Suddenly, she snapped her eyes open.
Her vision was a blur, but Hua Qian’an could roughly make out the color of her bed curtains.
She realized that although she had been sleeping, sweat drenched her entire body.
Struggling to move, her sensory functions gradually began to return.
“Ugh…”
She suddenly gasped for air.
A dull ache throbbed at the back of her neck.
“…”
Pulling her hand away from her neck, Hua Qian’an recalled the nightmare she had just had, a shiver of fear creeping up her spine.
She took a deep breath, filling her chest as if to compensate for the suffocating sensation she’d just experienced.
Her tendency to sleepwalk was terrifying.
The Dormitory was silent; faint snores occasionally drifted from the other beds, her roommates still sound asleep.
Hua Qian’an quietly sat up, then climbed down from the bed.
She went to the bathroom and locked the door.
Then, she looked at her reflection in the mirror.
Perhaps because of the dream, a strange, inexplicable feeling washed over her whenever she looked at herself.
But this was reality after all.
Except for a faint bruise under her eyes, nothing seemed different.
She lifted her chin, wincing as the muscles tightened, sending faint pain from the bandaged area.
Hua Qian’an raised her hand and untied the bandage around her neck.
As the increasingly strong scent of Yunnan Baiyao filled the air, she felt the refreshing touch of air on the skin that had been trapped underneath.
But the dull, almost fresh-wound-like pain was hard to ignore.
Even though she had just applied medicine last night, it looked far worse than before.
There was a clear bruise near her throat.
“You should find time to visit the temple,”
Li Xiaozhen’s words from last night echoed again in her mind.
Hua Qian’an lowered her gaze.
Could she really be possessed?
She looked at her hand with a hint of melancholy—the palm wasn’t rosy but pale, and the lines on it seemed faint.
It had never been like this before…
Everything had happened after she went to that cursed house.
Although she didn’t particularly believe in such things, facing this inexplicable situation made it difficult for her to stick to her original beliefs.
Was it all psychological?
Or should she go to the hospital?
“…”
After considering that the issue might be related to her deeper mental state and the possible equipment costs involved, Hua Qian’an temporarily dismissed that idea.
She’d go to the temple first.
If it helped, that would be great.
If not, she’d get a checkup at the hospital.
After prioritizing these two options, she nodded in agreement with herself.
If it was just her psychological state causing the nightmares and sleepwalking, seeking solace in a place like a temple would definitely help ease it to some extent.
After rewrapping the bandage in front of the mirror, Hua Qian’an’s gaze unconsciously dropped to her chest.
As if recalling something, her earlobes flushed red inexplicably.
In her memory, someone who looked just like her had been holding her, her head resting against that chest.
But back then, was that really her own chest?
Even now, waking up, she could still recall the soft and springy feeling that left a slight impression.
Her eyes wandered, a little distracted.
Was that really her own chest?
Unconsciously, her gaze fixed on her own chest.
Because her nightgown’s neckline was rather loose, Hua Qian’an just pulled it aside slightly and looked down at the smooth, slightly rounded curves.
Not large enough to affect daily life, nor flat enough to lose all feminine traits.
Since it grew on her own body, she had never paid much attention to it before.
Maybe in the shower or when touching it, but it was always a mechanical part of washing with soap.
But what had happened in the dream made it hard for her to ignore now.
Curiously, she pressed on her chest.
Because she was wearing a nightgown, the friction between the fabric and skin made her itch a little.
Pressing down, her fingers were quickly pushed back by the rebound.
It was a strange sensation—one she had never experienced before.
Or rather, who would casually study that…Suddenly, not only her ears but her entire face began to flush.
The softness from the dream returned vividly.
So that’s what it felt like to lean on that…
Under normal circumstances, she might never have known such a thing…
Hua Qian’an covered her face with her hand, trying to cool down the heat rising in her cheeks.
Then, she slowly calmed herself.
She could only savor that strange feeling calmly now that she was awake.
Back then, when she experienced it firsthand, she hadn’t had the luxury of thinking about such things.
She couldn’t let this continue.
If she kept having nightmares every night, it wouldn’t be long before she lost her mind.
Maybe all of this really had something to do with that house.
Was it so mysterious that her subconscious kept being affected by it?
It was called a “cursed house,” but there was no news or information about it anywhere…
The atmosphere inside that house was truly oppressive.
Maybe it was because of the many unsolved mysteries that Hua Qian’an had nightmares every night.
Fear comes from the unknown.
Perhaps it was because she didn’t know much about that house that her subconscious felt terrified, causing the nightmares.
Thinking of this, her urge to visit that cursed house again quickly rose.
Coming out of the bathroom, Hua Qian’an glanced at the time—already 6:40 a.m.
She didn’t go back to bed but instead took a set of clothes from the cabinet and changed.
At this hour, the Dormitory’s curfew was already lifted.
Since she was awake, she didn’t intend to stay in the Dormitory any longer.
What happened last night still unsettled her.
She was already in a bad mood from the nightmares, and just thinking about last night made her feel worse.
After changing, Hua Qian’an washed up quickly and quietly closed the door behind her as she left the Dormitory.
Although the weather was still a bit muggy, it was almost seven in the morning, and the sun had just risen.
The air still carried the coolness from the night.
Hua Qian’an walked quietly through the campus, savoring the refreshing scent of the morning dew.
At this time, only a few students had already left the Dormitory to walk around campus, but the cafeteria was already set up for breakfast.
She planned to eat breakfast while going over her plan for the day.
Today was Tuesday, with only one early class at 8 a.m., and the rest of the day was free—no classes, plenty of time to handle her own matters.
Hua Qian’an bought some inexpensive breakfast and found a spot in the cafeteria to sit.
The cafeteria was quite empty at this hour; she might have been the first to arrive.
Taking out her phone to plan her day, an unexpected pop-up appeared.
【Your package has arrived. Please pick it up at the designated station.】
Had she mentioned protection measures to someone at the company? Maybe they’d applied for it on her behalf?
That memory surfaced, and Hua Qian’an opened the message for details.
The station was, of course, the one near the school, about an eight- or nine-minute walk from here.
Checking the business hours, it started operating at seven.
She had just finished breakfast, so heading to the station now would mean arriving right as it opened.
Throwing the plastic bag from breakfast into the trash, Hua Qian’an left the cafeteria and headed to the station.
The streets outside the school gate were also very quiet.
She picked up her package from the newly opened station.
The box wasn’t very heavy, but she could feel a lot of things inside shifting around.
Walking, Hua Qian’an could feel the contents of the package rattling inside.