The weather in Fog City is always gloomy and gloomy, and in the summer, it feels especially sultry, and the water vapor in the air is wrapped around the body, slimy, and especially uncomfortable.

I couldn't stay in the dormitory, Yechen sat on the cement guardrail on the roof of the women's dormitory of Wucheng University, her legs hanging more than 20 meters in the air, riding the breeze, looking into the distance.

By this time, the sun had completely set, leaving only a faint glow of sunset in the sky, orange, yellow, and red intermingling, like an abstract painting she had seen in a museum. There is an artificial body of water next to the dormitory, and in the dark pond, a few red carp swim like a glimpse of light. The breeze blows, and the leaves of the ginkgo tree next to it dance.

Yechen is not afraid of heights, but looking down from the building more than 20 meters high, he still has a slight feeling of dizziness, and even has an urge to jump......

Jump......

Falling rapidly in free fall, there was no imaginary feeling of flying, and the strong sense of weightlessness made Yechen feel dizzy in his brain, his heart contracted violently, his mind was blank, and he wanted to scream, but he couldn't make any sound when he opened his mouth.

There is a saying: Anyone who commits suicide by jumping off a building, from the moment he jumps, will be in a state of extreme regret and then die in remorse. No matter how much determination you have made before, you can't resist the survival instinct that is deeply rooted in the genetic sequence.

There was a muffled thud, and a blood flower splattered—dazzling, leaving behind a mangled corpse, and everything was gone......

……

The mobile phone rang, waking Yechen from his chaotic conjecture: "Hey...... Okay, I got it. ”

A courier arrived.

Although Yechen hasn't been shopping online lately, she's not surprised. Today is the 15th of August, which corresponds to the 15th day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar, the Midyear Festival. Since Yechen was eleven years old, he received an anonymous package every year on the day of the Midyear Festival, like a birthday gift - or a birthday gift. Yechen, who grew up in an orphanage, didn't know her birthday, so she regarded the Midyear Festival as her anniversary of coming to this world.

Taking the courier back to the empty dormitory, Yechen took out a paper cutter from the drawer, carefully cut the scotch tape along the gap of the package, and opened the "birthday gift", with a serious attitude and a sense of ritual - after all, this is one of the few ways to celebrate his birthday.

But there were few surprises.

As in previous years, the package contained a simple gray cardboard box with a bead embedded in the black lining. The beads are milky white, similar to mutton fat white jade, cold to the touch, with flocculent cloud-like lines inside, staring at it for a long time, it will produce an illusion that these clouds are slowly rotating, which is quite magical.

From the age of eleven to his nineteenth birthday this year, Yechen has received nine of these beads, and this time the anonymous giver also sent a gray elastic thread very thoughtfully.

Well, Yechen finally knows what the birthday present he receives every year is - a bracelet that has been broken into nine parts.

Yechen took out a small cloth bag from the corner of the wardrobe, which was a birthday gift from the previous eight years, the same eight milky white beads, she strung the beads with elastic thread again, tied a small bow, and then put it on her left wrist and tried it, the size was just right, and it was very good-looking.

Well, the birthday celebration is over.

After looking at the time, Yechen changed into a pair of washed denim shorts and a white monogram print T-shirt and went out.

Take a three-stop bus from the school gate, and walk more than 400 meters, and you will arrive at the place where Yechen works during the summer vacation - Yinyue Supermarket. This is a small supermarket with more than 70 square meters, although it is within the range of the university town, but the location is a bit remote, and the customer flow is not large.

It is said that the money earned by the supermarket is used to buy goods, and the rent is almost unaffordable, and I don't know if it's true or not. However, the store manager has been haggard a lot recently, and the white and smooth skin that was originally maintained has become gray and sallow in just a few days, even if it is early in the morning, he is full of exhaustion.

There won't be any customers at night in this remote area, but Soundmoon Supermarket is a franchised supermarket chain, and the headquarters requires 24 hours of operation and must be manned at night. There was no way, so they had to arrange a night shift in shifts.

Girls don't like to work night shifts, but Yechen is greedy for a clean night and is more comfortable - there is a small folding bed in the storage room, which can be set up to replace sleep, so as not to delay her other part-time jobs during the day.

Take advantage of the summer vacation to earn more living expenses for the next semester.

As for safety, don't worry, there is a police station more than 200 meters away from the supermarket, and the security in this area is quite good. Besides, what is there to grab in the supermarket is nothing more than some groceries, and if you are really in danger, you can ask for money and give things, and you will not hurt your life for this little thing.

At seven fifty, Yechen walked into the Yinyue supermarket on time. Unexpectedly, the store manager was not there, and a strange girl was sitting behind the counter, playing with her mobile phone. The girl looked no more than fifteen or sixteen years old, petite, with big eyes twinkling and quite cute.

"You ......"

Hearing the voice, the little girl stood up, smiled, and introduced herself: "You are Sister Chen, right?" My name is Tang Wu, I am a new employee, Xiaojuan can't come today, so the store manager asked me to be on duty with you on the night shift. ”

"Oh...... Wait a minute, I'll confirm. Yechen picked up his mobile phone and wanted to make a call, but he saw that just now, there was a message from the store manager on WeChat: A new employee came today, and he works the night shift with you.

Okay, Yechen replied to a message, put the phone on the counter, and sighed slightly. It seems that I can't sleep well tonight, and although there are usually no guests at night, it is always a hassle to bring a new person.

Seeing that Tang Wu was still standing there, Yechen smiled and said, "Sit down, don't be too restrained, the working atmosphere here is very relaxed, and the store manager is also very good." ”

Yechen moved a chair and sat down, no one spoke, and the atmosphere became a little awkward for a while. She has a cold temperament and doesn't like to talk very much, but the two of them have to stay up all night, and they can't just say a word, and they will be colleagues for a while.

"What are you looking at?" Yechen casually found a topic.

Tang Wu put down her phone and said, "I'm reading a novel." ”

It's good to have questions and answers, you can continue to chat, Yechen asked, "What kind of novel are you reading?" ”

This topic aroused Tang Wan's interest, and she showed an excited smile on her face and said: "The horror novel I read is called "Painted Skin", which is very beautiful and particularly attractive. ”

"Painted Skin? I've heard that it was originally a story in "Liao Zhai", and it was later made into a movie. ”

"Not that." Tang Wu shook her head and said, "Although the name is the same and the content is also borrowed, this is a novel that has just been written, and it is said that it is still based on real cases. ”

"Realistic? It's kind of interesting...... What's in it? ”

"It's about a terrible ghost, very evil, who likes to peel off people's skin alive and then wear it on his body, and it becomes that person, moving in the world. But this kind of human skin can only last for a while, and after ten or twenty days, it needs to look for the next prey, and then skin it again. ”

Tang Wan spoke very briefly, but at night, there were only two girls in such a big supermarket, and it was pitch black outside, which sounded a little panicked.

Tang Wu's eyebrows fluttered and said: "This story is very well written, and it is very immersive to read. The ghost in the story likes women's white and smooth skin the most, and when they peel their skins, they are very serious, and they are not allowed to be damaged at all, and the victims are all ......"

Seeing that this girl's eyebrows were dancing and she was about to start introducing the details of the horror story, Ye Chen hurriedly interrupted and said, "You are quite bold, you dare to read horror novels at night." ”

"I'm actually not very daring, after reading horror novels, I can't even sleep in horror movies." I didn't expect Tang Wu to give such an answer, "But the more this is the case, the more I like to watch it, and I don't know what's going on." ”

"It's normal, a lot of horror story lovers have this mentality." Yechen smiled and said: "Modern people's lives are too dull, so they like to find some excitement, which is understandable. ”

"yes." Tang Wu leaned back in her chair and sighed, "Life is really like a glass of boiled water, it's not interesting at all." By the way, do you know why Xiaojuan didn't come today? ”

Looking at Tang Wu's expression of interest and eagerness to share, it seems that she is still a girl who likes to gossip. Yechen asked cooperatively, "Why?" Is it sick? ”

Xiaojuan's health is not good, she has congenital heart disease, and she has undergone several surgeries, although her symptoms have been alleviated a lot and will not affect her normal life, but her body is still a little weak. The other employees of the supermarket didn't know about this matter, and Yechen only learned about it by accidentally seeing the slightly hideous knife on Xiaojuan's chest. may be because she rarely exercises outdoors and does not get in the sun, Xiaojuan's skin is very good, white and smooth, like satin, which is very enviable.

Tang Wu stood up, leaned on the counter, leaned in front of Yechen, and said mysteriously: "Because she ...... Missing. ”

"Missing? How so? We were on a night shift together last night. ”

"yes, I went missing on the way home from the night shift."

Yechen frowned and asked, "How's the situation now?" ”

"I don't know, there's no news yet!" Tang Wu picked up her mobile phone and looked at it, "I joined the gossip group of our supermarket, and I will know as soon as there is news." ”

"Gossip group? When did our supermarket have a gossip group? Yechen said in surprise, there is another sentence that has not been spoken, I have been working part-time here for almost a month, why don't you know?

"It's just a group for sharing gossip, it's not interesting." Tang Wu waved her hand, but looking at her unbearable smile, she seemed to be very satisfied with the news shared by this group.

"Oh...... I don't know how Xiaojuan is now. Yechen sighed, it was a very quiet girl, because she often worked the night shift, and the relationship between the two was not bad.

"I don't know...... Maybe dead. Tang Wu suddenly said this.

"Dead?" This word shocked Ye Chen's heart and said, "No, how is it possible?" ”

"How could it be?" Tang Wu retorted, "The disappearance of a young girl is nothing more than being killed and abducted, so it can't be because she went out with friends, right?" ”

"How is that possible? ...... in broad daylight How dare anyone? "It's already eight o'clock in the morning when I get off work, and the whole city is starting to get busy, and it's not the middle of the night, how can you be killed in a remote alley?

"Maybe it's not human!" Tang Wu pretended to be mysterious and said.

"What do you mean?"

"Maybe it was a ghost who killed Xiaojuan, a ghost who likes girls' white and tender skin."

Yechen frowned slightly and said, "Have you gone crazy reading books?" That's just the story. ”

"The author of this book said that it is based on real-life cases." Tang Wu gave a seemingly irrefutable reason.

A storyteller, can you believe what he says? Yechen complained in his heart and said, "How can there be ghosts in the real world? In addition, according to your story, even if Xiaojuan is killed, the ghost will take her identity and come to today's night shift, how can she disappear for no reason. ”

Tang Wu thought for a while and said, "Maybe...... Peeling takes time, a whole day's time. ”

I don't know if it was influenced by Tang Wu's story, thinking that Xiaojuan, who originally accompanied him to the night shift, might be a ghost, Yechen couldn't help but shudder.

What are you thinking? Yechen calmed down and said, "Okay, don't talk about this, Xiaojuan doesn't know whether she is alive or dead now, it's a little inappropriate for us to talk like this......"

In the middle of speaking, Yechen's mobile phone on the counter rang, Tang Yu glanced at it, and the caller ID was - Xiaojuan! The corners of her mouth went up, revealing a weird smile, and said, "It seems that the skinning is over, and 'Xiaojuan' is coming back." ”

"Don't talk nonsense!" Yechen glared at Tang Wu and connected the phone, "Hey...... Where did you go? …… Okay, okay, I got it...... That's good, that's good......"

When Yechen hung up the phone, Tang Wu hurriedly asked, "What's the matter, what's wrong with Xiaojuan?" ”

Yechen frowned and said, "She said that she met her old classmates on the way home, so they went out to play together." I didn't pay attention, the phone was out of battery and turned off automatically, so I didn't receive a call. ”

"Very far-fetched reason." Tang Wu said what Yechen thought in her heart, "Even if her mobile phone is out of battery, is her old classmate's mobile phone out of battery?" Or is it that you can't find a charger for the whole day? Why can't you talk to your family? ”

"Who knows!" Yechen replied vaguely.

Tang Wu glanced at Yechen and said with a smile: "I'm a newcomer, and I'm not suitable for the night shift, if Xiaojuan is 'okay', you will still work the night shift with her tomorrow." Would you be scared? ”