Chapter 5
"Bai Nan, keep watch with your father tonight."
As midnight approached, the crowd gradually left, leaving only a few close relatives who stayed behind to keep vigil as arranged by the ancestral master. Bai Hua was among them.
Bai Nan nodded, not surprised at all; in fact, that was precisely her purpose in coming.
After Huang Ying finished speaking, she went upstairs with Bai Di. Bai Hua also dozed off. The work in the kitchen was tiring and chaotic, and he was already sleepy.
As the crowd dispersed, only four people remained in the mourning hall: Bai Hua, herself, and two middle-aged men from the Bai clan.
Before leaving, Bai Lu glared at her fiercely. She knew he was angry at her for not living up to her expectations, but she couldn't dissuade her from going upstairs to sleep.
Thanks to taking a nap in the afternoon, Bai Nan was full of energy.
At midnight, the cicadas chirped, like a lullaby for people, and the adults were all getting drowsy.
Bai Nan knew the time was ripe and it was time to make his move.
She took out a piece of white paper that she had prepared earlier, placed it between her fingertips on the coarse incense stick, and waited until the thick smoke gathered on the folded paper and could not escape from the side before immediately taking it back.
The white smoke thickened and drifted into the coffin. Bai Nan stood to one side of the coffin, his gaze fixed on Li Laokou, before throwing the talisman inside.
She had this talisman blessed by a master at Qingci Temple a week ago, but the master didn't know its contents and only thought she came to ask for blessings.
Little did he know that the talisman he was chanting was a 'Soul-Seizing Curse' personally drawn by Bai Nan—she cursed Li Laokou to never be reborn and to fall into the animal realm immediately after the seventh day after his death!
After finishing, she returned to the prayer mat and sat cross-legged. She calmly began to chant the incantation. She did not have the magical powers of a Taoist priest, so she could only try to achieve the magic by chanting the incantation repeatedly.
She told herself: All I want is revenge, pure revenge, and I will let go of the hatred as soon as I'm done.
Then she meditated for a while.
A few minutes later, the clenched back teeth gradually loosened, the muscles in the whole body stopped trembling, and the breathing gradually calmed down.
She fell asleep.
But this sleep was not pleasant; she dreamed of Li Laokou.
And then there was myself two years ago, during the summer vacation after graduating from junior high school, that nightmarish day.
"Grandpa, are you alright?"
Bai Nan heard herself say to Li Laokou that she helped him to the bus stop and wiped the bus stop seats clean for him to sit down.
"Oh, Grandpa's alright. What grade are you in now? Last time I saw you, you were just a little bean sprout, and now you've grown into a young lady."
She looked at the glint in his eyes and couldn't help but tremble. She wanted to tell her two-year-younger self to run away, but she could only watch helplessly as the scene continued.
"...Uh, ninth grade." She looked shy as she spoke, tugging at her backpack strap.
Bai Nan knew that this was a gesture she made when she was shy.
"Haha, that's a young lady now. How's your grandma?" He squinted as he spoke, appearing very kind and approachable.
But Bai Nan felt like vomiting. She swallowed the stomach acid that surged up into her throat and tried to pull herself up and run away.
But a dream is just a dream, and reality is just reality; there's nothing she can do about it.
She could only suppress her nausea and glare at him fiercely as he placed his filthy hand on hers, rubbing it as he said, "So good, the child raised by Grandma is so sensible, so well-behaved."
Bai Nan wanted to roar, to grab his neck and yell, "Don't you dare mention my grandma! Don't you dare touch me with your filthy hands! Disgusting! Absolutely disgusting!"
But her screams only echoed in her mind. She saw herself helplessly accepting his disgusting caresses, all because of the grandmother he mentioned.
Bai Nan trembled with disgust, and she began to scream, "Get out! Why don't you just die! Bai Nan! Don't let him touch you! Shake off his hand!!! Bai Nan! Shake off him!"
"He's not Grandma! He's a pervert! Get away from him!"
"Bai Nan!"
She wanted to wake her up, to wake herself up.
But it was no use; there was an invisible barrier between them, and no matter how much she roared, they remained unmoved.
Then she watched herself bring him home, watched him suddenly turn on her, watched him pin her down—these scenes chilled her to the bone and made her nauseous.
She broke down.
"Please! Bai Nan! Run! Run!"
Please! Please!
She heard herself scream in terror, "Let me go! Grandma! Save me!"
"Aaaaaah, someone save me!"
"Help, help me!!!"
Bai Nan frantically pulled her towards herself, trying to take her away from this place and never come back, but she couldn't do it no matter what she did!
She can't do it.
I couldn't do it in the past, and I can't do it now.
She could only stare with her eyes wide open until tears of blood streamed down her face before she closed them.
Her tears had long since dried up; only her taut face remained a reminder of her predicament.
But... no one heard her cries for help. Her throat bled from screaming, yet her body remained beneath him.
His heavy breathing, bloodshot eyes, bulging veins in his neck, and icy hands were all happening, but she couldn't perceive them.
She felt as if she had returned to the world of the living only when she heard the sound of the lock being opened at the door.
"What are you doing?!"
She saw Huang Ying screaming and questioning, saw Bai Hua's gloomy face, and saw Bai Di's astonished gaze.
He finally got off her, but calmly pulled up his waistband and slowly fastened his belt.
She still remembers the snap of the belt being fastened, the cold wind blowing into her nostrils in the stairwell, the dried tears on her face, and her cold, shivering skin.
"What?! Impossible! She's a virgin, and you think you can fob us off with this paltry sum?! We're not begging!"
"Get out! If you're not sincere, don't talk!"
She heard Huang Ying's piercing scream from the master bedroom, Bai Hua's deep roar, and his disgusting tone: "You didn't manage to get it in. You came back too early, otherwise there would be no room for negotiation."
Bai Nan trembled again. She suddenly felt cold all over, even to the bone, as if she were lying in an ice coffin.
"Then she'll be too ashamed to show her face in public!"
"At least double the price! Otherwise, forget it!"
"Oh dear, that won't do. It seems we can't reach an agreement."
It's so cold! So cold! So cold!
Bai Nan felt like she was about to freeze to death. She hugged her arms tightly, curled herself up into a ball, and collapsed weakly onto the floor.
The floor, which should have been cold, suddenly became warm. Like the little match girl, she clung to the warmth, clinging to it tightly.
The floor grew hotter and hotter, eventually becoming scorching. Bai Nan moved away from it, not wanting to burn herself, even if it wasn't a match.
But the heat seemed to be chasing her; the more she tried to escape, the closer it got. In the end, Bai Nan gave in and let the furnace burn her.
But the stove didn't heat up anymore; it just kept a comfortable temperature, warming her from a distance.
The dream had ended, and she fell asleep again.
...
The next day, Bai Nan got out of bed because she needed to urinate.
She remembered that the room did not have a private bathroom; she had to walk to the bathroom at the end of the corridor. But she was so sleepy that she had to squint and limp along the wall to get there.
When she got to the bathroom, she immediately took off her pajama bottoms and plopped down on the toilet.
After the urge to urinate subsided, she realized that her pajama bottoms were completely soaked.
Bai Nan lowered her head, opened her eyes groggily, and froze on the spot after just one glance.
Holy crap!
This was the first time she had ever sworn. If Bai Lu had heard it, he would probably have smiled with great satisfaction.
But Bai Nan couldn't laugh.
It's fair to say that any girl who suddenly grows a 'golden mushroom' down there would lose all composure.
She walked blankly to the mirror, looked at the familiar face in it, and became even more devastated.
The boy had a pair of amber eyes that were very similar to hers, and his own blank expression was reflected in his bright pupils.
She 'turned' into Bai Di.
The violent impact left her momentarily unresponsive, her mind blank as if it had crashed.
She couldn't understand what went wrong with the 'soul-collecting spell' she performed last night, or why she was the one being punished...
Suddenly a headache struck. She seemed to have had a dream last night, but the stabbing pain made it impossible for her to remember the content of the dream. She only vaguely remembered feeling warm before waking up.
...like my grandmother's embrace when I was six years old.
"Knock knock knock"
There was a knock on the door.
Bai Nan suddenly snapped back to reality, instantly realizing that this wasn't a dream. She had never had such a bizarre dream before, and...
"hiss--"
She pinched herself hard, and the pain shot through her instantly.
"Knock knock knock"
Is anyone there?
It's Xu Xin's voice. Isn't he staying in Bai Lu's room? Bai Lu's room clearly has a private bathroom.
The sound of the door lock turning.
"Uh... there's someone!" she quickly exclaimed.
She shouldn't be seen by anyone right now, not only because she's afraid of being exposed, but also because her pajama bottoms are completely wet and smell of urine.
After she finished speaking, she didn't hear any footsteps. Could it be that Xu Xin was waiting for her outside the door?
"Uh, well, I'll be in a while, why don't you go downstairs?" she stammered, surprised to find Bai Di's voice so deep for the first time.
After a moment of silence, footsteps finally sounded and gradually faded away.
Bai Nan immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
Once the footsteps had completely disappeared, she quickly washed her hands and went to the door. She peeked around to make sure no one was in the hallway before rushing into her room.
Suddenly, a door opened, and Bai Lu walked out, rubbing his eyes.
This sudden turn of events caused Bai Nan to immediately turn her back to the white wall, hoping that Bai Lu hadn't seen her.
Please, please.
Unfortunately, heaven did not hear her heartfelt words.
"Bai Di? You're up so early?" Bai Lu asked, puzzled.
"......"
Why aren't you saying anything?
"......"
Why have you been facing the wall like that?
"......"
"Bai Di?"
"Baidi Baidi Baidi?"
Please stop yelling.
"Oh no, I need to pee first..."
Bai Lu rushed to the bathroom.
call--
After Bai Nan left, she rushed into the room, only to find herself staring into a pair of amber eyes as soon as she entered.
"Ah ...
The two screamed at the same time. Luckily, the adults didn't live in this building, or they would have been in big trouble.
"Mmm mmm" (Let go)
"Shh, don't shout yet," Bai Nan said, covering Bai Di's mouth.
Bai Di nodded blankly, and she immediately let go of his hand.
Strictly speaking, she was covering 'her own' mouth, only the soul inside had become Bai Di.
The two have swapped bodies/souls!
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