After three attempts to wake Huang Lu, Lin Huai gave up on his kind-hearted efforts.
Tossing the trembling black fake skin aside, Lin Huai swiftly threw a campus card, pinning the silk pajamas that were trying to escape along the wall.
The pajamas were nailed to the wall, trembling and vomiting uncontrollably after consuming something they shouldn’t have.
Watching ghostly clothes vomit would have been an interesting experience. Unfortunately, Lin Huai decided to see his good deed through to the end. He ultimately chose to drag Huang Lu back to the girls’ dormitory and considerately closed the door.
After settling Huang Lu, Lin Huai closed the door, looked at the ground, and gave a kind smile to the two damaged props.
As the saying goes, staying up late is harmful, so why not just pull an all-nighter? Awakened by screams, Lin Huai decided to follow the principle of healthy living by staying up all night instead of merely staying up late.
…And while he was at it, he would also inquire about the matter he was most concerned about from his fellow “players” in the Game.
With one hand holding the charred ghost and the other carrying the pajamas, he descended the stairs with grand intentions. The villa was eerily quiet at night, with everyone else asleep except for him.
The only person still awake dragged a box of mineral water from the kitchen. He placed the charred ghost on the coffee table, trying to flatten it, then twisted open a bottle of water and poured it over the ghost’s head.
He patiently poured the first bottle, the second bottle… Unfortunately, the damage to the human skin ghost seemed irreversible, as it did not swell up again after absorbing water.
“What’s your problem?” Lin Huai poked the human skin ghost and mimicked Li Yanhong’s voice. The ghost, determined to pretend to be an emotionless piece of charcoal, gave no response.
Lin Huai didn’t want to force the issue. After all, they were once of the same kind. Since he couldn’t get an answer, he decided to let it serve its final purpose. He handed the wet, charred ghost to the pajamas: “Still hungry?”
The pajamas shrank back. Seeing that the human skin ghost could no longer be repurposed, he picked it up and stuffed it through a 20cm x 50cm gap in the door.
The moment it was pushed out, the human skin ghost seemed to let out an uncontrollable wail. Lin Huai wanted to drag it back but found that the black charcoal had already vanished into the void the moment it was handed over.
“If you had cooperated earlier, you wouldn’t have been obliterated,” Lin Huai thought regretfully.
Being alone downstairs wasn’t much fun. Learning from yesterday’s lesson, the ghosts that originally resided on the stairs had obediently hidden in the basement, standing by and watching. Lin Huai decided to be polite and not disturb the ladies’ sleep.
Bumping into Huang Lu was purely an accident. Since Huang Lu was already unconscious, he thought about it and decided to stick to his original plan: plugging in the TV.
The TV was also playing dead, so Lin Huai wiped his hands, sat on the sofa, crossed his legs, and propped his chin with one hand as he stared at the TV.
“Come out,” he said lazily. “Do I really have to reach in and pull you out?”
The TV flickered a few times, and an old, trembling voice emerged: “I…”
“Face,” Lin Huai repeated impatiently. “Has no one told you that it’s impolite to talk without looking at the other person?”
“Yes…”
A hand slowly emerged from the TV, accompanied by the old man’s voice: “If you want my hand, then… take it?”
Lin Huai: …
He suddenly seemed to understand why the female ghosts were “standing by and watching.”
“Do you really think I’m that kind of pervert?”
One misstep leads to eternal regret. Lin Huai had no choice but to reach into the TV and pull out the old man’s head.
The old man trembled and smiled. Lin Huai finally patted his hands in satisfaction: “That’s more like it.”
“Don’t be nervous. I’m very easy to talk to,” Lin Huai reassured him. “I haven’t killed a ghost in a long time.”
“…But just now…”
“That was an accident. The pajamas started it. I’m a pacifist.”
“But yesterday, the courier’s hand…”
“That was an accident,” Lin Huai said expressionlessly. “If he had listened, it wouldn’t have happened.”
Who says something like that?? The old man grumbled in his heart but didn’t dare show it on his face.
Even from a few meters away, he could smell the heavy stench of blood on Lin Huai. This was no ordinary red-clothed vengeful ghost; Lin Huai’s level was undoubtedly above theirs.
“I… I’m just a messenger. I can’t make decisions. If you want to leave here, you’ll have to wait three days. But I’m sure with your abilities, you’ll be able to leave as soon as the door opens. So…”
“Please spare my hand,” the old man cried.
“…I wasn’t asking about that,” Lin Huai said. “By the way, do you have any money?”
“Me… what?”
“To be honest, I was very dissatisfied with your Game at first,” Lin Huai recounted. “You inexplicably locked me up, disrupted my peaceful life, and now I’m on the verge of being exposed, but…”
“Your in-game store is just too good,” Lin Huai praised. “I don’t even have to go out to buy such fun things. It’s really interesting, and I get to enjoy the screams of other players every day, so…”
“I’ve started to like your Game,” he said with a smile. “It’s just that I’m running low on money… Do you have the authority to add more for me?”
The old man: …
“No.”
Lin Huai: …
The old man was hit in the face with the remote control and cried silently, emitting “ying ying” sobs.
What a disgusting sound… Lin Huai got goosebumps and threw the air conditioner remote at him too.
The old man covered the other side of his face, still sobbing. Lin Huai picked up a bottle of mineral water and poured it over his head, saying expressionlessly, “Shut up.”
“…”
The old man covered his mouth with both hands. Lin Huai tossed the water bottle aside: “You really don’t need to be so nervous. I just have a question for you…”
“Love… uh, what question?”
Lin Huai retracted the scissors in his hand and finally asked the last question:
“Is that ghost me?”
“…Huh?”
“I said, is the ghost that’s supposed to be identified me?”
“Of course, of course not you!”
“Really?”
“Really. To be honest, I thought you were human at first…” the old ghost said with a tearful face. “Actually, the ghost is…”
“Shh,” Lin Huai raised a finger to his lips. “Revealing the answer now would ruin the fun.”
“Huh?”
“We have to leave some room for someone to figure it out,” Lin Huai smiled.
Seeing the sky begin to lighten, he unplugged the TV: “Good night.”
Peaceful life returned to him once again. Since he didn’t have to worry about being identified by players, from today on, he no longer had to be on edge, pretending to be human… With that thought, he walked upstairs with light steps. Behind him, the old man was still crying: “My head, my head hasn’t retracted yet…”
When Ye Xian opened his eyes again, it was already the next day.
I slept really well last night… he thought. But when he turned his head, he saw that his electric fan had been crushed into pieces, separated from its base.
As he held the fan, unsure of what to do, his black-haired, black-eyed roommate peeked out from the bathroom: “Good morning.”
“My fan…”
“Oh, I broke it while passing by last night,” Lin Huai said casually. “I saw it couldn’t find its head in the middle of the night, so I decided to help out…”
“What do you mean it couldn’t find its head?”
“Almost, it was your head spinning on top of it,” Lin Huai pointed to the fan base. “Take a closer look. This white base is made of bone.”
With that sentence, Ye Xian’s hands trembled, and he nearly dropped the fan fragments. After a long while, he stood up weakly and leaned against the door: “Brother Lin… don’t make such scary jokes so early in the morning…”
Lin Huai didn’t defend his joke and simply went into the bathroom to deal with his dark circles, leaving Ye Xian alone to stare at the fan.
…The base really does look more and more like it’s made of bone…
The grayish texture made Ye Xian shudder. He tossed the fan fragments into the trash bin but then turned to see another roommate who had just woken up.
“Don’t forget to sort the trash,” Chu Tian seemed still half-asleep. He squatted down, picked up a fragment, and examined it closely. “Oh, it really is made of bone.”
With that, he calmly picked the bone fan out of the dry trash bin and placed it in the wet trash bin, then went back to bed.
Ye Xian: …
…Then, he heard another scream.
Yes, this was the usual rhythm of life in an infinite flow world. Starting with screams and ending with the discovery of death. Not the mundane atmosphere of roommate number one brushing his teeth in the bathroom while roommate number two sorted the trash…
Though he should have been scared, Ye Xian couldn’t help but feel a sense of relief that life was finally back on track. If life was a train, ever since he met Chu Tian and Lin Huai, his life had been continuously derailing… No, completely derailed.
With that thought, he rolled up his sleeves and prepared to run to the scene of the incident… No, the scene of death. But Chu Tian had already rushed past him, holding a plastic bag in his hand.
Ye Xian: …
Meanwhile, his other roommate, Lin Huai, contrary to his excitement the day before, was just standing in front of the mirror, idly applying new face cream. Ye Xian leaned against the bathroom door and asked him: “Isn’t it a bit gay for a grown man to be moisturizing… And why are you staying in the bathroom today instead of following him out to watch?”
“Young people like you don’t understand how precious a face without redness is. Skin, once dehydrated, becomes like a piece of charcoal thrown outside the villa and disappears…” Lin Huai mumbled while applying the cream.
“Somehow, I feel like you’re implying something…” Ye Xian muttered.
“Go check out the commotion first. I’ll catch up later,” Lin Huai said casually. “We red-clothed boys run very fast…”
“Red-clothed?” Ye Xian squinted at Lin Huai’s clothes. “I’m sure I’m not colorblind, nor am I a white-eyed fruit fly…”
“Go see for yourself,” Lin Huai hummed lightly. “I don’t have to keep up appearances anymore…”
Ye Xian: ?
At this point, Ye Xian gave up on arguing with his absurd roommate and, rolling up his sleeves, ran to the next room alone.
When he arrived at the scene, Huang Lu had already calmed down. She said: “Last night… last night…”
She covered her forehead: “Last night… what happened? Right! My bag, my bag turned into a ghost. It chased me, I fell downstairs, and then I don’t remember anything…”
“Someone helped me, but who was it…”
Huang Lu searched her memory in vain, but the figure of that person was nowhere to be found. Lin Huai arrived at that moment, standing behind the door and watching Huang Lu’s confused expression with a Lei Feng-like smile.
Doing good deeds without leaving a name had always been his life motto. Besides… he wasn’t ready to be exposed yet.
“Your bag? Sister Lu, didn’t you buy a Safety Item?” Ni Xiao asked urgently upon hearing the keyword.
“I don’t know…”
“Check the purchase record,” Chu Tian said, standing nearby. “Maybe the answer is in… the product details.”
