Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
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Xiao Xiaoyu covered her mouth tightly to stifle the gasp that was about to escape her throat.
She moved quietly, carefully backing away until her back was pressed against the rough wall against her nose, avoiding the red shadow’s gaze. Only then did she clutch her chest and gasp for breath like a fish out of water.
“How could you—” Her friend was about to ask when she saw the look of horror on her face, but Xiao Xiaoyu covered her mouth.
“Don’t make a sound.” Xiao Xiaoyu lowered her voice and whispered, “There’s something at the bus stop…” She paused, unable to find the right words to describe the red figure, and finally could only vaguely say, “There’s a monster.”
Perhaps because her expression was too terrified, the girls who were initially somewhat dismissive exchanged glances for a while, but finally, out of caution, nodded to her to indicate that they would not make a sound and to signal her to let go of them first.
Xiao Xiaoyu then released them. Leaning against the wall for support, she thought about everything for a while before realizing she should call the police first. Jiang Lan was also nearby, and she needed to warn him not to go to the bus stop. But when she took out her phone to call for help, she discovered that her phone, which had had a clear signal just minutes before, had suddenly lost signal, and she couldn’t even make emergency calls.
Her face paled slightly. She waved her phone at her friends, signaling them to look at their phones, only to find that none of them had a signal.
Seeing this, one of the girls who was previously a fan of celebrities panicked a little. One of them, clutching her phone, asked in a low voice, “Is there really a monster? Xiaoyu, are you seeing things because it’s dark?”
The other one, who was bolder, said, “We can see the bus stop from here. Let’s sneak a peek and find out.”
Before Xiao Xiaoyu could stop her, she had already walked quickly to the alley entrance and poked her head out to look around.
Another girl, timid and afraid of ghosts, clung to Xiao Xiaoyu’s arm and asked nervously, “Did you see it?”
The girl peered around the alleyway for a while, and when she saw the quiet street and bus stop, she breathed a slight sigh of relief. She turned around and said to the two of them, “There’s nothing at the bus stop. Xiaoyu, you must be seeing things.”
The timid girl also went over to look after hearing this. At first, she was very cautious, but since she really didn’t see anything, she relaxed and complained to Xiao Xiaoyu, “There really is nothing here, Xiaoyu, you scared me to death.”
“?”
Xiao Xiaoyu looked puzzled. She was certain she hadn’t imagined the red figure. But her friends all said they hadn’t seen it, making her unsure of her own judgment.
“Let me see.” Xiao Xiaoyu said as she walked to the alley entrance, cautiously peeking over the platform, then her eyes widened in fear—
Between the hotel and the bus stop, numerous red shadows of varying sizes drifted about; a rough count revealing at least a dozen. They seemed to be waiting or searching for something, wandering the open space, their spherical, faceless heads rotating 360 degrees, creating an eerie and terrifying scene in the dimly lit night.
Upon closer inspection, she realized that while these red figures appeared quite similar to humans in terms of limbs and torsos, they were not actually “humans.” Their bodies were large, making their heads appear somewhat small in comparison. Their hands were thick, with short, stubby fingers tipped with claw-like protrusions, resembling the claws of a wild animal more than human hands. Furthermore, their spherical heads were topped with small, easily overlooked, semi-circular ears. When they walked, their arms swayed naturally at their sides, and their bodies swayed slightly from side to side, closely resembling the upright-walking bears Xiao Xiaoyu had seen at the zoo.
Caught off guard by the sight of so many monsters, Xiao Xiaoyu couldn’t help but let out a low gasp. She instinctively covered her mouth tightly, her heart pounding so hard it felt like it was about to jump out of her throat. Seeing that the red figures didn’t seem to react to her sound, she released her hand from her mouth and gasped for breath.
Her series of reactions were so startling that her two friends were both worried and baffled. They looked towards the bus stop but still saw nothing. Worried, they asked, “Xiaoyu, what’s wrong?”
Xiao Xiaoyu looked up at them, her face growing paler. She didn’t know whether to worry about herself, who had seen the monsters, or about her sisters, who couldn’t see them at all.
But soon, she couldn’t think about any of that anymore, because one of her friends’ phones suddenly vibrated a few times. She took out her phone and her expression was instantly filled with ecstatic joy: “They said Brother You is coming!”
“Really?! Where is Brother You?” The other person’s voice suddenly rose, and a fanatical expression reappeared on their face.
They all turned to look at Xiao Xiaoyu, hurriedly reaching out to pull her, as if they couldn’t see her pale face: “Xiaoyu, let’s go, or we won’t see Brother You anymore!”
Xiao Xiaoyu’s hand was grabbed, followed by a sudden pang of fear. She looked at the two of them in alarm, her lips moving as she desperately wanted to ask how they had received the message when their phones had no signal. However, seeing the fervent excitement on their faces, she didn’t dare to ask. With difficulty, she pulled her hand back and said, her voice strained, “I’m feeling a little unwell. You two go ahead, I’ll rest for a bit and then come find you.”
The two wanted to say something more, but when Xiao Xiaoyu quickly added, “It’ll be too late if you don’t go now,” they said nothing more and quickly walked out of the alley together.
Xiao Xiaoyu looked down at her phone, which still had no signal. She then gritted her teeth in a mixture of anxiety and resentment. She hesitated for a moment between leaving immediately to find a place with a signal to call the police and taking photos of the evidence first. In the end, she opened her phone’s camera and quietly started taking pictures of the scene at the hotel entrance.
Having received word of Bai You’s impending arrival, people began gathering from all directions around the hotel. Most were young women, some appearing to be students, others around thirty and working professionals. There were even a few men mixed in, making a total of about twenty people. They excitedly gathered in front of the hotel, eagerly craning their necks in the same direction.
The blurry red figures, nearly twice the size of the fans, weaved among them like clouds, some even overlapping with the fans’ figures. The tall, bear-like bodies of the red figures enveloped them completely, casting a dim red light on the fans’ faces.
Xiao Xiaoyu carefully extended only one rear camera to film. On the recording screen, there were only the faces of those fans with abnormally flushed faces, but the particularly strange red shadows could not be seen.
The fans didn’t talk to each other; they just looked ahead with expectant expressions. When they saw the person slowly walking towards them in the night, they suddenly burst into excited cheers.
—In the darkness of the night, a black sedan slowly pulled up to a stop on the side of the road. The back door opened, and Bai You gracefully stepped out. His exquisitely beautiful face, which was almost sinister, turned towards the fans, giving them a gentle smile.
His gentle voice rang out in the night, seemingly carrying some indescribable magic: “Sorry to keep you all waiting.”
Xiao Xiaoyu felt her eardrums bulge and her head spin. She hurriedly put away her phone and covered her ears tightly with both hands, which relieved her discomfort somewhat.
Meanwhile, the fans didn’t feel upset at all. They rushed forward and surrounded Bai You, calling out his name repeatedly. They held autograph books or light sticks, their eyes filled with fanatical worship and morbid love.
Those red figures that had been drifting aimlessly seemed to have received some kind of signal, and they all lowered their heads, turning their heads around as if sizing up the fans.
Their movements reminded Xiao Xiaoyu of the expressions on her face when she was choosing pork at the market.
Bai You remained calm and composed as he was surrounded by fans, signing autographs and taking photos with each of them, his gentle demeanor making it seem like a perfectly normal official event.
Xiao Xiaoyu felt a chill run through her body, and her back, pressed against the wall, was already soaked with cold sweat.
She dared not take any more pictures, nor did she dare to move rashly. Her whole body was stiff like a sculpture, and even her breathing was so light that it was almost inaudible.
The fans erupted in cheers.
After an unknown amount of time, Xiao Xiaoyu heard Bai You’s voice say, “Alright, all the autographs are done, and the photos are taken. I should go now.”
Immediately, many voices urged him to stay.
Bai You smiled and said, “I haven’t had dinner yet.”
Xiao Xiaoyu covered her ears. When Bai You’s voice reached her ears, it was slightly distorted, like the slight emphasis on an old cassette tape. Her heart, which had barely calmed down, thus started racing again because of this voice.
She tried her best to breathe softly, and then peeked out again, only to meet Bai You’s smiling gaze—
Bai You’s smile widened, and he mouthed to her, “Run! I’ll come find you after I finish dinner.
Xiao Xiaoyu’s hands and feet went cold. Her body reacted faster than her brain. She stumbled to her feet and struggled to run towards the place where she remembered there were more pedestrians. The last thing she saw was Bai You smiling at her. The tall red figures twisted their bodies, their claws stretching and lengthening, turning into smoke and rushing into the ears, noses, and mouths of the fans. The slender tentacles contracted and wriggled like intestines, as if they were really feeding…
The fervent fans, oblivious to everything, seemed frozen in place, their gazes gradually dimming. Meanwhile, the red figure “feeding” beside them grew increasingly solid, resembling more and more the fans being consumed…
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