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The mist obstructed the entire path, making it impossible to see anything even two meters ahead.
Yu Sen walked closely beside Si Xuanyang. With their bodies touching, Si Xuanyang, fearing Yu Sen couldn’t see well, didn’t pull away.
Noticing Yu Sen glancing at him, Si Xuanyang tilted his head slightly and asked softly, “What’s wrong?” His gaze never left the gentleman in front. In such dense mist, if someone got lost, finding them again would likely depend on a vague, elusive fate.
“It’s nothing,” Yu Sen squeezed closer to him, “Are you scared?”
“Not scared. I watched horror movies a lot when I was young.” Si Xuanyang smiled, trying to ease the tension between his brother and ‘in-law’. “You should ask my brother. He used to get so scared watching horror films that he would bite me. So I always thought my brother was more annoying than ghosts.”
“Is he a dog? Biting would make him unafraid…” Yu Sen rolled his eyes, his gaze lively. “If I get scared, can I bite you too?”
“…”
Si Xuanyang stared ahead, dryly: “You seem pretty brave. You probably won’t get scared. If you do, you can bite my brother. He has tough skin anyway.”
“Tsk! Then it’d be mutual biting.” Yu Sen thought about that scene and couldn’t stand it. If Si Nan dared to bite him, he’d probably kick him away before he could even reach.
Si Xuanyang also imagined that scene and felt uncomfortable, a bit unnerved.
After about ten minutes, they arrived at the entrance of a mansion with a plaque above it reading ‘Li Residence’.
The gentleman stood at the door for a moment, turned, and gave them a sinister smile. His voice sounded like the first time Yu Sen heard Si Nan play the violin—like sawing wood.
“Guests, you arrived just in time. The wedding ceremony is over. Please enter and rest.”
Yu Sen raised an eyebrow: how could it be ‘just in time’ if the wedding was over? He was hoping to see what an ancient wedding was like up close.
The peach wood gate creaked open. The airflow felt like it came from a dark, unseen cave, wrapping around them like snakes, chilling and eerie.
“I’m not sure if we should go in,” Yu Sen rubbed his arms.
But the mist surrounding them was as thick as substance, as if countless invisible hands were pushing them forward.
Si Nan remained optimistic: “We’re here now, so even if it’s a den of dragons and tigers, we have to go through.”
“A den of dragons and tigers isn’t so frightening. What’s scary is that it feels like the underworld,” Yu Sen said coldly.
“…” Si Nan’s steps froze.
The atmosphere was tense for a while, and Luo Yu slowly spoke: “Yu Ge, stop scaring him. There’s no game that traps you on the first night. Besides, if we don’t go in, who knows what this gentleman might do to us.”
This was a clear attempt to mediate. Si Xuanyang frowned but remained silent.
Yu Sen smiled meaningfully: “Of course, I was just joking. Scaring Si Nan is a regular thing for me.”
Si Nan rolled his eyes: “You’re aware of that? Xiao Luo, don’t mind him; you’ll get used to it.”
“… Oh.”
Upon entering the mansion, the annoying white mist disappeared. With the moonlight and candlelight, the view became clear.
The garden had a Suzhou-style courtyard feel but wasn’t as exquisite. It had a more ancient, heavy, and worn appearance.
As they passed the main hall, Yu Sen glanced and saw the ‘Xi’ (happiness)’ character posted on the high walls, red candles, red dates on the table, and gongs and suona instruments beside the table. There were red paper scraps scattered on the floor, but it was empty.
He leaned in to see more clearly, but the pale faced gentleman’s face suddenly came close.
The loose skin over bones and the dark, hollow eyes obscured his entire view, staring intently as if trying to suck him in.
Yu Sen’s heart skipped a beat, and he took a step back, supported by Si Xuanyang.
“Guests, this way, please.” The gentleman grinned with his pale mouth, extending an arm towards the backyard. His mouth looked as if it could open infinitely.
Tsk! They wouldn’t even let him look. How petty. Yu Sen touched his left chest, cursing inwardly. He was scared again—he’d probably end up with heart disease soon.
He pouted and dragged Si Xuanyang to the front, following behind.
“Yang Yang, my fear tolerance is already at its limit. Please protect me.”
So straightforward? Si Xuanyang was at a loss, wondering who had said the “I’ll protect you” line.
The gentleman led them to a room in the backyard prepared for guests.
Though it was labeled for guests, Yu Sen thought it resembled the servant’s quarters.
The room was sparsely furnished, with large areas of peeling wallpaper on the walls. It was also quite dirty, looking rusted in the dim light. The bed was a long, shared platform with several sets of indistinguishable-colored pillows and quilts.
Yu Sen sniffed. Thankfully, the quilt didn’t have a strange smell; otherwise, he would have wondered if it had been used to wrap something weird.
Before the gentleman left, Yu Sen suddenly remembered something and called him: “Apart from the four of us, have any other guests arrived?”
The gentleman, however, seemed to ignore him, hunching his back and slowly closing the door with his bony hand.
Yu Sen: “…”
Was he being ignored?
Si Xuanyang chuckled and waved at him. “Don’t bother with that. I don’t think he’s going to give you any information. Come and choose where you want to sleep tonight.”
That made sense, and Yu Sen squinted with satisfaction.
“I want to sleep between you and Si Si!”
Si Xuanyang: “……” He shouldn’t have asked.
Clearing his throat, Si Xuanyang decided to ignore Yu Sen’s wish and directly arranged it: “You sleep in the innermost spot against the wall. My brother will be next to you, and I’ll be next to my brother.”
“Why!” Yu Sen glared.
Unexpectedly, the seemingly quiet Luo Yu also complained softly, “I don’t want to sleep on the outer side… I’m a bit scared…”
Si Xuanyang was puzzled. What’s there to be scared of? You dare to ride a motorcycle through a crowd of zombies, leap out of a sea of fire, spin in the air and land in front of them, drag broken bones and drink the serum—so brave, yet you’re scared of sleeping on the edge?
He was speechless: “Stop the whining. I’m tired. Let’s just sleep like this tonight and discuss any issues tomorrow morning.”
Yu Sen turned his face and smiled, “Yang Yang, you’re so dictatorial.”
Although none of the three were satisfied with the sleeping arrangement, they couldn’t fight Si Xuanyang, and after failing their protest, they had to give up.
With the moonlight outside the window and Si Nan’s unbearably loud snoring, Yu Sen counted dozens of sheep through the wall crack before falling into a deep sleep.
In his dreams, there was wind, floating willow fluff, a phoenix crown, red candles, and someone singing a new wedding song. The melody was haunting and inexplicably tinged with sadness.
Yu Sen slept deeply and woke up early. Perhaps due to the unusual climate here, his lips felt cracked upon waking. After a few pouts, he tasted a bit of blood on his tongue.
He lazily blinked a few times to adjust to the light but suddenly stopped moving and stiffened.
— This wasn’t the room they stayed in last night.
A cold chill crept up from his feet to the back of his head. He paused for several seconds, stiffly turned his head to the left, and let out a sigh of relief.
Fortunately, the person lying on the left was still the foolish Si Nan, not some ancient Han Tang dynasty ghost resurrected from a coffin.
And Si Xuanyang and Luo Yu were still soundly asleep in the same positions as last night, with the morning sun just breaking through the clouds outside.
But what was up with this room?
They clearly stayed in an ancient house last night, but now… why was it a hostel-like room?
The room was still simple but lacked any antique charm. The walls were painted stark white, with iron-frame beds lined up, two metal desks opposite the beds, two unlit incandescent bulbs on the ceiling, and a switch by the door.
Very modern.
Yu Sen was a bit confused.
The surroundings were quiet, not seeming like a place where any strange occurrences would happen. He stuck his feet out of the covers and gave Si Nan’s butt a sharp kick.
“Ouch, Fuck!”
Si Nan’s scream was like thunder, waking the other two. Luo Yu even jumped up in fright, his eyes filled with alertness.
“There’s a ghost! A ghost just kicked me!” Si Nan yelled in terror.
Yu Sen: “…It’s me.”
“Huh?” Si Nan was bewildered.
“Open your artificial diamond eyes and take a good look at where we’re sleeping now.”
Si Xuanyang woke up the fastest, looked around, and said uncertainly, “A hotel?”
“Yeah! How did we end up in a hotel? We were in that creepy ancient mansion, right?” Si Nan was surprised and jumped out of bed, rummaging around as if he wanted to overturn it.
There was noise outside the room. Yu Sen touched the red veil under his pillow; it was still there, as were the other two items. He said, “Let’s get ready and go out to see.”
After a quick tidying up, Yu Sen opened the door and came face-to-face with a man coming out of the opposite room.
The man wore gold-rimmed glasses, had neatly cut short hair, and looked scholarly, like a teacher. He nodded at Yu Sen and asked, “I’m Lin Jianchuan. Did you also enter this world because of items from the second-hand market?”
Yu Sen nodded, gave his name, and directly asked, “Where did you sleep last night?”
Lin Jianchuan smiled knowingly: “In the ancient house.”
Yu Sen raised an eyebrow, not very surprised. In games, all players naturally receive the same treatment.
Lin Jianchuan glanced at the three behind Yu Sen, adjusted his glasses with his index finger, and said slowly, “I think this hotel was built on top of that ancient, haunted house.”