In an instant, Liang Rou felt her hair stand on end, an indescribable terror welling up inside her.
No, this can’t be!
Hadn’t she already escaped?!
Wasn’t she no longer in that city?!
So why was she running into her again?!
Why?!
A barrage of questions exploded in her mind.
Liang Rou’s head grew heavy and muddled, and everything that had happened in the past six months suddenly felt like a dream—utterly unreal.
Now, it was time to return to reality.
She wasn’t Liang Rou.
She was a man.
All the calm and gentle days she had lived through after becoming a girl were just hallucinations born after being killed by that woman.
It had to be like this, right? It had to be!! Otherwise, why would she run into her again?! She’d hidden so far away!!! So far away!!!!!
As these thoughts spun in her head, Liang Rou’s body grew more and more rigid.
Downstairs, that woman’s gaze grew darker and more unfathomable.
“Huff!”
“Huff!”
Liang Rou’s breathing became ragged.
She stared in terror at everything before her.
She watched in horror as that girl pulled a sharp knife from her beautiful shoulder bag.
Even more chilling, the knife had a delicate butterfly bow tied to it.
The girl began to walk toward her.
One step.
Two steps.
Three steps.
The sense of oppression grew stronger and stronger…
The girl’s smile was like a deadly poison—the sweeter it was, the more dangerous.
Liang Rou found herself almost intoxicated by that smile, a strange feeling surging within her, mixed with admiration, fear, and resignation.
“Liang…”
At last, she walked right up to Liang Rou.
Those pink eyes turned even more crimson, as if blood was seeping out from within.
“Liang…”
Her voice was as sweet as honey.
Slowly, the girl raised that exquisite, adorable knife.
The smile at the corner of her lips grew wider and wider, twisting into a bizarre arc.
“I.”
“Finally…”
“Found you!”
The sharp knife came straight down.
“Pa!”
The girl licked the corner of her lips, eyes narrowing in intoxication.
“As expected.”
“It really is you…!”
“!”
“!”
“!”
Liang Rou felt it—
“No…”
She raised her hand, wanting to yield once more, to beg for mercy again.
It was fine if she belonged to her alone.
It was fine if she was locked away forever, as long as she could keep living in this world…
“Please.”
“Please, I’m begging you…”
Before she could finish speaking—
“Not allowed~”
The girl’s hand landed on her neck.
“I told you, if you betray me…”
Her voice was like a demon from hell.
“I will kill you!”
“Buzz—!”
Liang Rou’s eyes flew open, wide with shock.
She gasped for air like someone drowning, clutching at the nearest straw.
Looking downstairs at the girl, she finally realized everything just now was only a hallucination brought on by too much stress.
“Haa~”
“Haa~”
She panted heavily, wiping the sweat trembling from her forehead.
Thank goodness, it was all just a hallucination.
She was a girl now, named Liang Rou, looking completely different from before.
That woman wouldn’t recognize her… she definitely wouldn’t…!
Almost to reassure herself, Liang Rou glanced down at the girl again.
But this time, the girl didn’t look back.
She just focused on picking out Oden, then grabbed a pack of crab meat and a can of lemon water from the shelf.
“Di~”
The checkout sound rang out.
Liang Rou’s heart thudded in her chest.
She pressed her hands together, praying desperately that this woman wouldn’t come upstairs to eat.
Yet, in the end, her wish went unfulfilled.
After paying, that woman took her Oden, picked up her lemon water, and headed for the stairs—one step at a time.
The sight sent another shiver through Liang Rou, recalling the terror of her hallucination.
That vision had been terrifying… so real, Liang Rou almost believed she was going to die right here.
She didn’t even dare touch the food on her table now, her appetite gone.
She planned to wait until that woman came up and sat down before slipping away as quietly as possible.
She’d missed her best chance to leave—if she went down now, she’d run right into that woman on the stairs.
But reality slapped Liang Rou hard, reminding her that life is never that simple.
That woman walked straight up to her, set the Oden and other food on the table, then pulled out the chair across from Liang Rou and sat down.
No.
No way.
Liang Rou’s heart pounded wildly.
From what she knew of her ex-girlfriend, there was no way she’d sit with a stranger when there were so many empty seats around.
She wasn’t that type—maybe not exactly shy, but certainly not a social butterfly.
She never liked unnecessary contact with strangers.
“Gulp~”
Liang Rou swallowed hard, not daring to look up.
What should she do?
Should she leave, or stay?
If she left suddenly, it would look suspicious.
But sitting here doing nothing seemed even more suspicious.
Wait.
Her current appearance was unrecognizable.
So what if she left suddenly? Maybe she had something to do at home, maybe she just didn’t want to eat anymore—what could happen?
She didn’t believe this person could read minds!
After a minute of inner struggle, Liang Rou steeled herself.
She grabbed her bag from the chair beside her, sprang to her feet, and made for the stairs.
But the next second—
“Hey, wait a minute.”
That familiar voice sounded behind her, sending a chill from the soles of Liang Rou’s feet to the roots of her hair.
Crap.
No way.
Could this woman really have mind reading? Did she recognize Liang Rou just by looking at her?
“Gulp~”
Liang Rou swallowed nervously, pretending not to hear and continuing forward.
But after two more steps, she suddenly felt her wrist tighten—something warm and soft had grabbed her.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw, and instantly broke out in a cold sweat.
Her ex-girlfriend’s hand was gripping her wrist.
“I said, wait a minute~”
That sweet voice now wound around Liang Rou’s heart like a venomous snake, leaving her breathless.