It was as if he had returned to that day in his childhood, seeing a fierce dog barking and charging towards him, his mind went blank, and he didn't dare to move.
His palms sweating, his scalp tingling, and his legs weak, the night watchman uncle felt something standing right behind him, waiting for him to turn or respond—just like the folk tales, where if someone suddenly calls your name at night and you respond or turn around, you're gone...
"Ding Hongxuan..."
A ghostly voice echoed again in his ear, so close it felt like someone was right next to him. If he could reason it away as a mishearing before, this time it was impossible to deceive himself anymore, yet the surveillance showed that he was the only figure in the duty room.
Could it be that Xiao Gu indeed saw something earlier?
Is there really something in the duty room now mimicking Xiao Gu's voice calling him?
The night watchman uncle's face turned pale, and his body trembled slightly, resolved not to turn around or respond.
...
...
"Indeed, what am I still hoping for?"
Standing under the greenery next to the sidewalk at some distance away from the duty room, Gu Mo hid himself under the shadow of the night and sighed in disappointment again.
Clearly, he was overthinking, but why couldn't he just give it up?
Look at the night watchman uncle over there, sitting in the duty room with his head down, staring at the desk in front. He must be playing on his phone, so focused and unmoved, clearly unaffected. This proves that the message he sent didn't appear and wasn't a real phenomenon.
Having sent two messages already, if they could be seen, surely there would have been some reaction?
Hmm, wait, could it be because he hasn't added him as a friend, hence unable to send messages?
Should I try again?
Staring at the "Add Friend" option for several seconds, Gu Mo finally shook his head, and his stomach also timely rumbled once more.
Can't take it anymore, I need to find a place to eat quickly, otherwise I'll starve to death... Gu Mo swiftly abandoned the meaningless tests, accepting the harsh reality of his own sickness, and driven by hunger, he decisively turned towards the night market.
Only the night watchman uncle over there bit his teeth hard, desperately holding on, not daring to move, appearing like a statue.
Cannot move!
Cannot turn around!
Absolutely cannot make a sound!
...
...
About half a minute later, at the night market snack street.
"That glutton is here again."
—Whether it was an illusion or not, Gu Mo always felt as if many stall owners were looking at him with such eager eyes. Just thinking about it seemed right, as he had been appearing here for the past week in the guise of a starving ghost punctually.
Though feeling very hungry already, Gu Mo hesitated a bit and didn't follow the previous principle of eating all the way through, because after all, everyone cares a bit about their image, himself included. He didn't want people to look at him as a glutton.
Once or twice is fine, but if seen frequently by the same people, this label might be solidified.
Thus, he ignored the eager glances from the stall owners around, even as the greetings and calls became livelier when he walked past the stalls, but he mercilessly proceeded without stopping.
The snack street was bustling, especially at this hour.
Leaving the familiar road ahead of the community, Gu Mo looked around and continued walking.
Perhaps because it was too lively, the eateries and late-night stalls on both sides were packed with people. Though eager to find a place to eat, looking at it, he would probably need to queue for quite a while, so after a brief hesitation, he gave up.
Keep walking forward, find a place less crowded.
Thinking this, he continued along the street, but from one end to the other, he found everywhere to be equally crowded. It seemed there was no choice but to patiently queue and wait for his turn...
The disappointed Gu Mo suddenly stopped, turned and looked at the side alley nearby; the alley was somewhat dark without streetlights, vaguely at the end opposite seemed to be another street packed with shops, giving him a subtle feeling of dissonance. When did a commercial street appear next to the snack street?
However, that's not the point; the point is a subtle aroma came from there.
What scent?! It's fragrant...
For a moment, Gu Mo felt unable to control himself, already very hungry, and upon suddenly smelling this aroma, he couldn't hold back any longer, almost subconsciously, his body acted faster than his mind.
As he walked into the dim alley, his ears were suddenly filled with a hum, mixed with buzzing sounds of electric currents, amidst the sizzling sound there seemed to be fragmented bits of information which he found piercingly irritating caught his brows, what the hell? Why was it not appearing on the hour, and now did auditory hallucinations start becoming erratic?
Now is not the time to explore this, stopping to ponder serves no purpose now, as the condition has lasted a long time, so with the mixing buzzy noise fading, Gu Mo continued walking through the alley with furrowed brows, arriving at the other side of the street, following the scent to stand in front of a shop.
This seemed to be a Japanese-style restaurant; the aroma was wafting from inside.
Gu Mo instinctively looked up and paused for a moment because the sign overhead was in Japanese, which he couldn't understand...wait, was he seeing things just now? He blinked a little puzzled.
After his vision became clear again, the text on the sign explicitly told him the restaurant's name was "Yukihira Restaurant".
Could it be he was so hungry he got dizzy and mistakenly seeing the Japanese-style restaurant sign as unrecognizable Japanese? When he focused his attention a bit, clearing his head, realized it wasn't so?
Quite possibly... knowing his own situation, Gu Mo didn't think much, anyway with his hallucinations being so severe, another one appearing wasn't unusual.
Only, the name of this restaurant seemed a bit familiar.
—Had he seen it somewhere?
Unable to recall right away, he didn't think further but went straight inside the restaurant, swiftly glanced around, seeing neatly arranged wooden plaques on the wall behind the counter, inscribed with dish names and prices succinctly.
Gu Mo didn't have a difficulty choosing, especially when starving, his eyes quickly scanned and immediately excluded those appearing overly expensive with strange names, picking those familiar options.
"Yukihira, once you clean up there go extinguish the charcoal grill's fire,"
The man behind the counter was washing dishes at the sink and seemed to have remembered something, calling out without turning back.
No response, he glanced slightly, finding his son standing not far away, wiping recently cleaned tea sets while muttering distractedly.
"Today's fried rice... should have been tossed three more times in the pan…"
The man paused and smiled contentedly.
The next moment—
"Boss! I'll have a fried rice! A duck soba noodle, please..."
Not looking at what the two behind the counter were doing, Gu Mo already chose his late-night snack, patting the table, indicating the corresponding menu items, beginning his order all in one breath.
"..."
"..."
The father and son exchanged glances, momentarily speechless.