Chapter 209: This Is a Love Song
The woman's face was deathly pale; when she grew emotional, her features twisted grotesquely. She raised her slender arms, wrapping them around Gu Feiyu's neck, her icy fingertips sliding down the man's face. Licking off the bright red lipstick, revealing thin, purplish-gray lips, she leaned close to Gu Feiyu's ear and murmured softly.
"When two people fall for the same thing, the fairest way is to split it in half, one piece each."
The cleaver pried open the buttons of the security guard's uniform, each of the woman's movements gentle. The security guard slumped on the sofa struggled to keep his eyes open; he wasn't completely unconscious yet, still retaining some awareness.
"My sister and I both found our love—he was the first person we ever loved."
The woman leaned lightly against Gu Feiyu's chest: "You're a lot like him in personality. I was planning to invite you over in a few months, but it seems those people have already found me. I have to leave this city as soon as possible."
Listening to Gu Feiyu's heartbeat, the woman lifted her head: "Don't be nervous. I won't hurt you."
She entered the bedroom, took down a black leather suitcase from the top of the cabinet, and pulled out an old tape recorder from years ago. Kneeling beside the recorder, she selected a dusty cassette tape, kissing its edges wildly as if performing some ritual. She inserted the tape, pressed the play button, and a boy's singing voice emerged.
Holding the cleaver, the woman listened quietly. The boy's voice was clean and warm, laced with traces of affection. This was likely a love song.
"I made over a dozen copies of his voice, but unfortunately, most of them got lost."
A familiar melody filled the living room. The woman seemed to drift back many years. She tossed Gu Feiyu's uniform aside, pulled a rope from under the sofa, bound him securely, and dragged him into the bathroom.
Hiding in the wardrobe, Chen Ge witnessed the entire process: "The locked freezer in the kitchen, the big bathtub in the bathroom—this woman has prepared everything. She's insane."
Pulling out his phone, Chen Ge stepped out of the wardrobe. If he didn't act now, Gu Feiyu's life would be in danger. Turning down the volume, he stood by the bedroom door, grabbed a solid makeup chair, and dialed Gu Feiyu's number.
Just as the woman in the bathroom tossed Gu Feiyu into the bathtub, a phone rang in the living room: "Why now of all times?"
The woman walked out of the bathroom barefoot, picked up the security guard's uniform from the corner. As she searched through Gu Feiyu's phone, Chen Ge crept up behind her with the makeup chair.
Sensing something, the woman glanced back over her shoulder while holding the uniform. Before she could fully turn her head, Chen Ge swung the solid chair down with all his force.
"Bang!"
The woman never expected another person in the room. She crashed to the floor, blood seeping from her scalp, her eyes fixed on Chen Ge as if they might burst from their sockets.
"What are you doing here?!"
"Bang!"
Chen Ge wasn't one for idle chatter, especially when the opponent hadn't lost the ability to fight back. The chair came down again, hitting the same spot. The woman's head spun; her body was already frail, and now she couldn't even stand.
Untying Gu Feiyu, Chen Ge bound the woman's hands and feet: "I didn't expect these two tasks to intertwine, but this works out."
He took his own tape from his pocket and placed it in the recorder. The singing stopped, leaving only the hiss of static in the room.
"Those who don't respect life won't be respected by it either."
Blood stained the woman's face as she lay on the floor, staring at Chen Ge. Her expression was oddly calm—no fear or worry, only surprise and shock.
Pulling out his phone, Chen Ge called Officer Li. Just as he was about to ask about the situation there, the lights in the room suddenly went out.
"This woman came from the Third Psychiatric Ward; she probably has a monster from inside the door with her." Chen Ge turned on his phone's flashlight and pulled a butcher knife from his backpack.
A red cloth fluttered down. Chen Ge scanned his surroundings, staying on high alert.
Soon, a scraping sound came from the closed security door, like someone scratching it with their nails. The noise was grating; standing inside and listening for too long made his skin crawl.
"It's that white figure!" Chen Ge guessed the identity the moment he heard the scratching.
"Is anyone home?"
A neutral, eerie voice came from outside the door, its tone strange.
It repeated the question. Chen Ge gripped the butcher knife, unsure whether to respond.
On the seventh repetition, the voice said something else: "Is anyone home? If no one answers, I'm coming in?"
The lock on the security door loosened, and a white figure, roughly the size of a normal person, appeared at the living room entrance.
This was the fourth monster Chen Ge had encountered after the severed hand, the mirror ghost, and the lanky man. Its face was blurry, lacking complete features, and it moved incredibly fast.
Chen Ge held the butcher knife across his chest. The monster gave him a strong sense of pressure—weaker than the lanky shadow but far stronger than an ordinary mirror ghost. Back in the Third Psychiatric Ward, a single lanky shadow had chased him all over; without Zhang Ya, he wouldn't have made it out alive.
The white figure's face turned toward Chen Ge, and in the blink of an eye, it was right in front of him.
Chen Ge swung the knife, slicing through the white figure's body. The monster seemed to feel pain, shrieking as it lunged at him.
Its pale face shifted before Chen Ge's eyes, eventually morphing into the madwoman from Room 2. Her features were misaligned, as if from multiple plastic surgeries, the whole face fragile, looking like it would shatter at the slightest touch.
As the face pressed close, Chen Ge grabbed the ballpoint pen from his pocket and stabbed at it, fighting back with all his might.
In the heat of the struggle, no one noticed a man's pained, suppressed voice echoing in the room.
"It hurts..."
The pen tip pierced the white figure's forehead. The monster, as if crazed, pinned Chen Ge's wrist, trying to press its entire face against his.
Closer and closer—it seemed to want to steal Chen Ge's face!
"It hurts, it hurts, it hurts so much!"
Just as the white figure was about to touch Chen Ge's nose, its body was yanked back by an invisible force, its hair pulled taut.
"It hurts!"
A hysterical cry came from behind the white figure. Hearing this voice, both Chen Ge and the woman on the floor changed expressions.
"Xu Yin! Is that you!" The woman reacted even more strongly than Chen Ge. Bound hand and foot, she used her head to push against the table leg, trying to get up.
As the woman's emotions fluctuated, the white figure's face blurred, and its aura weakened significantly.
"What's going on? Has the woman been controlling the white figure all along?" Chen Ge was the only one keeping his cool. Watching the white figure weaken, he didn't hesitate—he raised the knife and struck.
The white figure was already restrained by the tape ghost, making it a perfect chance to deal a heavy blow. But to Chen Ge's surprise, the tape ghost let go at the critical moment, as if it recognized the woman on the floor.
"It hurts..."