Yu Zhibai's fingers stirred around inside Shang Nan's mouth for a circle before retracting. There was a layer of shiny coating on the skin surface; he examined it carefully for a while before wiping it off with a tissue. After wiping, he pinched the paper ball, lowered his head to look left and right, seemingly feeling it was a pity, then raised his hand and stuffed that paper ball into his mouth.

Shang Nan was so close to him that he could see the other's chewing movements and smell the scent of paper pulp and faint ink lingering in his breath. This continued until Yu Zhibai's complexion returned to a normal human tone, and his lips, red as blood, slowly faded to a gentle and introverted pink.

Shang Nan's lips were still slightly parted. After a long while, he said incredulously, "Aren't you afraid I'll tell others about your situation?"

At the beginning, Yu Zhibai had wanted to use the Little Paper Person to wipe his memory. What about now? Just fearless like this?

Yu Zhibai pressed the cut paper strips from the table onto the wound on his neck. The tear slowly closed up, finally leaving only a very thin line of blood.

Shang Nan didn't have memories of his original world; he didn't know if such non-human supernatural events existed in the world he was originally from.

Judging by his current level of shock, whether they existed or not, he certainly hadn't seen them before.

Only after Yu Zhibai finished treating the wound did he answer Shang Nan's question slowly and methodically, "You can also become a Paper Person."

"What?"

In the dim light and shadow, Yu Zhibai's jawline was smooth, his features revealing a harmless introversion and gentleness. He reached out to hold Shang Nan's hand resting on his knee, smiling amicably, "I can make you into a Paper Person similar to me, it's just that Grandma doesn't make Paper People anymore. Her craftsmanship is better; she could make you even prettier."

Yu Zhibai described his thoughts to Shang Nan in an intimate tone. He showed no worry about his secret being exposed. He had so many little paper people and paper dolls; whatever Shang Nan did or said, he would know.

Shang Nan lowered his eyes, "I won't tell anyone." Monsters were not only dangerous to this world, but even more dangerous to Shang Nan who was close to the monster.

Outside, Yu Xiaoyu was pressing her ear against the door to eavesdrop. Hearing movement indicating they were about to come out of the room, she tiptoed back to her original position and stood still.

The one beside her couldn't see or speak, but it could hear.

Being able to hear was enough; Yu Xiaoyu could tell him.

"It's my first time seeing Xiao Bai like someone so much."

"Look, my eyes were just dotted by him randomly, and my two hands aren't even the same size, hmm... but you're even more miserable. It's been a year and you're still like this. He probably forgot about you; his eyes are only on that drop-dead gorgeous human now."

Shang Nan and Yu Zhibai came out of the room together. Sunlight shone into the living room, landing on Shang Nan's face as a golden layer of light. Under the sun, his exposed skin was nearly translucent, his hair smooth and jet-black, his lips an evenly moist peach color. His whole being looked gentle and transparent.

Yu Xiaoyu's eyeballs couldn't help but turn towards the direction Shang Nan was in.

"You rest, I'm going back to school," Shang Nan said as he walked towards the door. "After I get back to school, I'll help ask for leave from Teacher Zhang for you. You're injured; if you don't rest... others will get suspicious."

Yu Zhibai stood behind Shang Nan, back against the light, his face and front soaked in shadow.

Shang Nan twisted the doorknob open. The cold wind from the corridor poured in. The old walls were mottled. He turned his head back, looking at the small, cramped, but clean and tidy living room. Several floor tiles were cracked, the sofa was made of old floral fabric, a dust cover was draped over the TV, and a black-and-white photo of a woman was placed on a dark square table.

"Who is that?" Shang Nan asked.

The woman had long hair, half behind her head and half draped smoothly over her shoulder. She smiled very gently, bearing some resemblance to Yu Zhibai.

It was the woman in the red dress who had picked up the Little Paper Person in the Red Stone Tunnel.

"My mother, Yu She." Yu Zhibai glanced towards the altar table.

There were fruits on the table, visibly fresh. Several incense sticks were inserted in the burner, but they weren't lit, merely stuck inside the burner.

[14: Yu She refuses to leave, the incense won't light, and Yu Zhibai hasn't let go.]

"She's really beautiful," Shang Nan praised sincerely.

Yu Zhibai curled the corners of his mouth, "Thank you. If she knew she was being praised as beautiful, she would definitely be very happy."

Shang Nan inexplicably recalled that photo of the car accident scene. Glass was vertically inserted into Yu Zhibai's eyes, blood flowing down his temples into his hair and onto the ground. The woman stared with eyes wide open, watching herself and her eight-year-old child lying in a pool of blood.

She was beautiful, but being beautiful wasn't a mistake, and certainly not a sin.

From the way she bent down to pick up the Little Paper Person, Shang Nan thought, she must know that her son had already passed away. The one living in this world was the Paper Person Yu Zhibai.

"Yu Zhibai, let's be best friends for a lifetime." Shang Nan revealed a very brilliant smile to Yu Zhibai. His eyes were bright and clear, his temperament so clean and soft that it was out of place in this broken place that looked like a slum. His glass-clear eyes reflected the distinct silhouette of the youth standing in the shadows.

He seemed to have merged with this terrible environment. His gaze chased onto Shang Nan's face. Shang Nan saw some emotions in the other's eyes that hadn't appeared before—some moved, some probing, some attachment, but mostly greed.

The Paper Person revealed the same look as when he extended his fingers into Shang Nan's mouth in the room earlier.

Shang Nan felt a chill down his spine. He waved at Yu Zhibai, "Bye-bye, see you in a few days."

Yu Zhibai watched until Shang Nan's fleeing figure disappeared into the stairwell, forgetting even to close the door.

Yu Xiaoyu ran over to pull the door shut, then turned and chased onto the balcony. Under the sun, with her round disk face, she watched eagerly until Shang Nan walked out of the stairwell.

"Are all humans this good-looking?" Besides Yu Zhibai, the only one Yu Xiaoyu had contact with was Granny Yu. Granny Yu spent two-thirds of the day sleeping, and Yu Zhibai didn't count as a human.

Yu Xiaoyu was just a derivative of paper. She was different from Yu Zhibai. Yu Zhibai was made from Granny Yu's heart blood and his own heart blood, while Yu Xiaoyu, if she touched water, would directly soak soft and finally melt.

Yu Zhibai bent down and re-covered Granny Yu's legs with the blanket that had fallen on the ground. "Humans are all ugly; he is the only good-looking one."

"Wow~" Yu Xiaoyu was very supportive.

Granny Yu slowly opened her eyes at this moment. Back then, to save Yu Zhibai and let him continue to stay in this world, she had violated some strictly held rules of the trade and suffered a backlash. "I won't live much longer."

Yu Zhibai sat beside her, watching the high-rise buildings in the distant city center seemingly piercing the pale blue sky under the sun. Hearing Granny Yu's mumbling, Yu Zhibai looked at her, "Do you need me to make you into a Paper Person?"

"..."

"Send me back to my hometown, let my grave be next to your mother's grave." Granny Yu had become accustomed to Yu Zhibai's way of speaking. Since several years ago, she had been unwilling to communicate with Yu Zhibai anymore. The last human characteristics remaining in Yu Zhibai had long disappeared; his logic, his thinking, his viewpoints, his everything, had nothing to do with humans anymore.

It was the Paper Person Yu Zhibai, not her grandson Yu Zhibai.

After Granny Yu finished speaking, she slowly closed her eyes, breathing heavily and long. The person with one foot in the grave increased the heaviness and lifelessness in this room.

......

For the next few days, Shang Nan didn't see Yu Zhibai. The Little Paper Person at home didn't move either, lying quietly on the desktop, looking merely like a human-shaped piece of paper.

[14: Although it feels no pain and wounds heal easily, it probably still needs to recuperate for a period of time.]

Yu Zhibai's desk had already been wiped clean by Shang Nan. Shang Nan even bought him several new sets of exercise workbooks to replace the ones soiled by ink.

Zhang Hu turned his head from the front, "Shang Nan, it's Sunday tomorrow. Ask Yu Zhibai if he's better, is he still coming to my birthday party?"

"Oh, okay." Shang Nan opened his contact list and looked from top to bottom but didn't see Yu Zhibai's contact information. Only then did he suddenly remember that he had deleted Yu Zhibai's contact out of anger after being rejected when pursuing him.

Shang Nan could only try to add him back again, but unfortunately, the request was never approved.

Zhang Hu: "If he doesn't come, you can come yourself, anyway we aren't far apart."

Zhang Hu: "I'll have my driver come pick you up."

Zhang Hu's dad had quite a head for business. The demolition compensation wasn't much; as soon as he received the funds, he spent money to find connections and sent Zhang Hu into this aristocratic private school where seventy or eighty percent were young masters and misses. The second thing was to put all his effort into using the remaining money to do business. Now he had earned some family assets; not wealthy, but more than enough for food and clothing.

Apart from the mission, Shang Nan didn't want to waste too much energy on other people in this world. But since he had already agreed, Shang Nan still formally bought Zhang Hu a gift online—a pure wool scarf. Counter delivery, it would arrive home by evening.

Shang Nan originally thought the next day would be good weather, at least the heavens should give the birthday boy some face.

But the next day, when Shang Nan woke up from bed and saw the misty drizzle outside, he knew his expectations had fallen through.

He sat up in bed and saw that Little Paper Person, who had been lifeless for days, sitting on the edge of the table tilting its head looking at him. Unknown how long it had been watching.

Shang Nan looked delighted, "Is Yu Zhibai better?"

The Little Paper Person shrugged: "Who knows?"

"..."

Before getting out of bed, Shang Nan checked his phone; the friend request still hadn't been approved.

Forget it, just go directly to Yu Zhibai's home to check.

After Shang Nan quickly washed up and changed clothes, he hurriedly went downstairs. He carried a beige canvas bag and wore a navy blue duffle coat. When the auntie saw him, she said "Yo", "Didn't you say you hated white schoolbags the most?"

Shang Nan walked to the dining table and sat down, taking a slice of bread. "I think it looks quite good now."

Dai Lili's seat was empty. Shang Nan glanced carelessly, "Where is Mother?"

"Madam went out early in the morning, said she had an appointment with a few best friends to play mahjong," the auntie answered.

Shang Nan left the bread crusts on the plate, thinking of the Paper Effigy in Dai Lili's room used to curse Yu Zhibai. She even dotted its eyes. Without eyes, Yu Zhibai might not necessarily know Dai Lili was cursing him.

He initially wanted to talk to Dai Lili, but later felt it was useless. Dai Lili was sick, her thinking had become pathological. Anyway, Yu Zhibai didn't mind, so let her be; as long as she was happy. Her whole life had been in the role of a victim anyway.

"I won't be eating lunch or dinner at home, a friend is celebrating a birthday," Shang Nan said to the auntie as he picked up his schoolbag and stood up.

Li Houde was also off today, so Shang Nan needed to take a taxi to Happiness Community himself.

The rain was misty. Shang Nan buttoned up his coat, gave the address to the driver, and leaned back against the seat dazing off.

He was thinking about Yu Zhibai; the one he thought about most now was Yu Zhibai.

How to make Yu Zhibai feel that this world was beautiful and full of love? Shang Nan felt it was difficult because if it were him, having encountered what Yu Zhibai had encountered, he would probably be disappointed in this world too.

[14: It has already generated love value for you. Although it's only 5, I searched the database after it happened and also asked colleagues. The probability of such a situation occurring outside the established rules is very small.]

[14: Nannan, put in some effort, make it fall in love with you, fall in love inextricably. It feels like it might be easier than aimlessly trying to save it.]

Shang Nan hid half his face in his collar, looking somewhat weary, "Maybe this is love for a friend. You said it yourself, can't use human logic to explain monster behavior."

[14: Nannan... the love value displayed on my panel is what you humans usually call romantic love. So it can't be a misunderstanding; my data cannot be wrong.]

Long after 14 finished speaking, it didn't get Shang Nan's answer. Its host didn't want to listen and had already closed his eyes to start dozing off.

......

The taxi drove for a full hour before arriving at Happiness Community. Leaving the warm car with the heater on, Shang Nan used an umbrella to block the drizzling rain, and the wind blew him completely awake.

The iron gate downstairs was open. Shang Nan found the sixth floor according to his memory from a few days ago and knocked on the door.

After waiting at the door for a while, the sound of twisting came from behind the door. "Click," the lock opened, the door pulled open, and a large round face appeared in Shang Nan's field of view.

Yu Xiaoyu couldn't dilate her pupils; she stared blankly at Shang Nan, and Shang Nan looked at her too.

Yu Xiaoyu was trying to apply makeup herself, wanting to draw her eyes a bit larger and make the rouge on her face redder. Her entire face had become a palette, with white paper as the base color. In the dim light of the stairwell, if it weren't Shang Nan, if it were anyone else, their heart would have stopped in this instant.

"Ah!!!!" Yu Xiaoyu's sharp, high-pitched scream resounded through the entire stairwell.

Shang Nan couldn't help frowning. He didn't find it that horrifying because he had been scared by Yu Zhibai with his eyeball falling out on his first day in this world.

Shang Nan was just slightly surprised that the Paper Person placed in the living room could actually move.

Her identity exposed, Yu Xiaoyu was as uncomfortable as could be. She tried to act normal like a human, pulling her short coat down hard. Unexpectedly, she used too much force and tore a large piece of paper right off, revealing the white paper belly underneath.

But Shang Nan was a guest. Wearing the short coat she had torn herself, she placed a cup of hot water on the coffee table in front of Shang Nan.

"Thank you, where is Yu Zhibai?" Shang Nan sat on the sofa, pretending not to see Yu Xiaoyu's embarrassment.

"He is sleeping. When he sleeps, we aren't allowed to call him." Disturbing Yu Zhibai's sleep would result in being torn to pieces.

Shang Nan put down his schoolbag, "I'll go take a look."

Yu Xiaoyu helped Shang Nan open the door to Yu Zhibai's bedroom.

Yu Zhibai's room was already dim, and in weather like this, it was even harder to see. Shang Nan took a while just to find Yu Zhibai's face.

The air in the room was dry, and the soundproofing was poor; the sound of pattering rain was clearly audible.

The bed was placed against the wall. Shang Nan walked over and sat on the edge of the bed. Yu Zhibai lying on the bed didn't even breathe, eyes closed, face pale, lips a dark shade of red. After looking at Yu Zhibai for a while, he reached out to grab his face.

When Yu Xiaoyu saw Shang Nan reach out to pinch Yu Zhibai's face, she closed the door with a look of horror.

It was simple for Yu Zhibai to tear up a Paper Person, but what about tearing up this pretty human? How to tear? Where to start tearing?

"Yu Zhibai?" Shang Nan pulled at Yu Zhibai's face. Although covered by a quilt, the skin under his hand was still ice-cold. Shang Nan thought, he should just be imitating human habits; it made no difference whether he was covered or not.

"Yu Zhibai, wake up, Zhang Hu is ce..." A Paper Person actually slept in; Shang Nan found it quite amazing.

Yu Zhibai suddenly opened his eyes. His hostility was awakened along with him. Before he even saw clearly who had come, he raised his hand and strangled Shang Nan's neck, slamming him hard onto the bed.

Shang Nan was pinned down firmly. His windpipe was almost instantly tightened, cutting off the exchange with outside air. Severe pain attacked from all over his body, especially his neck, which felt like it was about to be snapped.

Fortunately, a Paper Person's vision was not affected by light. Yu Zhibai recognized Shang Nan and also smelled the scent belonging to Shang Nan.

Yu Zhibai's expression was somewhat puzzled. As if to confirm, he slowly loosened the hand strangling Shang Nan's neck, moved up along the jawline, slipped his fingers into the gap of Shang Nan's lips, and pinched the tip of Shang Nan's soft tongue.

His expression became docile and harmless. Withdrawing his hand, he hugged Shang Nan and murmured, "Why is it you? I almost tore you apart."