Chapter 4: Together for a Lifetime… Lied to You

Hua Qi’an’s hand moved faster than her thoughts, twisting the faucet shut.

Then she jerked her head to look behind her.

No one.

Nothing out of the ordinary.

At the same time, the white frame on the camera finally settled down.

Hua Qi’an looked helplessly at the Old Phone she’d been using for four or five years now…

“Scaring myself.”

She lowered her gaze, staring at the crimson-tinged water that had just gushed from the sink.

Now it was pooling in the basin.

Hua Qi’an picked up her phone and snapped a photo of the water in the sink.

“Blood water?”

She reached out, turned the faucet again, and the same colored water flowed out as before.

Not an illusion.

A salty, damp scent crept back into the air, and Hua Qi’an’s brows instinctively knit together.

“Looks like the pipes are old and rusted. The water must be carrying the rust, turning it red…”

Her words trailed off.

Her gaze locked onto the faucet.

A shadow was writhing there…

Bang… bang… bang…

In the quiet, Hua Qi’an felt she could hear the faint beat of her own heart.

A black, ribbon-like shape slowly dangled from the mouth of the faucet.

Mixed with the crimson water, the band looked especially eerie.

Her eyelashes trembled.

A drowning sense of suffocation surged in her chest.

Hua Qi’an reached out and shut off the faucet.

As the water stopped, the band-like object drooped down.

Carefully, Hua Qi’an reached out to touch the hanging band…

At some point, the black, slender strip had wound around her fingers, carrying an intense, swirling, salty smell…

“Waterweed…”

But her mind went blank, forgetting entirely about the idea of “shaking it off”.

A wave of nausea suddenly welled up.

Ugh…

She wanted to vomit.

Last night’s nightmare…

The scene before the window…

The waterweed wrapped around her hand twisted into something grotesque and horrifying.

Too strange.

Why…

Was there so much waterweed…?

She’d never even gone fishing…

“…Fishing?”

She murmured the word.

In a daze, a blurred memory surged into her mind.

For some reason, the scene in the bathroom in front of her began to distort.

—

[Wangui, look!]

A girl’s voice, laced with laughter she couldn’t suppress.

In her gaze, a fish bitten onto the hook, forcibly yanked into an environment it didn’t belong.

Even without water, it still struggled desperately.

Was it…her speaking?

The girl’s voice clearly spilled out uncontrollably from her own throat.

Hua Qi’an stared blankly at the “memories” playing out before her eyes like a film on autoplay.

Strange.

Wasn’t she recording a video?

How…

—

[Ah, why is there so much waterweed…]

Looking at the fish tangled in waterweed in her hand, the owner of the voice—herself—was at a loss.

Then, the one called “Wangui” appeared in view.

But Hua Qi’an couldn’t quite see her face.

Was it because time had blurred her memory?

But why, even if she couldn’t see the face, did a wave of sadness rise in her chest?

—

[Hehehehe… After all, Qi’an basically snatched the little Fish out of the water, didn’t she…]

A different, more playful voice rang in her ear…

[If this little Fish were you, Qi’an, then I’d probably cling to you just as tightly as this waterweed…]

Though the words sounded a bit strange, the owner of the body hadn’t cared at the time.

—

[Eh? Don’t worry, Wangui, I won’t let anyone take me away.]

[Let’s be best friends forever!]

She must have smiled brightly then.

—

The scene froze.

Pulled away.

At some point, the memory had already shattered.

When she came back to herself, Hua Qi’an found she was still staring dazedly at the waterweed wrapped around her hand, brimming with life.

“……”

She didn’t fling it away, but instead gripped it and brought her palm to her chest.

She didn’t know why, but she felt a pang of guilt.

Sorry, Wangui.

She had lied.

She’d already known then she was going to leave.

She’d only said those words to cheer her up.

A lifetime, and all that, was just the kind of thing kids say for fun.

By now, she’d probably made new friends and forgotten all about her.

Was it just her imagination?

She thought the waterweed in her palm twitched.

As if it was about to strangle her fingers.

But what could a weak strand of waterweed actually do?

Hua Qi’an figured she was just sleep-deprived and hallucinating again.

She frowned slightly, but still brushed the waterweed onto the floor like it was trash.

There was a lot of dust on the ground.

As soon as the waterweed landed, it picked up grime.

But Hua Qi’an no longer spared it a glance.

She was just feeling sentimental for a moment.

The scene here really had nothing to do with her memories.

She washed her hands and arms with clean water from the faucet.

The cool liquid flowed over her skin, and Hua Qi’an’s thoughts drifted again, to memories of touching river water by the riverside that year…

I wonder how Wangui is doing now…

She was two years older than me, so she must have already graduated and found a good job back home.

She was always so capable.

It’s a pity we were so young then, and didn’t keep in touch.

Hua Qi’an picked up her phone and glanced at the time.

Less than three minutes had passed.

It seemed the memory hadn’t affected reality much.

The white frame on the camera was a built-in system feature, so it shouldn’t appear in the actual footage.

She couldn’t confirm what had really happened just by watching the recording.

To any onlooker, Hua Qi’an must have seemed incredibly neurotic a moment ago.

Maybe the experience had affected her mood.

A vague irritation welled up in Hua Qi’an’s chest.

She checked the recording time—already long enough.

She thought for a moment. She’d already explored most of the house.

She reached out and pressed pause on the recording.

She could film more clips elsewhere and hand them all over for post-production editing later.

She looked up, her gaze accidentally landing on the mirror.

“Ah!”

Her pupils contracted sharply.

Hua Qi’an drew a cold breath, her heart rate surely shooting over one eighty.

Her whole body was frozen in place.

Her gaze locked onto the corner of the mirror.

A woman with an indistinct face, at some point, had appeared silently behind her.

Was she wearing red?

Hua Qi’an’s vision blurred.

Why did the color beneath seem tinged with white?

Her mind was going blank.

Lips pressed tight, even after being startled, Hua Qi’an continued to stare at her own expressionless face in the mirror, as if trying to ignore the “other” in the room.

But her breathing was already out of rhythm.

She couldn’t catch her breath.

She exhaled.

Hua Qi’an took a step back, slowly closing her eyes.

But closing her eyes wasn’t really to calm herself…

“Bang!”

A dull thud echoed through the room.

The person who had been standing there collapsed where she was.

The world plunged into darkness.