According to ancient legend, the Nian beast was an evil and ferocious creature said to have a strange appearance and a taste for human flesh. It would appear in human settlements at midnight on New Year’s Eve to attack the living. In primitive times, early humans had no effective methods to resist this ferocious beast, so they could only flee to the mountains on the last day of the year to avoid the Nian beast’s harassment. What made it even more terrifying was that the Nian beast possessed an intelligence similar to humans. After each massacre, it would leave the village only to return by the same route to check for survivors, whose heads it would then devour. This remained a nightmare for people for a long time, until one day, after enduring prolonged suffering, people finally discovered the beast’s weaknesses.

The Nian beast disliked the color red, feared loud noises, and was afraid of bright fires. When people accidentally discovered this, they began using these methods to deal with it. To prevent the Nian beast from invading their villages, each household started posting red paper on their windows and doors, and setting off firecrackers at their entrances. The loud sounds and glaring red color made the Nian beast no longer dare to offend humans. This traditional custom was passed down from generation to generation, which is why the period around the thirtieth day of the lunar month is called “passing the year” (celebrating New Year) in China.

“Woof! Woof! Woof!”

The loud dog barking suddenly rang in Xiao Nanzhu’s ears, interrupting his thoughts. He turned his head to glance at the golden beast that was wagging its tail obediently beside Chuxi. He frowned skeptically, still unable to believe that this was actually the legendary man-eating Nian beast. Although its appearance was about seventy percent similar to what was described in legends, what kind of ferocious beast acts as foolishly as a husky…?

Regarding Xiao Nanzhu’s skepticism, Chuxi, dressed in red and currently helping Xiao Nanzhu clean up the aftermath of what had just happened, clearly shared the same feeling. But since he had raised this Nian beast himself, when it acted silly, it was naturally his embarrassment to bear. So, after habitually avoiding the Nian beast’s affectionate touches, the pale-faced man lowered his voice to explain to Xiao Nanzhu:

“A thousand years ago, its mother terrorized mankind and ultimately met a gruesome end. I found it in its nest and have kept it by my side ever since. Unfortunately, due to my lack of proper discipline, it somehow learned this tail-wagging, fawning behavior from someone’s pet dog…”

Chuxi’s words carried a sense of self-reproach. The previously carefree Nian beast, hearing its master speak this way, whimpered with grievance. Its fierce and intimidating demeanor from when it had first appeared to tear apart evil had disappeared, and its tiger-like eyes, as large as brass bells, began to look like those of an abandoned puppy, welling up with moisture.

Seeing this, Xiao Nanzhu felt somewhat awkward, feeling that his idle curiosity had hurt the Nian beast’s self-esteem. This behavior seemed rather inhumane, especially since it was different from the traditional concept of the Nian beast. Looking at its master dressed all in red, he figured it probably hadn’t inherited many of the bad traits from its ill-fated mother. Thinking this, the disheveled Xiao Nanzhu couldn’t help but cough once and said:

“You two have worked hard. Everything on the ground will be gone by daybreak, so let’s just go. It’s already one o’clock now, why don’t you come back to my place for a rest, and we can talk about anything else tomorrow?”

Xiao Nanzhu’s suggestion made Chuxi turn to look at him. From his view, the moist white vapor caused by the cold made his face appear hazy and unreal. Completely unaware that those pitch-black eyes were staring at him, the exhausted young man was busy pulling a cigarette from his dirty pocket. After finally finding a cigarette in his pants pocket, Xiao Nanzhu pinched it between his fingers and took a deep drag, his chaotic mind clearing somewhat.

Because he had always considered these calendar gods as his own people, he hadn’t thought much when making this suggestion. After all, it was still the middle of the night, and it was his fault for making Chuxi come out for forced overtime. So naturally, he wanted to be respectful. But he didn’t understand why so many people had avoided Chuxi before, and after wiping clean the half-exposed bloodstained fingers from his sleeve, Chuxi, who had shown little expression until now, suddenly lowered his head and narrowed his dark red eyes slightly, saying:

“Alright.”

…

His mind was filled with chaotic screams, with blinding lights overhead. The man called Xiao Nanzhu had casually brought him back and had already gone into the bathroom to take a shower, while Chuxi, left in the living room, stared at his own hand, lost in thought.

The Nian beast at his feet, due to its enormous size, occupied most of the floor space in Xiao Nanzhu’s home. It was no longer clinging to Chuxi as it had been earlier, but rather kept its distance with a rejecting attitude, constantly emitting low growls from its mouth full of sharp teeth, which sounded quite eerie.

Others might not understand the reason for this unusual behavior, but no one knew better than Chuxi himself. When he had emerged from the calendar and appeared at that construction site earlier, his body had already been contaminated with impure things. He had been trying to suppress it, but to no avail. The lust formed from long-unfulfilled inner desires and thirst—this kind of fully formed evil spirit he could normally destroy without even having to lift a finger, but the seemingly invincible Lord Chuxi had secrets he couldn’t reveal to others.

Past years of killing evil spirits and exorcising demons had contaminated his mind. His originally firm and pure character no longer existed, and even the ugliest, most basic evil spirits could sway his consciousness. Although he possessed the ability to destroy all calamities, the fragility of his own mind kept his emotions in an extremely unstable state, and this had happened far more than once in the past.

Possessed by loneliness, he had despised Spring Festival despite their years of friendship; infected by jealousy, he had hated all calendar gods of the same level; driven by bloodlust, he had almost strangled Xiao Nanzhu’s grandmother, who had been a calendar master. Chuxi knew well that all these were wrong, but once contaminated by evil spirits, he would repeatedly commit mistakes that he himself found difficult to face. Just now, in order to help Xiao Nanzhu escape danger, he had no choice but to appear at that construction site full of evil spirits, and once again, Chuxi inevitably attracted a bit of filth left in that place.

His long-cold and abstinent heart was forcibly smeared with impure colors. For the first time in his life, being controlled by such a strange evil spirit, Chuxi’s entire heart and consciousness were bewildered and naive. Uncontrollably, he had inappropriately and rudely touched the lips of a man he had just met, and even more shamelessly, he had been fantasizing about everything about this young and handsome man, including imagining how the man would kiss his lips. And now, as he sat alone in this bright living room, he was still thinking about how to make this man, who easily trusted him, pay for his naivety. Thinking this way, the red-eyed Chuxi suddenly lifted his eyelids expressionlessly.

Outside the window was the noise of fireworks being set off. The Nian beast, which wasn’t even afraid of firecrackers, was avoiding him with disgust. His heart was beating slowly and dully, while his mind was filled with countless surging and uncontrollable dirty thoughts, making his already pale face become even more bloodless. While Xiao Nanzhu in the bathroom remained completely unaware, the last bit of resistance in Chuxi’s heart was finally completely devoured by those filthy, evil thoughts.

At this moment, Xiao Nanzhu, who was standing by the bathtub taking off his clothes, naturally didn’t know that danger was approaching him. After leaving the space-occupying Nian beast and Chuxi in the outer living room, he, who was already unbearably dirty, had walked into the bathroom while unbuckling his belt.

Because his arm was slightly injured, he had given himself a simple disinfection before bathing. After turning on the water heater, he was cursing Li Mao this troublemaker under his breath while grimacing as he took off his clothes. But just then, he felt the door behind him suddenly being pulled open.

A bone-chilling wind rushed in, making Xiao Nanzhu shudder involuntarily. He turned around in confusion but only managed to see a glimpse of vermilion clothing. With a terrifying force, he, with his upper body exposed, was pinned against the damp, cold bathroom wall with his hands locked behind him. During this process, he didn’t even have the slightest chance to struggle or resist, and the next second, the ashen-faced Xiao Nanzhu felt someone obsessively licking and kissing the nape of his neck with an ice-cold tongue.

“Heh… Do you like it?”