Chapter 45: Companionship — The Man Without a Shadow
The man in the white shirt entered the villa complex together with Nan Xun. The two walked and chatted as they went, laughter ringing out—though, to be precise, it was only Nan Xun who was laughing. The man beside her seemed to have a perpetually stiff face and didn’t like to smile, but when he was in a good mood, one could glimpse a smile in his deep-set eyes, little points of starlight shimmering within them, quite captivating.
The man escorted Nan Xun all the way to the entrance of her villa.
Nan Xun felt very grateful. “To be honest, some things happened today that scared me a little, so thank you for walking me all the way here. By the way, where do you live? It should be nearby, right?”
The man nodded. “I live here too. You go inside. I’ll leave once you’re in.”
Nan Xun opened the door, then suddenly, on a whim, asked, “Would you like to come in for a cup of tea?”
The man froze for a moment, then a trace of amusement slowly flowed into his eyes. “Aren’t you afraid that once I go in, I’ll rob you of your money and your virtue?”
Nan Xun burst out laughing. “Anyone who dares rob me of money or virtue hasn’t been born yet. Don’t let my ladylike appearance fool you—I’m actually very good at fighting.”
After all, a tenth-dan in taekwondo and sanda was no joke.
Hearing this, the smile in the man’s eyes deepened. “I believe you. Then I’ll come in and beg a cup of tea.”
Nan Xun had only been making polite small talk and hadn’t expected him to take it seriously.
But words spoken were like water spilled—she could only brace herself and invite him in.
As it turned out, he really did just drink a cup of tea and leave, which made Nan Xun sigh in relief.
The light on the second floor of the villa turned on. Outside, the man—who had already walked some distance away—turned back. Warm streetlamps bathed his figure, but on the ground there was no… shadow.
For several days afterward, nothing strange happened again, and the knot in Nan Xun’s chest finally loosened.
After Nan Xun moved into the villa, Bai Xiye came over every day to freeload meals, saying that her cooking tasted like home.
In truth, Nan Xun was extremely annoyed by Bai Xiye’s daily visits. Whenever he came, in order to grind up his favorability, she had to cook a whole table of lavish dishes. And this guy had zero awareness of helping with the dishes—after eating, he would just rest. Looking at that tall pile of plates was exhausting in itself.
Thinking of what had happened last time, Nan Xun casually joked, “Bai Xiye, I called you so many times before, how come your line was always busy? Come clean—were you secretly on the phone with some little sweetheart behind my back?”
Bai Xiye was stunned. He quickly took out his phone and found no call records at all.
“Momo, don’t wrong me like that. When have I ever not answered your calls? Even if I were talking to someone else, the moment I got your call I’d definitely hang up right away.”
Now it was Nan Xun’s turn to be stunned.
After a long while, she suddenly blurted out, “Bai Xiye, find me a psychologist.”
That sentence scared Bai Xiye badly. He hurriedly asked, “Momo, what happened?”
Nan Xun then told him about some of the strange things that had happened over the past few days.
After listening, Bai Xiye let out a breath of relief and teased her for probably watching too many horror movies. Still, to put her at ease, he contacted a psychologist anyway.
The psychologist was named Li Mu, an old classmate of Bai Xiye’s.
Dr. Li pushed up the gold-rimmed glasses on his nose and smiled professionally. “Miss Bai, there’s no need to worry. You’re likely experiencing mental confusion due to insufficient rest. Just rest well for a few days and you’ll be fine.”
Nan Xun silently rolled her eyes. “Dr. Li, what do you think of someone who sleeps more than nine hours every day without waking even once in between? How would you rate their sleep quality?”
Dr. Li seemed to understand her implication and had Nan Xun lie down on the sofa.
“Miss Bai, listen to my instructions and relax.”
Nan Xun relaxed quite a bit, curious to hear what nonsense he was going to say.
“Miss Bai, you’re now walking on a lush green meadow. You hear the wind rustling through the leaves, a small stream flowing gently, birds flying across the sky. As you walk, you see three doors. One is a wooden door entwined with green vines. The second is an iron door, cold in texture. The third is the gate of an old countryside house. Now, choose one.”
Nan Xun chose the third one—the gate of the old house.
Who knew, maybe when she pushed it open, she’d see a table full of fragrant dishes.
At first, Nan Xun could still distinguish between dream and reality, but later she truly felt as though she had arrived in front of a grand old house.
For some reason, the house looked rather familiar.
Dr. Li’s hypnotic voice was low and steady. “After you push the door open and walk inside, what do you see behind the door?”
Nan Xun pushed the gate open and went in, seeing lush flowers and plants filling the courtyard. She opened the door to the house and walked inside, then froze.
Damn it—she actually saw a table in the hall piled high with fragrant dishes, all her favorites!
Nan Xun couldn’t help sitting down and tasting a couple of bites. They tasted amazing, fully on par with food from a five-star hotel.
Just then, she heard the sound of chopping vegetables and mincing meat coming from the kitchen.
Nan Xun put down her chopsticks and slowly walked over.
She quietly poked her head into the kitchen.
There was a man inside. He was wearing a snow-white shirt and black dress pants, and he hadn’t had time to change his shoes—they were still black leather shoes.
The man’s back as he cooked was very attractive.
He had an excellent build, long straight legs, and the muscles in his arms tightened and relaxed with each chopping motion, causing the rolled-up sleeves to sway slightly.
He was focused on what he was doing. As if sensing someone behind him, his movements paused slightly, then he slowly turned his head.
At that moment, Nan Xun found herself strangely anticipating seeing his face.
But when the man actually turned around, Nan Xun’s eyes flew wide open.
This man had no face!
“Ah—!”
Nan Xun screamed and abruptly opened her eyes, waking up.
Dr. Li was startled and hurriedly asked, “Miss Bai, what exactly did you see behind the door you chose?”
Nan Xun swallowed and said softly, “I saw a lot of dishes on the table, all my favorites. Then I heard someone cutting vegetables in the kitchen, so I went over. And then… I saw a man. He had no face.”
Dr. Li had been smiling at first, but after hearing this, he became displeased. He felt that Nan Xun might be making fun of him.
Based on his hypnosis just now, what patients saw was usually something he had preset in the scene—behind those doors were money, beautiful women, or handsome men. Seeing such things indicated recent stress, struggles for material gain, or emotional troubles. How could Miss Bai possibly see a faceless man?
If she wasn’t messing with him, what was she doing?
If it weren’t for the fact that the woman in front of him had been personally introduced by Bai Xiye, he might have thrown her out on the spot.
Nan Xun also noticed Dr. Li’s displeasure. Not wanting to cause trouble for the big boss, she smiled and said, “Maybe I’ve been watching too many horror movies lately, so I ended up having this kind of hallucination.”
