On the city’s outskirts stood an old residential building—once worker dorms, abandoned after the factory closed, sold cheaply to residents. Now, with crumbling pipes and no demolition plans, most had left. Only a single light glowed faintly on the third floor, lonely in the dark.

"Ah——!" Lan Yiyang jolted awake from a nightmare, drenched in cold sweat. No matter how many times she dreamed it, the same chilling dread clung to her. Twelve years had passed since *that* day.

"So cold."

Her breath misted. Yi Yan unconsciously hugged herself tighter, glancing out the window. In the darkness, shadowy figures drifted—countless ghostly silhouettes. None dared cross the threshold.

"Back again?"

She felt no panic. Only weary familiarity. Since childhood, evil spirits and Malevolent Ghosts had constantly tried to draw near.

Slipping into her pink cat-print cotton slippers, she padded to the wardrobe. Hesitated. Opened it.

Inside hung modest dresses and trousers—long skirts, long pants, nearly all white. Her favorite: a pure snow-white dress. Classmates joked it looked like Sadako’s. If not for her hair—a sickly snow-white from her condition—she might’ve resembled her.

"They’re here again. Please protect me… this is your payment."

Hidden behind the clothes, Yi Yan pulled out an ancient box. Cinnabar-drawn talismanic characters covered its surface; yellow paper sealed the lid.

She opened it. A pitch-black figure, no bigger than a fist, limbs and head faintly shaped—an unborn infant, twisted into a spirit infant by dark sorcery.

"Mm." She pricked her fingertip, letting drops of blood fall onto its mouth. The box’s runes glowed eerie red; the blood seeped in.

"Why… still not full?"

Its eyes stayed shut. Gritting her teeth, she sliced her palm with a small knife. Blood poured over the spirit infant—only then did its eyes snap open.

Outside, the drifting ghosts scattered like startled moths.

"I’ll be consumed by you someday…"

Closing the box, dizziness hit her. Vision blurred. She swayed, barely staying upright.

Feeding it blood was one thing—but now, during her period, already weak… it showed no mercy. Its hunger grew daily.

She knew: her blood strengthened it. Soon, the seal would break. And she’d be first to die. Because her body was…

*Sigh… I should’ve died twelve years ago. Living to eighteen is already a gift. My life? My death? Doesn’t matter. But if this thing breaks loose… after devouring so many evil spirits and Malevolent Ghosts, even Uncle Ma alive might not stop it. Fine. I’ll live a few more days. Then find some remote place. End it myself. Just… don’t let it hurt anyone else.*

Back in bed, wrapped in thick pink cotton pajamas, she hugged an oversized plush dog. Only at home did her soft, girlish side show. Outside, always in white—marked as strange.

Bullying followed. Always alone. Never a friend. Never a defender.

Cornered. Mocked. Yet she buried every shard of hatred, loneliness, sorrow deep inside. Wore a carefree, indifferent smile like armor.

Thank goodness she knew her time was short. Otherwise, years of silence would’ve shattered her mind.

"Ahhh! Golden Retrievers are so cute! I want one…" She sighed. "Nah. Every pet I kept… that thing drove them mad."

Sleepless, she lay chewing a strand of her snow-white hair, scrolling mindlessly—then froze.

A notification glowed on screen: *Dormitory of a certain school… now reopened.*