Chapter 34

Before she knew it it was already past nine o'clock. Since classes had ended at seven, students had gone home early and the street vendors had packed up long ago. It was rare for the area around the school to be so quiet this early, a tranquil, almost leisurely calm.
Zhao Lianqiao gripped her phone so tightly her whole body trembled. She hummed as she walked, like a woman on the verge of losing her mind in the rainy night. Ever since she had been transported into this book, she'd been waiting too long; now the life she wanted was within reach, and she couldn't contain her excitement.
At the thought that Qiao Zhenzhen would be ruined and that this unremarkable supporting character would take over her life, Zhao Lianqiao felt a dizzy, intoxicating thrill. She was so distracted she didn't even notice the cartoon charm on her backpack falling off.
She hurried forward, her steps growing quicker; even the downpour that soaked her couldn't stop the smile lifting her lips. After walking a long way, she realized the silence around her was a little too complete. Looking closely, she discovered she'd taken a wrong turn and wandered to the abandoned, half-finished building.
The unfinished development actually sat in a good location, right behind the school and the residential complex. It had been planned as rental apartments, but the developer ran out of funds and vanished. The project changed hands a few times and ultimately stalled, left to languish.
Because it was so close to the school, students used to come here to play. Later, one student accidentally fell from the upper floors and died, and ghost stories began to spread. After that no one dared to come, the whole building was shrouded in an eerie gloom.
At this moment it was the only spot near the school without streetlights, lit only by distant lights and the reflections in puddles; under the pouring rain it seemed positively ghostly.
...How did I end up here? Zhao Lianqiao frowned; her good mood soured slightly. As she turned to leave, she suddenly met a pair of sullen eyes.
In an instant a thunderclap tore through the sky, followed by a harsh flash of lightning. Zhao Lianqiao screamed and toppled backward, landing in the mud.
"Chi, Chi Shen?" Her heart pounded as she forced herself to stay calm. "What are you doing here?"
"Phone." Chi Shen held out his hand toward her.
Zhao Lianqiao swallowed. "...I don't know what you're talking about."
"Phone." Chi Shen stepped forward.
Instinctively, Zhao Lianqiao kicked against the mud to back away. Her palm, pressed to the ground, was cut by some industrial debris and began to bleed. She stifled a groan from the pain; before she could inspect it properly, the blood in her hand was washed away by the rain.
While she was stunned, Chi Shen had already closed in. His face was as pale as a vampire's, his voice hoarse and rough: "Phone."
Zhao Lianqiao met his bottomless black eyes and a creeping fear spread through her. She swallowed and, trembling, said, "Okay, wait until I stand up and I'll give it to you."
As she spoke she pushed herself up from the ground, stepped back, and pulled out her phone.
Chi Shen reached out to her. Zhao Lianqiao's hand trembled as she offered the phone, but just as he went to take it she snatched it back and bolted toward the apartment complex behind him.
But the moment she rushed forward, her arm was suddenly grabbed, and with a force that threw her to the ground.
The ground in front of the unfinished building was uneven. Zhao Lianqiao hit hard, curling up in pain, and the phone flew from her hand and landed at her feet.
Panic tightened her chest. She tried to reach for it despite the pain, but when she met his gaze she pulled her hand back in fright. "Chi Shen, I..."
Before she could finish, Chi Shen had already picked up the phone. He seemed to want to open it, but tried several times without success.
Watching him, Zhao Lianqiao suddenly realized he didn't know how to use it. It made sense, smartphones had only been around a few years in this world, and this man was dirt poor; he ate the cheapest set meals in the cafeteria. How could he possibly afford a phone? Besides, with the way his parents were, they would never have allowed him to have one.
Understanding that, her heart began to race. "...What do you want? I can help you."
Chi Shen paused, lifted his eyes and looked at her coldly, letting the rain wash his face with no expression. Zhao Lianqiao grew more and more anxious. Just as she was about to shrink back, he suddenly handed the phone to her. "Where are the photos you took?"
...So he'd noticed her earlier. Zhao Lianqiao swallowed and took the phone with trembling hands. It was soaked from the rain, but thankfully it was waterproof; though the screen was wet and sluggish, she managed to turn it on.
In the gallery there were a dozen or so photos of him with Qiao Zhenzhen, secret shots she'd taken over the past few days.
Chi Shen stared at the pictures with an unreadable expression; it was impossible to tell what he felt.
Zhao Lianqiao stole glances toward the escape route, but reason told her she wasn't as strong as Chi Shen. If he caught her again, she might pay dearly.
"Delete them," he said.
She jumped and hurriedly, shaking, deleted the photos. When she finished she handed the phone back. "See? They're all gone."
Chi Shen glanced at it and fell silent.
A flash of triumph crossed her eyes, what a bumpkin, she thought; he didn't even know deleted photos could be recovered. Besides, she'd already backed the pictures up to a social account; there was no way he could erase them all.
She lowered her head, a smile tugging at her lips as she plotted her escape, when suddenly the phone was ripped from her hand. Before she could react, Chi Shen had smashed it on the ground, shattering it into pieces.
"What are you doing?!" she cried, fury flaring.
Chi Shen said nothing. He grabbed a rock from the ground and smashed it down on the phone's wreckage again and again; the screen webbed with cracks, the casing snapped into sections, and still he struck, his lean, forceful back in the rain looked like a butcher's.
At first Zhao Lianqiao was furious, but then realization settled in: though he'd cut his hair and changed out of those foul clothes and looked like a normal person, at his core he was still the pervert who had stalked a girl for two years.
He was not normal at all.
Zhao Lianqiao swallowed, forcing herself up despite the fear. Just as she prepared to run, he turned his head.
She stumbled back in terror, body taut as she begged, "I, I know I was wrong. I've deleted the photos and the phone's smashed. Please, let me go..."
"It's all because of you." Chi Shen rose and looked down at her.
Tears threatened to spill. "What?"
"All of her misfortunes are because of you," Chi Shen closed in, his hoarse voice like a carrion-fed crow, soft yet edged with a bitter cruelty. "Why did you have to disturb her life?"
"...I don't know what you're talking about," Zhao Lianqiao finally broke, trembling as she began to cry, glancing back down the way she'd come and praying someone would arrive in time to save her.
But the path was empty, only the torrential rain filled the street.
"If you die, will everything be over?"
Spoken in a calm tone, it was the cruelest thing he could have said.
Zhao Lianqiao froze, then met Chi Shen's eyes. Realization crashed over her; she screamed, spun like a madwoman, and ran straight into the unfinished building.
Chi Shen watched her silhouette vanish with cool detachment, then finally followed.
She stumbled into the half-finished building and immediately understood what a dreadful mistake she'd made,
The building had only one main entrance, the very door she'd burst through, and since the previous incident the doors from the stairwells to each floor had been locked. In other words, the moment she stepped inside there was no turning back, no place to hide. All she could do was climb the stairs desperately, praying as she went that someone would come and save her.
Her legs weakened and standing was difficult, but by sheer will she kept climbing until she reached the roof, where she finally collapsed from exhaustion.
The roar of the rain had drowned out everything, yet she felt footsteps closing in from behind. In a panic she searched for something to defend herself with and could only find chunks of cement.
With a fistful of stones clutched in her hand, Chi Shen at last caught up.
She backed away, terrified, and shrieked a harsh warning, "Don't come any closer! One more step and I'll smash you!"
Chi Shen's face remained blank as he advanced step by step.
She was driven to the very edge of the rooftop; one more step and she'd tumble dozens of stories down with no chance of survival.
"...Don't come closer. I know I was wrong, I'm begging you, let me go," Zhao Lianqiao cried, throwing the stone at him. "If I die they'll trace it back to you, you'll go to prison!"
The stone grazed his face, leaving a small cut, but Chi Shen didn't react.
"Okay...I'll give you money. I'll give you a lot of money. I'll do whatever you ask. Please let me go. If you don't like me, I'll leave this city and never show up in Qiao Zhenzhen's life again. Please, I'm begging you..." Zhao Lianqiao broke down and wept.
As she spoke, the stones in her hand were gone; seeing Chi Shen still closing in, she finally snapped: "What's so great about Qiao Zhenzhen? Is she worth you doing this? No matter how well you treat her, she's the male lead's, she'll never, ever like you!"
Another bolt of lightning struck and Chi Shen suddenly quickened his pace. Startled, Zhao Lianqiao lurched backward, lost her balance and pitched straight back. She screamed, her hands flailing instinctively to steady herself, but it was too late.
When Qiao Zhenzhen arrived, she saw that Zhao Lianqiao was already airborne, two-thirds of her body already tipping over and falling.
Blood ran cold through her veins. Without a second thought she shouted, "Stop!"
In an instant the rain froze into a million suspended droplets; Zhao Lianqiao hung midair, terror on her face as her feet left the ground, and the whole world fell silent.
"...Don't restart time until I say it's over," Qiao Zhenzhen said, her voice trembling.
"Yes, host," Xiao Ba answered solemnly.