Obsessed with Cleanliness Chapter 27: Devil Walks Among Us

As soon as Jing Xing left, most of the warmth in the house vanished. Even the air seemed colder. Xiao Tong locked the door behind him, added two more bolts, carefully checked that it was tightly shut, then quickly washed up and hid in her little secret room.

She hadn’t returned for nearly a month, but the small bedroom looked exactly the same as when she left.

Even the IV bottle used for Yu Qinghan’s transfusion was still hanging on the metal bed rail, the ropes tied to the four corners were still there, and the creases on the bedsheet where Yu Qinghan had lain were untouched as if she had just gotten up and left.

Xiao Tong stood at the door for a while. The sight of the IV bottle, the ropes, and the crumpled sheets stung her eyes.

She tore the bottle and ropes off the rails, and threw them out along with the sheets and bedding Yu Qinghan had used. Only when the bed was stripped bare to its wooden boards did she feel a little better.

She lay on the hard wooden bed, wearing only her nightgown. Her back pressed against the cold, rigid boards. She stared at the ceiling.

The fluorescent light was too harsh, her eyes ached, and a tear slipped from the corner of her eye, disappearing into her hair, never to be found again.

All those years with Yu Qinghan, thinking about it now, it really was strange. She’d done everything for her, even nearly went to prison. But in the end, she still couldn’t hold on to her.

Maybe it was the spicy crab she had with Jing Xing at dinner, but her stomach started acting up again, a pulsing pain with a slight burning sensation. It wasn’t unbearable, but impossible to ignore. Xiao Tong lay on the bed, her mind completely blank.

It was over.

She knew clearly. This time, it was truly over between her and Yu Qinghan. Yu Qinghan’s true love, the one she could never forget, had returned.

Everything Xiao Tong tried to salvage was now meaningless. The person who had once protected her, pulled her out of hell, and promised to treat her well for life. Yu Qinghan, had finally stepped out of her world completely.

From now on, no one would protect her. No one would shield her from the darkness. No one would reach out when she was falling apart.

The demons that had haunted Xiao Tong for years were always there at night.

When Yu Qinghan was with her, Xiao Tong could hide in her arms. The demons didn’t dare get close, only circled from afar, watching and waiting.

In the dark, blood-red eyes locked on Xiao Tong like she was prey ready to be devoured.

But when Yu Qinghan wasn’t there, Xiao Tong was alone.

Even with every door and window sealed shut, as soon as night fell, those blood-red eyes would return, pressing against the windows, mouths wide open.

Anywhere shadows fell, you could see them. No matter how she dodged, she couldn’t escape.

So she built a prison for herself, no windows, no shadows, no cracks— a space where the demons couldn’t find her.

But then she brought Yu Qinghan into that prison. She locked Yu Qinghan inside… and invited the demons in with her.

The cage was no longer safe. Xiao Tong heard claws scratching at the door outside, sharp nails scraping against iron producing a piercing, screeching noise that made her shiver. She shrank into the corner.

They found it. They had finally found this place.

Xiao Tong trembled as she thought, once they knew where she was, there would be no escape. No matter how well she hid, they would always find her.

Curled in the corner, trembling, Xiao Tong suddenly heard a faint voice whisper by her ear: "Yu Qinghan doesn’t want you anymore. Now, you belong to us..."

"Aaahh—!"

Xiao Tong screamed, covering her ears, scrambling away from the wall. From the narrow gap between the metal bed and the wall, a pair of blood-red eyes appeared in the shadows— eyes with teeth, reaching out a hand to grab her, grinning wickedly.

"Yu Qinghan doesn’t want you anymore. Now, you belong to us..."

"You belong to us... Yu Qinghan doesn't want you anymore..."

More and more terrifying voices echoed, more blood-red eyes and sharp fangs crawled out from under the bed.

Only then did Xiao Tong realize, this prison wasn’t truly shadowless. Under the bed, where the light couldn’t reach, was pure darkness where the demons had hidden all along, waiting to tear her apart.

"Don’t come near me! Stay away! Yu Qinghan... Yu Qinghan is coming! She’ll be here any moment! Stay away from me!"

She dared not go near the bed again, pressing against the door and yelling incoherently. Her whole body was trembling, barely able to stand. Her fingers gripped the door tightly. But she couldn’t leave, because outside there were even more demons, sharpening their claws, waiting for her to step out.

No escape. Only despair and death.

"Yu Qinghan? Yu Qinghan can’t save you... Xiao Tong, you belong to us now... you’re ours..."

Finally, the blood-red eyes in the darkness no longer feared the light. They bared their fangs and crawled from the corners where light couldn’t reach, swarming around Xiao Tong.

Their claws yanked her hair, tore at her clothes, and then wrapped around her throat. The claws sank into the thin skin of her neck. Xiao Tong felt herself suffocating.

She clutched at her throat, struggling. Her legs spasmed. She felt like she was dying.

"Yu Qinghan… Yu Qinghan…"

Those horrifying, maddening voices kept repeating Yu Qinghan’s name in her ears, taunting, chanting, sometimes near, sometimes far.

Xiao Tong screamed, "Stop saying it! Stop it!" Yu Qinghan, where are you?

"Yu Qinghan isn’t coming. Why would she save you? Look at yourself, so filthy."

The blood-red eyes and sharp claws finally took on human form— men and women, all appearing young and beautiful.

They circled around her, looking down on her, mocking, pointing.

"Come look, it’s her! She’s the one from the rumors, the lesbian."

"Lesbian? You mean that bitch who likes women? She looks so innocent, though hahahahaha…"

"Likes women? I think she’s just never had a man. One night with us and she’ll be begging for more."

"Hahahahaha…"

The laughter echoed endlessly above her.

"Stop it… STOP IT! Get out! GET OUT—!"

Xiao Tong slammed her head toward them, smashing into the wall with a loud thud. Her head spun. The demons surrounding her only grew more vicious, tearing at her clothes.

I’d rather die than let you win.

Xiao Tong gritted her teeth, crawled to the bed, and from under it, pulled a fruit knife hidden inside an old sketchbook.

She slashed at the hands tearing her clothes. She aimed for the demons but the wound appeared on her own arm. It hurt so much she shivered.

Then she noticed, some of the demons clutching her began to disappear.

"Haha… hahaha…"

Xiao Tong leaned against the bed and laughed, then without hesitation, slashed herself again.

It hurt like hell, sweat pouring from her face. But it also felt so exhilarating, especially as the demons that had haunted her for more than a decade vanished, one after another.

"Yu Qinghan… Yu Qinghan…"

With every cry of Yu Qinghan’s name, she carved another gash into her arm. Blood gushed out. Her skin tore open. But Xiao Tong only grew more excited. She felt like she had found a way to fight back.

Shaking, hurting, yet exhilarated and laughing, until the last pair of red eyes disappeared, Xiao Tong finally dropped the knife.

She looked at her bloody arms, her cheeks twitching uncontrollably from the pain but her heart felt electrified.

She thought: Yu Qinghan, I’ve finally found a way to get rid of you.