Yu Sen’s mind went blank for a moment, then a flash of light appeared in his mind. He remembered the shadow on the groom during the wedding that shouldn’t have existed. The cold, eerie air lingered around, and his heartbeat raced.

He looked at the human head still wriggling, which seemed to have no intention of coming in.

Just as he was about to wake Si Nan, Si Xuanyang’s blanket was suddenly thrown aside. Yu Sen squinted and saw Si Xuanyang calmly pulling a red candle from under his pillow, getting out of bed, placing it in the candlestick, then taking out the fire starter he had found earlier in the room, lighting it with a flick, and neatly igniting the candle.

The warm light suddenly brightened, making the moonlight seem less noticeable.

In the thick darkness, this seemed to be the only source of light.

Si Xuanyang stood facing the door, unmoving. Yu Sen felt anxious; from his vantage point, the fluffy black head at the door was completely blocked by Si Xuanyang, so he couldn’t see anything.

But he didn’t dare to speak or move at that moment, afraid of startling the mysterious head. He was so anxious that he felt as if he was about to burst into flames.

After about seven or eight seconds, which felt like seven or eight minutes to Yu Sen, he saw Si Xuanyang’s figure sway and then walk towards the door.

Yu Sen’s heart leaped to his throat, his grip tightening on the bedclothes.

Si Xuanyang gently closed the door and locked it again.

……

Yu Sen’s fingers trembled slightly as he sat up and hesitantly called out, “…Yang Yang?”

Si Xuanyang turned around and looked at him with a normal expression. “Go to sleep. It’s okay now. It’s already gone.”

Yu Sen stared into his eyes, slowly exhaling, and patted his chest. “I thought that head had possessed you. You scared me.”

Si Xuanyang laughed softly. “How could a head possess someone?”

“Who knows? Maybe it ran away because it saw you were not to be messed with…” Yu Sen said, kicking the tightly wrapped-up blanket of Si Nan. “Unlike your brother, sleeping like a pig.”

He then slapped the fluffy blanket a few times.

Si Xuanyang quietly watched him play with Si Nan without speaking or showing any expression. He lowered his eyes and silently walked back to the bed.

A small candle flickered in the room, creating a somewhat lonely atmosphere.

Si Nan, disturbed by Yu Sen, muttered a few curses, turned over, and snuggled back towards Si Xuanyang, continuing to sleep.

Yu Sen, exasperated, chuckled. “You really think you’re on vacation!”

Pausing, he lay back down and asked softly into the air, “You didn’t fall asleep either?”

Si Xuanyang knew he was being asked and instinctively nodded. Then he realized Yu Sen probably couldn’t see him and said softly, “Mm.”

“Why couldn’t you sleep? What were you thinking about?” Yu Sen asked again.

Si Xuanyang’s eyes flickered in the candlelight, and the sound of Si Nan’s breathing close by his neck made him uneasy. He felt a suffocating pressure in his chest, struggling to express what he was truly concerned about, feeling that it was too sentimental to discuss, yet he couldn’t pinpoint what exactly he cared about.

Or maybe, he was too afraid to think deeply about what he really cared about.

He wanted to say, “What does it have to do with you?” in his usual impatient tone. Yu Sen was also quick-tempered, and if he said that, he probably wouldn’t have to worry about these things anymore.

He could return to his previous state, irritable but capable of handling everything with clean efficiency.

But when the words were on the tip of his tongue, they felt like the suffocating pressure, and he couldn’t bring himself to say a single word, causing pain in his chest and lungs.

In just over ten days, he didn’t understand why his mindset could change so drastically, like a tornado catching him off guard.

A few days ago, he thought that tempting wave was far away, viewing it from behind a dam, full of resistance mixed with a bit of anticipation. But now, a few days later, that torrent has overflowed the dam, unstoppable, swallowing him completely, leaving him with no escape.

That bit of anticipation made him despise himself.

Seeing that Si Xuanyang hadn’t spoken for a long time, Yu Sen propped himself up and looked over, only to see Si Xuanyang covering his head with the blanket, turning away from the candle, with his voice muffled in the blanket.

“Go to sleep.”

In such a dangerous place, it was best not to overthink things.

Yu Sen, puzzled, glared at the exposed part of the back of Si Xuanyang’s head for a few seconds, then lay back down angrily, flipping the blanket noisily.

“You’re really asking for it, Yu Sen…” Si Nan, in a dazed state, muttered a curse.

Yu Sen: “…”

This place must really be cursed for him. His authority was useless here, as if the place was cursed against him!

Frustrating!

He kicked Si Nan hard and pulled the blanket over his head forcefully.

…

The candle slowly melted, and just when he was about to fall asleep, a piercing scream suddenly tore through the night outside.

“Ahhhhhh——!”

Si Nan abruptly sat up in bed, “What the hell! Is there a ghost?!”

“The ghost has already passed through your entire world, but you were sleeping like a dead pig, so you won’t encounter it.” Yu Sen sat up with a grim expression.

This place really seemed to be against him. Waking up from an almost-sleep state was the most unbearable, with his temples throbbing like a machine gun. Yu Sen felt completely unsteady.

“I’m about to faint…”

There was movement in the next room. After hearing someone open the door and approach them, possibly having seen the candlelight, they knocked on the door.

“Knock knock… Hey, are you awake? Did you hear the scream? It came from the next courtyard. We want to check it out, come with us!”

In times like these, it’s best to have more people around.

“We’re coming.” Si Xuanyang quickly got out of bed and dressed, “Luo Yu, come with me. Si Nan, you and… you two stay here.”

“Why?” Si Nan was displeased.

“Two by two is the most convenient. We need to leave someone in the room. You wouldn’t want to come back and find someone hiding under the bed, would you?”

Si Nan: “… Fine, stop telling ghost stories. Hurry up and go. I’ll stay here.”

He hugged the blanket tightly.

Yu Sen snorted lightly. “Good for nothing…”

Si Xuanyang didn’t look at him, pulled Luo Yu, and the two went out, carefully closing the door behind them.

Yu Sen yawned, feeling dejected.

“Hey, when did this candle get lit? I don’t remember lighting it before I went to bed… Is it a ghost?” Si Nan suddenly became anxious.

“Yeah, it was a head ghost that lit it. I watched it happen.” Yu Sen said casually.

“…No way! What just happened?” Si Nan leaned in a bit, “Was it when you kicked me? I have a faint impression in my subconscious.”

“Yeah,” Yu Sen replied with a sinister smile, “The head ghost finished and then lay quietly beside you and fell asleep. I even reminded you, but you ignored me.”

Si Nan stared blankly for nearly half a minute, then angrily threw off the blanket: “Yu Sen! Are you messing with me?”

Yu Sen shrugged. “Hahaha, who can resist teasing someone who looks so silly?”

“You’re so mean!”

After some more commotion, Si Nan leaned in again, his eyes gleaming with curiosity: “What’s going on between you and my brother?”

“What do you mean, ‘what’s going on’? I don’t understand.”

“Don’t think I can’t see it! The atmosphere between you two has changed!” Si Nan’s tone was excited.

The atmosphere changed? Yu Sen was a bit taken aback; being in the middle of it, he hadn’t noticed any difference.

“How has it changed?”

“I can’t really say,” Si Nan scratched his head in frustration, “It just feels like you two are in sync with each other.”

“In sync?” Yu Sen sneered, recalling the scene where he was trying to touch the candles and Si Xuanyang nervously backed away. “If you call that in sync, then what about me and you? Heart to heart?”

“Ugh! Not like that,” Si Nan sighed, “It’s just that it seems like you two have some sort of unspoken signal or something. Whenever one does something or gives a look, the other responds differently than usual. It’s like you have secret codes that nobody else understands, not even me.”

Well, that’s because he thinks I’m your boyfriend, Yu Sen thought vaguely. How could you know?

But… Why does the change in atmosphere make me so happy?

---

After waiting for a while, there was more noise outside, the door was opened, and Si Xuanyang and Luo Yu entered the room. The evening breeze came in a little, and the door was closed again.

Yu Sen looked up and asked: “What happened?”

“Someone died,” Si Xuanyang said.

Luo Yu’s face was somewhat pale: “Wang Siyu died in bed. His head was severed from his neck, and the head was missing. Mi Xue heard a noise in the middle of the night, lit a candle to check, and found the headless corpse on the bed. The sheets were soaked with enough blood to wring out a bowl.”

Another decapitation? Yu Sen thought absurdly. Could it be that the head in the storage room fell onto him during the day, so he met his end at night?

“Did Mi Xue see anything else?”

“No,” Si Xuanyang knew what he was asking, “Their door was indeed opened, but she didn’t see anything.”

“Was she terrified?” Si Nan asked with sympathy.

“Yeah, she went to sleep in another girl’s room. Who would want to share a bed with a headless corpse?” Luo Yu sighed.

It couldn’t be that simple, could it? Yu Sen thought something was off. If they could change rooms at will, then if all the players gathered in one room, staying together and taking turns to keep watch, even the ghosts would have to think twice before making a move.

Sure enough, the next morning, Mi Xue experienced a problem..