Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Mu Nanzhi followed his gaze and looked over there as well. Suspiciously, he rubbed his chin.

He waited for a while, and only after Hui Jiang had calmed down a little did he ask,

"Can you tell me what happened?"

"..."

Hui Jiang tightened his grip on the cup.

His pupils widened slightly, as though he had recalled some terrifying scene.

If it were anyone else, they would probably have been frightened by the look on his face.

But Mu Nanzhi was a rather strange person.

The stranger something was, the more interested he became.

Ever since childhood, he had been different from other children.

He liked blood.

He liked internal organs.

Whenever he saw such things, he would feel inexplicably excited.

It sounded somewhat perverse.

But Mu Nanzhi felt that he was no different from ordinary people.

His hobbies were simply different.

His thoughts were perfectly healthy, and he had never once entertained thoughts of murder.

Still, this was not exactly a hobby that could be displayed proudly.

As the youngest son of the Mu family, he needed to pay attention to his words and behavior at all times.

Therefore, aside from his closest relatives, no one knew about this peculiarity of his.

Not even his older brothers and sisters.

Studying medicine was also a way to satisfy this interest.

Sometimes he felt that he had probably been born to become a doctor.

At the very least, he genuinely loved and enjoyed the profession.

"Mu Nanzhi."

Hui Jiang's voice pulled him back to reality.

"Actually, it's nothing. I'm just too cowardly and scared myself."

That smile looks awful.

Mu Nanzhi complained inwardly.

"Really?"

He rolled his neck and, with a trace of mischief, asked,

"Then when do you plan to go back?"

Hui Jiang froze.

"I still need to sleep. You can't squat in my dorm forever, can you?"

"I..."

Hui Jiang was speechless.

The system still had not responded to him.

How could he possibly dare to go back?

"Can you let me stay here?"

"Huh?"

"I know it's a strange request."

He panicked, looking as though he was only one step away from hugging Mu Nanzhi's leg and begging.

"But if I go back, I'll definitely die."

"Oh?"

Mu Nanzhi narrowed his eyes.

After a long pause, he asked,

"Did you see something?"

Hui Jiang's body immediately stiffened.

His reaction was completely captured by Mu Nanzhi.

Confusion flashed through Mu Nanzhi's eyes.

Could this guy be sick?

Hallucinations should be some kind of mental illness...

No, it was also possible that he had accidentally taken some hallucinogenic substance.

"No. It's all just my imagination."

"I played a horror game for a while earlier, so..."

Hui Jiang could not tell him about what had really happened.

First, he himself was not sure what it was.

Second, even if he said it, no one would believe him.

If he could just get through tonight safely, it was better not to create unnecessary trouble.

The color had only just begun returning to his pale lips.

There were still faint tear marks on his cheeks.

He sat nervously in the chair, as though he was terrified of being kicked out.

Mu Nanzhi could not stand it when this guy acted pitiful.

Whether Hui Jiang was telling the truth or lying remained uncertain.

But his heart softened anyway.

Mu Nanzhi sighed.

"My roommates aren't here. Pick any bed you want."

"Thank you! Mu Nanzhi, you're seriously too nice!"

Hui Jiang's eyes immediately lit up.

He looked only one step away from kneeling in worship.

"I'll take this one."

"That's my bed."

"Sorry, sorry!"

Hui Jiang had no choice but to switch to another bed.

Coincidentally, he picked the one right next to Mu Nanzhi's.

Mu Nanzhi pressed his lips together and said nothing.

That was essentially tacit approval.

Only after watching Hui Jiang climb up did he go inspect the dormitory door.

There was nothing strange there.

As he wished, Hui Jiang settled into Mu Nanzhi's dormitory.

Once his highly tense nerves relaxed, drowsiness immediately washed over him.

The bed underneath him was not particularly comfortable.

Even so, he quickly fell asleep.

Mu Nanzhi climbed onto his own bed.

The first thing he saw was Hui Jiang's sleeping face.

Without his glasses, the young man looked completely different.

He appeared rather delicate.

And somewhat more pleasing to the eye.

He stared at him for a while before sighing helplessly.

"You fell asleep that fast. Are you a pig?"

He reached out and pinched the young man's nose.

"Mm..."

The young man mumbled.

Clearly, he found it uncomfortable.

Mu Nanzhi withdrew his mischievous hand and sighed.

After going to such lengths to force your way into my world...

Hui Jiang, what exactly are you trying to do?

...

...

"Boom!"

"Mm..."

What was that sound?

Hui Jiang turned over restlessly in his sleep.

"Whoosh—"

It felt as though something had entered the room.

Drowsily, he opened his eyes.

Then he saw a thin bolt of lightning flash outside the window.

"Boom—"

The tremendous thunderclap made him shudder twice and completely scared away his sleepiness.

It's raining.

What kind of ridiculous weather is this?

He glanced at his phone.

It was only four in the morning.

He could still sleep for a few more hours.

After turning off the screen, he tried to coax himself back to sleep.

So cold.

Why doesn't this bed have a blanket?

Hui Jiang felt around but could not find one.

Only then did he remember that this was Mu Nanzhi's dormitory.

Curling himself into a ball, he tried to steal a little warmth.

He could not fall asleep.

"Boom!"

Outside, the wind howled and thunder roared.

Who knew which fellow cultivator was undergoing heavenly tribulation?

Rain continuously drifted into the balcony.

Mu Nanzhi's dormitory happened to be on the first floor.

Hui Jiang was a little worried that the water would flood in and drown both of them.

He opened his eyes.

"Boom—"

Purple lightning tore across the sky as though it were about to strike the balcony.

The intense flash illuminated the dormitory.

And because of that—

Hui Jiang saw a dark figure standing in the corner.

Ahhh!!!

The light vanished in an instant.

Darkness returned to the room.

But he could no longer erase that image from his mind.

His throat felt as though it were being squeezed shut.

He could not make a sound.

Every hair on his body stood on end.

What was that?

Not a hallucination.

It definitely wasn't a hallucination.

His scalp tingled.

He did not dare look in that direction again.

Hui Jiang quickly sat up.

His bed was right next to Mu Nanzhi's.

The moment he sat up, he could see Mu Nanzhi's sleeping face.

Only a metal railing separated their beds.

At this point, he no longer cared whether Mu Nanzhi would get angry.

The instant he sat up, he immediately started climbing onto Mu Nanzhi's bed.

Creak.

Creak.

Hui Jiang's movements were too large.

Even the slightest motion made the metal bunk bed groan.

"Mm..."

In his panic, he accidentally stepped on Mu Nanzhi's arm.

Sorry, sorry.

Hui Jiang hurriedly apologized in a whisper and quickly squeezed onto Mu Nanzhi's bed.

A dormitory bed only one meter wide had very limited space.

There was absolutely no room for two young men over six feet tall.

Afraid of waking Mu Nanzhi, Hui Jiang could only sit hugging his knees in the small remaining space.

Fortunately, Mu Nanzhi slept very neatly.

His hands and feet stayed properly in place.

Only because of that was there room left for him.

What exactly is that thing?

It won't come over here, will it?

Hui Jiang was terrified.

But as long as he stayed beside Mu Nanzhi, he felt an inexplicable sense of security.

He had completely lost any desire to sleep.

So he simply hugged his legs and stared at the place where the dark figure was standing.

“Hm?” A groan came from the person beside him, but Hui River was too nervous to notice.

So cramped.

Mu Nanzhi opened his eyes in confusion. Why did his right arm hurt a little? He moved slightly and discovered there was something else on the bed.

Looking up, he happened to see Hui River crouching on it.

If it had been an ordinary person, they would have jumped in fright long ago. Just imagine it—waking up in the middle of the night only to find someone sitting on your bed.

Although Mu Nanzhi was brave, his heartbeat still went haywire for a few seconds.

He gritted his teeth in irritation, feeling that this person was taking a mile after being given an inch, and reached out to grab Hui River’s arm.

“Ah!” Hui River was already terrified. Being touched like that nearly made him leap into the air.

Mu Nanzhi frowned and put some force into it as well.

Hui River happened to be off balance. With that pull, he fell directly onto Mu Nanzhi.

“Ugh.” Only after falling did Hui River realize Mu Nanzhi was awake. “Why did you pull me?”

Mu Nanzhi’s eyes darkened.

“Then why did you climb onto my bed?”

“I...” He immediately wilted. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you.”

Mu Nanzhi released him and rubbed the arm that had been stepped on.

“You didn’t mean to wake me?”

Hui River climbed off him and raised his head warily toward the place where the shadow had been standing.

“I just saw a black figure over there. I hid something from you earlier. I think something unclean has attached itself to me. Do you think this school might have...” He suddenly did not dare continue.

“Pff.”

“Hey, what are you laughing at?” Hui River glared. “Everything I said is true.”

Mu Nanzhi finally held back his laughter.

“I study medicine. Do you really think I’d believe that?”

“...”

Hui River hugged his knees.

“Hey, how long are you planning to squat here?” Mu Nanzhi, unusually patient, tried to chase him away. “Go back to sleep.”

“No.”

Hui River grabbed the bedsheet and refused to move.

“You don’t have to believe me, but please don’t chase me away. I don’t need to sleep. Just pretend I don’t exist.”

After hearing that, four words immediately flashed through Mu Nanzhi’s mind:

Shameless beyond measure.

He turned his head toward the place Hui River had pointed at.

“If there’s no shadow there, then will you go back to sleep?”

“I...” Hui River grabbed his hand. “You’re not thinking of going down to check, are you? Don’t court death. As long as it doesn’t come over, we can just stay up here quietly.”

Mu Nanzhi pulled his arm free.

“Then we’ll shine a phone light on it. That should be fine, right?”

Hui River’s face turned green.

But in Mu Nanzhi’s eyes, it looked more like a guilty conscience.

He truly could not understand how this guy could come up with so many excuses and still make him compromise again and again.

After seeing that Hui River had nothing more to say, he took his phone from under the pillow, turned on the flashlight, and shined it directly in that direction.

Terrified, Hui River hid behind him and did not even dare stick his head out.

Mu Nanzhi remained silent for a long time.

“S-so? What is it like?”

Mu Nanzhi pushed him.

“Look for yourself.”

Only then did Hui River slowly poke his head out.

Under the white beam of light stood a wooden clothes rack with clothes hanging from it. It really did resemble the outline of a person.

“I saw it wrong?”

Hui River lowered his head blankly, his hair sticking up in every direction.

Mu Nanzhi put away his phone.

“Can you go back now?”

“Well...” He still hesitated.

He felt like something was missing.

Both scares had felt far too real.

How could they have been fake?

“Fine.”

Too lazy to keep arguing, Mu Nanzhi said,

“If you’re still not convinced, I’ll go down and inspect the whole dormitory right now.”

“It’s dangerous.” Hui River was worried. “Can you not go?”

Mu Nanzhi stared at him expressionlessly.

His upturned phoenix eyes suddenly carried a trace of danger.

Hui River secretly swallowed and lowered his head, no longer daring to speak.

After the man finally behaved himself, Mu Nanzhi climbed down the ladder.

Hui River immediately turned on both of their phone flashlights to illuminate the room for him.

Speechless, Mu Nanzhi walked through the entire dormitory.

He inspected every corner carefully.

He even pulled aside hidden spots for Hui River to see.

In the end, not only did he fail to find anything unclean, he discovered two cockroaches mating.

There really was nothing.

It had all been an illusion.

Hui River sank into deep thought and began wondering whether he was simply too cowardly.

Expressionless, Mu Nanzhi crushed the cockroaches.

Just before climbing back up, he suddenly noticed something.

He walked over to the clothes rack and bent down to touch the floor beneath it.

Red liquid?

He narrowed his eyes slightly, looking puzzled.

Only after washing his hands did Mu Nanzhi climb back onto the bed.

Seeing the owner return, Hui River immediately prepared to climb back to his own bed and give him his space.

“Wait.”

“?”

Hui River turned back in confusion.

“Climbing back and forth is too troublesome.”

“Let’s sleep together tonight.”

His eyes widened in shock.

He wondered whether there was something wrong with his ears.