Chapter 48

Yang Siguang asked Xu Lu for a little formalin solution.

The latter had always loved seeking attention in cyberspace and had recently posted an image on his Moments, claiming he had specifically bought formalin to preserve the testicles removed from his cat after its neutering, subsequently mentioning with a seemingly troubled air that there was still plenty of formalin left, though he had no idea what to use it for.

A crowd underneath had made all sorts of jeering remarks, suggesting every wicked idea imaginable.

As usual, Yang Siguang had merely glanced through the post and left no comment whatsoever.

Yet this time, the moment he sent a message, Xu Lu’s reply came instantly.

[What do you want that stuff for?]

Before Yang Siguang could reply, the young man sent another message.

[Good thing your message came quickly, or I was about to throw the stuff away. Anyway, are you in a hurry? Should I bring it straight over to you?]

Yang Siguang’s expression was cold.

[No, I’ll just come down to your dorm to pick it up.]

He replied.

In truth, if it were possible, Yang Siguang would rather not have any contact with Xu Lu at this particular time.

Although he had long known what the other person’s personality was like, and that posting such things online was simply in his nature, seeing Xu Lu repeatedly and excitedly recounting every detail of Li Chen’s death online still filled Yang Siguang with an indescribable sense of annoyance and disgust.

However, buying formalin through delivery would take far too long.

Only after snapping out of his initial madness and collapse did Yang Siguang belatedly realize what on earth he had done.

The moment he discovered Li Chen’s eyeball, he should have contacted Li Chen’s family, but he hadn't.

That eyeball had been rashly submerged in water by him. Even though the eyeball miraculously maintained its clarity and freshness, yet... whether it was his imagination or not, Yang Siguang felt as though a faint, elusive stench of decay had begun to permeate his room.

He needed to preserve Li Chen’s eyeball properly.

He thought.

*

Before going out, Yang Siguang actually took a look in the mirror.

He didn't think he looked any different from usual, nor was there anything amiss with his attire. However, when he saw Xu Lu downstairs at the University A dormitory building, the latter looked as if he had been badly startled.

"Ah, why do you... look like this?"

With a cross-body bag slung over his shoulder, Xu Lu hurried over to Yang Siguang, raising his hand mid-sentence as if to touch Yang Siguang’s face, only for Yang Siguang to take a step back and avoid it.

"Just now I thought a ghost was haunting the downstairs. Isn't your complexion way too terrible?"

The young man stared at Yang Siguang for a few seconds, his expression tinged with a hint of worry.

"Wait, could it be because of what happened before... were you scared out of your wits?"

The final sentence carried a trace of deliberate comfort and intimacy.

Xu Lu had to admit that he harbored some feelings for Yang Siguang.

That's right, the very first time he saw Yang Siguang in an elective course during their freshman year, Xu Lu discovered that his heart had skipped a beat.

The reason wasn't simply because Yang Siguang possessed an exceptionally pretty face, but also because there was a very special... aura about him.

Xu Lu couldn't put his finger on what kind of feeling it was; it was always vague, making anyone who looked at him feel their chest tighten uncontrollably bit by bit, while their throat slowly grew dry and thirsty.

In truth, Yang Siguang’s personality was not very pleasant. When they first enrolled, everyone felt that this person was somewhat gloomy, sitting quietly in a corner every day minding his own business. Compared to those lively, cheerful, and youthful classmates in the class, he appeared so out of place.

Yet the more he was like this, the more people couldn't help but pay attention to him.

The more one watched, the stronger the urge would rise within one's heart to tease him, to tear open that icy shell bit by bit, and make him whimper and cry out in pain.

...It was simply toxic.

People nowadays matured early, and Xu Lu had determined his sexual orientation quite early on, subsequently dating several boyfriends in succession—some around his age, others from outside society. But he had never encountered anyone quite like Yang Siguang.

Anyway, he didn't seem much like a straight man.

That being said, he had been hovering around Yang Siguang for nearly four years without managing to catch any evidence that the other man liked men.

Because Yang Siguang looked at everyone with that same bored, world-weary expression. It felt as though even if a celestial being were to strip naked and lie down on a bed, he would still hunch his shoulders, curl up in the corner of the bed, and stare blankly with a deadpan face.

Until he encountered that horrifying car crash this time.

Xu Lu finally discovered that something seemed to have changed in Yang Siguang.

It was as if the glass shell that had always shielded him had been shattered, and the emaciated young man now appeared so fragile, even tinged with a pitiful sense of helplessness.

The little spark of desire that Xu Lu had almost extinguished instantly came back to life.

"Sigh, encountering something like this is indeed quite bad luck. You dwell on things too much, Siguang, so it's normal to be scared."

Without even waiting for Yang Siguang’s response, a eager smile had already unconsciously spread across his face.

"How about this, want to come to my dorm for a couple of drinks? They say alcohol can ward off bad luck. If there's anything weighing heavy on your heart, just say it out there. Once you say it, you'll be fine—"

Yang Siguang’s pupils rolled, his gaze pitch-black and hollow.

"The formalin solution, did you bring it?"

As if he hadn't heard a single word of Xu Lu’s preceding monologue, his gaze bypassed Xu Lu’s face entirely and nailed itself onto Xu Lu’s cross-body bag.

Xu Lu’s smile stiffened.

"I brought it," he replied flatly. "After all, it's what you asked for. Even if I forgot to wear my shoes, I wouldn't forget this. But what do you want this stuff for?"

He still wanted to continue prying, but Yang Siguang had already lowered his eyelids and reached out to take the formalin solution directly from his hand.

"I want to preserve... something very important."

Xu Lu listened as Yang Siguang answered, his voice light and airy, as though the speaker were trapped inside a dream.

The moment his voice fell, Yang Siguang looked as though he was about to leave.

Associated with the fact that Yang Siguang had lost a drastic amount of weight over the past two days of not being seen, and looking at his absent-minded state now, Xu Lu’s heart suddenly skipped a beat.

A bizarre thought flashed rapidly across his mind.

"Hey, Yang Siguang, are you really okay? You and Li Chen..."

"Hmm?"

Hearing that name, Yang Siguang finally gave Xu Lu some reaction.

And this instead made Xu Lu’s expression grow increasingly murky and ambiguous.

"Could it be that you and Li Chen were very close? Otherwise, you wouldn't be grieving this much."

Xu Lu asked tentatively.

Yang Siguang froze for a moment, then very, very slowly shook his head.

"I... I didn't have much of a friendship with him."

The young man’s voice was a bit hoarse, yet Xu Lu’s heart sank slightly.

"No way," Xu Lu forced the corners of his mouth to twitch, continuing to speak with deliberate casualness. "If you really weren't close, back when you were being harassed by that bastard Zhang Zhe, why would God Li have been in such a rush to step up and stand up for you?"

This time, Yang Siguang finally cast all his attention onto Xu Lu.

He opened his eyes wide in utter astonishment.

"Stand up for me? When?"

Xu Lu was also stunned for a moment, before realizing that when that incident happened, the person in front of him must have already lost consciousness.

It was also during their freshman year. Joining a student club could earn you 0.5 credits, so basically everyone joined a club. Xu Lu and Yang Siguang were no exception and casually picked a literature club to enter. They just hadn't expected there to be a senior named Zhang Zhe in the club. Who knew what drugs he had taken or what was wrong with him, but he targeted Yang Siguang every single day and picked all sorts of trouble.

Later on, during a group dinner, he even intentionally forced Yang Siguang to drink various mixed alcoholic beverages. No one else could successfully persuade him otherwise, and as a result, before the meal had even passed the halfway mark, Yang Siguang had already been made dizzy and passed out from the drinks.

Zhang Zhe wasn't satisfied then. Relying on his high status within the club, he actually used his drunken state to continue instigating the other flushed, drunken people in the private room to strip off Yang Siguang’s clothes, claiming he wanted to take photos.

——In the end, of course, he didn't succeed.

No one could have anticipated that they would happen to run into Li Chen at that exact moment.

Xu Lu had been half-drunk at the time as well, yet upon meeting Li Chen’s icy glare, he had inexplicably shivered, and his drunkenness had instantly sobered up by more than half.

"...Everyone was stunned at the time. You have no idea, when that guy put on a stern face, it was genuinely terrifying. He just picked you up and carried you away right then and there. Zhang Zhe even tried to block him, but a single glare from Li Chen left him frozen in place."

Prompted by Xu Lu, Yang Siguang recalled that minor unpleasantness from their freshman year.

His brows furrowed involuntarily.

"I thought at the time it was you—"

He stared straight at Xu Lu.

A large part of the reason he could tolerate Xu Lu as a "friend" was indeed because, after that drinking session in freshman year, it was Xu Lu who had carried him back to the dormitory and settled him in properly.

After all, he had no other friends in the club at the time.

Waking up fresh and clean in the dorm the next day, Yang Siguang hadn't thought too much about it, because Xu Lu was the only one who would have taken him away from the drinking party and brought him back to the dorm.

Yet now Xu Lu was telling him that person was Li Chen?

Hearing Yang Siguang’s doubt, Xu Lu’s expression stiffened slightly. He stammered for several seconds before giving a dry response: "I was planning to take you away too, truly, but before I had the chance, Li Chen had already pushed the door open and walked in... Oh right, I originally thought you two were on pretty good terms, but later I didn't see you interacting with him, so I didn't think much of it..."

Xu Lu had no idea how he had managed to trap himself while probing. Just as he wanted to continue patching things up with a few more words, he suddenly felt a wave of chilliness.

Something was staring at him.

Goosebumps suddenly erupted across his spine, followed by cold sweat.

All his thoughts snapped instantly, and his instinct compelled him to turn his head and look behind him.

When they discussed meeting up, Yang Siguang had deliberately chosen a secluded spot, especially since it was high noon. The summer sun was blazing, and most students were huddled in shady spots to rest, leaving the surroundings completely silent and deserted.

Behind him was empty air, not a single person in sight.

Yet the sensation of being malevolently stared at was so intense that Xu Lu couldn't even feel the slightest warmth from the summer sun.

What on earth was going on...

And at that very moment, Xu Lu suddenly caught a glimpse of a pair of eyes.

University A’s campus was exceptionally well-greened; downstairs at the dorms, it was lush and verdant, filled with aged trees and dense shrubbery.

Right now, a pair of blood-red eyes were embedded in a deathly pale cheek, unblinkingly and directly fixing their gaze on him from amidst the dripping green leaves.

Xu Lu had never witnessed such a spiteful and gloomy gaze.

Most importantly, that position was already perilously close to the ground.