Who Taught You to Use a Curse Doll as a Shared-Sensation Doll? - Chapter 5

From the corner of my eye, I suddenly spotted the equipment room beside the court.

I was in the university athletics department. By junior year, I had somehow become a deputy director and was responsible for the equipment-room key.

That key was in the backpack on my shoulders.

I dug it out, picked Pei Wen up, and plunged back onto the court.

“Are you insane?” he cried.

His shout drew several zombies’ attention, and he immediately fell silent.

We finally reached the equipment room, but I couldn’t get the door open.

My hands trembled with fear. The more frantic I became, the less the key would cooperate.

The zombies closed in.

Pei Wen stood in front of me.

Perhaps his half-transformed state confused them into thinking that we were their own kind. Whatever the reason, they held off instead of attacking.

At last the lock opened. I pushed the door wide and shoved Pei Wen inside.

That single action prompted one zombie to lunge at me.

Pei Wen grabbed a dumbbell and hurled it viciously. The zombie’s skull burst open, spraying blood and brains everywhere.

Freed from danger, I darted into the room.

Together, we barricaded and locked the door.

Only after making sure every door and window was tightly shut did we slump against each other, utterly drained.

Pei Wen looked at me and suddenly noticed black lines on my arm as well.

He seized my hand, huge tears falling from his eyes.

I had been bitten during the struggle too.

Whether because I had exhausted myself or because my life was reaching its end, I suddenly felt terribly tired.

I rested my head on Pei Wen’s shoulder and spoke softly.

“I worked so hard and was about to graduate. My parents only needed to work two more years before they could enjoy the retirement they’ve dreamed about. What the hell is this?”

Pei Wen wrapped his arms around me. He seemed to say something, but by then I could no longer hear him. I saw only his lips moving.

I thought I was certain to die.

To my utter astonishment, I regained consciousness after nearly seven hours.

I ran my hands over my body and discovered that the black lines had vanished.

“Qi Chuan?”

Pei Wen’s voice sounded beside me.

I turned. He looked just as he always had.

We had survived!

The joy of escaping death made me hug him fiercely.

A long while later, Pei Wen mumbled, “Hot. It’s a little hot.”

I released him and looked at my hands. Only then did I realize I had awakened a fire ability.

If people who survived a zombie bite could awaken abilities, what had Pei Wen awakened?

Curious, I asked, “Do you feel anything different about your body?”

“Feel anything?”

Pei Wen patted himself down. He seemed to find something, reached inside his clothes, and pulled out a cloth doll.

“What’s that?”

He stared blankly at it and ignored me.

I poked his arm. “What’s wrong?”

Pei Wen looked at me and abruptly smiled—a smile nothing like his usual obedient expression.

Then, under my gaze, he cradled the doll in one hand and slowly stroked it with the other.

In an instant, a numbing itch engulfed my entire body.

Pei Wen’s movements grew bolder. He toyed with the cloth doll while staring unblinkingly at me, like a venomous snake that had fixed upon its prey.

Dangerous and mysterious—and devastatingly sexy.

The next moment, my eyes flew open.

I had awakened from the dream.

I lay in the dormitory as wind and snow rattled against the windows.

Pei Wen slept quietly beside me, breathing softly. The cloth doll was clutched tightly in his arms.

I lifted the blankets and glanced underneath.

It was all that damned doll’s fault!

I extended my wicked claw toward it.

Just as I was about to seize the doll, a pale hand suddenly closed around my wrist.

I looked up. Pei Wen was beaming at me, his eyes curved with amusement.

“Qi Chuan, what are you doing?”