The city night air was intoxicatingly warm, as if the flowers smelled sweeter than anything outside.
Qin Ci and Yu Ji walked back to the hospital. The more frightened Yu Ji was, the more he talked, as if trying to ease his tension.
"...I never imagined you'd been through so much, Dr. Qin. My lover is dead, and it feels like my heart died with her," Yu Ji sighed. "Although my situation is different from yours, both of our partners have passed away."
"Sometimes I have this illusion that she's not dead, that she's still living in this city, and maybe one day we'll bump into each other on the street, instantly recognize each other, and then it'll be like nothing ever happened, and we can continue living our lives together." Qin Ci's eyes held a hint of longing.
Yu Ji smiled awkwardly. "I don't have your good fortune. My lover left me before he died, but I still consider him my only one. Really, he was my first love, the only love I've ever had in my life."
Qin Ci didn't press further and listened quietly.
"I don't have the same advantages as you. I don't have as many opportunities, so to have a suitable person appear and to fall in love with someone is the greatest blessing God has ever given me," Yu Ji continued.
Qin Ci didn't understand what he meant by "advantages" for a moment: "You've been studying oil painting abroad, so you should…"
"I'm not talking about material conditions. Actually, I'm about the same as your friends."
"Huh?"
"I'm gay. I've always thought it was a terrible thing, and my family still doesn't know." Yu Ji scratched his head sheepishly. "I met him abroad, and we're both studying art. I felt like I could laugh in my sleep. I couldn't believe such a good thing could happen to me. And sure enough…"
Yu Ji's pain was different from Qin Ci's; it was more of a self-centered anxiety about loss.
"My lover was taken away by a scoundrel, and he was even threatening to die for that scoundrel. In the end, he couldn't take it anymore and jumped off a building." Yu Ji cursed a few times, but it was unclear who he was cursing.
Qin Ci paused, then couldn't help asking, "Two-mixed?"
Isn't that a combination of fresh potato noodles and knife-cut noodles? To satisfy people's diverse taste preferences, the Chinese snack world is never short of new inventions.
"It's bisexuality," Yu Ji explained a new concept to Qin Ci.
"Oh..."
"That 'two-mixed' thing, appealing to both men and women. I've never really believed those kinds of people could have any real feelings; it's purely to satisfy their perverted curiosity!" After cursing, Yu Ji glanced at the tall sycamore tree at the hospital entrance and suddenly lowered his voice, saying, "Actually, I've known about Su Benxin for a long time." "
What? Su Benxin?" Qin Ci was momentarily taken aback by this abrupt change in conversation.
"Yes, she's the one who snatched that woman from my lover! Or you could say that womanizer got bored and started dating Su Benxin." Yu Ji felt a headache coming on. "I haven't been drinking, but my head feels like I've had too much to drink... Anyway, because of this, my lover couldn't take it anymore and committed suicide. We had already broken up for over two years, but I was still heartbroken. I came back to China specifically for him, thinking we could get back together."
Qin Ci couldn't process all this information at once: "I never imagined you two had such a complicated relationship."
"I went to the art gallery that day to see what this Boss Su was all about!" Yu Ji's voice was filled with barely concealed hatred.
Qin Ci was momentarily confused: "I don't think Boss Su has any direct conflict with you. If you have any complaints, they should be about that potato noodle... oh no, that mixed dish!"
"I've already met that person. Curly hair, quite handsome..." Yu Ji chuckled slightly, "Very artistically talented, with a naturally wicked smile, quite alluring."
"..."
"The reason I'm curious about this Su Benxin is because she's seriously affecting the peaceful lives of gay men in our small town!" Yu Ji's voice rose slightly, "If you ask me, that woman is a pervert. She likes to date gay men, and straightening something that's clearly bent is such a great honor for her! It's a complete waste! A terrible pervert!"
Qin Ci had never heard of such a person before: "But I think, if someone is a staunch gay man, he shouldn't be swayed by a woman..."
"Anyway, she always manages to turn a simple bowl of potato noodles into something mixed, like a witch making soup!" Yu Ji cursed a couple of times, then softened his tone. "What's even more infuriating is that you can't really get angry at her."
Qin Ci thought about Su Benxin; she did indeed have a very comfortable aura.
Qin Ci didn't want to discuss it further with the other members: "You've already paid the price for your curiosity. You wouldn't have come here if it weren't for the art exhibition." Yu
Ji also sighed deeply, feeling fearful at the thought of the present: "Although this city is quite nice, every time I close my eyes, I see Zhi Chun's face. After all, I shared a dorm room with him last night, and I'm too scared to sleep in that room tonight… Dr. Qin, can I sleep in your room with you?"
Qin Ci: "…Okay, thankfully there's an empty bed." —If Yu Ji hadn't just confessed, Qin Ci would have answered more readily.
The two returned to their dorm room, and Su Benxin came over to say goodnight and pray for a peaceful night.
After the other person left, Yu Ji muttered, "I was really annoyed by this woman, but I just couldn't bring myself to hate her when I saw her... Sigh, she's right, I hope everyone is safe tonight."
"That's impossible," Qin Ci smiled bitterly. "If no deaths occur during the night, everyone will have to vote on who died the next morning."
Hearing this, Yu Ji patted his head. "Right? You told us all the rules when we first arrived... My memory is really bad, and my head hurts a bit, like I have a cold. I'm going to sleep early, I'm too lazy to wash up."
Qin Ci looked at Yu Ji lying down fully clothed, recalling the fragmented memories of the old rules, and even wondered if those rules would still work in this city, since this city has its own order.
The phone rang suddenly. Qin Ci picked up the receiver, and it was Ke Xun's voice on the other end: "Brother Qin, do you remember? We're currently inside the painting 'The Scarlet Beast.' Our goal is to find the painter's signature or seal! Staying in this city for too long will make us assimilated, and we might even forget our original purpose! Brother Qin, wake up! Finding the beast is a task this city gave us, but our goal is to leave this city! Leave this painting!"
Ke Xun's voice grew clearer and louder, each sound like an alarm clock waking someone from a deep sleep. Qin Ci suddenly broke out in a cold sweat, his back soaked.
Without time to analyze when this sense of disorientation had begun, Qin Ci tried to compose himself: "What's the next step? Have you all discussed it?"
"We don't have a specific plan yet, but the goal is to find the signature! We're currently notifying every member by phone; the sooner everyone knows, the better!" Ke Xun's voice gradually lost the rich, cinematic quality unique to this city, becoming very real, even cracking in his urgency.
"Okay, I'll notify all our members immediately. Let's have a meeting tomorrow morning." Qin Ci said this, but in his heart, it felt like two trains were heading towards different destinations. All his actions at this moment were like the long inertia after a train has stopped. Qin
Ci hung up the phone, and then there was a soft knock on the door.
Su Benxin came in: "I heard the phone ring just now. Is everything alright?"
Qin Ci wanted to wake Yu Ji to talk to him, but the man was fast asleep and couldn't be woken up no matter what he did, so he had to tell Su Benxin what Ke Xun had just said.
Su Benxin didn't come to her senses for a long time. After a while, she clutched her chest and said, "My God, this world is really scary. It tried to lure us all in."
"Yeah, I've never experienced anything like this before."
"Although... I think this city is lovely, and I even feel a little nostalgic... this is ultimately not where I should be." Su Benxin shrugged, her tone filled with regret.
"..." Qin Ci, his thoughts exposed, deliberately avoided the topic: "Be careful tonight. Tomorrow we need to focus on finding the beast... no, finding the autograph."
"Okay, goodnight."
...
Luo Wei was awakened by a sudden phone ring, a startling awakening as if he had been forcibly pulled from one world into another.
He sat up in a cold sweat, still lying on his single bed in the dormitory. Wei Dong on the other bed was fast asleep, completely unaffected by the ringing. Lion on the other side seemed to be dreaming, his expression somewhat pained.
The phone was still ringing, and Luo Wei got up to answer it.
A whooshing sound came from the receiver, accompanied by the crackling sound of damaged old film reels. It seemed like someone was speaking, but it was extremely indistinct.
Luo Wei listened for a while and asked, "Who are you? Who are you looking for?"
The voice on the receiver was still full of rough graininess, and amidst the crackling, a man seemed to be saying, "...It's out."
"What? What's out?" Luo Wei asked again.
"...It's coming out of his trachea." The muffled voice seemed a little closer and clearer. Just
as Luo Wei was about to listen more closely, he suddenly heard a strange noise from the room.
Lion was clutching his Adam's apple, making choking sounds.
Luo Wei rushed to Lion's side, shouting for Wei Dong to help.
Soon, Ke Xun and Mu Yiran from next door also rushed in, but everyone was helpless in the face of Lion's condition.
A large amount of blood suddenly gushed from Lion's Adam's apple, like a fountain.
No one knew how to help, and unfortunately, there was no doctor nearby.
In desperation, Ke Xun rushed forward and pressed his hand against Lion's bleeding wound. Through the gaping, bloody wound, he seemed to sense something: "It seems like there's a severed blood vessel. I'm connecting it now... Call an ambulance! Call quickly!"
Ke Xun was already covered in blood, but he tried his best to keep his companion's vital parts firmly in place, not daring to make the slightest mistake.