In that moment, Wen Shichun's eyes seemed to meet the boy's gaze, filled with utter despair. Lin Zhe's eyes were red from crying, tears streaking chaotically down his pale face.
And his hands—stretched out, reaching.
Wen Shichun wanted to reach out and grab them.
But he still could not move.
He had already left Lin Zhe's body.
Right before his eyes, the other was dragged out from under the bed.
In an instant, as Lin Zhe's figure was swallowed by the darkness outside the bed, the bedroom returned to its initial silence.
Wen Shichun's body, which had felt lighter earlier, gradually regained its previous heaviness, growing even heavier still. When his eyes could finally pierce the darkness beneath the bed once more...
...he found himself being scrutinized by pairs of ghastly, bluish faces.
Wen Shichun's expression froze. The space under the bed was limited; with a slight lift of his head, he saw those 'people' crouching in the narrow darkness crawling toward him, one by one.
His body seemed to be grabbed by their hands.
The feeling of suffocation grew increasingly intense—
In a space that should have been impossibly cramped, these figures with bluish skin were crawling up his legs toward him—
This was clearly illogical.
Wen Shichun clenched his fingers into fists.
Alarm bells blared in his mind.
He kept sending himself signals—
Wake up now!
***
When the breath trapped in his chest finally rushed out smoothly, Wen Shichun awoke from the dream.
In the bedroom.
He lay on his side on the bed, his left arm pressing against his heart. Within his view was the spirit detector he had placed by his pillow before sleeping, now lying quietly on the bedside table.
His thoughts broke off for a few seconds; there was a moment when they wouldn't connect. Yet, his breathing, slightly more hurried than usual, still hadn't settled.
Wen Shichun was about to get up when suddenly—
Something was wrong.
He stopped his movement.
The specter detector lay perfectly still.
But those hollow, staring gazes had not disappeared.
Wen Shichun remained lying on his side, fine beads of sweat forming on his forehead.
As the stares grew more and more palpable, he flipped over and sat up. Then he saw them—that row of 'people' standing at the foot of his bed.
Those 'people' from under the bed.
They were standing in a row now.
Their skin still had that bluish tint.
Pairs of eyes, dark like black holes, were all fixed on him sitting on the wooden bed.
The nearest 'person' was less than twenty centimeters away from his feet.
In that instant.
Wen Shichun's breath caught.
He locked eyes with 'them'.
Stay calm.
Don't panic.
Don't panic.
Those things couldn't possibly be 'people'.
Wen Shichun's body went rigid.
Yet beneath his clothes, every muscle was already taut.
Ready to spring.
Something gradually came into the corner of his vision.
The specter entity detector—
It wasn't sounding—
He must still be dreaming.
This is a dream!
***
When Wen Shichun woke up again.
The bedroom was pitch black.
This realization put his brain on high alert almost the moment he regained consciousness.
Had he really woken up?
Wen Shichun held his breath.
He remained lying on his side on the bed.
The eerie, prickling sensation of being watched had vanished.
But—
In the darkness, those icy blue eyes grew even colder.
There was someone behind him.
…
Someone was lying on the bed behind him.
In that instant, the corner of Wen Shichun’s lips quirked upward in an unusual, faint curve.
The person behind him was just like him.
Eyes wide open in the darkness.
The other party must also know he was awake.
And was being utterly confident, provocative.
Even daring to draw closer to him—
As Wen Shichun turned in the dark, his left hand pulled out the slicing knife he had hidden beneath the pillow. Moving with extreme speed, he struck several consecutive blows at the still-warm body beside him.
As if erupting from a nightmare.
The sound of a sharp weapon piercing flesh echoed in the darkness.
It seemed to finally feel pain.
In the dark, Wen Shichun could see nothing, but he heard a heavy, ragged breath and a gaze of tangible fury fixed upon him.
His left wrist was grabbed, but it didn't matter. The figure beneath him had already been stabbed several times; the sound of blood gushing from its body was quite pleasing. Moreover, Wen Shichun’s right fist was already flying toward where the face should be in the darkness.
When his fist connected with a face, the master of this house seemed finally provoked to rage.
It forcefully broke free, throwing the knife it had wrested from Wen Shichun’s hand against the wall. Its footing on the carpet was visibly unsteady. Meanwhile, the person on the bed had already swiftly switched on the desk lamp it had turned off. The bedroom was instantly flooded with light.
It looked down slightly and saw its own translucent body gushing blood.
Yet, it was not stepping on the carpet.
Instead, it was on a thick layer of flour.
Blood dripped from its body onto the white surface.
Strikingly conspicuous.
Damn!
Yin Chu immediately wanted to flee. Wen Shichun looked at the bloodstains on the other's body—such a clear target brought a faint smile to his lips.
In the next second, he swung his legs off the bed and picked up the slicing knife that the other had thrown onto the carpet.
Then he strode after his prey.
The entire process actually took only a few seconds.
“Where do you think you’re running?”
Wen Shichun’s flat voice sounded from behind Yin Chu, already very close. The hand with which it was opening the door trembled oddly.
That little lunatic behind!
Always striking so fiercely!
It was the first time Yin Chu had been stared at like prey, and he was almost in a panic as he pushed the door open to leave, not giving the person behind another chance to attack. But as soon as one foot stepped onto the floor outside, excruciating pain shot from the sole through its entire body—and the other foot behind could no longer be pulled back—
"Fuck—"
Wen Shichun, hearing this somewhat agonized cry, paused his motion of preparing to strike another blow to its back. His gaze shifted to the corridor floor, where something was reflecting light densely and everywhere.
And now, not only was the master of the mansion bleeding from several holes in his chest, but pools of blood were also spreading beneath his feet. Judging from the wounds on his chest, Wen Shichun deduced his current movements, twisted by intense pain—he looked utterly ridiculous.
However, the next second, the lights in the corridor went out, and the door in front of him was closed from the outside.
"Brother, don’t come out."
Yue Cheng’s voice sounded from outside the door, almost simultaneous with the lights going out.
Wen Shichun listened to the commotion outside. The slicing knife in his left hand did not loosen, and his right hand was already on the bronze door handle.
"Earlier, before going back to my room, I scattered thumbtacks at your doorway."
Yue Cheng’s voice continued, while outside the door seemed unusually quiet.
"The thing that just escaped stepped on them when it ran out. It won’t recover anytime soon."
The boy’s voice paused.
"But there’s a ghost outside."
"Brother, you stay inside the room for now."
"It’s safe… for the moment."
