Chóng Fēi's blood ran cold at the confirmation.
'Then.. what is that?!'
His own eyes darkened like bottomless pools, fixed on the wall instead, not daring to look behind or anywhere else.
"Fuu fu fuuuu fuuu~?"
A clear whistle followed. Wrapped around a male voice. It had its own rhythm—like a question without words. Playful. Knowing. And most importantly—familiar.
As told, it wasn't coming from behind—but from inside the bowl.
'Is he... inside it..?'
His heart hammered in his chest, his mind flooding with warnings until it went blank.
'Don't look. Don't speak, Chóng. He's just messing with you again..'
But something touched him. Again. At the knees this time—maybe a cold finger. It made him almost jump like a startled cat. A shiver of disgust and fear ran down his spine. He could feel every hair on his arms stand on end.
But his biggest accidental mistake was—looking down at the bowl.
The bowl... it had that same pale, ugly, dangerous face that had hunted him since childhood—working alongside the ghosts that aimed to drive him mad in this clan.
It smiled at him—cracked, slow. It spread wider than any face should. Old bandages wrapped around its head. Bugs crawled in and out of its mouth, as if it had just escaped the grave.
"Good boy~ have you kept your promise?~" The presence whispered, its voice echoing through the washroom—but not reaching Lìngxiāo's ears.
Chóng Fēi froze for a second. Then his hands no longer obeyed him. He couldn't think properly anymore.
He threw the bowl at the tub.
It hit the wall with a loud thud, followed by a splash of water that drenched him slightly. The only thing he still gripped was the towel he had brought for Lìngxiāo's forehead.
When he was about to scream, he bit down on his arm—muffling the sound against his own skin, not calling for Lìngxiāo.
On the other side, Lìngxiāo's eyes flew open at the violent sound of the bowl and water. He sat up quickly.
"Fēi Gōngzǐ?! Are you alright?" He reached for his Jìng Róu, legs swinging off the bed to come closer. His eyes were still dry and bloodshot—as if he was only half himself today.
"F-fuck.. this face never lets go of me. At least it's better than the other ghosts who just talk." Chóng Fēi muttered tightly to himself, hugging his own arms as he knelt on the floor.
"I asked you something." That same ugly face spoke from the tub water. It seemed to bathe like a nest of black snakes, touching itself in a horrible way—up and down, deliberately.
"Are you gonna invite him here for a candlelight dinner now? Tell him to stay outside or..." It tilted its head, wide white eyes with tiny black dots staring. "He is fragile right now... and you are already a fool. Should I break him more..?"
Chóng Fēi swallowed hard.
'Better he stays out of this mess while he's still sick.. and already has a disturbing case on hand. This is my last alone.'
"No.. J-just leave. I am not breaking any promise. Do not show yourself to him if you do not wish to be caught in his mirror.." Chóng Fēi hissed shakily at the ghost.
"Impressive. You have learned to blackmail me back. You have grown up, kid." The ghost purred. "But yeah, true—I do not wish to rot in his mirror. But perhaps you do not want me to either—"
"Why are you not answering me?" Lìngxiāo called again, about to step into the washroom—his head still visibly spinning. Even his mirror was held like he might hit someone with it like a pan, more than seal any demons.
Then, without warning, both were cut off by Chóng Fēi's urgent warning to Lìngxiāo—his eyes still shut. "Why do you treat me like a kid just because we are five years apart?! Go back and lie down. Don't announce the whole clan like this. I just slipped on the fucking floor."
Lìngxiāo froze, blinking at Chóng Fēi's sudden panicked anger. But he didn't seem to buy it that easily.
"Have you seen something?" He echoed in a lower, more careful tone. "... I cannot.. leave you in danger."
"I'm done, kid. Go—your gēge is calling~ just came to remind you~" The ghost purred again, this time right in front of Chóng Fēi. Those eyes were large enough to swallow him whole.
Chóng Fēi's breath hitched sharply, like he was choking. His body carried him faster than ever. He stumbled out of the washroom, still biting his arm, eyes wide open.
"Ah!"
Both cried out lightly in unison as their foreheads bumped with a faint thud—loud enough for both to hear.
The feeling burned small yet sharp. Bone to bone at a sensitive place like the head.
"Damn it!" Chóng Fēi only managed to shut his one eye in opinion since both hands are busy.
Lìngxiāo's hand flew to his forehead, to the corner where he'd been hit. His motion was already unsteady, so the bump made his legs struggle to carry him again.
He almost lost his balance and fell backward toward the other side of the headboard—made of heavy jackfruit wood.
'Will he even survive if his head hits there?!'
Chóng Fēi's earlier fear vanished as a new danger appeared. His body moved on its own—as if he had promised to carry all the problems of this universe alone, whether he wished to or not.
"You are not gonna let me breathe, right?" Chóng Fēi gripped him by his left arm and pulled him up sharply, then shifted his hand to Lìngxiāo's back to steady him.
His other hand gripped Lìngxiāo's right hand—the one holding the mirror. His own fingers, still wet from the towel, wrapped around Lìngxiāo's over the handle of the mirror, saving it from falling and breaking.
It could have brought more chaos if the mirror broke.
"Ah.. my.. head.." Lìngxiāo muttered faintly. His voice echoed with clear pain.
It was too human—while those many needles pinned to his finger hadn't made him flinch. But now he was trying to hide it anyway. His head rolled slowly to the side, as if rocks were shifting inside, eyes shut tightly, mouth parted with the same slow complain, head tilted back.
Chóng Fēi parted his mouth to say something.
But he couldn't find any more reason to scold this guy who was still not fully in his right mind. It was still amazing, no matter what. How could a lock of hair do this? Even that question had grown rotten from asking himself a thousand times since this chaos started.
So with an exhale, he let go of his earlier fear and that question. He watched Lìngxiāo slowly raise his head like a confused bumblebee, rubbing two fingers against the bone of his forehead.
But beneath the surface, his thoughts ran like toxic air he couldn't breathe in.
'Thank goodness.. he didn't break into there while that skull mummy ghost left.. I should.. better not even try to think about this moment—and asking is far away.'