They entered East Castle, and although the dawn was beginning to break, the interior remained pitch black.
A wall sconce appeared every ten steps or so, illuminating a small circle of the hallway.
The five men walked slowly down the long corridor, their bodies heavy with exhaustion.
The thick Persian carpet muffled their footsteps, and since everyone was drained, no one felt like speaking.
No one wanted to turn on a flashlight either; the dim environment seemed to offer a sense of peace after a night of patrolling.
As Zhao Xiao Shu walked, a source of heat pressed against his back.
It was warm, almost leaning against him.
Zhao Xiao Shu was already irritable from the thoughts swirling in his mind.
Who was this, unable to walk properly? He was exhausted too!
However, he had offended his companions quite badly earlier that morning, so he didn't feel like complaining for fear of becoming a target again.
Perhaps seeing that he hadn't reacted, the heat source behind him leaned in completely, even wrapping its arms around his body.
What the hell!
Just as Zhao Xiao Shu was about to turn around and snap at them, he suddenly froze.
The team had reached a corner, and the flickering candlelight on the right cast the shadows of four people ahead of him.
Four people?
Right, he was the one walking at the very back.
Then what was behind him...?
A chill ran through Zhao Xiao Shu's entire body. He opened his mouth to scream, but before any sound could escape, the mass of heat behind him suddenly lunged, enveloping him entirely.
Zhao Xiao Shu felt as if he were wrapped in a mass of rotten meat. Foul-smelling liquid washed over his nose and mouth; he felt as if he were trapped inside a balloon filled with water.
The Persian carpet muffled every slight movement as Zhao Xiao Shu struggled desperately and helplessly.
The thing that had caught him slowly dragged him back into the darkness where the candlelight couldn't reach.
...
Nan Yue looked for Gu Xiang Kai's figure as soon as she woke up in the morning, only relaxing once she saw him in the dining area.
She hadn't left the five-story western-style building last night, only wandering around the corridor, but the river of red light and shadow had stayed on her mind.
There was no denying that the color was very faint and almost unnoticeable if one didn't look closely, but as a scavenger, Nan Yue knew that even the slightest clue could affect their lives.
What exactly was that thing?
When Nan Yue entered the other rooms last night, everyone was immersed in sorrowful dreams.
However, these dreams didn't seem to last very long; by the time Nan Yue finished her rounds, everyone's expressions had returned to normal.
Bai La La gave Nan Yue a signal; she had been keeping watch inside, and nothing unusual had happened.
Furthermore, Bai La La had conducted an experiment. After Nan Yue had been gone for a while, Bai La La pushed Su Hong a few times.
But Su Hong didn't wake up.
Yet, Nan Yue hadn't had much trouble waking Bai La La just now.
This meant that escaping the nightmare of the crying woman required more than just external help; one had to realize something was wrong on their own.
When Bai La La pushed Su Hong, although she didn't wake up, her brow furrowed, showing she clearly sensed something was off.
But when Bai La La went to push the nearby natives, they had absolutely no reaction, completely unaware of the external disturbance.
After Nan Yue returned, Bai La La shared this clue with her. Now that the dream of the crying woman had ended, the two of them went back to bed for a while.
Once she confirmed Gu Xiang Kai was fine, Nan Yue went to find Zhu Xi Ning.
"The sound of a woman crying? Of course I heard it!"
Zhu Xi Ning yawned. "I knew something was wrong the moment I heard it and found I couldn't wake up, but these little guys gave me a hand."
Zhu Xi Ning flipped her wrist, and several tiny ants appeared in her palm.
"Later, I heard movement in the corridor, but I didn't go out to look."
Nan Yue had warned Zhu Xi Ning at the time that no matter what happened at night, she shouldn't leave her room on the first day.
"Yeah, that was me outside."
Zhu Xi Ning was speechless. It seemed the rule about not going out only applied to everyone else.
"How are the others in your room?"
Zhu Xi Ning was meticulous in her work. "They were all trapped in a nightmare. I tried waking a few, but it was useless; they couldn't seem to sense the outside world."
"And I feel like their sadness was even heavier, as if their dreams were more painful and harder to accept."
"It seems that as long as we stay in the manor, we'll be plagued by nightmares when we sleep at night. If it goes on for too long, they might not wake up even with external help."
Zhu Xi Ning looked at the women passing by as they washed up and lowered her voice. "But they all seem normal. I didn't feel any mental attacks before I woke up last night."
Nan Yue nodded slightly. She also felt that, aside from the empathetic sadness, the dream last night didn't cause any actual harm.
While the two were talking, Bai La La hurriedly approached with Su Hong.
"Miss Nan, about last night..."
Nan Yue comforted her with a few words, telling her not to worry.
"The reason we didn't wake you abruptly last night was that we wanted to compare the results, and I was worried there might be restrictions if you woke up. But now it seems that isn't the case."
Su Hong didn't blame Nan Yue for not waking her. It was her own lack of ability; she couldn't rely on others for everything.
This was something Su Hong had learned over her many years as a scavenger.
What she needed to do now was cooperate fully with Nan Yue and hope that Nan Yue would give her a hand.
"Do you remember what you dreamed about last night?"
Su Hong frowned. "It was just a woman crying. Hearing it made me want to cry with her."
"But it didn't last very long. I fell into a deep sleep for about half an hour afterward."
Nan Yue looked at Su Hong thoughtfully. "Did you sense something was wrong while in the dream?"
Su Hong blushed slightly, feeling a bit embarrassed. "I just vaguely felt very sad, but I didn't realize anything was wrong."
It was likely because Su Hong hadn't noticed any issues internally that Bai La La hadn't been able to wake her easily.
"Do you feel unwell in any way today?"
Even though Zhu Xi Ning's ability was exceptionally sharp at detecting mental attacks, Nan Yue asked just in case.
"No."
Su Hong shook her head with certainty.
Then what exactly was the point of that dream?
After Nan Yue promised to have Bai La La wake her up at night, Su Hong breathed a sigh of relief.
"Miss Nan, my abilities are average, but I will cooperate with you with everything I have."
Nan Yue readily agreed.
Nan Yue didn't see Jiang Siyan during breakfast. She heard the butler group had gotten up early and was busy with today's work assignments.
However, Nan Yue didn't get a chance to speak with Gu Xiang Kai either, because he was called away halfway through his meal.
The ones called away were all the men from the security group.
Did something happen?
In that moment, Nan Yue couldn't tell if they had simply grown accustomed to such things or if they didn't care at all.
These people had acted normally at first, chatting, gossiping, and looking at attractive people.
Rate on N.U.
