After changing her clothes, Xiao Muyu saw that Shen Qingqiu was already lying on the bed, watching her with a leisurely gaze. Xiao Muyu said nothing and lifted the quilt to lie down on the edge of the bed.
Sleeping with a stranger was indeed awkward in many ways. Xiao Muyu stayed far away from Shen Qingqiu, and on a not-so-large bed, the two slender individuals still managed to leave a space in between them enough for another person.
Shen Qingqiu remained silent. In the quiet, Xiao Muyu kept thinking about various things: why she had been chosen, and whether the scene on the bus was a hallucination that every selected person experienced.
Though it seemed unbelievable, she found a strange sense of stability here, even though she should have felt uneasy. This sense of stability didn’t come from safety but from reality. She couldn’t deny that she always felt a sense of unreality in the world she lived in before.
Her thoughts were chaotic, and as she tossed and turned, a wave of drowsiness hit her. Xiao Muyu couldn’t help but blink her eyes and shake her head, but she still couldn’t resist the overwhelming sleepiness.
She often had to work late and stay up in real life, so she usually went to bed late. Although she didn’t know the exact time, she shouldn’t have been this sleepy.
Not realizing anything was wrong, Xiao Muyu tried to resist the drowsiness. She didn’t know how long she struggled, but in her hazy state, she thought she heard a faint noise at the door.
It sounded like something lightly brushed against their room door, followed by a creak as the door opened!
Even though she and Shen Qingqiu were sleeping together and one blanket should have been enough in this weather, she felt a chill coming closer from the door.
In her daze, she felt something standing by her bed, but she couldn’t open her eyes. Was it a hallucination?
She saw a shadowy figure floating in after the door opened, pausing at the foot of the bed before moving to her side. It stood by Xiao Muyu’s side, bending over like a piece of paper, and a sharp voice said, “Open your eyes and look at me.”
The voice sounded like a child, filled with a thick sense of enticement, making Xiao Muyu want to open her eyes even more.
She felt the corner of her quilt being lifted, and her shoulder felt chilly. The familiar fragrance hit her nose again.
She was too sleepy. Even though the voice made her want to open her eyes, she couldn’t, and the only conscious thought she had warned her not to open them. So, she stopped resisting the sleepiness.
The voice that had been coaxing her started to get anxious, “Open your eyes and look at me!”
“Open your eyes. I said open your eyes. Wuuu… Open!” It started to cry sharply and even grabbed Xiao Muyu’s quilt, pulling at it.
But no matter how much it fussed, the two people on the bed seemed dead, completely unresponsive.
The thing twisted, and the wind outside howled, banging the windows loudly.
The two people on the bed slept like the dead, but the couple in the opposite room was scared out of their wits.
They hadn’t been sleeping deeply, and the ghost’s initial calls woke them. As the cries became more desperate and piercing, they drilled into their ears.
The girl shivered uncontrollably, finally unable to bear it, and started crying, “I’m scared.”
As soon as she said those words, the ghostly cries abruptly stopped, and the wind ceased.
The boy’s face turned pale. He quickly covered the girl’s mouth, but it was too late!
With a bang, their door was forcefully thrown open, and the couple huddled on the bed met the hollow eyes of a skinless figure.
“Ahhh!”
The scream tore through the night, filled with terror, echoing through the house.
“Run, Xiaotian, run!” The boy groaned in pain, rolling on the floor, but still urging the girl to flee.
The people in the other room seemed deaf, not stirring at all. The cries for help, the screams, and the sound of blood splattering filled the quiet night.
Until a sudden noise came from the third floor. The skinless figure tearing at the boy’s body lifted its bloody face and turned toward the third floor, a childlike smile pulling at its hollow features before it dashed upstairs.
The girl under the bed stared in horror, her face twisted in terror, her eyes bulging out as she watched her boyfriend’s lifeless body on the floor.
There was a fierce struggle on the third floor, followed by screams of shock and angry shouts, but finally, everything fell silent.
Some people had a peaceful night’s sleep, while others would never wake up again.
When the sunlight streamed through the window the next morning, Xiao Muyu woke up.
Upon opening her eyes, she sat up quickly, surveying her surroundings. Shen Qingqiu was already dressed, but Xiao Muyu noticed that her face didn’t look well.
Before she could ask, Shen Qingqiu’s gaze fell on the door, which was supposed to be tightly closed but now had a crack. She calmly asked, “Did something come in last night?”
Xiao Muyu frowned and nodded, “Yes, didn’t you hear it?”
Shen Qingqiu shook her head, looking at her strangely, “You didn’t sleep? It’s not a good habit to stay awake when you should be sleeping.”
Xiao Muyu was slightly stunned, recalling what the old woman had said before going to bed, “You need to be full to sleep soundly.” Her expression turned grim.
“Did you force yourself to stay awake last night? Did you hear anything?”
Xiao Muyu pressed her lips together, “Yes, that thing stood by my side last night, telling me to open my eyes and look at it. I was too sleepy and sensed something was wrong, so I ignored it. It got angry and pulled at my quilt, crying and screaming.”
Shen Qingqiu felt her scalp tingle as Xiao Muyu calmly described the scene. She couldn’t help but ask, “Weren’t you scared?”
Xiao Muyu glanced at her, “What’s the use of being scared? Hugging you and crying or crying in front of that thing?”
Shen Qingqiu felt a bit choked for the first time. Did this woman realize she had almost lost her life?
“Last night, five people didn’t finish their food. Does that mean someone already had an accident?” Xiao Muyu quickly asked.
“Ah!” Just as she finished speaking, Cui Xiaoxuan’s terrified scream came from outside.
Shen Qingqiu glanced at Xiao Muyu and followed her out of the room.
Outside, Cui Xiaoxuan and You Qiaolian stood pale and trembling at the door of the couple’s room. You Qiaolian leaned against the wall, covering her face to keep from collapsing.
The door was open, and blood was trailing out from inside. Xiao Muyu stiffened, then turned away to suppress the urge to vomit. After a moment, she glanced back at the bodies with a frown.
The boy in the couple was covered in blood, his body rigid, with bloodstains on the floor from his desperate struggle before death.
The heavy smell of blood in the room was nauseating, but Shen Qingqiu remained calm. She frowned and looked at the boy, then pointed to the girl curled up under the bed and shook her head, “They’re both dead.”
Cui Xiaoxuan, being a girl, had never seen such a gruesome scene. She trembled at Shen Qingqiu’s words, too scared to look.
