INSIDER Chapter 147

“Brother?”

The little girl, seeing that Lu Chu didn’t answer her, took a couple of steps forward, hugging her head, trying to get closer to him. Wang Heng, standing nearby, was so frightened that he took several steps back. Li Yiming and Wang Yiming shivered as they ran to stand by Song Gui.

Lu Chu stood motionless, watching as the little girl with her head hugged approached him, his expression unchanged, waiting for her next move.

The little girl held out her head and said in a sweet, coquettish tone, “Brother, look, I can’t put it back on.”

Lu Chu looked into the eyes of the head she was holding and saw pure innocence, as if she was genuinely asking how to reattach her head to her neck, a question that defied logic.

Seeing that Lu Chu was looking at her, the little girl hugged her head to her chest and said sadly, “Big brother, are you ignoring Julie because Julie took your skull? Julie just wanted to get your attention…”

Lu Chu looked into her clear eyes and said softly, “Do you know how to put your head back on?”

The little girl nodded and pointed to the bedside. “There’s a needle and thread made from people’s fears over there. Bear usually helps me sew my body with them. Now that Bear is gone, brother, can you help me sew it back on? The thread in my neck can’t be used anymore. It feels terrible when my head falls off. Julie doesn’t like it.”

Without hesitation, Lu Chu nodded. “Okay, I’ll help you.”

Wang Heng cried out in horror, “Lu Chu?!”

“Shut up! Be quiet,” Luo Qi scolded him.

Wang Heng immediately closed his mouth, but his eyes still showed extreme fear. The thought of stitching up a ghost’s body made him feel like he was going to faint.

The little girl, who called herself Julie, was overjoyed when she heard Lu Chu agree to help her sew her head back on. She cheered, spinning around, making her bloodstained old dress twirl into a beautiful but bleak flower. She tossed her head up and caught it, then walked innocently towards Lu Chu, holding her head under her arm and pulling him towards the bed.

Number 7 didn’t stop Lu Chu’s decision, but his sharp eyes followed their direction.

If Lu Chu was in danger, he wouldn’t hold back.

Lu Chu let Julie lead him to the bed.

They stood by the bed, and Julie pointed excitedly. “Look, brother, the needle and thread that can sew Julie’s head back are right there. There’s a lot of them.”

Lu Chu looked in the direction she pointed. The bed was empty, except for dust.

“Julie, where is the needle and thread? I can’t see them,” Lu Chu said honestly.

Julie looked disappointed. “Julie forgot, brother is human, he can’t see human fear.”

She handed her head to Lu Chu. “Brother, take this. It’s much better than that witch’s skull.”

Julie spoke with the pride of a little girl.

Confused, Lu Chu carefully took the pale and eerie head from the little girl, holding it gently by the cheeks to avoid touching the neck, which still had some black and red flesh, fearing she might still feel pain as a ghost.

If Lu Chu hadn’t understood what she meant when she first spoke, he realized it when he held her head—her head could be used as a medium for communicating with the supernatural. As someone with a strong energy field, Lu Chu could easily see the intertwined black threads on the bed through her head.

Julie laughed and pointed, asking Lu Chu, “Brother, can you see them?”

“Yes, I can see them,” Lu Chu said softly, stroking the girl’s head, his voice warm as if comforting a mischievous child. “Julie, tell me, what should I do next?”

Julie patted the bedspread, raising a cloud of dust, and then pulled out a blood-red bone needle from under the bed, handing it to Lu Chu. “Brother, use this needle to sew Julie’s head back on!”

Julie brought her head back to make it easier for Lu Chu to work. Even though Lu Chu thought he wouldn’t be able to see the black threads once she took her head away, he could still see the tangled “fear” on the bed. Julie’s spiritual power must have been so strong that just touching her head allowed him to see things invisible to ordinary people.

Lu Chu took the blood-red bone needle from Julie and reached out to touch the floating, intertwined black threads on the bed. The threads felt strange, a mix of steel-like toughness and softness. As soon as Lu Chu touched them, they wrapped around his fingers like greedy little worms, trying to burrow into his body.

Unfazed, Lu Chu carefully threaded the needle with the black threads and said to Julie, “Let’s start.”

Julie nodded happily, her head bobbing up and down. “Yes!”

The little girl moved a small wooden stool, sat on it obediently, and placed her head on her neck, signaling Lu Chu to begin stitching.

Lu Chu touched her cold neck and used the blood-red bone needle to pierce her skin.

Julie, playful and cheerful, swung her feet as she chatted with Lu Chu while he carefully sewed her neck. “Brother, you know, when Julie first saw you, I felt like we had met before… No, not met, ah, I just wanted to say, maybe we encountered each other at a different point… Well, Julie doesn’t know how to explain it, but it’s a very warm, familiar feeling… Brother, do you understand?”

As Lu Chu carefully sewed her neck, he nodded and answered her, “Yes, I understand.”

Julie’s speech was disjointed, but Lu Chu could guess what she meant. She was probably talking about his first time playing the game when his soul was linked to a little girl, feeling her mother’s abuse and eventual dismemberment.

Because he once shared her experience, she felt close to him.

“Bear said my body needs a lot of living people’s fears woven into it to stay whole and alive. But living like this is so boring.”

Lu Chu didn’t respond, carefully sewing her neck, his expression serious.

“Those threads expire, so Bear kills many people, weaving their fears into threads and piling them on the bed to sew my body,” Julie said, smiling innocently. “I know you killed Bear. I don’t blame you.”

Lu Chu didn’t stop his work, his voice calm. “Why?”

Julie swung her feet, her face thin and pale. “There are many people in this world, right? There must be. Julie heard someone say there are billions of people in this world. Julie doesn’t know what ‘billion’ means, but I know it must be a lot, like stars in the sky. So, there must be people stronger than me and Bear. We killed people, so people will come to kill us. That’s normal, isn’t it?”

Julie’s words, though childish and innocent, carried a depth that was hard to understand.

Lu Chu finished the last stitch, and the black thread automatically broke, successfully sewing Julie’s head back on.

Julie immediately twirled around and then lifted her tattered, bloodstained dress gracefully, giving Lu Chu a princess-like curtsey. “I feel much better, thank you, brother.”

Lu Chu smiled gently. “It’s okay.”

After fulfilling Julie’s wish, Lu Chu was about to ask her how to lift the curse, but her pale body began to turn transparent.

Everyone in the room initially thought she was about to disappear, but after a moment, they realized she was truly vanishing—her soul was dissipating.

Julie’s dark eyes fixed on Lu Chu, her pale face showing a satisfied, relaxed smile. “Goodbye, brother.”

With that, her body completely vanished, turning into faint points of light.

At the same time, the house seemed to be freed from some kind of restriction, and the oppressive atmosphere suddenly lifted.

.

In a daze, Lu Chu felt a wave of unbearable dizziness and seemed to have the sensation of his soul being linked to the little girl again.

He clearly felt his body being sewn, the thread passing through, not painful but noticeably present. The joints were covered in ugly, dense stitches. “She” sat quietly on a small wooden stool, seemingly talking to someone.

“Only I can sew your body. If someone else does it, master, you will die.”

“Bear, Julie is already dead.”

“No, master, you are still alive, well and alive. This is called immortality.”

“Then if that’s the case, Bear must be alive too, or Julie can’t live. And being alone is so boring.”

“Yes, I exist to save you, master.”

.

The owner of the house went to great lengths to build the room, set up the array, and place the restriction. The toy bear succeeded where he failed.

It sacrificed everyone to grant Julie immortality.