That night, after turning off the lights, they engaged in casual conversation.
When they snapped back to reality, Ke Lin had disappeared again.
Wen Dong turned on the light, furrowing his brow. “Did any of you see how Da Lin disappeared?”
“I…,” Tong Xiaosong’s voice faltered, expressing some self-blame. “I wasn’t paying attention, I got distracted.”
“Don’t blame yourself.” Wen Dong sighed. “I kept watching Da Lin in the same posture, but I got distracted just now. This can’t be a coincidence.”
The three turned on the lights, sat on the chairs, and waited for dawn.
As the sky began to show a faint light, the door of the dormitory quietly opened.
Silently, the door opened a crack.
Wen Dong, sitting by the door, looked surprised. Even if he was composed, he was almost startled.
He immediately stood up and signaled Tong Xiaosong and Wu Mabo—someone had returned.
The three of them looked solemnly at the door.
Between the opening and closing of their dormitory door, although it wasn’t particularly loud, there was a subtle sound.
But now, the door was slowly opening, making no sound at all, even lighter than a gust of wind.
Outside the door, Ke Lin was drenched from head to toe, wearing only a pair of underwear. His eyes were lifeless, and barefoot, he walked into the room, leaving wet footprints with each step, yet making no sound.
Because he was only wearing underwear, they could clearly see the densely patterned livor mortis on Ke Lin’s body.
Tong Xiaosong and Wu mabo both covered their mouths, trying not to scream, their eyes wide open, filled with incredible shock.
Wen Dong wasn’t any better, mouth agape, inhaling silently, equally shocked.
Ke Lin walked to his bed as if sleepwalking, stiffly lifted the blanket, and lay down. His whole body was rigid, and after covering himself with the blanket, he lay quietly, resembling a corpse about to be laid to rest.
They watched in astonishment as, with the brightening of the day, the water stains on Ke Lin’s body disappeared, and his complexion returned to a healthy red.
If they hadn’t seen it with their own eyes, they might have thought Ke Lin had peacefully slept through the night.
After a while, Ke Lin woke up. Turning over with a sleepy murmur, he said, “Brothers, let’s discuss something. I’m applying to have Zhi Xian return to our dorm to sleep. I had nightmares again last night, and I was awakened. I can’t sleep soundly…”
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.
Tong Xiaosong, Wen Dong, and Wu Mabo: …
Qfc Gbcu bqfcfv tlr wbeat, tlr nblmf rbwfktja vgs jr tf jrxfv, “Qtfc sbe kfgf jkjxfcfv ijra cluta, kfgf sbe lcrlvf atf vbgw?”
Bf Olc kjr ajxfc jyjmx, aegclcu ab ibbx ja atf atgff qfbqif rlaalcu bc atf mtjlgr, jcv jrxfv lc mbcoerlbc, “Qts jgf sbe eq rb fjgis… bg vlv sbe cba riffq? Rb kjs, ktfc P kbxf eq ijra cluta, P rjk jii bo sbe kfgf jriffq, jcv atfc P kfca yjmx ab riffq abb.”
Wu Mabo squeezed out a voice from his throat, his eyes reddened, “Are you sure you saw us all sleeping?”
Ke Lin hesitated for a moment, “Not entirely sure… you guys didn’t sleep? I didn’t pay much attention, but when you turned over on the upper bunk, I could feel it. What’s with these expressions? Did something happen?”
Tong Xiaosong lowered his eyes, unwilling to look at Ke Lin.
Not out of fear, but because he couldn’t believe it and didn’t want to believe it.
They could only hope that the person in front of them was not the familiar Ke Lin but another entity that looked exactly like Ke Lin.
Otherwise…
Tong Xiaosong didn’t want to continue guessing.
Wu Mabo spoke with a slightly agitated tone, “I’m going to class.”
After saying that, he slammed the door and left, afraid that he couldn’t control his emotions.
Wen Dong sniffed gently, trying to control his emotions, and asked, “Da Lin, during the time classes were suspended, what did you do when you went home?”
Ke Lin noticed that the three of them were in an unusual mood but couldn’t figure out why.
He hesitated and said, “Just studying, playing games, playing sports… the usual stuff.”
Wen Dong avoided Ke Lin’s gaze, lowered his head, and said, “Tong Xiaosong, I just remembered there’s something I need your help with. Come with me.”
Tong Xiaosong nodded listlessly, not daring to make a sound, tears already swirling in his eyes.
After they left, as soon as the door closed, Tong Xiaosong’s tears began to fall.
Wen Dong’s eyes were also red, but he kept them wide open, preventing the tears from flowing.
Silently, they walked out, and at the corner, they saw Wu Mabo, who had buried his head.
***
At the school gate, Zhi Xian looked at the three people in front of him with red eyes and asked in surprise, “What happened?”
He reached out and placed his hand on Tong Xiaosong’s shoulder, pulling the still sobbing person into his embrace.
Tong Xiaosong buried his face in Zhi Xian’s chest, gripping the other’s shirt tightly, and cried out loud.
Wen Dong, controlling his emotions, explained everything that had happened to Zhi Xian.
After listening, Zhi Xian fell into contemplation.
Wu Mabo couldn’t control himself and cried out, asking, “Is he… is he already…”
Several times he tried to finish the sentence, but couldn’t.
Zhi Xian remained silent for a few seconds and said, “Don’t be too pessimistic. I’ve mentioned before that my eyes can discern yin and yang, but I didn’t see anything wrong with him.”
Tong Xiaosong lifted his head, and his eyes, red and teary, instantly sparkled with hope, the same as the other two.
The three of them almost spoke simultaneously.
“So, you mean Da Lin is okay?”
“Da Lin is still alive?”
“He’s okay?”
Zhi Xian furrowed his brow and shook his head. “I’m not very sure. We need to go to his house to check the specific situation. We can’t rely on Da Lin’s current memories. We should ask his parents if there were any unusual circumstances when Da Lin was on break.”
He gently patted Tong Xiaosong on the back and said, “Tomorrow is the weekend. Try to get him to go home, and then we’ll go together.”
***
Evening, in the dorm.
“Want to visit my place?” Ke Lin exclaimed, “But there’s nothing interesting around my house.”
Wen Dong said, “Isn’t there a zoo near your house?”
Ke Lin chuckled, “The one that keeps livestock as wild animals? What’s interesting about pigs, dogs, cows, horses, and sheep?”
Wu Mabo hurriedly said, “It’s not about us; it’s Tong Xiaosong who wants to see it. He rarely wants to go out, and you want to let him down?”
Tong Xiaosong nodded quickly, “Yes, I’ve never seen…”
Ke Lin was surprised, “You’ve never seen pigs, dogs, cows, horses, and sheep? Don’t you folks in the mountains raise these things? I can believe that Da Bo hasn’t seen them, but you…”
Wu Mabo gave up, “Okay! It’s me who hasn’t seen them. I want to take a look. Just say if you allow us to go or not.”
Ke Lin hesitated and after a few minutes said, “Well, there’s no need for you guys to follow me. My house is small. Can’t you stay in a hotel?”
Wen Dong sighed, “I thought we had a good relationship, and we could stay at your place. I didn’t expect you to treat us like outsiders.”
If Wu Mabo had said that, Ke Lin wouldn’t have cared and would have directly responded, ‘You guys are outsiders!’
Because Wu Mabo is usually carefree, outspoken, often makes excessive jokes without self-awareness, and being scolded back is a common occurrence.
But the one who said this was Wen Dong.
Wen Dong is a rational and calm person, usually quiet, but whenever he speaks, it’s always about serious matters.
If Wen Dong said so, then he really felt that way. Ke Lin dared not make jokes casually.
He quickly said, “No, how could you be outsiders? We all live in the same dormitory. Okay, then…”
Before he could finish speaking, there was a knock on the door.
It was a very normal knocking sound, and there was conversation outside the door.
Wen Dong opened the door, and there stood the dormitory’s housekeeping aunt.
She said, “I’m here to inform you that there will be a new roommate moving into the dormitory next Monday. Take advantage of the holiday to clean up and leave a good impression on the new roommate.”
What???!! why a new roommate all of a sudden?😰
Thanks for the chapter!
ˁ•ᴗ•ˀつ～ 💞
Let me guess, zhi xian is the new roommate? I srsly hope nothing happened to Ke Lin!!
NEW ROOMSTE?? hopefully its zhi xian omg