Nightmare

Chapter 19

Hearing San Niu burst into tears, Qin Fangcheng panicked and quickly picked up the child: "Good girl, why are you crying? Daddy's here. Tell Daddy why you're crying." San Niu then hugged Qin Fangcheng's neck and refused to let go: "Daddy, Daddy, I'm scared, I'm so scared. Please take me home."

With San Niu clinging to him like this, Qin Fangcheng was at a loss. He had no choice but to carry her back to his car, get in, and drive San Niu home.

Before long, they arrived at Fu Xiuying's house. Knocking on the door, Fu Xiuying, upon seeing Qin Fangcheng, seemed somewhat embarrassed and awkwardly let him in. Over the past few days, Fu Xiuying's living conditions had improved, mainly because her children now had fathers. Her complexion had improved significantly; she was fairer, and her eyes no longer carried the gloomy look of before. Moreover, she had fully integrated into city life, and those who saw her could no longer associate her with the filthy, garbage-strewn woman she once was.

Nevertheless, Qin Fangcheng still harbored no affection for her. Some people can change their appearance, but their inner qualities, such as their stubborn traditional customs and ways of thinking, are ingrained in their bones and can never be changed. No matter how much money Fu Xiuying spent dressing herself up beautifully, in his eyes, she was always that ignorant and foolish woman in big shorts, squatting on the ground with a rough porcelain bowl, trying to call back the soul of her child.

Qin Fangcheng didn't want to go in, but San Niu clung to him tightly and wouldn't let go. With no other choice, he carried San Niu to the bed and stayed with the quirky child until she was really asleep. Only then did he gently pry her arms open and break free.

Qin Fangcheng immediately went out and downstairs, not even glancing at Fu Xiuying's mournful eyes. He planned to remember this vicious woman's grudge for the rest of his life. He got into his car and drove straight back to the place where he had lost contact with Lin Hong and Zhao Zhuo. He searched for a long time but still couldn't find any trace of Lin Hong. He was very puzzled. Could it be that Lin Hong had also been captured by that group of unknown men along with Zhao Zhuo?

With these doubts in mind, he got out of the car, lit a cigarette in a state of unease. The events of the night had unfolded too quickly, exceeding the limits of human cognitive capacity. He was now even struggling to grasp the true significance of what had happened tonight.

A night breeze swept by, and he shivered violently. He threw away his cigarette butt and was about to turn around and get into the car when suddenly, he heard a faint groan behind him. He turned around abruptly.

Lin Hong?

4)

Lin Hong was tricked by San Niu and shoved hard, causing her to fall into the drainpipe. Only her legs sank in, and she hurriedly grabbed the edge of the pipe with both hands, trying to climb out. But something bit her legs and pulled her down forcefully. Lin Hong was terrified and opened her mouth to call for help, but unexpectedly, there was a raised water tap in the pipe. Her head hit it hard and she immediately lost consciousness.

After an unknown amount of time, Lin Hong slowly woke up. First, she smelled a strong, pungent, and putrid odor, and heard the sound of rushing water. Then she felt something like a spider or similar insect crawling on her face. She screamed and tried to sit up, but bumped into the wall of the pipe, making her dizzy and her mind a mess.

Before her eyes, a whirlwind of golden stars danced wildly. Lin Hong groaned in pain, her heart filled with a deathly despair. She had no idea where she was. After a long, long time, the cluster of flashing golden stars gradually dissipated. In the darkness, only two of the largest points of light remained stubbornly on her retina, making her feel utterly desolate and helpless.

She slapped a spider on her face, turning it into a pulp, then blinked hard, trying to make the terrible optical illusion pass quickly. She blinked several times, but the two dazzling emerald green spots remained unchanged. She shook her head in confusion, then looked more closely. Suddenly, she froze. From inside the tunnel, a pair of eyes were coldly glancing at her.

Those eyes, evil and cold, glowed with a terrifying emerald green light, carrying a sinister chill and exuding the eeriness unique to the underworld, coldly glancing at her. Startled, Lin Hong's heart clenched violently, and she almost screamed.

It was a turtle. Its head was frighteningly large, and its neck extremely short, too short to retract into its shell. The turtle's head was covered by large, horny scutes, and its jaws were thick and prominently hooked, resembling an eagle's beak. The carapace was oblong, concave in the middle of the anterior edge, flattened at the ridge, with a longitudinal ridge like a sharp blade imprinted on the turtle's back. The nuchal scute was extremely short and wide, and the plastron was nearly rectangular, with a flat anterior edge and a concave posterior edge, making it look incredibly bizarre.

This strange turtle had webbed toes and claws. Its thighs and anus were covered in bluish-green, cone-shaped scales. Its frighteningly long tail was ringed with rectangular scales. The turtle's back was brownish-black with striking orange-yellow spots, and several radiating black stripes ran along its vertebral scute. Each costal scute had a small black spot. Most astonishingly, its plastron was olive-green, its carapace reddish-brown, and its belly a bizarre orange-red.

The ugly and terrifying giant tortoise was wriggling like an evil worm, trying to crawl out of the metal pipe it had traversed and reach her. The tortoise's head was poking towards her, and several snake-like whiskers slowly extended from under the tortoise's horrifying lips, getting closer and closer to her.

Lin Hong screamed in terror. After screaming for a while, she realized that the terrifying turtle hadn't crawled over. Still shaken, she peeked out and was surprised to find that the turtle's huge shell was stuck in a narrow metal pipe. It was trying to break free, but because it was crawling too fast, its enormous head had penetrated two metal buckles about fifteen centimeters in size. The foul-smelling sewage was gushing out of the pipe, flowing to Lin Hong's feet and slowly seeping into the ground.

This terrifying tortoise really did crawl along the sewer pipes flowing with stagnant water. This was the main pipe of the city's drainage system, with a diameter of about 1.5 meters. But when it got there, the pipes turned a corner, and the tortoise crawled into a metal pipe leading to Lin Hong's side. Its hard shell actually squeezed the metal pipe and cracked it. It crawled forward like this, using its hard shell to crush everything that stood in its way.

Just as it was about to reach Lin Hong, the strange turtle's head somehow got stuck in a metal buckle. This metal buckle was much thicker than the thin pipe wall, and the strange turtle's head and neck had no shell to protect them. Although it was covered with thick blue scales, it was powerless to break free from the metal buckle and was stuck there, unable to move forward or backward.

It was obvious that the strange turtle was extremely dissatisfied with its current situation. It scratched vigorously with its four claws, and its huge shell slammed against the ground with a dull thud. Its plastron moved restlessly on the ground, as if countless fleshy feet were running around in a hurry.

This is the strange turtle that chased them all night.

Lin Hong was terrified, pressing her body tightly against the pipe wall, too afraid to even cry for help. After a long time, she realized that the strange turtle no longer posed a threat to her safety. Mustering her courage, she tried to climb out, feeling her way along the pipe wall. Her hand stretched upwards, almost reaching the ground, when suddenly a tentacle wrapped around her leg. She screamed and was dragged back down.

Falling into the narrow pipe, barely big enough for a person to stand with their knees drawn up, Lin Hong suppressed her fear and disgust and reached out to grab the dark brown tentacle. But the tentacle had already retracted quickly; the strange turtle's attitude was clear: it would not allow her to leave.

Lin Hong's chest heaved violently. She looked up and glanced sideways, seeing a beam of streetlight shining obliquely in, just enough for her to clearly see the shape of the strange turtle. Only then did she realize how she could see clearly even in the dark pipe. Light had always been with her, but she just didn't know it.

She stood there, panting heavily, and tried twice more to climb out of the tunnel and back to the surface, but each time the strange turtle dragged her back with its tentacles. What should she do now? Was she, a grown woman, just going to be trapped here like this?

Wastewater overflowed from the pipes, and the stench grew stronger. The accumulated, fermented sludge decomposed and bubbled continuously, the density of the biogas increasing. Her breathing became more and more rapid; if this continued, she would suffocate.

Helplessly scratching her throat, Lin Hong turned her resentful gaze to the strange turtle. Did this ugly monster really want her to die in this filthy place, in sewage and excrement?

She looked at the strange turtle, but suddenly felt that something was wrong.

The strange turtle's eyes remained fixed on her, but unlike the cold, sinister gaze she had seen before, this one held an urgency, a lonely and helpless expectation. Lin Hong was quite surprised. Could human emotions really be revealed in the strange turtle's icy eyes?

She rubbed her eyes in confusion, then looked again and finally understood. The strange turtle was stuck in a metal buckle, unable to break free. The buckle was now deeply embedded in its neck, preventing the turtle from moving forward or backward; it was completely restrained. Its gaze towards Lin Hong was one of expectation for her help, a plea for her assistance.

Lin Hong stood there, stunned. This evil, monstrous turtle had been feeding on human brains and chasing her all night. Did such a violent creature really deserve to be saved?

The methane gas filled the pipes without being visible, and Lin Hong's breathing quickened, like an asthmatic patient gasping for air. Time was running out; she either had to leave this dangerous place quickly, or…

Lin Hong slowly raised one hand and reached out to the strange turtle. The turtle stopped struggling, and its strange eyes turned to her, staring at her hand without moving.

Lin Hong hesitated. Perhaps the strange turtle would misunderstand her intentions and bite off her hand. It wouldn't be surprising if this evil creature did such a thing. Thinking this, her hand had already touched the turtle's cool neck. The icy feeling terrified her, and she quickly withdrew her hand.

The strange turtle's head drooped, and its tentacles drooped, making it look like a dead turtle. Lin Hong grew a little bolder and reached out again, grabbing the metal buckle. She looked at the turtle, but it didn't react at all, like a hibernating turtle. Lin Hong calmed herself and pulled hard, trying to tear the metal buckle off, but it was deeply embedded in the turtle's neck and couldn't be moved at all.

Lin Hong gritted her teeth, grabbed the buckle with both hands, kicked the glans with one foot, and with a sudden burst of force, the metal buckle finally came off with a bang. Her back slammed heavily against the pipe wall, and she cried out in pain.

5)

Hearing Lin Hong's faint moan, Qin Fangcheng rushed over and bent down at the drainpipe opening, calling out, "Lin Hong, are you in there?" He reached in and touched Lin Hong's outstretched hand, then quickly grabbed it and pulled her up.

Lin Hong was completely exhausted, mainly struggling to breathe. Qin Fangcheng pulled her up with all his might, then wrapped his arms around her ribs and carried her to the ground. He then looked back at the open drainpipe at the cave entrance and muttered, "Who's so heartless as to leave such a big hole exposed? What if someone falls in again?"

Looking at Lin Hong again, after breathing in the fresh air, she slowly woke up. What happened in the pipe just now was like a strange dream. It must be a dream. The pipe opening was so narrow. How could there be a huge red-scaled turtle inside?

Qin Fangcheng helped her stand up and helped her regulate her breathing. After a while, her consciousness returned to normal. "How did you fall in there?" Qin Fangcheng asked, puzzled. "The entrance to the tunnel is so small, even a child wouldn't easily fall in completely."

Lin Hong looked back. The pit was indeed small, only about 70 centimeters in diameter. If an ordinary person fell in, at most only one leg would slip in; the possibility of the whole person falling in was indeed unlikely. However, she had just climbed out of it, and this kind of thing she had personally experienced could not be explained by reason or incomprehension.

She didn't want to say more, but Qin Fangcheng kept pressing her, so she could only give a bitter smile: "How else could I have fallen in? Wasn't it all your precious San Niu's doing?"

"San Niu?" Qin Fangcheng refused to believe it: "That child learned to lie well from her mother, but no matter how capable she is, she can't possibly stuff a grown person like you into an underground drainage pipe, can she?" After saying this, seeing the anger on Lin Hong's face, he hurriedly said: "Alright, alright, anyway, you're finally alright. Come on, get in the car, I'll take you home to rest."

Lin Hong got into the car with a face full of anger. She looked utterly disheveled, her head and face covered in mud, her whole body soaked in dirty water, and a peculiar smell of garbage emanated from her, making even herself feel nauseous. All she wanted was to get home quickly and take a hot shower. This terrifying night had been far too much of a torment for her.

Qin Fangcheng was exhausted. Without another word, he started the engine, turned the car onto the road, but strangely, the car kept vibrating as it drove, accompanied by an unpleasant hissing sound. As Qin Fangcheng increased his speed, the vibrations intensified, causing the two men to bounce violently in their seats. The hissing sound became so intense it was almost ear-piercing, giving them goosebumps.

Qin Fangcheng quickly slowed down the car. The vibration lessened, but the friction noise became even stronger. Finally, Qin Fangcheng couldn't stand it anymore. He pulled the car over to the side of the road, stopped, and said, "You sit here. I'll get out and check if the mudguard has fallen off."

Lin Hong remained silent. The dirty water soaked through her clothes, and she felt an indescribable chill. She sat anxiously in her seat, waiting for Qin Fangcheng to find a solution to the car's problem.

Qin Fangcheng crouched down at the front of the car and inspected it for a long time, but couldn't find anything wrong. He then stood up and went to the back of the car to continue his inspection. Lin Hong yawned, closed her eyes, and continued to wait. After a while, Qin Fangcheng finally returned, opened the car door, sat in the driver's seat, and started the car.

This time the car drove smoothly, and the friction and noise from before were gone. However, Lin Hong felt increasingly tired and drifted off to sleep.

A warm, strong hand reached out and rested on her leg. Lin Hong's body shifted slightly, but she didn't react excessively. The hand seemed to receive tacit approval and encouragement, and its movements became increasingly unrestrained. It slipped inside Lin Hong's clothes, eagerly wriggling.

Lin Hong suddenly woke up with a start, grabbed the hand without thinking, and forcefully threw it aside: "Behave yourself, how can you be so unruly?"

Qin Fangcheng chuckled: "Don't be so angry. I haven't even thanked you for saving me from the drainpipe yet."

His voice was deep and heavy, which was unusual for him. Lin Hong opened her eyes in surprise, and when she looked closely, she couldn't help but let out a terrified scream.

The person sitting in the driver's seat and driving the car was not Qin Fangcheng, but an extremely fat man.

This fat man was none other than Du Hongyuan, the chairman of the Qianya International Construction Engineering Company where Zhao Zhuo worked. A bright red ligature mark remained on his thick neck. He looked at Lin Hong with a half-smile, one hand on the steering wheel, the other rubbing the wound on his neck, and said with a grin:

"I admire kind women like you, so I want to thank you in this way—consider it a surprise from me."

Lin Hong screamed again and turned to try and open the car door to escape, but the door was locked and she couldn't open it no matter how hard she tried. She then heard Du Hongyuan's sinister voice in her ear: "Don't be impulsive, it won't do you any good. Weren't we cooperating perfectly just now? Just think of this as a continuation of our cooperation." With that, he let out a terrifying, eerie laugh, the sound continuous, like an evil night bat flying in Lin Hong's ears.

"Stop the car! I want to get out!!!" Lin Hong was terrified and screamed incessantly, pounding on the car door with her fists. Du Hongyuan chuckled and reached out to grab her wrist tightly: "Calm down, calming down won't do you any harm. Don't worry, you can tell I really like you. A woman as outstanding as you is a natural beauty that men love."

"Let me go, let me go!" Lin Hong struggled fiercely, desperately trying to turn to the side and wrestle the steering wheel with Du Hongyuan, trying to get him to stop the car. The car swerved and twisted on the empty road, almost flipping off the road several times. Du Hongyuan got angry and punched her hard in the temple. She didn't make a sound, her body went limp and she didn't move anymore.

When she woke up, she felt Du Hongyuan carrying her in his arms. He was walking along a long corridor with a red carpet. The corridor was brightly lit. Du Hongyuan's footsteps were decisive and resolute. With each step, the fat on his belly would tremble. This trembling made Lin Hong feel an indescribable disgust and fear.

Du Hongyuan walked to a door, opened it with a magnetic card key, entered the room, turned on the light, then placed Lin Hong on the bed and watched her silently.

His gaze was sinister and malevolent, radiating an evil and murderous aura, utterly devoid of any human emotion. This malevolent gaze terrified Lin Hong to the extreme. She hurriedly sat up, hugging her knees to protect herself: "You big turtle, you are ungrateful! Let me go right now!"

Du Hongyuan laughed loudly again: "Don't call a man a turtle so easily; men don't like that name." His cold eyes remained fixed on Lin Hong as he continued, "That's right. If you hadn't helped me remove that metal bolt, I'd still be stuck in the underground drainpipe. I don't like the smell in there, so I'm going to thank you."

He stepped forward, his entire body of fat seemingly grinning sinisterly: "I am truly grateful to you, therefore, I have decided to first make you happy and do what you like. After you have enjoyed happiness and joy, I will open your skull and suck out your delicious brain fluid."

Hearing Du Hongyuan's terrifying voice as he recounted the events, and seeing his lewd face, Lin Hong was so horrified that she cried out and fainted.

6)

Heavy footsteps sounded, approaching from afar, carrying a terrifying force.

The footsteps grew closer, and a terrifying figure was projected onto the dimly lit wall. Lin Hong struggled in terror, trying to escape the oppressive shadow, but no matter how hard she struggled, she could not break free from this horrifying dream.

She knew she was trapped in a dream, but she couldn't wake herself up.

In her dream, she saw herself bound hand and foot, the walls of a dark room splattered with gruesome blood, some dried, some still slowly flowing. A chilling, sinister atmosphere permeated the surroundings, an atmosphere that instilled despair.

Footsteps were already close at hand, and a huge black shadow loomed over them.

A terrifying face drew near to her. She cried out, a desperate wail, unable to make out the face clearly. She only vaguely sensed that the figure was holding a white candle, slowly bending down towards her. Wax dripped onto her bare skin, the burning sensation sending shivers down her spine. The indistinct face let out a strange laugh, a sinister and chilling laugh, like an evil hand reaching into her body, as if to rip out her internal organs.

She was filled with fear of the face in her dream, yet she was powerless to resist it and could only wail in despair. The pitiful wail was so horrifying that it caused her great physical discomfort.

She could clearly hear the sound of her teeth chattering in fear, the rapid, clattering sound instantly amplified and filling the entire world. In her trembling panic, she lost control of her bladder, drenched in sweat, and woke up howling from the nightmare.

She screamed desperately, trying to sit up, but the sheets were soaked with sweat and she was powerless. When she felt a hand grab her and shake her, it was like grasping a lifeline. She clung to the hand and screamed shrilly, afraid to open her eyes for fear of seeing that she was still in a nightmare.

"Wake up, Miss Lin, wake up." A calm voice said beside her. It was the voice of an adult woman, pleasant to the ear, yet tinged with coldness. Lin Hong slowly opened her eyes and saw a familiar face looking down at her. Although the face was haggard, it still revealed her former natural beauty.

"Oh, Miss Lin, you're awake," the woman said. "Would you like a glass of water?"

Lin Hong nodded vigorously. She recognized the woman; it was Zhao Zhuo's wife, Huang Ping. How did she get here? Where was she? She tried to sit up, but her body was limp and she had no strength. She lay on the bed, watching Huang Ping walk to a coffee table against the wall and pour her a steaming glass of water. Looking at the room's furnishings, simple and elegant, it clearly didn't feel like a hospital.

Huang Ping brought over a glass of water and stood by her bedside: "Miss Lin, you're sick. You have a high fever of 38 degrees Celsius. Let me tell you, this is not a good thing. If you delay too long, Chairman Du will not be happy."

"Chairman Du?" Lin Hong abruptly turned her face, scrutinizing Huang Ping with a hint of fearful inquiry. Huang Ping's facial muscles twitched. "Don't look at me like that. You're a shameless slut too, even worse than me in the end." She cursed viciously, her hand gesturing as if to splash the cup of boiling water on Lin Hong's face, but she ultimately didn't dare. Instead, she put the cup aside, sat down, hugged her left knee, and glared at Lin Hong with jealous hatred.

“You’re really something. Chairman Du has very high standards; he doesn’t even care about ordinary women. Yet he’s obsessed with you. You’ve really gotten your money’s worth.” As she spoke, she suddenly lowered her head, lifted her long hair with her hand, and exposed a deep hole in the center of her skull to Lin Hong. “Even if Chairman Du likes you now, so what? Sooner or later you’ll end up like me, having your brains drained by Chairman Du. On that day, you’ll be worthless.”

The hole in her head had smooth edges, not a single hair grew around it, and it was completely dark inside, showing no signs of life whatsoever. Clearly, it was true what she said: her brain had been completely drained, and she was of no value to Du Hongyuan.

The terrifying scene from the hole terrified Lin Hong. She closed her eyes, not daring to look closely. After a while, seeing that Huang Ping seemed unwilling to continue, she spoke up. Her voice was weak, hoarse, and dry, sounding like another person's voice: "Zhao Zhuo has always been thinking about you."

“Zhao Zhuo?” Huang Ping’s gaze was vacant and unfocused. “Who is he? Did I know him before?”

Lin Hong sighed inwardly. She no longer wanted to say anything. Firstly, she was in poor spirits and physically weak; secondly, Huang Ping had already succumbed to Du Hongyuan's tyranny, becoming his prey and losing her true nature. Discussing that topic now was pointless. She closed her eyes, a wave of extreme fatigue washing over her, and slowly she drifted off to sleep.

It's just a pity for Zhao Zhuo. He put in so much effort for his wife, but in the end, he failed. Huang Ping had become Du Hongyuan's prey, and he himself was kidnapped on the street by a group of burly men of unknown origin. The love story they once shared had become an illusion.

Exhausted, Lin Hong fell into a deep sleep. In her nightmare, that terrifying illusion visited her again. Footsteps, damp walls, and a sinister laugh intensified her fear. Once again, she screamed desperately as she struggled to escape the nightmare.

When she woke up, she had a feeling that was far more terrifying than the dream.

A rough, warm tongue was shamelessly licking her face. She suddenly opened her eyes and saw Du Hongyuan's fat, ugly face. Terrified, she screamed and fainted again, for what seemed like the umpteenth time.

She woke up again to a piercing scream.

The sound was filled with despair and pain, like the mournful cries of countless ghosts in hell being scorched by flames. It was shrill and long, continuous and unending. The infinite resentment carried in the cries was like a sharp needle piercing her heart, causing her to shiver involuntarily.

The wailing suddenly ceased, vanishing without a trace, as if it had never happened. Lin Hong shook her head blankly, about to open her eyes to look, when suddenly she heard a rough, malevolent voice cursing again. The voice was extremely vicious, filled with violence and tyranny; it was Du Hongyuan's voice:

"Damn it, you rotten woman! You've ruined my food, making it tasteless, the portion is small, and it's so fishy it's inedible! Get out of here!"

With the vicious insults came several heavy blows. Lin Hong opened her eyes and saw Du Hongyuan's eyes gleaming with malice as he grabbed Huang Ping and brutally beat her. Huang Ping was like a rag doll, her head swaying with each slap from Du Hongyuan. A straw was still inserted in the hole on the top of her head, showing that she was carefully protecting the straw while enduring the beating; if it came off, she would suffer even more inhuman torture.

Du Hongyuan was exhausted from fighting. He walked to Lin Hong's bedside, panting heavily. His evil and cold eyes stared at her for a long time before he carefully tucked her in and said, "Take good care of yourself and recover your health as soon as possible. Only with a healthy body will the brain fluid taste delicious. Don't let me down."

Lin Hong trembled violently. She wanted to scream again and faint, but this had happened so many times before. Her consciousness or instinct had grown tired of this meaningless escape and refused to faint. She could only blink desperately, waiting for her final moment to arrive.

7)