Chapter 1: Nightmare On The Screen

Chapter 1: Nightmare On The Screen

Eleven years ago.

Lin Lan.

The wind in the cold winter night felt like a knife on the face. On the desolate and dirty dirt road in the Toyoda district, there was only the man’s urgent and heavy breathing.

The tall figure disappeared into the darkness, and one could vaguely see the man’s sturdy arms clasping a small body, struggling incessantly.

“Damn it, don’t move.” The man, drenched in sweat in the cold night, had wolf-like eyes soaked in sweat, fierce and impatient. He kept cursing, “Move again, and I’ll kill you!”

Damn it, if he couldn’t deliver the ‘goods’ by tomorrow, the loan shark would take off his arms. He wouldn’t do such desperate work otherwise.

Zhi Qi woke up being jolted around, her mouth tightly sealed with tape. She couldn’t make a sound, only silently shedding tears, which quickly froze on her face in the winter night. She was cold and scared, not understanding why she woke up like this after sleeping well. She unconsciously struggled, only to be fiercely shouted at by the man holding her.

Zhi Qi immediately dared not move.

Although she was young, she was already ten years old, a fourth-grade “big kid.” The little girl vaguely understood that she might have been kidnapped. But after realizing this, an even deeper chill spread from the soles of her feet to her hair.

An indescribable, inexpressible sense of fear surged into her heart. It wasn’t just because of the external cold; the girl’s hair stood on end. In Zhi Qi’s memory, the man had been running with her for a very long time.

Almost to the point of nausea from the bumps, she was roughly ‘thrown’ down.

The man intended to move Zhi Qi out of the city but was hindered by the patrols and inspections at various toll booths in the middle of the night. He had to temporarily place the girl in an old truck used for transporting cabbages. Afterward, he ignored her life and death, wrapped himself in a large cotton coat at the back of the truck, and went to sleep in the front seat.

Zhi Qi was terrified, her teeth sealed with tape, making a creaking sound. The girl’s large and bright eyes, washed by tears, appeared even more pure in the pitch-black trunk of the truck. But she couldn’t see anything clearly, only vaguely smelling a cold, decaying smell of cabbage leaves on her nose.

That was the first time Zhi Qi remembered a taste so vividly.

From then on, she didn’t particularly like eating cabbage.

That night was the most terrifying and lengthy in Zhi Qi’s memory. Her hands and feet were securely bound, numb and swollen from a long period of immobility. She could only lie stiffly... waiting to die. Meanwhile, the desperado who tied her up snored loudly, sleeping soundly.

A ten-year-old child wouldn’t ponder deeply on why misfortune had struck so profoundly. They would only feel fear and tremble helplessly. Zhi Qi couldn’t remember how many times she had cried. Her face was frozen from tears, and her big eyes stared fixedly at the top of her head—presumably the roof of the carriage, but she couldn’t see anything.

After what felt like an eternity, there were faint rustling sounds outside the carriage. This cabbage transport truck wasn’t sealed with steel; instead, it had curtains and cloth hanging around. Now, a corner of the curtain was gently lifted, allowing a dim ‘light’ to filter into the carriage.

Terrified, Zhi Qi immediately curled up her body, her gaze still haunted.

She was afraid it was the man who threatened to ‘kill’ her.

For a moment, it seemed like her ears were ringing, forgetting that the thunderous snoring continued. It wasn’t until she saw a person’s head poking through the lifted corner of the curtain.

That was the first time Zhi Qi saw Jiang Qi. She would never have imagined that the ‘world-saving hero’ who rescued her from peril would be a boy almost her age.

But that’s exactly what happened.

A young boy with a pale complexion but sharp eyebrows and eyes saw a girl tied up inside a truck. Surprisingly, his expression remained calm and unaffected.

“Don’t make a sound.”

Jiang Qi’s voice was low, almost a whisper, yet his hands skillfully untied the girl’s restraints. It seemed he was accustomed to dismantling things, displaying great proficiency. At the moment of gaining freedom, the stagnant blood rushed back into the girl’s hands and feet, causing a tingling sensation. Fortunately, Jiang Qi seemed to anticipate this and did not remove the tape from her face.

With his back turned to her, the boy gently said, “Climb onto my back.”

Zhi Qi’s hands and feet were almost numb, but driven by survival instinct or perhaps sheer fear, she managed to climb onto Jiang Qi’s back.

It felt like a dream.

The boy, slightly taller than her, carried her on his back through the deserted and chilly streets of the Island District in the early morning, running as if his life depended on it.DiiScôver new stories on no/v/e()/lbin(.)com

Zhi Qi appears obedient, gentle, and won’t refuse others, but Meng Chunyu knows that, except for herself, she always has a bit of reluctance to engage deeply with others, like... a complete lack of security.

In the three years of college, Zhi Qi has mostly spent her time studying.

She holds a full scholarship, and her credit GPA is astonishingly high. Because of the special nature of her major, which falls under the category of ‘demanding profession,’ she has to take many elective courses in other majors, including going on external internships, flying from south to north, conducting experiments...

So, Zhi Qi never focuses her thoughts elsewhere, being a truly dedicated nerd.

Meng Chunyu, while admiring her achievements, also understands well—she will never become like Zhi Qi, who could easily play the role of a princess based on her looks but is, in reality, a hardworking and diligent fairy. However, she can be the ‘female knight’ protecting the fairy.

Meng Chunyu, with a smiling expression, hooked Zhi Qi’s arm and led the girl out of the door.

On the way to the cinema, Meng Chunyu kept talking about how amazing the emerging director Shen Lei is, mentioning the movies he directed that were shortlisted for numerous film festivals, expressing obvious admiration. Zhi Qi doesn’t understand all this, although she listens attentively, occasionally asking questions that leave Meng Chunyu speechless.

For example—

Zhi Qi asked seriously, “You said the movie we’re watching today is about the murder story of a seven-personality schizophrenic criminal. With strict censorship nowadays, will there be any bloody scenes in such a movie? Even if they are cut, wouldn’t it lose its meaning?”

...

Meng Chunyu, who had never investigated this aspect, was left speechless.

After a while, she weakly said, “There should be... right?”

In a suspenseful and thrilling crime film with a protagonist who is a twisted schizophrenic criminal with seven personalities, what’s the point if there are no bloody scenes?

Upon hearing this, Zhi Qi, who initially had a casual attitude, became somewhat interested. For her, this kind of movie is more enjoyable to watch than any romantic film.

The road was a bit congested, and the two arrived at the cinema just three minutes before the screening started, almost running all the way to the projection hall. Perhaps the movie directed by Shen Lei is indeed quite appealing, as the pitch-dark projection hall is crowded with people.

The two sneaked quietly to their seats, and as Zhi Qi sat down and lifted her head, a close-up of a stunningly handsome young man suddenly appeared on the large screen, almost filling the entire field of view.

On the screen was an extremely beautiful youth.

His hair and features were pitch-black, orderly and sharp. The glassy-colored eyeballs were hollow and emotionless, with a pale complexion, yet his lips were vividly red. He exuded an almost devilish charm.

Zhi Qi, upon seeing this, was momentarily stunned. Her brain seemed to have a momentary glitch, and her whole body felt as if it had been electrified.

Her breathing became heavy, and she forcefully closed and opened her eyes. Yes, the face on the screen was something she would never forget—it was unmistakably Jiang Qi!

Zhi Qi suddenly stood up. With her unconscious movement, there was an immediate commotion behind her.

“Ah, Qiqi, why did you stand up?” Meng Chunyu was startled, quickly pulling her down and whispering, “Sit down quickly.”

Zhi Qi, like a puppet being controlled, mechanically sat back down.

A thin layer of sweat quickly formed in her palms as she stared, unblinking, at Jiang Qi on the screen. Her voice, however, asked Meng Chunyu beside her, “Who is this... who is he?”

“It’s said to be a newcomer actor named Jiang Qi, discovered by Shen Lei.”

Meng Chunyu, well aware of Zhi Qi’s nerdy tendencies, explained in a low voice, “The industry has always praised Director Shen for having a good eye. This guy is incredibly handsome, and this movie is his debut. People speculated he had connections, but guess what? Some time ago, netizens dug up that he had actually been in jail before!”

“Oh my, this news is too explosive. At first, I didn’t believe it, but the evidence is too solid, and no one has denied it... tsk tsk, this world really focuses on appearances.”

Meng Chunyu’s voice lingered in Zhi Qi’s ears, like a tangible rope pulling her back to the obscure past.

Suddenly, Zhi Qi felt extreme pain. This pain made her want to close her eyes, yet she hesitated, reluctant to miss any scene involving Jiang Qi.