Translator-Rhapsodite
Editor-PerpetualMreow, Proofreader-adjective
Ji Dong turned sideways, covered most of his face with a blanket, closed his eyes tightly, and tried hard to fall asleep.
He even started counting sheep.
——One sheep, two sheep, three sheep…
Even though he was already tired, and his body was sinking into the soft bedding, feeling the accumulated lactic acid soreness even in the gaps between his bones, Ji Dong’s brain still maintained a strange excitement at this time.
As he counted the sheep in his mind, they involuntarily started to deviate and turned into Ren Jianmo’s face.
His profile, the color of his eyes, the curve of his lips when he smiled…
——Ahhh!
Ji Dong silently cried in despair under the covers.
He had completely forgotten how many sheep he had counted just now, hastily regaining his thoughts, he randomly picked a number, starting from one hundred and twenty-three. He comforted himself as he counted by telling himself that there was still time, it hadn’t even been ten minutes yet…
…………….
Ji Dong didn’t know how long he had been tossing and turning, but just as he finally thought he had brewed a bit of sleepiness, a hand reached over from the side and gently landed on his blanket.
Ji Xiao’niao: “!!!”
He shivered all over, quickly rolled over, changing from lying on his side to lying on his back, and then grabbed the blanket, covering his eyes with a whoosh. “No no no! I’m sleeping! I’m going to sleep right away!”
“Pfft.”
Ren Jianmo couldn’t help but be amused by Ji Dong’s reaction, even though he rarely laughed out loud.
His hand traced the bulge of the quilt, slid to the top, and gently tried to pull it down, immediately feeling the owner’s resolute resistance.
So Ren Jianmo didn’t insist, he raised his hand and patted Ji Dong hiding underneath the blanket, saying, “Alright then, you sleep by yourself.”
Ji Xiao’niao let out a sigh of relief from under the blanket.
Then he felt a weight loosely pressing on his body, followed by a shadow looming over him. Something moist and supple, with body temperature, touched his forehead, which was the only part exposed outside the blanket.
Ji Dong: “!!!”
His mind went blank and was filled with a buzzing sound. His eyes widened under the blanket, and he even found himself forgetting how to breathe.
Even Ji Dong, who had been single for nineteen years and had never been in any romantic relationship, knew that the warmth he’d felt on his forehead were from someone’s lips.
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.
——He kissed me!
——He kissed me!
——Ren Jianmo kissed me!
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He straightened up and waited for a while, but Ji Dong remained completely still under the blanket, not making a single sound. Worried that the child might suffocate under the covers, Ren Jianmo reached out and pulled at the blanket again.
This time, he encountered less resistance and easily unwrapped Ji Xiao’niao from his shell.
Underneath the blanket, Ji Dong’s face turned bright red, like a cooked shrimp. It was hard to tell if it was caused by his embarrassment or from holding his breath, but he looked as if steam was about to come out of his head.
Suddenly losing the protection of the blanket, Ji Dong was momentarily stunned. Instinctively, he reached out to pull the blanket back up, but then he caught sight of Ren Jianmo’s smiling eyes and rosy lips. He was suddenly too embarrassed and could only reflexively close his eyes tightly and cover his hot cheeks with his hands.
It was currently 9:00 in the morning and the sun was out. The sunlight was shining through the curtains and filling the room. Even with closed eyes, one could still sense the changes in light in front of them.
Ji Dong was extremely nervous at this moment, too afraid to open his eyes or take deep breaths. He wished he could bury his face in the ground like an ostrich.
He felt a shadow slowly approaching him, and then he could feel a warm breath blowing onto his face.
——Ren Jianmo, is he going to kiss me again?!
Ji Dong’s mind was flooded with frantic thoughts, overwhelmed with panic.
However, Ren Jianmo ultimately did not press his lips against Ji Dong’s skin again.
He simply reached out and gently tousled the child’s soft curls, then tucked him back under the blanket.
“Goodnight, sleep tight.”
Ren Jianmo pulled one of Ji Xiao’niao’s hands that was pressed against his face, and held it in his palm.
“This way, you’ll feel more relaxed.”
Due to his heightened emotions, Ji Dong’s hand felt sweaty and warmer than Ren Jianmo’s palm.
Ji Xiao’niao tried to pull away, but Ren Jianmo didn’t let go. Instead, he tightened his grip slightly.
He could only resign himself and relax his curled-up fingers, allowing the other person to interlock their fingers together.
“…Well then, I’ll go to sleep…”
Ji Dong curled up in the covers and spoke softly.
Ren Jianmo also lay down, smiling as he responded, “Hmm, go to sleep.”
………………..
This time, perhaps because there was another person he trusted whose warmth was soothing, Ji Dong’s overly excited emotions unexpectedly calmed down quickly.
With closed eyes, Ji Xiao’niao could clearly feel the shape of Ren Jianmo’s palm.
The fingers of that hand were slightly longer and softer than his own, The joints were not obvious, and there were no calluses on the tiger's mouth. The temperature was slightly cooler and dry. It was a hand that perfectly matched Ren Jianmo’s appearance and was very beautiful.
Right now, Ren Jianmo’s hand was firmly holding his hand…
In a hazy drowsiness, Ji Dong let out a silent sigh.
It was truly miraculous that, just as he was about to fall asleep, he became acutely aware of something:
——Yes…
——I… like him…
When Ji Dong woke up later, the sky was still bright, indicating that it was still early.
But his sleep quality had been very high, so even though he had slept for less than seven hours, he still felt refreshed and he was able to transform back into an energetic Ji Dong.
He sat up and glanced at the wall clock. It was 3:30 in the afternoon. Then, he turned his head to the side and noticed that Ren Jianmo hadn’t gotten up yet. He was covered with a blanket, lying on his side with his back towards Ji Dong, sleeping right beside him.
Ji Xiaoniao’s heart skipped a beat.
Ji Dong, who had just realized his feelings before falling asleep, held his breath and carefully leaned down, trying to catch a glimpse of Ren Jianmo’s sleeping face.
His movements were so light and slow that not even a butterfly or a feather would be disturbed. However, just as he was about to poke his head, Ren Jianmo opened his eyes, turned around holding the blanket, and looked back at Ji Dong with his mismatched eyes, clear and awake, without a trace of sleepiness.
Ji Xiao’niao, who was caught on the spot: “…”
“I- I- I was just about to wake you up!”
Ji Dong straightened his body in a flash, thinking he had come up with a clever answer.
Ren Jianmo didn’t expose him, just smiled and responded to the child’s words, “Hmm.”
He lifted the blanket and got out of bed neatly.
“I’ve had enough sleep too, let’s go downstairs and take a look.”
————————————-
At 4:30 p.m., the five of them gathered in the study. Those using the computer continued using the computer, those flipping through books continued flipping through books, and those scrolling on their phones continued scrolling. They all started searching for clues about the haunted place they planned to visit tonight.
If the plan went smoothly, they would be able to leave this [Film] and return to the [Peach Blossom Spring] after 7 p.m. tomorrow.
Of course, to win the final victory in the 24-point game, having a plan alone was far from enough. They had to ensure flawless execution without any mistakes.
So, collecting information was a crucial step, and it was not to be taken lightly.
About an hour later, Fan Luming, who was responsible for using the computer to search for urban ghost story clues online, had already collected and organized all the useful information he could find.
“Wow…”
Fan Luming leaned back on the chair and let out a sigh.
“Our target tonight, it looks…quite eerie!”
Hearing his words, the four people around gathered, waiting for him to summarize.
Ji Dong and the others were going to a haunted place where the playing card number was “3” tonight.
It was a history museum located east of the bridge across the river in the south of the city.
The urban ghost stories they had investigated over the past two nights had been circulating locally for many years.
For example, Tzu Chi Hospital had been abandoned for more than ten years, and the Longxing Mountain Tunnel where Ren Jianmo had gone last night had been under construction for seven or eight years.
These stories, which had been around for quite some time, had also become popular on the internet. Over time, there had been numerous reposts, modifications, embellishments, and adaptations. The versions had become quite chaotic as there were dozens of posts on the forum summarizing prior postings, and some even had their own online aliases; and might even be able to publish a novel just by gathering, revising, and arranging the posts.
But the urban ghost story that Fan Luming was able to find, which happened at the history museum, was only four or five months old.
And the biggest difference between it and other ghost stories was that there were clear videos that could be found online.
“Look, it’s this one.”
Fan Luming clicked on a video file that he had saved, and let everyone watch it together.
It was a clip taken from surveillance footage.
In the video, a man wearing a short-sleeved summer uniform stood with his back to the screen, in front of a Bogu rack. He pulled out a knife from under his uniform, held it in his right hand, and extended his left arm. Slowly, piece by piece, he cuts into his flesh, stuffing the pieces into a ceramic vase.
Although the man’s facial expression could not be seen, the hand that was holding the knife was extremely steady. Even when he slashed his arm, the tip of the knife didn’t tremble at all. It was as if what he was cutting open was not his own body, but rather a piece of rubber.
“Hiss!”
Mo Tiangen took a sharp breath and exclaimed, clenching his teeth, “Doesn’t this person feel any pain?”
“Don’t worry, it’s not over yet.”
Fan Luming pointed to the progress bar, instructing Dagen to continue watching, “There’s something even scarier coming up.”
Sure enough, after cutting three pieces of flesh in a row, the man stopped stuffing the blood and flesh into the ceramic vase.
He stood still in front of the vase, motionless for a few minutes. It wasn’t until the blood dripping from the wound on his arm had gathered into a small pool of blood at his feet that he finally moved.
The man picked up the vase and fiercely threw it to the ground, shattering it into seven or eight pieces.
Then, the man in uniform twitched a few times and with a “thud,” fell to the ground.
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