Except for the initial three who had managed to secure a room, everyone else was still embroiled in the chaotic fight for lodging.

The crowd, exhausted from their struggle, finally had a reason to pause and catch their breath. They leaned against the doorframes, panting and subtly vying for dominance.

“You’re already this exhausted from fighting. What will you do if something truly happens tonight?”

Someone wanted to sneer, but the stark reality was that if danger struck, there would be no energy left to flee.

However, upon realizing that Ding Yi was the one who had spoken, they swallowed their sarcastic remarks.

“If the remaining people simply split into groups of three, wouldn’t all the rooming issues be resolved?”

“What nonsense are you spouting? There are only two people left without rooms. What, do you two intend to sleep in the lobby?”

“What are you talking about?” Jiang Xianqing and Feng Baiqiu, leaning against a doorframe, waved to Ding Yi. “You two come over here.”

Ding Yi smiled at Jiang Xianqing and glanced at the girl who had spoken. “Isn’t there still one room that isn’t full? We can simply stay in that room.”

“What room are you ta—”

The others realized the room she was referring to and stared at her as if she were a monstrous entity as she calmly walked step by step upstairs and knocked on the innermost door.

The brief silence stretched taut, fraying everyone’s nerves.

If these two could genuinely reside in that room, none of the preceding chaos would have occurred.

The door swung inward, revealing Qin Yuan’s sharp, aggressive profile.

“Something?”

“Yes, we’re here to perform a bedtime story for you.”

Yan Ming haltingly narrated a fairy tale that had become distorted in his memory, occasionally glancing at Ding Yi, who had unceremoniously claimed the bed upon entering.

“Mm, that was really good.”

Ding Yi clapped her hands in approval. “Xiao Ming must have younger siblings. You told that story very well.”

Yan Ming smiled shyly and glanced cautiously at Qin Yuan, who sat stiffly in a chair with a cold expression, whispering, “No, I only have an older sister.”

Qin Yuan’s face remained impassive. He couldn’t quite fathom why he had allowed these two into his room.

Finding Ding Yi interesting and a potential source of amusement was one thing, but sharing a confined space with her was quite another.

“Now that you’re done, hurry up and leave.”

Faced with Qin Yuan’s blunt eviction order, Ding Yi didn’t betray any panic. “Don’t be like that. Xiao Ming is finished, but I haven’t said anything yet. Besides, this place is scary. I’m afraid you’ll be frightened sleeping in a room alone, so we came in to sleep with you.”

Qin Yuan stared at Ding Yi’s flawless smile for a moment before a sudden laugh escaped him. “I’m scared?”

Qin Yuan chuckled a few times, as if Ding Yi had just delivered a particularly amusing joke.

“If you think I’m talking nonsense, I can reiterate.” Ding Yi sat up on the bed, crossing her legs, her expression serious. “Okay, actually, Xiao Ming and I are scared. We believe Mr. Qin is righteous and provides us with a sense of security, so we came to ask Mr. Qin to take us in.”

“We think Mr. Qin is kind and handsome and definitely won’t refuse us.”

Yan Ming’s eyes darted around nervously before finally settling on Qin Yuan, and he nodded firmly in agreement with Ding Yi. “Mm.”

Qin Yuan couldn’t quite understand why he found this person, so full of ridiculousness, increasingly intriguing. Yet, each time he acknowledged this feeling, his mood seemed to inexplicably improve.

“Mr. Qin?”

“I recall telling you my name.”

Seeing Qin Yuan suddenly frown, Ding Yi mentally chided him for his pickiness and said with a smile, “Qin Yuan.”

“I’m sleepy. Let’s all sleep.”

“That kid can sleep on the floor, and I’ll sleep here.”

“No, no,” Ding Yi quickly clarified. She had initially flopped onto the bed upon entering, fearing immediate expulsion. She had witnessed Qin Yuan’s strength firsthand but wasn’t truly shameless enough to usurp his bed. She rolled off the mattress. “You should sleep on the bed.”

“Shut up. If you make any more noise, get out.”

Ding Yi looked at Qin Yuan, who was now sitting with his legs crossed, arms folded, and eyes closed, and breathed a sigh of relief. Yan Ming’s face brightened with relief and a hint of joy, and he whispered goodnight before happily curling up to sleep on the floor next to the bed, resembling a well-behaved large dog.

The past few hours had been overwhelming, the impact too profound.

Even though her body was physically relaxed, it was difficult to fully ease her constantly tense nerves.

Ding Yi’s mind raced with fragmented memories of the events preceding her arrival in the New World. She could recall everything else she should remember, but when she reached the moment of blowing out the candles, a throbbing headache would invariably begin, akin to the memory loss she had experienced after a car accident. The pain was intense, causing her heart to pound and her breathing to become shallow and rapid.

Just as she was feeling suffocated and unable to breathe, Ding Yi’s eyes snapped open, only to be confronted by a pair of dilated, bloodshot eyes peering through the window.

The owner of the eyes possessed a palm-sized face devoid of skin. The raw red muscles and ruptured blood vessels were exposed to the air, and long, black hair was plastered tightly to the skinless flesh on the side of the neck.

Her heart rate surged in the brief two seconds of eye contact.

Before her stunned brain could fully process and react, a tall figure moved to the window in a single stride, closed the small crack, turned around, leaped onto the bed, and roughly pressed Ding Yi’s head against his chest with one hand.

“Close your eyes and sleep.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Ding Yi felt a sudden rush of wind from outside the window.

It wasn’t just the wind that entered, but something else entirely.

Ding Yi sensed a sticky, crazed gaze fixated on her. That thing moved closer to the bed. Ding Yi could clearly feel the mattress behind her sinking slightly under the added weight. She could even feel strands of bloody hair brushing against the side of her neck, the faint itching causing goosebumps to erupt across her skin.

The overpowering, fishy stench compelled Ding Yi to unconsciously press closer to Qin Yuan. In the fear that paradoxically forced her to remain calm, she detected a faint scent of burning candles and paper money intermingled with the pervasive smell of blood.

She lost track of time, the minutes stretching into an eternity where Ding Yi grew weary of being afraid, before the sticky gaze finally vanished with another gust of wind.

The fresh, earthy scent and the warm breath emanating from Qin Yuan gradually dispelled the lingering, fishy stench. Unlike the sleepless night she had anticipated after the immediate crisis subsided, Ding Yi quickly succumbed to sleep.

She even slept soundly through the night without any dreams, not stirring until the first rays of morning light.

When she opened her eyes again, she was jolted awake by a heart-wrenching scream echoing from outside the door.

After exchanging a silent glance with Qin Yuan, who had also just opened his eyes, the two tacitly remained still for a moment.

Ding Yi rolled out of bed, and Qin Yuan slowly sat up, his gaze meeting that of Yan Ming, who had just sat up from the floor, initially drowsy but suddenly wide-eyed with shock. Qin Yuan calmly stretched his shoulders and neck. He glanced at the loudly knocking door, then casually rose and walked to Ding Yi’s side.

The moment Ding Yi pulled open the door, which was trembling slightly from the persistent knocking, she saw Jiang Xianqing with a grave expression and Feng Baiqiu, who looked as though she were on the verge of collapse.

Jiang Xianqing said with a trembling voice, “Something happened.”