CH 4

Ten minutes later, Yibei stood by the man-made lake by his loft, holding a lighter and a bottle of water in his hand.

He lit the lighter and approached the paper ball little by little.

Although his behaviour seemed a bit overboard, there was no harm in doing so if it gave him peace of mind.

A gust of wind blew, making the paper ball tremble in its breeze as if it were begging Yibei not to burn it.

“Right, but you had the gall to scare the living crap out of me.”

He cursed at the ball and stretched his hand forward, igniting the paper ball.

The ball of paper quickly burnt to a crisp, releasing an unpleasant smell of burnt… animal fur?

The night was coming, and before it got dark, a woman working at the carnival was rushing home.

When she passed the lake, she smelled a burning smell and was slightly taken aback to see a young man in a red coat staring intently at the flickering fire in front of him.

The dim light shone on his expressionless features as if he were performing an ancient ritual.

“Damn it, the youngsters these days are trying to scare the living hell out of me.”

The speed of burning was slower than expected; it took a full twenty minutes for the paper ball to burn into ash. He opened the bottle of water and washed the ash away into the artificial lake.

By the time he returned to his unit, the sky had completely darkened.

After returning home, he saw the coat he wore today on the sofa.

On the sofa, the coat was slumped in a strange posture, looking like a piece of fur that had just been peeled off.

Staring at the coat, Yibei’s eyes started to swell, and he saw a wisp of pale mist circling it like a weird parasitic animal.

‘Sh*t! My jacket!’

‘I bought this for a few hundred yuan; wouldn’t it be a pity to throw it away?’

‘I should hang it outside…”

Yibei quickly found a hanger to hang the coat outside the window.

After being busy for a long time, he finally got some free time, and his silent stomach started to growl ferociously. Getting up from his lazy daze, he walked towards the kitchen, planning to cook a simple dinner for himself.

He doesn’t want to get takeout; he feels that it’s a luxury.

Not to mention, there are very few restaurants that are still open at night, and the delivery fee would be ridiculously high.

Besides, there are rumours from delivery drivers that they have seen tentacles creeping out from behind the door to collect the food or deliver the food to a cemetery.

He also read a post about how a man ordered takeout one night two years ago, but it hadn’t arrived yet; however, every night he would receive a message saying [Your food is on the way!]. Even if he changed his mobile phone and number, he would still receive the message.

Therefore, Yibei felt that it was safer for him to make dinner for himself.

After dinner, Yibei and Bai Xiaohua got along intimately, and sleepiness gradually struck him.

He washed up hastily and said good night to Acala, the Immovable. He went upstairs, put the blindfold and earplugs on, and leapt on the bed.

As soon as his head touched the pillow, he immediately fell into a deep sleep.

It was dark.

The smoky, crescent moon shone with a faint rose colour; in the dry wind of autumn, the red-and-white coat swayed with the wind.

“Click, click, click…”

The sound of a rodent grinding its teeth could be heard coming from the left pocket of the coat, and a pitch-black paper cube could be seen jumping out of the pocket.

A soft, fluttering noise could be heard in the gentle wind.

When Lu Yibei opened his eyes again, he saw a hunched figure standing under the dim light of the street lamp, like a tall, hunchbacked man.

The body was thoroughly wrapped in a pitch-black coat, holding a dimly lit candlestick in their hands.

Seeing the scene, he wanted to leave but found that he couldn’t move at all.

The scene before him was somewhat yellow like he was watching an old movie.

The figure walked along the street and entered a residential area before entering a building.

The dark corridor had no end in sight, and the figure walked into it, blending into the darkness.

The rusty iron doors on both sides creaked with the wind as if something were ready to pull an innocent person in.

“Clang, clang, clang!”

After knocking on the door, the figure spoke in a strange voice, “Is anyone in here? If there’s no one, I’ll let myself in.”

Nobody responded.

The figure held the doorknob and turned it lightly, and it opened with a soft click.

It was a very ordinary one-bedroom apartment—walls plastered white, floors covered with white tiles. There was a TV, coffee table, and blue sofa in the living room.

The man walked into the room without turning on the light and sat on the sofa, waiting for something quietly.

Time passed slowly in dead silence, and after some time, a woman’s laughter could be heard, and the sound of keys could be heard.

Yibei’s eyes were distorted with light and shadow, and his view shifted from the figure in the cloak to a woman.

The woman was wearing an ordinary but professional grey suit. Her face was blurred, and she seemed drunk. She fumbled in her bag for a moment before fishing out a key to open a door.

It was a very ordinary one-bedroom apartment—walls plastered white, floors covered with white tiles. There was a TV, coffee table, and blue sofa in the living room.

Lu Yibei’s eyes widened, and he wanted to shout to the woman:

“Run! Run! Somebody is in your house!”

However, he couldn’t make a single noise.

He was forced to be a bystander.

The woman didn’t turn on the light and kicked her high heels off as she stumbled towards the bedroom.

“Drinking to take advantage of an old man… and yet, when I ask for a raise… I’ll get through this hard time alone.”

Back in the bedroom, the woman took off her coat, crumpled it, and threw it into the corner.

Accompanied by the sound of breathing, time seemed to flow slowly, but Yibei couldn’t change his gaze. All he could do was stare at the woman, who was sleeping soundly.

‘What do I do? That figure is still in the house!’

Yibei’s heart was in his throat, feeling restless.

The woman woke up suddenly, hearing a soft rustle coming from under her bed.

“Mice?” she muttered groggily.

A furry head suddenly emerged from the darkness, and the glass-like eyes, bloodshot, stared and smiled at her.

In the dead of the dark, the woman and Mr Rabbit stared at each other.