Chapter Five: You Bully Me

“Who are you?” Nangong Yuchen stared at the girl ahead, her wings beating as she flew farther and farther away. He chased after her with all his might, but the distance only grew. No matter how loudly he shouted, the girl never paused, her figure finally fading into nothingness.

At once, everything around him plunged into darkness.

That light had come with the girl; with her departure, Nangong Yuchen was left in utter blackness, standing alone in the void, an aching emptiness hollowing out his chest.

“Harbinger of disaster! Get out of here!”

“It’s all because of you…”

Suddenly, the scene shifted. Nangong Yuchen found himself in the courtyard beneath a full moon. This time, though, there was a small, blurry figure standing there. No matter how he tried, he could not make out her features, but his heart hammered in his chest—he felt, instinctively, that she was someone important to him.

She ran, sobbing, as if searching for someone. Though he couldn’t see her clearly, somehow he just knew.

The slaughter continued.

Those monstrous beings, with the wings of bats sprouting from their backs, laughed bloodily as they cruelly harvested the fragile lives within the courtyard.

As Nangong Yuchen stared at that indistinct, childlike figure, a sharp pain shot through his head. The world darkened. Blood-red eyes began appearing all around, encircling him, fixing him with a hatred so intense he could feel it press upon his soul.

Hatred for him.

As the bloodshot eyes closed in, Nangong Yuchen screamed, “Don’t come after me! I’m not a curse!”

Terror gripped him. He turned and ran. The darkness was absolute—he had no sense of direction, no idea how far he’d gone. Only when his body was exhausted, when he could no longer move, did he collapse to rest.

“Yuchen!”

After a short while, a voice called his name from behind. He trembled. That voice—so familiar, as if it had been carved into his memory. He had never forgotten it.

Like a child, Nangong Yuchen scrambled up, replying with delight, “Kexin!” He spun around to look.

“Ke—” But in the instant he turned, his body froze, for he saw once again those blood-red eyes.

But this time, they were his sister’s eyes.

“Kexin… I’m so sorry, it’s all my fault—I’m the reason you’re—ah!” Nangong Yuchen didn’t try to run away this time, nor did he cower in fear. Instead, tears streamed down his face as he sobbed uncontrollably.

“Yuchen!” The blood-red eyes kept calling his name, drawing ever nearer.

“Kexin…” Nangong Yuchen wept aloud, his heart wracked with pain. He couldn’t bear his sister’s death.

“I’m sorry, Kexin…” As he cried out his guilt, the blood-red eyes pressed closer—three meters, two, one—until they were right in front of his face.

“Nangong Yuchen!” The voice boomed, magnified a thousandfold, exploding in his ears and sending shockwaves through his mind. The jolt tore him from the nightmare.

“Ke—” As his eyes snapped open, Nangong Yuchen saw that familiar face just inches away.

Her porcelain skin retained its usual beauty; her delicate, flawless features were serene and elegant, endlessly captivating. Beneath her arched lashes, her limpid eyes stared at him unblinking.

“Ah!” Nangong Kexin, seeing her brother finally awake, clapped a hand to her forehead and rolled her eyes in exasperation. “Yuchen, you’re finally up! I thought you were having a fit!”

Just moments before, she’d been woken by her brother repeatedly calling her name in his sleep. Not only had he inexplicably climbed into her bed to lie beside her, he’d been weeping and apologizing, blaming himself for her misfortune.

She had thought he’d completely lost it, so she’d leaned in and shouted at him.

“Kexin!” Nangong Yuchen stood there in a daze for several seconds before his expression lit up and he threw his arms around her, hugging her tightly.

“Thank goodness! Kexin, you’re alive, you really are! Hahaha…” Feeling the warmth of her body, he laughed in his excitement, though tears still streamed from his eyes. The joy of regaining what he thought had been lost made everything seem dreamlike.

At this moment, he was so afraid she might…

“Don’t say such things! Nangong Yuchen, what’s gotten into you? Let go of me!” Nangong Kexin was utterly speechless—what did he mean, “you’re really not dead”?

She grabbed his head and forcibly pried herself from his embrace.

She had no idea what had gotten into her brother all of a sudden—he was acting so strangely!

“Kexin!” Nangong Yuchen had lost count of how many times he’d said her name. Seeing his sister, alive and right in front of him, filled him with happiness—this was no dream.

“Nangong Yuchen, why are you in nothing but underwear in my bed?” Nangong Kexin couldn’t stand his incessant calling, especially the strange mix of fervor and excitement in his gaze. Embarrassed, she scooted toward the edge of the bed. But as she moved away, her field of view widened, and she suddenly realized that Nangong Yuchen was dressed in nothing but a pair of briefs!

“Um… Kexin…” At that moment, Nangong Yuchen noticed something he shouldn’t have.

In his line of sight, his sister wore nothing but a pair of cute, white panties—her body otherwise completely bare. His gaze landed, quite inadvertently, on her chest, which was, to be blunt, rather small.

He blurted out, “So small!”

It seemed quite different from the impression he got when she wore clothes each day.

“Huh?” Nangong Kexin had been waiting for him to explain why he was in her bed in nothing but his underwear. But what she saw instead was her brother’s widening eyes, and his astonished exclamation: “So small!”

Her pale cheeks instantly flushed a fiery red. Stiff-necked, she looked down at herself.

No pajamas, no bra, her body fully exposed except for that one tiny pair of panties.

“Ah! Nangong Yuchen!” Nangong Kexin screamed in disbelief, yanking the blanket over herself and wrapping it tightly.

Her face was burning.

Had her brother just seen her naked? And he’d even said—so small!

The secret she had hidden for so many years—her flat chest—had been exposed. A thousand thoughts raced through her mind; in that instant, she wished she could die.

Glaring at her brother still on her bed, she shouted in indignation, “Nangong Yuchen, what exactly did you do to me!”

“Kexin! I… I really don’t know!” Nangong Yuchen panicked, waving his hands in denial. “I… I didn’t mean to look, I just blurted it out, it’s really not that small…”

“You—!” Nangong Kexin was furious. Her already pale face turned scarlet, her beautiful eyes growing red with shame and anger; finally, tears welled up and she cried out in grievance and rage, “Nangong Yuchen! Go die!”

“Kexin, please, believe me—I really…”

“Go away! You’re a jerk! I’m telling Mom and Dad you bullied me!” Nangong Kexin finally burst into tears.

“What? Mom and Dad?” Nangong Yuchen’s face turned ashen at her threat and he hurried to beg for mercy, “No, please, Kexin, don’t! I swear I didn’t do anything!”