Chapter 9
At midday, under the blazing sun, the courtyard of the rental properties was filled with the lively sounds of tenants cooking.
After washing the vegetables, Xu Qingzhou realized that he had forgotten to rinse the rice before putting it in the pot.
She patted her head, turned around and went into the house, picked up the inner pot of the rice cooker and put some rice in it. As she walked out, she subconsciously glanced at the cardboard box behind the door.
As she opened the door and stepped out, her expression suddenly froze. She took two steps back and turned to look at the cardboard box.
Empty.
The fox has disappeared.
Xu Qingzhou first bent down and searched the room with his eyes.
No.
She looked toward the half-closed door.
Did she forget to close the security door when she took the groceries out?
After a brief recollection, it really might be true.
Xu Qingzhou quickly put down the rice cooker and prepared to search around in the corridor.
Otherwise, we might have to swallow our pride and go to Zhang Pengfei's house to ask.
Unexpectedly, just as he opened the door and went out, he suddenly heard a scream from inside the courtyard.
The sound was brief and mournful.
Xu Qingzhou was startled, and within the two seconds he was frozen in place, he reacted with lightning speed—
It's Zhang Pengfei's voice!
For some reason, Xu Qingzhou felt that the screams were related to a fox, and immediately ran towards Zhang Pengfei's house.
The door to Zhang Pengfei's house was ajar.
Xu Qingzhou quickly knocked twice and pushed it away, only to find a scene of utter chaos.
The twins, dressed in black tulle dresses and wearing small hats, are clapping excitedly in a sofa surrounded by clutter.
As their gazes followed, a white fox shadow swiftly swept past the desk, with Zhang Pengfei chasing after it, grabbing a broom and knocking over chairs, teacups, and breaking the desk lamp along the way.
The fox clearly wanted to rush out of the house. After several leaps with a clear purpose, it nimbly leaped out. When it saw Xu Qingzhou, it was stunned. By the time it reacted, it had already pounced into Xu Qingzhou's arms and was caught.
It was at this moment that Zhang Pengfei noticed Xu Qingzhou.
A flicker of panic flashed across his eyes, but he quickly masked it with disgust, pointing one finger at the scratches on his face and the other at the fox in Xu Qingzhou's arms, cursing:
"This is the work of you, you damned fox!"
He rushed forward with a few big strides, grabbed Xu Qingzhou's clothes, and pushed him out:
"Get out! Take your beastly mother and get out of here! Get out!"
Xu Qingzhou was pushed backward by him and almost fell. He barely managed to stand up by holding onto the brick railing. He looked into the house, but the door was slammed shut by Zhang Pengfei.
She stared at the closed door, and for some reason, stood there motionless for a moment, as if deep in thought.
It wasn't until Chi Jun stretched his neck and called out that Xu Qingzhou snapped out of her daze. She patted Chi Jun in her arms reassuringly, glanced at the door, and then slowly walked back.
*
After returning home, Xu Qingzhou continued washing rice, preparing vegetables, and cooking.
Chi Jun lay in the cardboard box, observing Xu Qingzhou's expression through the window. However, the girl was busy cooking and didn't notice anything unusual in her eyes or expression. When she saw him staring at her, she even touched his ear with a smile.
Chi Jun shook his head and dodged.
He felt sluggish and heavy all over, and too lazy to think any further. He simply focused all his energy on listening to the sounds coming from Zhang Pengfei's room.
After the meal, Xu Qingzhou took Chi Jun to the vet.
It was a small private clinic. The doctor who examined Chi Jun was a young man who looked to be only in his early twenties. After conducting various examinations on Chi Jun, he used ambiguous words such as "should," "maybe," and "further observation."
Chi Jun snorted inwardly, having no hope for this doctor.
Sure enough, after taking the medicine he was prescribed, Chi Jun felt no difference whatsoever; instead, he felt even more tired and sleepy.
He lay there in a daze, his consciousness gradually fading away until he fell asleep.
All the sounds in the courtyard turned into indistinct background noise.
At three o'clock in the afternoon, the wind picked up outside.
The wind came suddenly, tugging at the curtains and blowing the tissues on the table and the rags on the wall to the ground. Xu Qingzhou looked at Chi Jun, who was sleeping soundly in the cardboard box with his blanket blown layer by layer, put down his pen, got up and closed both windows.
However, with no wind in the room, it was quiet and peaceful. Xu Qingzhou sat at the table, but for some reason, he couldn't continue writing.
Half an hour later, she put down her pen and moved the writing position from the small desk to the small dining table by the door.
The wooden door was half-open, and through the locked security door, Xu Qingzhou could see part of the situation outside.
However, she kept glancing in the direction of Zhang Pengfei's house, her pen clicking away, but she seemed even more restless and uneasy.
As evening approached, the sounds of people returning home from get off work and talking gradually filled the courtyard of the rented houses.
Xu Qingzhou looked through the security door and saw something, then suddenly stood up.
Her gaze was fixed on a certain spot outside the door. She gripped her pen tightly, her expression seemingly conflicted.
A moment later, he put down his pen, picked up his keys, and hurriedly went out.
*
Chi Jun, who was fast asleep, was completely unaware of his surroundings and naturally did not know that Xu Qingzhou had gone out in the evening.
He slept until almost lunchtime before waking up. When he did, he did not feel any improvement in his health. He was still groggy, his eyes were swollen and sore, and he felt as if he were being pricked by countless tiny needles.
Dinner consisted of congee, steamed buns, and side dishes.
Chi Jun had no appetite and didn't want to eat, but he still got up and forced himself to eat some in order to boost his immunity and fight off his discomfort.
His increasingly heavy body gave him a premonition that tonight wouldn't be easy.
Even after taking the medicine Xu Qingzhou gave him again, he still had a bad feeling.
To be honest, this discomfort started suddenly about two weeks ago.
The main symptom is that Chi Junshen is sleeping soundly in the middle of the night, but is suddenly awakened by an itchy skin.
Chi Jun didn't take it seriously at first; he only felt a slight itch for a while at night, nothing unbearable.
As time went on, the itching became deeper and more intense, and what initially only occurred at night gradually developed into a sudden, unpredictable itch that would also strike during the day.
Chi Jun has lost count of how many times he has been tormented by his own desires while he was asleep. He tries to catch up on sleep during the day, but he is still deeply troubled by it.
Gradually, Chi Jun developed symptoms such as fever and palpitations, making his already difficult sleep even worse. The physical and mental exhaustion and severe sleep deprivation caused Chi Jun to feel dizzy and nauseous during the day, making it difficult for him to think clearly. His joints felt like they were hastily pieced together, and nothing felt right.
He received the ointment several times a day without fail, and Xu Qingzhou even took him to a pet hospital to get more medicine, but it had no effect whatsoever.
Chi Jun even suspected that those old men had placed more than one curse on him back then, and now that they found him still alive, they were trying to kill him again by activating the curse.
As Chi Jun had guessed, tonight's event was even more intense than before.
In the past, it was mostly psychological torment that I couldn't get rid of, but tonight, after the lights were turned off, there was a lot more physical abuse. The initial itching was just a small appetizer that lasted for a short while before being replaced by waves of fine, dense, needle-like stinging pain.
Chi Jun's attempts to scramble for help are futile, and giving up is even more useless.
After enduring wave after wave of pain, which seemed to ease somewhat in the middle of the night, it suddenly felt as if a red-hot wire mesh had descended from the sky and tightly bound Chi Jun.
The scalding heat penetrated every pore of my body, relentlessly drilling inside.
Chi Jun felt as if he were being roasted over a raging fire, his bones burning with heat, his eyes blazing. The iron net would sometimes tighten as if trying to squeeze out all his blood, and then suddenly stick to his fur, pulling him desperately in all directions, causing excruciating pain as if his skin was being peeled off and his tendons were being pulled out.
Chi Jun was in so much pain that even breathing felt like a luxury. When things eased up a little, he hadn't even had a chance to catch his breath before he was suddenly thrown into a bottomless icy pool.
The biting wind and snow felt like a slow, agonizing torture, as if every inch of skin was being slowly sliced apart, and then cold salt particles were sprinkled on the wounds again and again.
Swinging back and forth between ice and fire, endlessly tormented, Chi Jun couldn't remember how long this torment lasted. He only remembered that in the intervals between countless breaths, he would struggle to lift his eyelids and look out the window, hoping for dawn.
However, the pitch-black night, like a cruel and silent shadow beast, quietly lurked to the side, watching him being tormented and devoured by death bit by bit.
—Chi Jun once thought he would die that night.
*
The next day, the sun was completely obscured by dark clouds, and the whole town looked gloomy.
Although it was Sunday, Xu Qingzhou was already used to getting up early. After washing up and cooking for a while, she put breakfast on the table.
The fox is still asleep.
Xu Qingzhou called it to eat as usual.
The fox lay motionless in the cardboard box, only lifting its eyelids to lazily glance at her.
Knowing that the fox's sleeping habits had been very irregular lately, Xu Qingzhou figured it must be really tired, so he didn't force it. He simply placed a small stainless steel bowl in front of the fox so that it could eat as soon as it opened its eyes when it was hungry.
After thinking for a moment, he mixed the medicine the doctor had prescribed yesterday into half a bowl of warm water and brought it to the fox.
After a night of tossing and turning, Chi Jun's body was soaked with sweat, dried, and then soaked again, and he was already quite dehydrated. Unfortunately, he didn't have the strength to get up and replenish his fluids, so he could only endure it.
When a bowl of water was brought to him, his mind was still foggy, and without thinking, he lowered his head and drank it.
After finishing half a bowl of water, he hung his head and continued to rest in a daze.
Xu Qingzhou instinctively felt that the fox was a bit listless and seemed uncomfortable. He reached out and touched it, but didn't feel any fever, shivering, or anything else unusual.
She didn't pay much attention, but she still observed from time to time.
After studying for a while after dinner, around ten o'clock, the fox got up and ate what was in its bowl.
Xu Qingzhou breathed a slight sigh of relief.
It seems like he's just a little sleepy, but there's nothing wrong with him.
She continued studying with her pen, but when she turned her head, her expression suddenly froze.
Two seconds later, she turned her head uncertainly, looked at the fox again, tilted her head, and looked even more puzzled—
Was she seeing things?
The fox tail-shaped "tattoo" on the fox's ear seems to be shimmering?
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
