Cold Dependence - Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The surroundings were filled with sparse, strange sounds, like various crawling creatures moving closely around her.

Even her arms, legs, ankles… the skin exposed to the outside felt sticky, damp, and oppressively hot.

It pressed down on her, making it hard to breathe.

Just as she felt her neck being covered more and more tightly by something gritty, perhaps a fiddler crab, working carelessly, accidentally flicked some piled-up sand into the slightly open mouth of this “sleeping beauty.”

This caused Qi Wenxi, whose throat was already dry, to suddenly feel uncomfortable and open her eyes, then start coughing violently.

She struggled and clumsily propped herself up from the sandpile, with half her legs still buried in the grit.

This sudden awakening startled the nearby small workers—fiddler crabs and sandworms, echinoderms—that were building a “little arched blanket,” and they immediately burrowed into the sandy ground.

Qi Wenxi stretched out her sand-covered hand, trying to soothe her neck to ease her breathing.

She still didn’t know where she was; to be precise, she didn’t know if she was dead or alive.

Her gaze was unfocused, unable to settle on one point.

The gray, overcast sky, the sound of the tides in her ears, and her body eerily buried in the sand.

What on earth was going on…

After feeling her throat ease a bit, she stopped trying to catch her breath, slightly turned her head, and looked at the vast, deserted beach.

To her shock, she noticed a hand that looked like a woman’s, pale as paper, right beside her.

Qi Wenxi’s already chaotic mind was instantly gripped by fear.

She swallowed hard and followed the hand, which looked like it belonged to a corpse, up to the entire body.

In an instant, she froze, her eyes fixed on the deathly pale figure.

A black-haired woman, face down, completely naked, was lying on the beach, just one meter away from her!!

Qi Wenxi instinctively shrank back, wanting to leave this eerie, terrifying beach immediately.

But as she tried to stand, her legs, long buried in the sand, went numb, and a stinging pain, like being bitten by countless ants, swept through her body, causing her to collapse awkwardly onto her knees.

This kneel brought her even closer to the ghastly pale corpse.

The figure’s skin didn’t look like that of a normal person; it even had a strange, transparent membrane, like something spat out by some creature. Everything about it was utterly abnormal.

“Ugh…” Qi Wenxi forced down the nausea brought on by fear, covering her mouth, not daring to look any longer.

She had inexplicably ended up on this beach, caught in the seawater, and then… she couldn’t remember anything. The more she tried to recall, the worse her head ached. What drove her mad was that a female corpse, face buried in the ground, had appeared right beside her!

Just one meter away.

She was the only witness and would be labeled the prime suspect.

Qi Wenxi’s usually calm and composed mind was now utterly disrupted by this bizarre phenomenon.

Having never done anything out of line her entire life, she never imagined she’d one day find a corpse beside her, with no memory of what happened.

No memory at all!

Qi Wenxi stood up, facing the cold sea breeze that sharply stung her face.

She needed to calm down, had to calm down, even as her hands began to tremble.

Pretending to ignore it and leaving wasn’t an option.

After thinking for a moment, she decided to report it to the police first, as she really had no other choice.

Qi Wenxi rummaged through her slightly damp coat pocket. Her phone was long gone, but her car keys, hooked through the inner lining, were still there. Everything else was missing.

Qi Wenxi paced forward, weakly holding her forehead, her head throbbing painfully, lost in her defeated thoughts. She didn’t notice that the eerie “female corpse” covered in transparent mucus behind her had opened its eyes and slowly stood up.

She slightly moved her arm, which was now much more coordinated than before, twisted her neck, turned her waist and limbs, doing something like a radio exercise routine without Qi Wenxi’s knowledge.

Through the gaps in the hair hanging over her face, Jing Lian saw the human woman, who had been unconscious earlier, now standing ahead with her back turned, strangely motionless.

Jing Lian was a bit puzzled. She remembered ordering those little creatures to cover this woman with sand to keep her warm before sleeping.

Had she woken up so quickly?

So, the ashen, pale arm slowly reached out, the hand still covered in cold membrane pressing heavily on the other’s shoulder without controlling its strength.

Jing Lian opened her mouth but realized she couldn’t yet speak.

Perhaps her speech system hadn’t fully adapted to this body.

What followed was a horrifying scene.

As Qi Wenxi, lost in her emotions, felt the sudden pressure on her shoulder, her hair stood on end.

She slightly turned her head and saw a corpse-like hand, sticky with some liquid, pressing on her left shoulder.

Qi Wenxi felt as if she’d fallen into an icy abyss.

She never believed in ghosts or superstitions, but what was pressing on her shoulder? Who could tell her why the woman who was just dead was suddenly touching her?

“I… didn’t kill you. It wasn’t me, really. When I woke up, you were already lying beside me. Please… please believe me.”

Qi Wenxi forced herself to stay calm and explain, refusing to turn around or meet the gaze of this sinister, resentful corpse.

The older generation always said not to do that.

Jing Lian, behind her, raised an eyebrow and tilted her head, not understanding what this two-legged creature meant.

But surprisingly, this human woman’s voice was quite pleasant, though it seemed to tremble with fear…

As expected.

A playful glint flashed in her golden-brown eyes. Soon, Jing Lian withdrew her hand, along with the oppressive aura of the abyss lord.

“I’ll help you report to the police, let your soul find peace and move on, so…” Qi Wenxi forced herself not to fear, continuing to speak. She felt the hand on her shoulder lift.

Did this mean the nameless corpse was letting her go?

Qi Wenxi didn’t dare think too much, only forcing herself to speak while edging forward slightly.

“My phone is lost, so I can only go back. The fastest way to report is to call from the postbox up there.”

“Gurgle—”

A hungry growl from a stomach interrupted Qi Wenxi’s self-talk.

Qi Wenxi froze, and then an even louder hunger sound came from behind, completely derailing what she was about to say.

Something was off.

Qi Wenxi stood frozen for a while until there was no more sound from behind. Mustering her courage, she slightly turned, glancing with her peripheral vision.

The “corpse” was still standing there, motionless. Qi Wenxi noticed the other’s feet.

They weren’t the deathly gray she’d seen earlier, as if soaked in seawater for ages; now they were a fairly normal pale color.

Qi Wenxi frowned slightly, confused. That wasn’t what she’d seen before.

After hesitating, she forced herself to look up to see if this thing scaring her was human or ghost.

Completely naked, pale-skinned, tall, and seemingly… quite curvaceous.

Qi Wenxi saw the damp black hair hanging over the pronounced curves and instinctively looked away.

Her gaze shifted to the other’s face.

The face and hair falling around the cheeks and ears still had sand grains, but those eyes stared unblinkingly at her.

They were a dazzling gold, like the sun.

Very beautiful.

That was the first absurd thought that popped into Qi Wenxi’s mind.

Though those eyes stared at her coldly and sharply, they didn’t scare her. It felt like she’d seen such eyes before.

In the deep sea.

The two stared at each other, big eyes meeting small.

But their thoughts were entirely different.

[What’s this two-legged creature standing there for? Doesn’t she know to offer food? Can’t she see I’m hungry?]

[This woman doesn’t seem like a ghost. Why is she here on the coast with me? She seems a bit mentally unstable.]

How could a normal person not wear clothes!

Qi Wenxi suddenly recalled a news report about a schizophrenic patient who killed three nurses and escaped from a hospital at night.

That patient still hadn’t been caught.

“Crackle—”

The woman with swamp-like black hair stepped forward, accompanied by the sound of the rising tide.

This sudden approach made Qi Wenxi immediately step back.

But the silent, black-haired woman moved closer again, forcing Qi Wenxi to retreat warily.

Seeing the woman with strange behavior still approaching, Qi Wenxi took a deep breath and ran forward at her fastest speed ever.

Due to the rising tide, she could only run uphill. Her chaotic mind couldn’t remember where she’d parked her car, so she instinctively ran toward higher ground, hoping to escape this strange woman.

The cold wind stung her face painfully, and the sudden sprint left a rusty taste in her mouth.

But she didn’t dare stop, because the woman with abnormal behavior was actually following her!

She was chasing her?

And the other’s speed was increasing, closing the distance rapidly.

Running barefoot that fast!?

While running, Qi Wenxi nervously looked back. The woman, because of this chase, cracked her mouth into a terrifying grin, like a movie psychopath hunting prey.

This was definitely someone who escaped from a mental hospital!

Qi Wenxi’s heart was in her throat. She even slapped her face while running, trying to wake herself from this bizarre nightmare.

As Qi Wenxi fled for her life, several worn wooden steps loomed ahead.

Jing Lian, enjoying this strange land-based “you flee, I chase” hunting game behind her, spotted the danger early. Though still a few meters behind, she suddenly darted forward, reached out, and yanked Qi Wenxi back.

The heavy pull on her wrist made Qi Wenxi wince in pain as she fell onto the other woman’s body, one hand pressing against her chest, feeling a pounding heartbeat.

The next second, Jing Lian let go and shifted her gaze to the steps.

Following her gaze, Qi Wenxi realized the woman had… saved her?

She couldn’t understand whether this oddly behaving woman was good or bad.

“I… I want to go home. Can you stop following me? I don’t even know you,” Qi Wenxi panted, half-pleading, half-requesting.

The black-haired woman just stared at her, not responding.

Then, the next second, she tried to approach again. Qi Wenxi immediately made a gesture to keep her away, causing Jing Lian to retract her raised foot and stand obediently in place.

“Is this okay? Tell me your name and where you live. I’ll find a way to get you home, alright?” Qi Wenxi, seeing the other’s emotions stabilize, continued to negotiate.

Jing Lian blinked her golden-brown eyes, as if listening.

Just as Qi Wenxi thought she was mute, the naked woman finally spoke.

But only three words—

“I… am… hungry.”