Chapter 4:Someone Else Was Watching Her, His Gaze Cold and Intrusive
1556 Words
Bo Li waited cautiously for another ten minutes.
Finally, the entire group fell asleep.
They were probably the circus guards.
Their beards were stained dark with grime, their fingernails were filthy, and they wore battered hats on their heads. Hunting knives and keys hung from their waists.
What made her body stiffen the most was the old-fashioned rifle standing beside them.
She could even see the grease used to maintain the barrel.
Those tiny, realistic details sent a chill deep into her bones.
Stay calm.
Bo Li told herself.
Don’t focus on those details.
Just keep moving.
The backpack wasn’t far away.
But…
It was too real.
On the wooden table were leftover dishes.
She had no idea what they had eaten, but a rotten stench rushed into her nose.
It smelled like raw meat that had begun to decay.
Several old newspapers were spread across the ground, soaked with dark grease stains.
On top of them were three large animal traps, their metal surfaces coated with oil.
This was the first time Bo Li realized how huge animal traps actually were.
They were heavy.
Longer than her arm.
And just like guns, they needed regular maintenance with oil.
If she hadn’t truly traveled through time…
She would never have known such details.
That realization made her feel cold all over again.
Bo Li took a deep breath.
She forced herself to focus.
Keep walking.
Don’t look back.
Maybe because she had her back turned to the guards, she kept imagining that the moment she turned around…
She would see them awake.
Staring straight at her.
…
Darkness and the unknown always gave birth to terrifying imaginations.
Click.
The lock opened.
She couldn’t stop herself from glancing back.
The guards were still asleep.
None of them had moved.
Although they were sleeping deeply, she had a strange, intense feeling of being watched.
As if somewhere in the darkness…
Someone else was staring at her.
A gaze that was cold.
And invasive.
Bo Li felt every hair on her body stand up.
She was extremely uneasy.
But she had already come this far.
There was no turning back.
She forced herself to continue.
She opened the backpack and took out the first-aid kit.
She didn’t take anything else.
There was nowhere to put extra items.
And carrying unnecessary things would only increase the risk.
Bo Li bit down on the first-aid kit with her teeth, quickly closed the backpack, placed it back where it had been, and hurried toward Eric’s tent.
One step.
Two steps.
The distance became smaller and smaller.
She was almost there.
But the cold sensation of being watched did not disappear.
Instead…
It grew closer.
The person seemed to be following her.
His footsteps were uneven, almost like someone limping.
Yet every step was calm and deliberate.
Bo Li’s heart began pounding violently.
A layer of cold sweat formed on her palms.
She almost lost her grip on the first-aid kit.
Then—
The moment she bent down and entered the tent…
A hand suddenly reached out.
It grabbed her wrist.
And with terrifying strength, pulled her down.
Bang!
Her back slammed hard against the ground.
Bo Li endured the pain and lifted her head.
The first thing she saw was a white mask.
Two holes had been cut out for the eyes.
From those empty openings came a cold, emotionless stare.
—“Only he wears a mask.”
The person following her…
Was Eric.
Bo Li sucked in a sharp breath.
She tried to struggle up.
But he pressed her wrist down and forced her back onto the ground.
He said nothing.
He simply stared at her.
His thumb pressed against the artery on her neck.
Then suddenly tightened.
And then loosened.
As if he was deciding whether or not to crush her throat.
She had no time to think about how someone with injuries this severe could still follow her…
How he could suppress her with only one hand.
Bo Li immediately blurted out:
“—I came here to save you!”
No response.
The air became terrifyingly quiet.
He looked at her.
Without blinking.
Bo Li wanted to study his eyes carefully.
But the white mask was too disturbing.
The two eye holes looked cold and lifeless.
After staring for too long…
It created a strange sense of unfamiliarity.
As if the person in front of her was not human.
But another unknown creature entirely.
She swallowed.
Then tried to keep her voice sincere.
“I really came to save you…”
“I didn’t know Mike and the others would go that far…”
She expected some kind of reaction.
But instead—
He tilted his head slightly.
Then pulled out a knife.
A real knife.
Sharp.
With a sharpened edge.
Bo Li’s mind went completely blank.
For several seconds, the back of her head felt icy.
Blood roared in her ears.
Her throat tightened.
No words came out.
She had worked as an actress in Los Angeles.
A comedy actress.
A horror movie actress.
A musical actress.
As long as there was money involved, she would take the role.
Even playing a corpse in a detective drama’s morgue scene was something she would happily do.
She had seen scenes like this before.
But the knives on set were fake.
And the corpses in the morgue would never fight back.
Yet now…
She was truly facing death.
Her body froze.
She didn’t know what to do.
As the blade slowly approached…
Every hair on her arms stood up.
Cold sweat soaked her back.
Even her teeth began trembling.
Would he kill her?
Or rather…
How would he kill her?
Would he stab straight through her throat?
The blade moved closer.
Closer.
Her entire body became stiff.
Even the side of her face closest to the knife began to go numb.
Then suddenly—
Eric’s thumb moved upward.
He pressed against her jaw.
And forced her mouth open.
He really wanted to stab her throat!
Fear reached its peak.
She couldn’t even scream.
She could only watch helplessly as he forced open her mouth.
And used the blade…
to tap against her teeth.
He wasn’t trying to kill her.
Then…
What was he doing?
At that moment, he tapped her teeth again with the knife.
His eyes remained cold and empty.
Yet somehow, Bo Li understood what he meant.
He was telling her—
Keep talking.
The tension instantly drained from her body.
Bo Li collapsed onto the ground.
From head to toe, she felt completely weak.
Even her fingers could barely move.
She gasped for breath, her voice trembling with the relief of surviving a disaster.
“...I-I’m sorry for what I did to you before.”
“You’re capable of so many things. I can’t compare to you at all…”
“Old Mrs. Smith always praised you while beating me…”
“I just didn’t want to be punished anymore…”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know Mike would do something like that to you…”
“I’m really sorry…”
Perhaps because her survival instinct had taken over, this was the first time she had delivered a performance with such sincerity.
Even she almost believed herself.
“I’m sorry…”
“I really came here to help you.”
“These are medicines from my hometown.”
“If you don’t trust me, I can use them on myself first.”
No response.
Eric remained silent.
After a long while, he finally withdrew the knife.
Then he grabbed her and pulled her up.
Only then did Bo Li have time to examine the entire tent.
Eric’s sleeping arrangement was slightly better than hers.
At least he had an actual bed.
Not a sleeping bag.
But there was no pillow.
No blanket.
Only two thin wool blankets.
Beside the bed was an iron bucket filled with murky blood.
It seemed he had already treated his wounds himself.
He appeared to have a strange obsession with making masks.
The only decorations inside the tent were a wooden rack covered with various masks.
Each one had a date written on it in red ink.
But without exception…
Every single mask made her uneasy.
For some unknown reason, there was one white mask where he had carefully drawn detailed facial features.
Yet instead of making it less frightening…
It made it even more disturbing.
Bo Li was about to examine the other masks when two dull knocks suddenly came from behind her.
She jumped.
Eric had tapped the bed frame with the handle of his knife.
He was telling her to turn around.
Bo Li wanted to ask:
Can’t you speak?
But after thinking about it, she dismissed the idea.
He had spoken to the manager before.
And Mike’s group had said that he knew ventriloquism and singing.
Obviously…
He simply didn’t want to speak to her.
When she turned around, Eric placed the knife back into his boot.
Then he removed his shirt.
Revealing his back.
Bo Li’s breath stopped.
He was frighteningly thin.
But what was even more horrifying were the injuries covering his back.
His skin had been torn away almost completely.
Like burned flesh peeling off.
The raw, bright-red tissue underneath was exposed.
Dust, gravel, and blades of grass were stuck to the wounds.
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