After the Courage Test Challenge ended that night, Wen Di returned to his room.
It was past midnight, and exhaustion washed over him. After washing up, Wen Di burrowed under the covers.
In his drowsy state, he felt a chill, as if a cold draft had seeped into his bedding.
But he was clearly covered by two thick cotton quilts.
The cold came from behind him, gradually pressing closer until it seemed to cling to him completely.
Wen Di shivered, tugging weakly at the quilt. It didn’t budge, and he was too tired to care.
He drifted into a dream.
In the dream, an arm wrapped around his waist, pulling him into an embrace.
“Why aren’t you wearing a skirt?” The voice was cold, like ice, whispering accusations in his ear.
Even in the dream, Wen Di felt wronged. “I don’t want to wear a skirt.”
The voice spoke again, “Fine, don’t wear it. Why are you crying?”
A cold finger brushed away the tear at the corner of his eye.
The figure buried its face in the crook of his neck from behind. “Does it hurt?”
A hand gently traced over the bandaged wound on his body. Seeing Wen Di nod pitifully, the voice softened slightly, as if coaxing him. “You’ve done so many bad things, and now you’re scared?”
Wen Di clearly didn’t think he was in the wrong. Unhappy with the remark, he slapped the hand away with a soft thud.
“Hah.” The figure let out a cold laugh.
But it wasn’t angry. Instead, it wrapped around him again and spoke lazily, “Do you think just because you’re pretty and cute, seem obedient, and are good at lying, you can do whatever you want? What does Fu Zhen bandaging you up mean? It’s just because you’re the owner’s wife here, and he’s returning the favor. He couldn’t just stand by and watch you bleed and cry. No decent person would do that.”
As the figure spoke, its tone grew darker. It pinched Wen Di’s chin. “Don’t even think about seducing him, you hear me? Others won’t be as foolish as I am, so easily fooled by you.”
Someone kept talking in Wen Di’s ear, noisy and unwelcome. He didn’t want to listen.
But he slowly took it in and recognized the voice—it was his dead husband.
His husband’s voice stirred memories, and a sour ache spread in his chest. His tightly shut eyelids trembled, the corners of his eyes grew damp, and his lips quivered as he mumbled:
“Husband…”
At his call, the figure behind him suddenly fell silent.
The cold body seemed to warm slightly.
The arm around his waist tightened, and Wen Di felt himself being turned over. A thumb gently stroked his cheek. “If acting cute solves everything, what’s the point of this inn?”
A softer touch pressed against his cheek.
Like a weightless drop of water brushing past, leaving only a chill.
“Don’t act cute every time something happens, you hear me? How many times have I told you, and you’re still like this.”
The shadowy figure lifted the sleeping man onto itself. Wen Di was so petite that he could lie completely on top. He slept so soundly that he didn’t even notice the quilt beneath him had been replaced by someone’s chest.
The shadow’s dark eyes stared at Wen Di’s slightly puffed-up cheek, pressed against him. Its voice was deep, as if echoing from the bottom of a lake, rippling and indistinct:
“Actually, I’d quite like to see Liu Yajun kill you. If you died, would we meet again?”
“You really want to see me, don’t you? How can you be so bold? Even though I’ve become a vengeful ghost, you’re not afraid of me.”
“You think of me every day, there’s not a moment of peace by my ears, it’s all your voice, husband, husband… It’s been a year and you still call me that, listen to how others laugh at you, yet you still call me that, aren’t you ashamed?”
The shadow slowly reminisced about the past, finally thinking of something, his eyes growing even darker as he softly said, “Didn’t you still want to consummate the marriage? If you die, we can consummate it then. Are you happy?”
“…”
“Sleeping so soundly, you silly pig.”
“…”
The next day, when Wen Di woke up, he felt something was off with his entire body, aching terribly all over.
His body alternated between chills and fever.
He got up and put on a thick cotton coat, and just as he fastened the buttons, he sneezed for the first time. Then came the second, and the third.
He said to the system in a daze: 【193, I’ve caught a cold.】
193: 【Mm.】
Wen Di was surprised. He actually caught a cold. He thought he was invincible.
No, it should be said that he thought aside from human-inflicted harm like injuries and death, his body wouldn’t suffer any damage. But he never expected he’d be attacked by the weather.
【Wear thicker clothes.】193 reminded.
Wen Di obediently added another sweater on top of the two sweaters and two cotton coats he was already wearing.
Leaving the room, Wen Di headed to the woodshed.
To prevent Lu Jieyang from leaving the woodshed early, he had locked the door from the outside.
Taking out the key to unlock it, Wen Di pushed the door open and entered.
“Lu Jieyang?”
The woodshed was small, with no place to hide. At a glance, it was clear there was no one inside now.
Before he could even get angry, a heavy thud suddenly came from behind—the sound of something heavy falling from a height.
It was very heavy, not just a simple hard object.
Just hearing the sound gave rise to these associations.
—A person.
Wen Di’s mind went blank for a moment, immediately giving rise to this thought.
He instinctively turned to look, but as his peripheral vision caught only a glimpse of a head, a large hand tightly covered his eyes, preventing him from seeing the full picture.
“Don’t look.” A voice whispered in his ear.
It was Lu Jieyang.
Wen Di’s throat felt blocked, his heart pounding violently.
“Lu, Lu Jieyang, why weren’t you in the woodshed this morning?” Wen Di stammered out the question.
Lu Jieyang chuckled: “I was, I just jumped out the window and ran away a minute before you arrived.”
Jumped out the window?
Wen Di thought of the woodshed’s window—quite large. He had locked it because of the wind and snow, but with Lu Jieyang’s strength, breaking the window to escape wouldn’t be difficult.
But he had stayed the whole night, why would he suddenly break the window and leave just before Wen Di arrived?
Someone had come down.
“Lu Jieyang, who, who is it?” Cold sweat broke out on Wen Di’s palms. He was already certain that what fell was a person.
And if he wasn’t mistaken, the one who died should be Liu Yajun.
Because among everyone, only Liu Yajun and Yao Nana had currently violated the taboo.
And Yao Nana, as a core character, wouldn’t be in trouble for now.
“Oh, it’s Fu Zhen.”
Wen Di was shocked, “Fu Zhen?! How could it be?!”
“It’s not me, no need to be so surprised.” Accompanied by footsteps, Fu Zhen’s voice sounded by his ear.
Wen Di almost screamed in fright, thinking the person had come back to life.
Then he heard Lu Jieyang lazily say with a teasing laugh, “Oh, sweetie, you were asking who died? I thought you were asking who came.”
Lu Jieyang continued, “Of course it’s that bastard who bullied you last night. How about it, Wen Wen, are you happy? But the way he died was filthy too, so let’s not dirty our Wen Wen’s eyes.”
“Our Wen Wen should always stay this clean.”
Wen Di felt dizzy from his words.
Moments later, the blood in his entire body turned cold.
His hands, feet, and heart grew icy.
The hand covering his eyes felt like the hand of a demon.
In Lu Jieyang’s words, everything seemed reversed.
He, an NPC, had become someone infinitely precious in his eyes.
While Liu Yajun, a living Player, was deemed unworthy of living in his view.