Fairy, Don’t Be Afraid, I’m Blind

Chapter 8: Master’s Wife, Don’t Be Afraid, I’m Blind

“Junior Sister!”

You Su’s shout interrupted his junior sister’s feeding motion.

“Senior Brother, you’re awake!” The junior sister moved her hand, which was holding a piece of rotting flesh, away from his face. Her fish-like eyes widened with joy.

She stood at You Su’s bedside like a mountain of decaying flesh.

Am I awake… or am I still dreaming? But wasn’t I already killed by Master’s wife? Didn’t she slit my throat?

As this thought crossed his mind, You Su suddenly felt a strange sensation on his neck, as if something was crawling on it… no, many things… It was both itchy and painful.

You Su reached up to touch his neck, and his hand came away slick with something slimy. He quickly raised his hand and saw a fat, wriggling worm stuck to it!

Panic surged through him, and his heart skipped a beat. He wanted to scream, to fling the worm away, to tear off all the worms from his neck, to curse at this monstrous junior sister!

But he couldn’t do any of that. He could only pretend that nothing was wrong and scrape the worm off his hand onto the edge of the bed.

“Junior Sister, what’s on my neck? It feels… strange,” You Su asked, his face pale and sickly, feigning concern.

“Senior Brother, these are Golden Silk Worms that Master’s Wife found specially for you. They’ll help heal your wounds. Earlier, Master’s Wife was a bit… confused, but everything is fine now. Be careful not to dislodge them, okay?”

As she spoke, she picked up the worm that You Su had secretly scraped off the floor and carefully placed it back onto his neck, which was already crawling with countless worms. You Su felt the worms squirming and biting into his flesh, and he wished he could just die right then and there.

“Oh, Senior Brother! You haven’t taken the Spirit Stabilizing Pill yet! Your wound is healing, but you’ve lost a lot of blood and energy. This pill will help you recover.” With that, the junior sister picked up the piece of rotting flesh again and brought it to You Su’s mouth.

A shiver ran down You Su’s spine. “Wait, Junior Sister! I can take the pill myself. Cough, cough… I’m a little thirsty. Could you please boil some water for me?”

The junior sister’s six symmetrical fish-like eyes narrowed as she stared intently at You Su. You Su deliberately crossed his eyes, blurring his vision to avoid meeting her gaze.

After a long moment, the junior sister finally looked away and placed the rotting flesh on a plate on the bedside table. “I’ll go boil the water. Don’t try anything funny, Senior Brother.” Then she slowly slithered out of the room, glancing back every few steps.

You Su struggled to sit up, leaning against the headboard, his mind racing as he tried to figure out what to do with the rotting flesh.

Should he throw it away? Should he hide it? Would the junior sister notice? Or… did he really have to eat it? No! Absolutely not! This thing didn’t look like anything a human could eat!

Just as he resolved to lift the mattress and hide the rotting flesh underneath, he suddenly felt that something was wrong.

The light in the room had dimmed significantly, as if something enormous had blocked it.

You Su felt a pang of guilt, as if he’d been caught in the act. He slowly turned his head to look.

Eight huge sky-blocking tentacles surrounded him, writhing menacingly. The tentacles were a dull red, covered in a copper-green, sticky fluid, and lined with exaggerated suckers that resembled trumpets. Each tentacle moved cautiously like eight poisonous snakes ready to strike, their surfaces shimmering with a dark, eerie green phosphorescence.

You Su followed the tentacles to their source-a figure draped in a flowing, cloud-like white robe. But the wearer of this robe was no celestial beauty. Instead, it was a grotesque, misshapen mass of dark red flesh.

The flesh was constantly shifting and flowing like a bizarre whirlpool. Only the “eyes” – two glowing orbs – remained fixed in place. The moment You Su’s gaze met those orbs, he couldn’t look away.

Through those eyes, he saw visions: someone setting themselves on fire, another person frantically eating something indescribable, and yet another person trembling as they plunged a dagger into the heart of a loved one, tears of blood streaming down their face.

It was as if those eyes were the source of all madness.

“You saw it, didn’t you?”

Master’s Wife’s voice was hollow and ethereal, not coming from in front of him but echoing directly in his mind.

Snapping out of his daze, You Su averted his gaze and stammered, “Master’s Wife, don’t be afraid. I’m blind. What could I possibly see?”

“Do you want to see?”

“Y-yes, of course.”

“Then take the Spirit Stabilizing Pill.”

Master’s wife’s tone did not tolerate any argument. You Su felt that if he hesitated even for a moment, his recently reattached neck would be severed once again.

Just as You Su was at a loss, the eight terrifying tentacles suddenly retreated, curling under Master’s Wife and losing their menacing aura.

“Master’s wife, what brings you here?”

It was the junior sister. She had come back with a pot of hot water. Sensing the strange atmosphere in the room, she quickly slithered to You Su’s side and asked with concern, “Senior Brother, did Master’s Wife do anything to you?”

You Su calmly smoothed out the crumpled bed sheet. “No, she just came to check on my injury.”

“That’s good. Master’s Wife didn’t mean to hurt you earlier. It was just a misunderstanding. You’re not holding it against her, are you?”

“Heh… how could I hold it against Master’s Wife?” You Su forced a smile.

Reassured, the junior sister poured a bowl of hot water for You Su. Even though it was summer, faint steam rose from the bowl, indicating that it had just been boiled. The junior sister thoughtfully tried to blow on it to cool it down, but she seemed to underestimate the power of her own mouth parts. The foul, icy breath she exhaled mixed with saliva, splashed into the bowl and spilled some of the scalding water onto You Su’s hand, making him jerk in pain.

“Ah! Senior Brother, I’m so sorry!” The junior sister quickly set down the bowl and reached out to check You Su’s hand, but hesitated as if afraid to touch him.

Is this monstrous junior sister afraid of touching me because she might expose herself?

“It’s fine,” You Su said, rubbing the scalded spot himself.

“Here, Senior Brother, take the medicine first and then drink the water. Open wide…”

The junior sister held the quivering piece of rotting flesh in one hand and the bowl of murky hot water in the other. You Su stared in despair as the rotting flesh drew closer, his mind nearly blank, but he instinctively clenched his teeth shut.

Suddenly, a commanding voice echoed in his mind – the voice of Master’s Wife.

“Eat it.”

In the shadowy background behind the junior sister, the eight tentacles once again loomed in the air, writhing menacingly, ready to strike.

You Su steeled himself, closed his eyes and leaned forward.

Without even chewing, he swallowed the rotting flesh whole. Anger and resentment welled up in his heart, and as his face twisted in disgust, a vengeful thought suddenly crossed his mind. He reached out and grabbed the junior sister’s plump hand!

You like to act, huh? Let’s see how you keep up the act now!

“Ah! What are you doing?”

What do you think I’m doing?!

Wait… this texture… smooth as jade, soft and boneless, delicate to the touch… You Su opened his eyes, and the scene before him was once again the familiar chaos.

The girl pulled her wrist free from You Su’s grip, her face flushed with embarrassment and annoyance. “You were fast asleep, and I just pinched your cheek a little. Was… was that really such a big deal?”

Then Ji Lingruo turned and hurried out of the room, muttering under her breath as she left, “So petty.”

You Su didn’t have time to stop her before a wave of intense nausea overwhelmed him. He began to cough and retch violently, until he coughed up faint traces of blood. With one hand supporting his body, he reached into his clothes with the other and pulled out the Evil Repelling Token.

The token, now completely black, burned hot like a piece of red-hot coal.

Gasping for breath, You Su ignored the searing pain in his palm and clenched the Evil Repelling Token tightly, as if trying to embed it into his flesh.