In this dark apartment with only the opened front door and shattered windows to serve as a beacon of light.
It was as if a storm had razed through the whole room, leaving behind a desolate aftermath too cruel to be accepted.
Lights that were forced to awaken flickered on and off with an eerie aura as if an overtime worker complaining of life.
Toys and woman shoes scattered about while broken glass shards littered the dirty floor.
Dried droplets of dark blood led a thin trail towards one of the closed bedrooms.
Xiao Bao followed that bloody path with absent-mindness while muttering in an almost inaudible voice. "That's my room…"
As if sensing a voice calling tenderly out to him, the little ghost floated through the door to his room.
_____
"... …"
Instead of trailing after Xiao Bao, Chu Nuan decided to explore the other rooms instead.
Contrary to the scene of devastation out in the living room, the chamber she is in currently is quite clean and neat.
Women's clothing are either folded in a neat pile or hung inside the half opened closet to her right. Rows of makeup products lined up in an orderly fashion on top of a nearby dressing table with dust collected on its surface.
White walls with pictures of Xiao Bao are hung all over the chamber as a sign of a mother's affection.
In all of the pictures beside the little kid is a woman in her late thirties dressed in leisure fashion that highlights the gentleness of each smile.
Gentle brown eyes shone with happiness that goes along with the smile on both the mother and child's lips. Loose strands of hair flutter in the wind akin to freedom achieved by a level of self-satisfaction and joy.
This must be Xiao Bao's mother.
Picking up a smaller portrait on the side, the young woman lowered her gaze.
Observing the portrait a few seconds longer, slender digits brushed across the surface of the glass panel. Wiping away a portion of the dust that muddled the blissful expression of the woman in the frame.
"... …"'
"How long will you keep staring at me? Chu Nuan asked without turning around.
The young woman can still feel the piercing gaze from behind that's trying to burn a hole through her back.
"... …"
Xie Luochen pursed his lips into a thin line before asking once more in a low tone.
"Who are you?"
The young lady who was fiddling with the contents of the dressing table paused for a moment before answering in a faint whisper.
"Chu Nuan. I am Chu Nuan..."
Her voice was light, almost akin to the gliding of a feather against warm skin. Faint but the emotions left behind brought about a thread of unbearable confusion and ache.
Not waiting for the young man to process her reply, Chu Nuan turned around to face the youth with a playful grin.
"Could it be that daoist Xie has never seen an envoy before?"
The woman sauntered towards the man in slow strides.
"Someone proficient in catching and exorcizing ghosts should have quite a bit of dealings with envoys in the past."
Stopping to stand a step away from the young man, Chu Nuan reached out with her right hand. Lithe fingers traced the curve of the man's jawline as short nails left faint ambiguous markings on the surface of delicate skin.
Feeling the muscle on the jaws of the man clench as if trying to endure, the young woman released a light peal of laughter.
Voice similar to the tinkle of jade colliding against one another, obsidian irises flicker with the shine of the starry sky. Inducing the young man to stare in a trance at the mesmerizing view.
The young lady leaned closer to the man, pressing her chest against his as right hand snaked to wrap around his neck. Pulling his face towards her with a rough yank downwards where lips almost met.
"Since it's daoist Xie's first time, I don't mind being extra generous with you."
The air in the vicinity began to change with a subtle vibe of growing heat.
Just as Chu Nuan was about to stop teasing the young man by pulling backwards to provide distance.
The young woman felt something tightening around her waist like a steel clamp as a powerful force lifted her body upwards while forcing her to stand on her toes.
A gasp of surprise released from those cherry lips as the young lady looked up in an instant at the perpetrator of this incident.
Xie Luochen's eyes gleamed with a dangerous undercurrent as he leaned closer to the woman trapped within this grasp.
"Oh? Envoy Chu appears so modest, who would have expected her to be so brave?" The youth said with an icy pull of lips as he hovered the dagger in hand an inch closer to her neck.
Of course Chu Nuan can sense the danger of cold steel emitting a murderous vibe from behind.
But instead of feeling scared, the smile on her lips grew wider into a grin.
Dark eyes narrow in a seductive fashion at the same juncture the woman bent her waist backwards. Akin to the heroine of a tragic play seconds right before her doom. The nape of that porcelain neck touched directly against the tip of the blade.
The young woman tilted her head with a mischievous wink as obsidian eyes glued to his. "The night is still young, I can only hope that daoist Xie can be gentle with me."
"... …"
Xie Luochen glowers down at the woman in his embrace.
Dark eyes wandered from her forehead down to her cherry lips while tracing the curve of a graceful jawline.
He was seeking for something within her appearance but searching for what?
Even Xie Luochen himself hasn't figured out what that inexplicable feeling and sudden impulse is yet.
From the moment he laid eyes on this mysterious woman in front of him, it was as though a droplet of water falling into a still lake. The ripples made on the surface undulates and blurs the reflection of its surrounding landscape, making him unable to remain calm.
There was also that faint image which slipped past too quick for him to capture. Was it merely a figment of imagination or something more?
Just as Xie Luochen continued to contemplate these questions in silence, an abrupt pat on the shoulder awakened his reverie.
Moving his sights back onto those bright almond eyes, the young man waited for the woman to speak.
"... …"
Seeing that she had his current attention, Chu Nuan flashed the man a beaming smile which contained both slyness and playful bantering.
"If daoist Xie has plans to do something more, you should do so quickly."
A slender index finger points to the dagger pressed against her neck then at the closed doorway a few steps behind. "Otherwise, when Xiao Bao comes back to find us, you might get censored~" She winked with a charming reminder.
Xie Luochen: "... …"