Around

January [-]th, heavy snow.

He came back from the snowstorm with a chill all over his body.When the door was opened, several snowflakes floated in, lightly falling on Gu Panhao's long black hair.

The snow fell between the black hairs, like very small plum blossoms, and seemed to have a faint fragrance.Gu Panhao sat quietly at the table, spreading out a painting in front of his eyes.There are only two colors, black is extremely black, and white is extremely white.The black ones are the man's long hair and watery eyes, and the white ones are the plum blossoms in the hair and his snow-white complexion.

Such a strong visual impact confused him.He stepped forward and looked carefully, reluctant to pluck the flowers from the man's head.This color suits him, he thought, stretching out his hand to touch the man's face, it was warm, as warm as the sun in winter.

His fingertips were mixed with the fragrance of falling dreams, and Gu Panhao's nose moved.

He smiled and hugged him into his arms: "Ah, I'm back."

Gu Panhao sat motionless, like a beautiful porcelain doll.His brows were light, gentle and sad.

"Why don't you ever smile?" He pressed his forehead between the man's eyebrows and asked with a sigh.

Water ripples flowed in Gu Panhao's eyes.His eyes hide the most vivid water in the world, no painter can depict such beauty, and no poet can sing such agility.He just sat there quietly, making those who looked at him bewildered and stupid.

"Why don't you ever smile?" He is that stupid person, he thought, as long as Gu Panhao is willing to smile to himself, he is willing to exchange everything.There is another question that he didn't ask - why do I like you so much?

"Smell." He raised his hand and carefully put it under Gu Panhao's nose, "This is the smell of falling dreams. Remember, your favorite wine."

The clear and light fragrance floats into the nose, the smell of falling dreams.Gu Panhao thought of his home.His home is far away from here, where there is no snow.He likes to watch the catkins flying in spring. His brother told him that it is like snow.White, soft, and cold.He held the catkin in his palm and looked at it carefully, frowning, unable to imagine how cold it looked.

But now, he saw real snow.The catkin-like snow is white, soft, and icy, as if the person in front of him is holding his hand.This person, who was holding catkins, pulled him onto the horse, and the horse's hooves flew, leading him away from his hometown and his brother.

From now on, he is his own.

"Okay, talk to me."

Gu Pan was so immersed in the memories of his hometown, he inadvertently replied, "What are you talking about?"

His eyes lit up instantly, like a child who got sugar: "Ah good!" He exclaimed happily, "You are finally willing to talk to me!"

"Why don't you let me go home?" Gu Panhao tilted his head to look at him, with a pure and confused expression.He is not happy. In the past, he owned the water in his hometown, and his eyebrows danced happily when he played in the stream.He has a small wine shop, and he can smell the fragrance of falling dreams when he wakes up in the morning.He has an older brother named Gu Panzhi, who treats him very well.The two brothers live together, and their days are quiet and fulfilling.But now, his world has become very small, only him, and eyes full of snowflakes.

"You like snow, don't you?" he said. "There is no snow in your hometown."

"But there is a brother." Gu Panhao said sadly, lying on his broad shoulders, "I miss my brother..."

"Only me, Ah Hao." He said, "No brother."

……

"Would you like to be mine alone?"

……

"Ah good..."

……

"Ah good..." Shen Tucheng murmured and changed his posture.He woke up with a sore feeling in his neck.

It was dark already, and the old library was dark.Shen Tucheng shook his head, and after his eyes got used to the darkness, he groped to find out the mobile phone in his backpack, it was [-]:[-] in the middle of the night.

The library was empty, and the sound of Shentucheng's breathing was amplified infinitely, echoing in the air, revealing a cold smell.Countless terrifying legends flashed through his mind, the headless corpse and the ghost in red, as if they would appear in front of him in the next moment, suddenly became concrete.

Shen Tucheng rubbed his forehead, remembering his purpose of coming here.Since he lost his notebook, he has dreamed of a person more and more frequently, sometimes he forgets when he wakes up, sometimes he only remembers fragments, but does not remember the person's name and appearance.Until he picked up the bloody jade dish, everything gradually surfaced—he saw Die Xian's hand.

The legendary Die Xian had already appeared beside him.

Shen Tucheng has every reason to believe that the shadow of death in the 308 girls' dormitory is caused by the thing named Xianshi that is actually a ghost.But why those girls?They have nothing to do with this whole thing, if you really want to count, the one who bears the brunt should be yourself who picked up the jade plate back then, right?

why?Shen Tucheng couldn't figure it out.

No... Maybe, it has already started to move.Shen Tucheng suddenly thought of Wang Shiwei, who was insane. He was the one caught by Die Xian's hand, and he was the only person other than himself who had really come into contact with Die Xian.After losing news for two months, he appeared in front of Shentu City for the first time, and it was on a somewhat strange occasion——Bai Lu's funeral.

Shen Tucheng recalled the dense row of needle holes on Wang Shiwei's arm, which proved to be Wang Shiwei's own piercing.When a psychiatrist was appraising him, Wang Shiwei said that it was to force out the ghost possessing him.He grabbed Shentucheng's sleeve in fear, and said with trembling white lips, "He climbed onto me and wanted me to die myself."

As a result of the appraisal, Wang Shiwei was finally sent to a mental hospital.Before being forcibly dragged into the car, he firmly grabbed Shen Tucheng's arm and kept saying, "He's coming... none of us can escape... we're all going to die, we're all going to die... die..."

Seeing Wang Shiwei like this, Shen Tucheng couldn't help feeling sad.It would have been nice if I hadn't picked up that jade plate back then.

"Do you regret it?" A voice whispered in his ear.

who? !Shentucheng arched his body in the darkness, like a sharp arrow ready to go.

"I don't know who I am," said the voice. "Don't you remember me?"

"Come out." Shen Tucheng gritted his teeth and said word by word.

……

There was silence all around.

That voice disappeared.Shentucheng observed his surroundings vigilantly - there was nothing.

The feeling of familiarity is gone, the "person" is gone.

Frowning tightly, Shen Tucheng hesitated to leave immediately.His body seems to flow with the blood of a beast, and it is his instinct to perceive danger and wait for an opportunity.Often, when confronted with a situation that alerts his defenses, he prefers to sit still, like a cheetah lurking in the grass, waiting for its prey to bite.

But it was clear that now he was someone else's prey.In other words, he and his opponent are in an unequal position of confrontation - "he" can see him, but he cannot see "him".

But Shen Tucheng didn't intend to leave just now, if possible, he really wanted to meet that "Dish Immortal".For some unclear reason, Shen Tucheng wanted to see him very much.Perhaps it was because this disaster was caused by himself, and he shouldn't drag others down because of emotion and reason, Shen Tucheng thought.

Thinking of this, Shentucheng actually relaxed - at worst, he would die.What's more, whoever loses wins, and everyone is accurate.

Like all young people, Shentucheng is not afraid of death.However, what is different from his peers is that he is not afraid of death, not because he is young and energetic and does not know the heights of the sky and the earth.His lack of fear is more of a kind of indifference.It's fine to live, but it doesn't matter if you die.He had always thought so.In his opinion, this is not disrespect or irresponsibility for life, but that there is really nothing in this world that he feels nostalgic for.It seemed that even if he died in the next moment, he would not have any regrets.Family, love, friendship, the most precious and beautiful feelings in the world, he has never experienced. His life is ordinary, and the days go by like flowing water. He doesn't even have one or two hobbies.Perhaps, Die Xian will become the only condiment in his tasteless life.Thinking of this, Shen Tucheng couldn't help laughing.

Unfortunately, the night was uneventful.That voice never appeared again.In the long dark night, Shentucheng recalled his dream over and over again.Clearer than ever, he took a closer look at Gu Panhao for the first time, just like his name, Gu Pansheng is brilliant, Jingxiujuanhao.There were water waves flowing in his eyes, they were the most fascinating pair of eyes that Shen Tucheng had ever seen.His eyebrows were light, and there was a touch of gentleness between the eyebrows. Shen Tucheng thought about it over and over again, and felt that his chest was astringent, but warm.

There was a thick layer of dust on the table, Shen Tucheng stretched out his fingers, and wrote only three words all night, Gu Panhao.Write one stroke at a time, horizontal...skimming...a total of 26 strokes.He described it again and again, as if he would never get tired of it, and it seemed that he had written these three words countless times, firmly engraved in his heart, and could not be erased no matter what.

The sky was pale, but it was still gray in winter.There was light coming in through the gaps in the curtains that were not closed, it was still cold, and it fell on Shentucheng's face, giving off a sense of loneliness.

Shen Tucheng stretched, and finally looked around for a week, the room was filled with silence.Finally, he opened the door and walked out.

He walked very gracefully, calmly, like a king with firm steps.

He didn't look back.

He didn't see it.

He didn't see, the moment the door closed, a figure appeared in the cold light, facing the three words he left with a sad face.