Returning to the room, Xiao Lan finally enjoyed the rare tranquillity.
He returned to the creaking bed which gave off a scent of rust and wasn’t comfortable to lie on, ready to officially get some rest.
His gaze swept to the side, and he saw Luo conscientiously go over to the window and poke around. Against the window, his back looked especially lonely and desolate. Once again, Xiao Lan felt like a coldhearted boss who was bullying a pitiful worker.
His conscience twinged slightly.
He waved at Luo. “How about you come sit by the bed?”
As he spoke, he patted the bed a couple of times. The bedframe creaked at the strain again. However, the bed prepared by the stingy landlord was only just so big, and even if Xiao Lan practically plastered himself to the wall, he couldn’t make much more space.
In the dim night light, Luo’s lips quirked faintly. “As you wish, sir.”
He walked towards Xiao Lan and sat down lightly on the edge of the bed. He didn’t make a single sound, and just happened to guard the gap in the bed’s metal rail.
There basically weren’t any other tenants in the entire building aside from this apartment. There also weren’t any sounds from the fake city outside; the sound of the wind was especially clear right now.
At this moment, the world was especially quiet.
Quiet was quiet, but… it was so hot ah!
In the blistering hot environment, plus the fact that heavy rain was just around the corner, the air was just as humid and hot as a bathroom after a shower, and the wind brought not a single hint of coolness.
When Luo sat down, part of his back pressed against Xiao Lan’s body. At that moment, Xiao Lan discovered that this guy’s attire was made of some unknown texture and was just as ice-cold as Luo was. It didn’t become hot either when it encountered a human’s body temperature, and was like a large ice pillow.
Xiao Lan couldn’t help but sneakily get a little closer. Luo didn’t turn his head at all, as if acquiescing to his actions.
Seeing that Luo didn’t plan to object, Xiao Lan fell asleep in that position.
Luo really was a guy well-prepared for staying at home or travelling. Who knew if he would be warm during winter, but at least he was cool during summer ah.
After a moment.
Luo sensed the breathing behind him turn even and slow.
He turned his head and looked closely at this person with serious eyes.
After Xiao Lan fell asleep, he looked very calm and soft. His breathing was tranquil, like that of a weak and harmless creature, and nothing at all like his appearance when he was awake and kicking murderers and punching big bosses.
But Luo couldn’t find the answer he wanted from that pretty, sleeping face.
He was like a ghost with no origin who had gotten tangled up with a passing traveller. He hoped that the other would take him to a far-off place, but even he himself didn’t know where this faraway destination was.
What was he to Xiao Lan?
A useful helper, a travel companion, or… a monster harbouring treacherous motives?
Luo pondered through the night. Whenever there was a silent lull like this, he would always ponder and reflect on these questions for which there clearly weren’t any answers.
That was because if he stopped to think about it, he would feel that he was a dead creature. He was something that didn’t breathe, had no heartbeat, and didn’t think. If that wasn’t a dead creature, then what was?
He hated this feeling.
At that moment, there was a faint fluctuation in the air.
But it didn’t escape Luo’s senses.
As Xiao Lan slept, Luo had already covered this room in a shadow that no one else could see. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that right now, this place was set up with an inescapable net.
The fluctuation seemed to have been caused by the beating wings of some insect, and the source gradually approached Xiao Lan. It was trying to enter a small crack next to the bedside rail, but unexpectedly, a slender hand encased in a black glove caught it.
Luo looked at his palm. It seemed completely empty, but his senses told him that there was a small bug there that was currently struggling.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
A black shadow emerged from his palm and turned into a ball. The ball slowly shrunk and swallowed up the struggling thing.
Coafg j wbwfca.
Feeling the life in his hand disappear, Luo’s soundlessly mouthed the words, Apologies, but I cannot let you disturb my family’s sir.
Lf ibbxfv ja ktfgf Wljb Ojc kjr ralii qfjmfoeiis riffqlcu cfza ab tlw, jcv rwlifv rlifcais.
Ca atf rjwf alwf, lc atf vjgxcfrr bo j mfgajlc cjggbk gbbw.
A person covered their eyes and muffled their cry of pain. “Wu —”
Ktfs jgmtfv atflg yjmx ja atf lcafcrf qjlc jcv agfwyifv lcmfrrjcais.
Coafg atf qjlc ojvfv, atf qfgrbc qertfv atfwrfio eq jr atfs ujrqfv obg ygfjat, atflg ojmf mbnfgfv lc mbiv rkfja. “Lft… Qtja j rtjgq ues…”
Early the next morning.
“Dong! Dong! Dong!!”
Xiao Lan was startled away by immense pounding on the door.
That sound truly went straight to one’s soul, frightening him into shooting up from the bed. As a result, he forgot the size and height of the bed, and directly slammed his head against Luo’s back.
“Ss —” Xiao Lan covered his head and fell back on the bed again.
What did this guy eat growing up? Why was his back so hard? It was like a ten-tonne steel plate. But it clearly felt like flesh to the touch ah.
The victim who looked like the culprit, Luo, innocently turned his head. “Sir, good morning.”
“Morning…” Xiao Lan said weakly.
Luo helped Xiao Lan straighten his clothes, and mentioned in passing the bug that had infiltrated secretly last night. Though Luo couldn’t quite remember what the bug was called, he deduced that it was probably a probe item. It was of a higher level than the lurker and eye of space and time which they had encountered before; that was to say, this was a player’s technique.
Xiao Lan was instantly wary. Who would want to investigate him? And for what purpose?
He felt like he was sinking into a dense fog, and he had no clue what the opponent in the fog wanted.
When he went out to wash up, Xiao Lan took the opportunity to look for the original tenants and understand the situation; he wanted to know what was up with the knocking that morning. The result was that this group didn’t find anything strange about it, and said that it was the landlord. He would do this almost every day, so Xiao Lan should get used to it.
What a good, cautious and conscientious landlord, who took it upon himself to make sure the tenants suffered…
At breakfast.
It was still the same goo with indecipherable ingredients on the table; the players felt a little nauseated when they looked at it, but to keep up their strength for the days to come, they had no choice but to eat it.
Wu Ting reluctantly had a bite, and frowned and took a deep breath before she raised her chopsticks again. She looked at Xiao Lan, who was eating lightning quick without a change in his expression, and felt sincere admiration from the bottom of her heart.
They were both human, yet why was this guy so outstanding?
Strong, truly too strong.
At this moment, that pair of lovers walked out from their room all lovey-dovey.
“Baby, you look so beautiful today!”
“You also look handsome today~”
“How did I end up with such a beautiful girlfriend~”
“How hateful ah~”
It was as if they had forgotten how they had condemned each other’s entire family and even got into a fight last night. Couples truly were a strange type of symbiotic unit.
Looking at the two people walking over like conjoined twins, the players immediately felt their stomachs turn.
At that moment, the pair raised their heads grudgingly, and when they looked at the dining table today, Xiao Lan and Luo, who were still eating, fell into their line of sight.
Their movements instantly stiffened.
Yesterday’s inhuman treatment was still fresh on their minds; even now, they felt as if they were still wrapped in the thick blanket and unable to breathe.
Instantly, they no longer spoke and they didn’t have to prop each other up as they walked anymore. The two sat at the table, as quiet as chicken, and chose the spots furthest away from Xiao Lan and Luo before they silently began eating. Even their daily performance of feeding each other was omitted.
The players looked on in astonishment, and Wu Ting silently gave Xiao Lan and Luo a thumbs up.
The evil cult believer and pregnant woman also came to the table one after another. The evil cult believer was still rambling about God, while the pregnant woman still engrossed herself in eating the things in her bowl without saying a word.
At that moment, Wu Ting spoke up. “Do you guys know if a mother and daughter pair live nearby? The mother looks very thin and weak, and the daughter looks young and very lively.”
The evil cult believer thought about it. “Oh, them ah. They live here ah. But we haven’t seen them since early yesterday morning; who knows where they ran off to. This woman ah, how can she not find a man to follow, and just go around in public like that? God will definitely punish her…
“God won’t permit your disobedience…”
He then pointed at Wu Ting’s sexy red dress. “You, you’re purposely wearing this to seduce people! God will not forgive you!”
Wu Ting coolly rolled her eyes at him, disinclined to speak at all.
Xiao Lan thought in his heart, You’re too simple, brother. The only thing seducing you is silicone rubber and sponge. Don’t believe in evil cults anymore, just believe in science ba.
Paying no attention to the evil cult believer’s senseless babble, the players felt a little suspicious in their hearts. That mother and daughter pair had taken the elevator with them yesterday ah. If they lived here, why didn’t they return? They clearly got off the elevator on this floor, so where could they go after getting off?
After a while, breakfast was drawing to an end.
Xiao Lan’s gaze swept over the group, and he realised that he didn’t see Meng Ze. He looked at He Rui. “Why don’t I see Meng Ze today?”
Hearing this, He Rui lifted his gaze and met Xiao Lan’s eyes serenely. “He said he wanted to investigate something, and decided not to eat breakfast.”
Xiao Lan: “What can it be for him to have to leave first thing in the morning?”
He Rui still looked very amiable. “Hehe, it’s possible he found some lead. You can ask him when the time comes.”
Xiao Lan couldn’t see any guilt or shiftiness on his face, nor could he make out any other details. Perhaps He Rui truly didn’t know, or perhaps this was a profoundly competent old fox.
The players weren’t restricted in their movements after breakfast.
Xiao Lan decided to look around this floor with Luo. Perhaps they could find a clue that might prove useful during the party on the fourth day.
The corridor was as dim as ever, and gave off an old odour. The sky was gloomy outside, and the onset of heavy rain was very oppressive. The air was filled with water vapour, and it was a little more stifling and hotter than last night, which gave the feeling of not quite being able to breathe.
Many of the apartment doors in the corridor were wrapped with metal wire and couldn’t be entered.
Xiao Lan carefully noted that most of these doors’ keyholes had already completely rusted, and probably couldn’t be opened even with a key. If they wanted to enter, they could only tear down the lock on the door.
Borrowing Luo’s ability to scout things out, these rooms were all empty and didn’t have anything special.
In other words, there were no clues related to these rooms at the moment, so there was no need to infiltrate them for now. Xiao Lan decided to first go to the elevator and see whether the other floors were also like this.
Just as they were about to walk past a corner, they heard the sound of something being dragged along.
“Shasha…”
“Sha —”
It was like someone was dragging something heavy and large, and was followed by the unpleasant smell of rotting meat, which was especially obvious in the narrow and stifling hot corridor.
Xiao Lan and Luo shared a look, and the two tacitly stopped right at the corner as they gazed quietly in the direction of the sound.
The first thing they saw was the landlord’s back.
The landlord’s thin body was straining as it dragged something out of the elevator shaft. The elevator seemed to be broken; when the doors opened, what they saw wasn’t the previous old elevator box, but the mechanism on the top of the elevator.
Obstructed by the angle, the two of them couldn’t see what the landlord was dragging out at the moment.
The landlord seemed very happy, and there was indescribable excitement on his face. “Come ah come~ No one will leave.”
He was even humming a song. His singing was raspy and unpleasant to listen to, like a crow wailing.
“Hehe…” The landlord’s laughs echoed in the corridor, creating a strange feeling in the quiet space.
The thing in the elevator shaft was slowly dragged out with his movements. Black, long, and soft in texture, it spread out over the floor. It looked like — hair.
After that, the other parts slowly appeared. Shoulder, chest, and arms that were already starting to undergo livor mortis…
As the corpse slowly appeared, Xiao Lan suddenly realised that the clothes it was wearing were very familiar.
These were — the clothes of that mother in the elevator!
The landlord excitedly stroked her hair, then placed the woman’s corpse on the side. He then reached out to the top of the elevator. The body he dragged out this time was much smaller, and the landlord dragged it out effortlessly.
The clothes on the body were also very familiar to Xiao Lan. This was the little girl who had been counting in the elevator.
There was even a tiny, red ball which tumbled out along with the corpse.
Although the little ball was now covered in the dust and engine oil from the top of the elevator and looked very dirty, it was very familiar to Xiao Lan. Wasn’t this the ball he had been asked to pick up when he was showering? He had even sprayed it out with the showerhead.
The two corpses were already in a pretty serious state of decomposition. The colour of the skin had already substantially changed and the bodies had swollen up. Even with the current air temperature, they should have already been dead for over 24 hours.
Previously, the evil cult believer said they hadn’t been around since early yesterday morning; it was very likely that this mother and daughter had already died yesterday morning.
But the players had met the mother and daughter in the elevator before dinner last night!
What was it that the players had seen then…
At that time, they still looked very normal — but did they know that they were already dead?
Xiao Lan thought back. At that time, in the lightbox at the top of the elevator, the players had seen the shadow of a hand flash by for a brief moment. Could that be the little girl’s hand that had accidentally been jostled by the elevator’s movements?
The mother and daughter had disappeared after leaving the elevator, and it seemed this could also be explained; since they had already died by then, their spirits naturally no longer needed to find a place to sleep.
In addition, the little girl had counted ten people when there were nine in the elevator, which had made the players’ hearts skip a beat at the time. But looking at the current situation, the humans back then — actually only numbered seven.
What on earth was the extra one?
Thinking up to this point, Xiao Lan suddenly felt cold sweat on his back. Conversely, it wasn’t because of how scary the ghost was; it was just the feeling of his original understanding being subverted that was too stimulating.
The author has something to say:
I just so happened to write this during Christmas; it seems a little too stimulating, so I’ll leave a little theater for everyone to relax:
Xiao Lan: Merry Christmas! Santa Claus, transform!!
Luo: Sir, can you first get off the roof?
Wang Taidi: Everyone, Merry Christmas. Did you miss me ah? Let me tell you guys, the colour of my ge’s underwear today is —
Wang Ke, picking up his family’s little brother and leaving swiftly, and faintly in the air: Merry Christmas.
Ahhhh scary! Also…after seeing that I wouldn’t be able to eat anything that landlord served!! 🤮
Me: Wang Ke….may I borrow your bro for a while?
Me to Wang Taidi: whispers So…What color is your big bro’s underwear?
Thanks for the chapter~
That’s the biggest mystery of the story!! I wonder if we’ll ever receive this great knowledge
I bet it’s pink with a hello kitty pattern 🤭
Luo don’t worry, XL sees you as a great friend!! And in the future you’ll be something more~
Creepy!!
Thank you for the chapter!!! ❤️❤️
Ooh! I like this instance. It’s creepy.
I wonder which player was trying to spy on Xiao Lan? Was is the one that was missing? He was in pain when Luo killed the bug.
I like how the couple is now weary and behaved in front of our duo xD
Luo, he sees you as a partner, useful helper, and travel companion.
I can’t wait for like, the Beauty and the Beast realization. “There must be something there that wasn’t there before.”
Thanks for the chapter <3
Thank you so much for translating! <3
XL, can I rent Luo for the next summer? :3
Thx for the ch (ㅅ˘ㅂ˘)
Thanks for the chapter! 💕💕
Thanks for the update
Thanks for the chapter ❤️ The landlord is happily dragging the corpses bruh
What a coincidence I started reading the novel on December 😀
Also thank you for the translation
Wang Ke is stealing all of my attention. What a man.
Wang Taidi is my icon and Wang kegi is forever my leader lmfao love this pair of silly siblings