Chapter 64.1
At first, Xiao Tangqiu thought the four that went out to investigate had returned. But then he thought, why would they knock on the door? It’s not like this lousy wooden door was locked, why didn’t they just come straight in?
Wait! Could it be the villagers who were looking to steal their food?
But that seemed even less right! If those villagers were here to steal their food, why would they knock? Wouldn’t they just charge in and get down to business? Was there some sort of practice among robbers to knock before robbing? Where on earth would you find such a courteous robber?
The more Xiao Tangqiu thought about it, the more uneasy he felt. The on and off strange knocking didn’t stop. If one listened to it long enough, it would start to resemble the pitter-patter of raindrops. But make no mistake, when listening carefully, it was still very much the sound of knocking. The prominent sound was a constant annoyance that couldn’t be ignored.
Although he wanted to ignore the sound and go back to sleep, the knocking was like an irritating mosquito that was constantly buzzing by his ear. It made it impossible to fall asleep.
After some hesitation, he got up to nudge Shen Yuan, who was sleeping next to him. However, Shen Yuan appeared to be sound asleep as he quietly laid in his sleeping bag. No matter how much Xiao Tangqiu pushed him, he did not wake.
Xiao Tangqiu then tried calling Shen Yuan’s name, but there still wasn’t any signs of him stirring. Under the moonlight, his long lashes cast small shadows on his face and his eyelids remained tightly closed as if he had completely shut off from the world.
Xiao Tangqiu suddenly got a bad feeling. He climbed over Shen Yuan’s body to try to wake Duan Hongzhen, who’s sleeping on the other side, but he seemed to be in an even deeper sleep than Shen Yuan. He stayed unmoving and utterly unresponsive and even started snoring.
Xiao Tangqiu didn’t know if it was just his imagination, but he felt like the rain outside was getting heavier and heavier and the sound of rainfall grew louder and louder. Pitter patter… Pitter patter…
Was it raining that heavily outside?
Given the decrepit state of this wooden hut, how could it withstand the weight of a downpour? Although the roof was leaking, no matter how you looked at it, these tattered walls shouldn’t be able to hold out against such a heavy storm! And these greased paper windows… Wait, no! The windows of this particular hut didn’t even have paper coverings!
Just as confusion grew in Xiao Tangqiu’s mind, he suddenly noticed yet another thing. The intermittent knocking on the door had stopped. When did it stop?
At the same time, he also realized that the windows of this house were just empty holes in the wall… so there wasn’t actually a need to knock on the door at all, was there?
In that instant, Xiao Tangqiu, who had his back to the window, couldn’t help but stiffen.
Pitter patter.
Xiao Tangqiu didn’t want to look behind him at all. But at that very moment, that familiar knocking sound started coming from beyond the window just like the sound of rain hitting against the door.
As the knocking sound continuously grew in volume, it came to a point where it sounded like a storm. Xiao Tangqiu subconsciously turned to look at Shen Yuan and Duan Hongzhen. But the two of them were still sound asleep, seemingly unable to hear any of this bizarre knocking.
In the end, all Xiao Tangqiu could hear was the sound of knocking that reminded him of rain pouring. Besides that, he couldn’t even hear the sound of his own breathing or his yelling of the names of Shen Yuan and Duan Hongzhen.
The knocking endlessly echoed in his ears, almost as if it was trying to burrow its way into his head. He was this close to going insane… In the end, he couldn’t take it anymore and turned his head.
The sight that greeted him at the exposed window was a gorgeous woman in a white kimono.
She was extremely beautiful but also melancholy, with eyes filled with sorrow. She was absolutely drenched because of the rain and water trickled down her face and hair. Drip by drip, it fell into the house. Soon, a tiny puddle formed by the window.
She stood outside the window just like that, staring straight into Xiao Tangqiu’s eyes, her gaze filled with woe and sadness.
Xiao Tangqiu jumped at the sight, almost screaming, but he managed to forcefully swallow it back down… Who was this woman? Was she some ghost or supernatural ent.i.ty too?
But do ghosts and spirits get wet in the rain? Do they even have physical forms?
However curious he was about whether or not supernatural beings could get drenched in the rain, he was, after all, not the protagonist of a horror game that enjoyed charging to his death. He wouldn’t risk his life just to satisfy his curiosity when he knew that there were ghosts running around the area. Instead, he took a few steps back and observed the lady in the white kimono from a safe distance.
The woman was dressed in a plain white kimono. Now that the kimono was completely soaked by the rain, she inadvertently ended up looking a bit seductive. Coupled with that beautiful yet sad face, regardless of which man, it would be hard to resist a temptation like that. If it were any other man who saw such a beauty standing at the door, they would probably feel sympathy for her and hurriedly invite her into the house.
However, Xiao Tangqiu wasn’t an ordinary man. He was a man who had practically read through and became familiarized with the plots of every horror movie and the strategies of every horror game. One of the quintessential rules of any horror game/movie: never approach or speak to an unfamiliar woman that you met deep in the mountains. Unless, that is, you’re the protagonist, or you have some sort of cheat, or you’re a protagonist with a cheat.
Xiao Tangqiu warily kept an eye on the woman standing outside the window while the woman stared back with a gloomy expression. The two of them maintained eye contact; neither spoke a word while the rain raged on outside and silence permeated the insides of the hut.
Pitter patter.
The woman in the white kimono stared fixedly at Xiao Tangqiu, who was inside the house. The expression on her face gradually changed to one of pleading as she shivered slightly from the chill of the downpour. No average man would be able to turn away from a beauty’s pleas.
As aforementioned, Xiao Tangqiu wasn’t an average man. He was one that knew every horror movie plot and horror game mechanic inside out.
Regardless of how sad or pitiful the woman in the white kimono looked, Xiao Tangqiu remained calm and impervious. After maintaining eye contact with that beauty for a while, he even began to yawn.
Once he realized that she couldn’t break into the house, Xiao Tangqiu calmed down and his heart lowered back down from his throat. Despite the non-stop roaring of the storm outside, he was suddenly hit with a wave of drowsiness and slowly started to doze off.
It didn’t matter if this white kimono woman was ghost or human. Either way, it’s not like she could break into the house! Since her favorite pastime was staring at people from outside the window, she could stay there and continue to stare all she liked. Heck, she can do that her entire life! …Alright, maybe not for an entire lifetime, but she could continue watching until this mission was over!
Xiao Tangqiu decided to put aside that woman who was peering at him from outside and comfortably tucked himself into his sleeping bag. Of course, he didn’t forget to shift his little nest far away from the leaking part of the roof. He closed his eyes and fell asleep to the sound of wind and rain.
However, that didn’t last very long and once again he woke to the icy water dripping onto his face.
…What happened?
Didn’t he already move his sleeping bag? Could it be that the roof above him was leaking as well?
Half-awake, Xiao Tangqiu struggled to open his eyes and looked up to the roof above in a daze. To his shock, he was met with a pair of sorrowful eyes.
It turned out that the thatch over him had somehow disappeared and was replaced with the woman in the white kimono who laid on the roof, gazing directly at him.
Xiao Tangqiu, “…”
f.u.c.k! He almost peed himself!
He was so frightened his entire body froze and half his body felt numb. He didn’t dare make a single movement. All he could do was maintain his position of lying on his back and starting another staring contest with that white kimono woman.
The woman on the roof looked directly at Xiao Tangqiu as the icy cold raindrops slid down her hair and onto Xiao Tangqiu’s face. Very soon, his face was covered with rainwater.
Not only that, the water from the woman’s form was also dripping all over his sleeping bag and the surrounding area.
In an instant, Xiao Tangqiu felt incredibly uncomfortable as he suddenly recalled that this was the same situation as when he had woken up the first time. Could it be that even before the knocking began, this white kimono woman had already been lying silently on the roof, watching him sleep for the entire night?
Just the thought of being watched by this strange woman for the entire night made him want to break down a little. Plus, all the water that drenched him had come from this woman…
Calm down! Calm down! Stay calm! Think about all the things he had already experienced!
Xiao Tangqiu took a deep breath and continued his staring contest with the woman. As the woman stared right at him, she started pleading with her eyes once more… However, his heart did not waver one bit. Even an ordinary man wouldn’t be able to take a strange woman peeping at him from the roof!
Should he change his sleeping location?
After pondering over it for a bit, it quickly hit him that no matter where he moved, this woman probably wouldn’t give up and would chase after him. In the end, all that would do was wet the whole house and there wouldn’t be any clean and dry place left.
Xiao Tangqiu felt a little discouraged and he averted his eyes to look at Shen Yuan. However, all he saw was that the latter remained motionless, completely pa.s.sed out and totally unaware of any unusual sounds or movements.
Xiao Tangqiu couldn’t help but grumble inwardly, who was the one who said they would protect him always? But what was he doing now, sleeping so soundly. Was Shen Yuan protecting him in his sleep?
Hmph! A man’s mouth only sprouts lies!
At this moment, from his peripheral, Xiao Tangqiu caught sight of the woman opening her mouth while still lying on the roof. A string of liquid that he couldn’t discern if it was rainwater or her saliva dripped down from her mouth.
He was immediately overcome with disgust which propelled him to flip his body around and get up onto his feet just before it landed on him. Partly because he couldn’t help but seek for help, partly out of revenge, Xiao Tangqiu wormed his way into Shen Yuan’s sleeping bag.
Shen Yuan, who was cozy and warm and sleeping peacefully, was suddenly a.s.saulted by this frosty person that slid into his sleeping bag. He subconsciously furrowed his brows. He looked really upset, but the surprising thing was that he still didn’t wake up.
Even this didn’t wake him?
Xiao Tangqiu became increasingly astonished. After hesitating for a bit, he reached his cold hands into Shen Yuan’s clothes.
Shen Yuan still didn’t stir.
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