Who doesn't love money?
Lu Yibei, for one, quite liked it. Although he wasn't exactly short on money, his upbringing taught him that only with sufficient capital could one pursue their dreams.
Even though he still had the inherent confusion about the future that most teenagers possess, and hadn't decided what kind of person he wanted to be, saving more money was always a good idea.
Worst case, after graduating from university, he could return to Peony Street, renovate the old house, and open a restaurant.
No, perhaps opening a bar would be better?
Every day, he would host tourists from all corners of the world, listen to their stories, sell them overpriced drinks, and accompany them as they drowned their sorrows, only to find more sorrow.
In his free ti, he would write so spiritual swill like “Amitabha, Get Lost!” and his life would have a touch of romanticism.
So, Lu Yibei felt no pressure at all when he suggested “a raise” to An Qing.
“I want more money!”
“Pfft—!” An Qing covered her lips, smiling. “I find you more and more interesting. Shouldn't a normal person, upon hearing about danger, first consider how to ensure their safety?”
“Of course I want to ensure my safety!” Lu Yibei rolled his eyes. “But, I always feel I can’t trust you guys. Instead of seeking illusory safety from you, it’s better to hold actual benefits in my hand.”
That’s right, who would turn down money?
Lu Yibei not only distrusted Jiang Li, who used him as bait to fish for Mr. Rabbit, but after his “intimate” contact with An Qing, he also beca sowhat distrustful of her.
After experiencing An Qing’s cold body temperature, this beautiful woman suddenly lost her charm. Lu Yibei always felt a strong aura of death emanating from her, as if he were facing a talking corpse.
“By the way, can you make the decision about the raise? If not, I’ll go talk to that limping girl later.”
“Hehe, it’s rare to find young people as frank about their desires as you are now,” An Qing chuckled. “I can decide on the raise. To so extent, our six main mbers have equal rights.”
“Six?” Lu Yibei tilted his head, puzzled. “But didn’t I see seven doors? Or is it that the predecessor of your organization was actually the ‘Six Gates’?”
“There were originally seven people, but one died, and we haven’t found a suitable replacent yet,” An Qing said lightly, a faint smile still on her face as she spoke, as if losing a companion had no impact on her.
“If you want to see her, I can take you. Her figure is excellent, one of the best female specins I’ve dissected.”
“No, no, let’s not disturb her!” Lu Yibei quickly shook his head. I’m not you!
After spending ti with An Qing, Lu Yibei discovered that this beautiful older sister almost never went five sentences without ntioning specins and corpses, showing an inexplicable obsession with dead people!
Indeed, there isn’t a single normal person in the entire Night Watch, is there?!
...
By the ti Lu Yibei returned to the Gujin Shu Embroidery Handicraft Store, it was almost dark. Su Mi was busy closing up shop.
Lu Yibei helped Su Mi clean up the shop, then they made do with the leftover lunch for dinner, and the sky completely darkened.
Under the night sky, the wind rustled the willows, osmanthus fragrance wafted, the deep alleyways, with their dark tiles and ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) white walls, wooden doors and old locks, were bathed in the gentle moonlight, and fallen leaves danced, seeking a new resting place.
Peony Street, after dusk, gradually shed the dayti hustle and bustle. There were no pedestrians left on the street, only an occasional light boat slowly glided under the stone bridge, unwilling to break the current tranquility of the night.
In the attic of the Gujin Shu Embroidery Handicraft Store, bright lights illuminated the embroidery fra, with white silk stretched taut on the hoop, and colorful threads hanging down on one side, like a distorted rainbow.
Su Mi’s thick fingers skillfully threaded the needle, completely imrsed in the world of embroidery.
Despite his rough appearance, once he entered work mode, it was as if a different soul inhabited that crude body.
It made one think of the skillful and dignified embroiderers of the ancient street from long ago.
Lu Yibei didn’t want to disturb Su Mi at work. After quietly watching him for a while, he got up and returned to the room Su Mi had prepared for him.
Back in the room, Lu Yibei carefully took out the mingwang statue from his guitar bag, wiped it simply with a wet tissue, then turned off the light and lay on the bed, hugging it.
Outside the window, a drunkard stumbled past, autumn cicadas chirped in the treetops, and cars sped along the empty streets in the distance. These various noises did not break the night’s tranquility; instead, they made it even more peaceful and profound.
In this tranquility, Lu Yibei’s emotions gradually settled, and he began to ponder.
Today’s events were strange. In the past, strange sights seen during the day were always blurry, without any sense of reality. Only in his dreams did he see scenes that felt real.
Was it because of that file, or because my “problem” had worsened?
That file said the police determined Zhu Linglong committed suicide, but they didn’t find a suicide tool, yet still made that judgnt, which is very strange!
Moreover, it’s impossible for a person to both hang themselves and disembowel themselves without assistance. They couldn’t have missed so many suspicious points! It’s not like everyone in the police station is a StarCraft player, right? There must be so hidden truth here!
However, what does a hidden truth have to do with ?! The file states that the mber only knows how to cook and do splits. If I suddenly claid to have found the murder weapon through a dream, it would be strange if I wasn’t considered possessed by Weird tale!
Given Jiang Li’s character, hearing sothing like that would surely lead to a stay at Yun Kang ntal Hospital! I don’t have the ability to “fly over the cuckoo’s nest.”
Lu Yibei lay there, quietly contemplating. Moonlight spilled onto his face through the window. He gradually grew drowsy, and his thoughts shifted from recent bizarre experiences to various past events.
He rembered swimming and catching fish with Su Mi in the old street’s canal when he was little, his father’s side profile illuminated red by the firelight in the kitchen, and that crush he once loved to death but whose face he could no longer recall...
These all allowed him to clearly feel that he was still alive, that he had survived that tragic car accident.
Then, without realizing it, he fell asleep and had a dream.
He dreamt of the school playground, his classmates running wildly on it, and the girl he once had a crush on. Everything was shrouded in a hazy mist, not quite clear, but possessing the beauty of seeing flowers through a fog.
The sunlight back then was much brighter than now. Chronologically, it must have been a physical education class one afternoon. The girl was wearing sportswear, her long legs making her shorts seem to reach her upper thighs.
She sat alone on the horizontal bar, her dark ponytail hanging behind her. Sunlight shone on her fair face, as if everything beca brighter.
She smiled sweetly, waving at Lu Yibei. Faced with such a dream invitation, Lu Yibei gladly accepted, jogging over, climbing onto the horizontal bar, and sitting beside her.
Lu Yibei smiled and said to her, “Are you thirsty? I’ll buy you a drink!” He could only smile so naturally in his dreams.
The girl shook her head.
“Then are you hungry? I’ll make you noodles!”
The girl, “...”
After a mont of silence, the girl suddenly said, “I didn’t commit suicide!”
Lu Yibei was stunned, then suddenly rembered sothing. He then quietly slid off the horizontal bar, preparing to leave, but the girl grabbed his wrist.
“They were all affected by the residual power in the room, which is why they made such an absurd judgnt! I’m not reconciled!”
“Then...” Lu Yibei twitched his mouth, weakly saying, “Why don’t you try harder? Nothing is impossible in the world!”
The girl seed not to hear him. Her expression beca increasingly distorted, her face turning green, her tone growing more urgent, her voice sharp, and the strength in her hand increasing, her fingernails digging deep into Lu Yibei’s flesh.
“You must find that pair of scissors and tell my father the truth!”
“Because...” As the girl spoke, a pair of blood-stained scissors suddenly appeared in her hand for so reason, and she plunged them into Lu Yibei’s abdon, “Because, you saw it!”
Lu Yibei clearly felt a chill penetrate his flesh and blood. Sothing slick and viscous gushed out of his body. After a long while, unbearable pain began to spread from his abdon. Excessive blood loss made his consciousness blur. He staggered back a few steps, his vision went black, and his body tilted backward.
...
“Ah!”
Lu Yibei cried out, waking from the nightmare. He stared blankly at the dark ceiling for a mont, then slowly exhaled a breath.
A dry sensation in his mouth and throat ca over him. He licked his lips, preparing to get up for so water, when he suddenly realized his body was strangely heavy, as if sothing was pressing him firmly onto the bed, unable to move at all.
He opened his mouth, wanting to call Su Mi, but found his throat was constricted, unable to make a sound.
“Thump—thump—!”
Vaguely, he heard faint footsteps approaching from a distance, getting closer and closer, sounding like they were stepping on so viscous liquid.
He glanced out of the corner of his eye in the direction of the footsteps. The room door was tightly closed, only a faint silhouette visible in the darkness.
“Thump—thump—!”
The strange footsteps were getting closer, and a feeling of anxiety and oppression spread through Lu Yibei’s heart.
The footsteps paused outside the door for a few seconds, then with a “creak,” the old doorknob gently turned. The door opened, revealing no one outside, just a dark void. Su Mi was nowhere to be seen.
Lu Yibei felt all his pores open. A chill swept over him, and all his senses seed to heighten. His body still couldn’t move, so he could only hold his breath, waiting for sothing to happen.
The entire room was silent for a few seconds. Suddenly, the bed vibrated. Lu Yibei gritted his teeth, not daring to breathe loudly.
Imdiately after, the bedside vibrated again. This ti, by the moonlight, he saw two depressions appear on his quilt, as if soone was stepping on the bed, and then they vanished in an instant.
Lu Yibei felt his heart was about to leap out of his throat, but at that mont, the room quieted down, and the oppressive force on his body also vanished.
His body could move again, but Lu Yibei didn’t dare to. He cowered, slowly burrowing into the quilt. Just as the quilt was about to cover his eyes, a drop of viscous liquid fell onto his forehead, followed by a second, a third...
“Drip—drip—drip—!”
Suddenly, a pair of delicate, floating feet entered his field of vision.
A chill instantly felt like a swarm of evil insects, burrowing into his body, ravaging and biting along his blood vessels and bones, truly making him understand the aning of the word “hair-raising.”
The girl with her long dress stained with blood was hanging from the ceiling, her back to him. She slowly turned around, a grueso wound on her stomach continuously gushing blood. Her pale face bore an expression that was hard to tell if it was pain or a demonic smile, and her eyes were a murky white.
“Scissors...” she said. “Find the scissors and give them to my father.”
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