I'm Actually Panicking Because My Heart Doesn't Beat (GL) - Chapter 22

Zhang Wen’s words sent chills down Guan Xiaoxuan’s spine. She immediately shouted into the phone, “Zhang Wen, don’t open it!”

But she was a second too late. Zhang Wen had already reached out and cracked the rooftop door open.

A gust of cold, damp, foggy air blew through the gap—brushing past Zhang Wen’s face and, strangely, Guan Xiaoxuan’s as well.

Even though the rooftop door was open just a sliver, Zhang Wen’s eyes went wide in shock. Through that tiny gap, she saw a figure.

Cheng Yi was standing right behind the door. No one knew when she had gotten there, but the moment Zhang Wen opened it, Cheng Yi was already pressed up against the opening. One bl00d-red eye peeked through, staring directly at her. The sight made Zhang Wen scream in terror, her mind going completely blank.

It was like a scene straight out of a horror movie: the unlucky girl opens the wrong door and ends up face-to-face with the monster—then gets dragged to hell.

In that one second, a thousand thoughts raced through Zhang Wen’s mind. It was like her life was flashing before her eyes. She truly believed she was about to die.

Then, Cheng Yi pushed the door wide open. Staring down at the terrified Zhang Wen, who had fallen to the ground, she smiled, lips bl00d-red as she said, “Perfect timing, Zhang Wen. You’re the last one I need.”

Before Zhang Wen could react, Cheng Yi reached out to grab her—but a flash of white light streaked past, and a figure suddenly charged in.

It was Bai Zhiqi. She had spotted Cheng Yi the second the rooftop door opened and didn’t hesitate to attack, slamming her to the ground.

At the same time, a strange, blurry crack appeared in front of Guan Xiaoxuan—round, and gradually widening.

Inside that glowing circle, she saw Zhang Wen collapsed on the floor, and Bai Zhiqi locked in a violent struggle with Cheng Yi.

Bai Zhiqi had told her earlier that once the rooftop door was opened, a gateway between the real world and the mirror world would appear. It was the only connection between the two versions of the dormitory. This was Guan Xiaoxuan’s only chance to bring Zhang Wen back.

Zhang Wen was still frozen in shock, staring at the fight nearby, completely unaware that a way out had opened beside her—until Guan Xiaoxuan rushed through the portal.

“Zhang Wen!”

Guan Xiaoxuan ran to her side and asked, “Are you okay? Can you stand? We’re getting out of here.”

“Leave?” Zhang Wen was still dazed from everything that had happened. But when she saw Guan Xiaoxuan, everything came rushing back. Her panic returned, and she grabbed her friend’s arm. “We can leave? Xiaoxuan, please, get me out of here—I can’t stay in this place another second!”

She was about to cry, but Guan Xiaoxuan quickly covered her mouth to keep her quiet. She glanced back at the two figures still fighting and whispered, “Don’t make a sound. This place is way too dangerous. Can you walk? We need to go now!”

Zhang Wen nodded. With Guan Xiaoxuan’s help, she got to her feet. But just as the two were about to run, they heard a loud bang behind them—like something had been kicked across the floor. A shadow darted toward them before they could react, and the next thing Guan Xiaoxuan knew, she was knocked to the ground.

Cheng Yi was on top of her, one hand wrapped tightly around her throat. Staring at Guan Xiaoxuan’s pained expression, she suddenly burst out laughing.

“Haha, I didn’t expect you to deliver yourself to me,” she said with a twisted smile, licking her lips like a predator. “Perfect. Now I don’t have to hunt you down.”

“Find… me?” Guan Xiaoxuan struggled to pry her off. She couldn’t understand how this woman had so much strength. She wasn’t weak herself, but right now, she couldn’t even loosen a single finger of Cheng Yi’s grip.

“Of course,” Cheng Yi said, her bl00d-red eyes glowing as she grinned. “You were Red Lady’s carefully raised Gu. I noticed you the very first time you came to the group meeting. Your soul made me hungry. I’ve been watching you ever since—waiting for the day you’d mature into the tastiest Gu.”

Guan Xiaoxuan frowned. So Cheng Yi had been watching her all along, just waiting until she became Red Lady’s Gu before making her move?

She suddenly remembered a moment from her memories—walking into that alley with Zhang Wen, feeling like someone was watching her. Back then, she thought it was Xing Tianqing’s gaze in the dream. But now, thinking back, it was probably Cheng Yi hiding in the shadows.

She had been marked as prey from the very beginning.

“So it was you…”

Guan Xiaoxuan could barely breathe now. Gasping, she asked, “Why are you doing this to me? I don’t even know you!”

Cheng Yi just laughed. “Do you say hi to the carrots and pork before you eat them? Does it matter if we know each other? The only thing that matters is—you’re Gu. And in this mirror world, Gu like you are the ultimate delicacy.”

As she spoke, Cheng Yi leaned in closer, her bl00d-red eyes narrowing as she stared at Guan Xiaoxuan’s face. “Your eyes are beautiful. I’ve never been happy with the ones I have now. Perfect. Before I eat you, I’ll take that pretty face of yours, too.”

Before Guan Xiaoxuan could react, Cheng Yi raised her free hand—and reached for her face.

In an instant, a wave of pain hit her—like someone was ripping the skin off her face. The pain was so intense that Guan Xiaoxuan could barely breathe. She struggled with all her strength, but she couldn’t break free from Cheng Yi at all.

The searing pain on her face kept getting worse. Guan Xiaoxuan started to think that this might really be the end for her.

After everything she’d gone through, she was still going to die. If she had known it would end like this, maybe she wouldn’t have come back to life in the first place—at least that way, it might have been less painful.

Now, not only was her face about to be torn off, but she was also going to be skinned alive.

She suddenly realized that the phrase “skinned alive” felt extremely fitting right now.

Just as Cheng Yi was about to peel off her face, a sudden beam of bright light shone directly into Cheng Yi’s eyes, forcing her to shut them.

At that moment, Bai Zhiqi lunged forward, tackling Cheng Yi to the ground. She quickly pinned her down, one hand gripping her neck tightly. Then, her nails suddenly turned razor-sharp and slashed at Cheng Yi’s face.

“AHHH!!”

A scream full of agony echoed through the hallway as Cheng Yi’s face was torn off.

Bai Zhiqi let go, clearly satisfied, and pressed the bloody piece of skin onto her own face.

Zhang Wen quickly turned off the flashlight on her phone and rushed to Guan Xiaoxuan’s side, helping her sit up. She panicked at the sight of Xiaoxuan’s face—purplish from lack of oxygen—and tried to help her breathe. “Xiaoxuan! Xiaoxuan, are you okay?”

Xiaoxuan sat up and coughed for a long time before she finally looked up, trying to process what had just happened.

Cheng Yi’s face had been ripped off, leaving behind a mess of bl00d and raw flesh. She was now writhing in pain, too afraid to even touch her face, glaring at Bai Zhiqi with bloodshot eyes filled with hatred.

As for Bai Zhiqi, once she placed the skin over her own face, bl00d trickled down from the edges. But soon, the face began to blend into her own. Xiaoxuan watched as tiny bumps and tissue squirmed underneath the skin, shifting and reshaping. Within three seconds, Bai Zhiqi’s face transformed into someone completely new.

Her face was round and delicate, with slender eyebrows and soft brown eyes. At the corner of one eye was a small beauty mark shaped like a teardrop.

She had a high nose bridge and thin lips.

It was the face of a beautiful woman.

Was this what Bai Zhiqi originally looked like?

Guan Xiaoxuan and Zhang Wen stared in shock. It was like something straight out of a movie—they had never seen anything like this in real life.

Bai Zhiqi, now wearing her own face again, was clearly thrilled. She looked down at Cheng Yi and smiled coldly. “So, how does it feel to have your face stolen? Feels great, doesn’t it?”

Cheng Yi was shaking all over from the pain. She stared at Bai Zhiqi in disbelief. “You actually dared to take what’s mine?!”

“You stole my face first!” Bai Zhiqi snapped, furious. “You took away my life and trapped me in this world forever. Now I’ve taken back what’s mine—and I’m leaving you here, forever!”

With the two “monsters” fighting it out, Guan Xiaoxuan helped Zhang Wen to her feet.

“Let’s go,” Xiaoxuan said after coughing twice. “We’ll leave through the same entrance I used to get in. Bai Zhiqi said the portal won’t stay open for long—we can’t waste time.”

As for Bai Zhiqi and Cheng Yi, they weren’t people Xiaoxuan or Zhang Wen could deal with. Their priority now was to get out safely.

Zhang Wen nodded quickly, and the two of them started heading toward the exit—but froze when they passed the rooftop door.

The rooftop, once empty, was now filled with bodies lying all over the place. Zhang Wen recognized a few familiar faces and realized these were the classmates Cheng Yi had dragged into this world earlier that night.

“Are they… dead?” she asked, her whole body trembling.

Xiaoxuan frowned. She had only focused on getting Zhang Wen out—saving just one person was already difficult enough. Saving more had never been part of the plan.

She had accepted not being able to help the others—but now that they were right in front of her, possibly still alive, it was hard to walk away.

Zhang Wen looked at her, conflicted, and asked in a shaky voice, “Should we… just leave first? We can let the authorities come back for them. Even saving ourselves is hard enough… right, Xiaoxuan?”

Even as she said it, Zhang Wen was torn. But Guan Xiaoxuan was her anchor. Xiaoxuan had risked her life to come save her—she couldn’t just ignore her feelings and act on impulse. In the end, it all depended on what Xiaoxuan wanted to do.

Xiaoxuan glanced at Zhang Wen, then at Cheng Yi, who was clearly losing the fight. She took a deep breath and said, “You go get help. I’ll check if they’re still alive.”

Before Zhang Wen could say anything, Xiaoxuan stepped onto the rooftop.

After hesitating for a long moment, Zhang Wen finally made up her mind—and ran off to get help.