A Sudden Turn

The air seemed to freeze for a moment.

No one responded at the dining table; silence spread through the room. Some looked up at him, knitting their brows in contemplation, while others kept their heads down, continuing to eat as if they had heard nothing at all. In the stillness, only the occasional sound of chewing and the soft clinking of cutlery remained.

Dinner concluded in this inexplicable oppression.

The old man stood up, donned his hat and coat, and before leaving, he cast a meaningful glance at the group. His voice was steady and unhurried: "Do not wander about, especially at night."

The door clicked shut, the heavy echo reverberating through the hall. The entire mansion was instantly plunged into an eerie silence.

Yun Xian returned to her room, leaning back in her chair, closing her eyes to reflect. The little girl sat quietly on the edge of the bed, patting the doll in her arms. Zhang Jingyi held a small ointment jar, her brow furrowed as she impatiently scraped the remaining paste from the bottom with her fingernails.

"It's gone..." she whispered, her fingertips rubbing the bottom of the jar repeatedly, her brows knitting even tighter.

Suddenly, a knock sounded at the door.

Yun Xian opened her eyes, rose to open the door, and saw Song Ran standing there.

"I'm looking for Zhang Jingyi," he said nonchalantly.

Hearing her name, Zhang Jingyi’s movements stalled; she looked up. The next second, her eyes brightened, a smile tugged involuntarily at the corners of her lips, and she set down the jar, hurrying toward the door. As she passed Yun Xian, she pulled the door shut behind her, sealing off the conversation outside.

The room returned to silence, save for the night breeze gently fluttering the curtains, creating a light, rhythmic wave.

Yun Xian tilted her head slightly, trying to catch the sounds outside. But the voices of Song Ran and Zhang Jingyi were extremely low, seemingly suppressed on purpose. Fragmented whispers drifted into her ears, yet it was impossible to piece together a coherent conversation.

Before long, the door was pushed open again. Zhang Jingyi walked in with a light step, an irrepressible smile on her face, her whole demeanor brimming with a buoyant air.

Yun Xian’s gaze flickered. She probed with a measured tone, "What did he want with you?"

Zhang Jingyi gave a mysterious smile, tilting her head as she looked at her. A glint of slyness flickered in her eyes, and her tone was playful: "It's a secret."

She refused to reveal a single detail, yet her eyes sparkled with excitement she could not hide.

Yun Xian stared at Zhang Jingyi for a moment, then did not press further.

As the night deepened, Yun Xian lay in bed and drifted into her dreams once more.

She was sitting on that small chair again. The warm, yellow light spilled across the tabletop as her mother gently scooped up a spoonful of steaming fish soup, bringing it to her lips with a tender smile: "Xiao Xian, eat more."

Her father sat opposite, flipping through a newspaper, looking up at her from time to time with eyes full of doting affection: "You've grown taller lately."

Yun Xian looked down at her small hands and her legs swinging off the edge of the chair, but a sliver of doubt rose in her heart. This scene—she felt as though she had seen it somewhere before.

*Tick-tock—tick-tock—*

The sound of the clock echoed in the air, as if time had been stretched infinitely.

Subconsciously, she turned her head, her gaze landing on the half-open door.

The door was suddenly pushed wide, and a figure emerged from the shadows. The slender frame was bathed in the dim light; the face lacked features, possessing only a smooth, pale expanse of skin, like a mask wiped clean of all identity. In his hand, he gripped a cold dagger.

The next second, the blade plunged into her mother’s back without hesitation, sinking deep into flesh.

Yun Xian’s eyes widened. She desperately tried to lunge forward, but her body felt restrained by invisible chains, unable to move; even her screams were suppressed in her throat by a suffocating silence.

The next second, the blade pierced her father’s chest as well. Blood soaked the newspaper on the table, the text blurring into a red and black stain.

"Ah—!"

Yun Xian jolted awake, drenched in cold sweat.

However, she was still at the dining table.

The light remained warm, her mother was still looking at her tenderly, and her father was still flipping through his newspaper.

—She was still in the dream.

*Creak—*

The door was pushed open again. The faceless man walked in silently, the blade in his hand glinting with a cold light, stabbing toward her parents without hesitation.

A frantic despair flashed in Yun Xian’s eyes. She struggled with all her might, trying to break free from the shackles, but was pulled back to the starting point time and time again.

She did not know how many times she had experienced this cycle—each time forced to witness the death of her parents, each time struggling to wake up, only to find herself still lingering within the dream.

Until, at one moment, she suddenly stopped struggling and closed her eyes.

—If she could not escape the dream, then she would end it right here.

She took a deep breath, controlled her will, and let herself sink into the deeper reaches of the dream, until—

She opened her eyes.

The faceless man was standing right before her, the cold dagger raised high, the sharp blade shimmering in the gloom.

This time, Yun Xian could move.

She suddenly reached out, locking her grip onto the faceless man’s wrist, and with all her might, twisted the dagger around, driving it deep into that smooth, featureless face!

The moment the blade sank in, his cheeks split open, and a thick, black, viscous liquid gushed out like a broken levee. His distorted body trembled, transforming into a pool of dense black mist that dissipated into the cracks of the dream.

Yun Xian snapped her eyes open.

Morning light spilled in through the gap in the curtains. The room was still filled with the atmosphere of the previous night, as if nothing had changed. But she knew—this time, she was truly awake.

She stared blankly at the ceiling; the pain and fury of the dream still lingered in her heart, refusing to fade.

*Rustle, rustle...*

A faint sound came from beside her, instantly interrupting Yun Xian’s thoughts.

She turned her head quietly and, through the morning light, vaguely recognized the figure of Zhang Jingyi. She was climbing onto the bed on tiptoe, her movements exceptionally cautious, as if she had just returned from outside.

Yun Xian’s heart tightened. She hadn't realized at all that Zhang Jingyi hadn't been by her side.

—Where had she gone?

Yun Xian suppressed her doubts and slowly closed her eyes, pretending to be fast asleep.

But just then—

"Ah—!"

A shrill scream pierced the morning silence!

Yun Xian sat up abruptly, rolled out of bed, and the door was thrown open the moment she rushed out.

In the hallway, a young man stumbled out of the room next door, his face deathly pale, his arm covered in blood. He gasped in agony, staring at his wound in horror.

It was a dense row of tooth marks, deeply embedded in the flesh, with bruised, purple marks blooming around the skin.

Yun Xian’s pupils contracted sharply, and a chill crept up her spine.

Others pushed open their doors at the sound, the light in the hallway seeming even paler in that moment.

Everyone followed the young man’s trembling gaze, looking toward the half-open door behind him.

The door swayed slightly, and a faint scent of blood permeated the air.

Inside the room, Li Zhiqiang lay on his back by the bed, eyes wide open, his face ashen. A shard of glass was deeply embedded in his chest, blood overflowing from the wound, soaking the carpet and spreading into a pool of scarlet.