"Mama, look! There's someone lying over there."

"Good child, don't stare. Just some vagrant."

"Ahhh!" I jolted upright against the wall.

Morning already? Sunlight stabbed my eyes. Rubbing my temples, I winced—my head throbbed like hell. What... what even happened yesterday?

I felt like I’d been murdered. That monster woman skewered me like butchering livestock. Spider Spikes pierced me head to toe. My tongue was bitten off. My skull was cracked open—

"Agh! Ugh, bleh!" Wait... my tongue’s still here. I patted my face with my right hand—still attached. So yesterday was... a hallucination? A ghost encounter? But it felt so real. That tongue-severing agony—I’ll never forget how it shot straight to my brain, paralyzing my whole body. Just remembering it made my heart race.

I brushed dust off my face and slowly pushed myself up against the wall. No vomit-stained blood on the ground. No wounds from those Spider Spikes.

Was it all a dream? Such a vivid dream? I turned, scanning the alley where that woman dragged me yesterday. Damn it. She wasn’t some pure, angelic senior at all. Just a sadistic demon in disguise.

Then I spotted it—scratches on the wall from Spider Spikes. I frantically checked my body: no wounds. No head injury. Though... my hair felt thinner.

My shirt was torn at the shoulders and stomach. My pants ripped at the thighs. But my skin? Unbroken. What the hell is going on? Ugh, my head’s spinning.

*Neighbor.* Right—she claimed to be my neighbor. Back to the apartment first.

I didn’t head straight to my room. Instead, I stood outside 602, fist raised to knock. But wait—if she answers? Call the cops? No evidence. No wounds. Just torn clothes. Telling police about a spider-scorpion monster would get me locked up. And if she finds me again... she might finish the job.

Screw it. Knocking.

*Thump thump! Thump thump!*

Silence.

*BANG BANG BANG!* Still nothing.

*Drrrring!* My phone blared.

I jumped. "H-Hello?"

"Xiaobai! It’s Junfeng. We were meeting yesterday—you vanished! Ignored all my calls!" Zuo Junfeng’s voice crackled with mock anger.

"Junfeng, you know the landlord, right? Quick—who lives next door to me in 603?"

"Huh? Why? Some hairy creep?"

"Just check!"

"...Fine. Texting you soon." He sensed the urgency.

"Thanks, man."

"We’re brothers for life. No thanks needed." Click.

After hanging up, I knocked on 604. This time, the door opened.

"Who is it?" A man with greasy, face-covering hair glared out.

"Hi, I’m your neighbor. Do you know someone named Wuxiaowu?"

"Don’t know her." Slam.

*Ding ding!* Junfeng’s text:

*Xiaobai, 602’s empty—new tenant hasn’t moved in yet. Keys still with landlord. 604’s Wu Ada, unemployed guy. 601’s vacant. What’s wrong? Tell me.*

"Nothing. Thanks." I typed back.

Damn it. She planned this. Not my neighbor at all. All an act to lure me out. That monster woman... faking innocence to trick a shut-in like me.

After getting skewered all night, I was starving. Time for instant noodles.

Back in 603, I boiled water, opened my laptop, and searched "spider woman," "scorpion monster"—garbage results. Nothing about a woman with spider legs and a scorpion tail. But I did find something on Dongchuan Guang—the serial bomber who strapped remote explosives to victims.

No connection to Wuxiaowu.

An hour later, noodles gone, zero useful info.

Weird though—I was nearly killed hours ago, and now I’m calmly eating cup noodles online. Guess years of bad Chinese dramas built my tolerance.

"Huh. One cup noodle isn’t filling."

That’s off. As a shut-in, I usually skip breakfast. Survive on biscuits till evening.

I cooked another. Still hungry.

Ate my two stale pineapple buns. Still empty.

Boiled my last beef-flavor cup.

Three cups. Two buns. One-third full. Seriously? Since arriving in this city, that woman’s cursed me. Nothing but chaos. Worst luck of my life.

"God, screwing with me again? Bring it on. I’ll take whatever you’ve got." I slumped against the bed, muttering at my laptop.

As if on cue—heat flared between my shoulder blades. Then pain. A shadow slithered out from my back.

"HOLY SHIT! SNAKE!" I vaulted off the bed, pillow raised like a shield. (Yeah, I’m terrified of snakes.)

"...Huh?" Peeking over the pillow—nothing. I shook the sheets. Checked under the bed. Empty.

"Phew... false alarm." Yesterday’s trauma’s got me seeing threats everywhere.

I plopped back down, reaching for the keyboard—when something tapped the keys first.

I froze.

Staring at it, I didn’t know whether to scream or cry.

A Spider Spike. Smaller than hers, but identical to the ones that skewered me yesterday. And it was poking the keyboard... faster than my hand.

"HOLY SHIIII—!" I leaped up again, scanning the room. Door locked. No woman. Where did this come from?

Unless...

Oh god. The thought made my blood run cold.

This tiny Spider Spike sprouted from my right shoulder blade. It didn’t attack. It moved with my thoughts.

I touched it with my left hand, tracing it back—

...Yep. It was growing out of me.

"Hah... hahaha... ha." I collapsed against the wall, laughing bitterly. "Really, God? This is your punchline?"

My soul was shattered.

"What even IS this?!" I glared at the black spike lying beside me on the bed. Beyond words.

Yesterday I was tortured near death. This morning I woke up fine. Now the murder weapon’s growing out of my back. Has anyone ever had a worse day?

*Calm down, Li Xiaobai. Think.*

...Cut it off.

I grabbed my pocketknife, shoved the laptop aside, and pinned the spike to the desk.

"Sorry, buddy." I swung the blade down hard.

*Clang!* It dodged—like flinching from a needle. *My* reflex.

"Again!" I stomped on it, pinning it to the floor. Stabbed.

Hit. Right where the soft joint met the hardened exoskeleton. One centimeter deep. Red blood welled.

"AAAAAGH! HOLY—FUCK! THAT HURTS—!"

Like chopping a finger—stopped halfway by bone.

I dropped the knife. Seriously?! But the pain vanished instantly. The wound had already sealed itself.

"Ha... hahaha... ha..."

I gave up. Crawled into bed. Today? I’m sleeping through it.