“Clang, clang, clang…”
The road was all mountain track, the ground strewn with rough little pebbles.
The bus, packed with people, crept slowly forward, wobbling a bit.
The scenery outside the window was very monotonous, nothing but trees, and looked inexplicably bleak. The bus drove on for an indeterminate time, the same dense trees passing by the windows over and over.
Su Jingyan sat alone by the window, wearing earbuds and listening to music, quietly watching the scenery outside.
He was dressed strangely, in a hat and mask that hid his face, and looked out of place with the world.
Perhaps because of the way he was dressed, several people on the bus glanced at him from time to time.
As for the person in question, Su Jingyan often dressed like this, and he seemed able to shield himself completely from strangers’ scrutiny. Their stares didn’t bother him at all.
This was the bus to Xiyi Hotel.
Xiyi Hotel was a five-star hotel designed like a homestay. It was not located in a bustling area or crowded place like the city center.
On the contrary, unlike other established hotels, Xiyi Hotel had been built deep in the mountains and old forests.
The bus they were on was the only one so far that connected Xiyi Hotel with the outside world.
The group of people on the bus included students, big bosses, and ordinary people who looked like philistines. There seemed to be no consistency of class among them.
The reason this group wanted to go to Xiyi Hotel was that they had received invitations from it, which was commonly described as winning the lottery.
Xiyi Hotel was a legitimate hotel, and an introduction to it could be found by searching for a certain article. It was unique in being the only one of its kind in the whole country.
Su Jingyan belonged to the category of people who had never imagined winning a lottery and coming here. He had followed the address shown on the map and come, thinking that since he didn’t have to pay anyway, he might as well try it.
But if he had been able to see the yin energy on these people, he would definitely have known that no one sitting around him was a good person, and that every one of them had their own little schemes.
Su Jingyan hadn’t searched for the article, so he didn’t know. According to incomplete statistics, Xiyi Hotel seemed to have some magical power. Anyone who stayed there for seven days and came back would either get rich and be promoted or could even be cured of a terminal illness outright. It made people long for a chance to go.
But because Xiyi Hotel was hidden deep in the mountains and old forests, no one knew its exact location. All the passengers who could go were there because of the invitation.
And even if others racked their brains, they couldn’t find the way to Xiyi Hotel.
Therefore, many people had speculated about what Xiyi Hotel relied on to make money and why it was so mysterious.
The bus suddenly braked hard with a thud, and because of inertia, everyone’s bodies slid forward. Several drowsy passengers almost rolled out of their seats in fright, swearing.
“Damn, that was brutal! Why stop so suddenly?”
“What kind of garbage driver is this? His driving is awful, damn it.”
The driver was a middle-aged man in a mask, with a beer belly and a short haircut. Only his eyes were visible.
Since they had boarded, the driver hadn’t said a word, even during the sudden stop. He gave no explanation.
It was then that people noticed the real reason the bus had stopped.
A gloomy boy stood in front of the bus, dressed in the cheapest all-black fabric, with bangs covering his eyes and a bag in his hand. He had abruptly blocked the middle of the road and looked inexplicably frightening, especially since it was almost dusk.
The boy seemed to have rushed out suddenly. He really wasn’t afraid of death.
The driver didn’t ask the passengers for their opinion at all. He simply pressed the switch and opened the door.
The boy walked up slowly with a gloomy face, carrying his bag.
Everyone on the bus had a number pinned to their chest, which served as the voucher for Xiyi Hotel.
When the people on the bus saw a number on the right side of the boy’s chest, they said nothing.
Except for a few who had woken up and were still cursing softly, no one made a sound.
It was a bus so quiet that it was a little eerie.
There were many seats on the bus, and they weren’t all taken. Many were still empty.
The boy looked around. As if he had found something interesting, he lifted his head, and, as if following the scent of some fragrance, he walked through the crowd without hesitation toward his target.
Somehow, the places the boy passed turned cold. He was like a humanoid portable air conditioner, and the people he passed very close to shuddered.
Su Jingyan was listening to a song with his earbuds in, his head lowered and his eyes closed. The bus’s sudden stop hadn’t frightened him.
The boy set his luggage on the floor and sat down right next to Su Jingyan.
Hearing the movement, Su Jingyan raised his head, met the boy’s gaze, and was slightly taken aback.
Up close, the boy’s features were exquisite. Although his complexion was unusually pale, his skin was in even better condition than that suggested. His nose was straight, his lips were pale, and his eyes were hidden behind his bangs. Beneath them, his eyes were so black that not a glimmer of light could be seen.
After the boy sat down, the curious eyes on the bus were withdrawn one by one.
The bus started to wobble forward again.
Although the boy’s eyes were dull, they were inexplicably aggressive. After sitting down, he stared at Su Jingyan with an undisguised gaze and even stretched a smile across his face from the corners of his mouth, which looked a little scary.
For some reason, Su Jingyan, who had long been able to turn a blind eye to strangers’ stares, felt his face burn uncontrollably after being stared at by this boy for a few minutes. Fortunately, the mask and hat covered him, so the boy couldn’t see.
Su Jingyan inexplicably felt his heartbeat speed up. Even with the window open next to him, he felt his brain was short of oxygen.
It might have been because the boy’s features were just to Su Jingyan’s taste.
Su Jingyan cursed inwardly.
Then he cautiously touched the back of his neck and tried to relieve his embarrassment by looking out the window. But the boy seemed not to notice Su Jingyan’s embarrassment and kept staring at him unabashedly.
Obviously, nothing of Su Jingyan could be seen; the hat hid his face. But the boy’s gaze was extremely focused, as if he could see through the clothes and clearly make out the face behind the mask.
Su Jingyan felt a little uncomfortable. Even without looking at the boy next to him, he could feel the hot gaze.
Finally, Su Jingyan held his breath, turned his head with a glare, and wanted to warn the other boy not to stare, because it was very impolite. But when he turned around, the look in the boy’s eyes was inexplicably dejected.
Su Jingyan blinked helplessly, and his face burned even more. For the first time in his life, he took the initiative to strike up a conversation with a stranger and said, “Uh… my name is Su Jingyan. What’s yours?”
After hearing Su Jingyan, the boy’s smile stretched even wider. His dark eyes were fixed on Su Jingyan’s every move, but he still answered the question. “Lu Yichen.”
Su Jingyan was inexplicably short of breath. He repeated the name in a daze. “Lu Yichen.”
The boy’s whole body seemed to be run through by an electric current. When Su Jingyan said his name, his body twitched involuntarily, as if something had stimulated him.
Su Jingyan’s face turned even redder.
The boy had behaved strangely from the moment he boarded, and Su Jingyan was dressed strangely too. The two of them, who seemed out of place among everyone, sat together, so more people glanced over.
From their point of view, they could see only two strange creatures gazing at each other affectionately, and they didn’t know what to make of it.
“…” It was hard for them to watch.
“Clang, clang, clang…”
The bus drove slowly. The sky was growing dark. Soon it would be night.
The passengers were exhausted from a whole day of travel. Their backsides ached from sitting, and they couldn’t help complaining inwardly.
Why haven’t we arrived at Xiyi Hotel yet?
Suddenly, the bus stopped.
To everyone’s delight, they had finally arrived.
The group excitedly picked up their luggage and climbed off the bus as if rushing to be reincarnated, ecstasy they couldn’t conceal on their faces.
The boy named Lu Yichen was still staring at Su Jingyan without moving. Seeing that almost everyone on the bus had left and the other boy still had no intention of standing up, Su Jingyan couldn’t help poking his arm with a finger of his right hand. He said softly, “Uh… we’re here… Let’s get off.”
The moment Su Jingyan touched him, the boy’s eyes narrowed slightly and lowered.
His thoughts were unclear.
Still, he listened to Su Jingyan and stood up.
Su Jingyan breathed a sigh of relief.
He was about to get his suitcase when the boy quickly took it in his hand.
“…”
“…”
The two looked at each other.
Su Jingyan couldn’t resist him. Blushing, he walked in front of the boy and got off the bus. Only the two of them were left on it.
The driver sniffed the fragrance in the air and licked his lips. His eyes fell on Su Jingyan.
Smells so good. I want to eat him.
The moment Su Jingyan stepped off the bus, the boy behind him looked at the driver. The boy narrowed his eyes and gave a slightly menacing sneer.
The driver shrank his neck like a child scolded by his parents. His face was full of horror and fear, as if he had seen someone he shouldn’t have, and his body began to tremble uncontrollably.
Su Jingyan walked inside with the crowd, and after a few steps he secretly admired how good the environment here was.
The woman who received them was smiling, wearing a professional suit and a skirt. She led the way attentively.
“The number on your chest is your room number. Please go inside. Your dinner has been prepared in your room, and you can eat it with no worries.” The woman licked her lips as she finished, as if thinking of something delicious.
Everyone rushed in excitedly, looking for their rooms as if they had never seen the world.
Su Jingyan heard this and planned to follow them in, but the next second the woman receiving the guests stopped him.
The woman looked at Su Jingyan and smiled even more warmly. She even put a hand on his shoulder and said suddenly, in a flirtatious voice, “I’ll take you there.”
“…” Su Jingyan was a little speechless.
The woman didn’t look very young, yet she insisted on putting on a cute, pretty expression like a young girl’s. It was weird no matter how you looked at it.
The woman narrowed her eyes, sniffing Su Jingyan’s body. The corners of her mouth curved deeper.
Smells so good.
She was about to put her other hand on Su Jingyan’s shoulder too, but suddenly froze in place. She withdrew the hand on his shoulder and looked behind Su Jingyan in horror.
Su Jingyan noticed her abnormal reaction, turned around, and followed her gaze.
He was surprised.
It was the boy from the bus.