The sound from the ceiling would act like a curse, irritating Yao Nana’s scalp, invading her fragile nervous system, jolting her awake from her dreams, and then… she would be so frightened that she’d seek comfort, running to the room of Lu Jieyang, who lived right next door.
And then… hehehehehe, they would violate the taboo.
After playing around for a while, Wen Di lay on the floor, listening for any movement from the room below.
…Nothing at all.
He listened a little longer, and still, nothing!
“Roast chicken… beer…” Yao Nana mumbled sleepily.
“Roast chicken?? Beer??”
Not only was Yao Nana sleeping soundly, but she was even dreaming about roast chicken and beer?!
“193! She’s sleeping, and she’s even dreaming about roast chicken and beer?! She’s not taking my marbles seriously at all!” Wen Di angrily accused.
193: [Try again.]
So Wen Di climbed onto the bed and began continuously dropping marbles onto the floor by the bedside.
Finally, there was movement from below.
The sleep-talking stopped.
The sound of marbles continued, growing increasingly grating in the dark space, like the claws of a ghost scratching at the ceiling!
“Ahhh!”
Yao Nana screamed, stumbling out of bed.
With a loud “bang,” the door was flung open.
Wen Di excitedly ran to the door, covering his mouth as he crouched down to eavesdrop, a sinister grin spreading uncontrollably across his face.
“Bang, bang, bang!” Knocking sounds accompanied Yao Nana’s tearful cries. “Lu Jieyang, open the door! There’s a ghost!”
Lu Jieyang was woken by the noise, got out of bed, and opened the door. The person outside immediately threw herself into his arms.
Under the moonlight, her beautiful, upturned face was streaked with tears: “Jieyang, I’m so scared. I don’t dare stay alone. Can you stay with me tonight?”
Because of the distance, Wen Di could hear the two talking but couldn’t make out exactly what they were saying.
However, following the normal course of events, the two would now enter the room… late at night, a man and a woman alone… hehehehehehehe.
On just the first night, the mission was progressing so smoothly. Wen Di felt a bit pleased and rather smugly said to 193: [193, am I good?]
193 paused for a second: [Don’t speak too soon.]
Wen Di frowned. “What do you mean by that?”
Ignoring 193, Wen Di hummed an off-key tune, using a small flashlight to pick up the marbles from the floor one by one, put them back into the box, draped the black cloak over himself again, and prepared to leave the room and return.
Just then, footsteps and the sound of two people talking came from outside the door.
“Jieyang, are you really going to check? What if there’s a ghost?” It was Yao Nana’s soft, trembling voice.
Followed by Lu Jieyang’s voice: “If you’re scared, go back. I’ll just sleep in a different room.”
“A different room? That NPC said all the other rooms are occupied.”
“Occupied? But they’re clearly all empty,” Lu Jieyang said, his tone overly casual.
“Doesn’t that just prove that maybe ghosts are living there?”
“If it really is ghosts, then I’ve come to the right place.”
“Huh?” A look of confusion appeared on Yao Nana’s tense face; she didn’t understand what he meant.
Before she could ask more, Lu Jieyang unhesitatingly opened the door to the room where the marble sounds had come from.
Yao Nana covered her mouth, her face full of tension as she hid behind him, her hand tightly clutching the sleeve of his jacket.
“You wait here first, I’ll go in and check. In case there really is something bad…”
At this moment, the full moon was completely obscured by dark clouds, and the room was pitch black, making it impossible to see anything.
Yao Nana didn’t dare to enter at all, so she nodded and immediately hid behind the doorframe after Lu Jieyang went inside.
The door was left open. Lu Jieyang walked into the room. After about a minute, there was suddenly the sound of something heavy hitting the floor, followed immediately by Lu Jieyang’s terrified shout: “Run!”
Yao Nana had no time to worry about what had happened. Her face turned deathly pale from fright, and she screamed before turning and running away.
A loud thud came from downstairs—it was from Lu Jieyang’s original room.
The inn fell back into dead silence.
After a while, Lu Jieyang finally emerged from the inner room. He walked to the door and looked out into the hallway—it was empty. A satisfied smile curled at the corner of his mouth, and then he closed the door.
Just to be safe, he also locked it.
Under the bed, Wen Di, wrapped in a black cloak, trembled and held his breath in fear: [193, why did he close the door?]
193: [Maybe he doesn’t want to share a room with Yao Nana, so he came here to sleep.]
From his vantage point under the bed, Wen Di saw Lu Jieyang rummaging around. Then, Lu Jieyang opened the wardrobe and pulled out a bundle of blankets.
Immediately after, those long legs began moving toward the bed.
The center of the bed above him sank down. Wen Di tightly covered his mouth, his eyes stinging.
This person really was going to sleep here!
[Then how am I supposed to get out?] Wen Di was so anxious he started crying.
193 remained silent for a long time: [You could try sneaking out after he falls asleep, but there’s no guarantee he won’t suddenly wake up and see you. The safest option is for you to stay under the bed for the night.]
The thought of spending the night on the cold, hard floor under the bed made tears well up in Wen Di’s eyes. If he hadn’t covered his mouth, his sobs would have been uncontrollable:
[I don’t want to sleep under the bed, I want to sleep on the bed!]
193 fell silent: [Then wait until he’s asleep and go out. If you’re discovered, just bluff your way through.]
Wen Di’s mind went blank: [How do I bluff?]
As a little troublemaker, everything he did was meant to make the Players violate the taboo. If they discovered he was the one who dropped the marbles, they might figure out what the taboo was, and then he would fail! If he failed, the big BOSS would punish him!
He was so scared!
193: [Just say you were sleepwalking.]
Wen Di was stunned for a moment, then immediately cheered up: [193, you’re amazing!]
The floor was cold and hard. Lying there, Wen Di felt pain all over his body. The person above him, Lu Jieyang, made no sound while sleeping—not even the sound of breathing. Wen Di had no idea when he would fall asleep.
Before long, Wen Di was so tired he could barely keep his eyes open. He struggled to stay awake, but soon his breathing evened out.
Lu Jieyang lay in bed, wide awake, his mind filled with images of the little innkeeper in a skirt from earlier in the day. He got up and did fifty push-ups.
Lying back down and closing his eyes again, he suddenly heard a faint, soft breathing sound beside him.
He froze, listening carefully, and realized the sound was coming from under the bed.
His heart skipped a beat.
“Who’s there?”
Without hesitation, he threw off the covers, got out of bed, bent down, picked up his phone, turned on the flashlight, and shone it under the bed.
A little ghost was curled up, wrapped in an oversized black cloak, thin and small, revealing only a pale, delicate face.
Eyelashes cast dark shadows, lips pink and tightly pressed together.
As if disturbed, the brow furrowed slightly in displeasure, a soft murmur escaping the mouth, unconsciously burying the face deeper into the black cloak.
Looking utterly docile.
Like a stray, pretty kitten waiting to be taken home and pampered.
“…Fuck.”
Lu Jieyang stared blankly, his heartbeat damn near stopping.