In his room, Jiang Chuyan had already washed and settled into bed. Longzhao was remote, and the conditions were naturally less than ideal. The bed on the second floor was narrow and hard, hardly comfortable even for the most discerning. Yet, the moment he lay down, Jiang Chuyan couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief. Unlike his other energetic peers, he had been in poor health since childhood. While he looked like an average adult, his foundation remained weak. After a long day of travel and the subsequent shock, his body was already beginning to falter.
Just when he was dozing off, his cell phone lit up. Jiang Chuyan glanced at it casually and found that Xu Yuanzhou had sent him a bunch of incomprehensible WeChat messages.
Jiang Chuyan glanced at Xu Yuanzhou's short composition, but there was no expression on his face.
He found that his patience seemed to have deteriorated a lot.
At least now he has no intention of paying attention to Xu Yuanzhou at all.
Just when he turned off the screen of his phone and was about to pretend that he saw nothing, the phone in his hand vibrated again. Xu Yuanzhou sent him a lot of messages again. The difference was that Xu Yuanzhou had always sent him text messages before, but this time, the other party inexplicably sent him many pictures.
The signal here in Longzhao is poor, and the picture took a long time to load.
Jiang Chuyan forced himself to wake up despite feeling sleepy, and took one last glance at the screen, only to find that Xu Yuanzhou had sent him many completely black photos.
"…"
Is this some kind of prank?
Jiang Chuyan was a little confused about Xu Yuanzhou's thoughts.
He directly replied with a [? ].
But Xu Yuanzhou didn't seem to notice his impatience and kept sending him pictures.
Jiang Chuyan's fingertips accidentally touched one of them.
The picture was automatically enlarged, and then Jiang Chuyan realized that the photo sent by Xu Yuanzhou was not a meaningless black photo, but a photo taken in the dark without turning on the flash.
And if his guess was correct, the photo Xu Yuanzhou took seemed to be of the room he lived in on the first floor.
Jiang Chuyan felt that Xu Yuanzhou was more and more incomprehensible.
He didn't understand why Xu Yuanzhou specifically showed him the large bunk bed in the room where two people were lying. Bai Ke and Liu Tianyu were lying on their backs with their eyes closed, soundly sleeping.
The special light made the two of them look deathly pale, just like two corpses lying on the bed.
The pile of junk piled up in the corner was covered with an old-fashioned blanket, and underneath the blanket were the messy and dilapidated legs of furniture.
Jiang Chuyan took a quick glance and found several pairs of hand-sewn black cloth shoes placed under the furniture.
There were also a few pictures of the ceiling, taken from an unknown angle. The beams had already begun to turn black, covered in dust, and in the corners hung tiny cobwebs from who knows when...
Jiang Chuyan didn't know what strange filters Xu Yuanzhou used when taking these photos. Upon closer inspection, these photos looked old and mottled, and it hurt his eyes.
He stared at the phone screen for a moment, completely unable to figure out what Xu Yuanzhou was planning to do by sending him these messages.
However, this is not the first time... Jiang Chuyan has always found it difficult to understand Xu Yuanzhou's thoughts.
Maybe it's just like what Xu Yuanzhou said, he is actually still a straight man at heart, but he became gay just because he fell in love with Jiang Chuyan.
The way straight men think is something that a born gay like Jiang Chuyan cannot understand.
Every time Jiang Chuyan quarreled with Xu Yuanzhou, Xu Yuanzhou would always use this reason to explain himself.
The phone is still buzzing.
While Jiang Chuyan hurriedly enlarged the photos that had been loaded previously, Xu Yuanzhou continued to send him new photos.
Just when Jiang Chuyan was racking his brains over how to make Xu Yuanzhou calm down, he heard He Yuan's question.
"Chu Yan, are you still awake?"
Jiang Chuyan was stunned and responded subconsciously.
"Sorry, did I disturb you? I'll be asleep soon."
He looked at the door curtain. It was not pulled all the way down, so light was let in from the bottom. Since he did not turn off the lights on his side, it might indeed affect He Yuan who was sleeping next door.
"That'll do."
He Yuan responded again, his voice already tinged with a vague and hoarse sound of sleepiness.
"When I arrived at the village today, I told Budacuocuo about sending away the evil spirit. Tomorrow, there will be many special folk rituals before breakfast to dispel the evil spirit... Don't go to bed too late, otherwise you won't be able to get up tomorrow."
The boy gave another careful reminder.
It has to be said that He Yuan in Longzhao is completely different from the rich second generation who is eccentric, eccentric and arrogant in Jiang Chuyan's impression.
Jiang Chuyan felt a little warm in his heart when he heard this.
After being interrupted by He Yuan, Jiang Chuyan completely lost the mood to deal with Xu Yuanzhou. He turned off his phone and threw it next to his pillow. Then, as He Yuan instructed, he closed his eyes.
The soreness in his muscles and the fatigue in his bones were overwhelming. Based on his experience, Jiang Chuyan felt that he would be too tired to fall asleep soon.
However, in the darkness, Jiang Chuyan did not fall into a sweet dream as he wished...
Once the lights are turned off, the dead silence of the mountain village at night becomes particularly obvious.
And in this absolute silence, the faint sound in my ears became more and more annoying.
"Crack—"
At first, Jiang Chuyan thought he was hallucinating. He turned over and told himself not to pay attention to the strange noises. However, the more he tried to convince himself, the more obvious the noises echoed in his cochlea.
"Crack—"
"Crack—"
"Crack—"
…
Jiang Chuyan tossed and turned in bed.
His brows unconsciously furrowed tighter and tighter.
He knew very well that everyone in the building was probably asleep at this moment, and it was impossible for anyone to be walking around in the building...
But the sound became louder and louder.
The sharp creaking sound came closer to his room from the end of the corridor.
Jiang Chuyan felt a little uneasy, an uneasiness based on biological instinct.
He wanted to open his eyes, get out of bed, turn on the light and look outside the door, but at this moment, he was horrified to find that he could not move his body.
I don't know when it started, but Jiang Chuyan's soul and body seemed to be separated: his soul was panicked, while his body had completely broken down.
"Crack—"
No, it's not an illusion.
It's not some damn auditory hallucination.
Listening to the footsteps that were becoming more and more obvious and approaching, Jiang Chuyan became more and more certain of this.
His heart began to beat uncontrollably, cold sweat dripped down his face, and his body was as stiff as a corpse.
In the pitch darkness, fear began to creep in. The pale young man lay straight on the narrow bed, breathing rapidly, his face pale.
Unlike the sounds he heard during the day, the footsteps did not stop outside his door...
"Crack—"
Whatever made the sound, it was certain that "it" had entered his room this time.
Jiang Chuyan's cold sweat soaked the quilt. Even though he had been lying down for such a long time, there was no heat in his quilt, only a damp and cold feeling.
He was so cold that he had completely lost consciousness, but he had no time to complain about the cold.
He felt only fear.
[Move quickly! ! ]
He kept saying this to himself in his mind.
[Move quickly, no matter where you are, move——]
Is this what is called sleep paralysis?
It was the first time that Jiang Chuyan had such a terrifying and painful experience.
While he was silently struggling with himself, the "creaking" sound was already close at hand - "it" was circling Jiang Chuyan's bed step by step.
[No--]
Jiang Chuyan even had a terrifying illusion. He felt that the other person was about to climb onto his bed in the next second.
The huge feeling of fear made Jiang Chuyan's spirit cold and collapsed. Finally, after a painful whimper, his eyelids suddenly moved.
He was finally able to open his eyes.
For a moment, Jiang Chuyan felt relieved, thinking that he had finally escaped the so-called sleep paralysis, but in the next second, Jiang Chuyan became more nervous than before.
When he opened his eyes, he realized that the place he was in was not the room where he lay before falling asleep.
here it is...
Jiang Chuyan rolled his eyeballs stiffly. Of course, at this moment, the only thing he could move was his eyeballs.
He found himself lying on a bed that was both strange and familiar. It was strange because it was definitely not the bed in Jiang Chuyan's room on the second floor of the small building, and it was familiar because he knew that this was actually Xu Yuanzhou and his friends' room on the first floor. After all, just before going to sleep, Xu Yuanzhou had specially sent him a photo.
Even though the photo was pitch black and difficult to read, Jiang Chuyan still recognized the seemingly ordinary furnishings in the room.
Am I dreaming now?
Jiang Chuyan thought in confusion.
But if this was a dream, why were the breathing sounds he heard so vivid? He could even hear Bai Ke grinding her teeth and Xu Yuanzhou's occasional snoring. He also felt that he was squeezed in among several people, and the faint smell of sweat from the boys gradually seeped in...
It was as if he had sleepwalked into the first-floor room without knowing it and squeezed onto the bed.
Wait, am I really sleepwalking?
Jiang Chuyan has never been so panicked?
He wanted to scream, wanted to struggle, but it was all in vain. His body seemed to have suddenly turned into something that had nothing to do with him, into a piece of lead, or a piece of stone. Apart from rolling his eyes in horror, he couldn't even move a finger.
And the worst thing was that in the next second, Jiang Chuyan heard that familiar voice again.
It was like a haunting voice that followed me everywhere, like a nightmare.
"Crack—"
Jiang Chuyan's pupils suddenly shrank.
The sound was not coming from the floor, but from the ceiling.
Jiang Chuyan stared blankly at the small space above his head, and his eyes slowly met the shadow standing upside down on the ceiling.
It was a person, although Jiang Chuyan did not recognize it as a person at first because it was naked and its body proportions were strange.
Its legs were long and thin, hooked directly onto the wooden ceiling. Its exposed body was a pale blue, severely swollen, its skin a translucent bluish-gray. Its face was hidden by its tangled, wet hair, like weeds.
"Hiss—"
From time to time, a strange gasping sound could be heard from the thick mass of hair.
That thing was definitely not a ghost, because the weight of its body kept pulling on the wooden boards, making that harsh creaking sound.
Jiang Chuyan was really wondering why the other people on the bed didn't react at all. Didn't they hear the sound?
The sound was so harsh that it almost drove Jiang Chuyan crazy.
That evil feeling was like an invisible hand, caressing Jiang Chuyan's whole body.
He could feel a line of tears running down the corner of his eye, slowly sliding across his temple and seeping into his temples.
Those were physiological tears that flowed unconsciously out of fear.
But Jiang Chuyan still couldn't move.
He could only stare blankly at the "person" standing upside down on the ceiling with his arms hanging down, constantly pacing back and forth.
"Crack—"
"Crack—"
"Crack—"
…
It seemed like ten thousand years had passed.
Finally, the "footsteps" stopped.
Jiang Chuyan's breathing became heavier and heavier.
Because, that "person" stopped right above him.
"Tick…"
A few drops of mucus dripped from "its" hair and fell on Jiang Chuyan's face.
Jiang Chuyan smelled a strong fishy odor.
Immediately afterwards, Jiang Chuyan saw a soft, straw-like object wriggling and protruding from the monster's hair.
[No no no no no no——]
As Jiang Chuyan screamed, the tongue went into his nasal cavity with a "puff".
Then, just like sucking tofu pudding with a straw, in the thick darkness, "it" made a contented slurping sound.
The smell of blood and the stench of mucus spread together.
…
"Help--"
Jiang Chuyan let out a scream and jumped up from the bed.
The phone was still buzzing beside his pillow. It was the alarm he had set earlier.
But Jiang Chuyan couldn't muster the energy to turn off the alarm clock.
His whole body went limp, his mind went blank, and he was shaking uncontrollably.
"Chu Yan...are you okay?"
After hearing several calls, Jiang Chuyan slowly turned his head after a long time and met the curly-haired head that popped out from behind the door curtain.
"He Yuan?"
The boy's presence finally brought Jiang Chuyan back to his senses.
"Um, did you have a nightmare?"
He Yuan glanced at Jiang Chuyan uncontrollably.
The young man's body was wrapped in loose pajamas. His neck and a small piece of skin on his chest that were exposed from the collar were so white that they seemed to be glowing.
College boys are naturally hot-tempered. He Yuan's eyes swept over that small section of white, and his throat rolled unconsciously.
He subconsciously shrank his body back behind the door curtain.
"You, your alarm clock has been ringing for so long, so I thought I'd come and see how you are."
He tentatively pointed at the phone that was still beeping beside Jiang Chuyan's pillow.
"How do you feel now?"
His dark complexion concealed the blush that inexplicably appeared on He Yuan's face, and he added another sentence in an attempt to cover up the blush.
Jiang Chuyan rubbed his face and turned off the phone tremblingly, but until this moment, his eyes were still a little dazed.
"I'm fine, I just... had a nightmare."
He murmured.
"What did you dream about? Why did you get scared like this?"
He Yuan couldn't help but ask.
Jiang Chuyan was silent for a moment. He frowned and tried to recall for a long time before muttering, "...I don't remember."