This Damned Thirst for Survival

Jiang Luo thought he looked like a poisonous snake spitting out its snake’s letter, but Chi You lifted his lips and enthused Jiang Luo with the legend of the Chi family, “Every wife in the Chi family died early. My father didn’t want to marry someone else, but the clan forced him to marry my mother. He wanted to break the curse by proposing to marry a daughter-in-law with a hard life who had already lived past thirty, but the clan’s fortune teller was always a young woman. As it turned out, my mother died early, and when it was my turn, I didn’t want to drag others down, but the clan always pushed me, so I had no choice but to ask the clan to choose a male wife for me first.”

He gently tucked Jiang Luo’s hair behind her ear, his cool fingers gently touching her ear, “So you married into the Chi family and gave me a wedding. Don’t worry, you’re not a woman, and you have a long life expectancy. After that, if you break this curse with me, the Chi family will let you go and pay you and the Jiang family an endless amount of money.”

Chi You smiled apologetically, his brow furrowed in distress, “We are nominally husband and wife, but in reality we are brothers. Feel free to do as you please during the day, don’t be formal, it’s been hard for you to keep me company for eight years.”

His expression is sincere, his tone sincere, his feelings sincere, such a flamboyant young man, yet he has encountered such a pitiful thing, with such a posture, I am afraid that even a hard-hearted god would have to soften his heart for him.

Is this the mask of hypocrisy that Chi You wears when you are alive?

No wonder he can bewitch so many people both inside and outside the book, who can think he is cunning and sinister when the beautiful boy frowns?

Jiang Luo followed him with a fake smile and said, “It’s not hard, not hard at all.”

After this conversation, Jiang Luo is certain that this Chi You is not the Chi You that has turned into an evil spirit, but the Chi You that was really a teenager.

This is even more fun, and Jiang Luo looks at him with a giddy feeling in his heart.

Chi You stood up and undid his shirt, “Rest then.”

Although he was only eighteen years old, he was already of a slender build. Every movement was graceful and dignified, and apart from his overly pale complexion, no one could see the symptoms of his illness of several years.

“By the way,” he suddenly turned back to Jiang Luo, “do you want a bath?”

Jiang Luo was looking for a separate opportunity to clear his head and look for other people who had entered the mirror world, so he nodded and Chi You said, “Go out and turn right, the room at the far end is there, go ahead.”

Jiang Luo casually found a change of clothes in the wardrobe and opened the door to go out, when Chi You, who had her back to him and was unbuttoning her buttons, said slowly, “The bathroom floor is wet and slippery, so be careful.”

The coda is raised.

Jiang Luo Yu Guang glanced over his back, “Thanks for the reminder, I know.”

The door is closed and Chi You is left alone in the room. He is still undressed, his superficially lean figure only visible after the clothes have been reduced, the thin muscles and the strength that lies beneath.

He lifted the bedding, which was abruptly red, and lay down on the bed, picking up a book on the bedside table and reading it leisurely.

The still-young brow took on a vaguely evil and treacherous coldness under the cover of the pages as he turned the page, “How many days will he last before he dies?”

The room was light and quiet, but as if he had heard something, he gave a laugh and said with lack of interest, “Live through tonight and he’ll surprise me.”

The sky outside the house is overcast.

Jiang Luo stands in the corridor, watching the sky for a moment before heading for the bathroom.

The wedding was always a good time, when the sun was shining in broad daylight. Now the sun is blocked and Jiang Luo cannot see what time of day it is, but the weather is clearly not suitable for a wedding.

The ghostly atmosphere is more like a moment of demonic encounter.

Jiang Luo did not see Lian Xue or anyone else as he walked to the bathroom. The bathroom is divided into two rooms, the left one with the words “Master Jiang” written on it, so it must be a single bathroom.

When Jiang Luo entered the left room, he saw that it was divided into two parts, inside and outside, by a white cloth. On the outside was a place to change clothes, and on the wall was a white sheet of paper with bathing times. On the top was written the time of day when the water would be boiled and the best time for the young masters to come and wash. Jiang Luo placed his change of clothes on the bench and opened the white curtain to reveal a white porcelain bath inside.

Nowadays there is no shower, only a bathtub. Jiang Luo tested the temperature of the water, which was just the right temperature for his comfort, and finished undressing and soaked comfortably in the bath.

The water rushes out of the bath and spills onto the floor. Jiang Luo washes his hair with his eyes closed, and as he does so, a strand of hair itches at the side of his shoulder.

Jiang Luo’s heart flutters and he touches another hand, again feeling a mass of fallen hair.

He’s not going bald, is he?

Jiang Luo opened his eyes and looked into his hands. In his hand was a messy mass of black hair as thick as watercress. Jiang Luo looks over his shoulder with an odd expression. He reached out and touched these strands of hair, and with a gentle push, he pulled all the hair as thick as his thumb off without pain or sensation.

“……”

Jiang Luo’s heart was about to drop when he realised something was wrong with the hair, which was much longer than his own. Jiang Luo looked up at the ceiling and saw a human head had fallen upside down on the ceiling, its scalp rotting and falling onto Jiang Luo’s body in pieces with strands of hair.

Jiang Luo’s heart stopped for a moment and then he turned blue. He stood up abruptly from the bath, stepped on the edge of the tub and pulled the 3,000-haired head with a fierce grip.

With a strong wrist, the head was smashed heavily into the ground and disappeared the moment it hit the ground.

Jiang Luo’s face sinks as he drains the bath and replaces it with a fresh pool of water, washing his shoulders hard. Within a few minutes, Jiang Luo felt someone approaching and looked up beyond the white curtain to see a blurred figure.

“Who?”

Jiang Luo asked.

The figure did not reply, but came closer and closer. The blurred figure turned into the figure of a shapely woman, and Jiang Luo intensified his tone, placed the middle finger of his left hand to his lips, and asked again, “Who are you?”

In the next instant, the figure lunged through the white curtain and came face to face with Jiang Luo. The flesh-coloured skin is hidden by the white curtain, the neck protrudes and the eyes and lips are sunken into shadow, as horrific as if the white curtain had turned into a man.

Jiang Luo calmly bites his middle finger and flings the blood onto the top of the white curtain.

As if corroded by sulphuric acid, thick white smoke rises from the white curtain and after a few moments, the windless white curtain slowly calms down.

Jiang Luo took the opportunity to speed up and finish his shower and get dressed.

*

Chi You closed the book and looked at the Western clock in the corner.

An hour has passed and his new “wife” has not returned.

I’m afraid it’s already fatal.

Chi You rambles through a different book with a kind of fruitful tedium.

The Chi family is a swampy mud puddle, a hell on earth. Knowing that the Chi family’s wife was short-lived and still married into the Chi family for money, it is not a pity that she died.

It was just a waste of his day to pay his respects.

He reached out and untied the curtains of the bed. The large red curtains closed together, separating the bed from a separate space. As Chi You turned the first page of the book, a white hand suddenly reached into the closed curtain.

The hand, with its long, bony fingers, was covered in a layer of hazy ambiguity untouched by a young man against the red veil. The heat and fragrance of the bath was slowly rising from his hand, which suddenly took hold of the veil on one side and lifted it towards the bed.

Jiang Luo, with water dripping from his hair, caught Chi You’s eye.

Jiang Luo is unharmed, a healthy flush covering his face. Mist is steaming around his hair, his expression unhappy, his lips pursed.

Chi You’s pupils shrank imperceptibly, and then he sat up unnoticed and said worriedly, “Why are you so late?”

Jiang Luo tugged at his lips, “Had a bit of an accident.” He looked around, “Got a dry towel to wipe your hair?”

Chi You got out of bed and got him a dry towel, scanning up and down Jiang Luo’s body unobtrusively as he wiped his hair. From his entire body, to the toiletries he held in his hands.

The changed wedding dress was placed in a wooden basin, which did not appear to be damaged, and the light was too dim for Chi You to see if it was stained with blood.

But in any case, the “new wife” did take him by surprise.

The “new wife” asked coldly, “What are you looking at?”

The teenager in his pyjamas said in a gentle voice, “I was wondering what kind of accident you had met.”

“It’s not worth mentioning,” Jiang Luo said, putting a towel on his head and smiling brightly at Chi You, “Come and sit down, my good man.”

Chi You twitched his brow slightly and walked over.

Jiang Luo patted the bed beside him and Chi You sat down. Jiang Luo looked at him gently, “Thank you for reminding me to be careful, otherwise I would have fallen.”

Chi You said, “I should.”

Jiang Luo said softly and honeyedly, “Although we are good brothers, today is a good day for us, shouldn’t we do some rituals too?”

Chi You : “Hmm?”

“I prepared this strand of hair to be knotted with yours when I took a bath, Chi You, so you can pluck off a strand of hair too. ”

Chi You silently looked at the thickness of the hair in his hand, which was almost half a man’s head, and suddenly looked down and laughed out loud.

He laughed too much and rubbed his brow, “Sorry, I just didn’t think you could have …… so much hair.”

Jiang Luo laughed amiably and looked at Chi You who was not ready to cut his hair, rolled his eyes and simply threw the hair belonging to the long-haired ghost into his arms, “If you are not going to cut it tonight, then keep it for me.”

Chi You responded in a gentle voice and watched Jiang Luo lie down on the bed.

With a twinkle in his eye, he casually tossed his hair in the corner, blew out the candle and returned to the bed as well.

Jiang Luo has slept in the same bed with many people. We are all men and it is normal for friends and brothers to share a bed, but Chi You …… is fortunate to be a teenage Chi You so that he is not tense and defensive.

But that doesn’t mean that Chi You as a teenager is relaxing. Jiang Luo had a restless night’s sleep and a dream in which he was suffocated by a black python.

The sky outside the window was already slightly cool. Jiang Luo is breathing heavily and sweat is pouring off his forehead.

The curtains are drawn up and Chi You is standing beside the bed, backed by the light coming in through the window. Jiang Luo can’t make out his expression, but he sounds like he’s in a good mood, “You’re awake.”

Jiang Luo sits up slowly from the bed, Chi You steps back, the light illuminates half the side of his face, the darkness meets the darkness, Chi You’s immature face suddenly becomes strangely distorted.

His lips teased, the curve of his smile like carefully measured perfection, “It’s time for breakfast.”

Jiang Luo woke up with a start, thinking that the two ghosts he had met in the bathroom last night were nothing compared to Chi You in terms of scariness.

Over breakfast, Jiang Luo met Lian Xue again. After the meal, he ordered Lian Xue to show him the way on the pretext of having a look around Chi’s house, which gave him a chance to speak alone.

Lian Xue whispered, “I spoke to Lian Qiang Lian Bing last night and told them to wait in the backyard wigwam, so let’s go to the backyard first.”

There was a hidden cave in the backyard, and when Lian Xue took Jiang Luo inside, it was full of people.

Not only Lian Qiang Lian Bing, but also four young students from the photography club, all eight of them were there.

Lian Qiang waved at them and looked first at Jiang Luo, curious, “Brother, I heard that you were the one who married in yesterday, is that true?”

Jiang Luo gave him a look, Lian Qiang gave a sarcastic laugh and hurriedly changed the subject, “Let’s all talk about who we are.”

Of the eight, Jiang Luo is the most senior, being the new wife of the only young master in the Chi family’s direct lineage. Qin Yun is a close second, as she is the eldest maid in the Chi family’s house. Lian Qiang and Du Ge are servants in the Chi You front yard, Lian Bing and Duan Zi work in the kitchen and Li Xiao is a maid to a young lady in the next family.

Jiang Luo mused, “It looks like we’re all unobtrusive and minor players.”

“You’re an attention seeker,” Qin Yun said, “and you’re the wife of a full-blooded young master.”

“This family is under a curse. The wives of the first born are all born to die early, and as a ‘dead man’ who will die sooner or later, not many people will pay attention to me.” Jiang Luo explains.

The crowd was thoughtful, and Lian Bing, who was a little more resourceful and intelligent than his brother Lian Qiang, raised his hand and said, “Did you hear a voice when you woke up?”

“Is that the voice that tells us to kill the evil spirits?” Du Ge frowned.

Lian Bing nodded, “I remember clearly that this voice said this to me – ‘If you kill the evil spirits, you will be able to get out’. I work in the kitchen as a handyman. It’s hard work and I don’t have access to the master of the house, but I have contact with people outside. When I went out this morning to get the ingredients for today’s cooking, I heard a couple of vendors who brought the food in talking about a few murders in town.”

“A murder case?”

Lian Bing simply squatted on the ground and found a branch to write on the ground to facilitate his memory, “They said that almost ten people had died in the town, and the way they died was so strange. They said that almost ten people had died in the town, and that they had died in all sorts of ways. One died every few days, and another every few days, causing the town to be on edge, and they didn’t dare to go out when it was dark. I listened to their whispered discussions and heard one word-”

He wrote the word “evil spirit” on the ground.

“These hawkers believe that the killer of these people is a malevolent ghost with a grudge.”

Lian Xue pondered, but Du Ge said, “Whether there are evil spirits out there or not, I always feel that the evil spirits we are looking for are related to the Chi family. All eight of us are gathered in the Chi family, and that’s exactly the same thing among us.”

“But the Chi family is so big, how do we find the evil spirit? And even if we find it, how do we kill it?”

The crowd fell silent. Duan Zi suddenly crouched on the floor with his head in his hands, choking back an apology, “I’m sorry, I didn’t know playing this game could turn out like this. It’s all my fault, if only I had, if only I hadn’t mentioned the order.”

Li Xiao followed suit and knelt down, carefully wiping Duan Zi’s tears.

Qin Yun’s face was also a bit ugly, she snapped her nails, “Don’t cry, what’s the use of crying now. I didn’t believe there were ghosts in the world before …… What bad luck, we shouldn’t have gone up the mountain.”

Lian Xue sighed and gently reassured, “Don’t you worry, we’ll find a way out. As for killing the evil spirits,” she pursed her lips and smiled, not worrying much, “there is still a way.”

Qin Yun immediately asked, “What is the solution?”

Lian Xue looked to Jiang Luo, “Brother, I am good at treating people. But when it comes to this kind of thing, it’s up to you.”

Jiang Luo’s face remained unchanged, and instead of mentioning the evil spirits, he asked, “Have you met any ghosts since you entered this world?”

All seven shook their heads once.

Jiang Luo’s eyes fluttered, not sure if this was his bad luck or Feng Li’s way of saying that he liked the spirits, but he calmly continued: “Mirrors are of the yin and the mysterious. We were pulled into the mirror world at 12 midnight, the time of day when ghostly energy is at its peak. The world in the mirror is mostly spooky and eerie, and there is definitely more than one ghost in this world. As for the evil ghost, how evil is an evil ghost? Which evil ghost is it? We don’t know anything about that.”

Jiang Luo was the first to think of Chi You when he heard the word “evil spirits”.

But the Chi You’s of this world haven’t turned into evil spirits yet, so let’s leave it at that for now. On top of that, the demand from the man behind the curtain is to kill the evil spirits in order to get out, and the feeling of being blackmailed and forced to do something is really too unpleasant.

When they heard Jiang Luo’s words, Lian Xue’s face remained unchanged. The four students from the ordinary school were all frozen, and Qin Yun looked at him with an odd expression. Qin Yun looked at him with an odd expression, “You’re not like Duan Zi, you also have a hobby about psychic events, right?”

Jiang Luo smiled casually and suddenly stretched out his hand, forming a seal with both hands in front of his body, “Sundown position, wind.”

A harsh wind swept up from the ground, whistling and turning and rolling up the clothes of the crowd.

The dust and dead leaves were swept up with the wind, which grew stronger and stronger, almost reaching the top of the cave head.

The crowd looked at the wind with dumbfounded eyes, unable to move their eyes even when their hair was blown into a chicken’s nest, and their three senses were about to collapse.

Jiang Luo said, “Disperse.”

The wind suddenly dissipated into the air, sending dust and leaves falling from the sky, choking the crowd with coughs. They waved away the pandemonium of smoke with their palms and stared intently at Jiang Luo.

Jiang Luo, who had been practicing this move for ten days at Lian’s house but had never used it before, gave a relaxed smile as he uncrossed his arms, “From now on, everything is at my command, any questions?”

“No no, not at all!”