CHAPTER 684: NOT QUITE RIGHT

Final Cycle: The Nightmare City

[Exit in seven days or...]

...

Shen Nianzu’s eyelids twitched before they slowly fluttered open.

The ray of sunshine spilling in through the window this morning was particularly strong, causing him to squint again with a soft groan. Without bothering to open his eyes, he stretched his arm to the side, searching for the familiar... his fingers bumped into a hard and cold thing and he raised it to his eyes, realizing it was his phone.

8.03 AM/ 11th December

The battery level was a glaringly low 7%. Seemed like he had forgotten to charge it last night.

Groggily, Shen Nianzu sat up and fumbled to connect his phone to a charger.

Then he sat in a daze for a while.

So sleepy... today, do I have anything planned?

Before he could gather his scattered thoughts, a knock sounded at his door. "Young Master, this is Qing Mo," came the familiar voice of his life assistant. "Have you woken up yet? Do you need me to come in and help you?"

"No need," Shen Nianzu replied out of reflex. "I can do it myself."

It wasn’t until he blurted out that answer that he paused and blinked in surprise. Strange, why did he feel so... displeased... as if he didn’t like Qing Mo entering his room? But this person was his life assistant who had been with him for years, right?

"Ah, okay." He could hear Qing Mo’s surprise and hesitation from the other side of the door. "Then... I will wait for you outside. Please call me if you need help, Young Master."

"Okay," Shen Nianzu exhaled.

This brief interaction had dispelled the last remnants of drowsiness left in his system. Rubbing his hair, Shen Nianzu stood up and looked around. This was his room in his childhood home, where he had lived all his life. Everything was as familiar as the back of his own hand.

...Was it?

Shen Nianzu’s step paused in midair as that question popped up in his mind, unbidden. He couldn’t help but look around doubtfully once more, only to laugh at himself. "What the hell are you doing, Nianzu?"

Shaking his head, he grabbed his clothes and entered the ensuite bathroom to take a shower.

When he left his room, he found both his parents already sitting on the dining table, having a hearty breakfast prepared by the housekeeper. "Good morning, Nianzu! Come and sit," his mother beckoned to him with a smile. "What would you like to eat this morning? Qing Mo, help Nianzu over lest he trips on the carpet again."

"Yes, Madam!"

"No, no need..." once again, the subtle strangeness arose in Shen Nianzu’s heart and he hurriedly strode forward to take his seat before Qing Mo reached him. It’s not like he was disabled, so why would he have someone help him over when he could very well do it himself?

He offered a reassuring nod to Qing Mo before turning to his parents in pleasant surprise, "Mom, Dad, you’re not working today?"

Master Shen wiped his mouth with a napkin, amused. "How can we? Did you forget today is your routine examination?"

"Ah, is it...?" Shen Nianzu racked his brain but failed to dredge up the specific memory. "Seems like I forgot..."

As he ate his breakfast, the corner of his eyes caught sight of the empty chair beside him, prompting him to ask, "Where..." but he had just said that one word when his mind turned blank.

"Hm?" Madam Shen looked over questioningly.

"Do you need something, Young Master?" Qing Mo asked in an attentive manner.

But Shen Nianzu only grew more puzzled. "No, nothing..."

Why does it feel like there should be someone else sitting beside me? Someone who’s tall, loud and... and.. what?

Shen Nianzu shook his head to dismiss the illusory image, his delicate brows furrowing. How strange, he thought. This family had always consisted of the three of them, plus a life assistant, so how could he ever think that someone was missing...?

He knocked lightly on his head. Have I not woken up fully yet?

That one movement of his ended up alerting Madam Shen, who asked him with a hint of urgency: "What’s wrong, Nianzu? Is your head hurting? Qing Mo, hurry and grab a thermometer!"

"No, no, it’s fine! I’m fine!" Shen Nianzu had no idea whether to laugh or cry. He had almost forgotten that there was a period of time when his mother would be extra sensitive to his every movement—paranoid, even—because he had been sickly since he was a child. "No need to grab a thermometer, Qing Mo. I don’t have a fever. I just feel a little sleepy and knock on my head to sober myself up."

"Really?" Madam Shen asked, still not fully reassured.

"Really," he nodded with the most serious expression he could muster.

Only then did she let out a sigh of relief. "You scared Mother..." then she started to nag. "Don’t knock yourself on the head next time! What if you hurt yourself? Even if you’re sleepy..."

Shen Nianzu let his mother’s nagging fade into the background as he shoveled food into his mouth.

After breakfast, they got into the car— Qing Mo behind the wheel , his father in the front passenger seat, while he and his mother were in the back. For some inexplicable reason, Shen Nianzu’s mood became low once they hit the road and his replies to his mother’s inquiries became shorter and shorter. Madam Shen, being understanding, did not try to talk to him further and the car sank into silence, with only the song playing on the radio.

Shen Nianzu stared out of the window, his eyes unfocused as the scenery slid past. His mind felt chaotic, yet whenever he tried to grasp onto a single thought, he would find that he was actually thinking of nothing at all.

Something was not quite right with him this morning.

As someone who had gotten in and out of hospitals more times than he could count, he was always sensitive to even the slightest change in his condition. His head... it felt weird, like there were countless unseen bugs buzzing inside, stirring a faint sense of nausea. But he resisted the urge to massage his temples, fearing that it would startle his mother again.

Instead, he clenched and unclenched his fists... only to pause.

Slowly, he looked down at his hands.

His knuckles were all bloody, with dried blood caking beneath his nails.

"..." Shen Nianzu stared wide-eyed in shock. It wasn’t until he comprehended what he was seeing that the pain returned to him in waves, throbbing and pulsating.

What was this?

When had he gotten injured? And how... had he not noticed this before?