That night, after leaving the dining area, Yu Sen and the others went back to their room early to sleep. The timing of his stomach pains was always unpredictable, so he took every chance to rest when he could.

As he expected, in the middle of the night, an uncomfortable feeling woke him up.

When he woke up, his head was still a bit dizzy. Si Xuanyang was sleeping close to him, his fluffy head resting on Yu Sen’s shoulder, his lips brushing against Yu Sen’s neck, making him feel ticklish.

His stomach had been acting up lately, and his digestion was off. It seemed like some dampness had built up in his body as a result. Being so close to someone under the blanket made him feel hot and stuffy. But when he stretched out his legs to cool off, the night air instantly chilled his exposed skin, and the cold seeped into his bones.

Yu Sen felt very irritated, alternating between feeling hot and cold, but he didn’t want to push Si Xuanyang away. He kept shifting, sticking one leg out to cool off, then pulling it back in to warm up, unable to fall back asleep.

After a while, he started to feel a tickle in his throat, as if he had caught a cold. As the saying goes, there are three things you can’t hide, and one of them is a cough.

He tried to stifle it by burying his face in the pillow, but the itch in his throat grew stronger, like ants crawling inside, impossible to scratch. After holding back a few light coughs, he couldn’t suppress it anymore. The coughs burst out uncontrollably, like a dam breaking.

“Cough, cough, cough… Cough, cough… Cough!”

Yu Sen covered his mouth with the back of his hand, closing his eyes in an attempt to stop the coughs. He didn’t notice that Si Xuanyang had already opened his eyes at the second cough. His eyes were bloodshot as he turned over, covered Yu Sen’s exposed right foot with the blanket, turned him on his side, and began patting his back to help him breathe easier, while removing Yu Sen’s hand from his mouth.

“How did you catch a cold?”

“Unbelievable, right?” Yu Sen sighed, swallowing hard and half-opening his weary eyes. “I think I’m not going to be killed by ghosts but will die of sickness here.”

Si Xuanyang frowned, about to scold him for his pessimism, when Yu Sen continued, “Actually, it’s my own fault. Back then, why did I have to pretend to be Si Nan’s boyfriend? Now, look at all these messy situations, like one wave after another, all because of that butterfly effect. It’s really an endless cycle, so frustrating.”

Si Xuanyang was silent for a moment before speaking, “If we talk about how you first got hurt, that was also because I got drunk. If I hadn’t…”

“You got drunk because of me! Cough, cough…” Yu Sen interrupted him, pinching Si Xuanyang’s face and grinning, “You had a crush on me back then. I know.”

“Even if it was a crush, it’s because you openly seduced me.” Si Xuanyang glared at him. “You never knew how to restrain yourself. You’re truly a rare and unique flower.”

“A unique flower is still a flower,” Yu Sen said. “A pretty one.”

“Fine, fine…”

Si Xuanyang chuckled, leaning against Yu Sen’s shoulder, then touched his forehead and stomach. “Are you still uncomfortable? Can’t sleep?”

“Yeah,” Si Xuanyang’s hair tickled Yu Sen’s skin, but Yu Sen was too tired to move. “The milk from earlier was a bit cold. Now my stomach feels cold and stiff. It’s really troublesome. I don’t want to deal with it. I’ve decided to just leave it be.”

“Why did you take so long to finish drinking it? Turn over, and I’ll rub your stomach.”

“I don’t want to turn over. Can’t you rub it while we’re facing each other? You’re so particular…”

“How can I rub your stomach if we’re facing each other? You’re so… “

“Ahhhh—!!”

“Crash—!”

A loud scream suddenly cut off Si Xuanyang’s words, followed by the sound of something shattering on the floor, breaking the silence of the night.

Yu Sen and Si Xuanyang froze for a moment before jumping up from the bed—this scream was Si Nan’s voice!

“It’s my brother!” Si Xuanyang’s tightly pressed lips betrayed his anxiety.

“Quick, go check on him!” Yu Sen scrambled to get up and pushed him, then grabbed Si Xuanyang’s shirt. “Remember to check your shoes before getting out of bed!”

He got out of bed on his side, and the shoes underneath were the same ones he wore during the day. Si Xuanyang’s were the same, and it didn’t seem like a trap from the Red Dance Shoes.

Si Nan and Luo Yu stayed right next door to them, and Yu Sen couldn’t help but recall the person whose legs had been torn off yesterday morning. The recent sound reminded him of that, and his vision blurred with black spots, almost causing him to lose his balance.

“Please, let nothing go wrong…”

“Yang Yang, take that rose with you!”

Among the three items they got on the first night—the red rose, the mirror, and the program card—the red rose and the program card were with them, while the mirror was carried by Si Nan.

At this moment, they couldn’t worry about the potential consequences of opening the door in the middle of the night and rushed straight out, pounding on Si Nan’s door.

Many others in the other rooms had also heard that scream, and curious eyes peeked out from behind the glass windows. Seeing them knocking on the door so urgently, those onlookers felt a slight, almost worthless, sense of pity.

Si Xuanyang, being impatient, knocked twice and then changed his expression, taking a step back, ready to kick the door open. But before his foot even lifted, the door opened from the inside.

Yu Sen froze for a moment and pulled Si Xuanyang closer to him, staring nervously at the door.

“Wuwuwu…. Damn, that scared me to death. I almost didn’t make it… Why are you two standing so far away?”

A familiar trembling voice came from the doorway. Si Nan, with teary eyes and a miserable expression, glared at the two of them, his eyes slightly red, looking like a frightened rabbit.

Si Xuanyang hesitantly moved closer to him. “…You’re not dead? Not injured? Your legs aren’t broken?”

“…Damn it! Can’t you just wish me well for once!?” Si Nan glared at him angrily.

“…It’s not that. It’s just that your scream was so tragic,” Si Xuanyang glanced behind him. In the dim light, Luo Yu was sitting cross-legged on the bed, still shaken. “Luo Yu’s okay too?”

“We’re both fine,” Si Nan pouted, “but the mirror isn’t.”

He stepped aside, revealing the shattered pieces of the glass mirror scattered on the floor.

That breaking sound was the mirror? Yu Sen frowned. He knew that while Si Nan was not always serious, he wasn’t the type to carelessly break an important prop. “How did it break?”

Si Nan sighed, “Ruan Xin came to talk to me about life in the middle of the night in the dark. I used the mirror to block her in a hurry. Luo Yu and I survived, but the mirror ended up like this.”

“Oh, right,” Si Nan lowered his voice mysteriously, “when I blocked her with the mirror, it reflected Ruan Xin’s face. Guess what? She actually had a huge scar on her face!”