Before they could fetch a flashlight, Mister Rose teleported in front of Su Er and grabbed his shoulders, shaking him violently. “Do you even know what you're doing?”
In all his years as a host, he had never seen someone this audacious!
The host had been watching with amusement the entire time, but now, seeing Mister Rose so exasperated, Su Er couldn't help but let his lips twitch into a smile. He quickly suppressed his expression. “I don’t think I broke any rules.”
This kind of risky experiment was only feasible in a low-difficulty novice round. If he survived this, he would never try something so dangerous again.
Xuanyuan Aoyu realized something and shot Su Er a grateful look—he had taken a risk on his behalf.
Su Er didn’t dwell on it. He wasn’t the type to meddle in others’ affairs. In fact, apathy ran deep in his bones. He simply followed his own principles to avoid completely losing his humanity.
If, during their time together, Xuanyuan Aoyu had tried to use someone as a scapegoat, or if he had ultimately refused to tell the child a bedtime story and decided to drag everyone down with him, Su Er would have watched him march to his own death without batting an eye.
“I found the flashlight!” Li Li ran over and handed it to him.
A beam of light pierced through the night. The first evening had been spent in panic and desperate survival, and few had truly taken note of the outside world. Now, as a small section of the area became clear, a single thought surfaced in everyone’s minds: Good thing we didn’t look yesterday.
The empty space outside was eerily silent. The child was no longer pretending to sleep. His body, like compressed foam, occasionally caved in at different spots—his arms denting into coin-sized depressions. Even through the window, they could almost hear the sound of bones shattering. Yet, his regenerative abilities were frighteningly strong. His body quickly returned to normal, but then he opened his mouth wide and made a chewing motion at the air.
Xuanyuan Aoyu felt a chill run down his spine. For a fleeting moment, he had been so desperate that he considered making a break for it. But now, seeing this with his own eyes, he understood just how terrifying it was.
Getting torn apart by a wolf might be a better fate than being slowly crushed until his organs ruptured.
Zhao He narrowed his eyes. “He’s… moving.”
Though it was only by a few centimeters at a time, the child was indeed crawling toward the door.
Su Er turned off the flashlight. “We don’t have much time left.”
After midnight, stepping outside would be forbidden. Less than three hours remained.
He then turned to Xuanyuan Aoyu. “Even if he’s locked outside, that doesn’t necessarily mean the manifestation of tonight’s horror story won’t appear.”
Xuan Yuan Ao Yu had calmed down considerably and nodded. “I understand.”
This was the best possible scenario for now—it at least offered a sliver of hope.
Everyone dispersed to search for more clues. Suddenly, Su Er felt a wave of cold wash over him. He turned his head and found Mister Rose staring at him, eyes unblinking.
Killing intent… This time, he could feel it for real.
Su Er pointed toward the child outside. “He’s not even related to you.”
A petal trembled slightly, as if about to fall. Mister Rose's expression darkened. “If anything happens to him, this instance will collapse.”
Su Er: “Will I die?”
“Obviously.”
Su Er: “Will you die?”
Mister Rose: “Even more obviously.”
The collapse of a small-scale world meant no one inside would escape.
Su Er stepped forward and wrapped his arms around the air in front of him. “Then we’ll have a bond forged through shared life and death.”
He curled his fingers into a heart shape. “Love ya~”
You’re young—why not try being human for once?
Unable to kill Su Er for now, Mister Rose chose to retreat to a shadowy corner upstairs, out of sight, out of mind.
Su Er didn’t follow. He sat back on the couch and flipped through the brochure again. The chapter on Demons and Sprites clearly outlined countermeasures—if one’s combat power exceeded 150, they could inflict a certain level of damage. In other words, if they were strong enough, even the boss could be slain.
That directly contradicted what the host had just said.
Su Er lowered his eyes. Mister Rose had no reason to lie. The brochure also seemed logical—if supernatural entities were completely invincible, this game would be unwinnable.
He stood up and approached the crib. Bloodstains soaked into the mattress, a stark reminder of what had happened that morning. A spirit eating humans made sense, but eating itself… what was that supposed to mean?
“Take a look at this.” Zhou He walked over, holding a few photos. “They were pressed under the idol.”
Su Er shot him a deep look. They were both human, yet Zhao He had lifted the idol without issue, while he himself had nearly lost his life just by glancing at a family portrait in the bedroom.
Typically, people leaned in close when taking group photos, showing familiarity. But in these pictures, everyone sat primly in their seats, their smiles mere lip curls, none revealing their teeth.
“They’re definitely from a cult,” Zhao He said with disdain. “And there are quite a lot of them.”
Su Er suddenly looked up and called out to Mister Rose upstairs. “Can multiple people stay in the same room at night?”
Mister Rose responded impatiently, “The only rule is that you can’t leave after midnight.”
His answer aligned with what the brochure said—the hosts would always explain the rules clearly, making them a reliable source of information.
Zhao He: “You want us to bunk together?”
The first night, everyone had assumed Su Er wouldn’t make it, so no one questioned the arrangements.
Su Er nodded. “Xuanyuan Aoyu’s room is across from yours. I’ll stay with you tonight and see what happens.”
Right on cue, Xuanyuan Aoyu stepped out of the bathroom, raising his hands helplessly. “You really love running experiments, huh?”
Outside the window, the child was still painstakingly inching toward the front door. Xuanyuan Aoyu had feared him before, but now, watching this scene, he suddenly realized—the kid was just like him. A test subject.
When put into perspective, the monster didn’t seem quite as terrifying anymore.
“At night, who knows what will happen,” Su Er said bluntly. “We’ll help as much as we can within our abilities, but if it gets too difficult, we can only wish for the best.”
Xuanyuan Aoyu nodded. That was already quite compassionate—after all, no one had thought to help Su Er yesterday.
He went to the kitchen and grabbed a rusty kitchen knife, while Su Er picked up a fruit knife and found a hammer in one of the cabinets.
Once inside the room, they started working on the door.
Zhao He was puzzled. “What are you doing?”
“Making a hole.” Su Er asked, “Are we supposed to just crouch by the door crack to observe at night?”
Zhao He hesitated. “What if whatever’s outside notices us?”
Su Er replied, “Every grudge has a target. Tonight, it’s coming for Xuanyuan Aoyu.”
Xuanyuan Aoyu, who was just about to enter his own room, felt like he had been stabbed in the heart, but he couldn’t even refute it.
To keep an eye on the child outside, Su Er deliberately pulled open the curtains. Moonlight streamed in, illuminating a patch of the floor in front of the bed. It had no warmth, yet Zhao He felt like his body was being roasted and shifted to sit somewhere else.
There were only a few minutes left until midnight. Zhao He, feeling nervous, rubbed his hands together and noticed Su Er leaning against the door, occasionally glancing at the pamphlet, checking for anything he might have missed.
“…You’re not scared?” Zhao He asked.
Su Er casually lied, “I’ve been attracting supernatural beings since I was a kid. Back then, I was dumb enough to go around telling people. Eventually, everyone started treating me like a freak, so I just got used to it.”
Zhao He imagined the scene and looked at him with sympathy. “That does sound rough.”
Midnight came, and the corridor remained silent. Su Er stood at the door for about half an hour, then, feeling a little tired, returned to sit by the bed.
Zhao He let out a breath of relief. “Looks like everything’s fine.”
He remembered that last night, as soon as midnight struck, there had been the sound of a snake slithering.
Su Er frowned and finally voiced the question that had been bothering him. “This villa had a mass suicide, but so far, I’ve only seen the ghost of the lady of the house. Where are the other spirits?”
Zhao He froze for a second, then almost jumped out of bed. “Mass suicide? The lady’s ghost?!”
When did all this happen?!
Su Er pulled a photo out of his pocket, its surface thickly covered with layers of paper, making it impossible to see.
Zhao He was about to take it when Su Er said, “I flushed it down the toilet several times.”
“…” Zhao He immediately retracted his hand.
“Turn around first.” Su Er started peeling off the paper. “This photo has the ability to ‘bewitch’ people.”
Zhao He quickly turned away.
Su Er’s voice took on a sinister tone. “You should be more cautious. What if I suddenly stab you?”
“…” A chill ran down Zhao He’s spine, and he shuddered. “Please don’t let it ‘bewitch’ you.”
“I was in high school, grinding through ‘Five Years of College Entrance Exams, Three Years of Mock Tests’ every day.” Su Er emphasized, “My willpower is strong.”
Inside the photo, the woman’s expression had long since turned numb, her gaze empty.
“Where did the others who died with you go?”
“I don’t know,” the woman replied. “When I regained consciousness, I was already trapped here.” Her voice became fearful. “And that demon occupying my child’s body—it once tried to devour me.”
“What happened then?”
“It suddenly became weak again. I can’t explain why.”
Her sharp voice sent chills down Zhao He’s back. Thinking about Su Er casually chatting with a ghost, he shivered. “Can I turn around now?”
To prevent the photo from causing trouble and inciting self-destructive behavior, Su Er carefully rewrapped it and tucked it into his pocket before lazily replying, “Go ahead.”
Zhao He gave him a complicated look. “I believe it now. Those things really like you.”
That was exactly the effect Su Er wanted.
By 2 AM, still nothing had happened. To conserve energy, Zhao He lay in bed, tossing and turning. “What if I can’t fall asleep?”
Su Er started humming. “Sleep, sleep, my dear baby…”
The lullaby drifted through the room.
Zhao He hugged his blanket tightly. “...Stop singing.”
Maybe it was just his imagination, but he swore he could hear bones being crushed and then reforming outside the window. Unable to hold back, he whispered, “Did you lock the window?”
Su Er, still studying the photos Zhao He had found, didn’t even look up. “It’s locked.”
“Ugh, I still can’t sleep.” Zhao He wriggled around like a restless worm, the rustling of his blanket making Su Er’s head ache.
Su Er said, “If you don’t sleep properly, the Big Bad Wolf will come and eat you.”
“…” Can we still get along peacefully or not?
----------
No comments:
Post a Comment