More than ten minutes ago——
"Crack—"
"Crack—"
…
In the room on the first floor, Bai Ke was packing his luggage with a frown and a look of disgust on his face. The constant sound of footsteps above his head made him feel more and more irritated.
The environment in Longzhao was far worse than Bai Ke had expected. He almost regretted traveling so far to endure such hardships for Xu Yuanzhou: Who the hell could have imagined that the place chosen by He Yuan, a wealthy second-generation from a wealthy family, would have such harsh conditions?!
Except for the big bunk bed, the rest of the room on the first floor could drive an urban animal like Bai Ke crazy.
Everything was very simple. In one corner of the room, there were all kinds of old wooden furnishings of unknown purpose. Although they were covered with cloth, they did not look particularly dirty. But in Bai Ke's opinion, living in such a large room in the countryside was no different from living in a garbage dump.
I always feel that the sunk cost he paid in trying to snatch Xu Yuanzhou from Jiang Chuyan has increased.
well...
Bai Ke thought in his heart.
"Crack—"
At the same time, the footsteps on the second floor continued.
Bai Ke paused, his expression growing darker.
Xu Yuanzhou's luggage was still piled in the corner, but He Yuan had already called him out to collect the ladder.
There was no one in the room at this time, and Bai Ke didn't care. He just looked up and started swearing at the roof.
"It's so fucking annoying, walking around without stopping. I love walking so much, how about being reborn as a dog in my next life?
He widened his eyes, cursed the figure in his mind, and then started raising his middle finger towards the second floor.
Coincidentally, at this moment, Bai Ke suddenly caught a glimpse of a blurry shadow trembling silently from the corner of his eye.
Wait, Xu Yuanzhou wasn't even in the room. That shadow was...
Bai Ke's breath got stuck in his chest and he almost passed out.
Fortunately, when he looked carefully, he found that the shadow was not a strange figure hiding in the pile of junk, but just his own reflection in the mirror.
Yes, a mirror.
At some point, the cloth covering the sundries drooped down, revealing a gap. Bai Ke walked over and pulled off the cloth, and was surprised to find that in such a simple wooden building, there was actually a floor-to-ceiling mirror.
The edges of the mirror were mottled with mercury, and through the aged glass, one could still see the yellowed newspaper pressed against the back. The front of the mirror was clearly old, encased in a carved wooden base, giving it the air of antiquity that is so characteristic of old objects. However, the center section remained remarkably well-preserved, providing a crystal-clear reflection.
Bai Ke was usually the most narcissistic person, and he couldn't help himself at this moment. He turned back and forth in front of the mirror several times and looked at himself carefully for a long time. In the end, he had to reluctantly admit that after a long day of traveling, he was really not in a good state. He looked a little dusty.
My face, which had just been treated with hydrating injections last month, looked like it was covered with a layer of coal dust. I looked dark all over, and even my eyes looked hollow and lifeless, without any energy at all.
Bai Ke's mentality suddenly became a little tense.
He remembered clearly that Jiang Chuyan, who had also been dazed the entire way, had only looked a little pale when he jumped out of the car today, not at all as haggard and gloomy as he was now. He hurried over to his luggage and splashed water on his face again.
"Crack—"
During the maintenance, the footsteps upstairs continued. Bai Ke became more and more irritated the more he listened, and felt that every step was directly crushing his brain nerves.
Finally, Bai Ke couldn't bear it anymore, so she put on a facial mask and left the room.
As soon as he went out, Bai Ke saw Liu Tianyu sitting motionless beside the fire pit in the hall.
Bai Ke originally wanted to go to the second floor to complain about the footsteps, but after seeing Liu Tianyu, Bai Ke stopped involuntarily.
An indescribable strangeness arose in his heart, and Bai Ke even forgot to go upstairs.
"Lao Liu, what are you looking at?"
Bai Ke walked up to Liu Tianyu and asked.
The slightly plump boy who was afraid of insects and masks and was scared half to death not long ago, now changed his usual behavior and was staring at the ceiling with his head tilted back without blinking.
Under the reddish firelight, the boy's pupils dilated widely, making his eyes appear dark and deep.
He still maintained his previous posture, as if he didn't hear Bai Ke's question, and was still staring at the ceiling.
"Lao Liu? Hey, Lao Liu!"
Bai Ke couldn't help but follow Liu Tianyu's gaze towards the ceiling, then he instantly looked away. Even though He Yuan had explained that the masks on the ceiling were a local custom in Longzhao, Bai Ke still found them a bit creepy.
He called Liu Tianyu several times, and the latter seemed to wake up from a dream. After a shudder, he suddenly came back to his senses.
"Damn it, Old Liu, you're almost scaring me. What are you looking at so intently?"
Bai Ke asked.
Until this moment, Liu Tianyu's expression still looked a little confused and empty.
"Ah, I... I..." He repeated it several times before answering in a daze, "I didn't see anything, I just thought there was a mask on the ceiling, and it looked so familiar."
After saying that, he pointed to a certain spot on the ceiling.
Bai Ke quickly glanced in that direction, but all he saw were those ominous and disgusting masks.
"Wow, you're not?" Bai Ke joked without any scruples, "You actually think such a disgusting thing looks familiar and you keep staring at it. You must have been scared to death, right?"
As he spoke, Bai Ke also sat down next to the fire pit.
Liu Tianyu was still looking up at the ceiling.
"No, I really think that face is very familiar... and the more I look at it, the more familiar it seems. But I just can't remember where I have seen that face before..."
"It's so strange. I didn't think so at first."
"I always think it's better to remember..."
…
Liu Tianyu kept chattering to Bai Ke, who frowned, secretly saying it was bad luck. However, to maintain his usual persona, he couldn't just walk away, so he took out his phone out of boredom, and while perfunctorily responding to the frightened Liu Tianyu, he started playing with his phone seriously.
Unfortunately, Longzhao is nestled in the deep mountains and ancient forests. While there's some cell phone signal, it's incredibly rare. It's so bad that Bai Ke can't even livestream. Even complaining about the poor conditions to her friends on WeChat is intermittent. Nine out of ten text messages she sends end with a small red exclamation mark, requiring repeated presses to get them to send.
Bai Ke didn't talk for long before his patience officially ran out.
Just at this moment, the narrow wooden stairs made a creaking sound. Turning around, Bai Ke saw Jiang Chuyan rushing down from the second floor.
Bai Ke's gaze fixed on Jiang Chuyan's face.
Even at this moment when his face was so pale, the young man was still incredibly beautiful.
"Wow, Brother Chuyan, what happened? Are the conditions on the second floor that bad? You look super ugly right now."
After a brief pause, Bai Ke stared at Jiang Chuyan and asked with a smile.
At this time, Jiang Chuyan had already reached the last section of the balcony, but his hands were still firmly pressed on the guardrail.
He stared at the two people beside the fire with a strange expression. After watching for a long time, he spoke in a slightly strange tone.
"...You two were downstairs the whole time?"
He asked.
Bai Ke looked at Jiang Chuyan suspiciously; "Ah, yes, what else?"
*
Jiang Chuyan didn't pay much attention to the footsteps outside the door.
"Crack—"
"Crack—"
"Crack—"
Even though the footsteps were really loud.
However, He Yuan had reminded them before that because the entire building was made of wood, the sound insulation was inevitably poor, and the slightest movement would be particularly obvious.
After leaving the window, Jiang Chuyan naturally couldn't turn back and continue looking downstairs.
While he was thinking about when he should break up with Xu Yuanzhou, he was packing his luggage.
However, the footsteps, which he thought would stop after a while, became more and more rapid and obvious. Soon, Jiang Chuyan realized that something was wrong.
He originally thought that the footsteps came from Liu Tianyu, so he didn't pay attention to it, but after listening carefully, he could tell that the footsteps did not come from the room.
The footsteps kept wandering back and forth in the corridor.
...Is Liu Tianyu really that bored that he has nothing to do but hang around outside the door?
There seemed to be a voice in his heart reminding Jiang Chuyan.
"Crunch—crunch—crunch crunch crunch crunch—"
Almost at the same time he realized something was wrong, the footsteps became more and more rapid.
It looked as if someone was running for their life in the corridor.
Jiang Chuyan frowned and his heart beat faster.
"Liu Tianyu?"
He called out tentatively, then walked step by step to the door.
"Crunch, crunch, crunch—"
There was still only the sound of hurried footsteps outside the door.
Liu Tianyu didn't answer him.
Jiang Chuyan swallowed and put his hand on the door handle.
"Liu Tianyu, can you be quiet?"
He asked again.
"Crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch—"
Unconsciously, a thin layer of sweat appeared on Jiang Chuyan's forehead.
The footsteps became louder and more urgent.
Then, suddenly, the footsteps stopped.
Jiang Chuyan heard clearly that the footsteps finally stopped right in front of his door.
His mind went blank for a moment, unable to think any further, and he suddenly opened the door.
…
There was no one outside the door.
Jiang Chuyan stood at the door, the color gradually fading from his face.
He looked back and forth in the corridor several times and saw clearly that the corridor on the second floor was empty, without a single person.