Chapter 29: Someone Under the Bed

After Li Si told Cao Meng where the dishwashing tools were, he went straight to the study. In the study, he moved all the miscellaneous items into one corner, freeing up a large area.

Then he went to the courtyard and found some wooden boards, wooden strips, and similar things in a corner, bringing them to the study.

In the study, it did not take long for him to use these dry wooden boards and strips to build a somewhat ugly wooden bed.

These wooden boards and strips had originally been taken from the bed of his predecessor’s parents, and had been left there unused all this time.

At present, although it was missing a few parts, it did not affect its use.

Li Si sat down on the bed and shook it left and right. Although the bed made some noise, there was no obvious sign of wobbling.

It was a bit ugly, but it was still quite sturdy. Li Si nodded in satisfaction.

Next, he found bedding and a pillow in the bedroom cupboard, came to the study, and made the bed. Because he laid the bedding very neatly, covering some rough edges and corners, then spread the bedsheet over it at the end, the bed no longer looked as ugly as before.

Dong, dong!

Dong, dong!

Dong, dong!

At this moment, the sound of the night watch came from afar, along with the night watchman’s shout, “The sky is dry, things are parched. Be careful with fire and candles!”

It was the Xu hour, which meant seven o’clock at night. In ancient times, this period was generally the time to sleep, and thinking of this, Li Si also grew sleepy.

There was no helping it. This world had no electric lights. Once the sun set, just like in the countryside of the real world, one could practically say that it was so dark one could not see one’s own hand in front of one’s face. Li Si had already adapted somewhat to this world.

At this moment, Cao Meng had already washed the bowls and chopsticks and was sitting at the table practicing writing with water. When he saw Li Si walk over, he hurriedly wiped the water stains clean with his sleeve.

“From now on, you will stay in the study. I have already made the bed for you,” Li Si walked up to Cao Meng and said to him with a smile.

“Ah?” When Cao Meng heard that he was to stay alone in the study, he immediately became somewhat flustered. One had to know that at home, he had always slept together with his father.

“What is it? Are you afraid of sleeping alone?” Li Si looked at Cao Meng with an amused gaze, a faint smile on his face.

Hearing Teacher say this, Cao Meng immediately puffed out his chest to hide his panic and said, “How could that be? I started sleeping alone a long time ago.”

“Mm, then good. From now on, you will stay in the study.” Li Si nodded, then walked into the bedroom and closed the door.

Li Si could naturally see from Cao Meng’s expression that he was afraid to stay alone, but he could not possibly let Cao Meng sleep in the same room as him. After all, many of his matters were not suitable for others to know.

After seeing Li Si enter the bedroom, Cao Meng’s little face showed fear. He looked toward Li Si’s bedroom, as though he wanted to say something, but he could not bring himself to say it. He looked as if words were on the tip of his tongue, yet he stopped himself. After hesitating again and again, he could only walk toward the study in low spirits.

At this moment, Li Si saw through the crack of the door that Cao Meng had gone toward the study, and a gratified look appeared in his eyes. Although this kid was somewhat afraid, he still had quite a bit of courage.

Thinking this, he smiled, turned, walked to the bedside, and lay straight down.

He had actually been exhausted today. In the morning, fighting the Dismemberment Ghost had already consumed much of his mental energy. After that, he had moved corpses, taught those children, and practiced The Black Tortoise Record. At this moment, his entire body and mind were utterly worn out.

So as soon as he lay on the bed, sleepiness surged up uncontrollably. Before long, he fell asleep completely.

“Li Si...”

“Li Si...”

“Li Si...”

“...”

A hollow voice whose gender could not be distinguished kept coming over and woke Li Si.

“Who is calling me?” Li Si wanted to shout, but he was astonished to discover that he could not control his throat at all. The words reached his mouth, but he simply could not shout them out.

Li Si became somewhat panicked and tried to control his body, only to discover in terror that his body was not under his control at all.

Only then did he discover from his field of vision that he was in an enclosed space. Above him was something rough and fuzzy, probably wooden boards, while on the ground below were all kinds of pelts and bones, along with dried corpses of chickens, ducks, cats, and dogs, piled all over the floor.

Although he could not smell anything, Li Si still felt a wave of nausea.

He did not feel afraid at all. After all, he had pieced together more than twenty corpses this morning. How could he possibly be afraid of these animal bones and corpses?

However, at this moment, he discovered in panic that his body had moved involuntarily. It was not like a normal person. Instead, he was drifting sideways, just like... a ghost!

Li Si watched helplessly as he floated out of that narrow space. After he came out, his line of sight slowly rose, becoming like that of a normal person.

At this moment, Li Si finally discovered that the scene before his eyes was so familiar. That table, stool, and window were all extremely familiar. This... was clearly his own bedroom.

Suddenly, his line of sight turned backward. Through his vision, Li Si discovered a person sleeping soundly on the bed, and this person, just as he expected, was himself!

What exactly was going on???

Since the one on the bed was himself, then what was he now? Li Si’s mind was now extremely chaotic.

The strange thing’s gaze remained fixed on his body on the bed. It stared for about ten minutes or so, and just as Li Si was beginning to have trouble enduring the hair-raising fear in his heart, its gaze turned toward the doorway.

His vision blurred, and Li Si followed this gaze straight through the door, appearing in the hall. Then what made him feel uneasy was that this gaze was fixed tightly on the direction of the study, slowly moving toward it.

What was this strange thing trying to do?! As soon as this thought rose in Li Si’s mind, he recalled the corpses of cats, dogs, chickens, and ducks he had seen under the bed just now.

This thing was no longer satisfied with eating those little things? It wanted to eat people, to eat people! It wanted to eat Cao Meng!!!

“No!!!” Li Si roared, his eyes snapping open. His whole body abruptly sat up from the bed, and he discovered that he was covered in cold sweat. Only then did he realize that what had just happened was only a dream.

He breathed out and relaxed all over, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead. At this moment, his heart was still somewhat unsettled. How could that dream have been so real?

Thinking this, his hand moved toward the bedsheet. Without hesitating, he lifted it and poked his head down to look under the bed.

This look startled Li Si badly. Under the bed, the corpses of chickens, ducks, dogs, and cats filled the entire space beneath it. It was exactly the same as in the dream.

Previously, it had only been because the bedsheet covered it, and because the corpses were dried corpses without much moisture, that Li Si had never smelled anything. Now that he had lifted it like this, a wave of stench immediately surged toward his face, making him feel somewhat nauseated.

These past few days, a ghostly thing had been staying under his bed all along!!

He immediately thought of when he had first come to this world. That night, he had tossed and turned in bed for several hours and had been unable to sleep, always feeling that the bed was uncomfortable. Previously, he had thought it was because he was unaccustomed to the place, but now that he thought about it, this thing had been causing trouble.

That night, this strange thing had been hiding under his bed.

“Not good! Cao Meng is in danger!!!”

Li Si suddenly stood up from the bed, pulled the door open, and ran straight toward the study.