It was my first time here, yet everything around me felt strangely familiar.
Moreover...
This place always gave me a sense of unease.
Winter nights fell early.
Just past seven in the evening, darkness had completely enveloped the sky.
The street wasn’t very lively; aside from this KTV, only a convenience store was still lit.
I stood at the entrance, growing a bit anxious as Qiqi hadn’t answered my calls or replied to my messages.
I was about to call Chen Feiyang when I heard his voice calling me from behind—
“Jiang An!”
“Hey, why are you alone? Where’s Qiqi?”
I turned to see Chen Feiyang walking towards me by himself, with no sign of Qiqi.
Chen Feiyang asked me in return, “Qiqi hasn’t arrived yet? She should have left before me. I thought you two were waiting for me.”
“No. I called her, but she didn’t pick up. What if something happened to her?” I felt a twinge of worry.
Chen Feiyang took out his phone. “Let me try calling her again.”
As he spoke, he dialed Qiqi’s number.
Still no answer.
Suddenly, my heart tightened inexplicably.
It felt as if a hand had gripped my heart tightly, causing a dull ache that made me frown in discomfort.
Chen Feiyang's face showed a hint of worry. "That girl doesn’t seem to be answering her phone."
"Should we go check her house? I hope nothing has happened..."
"Alright, let's go take a look." Chen Feiyang nodded in agreement with my suggestion and led the way forward. "Come on, my car is parked down that alley."
"You drove here?"
"Yeah."
Perhaps it was the concern for Qiqi that made Chen Feiyang walk quickly.
I felt a wave of unease wash over me, sensing that something was off, but there was no time to dwell on it as I hurried to keep up with his pace.
We walked one after the other to the mouth of the alley.
Chen Feiyang turned to me and said, "It's dark in the alley, so you should stay here. I'll bring the car out; just wait for me a moment."
"Okay." I nodded and stood at the entrance of the alley, watching him stride into the darkness ahead. His tall, slender figure gradually disappeared into the shadowy old alley.
I waited anxiously in place. A dim, old streetlight nearby cast a long shadow of me on the ground.
Looking at my shadow, I couldn't help but frown.
Why…
This scene feels strangely familiar to me?!
I feel as if I have been to this place before, yet I can't find any related fragments in my memory.
I try to recall, and some scattered pieces faintly emerge in my mind.
It seems… I have seen such a scene and imagery in a dream.
And I know it must have been a nightmare.
Because even though I can’t remember anything, I can distinctly feel the fear and resistance rising from the depths of my heart…
"Hey! Beautiful, all alone?!"
Before I could wait for Chen Feiyang, I was met with an annoying voice.
Two drunken thugs appeared in front of me, their lewd gazes fixated on me.
One of the men leered at the other and said, "Tsk tsk, this girl is really something! Just my type!"
The other one smirked at me and said, "Hey there, beautiful! It’s no fun being alone! Come on, let’s have some fun together!"
As he spoke, the drunkard reached out his hand to grab me.
I swung my bag hard against his hand and shouted, "Get lost! Or I'll call the police!"
"Oh, this little lady has some fire! I like that!"
To my surprise, the drunken man not only showed no fear of my threats but became even more arrogant. Before I could react, I saw him grinning as he reached out and yanked me toward him.
"Come on! Be a good girl and join me for a few drinks! Don't be ungrateful!"
"Let go of me! You bastard!"
Two thugs dragged me away, their filthy hands gripping my arms like iron clamps, making it impossible for me to break free.
In desperation, I swung my bag at them, kicking and shouting into the alley, "Chen Feiyang! Help me! Chen Feiyang—"
My cries echoed through the silent old street.
As long as Chen Feiyang wasn't deaf, he should have heard me by now.
Yet, I still couldn't see him anywhere.
It was as if he had truly been swallowed by the dark alley, leaving no trace behind.
Helplessly, I was pulled by the two drunks toward the other end of the old street.
The street was deserted, like a dead city.
I struggled desperately, shouting...
Before me lay an eerie stillness, with only a few flickering streetlights responding to my pleas for help.
At that moment, an endless sense of despair and fear seeped into my body with the chilling wind, freezing every bone within me. The terror turned into a bone-deep cold that congealed the blood flowing through my veins.
My cries and curses began to tremble, my struggling limbs grew stiff, and each movement became increasingly feeble.
Hearing a hint of fear in my own cries, the expressions on the faces of the two drunk men twisted into something even more grotesque.
I saw them exchange a glance, as if reaching some sort of agreement.
Then, they turned and dragged me toward the nearby dark alley.
"No... let go of me!!!"
I knew all too well what would happen next in that pitch-black alley.
I felt like a fish lying on a chopping board, struggling with all my might to resist this tragic fate.
But such struggles were utterly futile.
I couldn't break free from their filthy hands; I could barely stand, only able to be dragged along the ground into the depths of darkness...
In the dirty alley, the hard stones mercilessly scraped my knees and shins.
Yet the pain of those wounds paled in comparison to the humiliation I felt inside!
When that filthy hand tore at my clothes...
With a ripping sound, it also shredded my sanity and dignity.
I could no longer cry out or muster the strength to fight back.
I was like a soulless puppet, numbly sitting in the damp, stinking alley, waiting to accept this inevitable fate...
However, just as I was about to sink into complete despair, I heard an incredibly familiar voice—
"Anan!"
"You bastard! Get your filthy hands off them!"
"…"
Xinchuan?!
I thought I was hallucinating.
How could I possibly hear Xinchuan's voice here?
Yet the sound was crystal clear in my ears, like a shot of adrenaline, reigniting my will to survive.
I summoned the last bit of strength left in my body and forcefully pushed away the drunken man looming in front of me.
Turning my head, I caught sight of the dimly flickering streetlights outside—
I really saw Xinchuan!
He approached me against the light, firmly catching the punch thrown at him by the drunken man and then retaliating with a powerful blow that sent the man crashing to the ground.
Another drunken man shouted curses and lunged at him, but he was no match for Xinchuan.
In just a few moments, those two were rolling on the ground, clutching their stomachs and begging for mercy.
The straight and tall figure stood before them, resembling an all-powerful superhero from a movie.
Everything happened too quickly...
So much so that I couldn't even tell whether this was reality or a fantasy born from my crumbling mind.
It wasn't until Xinchuan came to me, carefully lifting me off the ground, that I felt the weight of the moment.
I heard his gentle yet urgent voice, real and clear in my ears—
"Anan! I'm sorry, I'm sorry... I was late!"
"Xinchuan..."
Looking at Xinchuan's face before me, I suddenly felt a buzzing in my head.
In the next moment, it was as if a bomb had exploded in my brain—
Boom—
A deafening sound.
Everything went dark.
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