After ten o'clock, the lights in the rooms had to be turned off, and the travelers strictly adhered to this rule, returning to their rooms and extinguishing all lights before the hour struck.
Yet, just one minute past ten, a piercing scream tore through the silence.
The occupants of the rooms shuddered, not daring to make a sound.
Wen Sisi sat in her room, clutching her blanket and trembling. She could tell the scream had come from downstairs, and it was a woman's voice—meaning the victim was likely neither Wen Yaoyao nor Gu Moleng.
Even so, the thought that someone might have died filled her with deep unease.
Just then, she heard knocking from the room next door.
Who would dare move around at a time like this?
Wen Sisi cautiously cracked her door open a sliver, and in the dim moonlight, she barely made out the silhouette of a man—Jiang Du.
"Wen Yaoyao, are you okay?"
Wen Yaoyao peeked halfway out of her room, her voice quivering as she whispered, "I... I'm fine."
But her trembling body and shaky voice betrayed her. Naturally timid and soft-spoken, she was so terrified by what had happened that tears welled in her eyes.
Watching through the crack in her door, Wen Sisi mused that Jiang Du, who always seemed so aloof, must actually have feelings for Wen Yaoyao. Risking danger to check on her at a time like this showed just how important she was to him.
The thought made Wen Sisi think of Gu Moleng, and her heart ached.
At the start of their relationship, Gu Moleng had been utterly devoted to her. But at some point, he'd grown impatient, claiming that Wen Sisi was becoming less and less like the person he'd imagined her to be.
Yet she had always been this way since the day they met. How could she have changed?
With a heavy heart, Wen Sisi closed her door—missing the sight of another figure ascending the stairs: Gu Moleng himself.
When Gu Moleng saw Jiang Du standing outside Wen Yaoyao's door, his expression darkened.
Alone in her dark room, Wen Sisi was genuinely afraid. She took a sip of water, burrowed under her blanket, and resigned herself to a sleepless night. But against all odds, her consciousness grew hazier until she finally drifted off, sinking into an abyss of darkness.
She dreamed of standing before a crimson door, her hands and feet icy, drenched in cold sweat.
The town had been bathed in clear skies during the day, but by midnight, a fine drizzle had begun to fall.
The woman's scream from the inn was so shrill and agonizing that it echoed into the streets.
Xia Miao tilted her head, puzzled, as she watched her boyfriend cover his ears. "What are you doing?"
E Gui responded sluggishly, "Thunder. Scared."
"There's no lightning, so how could there be thunder?" Xia Miao swatted his hand away, muttering under her breath. "If it weren't for your toothache, we wouldn't be out here in the middle of the night. I heard wild beasts from the mountains sometimes appear in this town—and they eat people!"
At the mention of "eating people," she exaggeratedly widened her eyes, feigning terror and clawing at the air as if to scare him.
E Gui processed her words slowly, his eyes gradually widening. His stiff expression made him look both dumb and endearing. "Eat people. Scared."
Xia Miao clung to his arm. "So take better care of your teeth from now on! Then we won’t have to go out at night, and we won’t risk running into man-eating beasts!"
His eyes darted around before he nodded in agreement.
As the rain grew heavier, Xia Miao quickly hopped onto his back. He pulled out a large raincoat, enveloping them both, and carried her forward without complaint.
Xia Miao grew drowsy, but the cold wind and the patter of rain jolted her awake. When she opened her eyes again, her expression twisted in exasperation.
E Gui was tilting his head back, mouth wide open, letting the raindrops fall in as if he were a silly dog playing in the rain.
With a sharp smack, Xia Miao snapped his jaw shut. "How many times do I have to tell you? Rainwater is dirty! You’ll get sick if you drink it. No eating!"
He let out a quiet "Oh," lowering his head with a mix of dejection and grievance. "Before... always ate. Thirsty. Fine."
Xia Miao tugged at two strands of his hair. "Before was before, now is now. You’re under my care, and what I say goes—no eating things you shouldn’t."
E Gui’s eyes suddenly brightened. "Someone... cares for me."
"Exactly! I care for you!"
Something about those words struck a chord in him. A single unruly strand of hair sprang up from his dark head, swaying slightly, mirroring the gleam in his pitch-black eyes.
He was happy.
"Miaomiao... want to do."
Xia Miao hastily covered his mouth. "Could you not be so shameless in public?!"
He tilted his head and blinked.
When they first started dating, E Gui could barely string a sentence together, as if his lack of human interaction had robbed him of speech. Xia Miao often had no clue what went on in his head, so she told him to just say whatever he wanted.
Now, he never hid his desires—when he wanted her, he said so outright.
And yet, she found it all the more endearing.
Leaning close to his ear, Xia Miao whispered, "Fine. You like playing in the rain, right? If you make me happy tonight, I’ll let you stay out a little longer."
His eyes lit up, and his usually sluggish body suddenly sprang to life as he sprinted toward home.
Past midnight, the inn was eerily silent.
Hidden in the shadows, the creatures waiting for the travelers to break the rules rubbed their hands in excitement.
"Perfect. It’s been so long since I’ve played with humans."
"I’m still hungry. I want to kill a few more."
"This batch of lambs seems particularly foolish."
They whispered among themselves, giggling as they exchanged macabre topics. The lingering scent of blood thickened the air, making the atmosphere even more oppressive.
Just as they prepared to strike again, the sound of dripping water echoed from the staircase.
The creatures in the dark turned in unison to see a tall, slender figure.
Water dripped from the yellow raincoat, the hood obscuring the face beneath, leaving only a glimpse of black hair draped over the chest. The figure was indistinct, exuding an icy aura—especially the hand with blackened nails gripping a blade still smeared with dark brown blood.
The figure in the yellow raincoat lifted its head, revealing a pale, distorted face beneath the hair. A stitched mouth stretched into a grin, sharp fangs protruding.
And with that motion, faint red marks became visible on the pale neck and collarbone—indecent, lustful traces. But in stark contrast to the debauched air of someone thoroughly ravished was the overwhelming malice now radiating from the figure.
He gripped the knife and advanced slowly, the eerie "hee hee hee" laughter sounding like a death knell.
Before long, the inn was filled with the wails and howls of tormented spirits.
