Chapter 180
Chapter 180
With a bang,
Lu Yuanshi found himself pinned against the wall.
Clouds drifted across the moon, and its gauzy light outlined Xiao Huai.
Every detail stood clear: the curve at the corner of his eye and the trace of a lazy smile on his lips.
In the blink of an eye, Xiao Huai and Lu Yuanshi had completely reversed their positions.
Xiao Huai extended one hand and slowly touched the back of Lu Yuanshi’s, moving gradually upward.
Like a feather tickling the skin, every inch made Lu Yuanshi’s heartbeat quicken further.
Xiao Huai pressed closer and closer. Then he suddenly rested his ear against Lu Yuanshi’s chest.
His low voice held the drowsy murmur of someone newly awakened.
“Mm? Your heart is beating faster.”
At some point, Lu Yuanshi’s neck had reddened. He abruptly caught Xiao Huai’s wrist and lowered his head until his bangs brushed Xiao Huai’s approaching nose.
“Darling, you finally decided to touch me?” Lu Yuanshi’s glib tone brought Xiao Huai back to himself.
Xiao Huai immediately pulled his wrist free and ended the embarrassing act of pinning Lu Yuanshi against the wall.
But when he saw the faint redness still lingering on Lu Yuanshi’s neck, he laughed inwardly.
“Yes. I have some wicked intentions toward you, so you’d better be careful tonight.” Xiao Huai simply leaned into the joke.
With that, he opened the door and went to the bed.
Lu Yuanshi sat beside him. “The feeling is mutual. You should be careful too.”
Hearing that, Xiao Huai looked at the bed. “It seems neither of us will be safe in it.”
“Mm-hmm.” Lu Yuanshi had barely nodded twice when Xiao Huai kicked him to the floor.
Xiao Huai said, “Which is why you’re sleeping down there.”
“What?” Lu Yuanshi had thought Xiao Huai was finally going along with him.
So Xiao Huai had still been teasing him.
Lu Yuanshi sighed inwardly. “I’m afraid of the cold…”
Before he finished the word *cold*, a bright red quilt landed across his face.
The impact left Lu Yuanshi’s hair in disarray. The moment his head emerged, he added, “The floor is hard…”
Before he finished the word *hard*, a mattress appeared in midair.
Xiao Huai glanced at him. “I paid a fortune for that. Make good use of it.”
Lu Yuanshi finally fell silent. He obediently dragged the mattress beside Xiao Huai’s bed and covered himself with the quilt.
Xiao Huai lay on the bed without a blanket, staring quietly at the canopy overhead.
He thought about the title Butler Yang had used in the courtyard.
*Young Master Huo.*
The Huo family’s young master.
Burning funeral paper generally honored the dead. If Young Master Huo had died, how could he return?
If Xiao Huai’s guess was correct, Young Master Huo shared some profound connection with the Young Lady of the Yang Residence.
Perhaps he was the person the young lady had fallen in love with.
The mortal world. What connection did it have with love?
Ideas widely accepted by society could also be called the ways of the mortal world.
Was the love between the Young Lady of the Yang Residence and the Huo family’s young master a beautiful romance worthy of praise, or a tragic tale that brought tears?
Or did it reflect the changed lyric in *Ode to Pear Blossoms*: *the unjust mortal world*?
An unfair love.
Xiao Huai frowned. No, it should be–
A love that could not be accepted?
[Ding! Congratulations to Player Xiao Huai for uncovering World Truth II.]
[World Truth II Note: Love takes many forms. Some are accepted and cherished, while others are despised and rejected… Which kind will the story of the Young Lady of the Yang Residence prove to be?]
[Encouragement from the System: Congratulations! You have collected two World Truths and drawn another step closer to completing the Side Mission!
You are the first player to collect two World Truths on the first day. The System will grant you additional intelligence.]
[Intelligence: Every player is fortunate. Like messengers, they can travel to many places beyond the reach of the native residents.]
That single piece of extra intelligence made Xiao Huai’s eyes flash as inspiration struck.
Interesting. It seemed the System truly had not lied to him after *Vampires* ended.
This instance, *Town of the Blind*, would certainly not be too difficult.
Just as Xiao Huai calculated his next step,
A warm, clean-scented quilt settled over him.
Xiao Huai’s eyes widened, and Lu Yuanshi’s voice sounded beside him.
“I warmed it for you. How is it?”
He looked at Xiao Huai, plainly begging for praise.
Xiao Huai fought back a laugh. “Very good.”
“Then can I…” Sleep on the bed?
Xiao Huai answered before Lu Yuanshi could even finish. “No.”
“You didn’t let me finish.”
Lu Yuanshi blinked at him.
Xiao Huai repeated, “No.”
“Fine.”
Lu Yuanshi slunk back to the floor. As he closed his eyes, half the quilt fell across him.
He opened them and looked at Xiao Huai.
Xiao Huai lay at the edge of the bed, also covered by only half the quilt.
“It’s a large quilt, and buying another would be a waste. Make do?”
Lu Yuanshi stared at Xiao Huai’s profile for a long, long time.
Smiling, he moved a little closer to the edge of Xiao Huai’s bed.
Very, very softly, he murmured his agreement.
That night, the little ghost hiding beneath Xiao Huai’s bed did not dare emerge at all.
Every time it tried to crawl out and frighten someone, it saw Lu Yuanshi lying beside it.
The instant it met Lu Yuanshi’s gaze,
Its entire being trembled, and the ghost nearly died of fright.
It had planned to choose one unlucky player at random. Instead, it became the unlucky one.
The little ghost silently prayed for morning to arrive as quickly as possible. It needed to escape this cursed place.
* * *
Sunlight gilded the morning sky and filtered through leaves swaying gently in the wind, casting mottled shadows across the flagstones.
Such a tranquil courtyard should have teemed with life, birdsong, and fragrant flowers.
In reality, however, a terrified scream shattered the peaceful morning.
Peace never truly favored a horror game.
The scream came from the blonde woman in shorts, one of the eight players.
After hearing it, the players emerged one after another.
Chen Chong came into the courtyard stretching and yawning repeatedly. “What is it? Why all the fuss this early? Someone died, right? Who?”
Finding a corpse first thing in the morning had long since become ordinary to players.
They only wanted to know which unlucky person had died and what forbidden rule they had broken.
The blonde woman pointed toward a well. “I… I don’t know who died, but there’s a terrible smell coming from inside. I know that smell! I can’t be wrong. Someone died down there.”
Jiang Wenmei had changed into a purple tracksuit. In two or three strides, she reached the well, hands tucked into her jacket pockets, and kicked the lid to the ground.
In the next instant, a dense stench of blood filled the air.
It was so strong that the players pinched their noses.
Jiang Wenmei frowned and looked into the well. Her pupils widened slightly.
She nearly vomited on reflex.
Within three seconds, Chen Chong rushed over, grabbed Jiang Wenmei, and pulled her several meters away.
“Damn, Meimei. Since when were you this timid?”
“Screw off.” She shook him loose. “Look for yourself.”
Chen Chong took one glance. Though his expression grew exaggerated, his tone remained flat. “This guy is incredible.”