woman with her hair coiled in a bun, held by a white and emerald hairpin.

She stood with her back to him, her figure slender and still.

The moment Hu Long caught sight of that flash of emerald, the surrounding light seemed to dim abruptly.

Simultaneously, a chill without warning coiled tightly around his body.

It was cold, viscous, and carried a certain inhuman malice.

The sensation was as if a venomous snake were slowly tightening its grip.

Hu Long could clearly feel every inch of skin on his body erupting in fine goosebumps.

The instant his gaze locked onto her.

The figure in the corner blurred for a fleeting moment.

The emerald hue dimmed, shifting into a dark, murky green.

At the same time, without any warning, she began to tremble, and the head that had been hanging low suddenly snapped upward.

Then, with a stiff, unnatural angle impossible for any human, she wrenched her head toward where Hu Long stood.

The next instant, a face of mangled flesh suddenly lunged into his field of vision.

Her features were twisted and interlaced like melting wax, save for two pitch-black hollows that stared straight at him.

In a heartbeat.

Hu Long felt his scalp explode; a dense static of white dots clouded his vision, and a wave of dizzying nausea rose within him.

His survival instinct drove him to tear his gaze away immediately, not daring to look for even another half-second.

Almost the moment he looked away, the cold, viscous sensation that had enveloped his body receded like a tide, vanishing completely.

The hospital room returned to a deathly silence, leaving only the sound of his own heavy, ragged breathing echoing in his ears like a beating drum.

After a moment, the static-like white dots, reminiscent of a flickering, unstable television signal, slowly faded away.

The sunlight streaming in through the window seemed to have lost all its warmth.

Hu Long did not look at the glass again; instead, he turned his head to look at the corner behind him where the emerald figure had stood.

There was nothing there.

Possessing the memories of the original owner, he understood that this ghost could only be observed through a reflection.

At this thought, Hu Long's expression did not improve; instead, it grew increasingly grim.

"As expected... it is still here."

"Is it a ghost? Or some kind of... curse?"

Though the reflection was blurred by the glass as if through a veil, combined with the lingering memories of the original owner, Hu Long knew that the appearance of this thing was exactly what had caused the original owner's mental state to gradually collapse.

It was the culprit that had driven him to be labeled a "paranoid schizophrenic" in the eyes of others.

If it were merely a matter of eerie, terrifying sensations, it would be one thing.

He could simply ignore it and pretend it wasn't there.

But the reality was naturally not so simple.

This thing was no hallucination; it could never be avoided by mere neglect.

It would grow heavier with time, inch by inch, step by step, closing in on him until it finally invaded reality, wrapping him in black hair, binding him, and strangling him to death.

That was how the original owner had died.

Hu Long had originally assumed that after the original owner died, this ghost would dissipate along with him.

Now, it seemed that was not the case; it was still here.

This was undoubtedly the worst-case scenario.

In some respects, it meant that if nothing unexpected happened, he would follow in the original owner's footsteps once the time was up and be killed by this thing.

Fortunately, the only piece of good news was that after the original owner died, the thing seemed to have triggered some kind of mechanism, resetting itself to its initial state and putting some distance between it and him.

It was just as the original owner had seen it for the first time in his memories.

It had taken nearly four years from the moment the original owner first saw this monstrosity until he was killed.

Putting himself in those shoes, this meant that the time left for Hu Long was still quite ample; he would not die immediately.

However, this was merely his own judgment; whether the facts held true would still require observation.

Ultimately, this thing was a ticking time bomb, and it would be best to dismantle it as soon as possible.

Hu Long hated this feeling of being unable to control his own fate, but for now, he had no way to change it.

He took a deep breath.

He calmed the surging emotions in his eyes and pulled back his thoughts.

Then, he turned his gaze toward the door.

Outside in the corridor, the faint sound of two sets of footsteps approached.

The sounds stopped in front of the iron door.

Click!

The key turned, and the door was pushed open.

Two figures walked into the room, one after the other.

"301, time for your medicine."

Leading the way was a nurse in a white uniform, pushing a small cart.

Behind her followed a burly male orderly wearing a face mask.

Once they entered the room, they immediately spotted Hu Long sitting on the bed.

The orderly stepped forward and reached out to pin Hu Long's arms.

Having just digested a portion of the original owner's memories, Hu Long did not put up any resistance.

Because with his current physical condition, resistance would be completely useless.

The nurse glanced at the young man before her with some surprise.

His eyes were dull, as if he were lost in thought, but he was much quieter than usual.

"Take your medicine."

Seeing that Hu Long was not resisting or acting agitated as he usually did, the nurse breathed a slight sigh of relief.

She took two capsules, shoved them into Hu Long's mouth, fed him some water, and confirmed with her own eyes that he had swallowed them. She even checked his mouth to ensure he hadn't hidden the pills before she finally stopped.

The entire process went more smoothly than she could have imagined.

Still, it saved her quite a bit of trouble.

Looking at Hu Long, who was uncharacteristically not struggling, the nurse paused before asking softly:

"How are you feeling today?"

As the nurse in charge of this ward, she was well aware of 301's condition.

Not only had his situation failed to improve after treatment, but it had also shown a trend of becoming increasingly severe.

For the past six months, he had barely spoken a single word.

She had only asked casually, not expecting a response.

However, to her surprise, Hu Long slowly raised his head and looked at her.

"I feel... much better now."

His voice was terribly hoarse, like rusted iron plates scraping against each other.

The nurse was slightly stunned, a flicker of surprise passing through her eyes.

However, she didn't ask any further questions, simply nodding.

"That's good. Get some rest, take your medicine on time, and call us if you need anything."

As she spoke, she pointed to the red call button on the iron bed frame.

After receiving Hu Long's response, she pushed the cart and turned to head out the door.

The male orderly followed closely behind, and the iron door closed once more, separating the inside from the outside world.

The room returned to silence.

Hu Long withdrew his gaze.

He had said that sentence on purpose.

He needed to act normal; at the very least, he couldn't stay here forever.

Staying here indefinitely was undoubtedly waiting for death.

Having managed to survive, Hu Long naturally had no desire to die again.

Whether it was dying outright or returning to his original paralyzed body after death, neither was a fate he wished to see.

Thinking of this.

Hu Long's eyes shifted slightly, a strange glint flashing in their depths.

At this moment, compared to before.

The gloom originally brought on by that eerie figure had invisibly dissipated quite a bit.

Of course, it wasn't because the medicine he had just taken was working.

Although that type of drug had the effect of stabilizing emotions, it was impossible for it to take effect so quickly.

There was another reason.

Reflecting on this.

His gaze shifted downward.

At this very moment, several lines of fine, silver text were manifesting on his retina, where there should have been nothing at all.