Chapter 157: So Afraid of Cold?
Chapter 157: So Afraid of Cold?
“Is he human or a ghost?”
Tang Jinbiao stared at the Eighth Room, his eyes filled with fear. At that moment, he was squinting too; under normal circumstances, he would have spotted that figure clearly. Yet after the person entered, their spiritual energy seemed to vanish completely—Tang Jinbiao couldn’t detect even a trace of it.
“And the strangest thing was that foul stench—I only smelled it for that one instant!”
Tang Jinbiao began breathing again now, but he didn’t catch another whiff of the stench. It was as if nothing had ever happened.
“Wait—someone who lives here must be Wang Qinian!”
Tang Jinbiao instantly realized the figure he’d glimpsed was likely Wang Qinian.
“Oh well, human or ghost, since we’re living under the same roof, I might as well greet him.”
After hesitating briefly, Tang Jinbiao made up his mind.
Knock, knock, knock!
He slowly approached the Eighth Room, gently rapped on the door, and said: “Friend, I apologize for my earlier offense. Please forgive me. If you don’t mind, could we speak with the door open?”
Wang Qinian inside the room seemed to still be furious with Tang Jinbiao; there was no response.
“Friend, if you—”
Tang Jinbiao tried again to apologize to the occupant, but abruptly—for no reason—he felt a shudder of terror, as if being watched by a single eye. He whirled around.
“Who’s there?”
That instant, Tang Jinbiao sensed something behind him, yet when he turned, he found nothing.
“Hmm?”
Tang Jinbiao’s brows knitted deeply. He also glanced down to check for any shadow or trace below, but disappointedly, only his own shadow lay on the ground.
“Friend, I’m Tang Jinbiao, your roommate. Since we’ll be sharing this place starting today, I hope you’ll be understanding!”
Tang Jinbiao turned back toward the Eighth Room, voiced the words without waiting for Wang Qinian’s reply, and trudged wearily toward the first room.
Squeak!
Upon reaching the first room, Tang Jinbiao slowly pushed the door open, ignoring the dust coating the floor. He retrieved several glowstones from his storage pouch and placed them inside the desk’s lamp holder.
“Hmm, I’ll just rough it for tonight. I’ll clean up tomorrow!”
The room brightened, revealing thick layers of dust blanketing everything. Tang Jinbiao frowned slightly but brushed it aside, accepting the situation.
After clearing a small patch of floor, Tang Jinbiao sat cross-legged and gradually eased into a state of rest.
……
A quarter-hour later.
Tap, tap!
Just as Tang Jinbiao felt himself drifting drowsily toward sleep, a sudden certainty gripped him—something was watching. His eyes snapped open, darting around wildly.
“Nothing?”
But after scanning the area for a moment, Tang Jinbiao found nothing. His brow furrowed.
“I know I’m right—that thing was definitely moving closer to me. So why can’t I see it now?”
Tang Jinbiao did not doubt his own perception.
“Hmph! Once you stop being startled by strangeness, the strange will be defeated!”
The room wasn’t large. After searching for a moment and finding nothing, Tang Jinbiao snorted disdainfully and slowly closed his eyes once more.
As Tang Jinbiao closed his eyes, darkness enveloped the world again.
“You! Come out!”
Suddenly, moments after he had closed them, Tang Jinbiao snapped his eyes wide open.
But the room remained utterly quiet and still. Nothing was there.
“Huh? Could my perception really have been mistaken?”
Utterly certain there was no trace of anything amiss, Tang Jinbiao found his own feeling rather strange.
“Could it be Wang Qinian playing tricks?”
Unable to find the source of the problem, Tang Jinbiao’s gaze inevitably drifted towards the direction of the Eighth Room, and he muttered under his breath.
“Hmm, it’s quite possible. If that Wang Qinian was normal, so many people wouldn’t constantly be moving away. I’ve only been here one night, and I already feel restless and fiery!”
Remembering the rumors about Wang Qinian, Tang Jinbiao became somewhat convinced that this was likely Wang Qinian’s doing.
“Hmph, forget it. Endure a moment for calm waters and a peaceful wind!”
Just who Wang Qinian really was, Tang Jinbiao didn’t know well. Having just arrived at the Divine Wind Academy, plus his own natural temperament, he didn’t want to stir up trouble.
Thinking this way, Tang Jinbiao closed his eyes again.
…
Half an hour later.
Tang Jinbiao had completely entered deep meditation, even emitting soft snores.
“Hehe!”
But right at that moment, a face abruptly appeared above the doorway of the room, letting out a low chuckle.
Thump!
“Who’s there?!”
As if sensing something, the soundly asleep Tang Jinbiao instantly snapped his eyes open, staring fixedly at the door as he bellowed.
Whoosh!
However, the instant Tang Jinbiao opened his eyes, the face above the door vanished in a flash.
“Damn it!”
Tang Jinbiao was thoroughly riled up. He stood, flung the door open, and walked out, heading straight towards the Eighth Room.
“Wang Qinian! I called you a friend to give you face! Don’t push me too far! Push me too hard, who knows what I might do?!”
Tang Jinbiao arrived at the door of the Eighth Room and roared. But inside, there was still no response whatsoever.
“Hmph!”
After a while, seeing that there was still no response from within, Tang Jinbiao snorted again and returned to his own room.
After returning, Tang Jinbiao once again sat cross-legged, preparing to rest. Of course, his constitution would be fine even after a month without rest; it was merely habit.
…
One hour later!
Tang Jinbiao fell asleep once more.
“Hehe!”
Right as Tang Jinbiao fell asleep, a face slowly began to materialize on the wooden panel again. The features were indistinct, only eyes, nose, and mouth visible, but it was unmistakably a face.
Thump!
Tang Jinbiaok body jolted awake instantly, a primal reflex jerking him back to consciousness even though he had just drifted off.
“Son of a bitch!”
This time, Tang Jinbiao woke up with a face full of fury. With a powerful bang, he kicked the door off its hinges. Pulling the Frost Silver Spear from his ear, he charged over to the front of the Eighth Room.
“Wang Qinian, you bastard, come out here!”
Tang Jinbiao brandished the Frost Silver Spear, pointing it at the Eighth Room’s door, roaring loudly.
Indeed, this scene bore a striking resemblance to those people during the daytime.
BANG!
There was a difference, however. Those people during the day had only cursed; Tang Jinbiao took action. He delivered a massive kick to the door. With a heavy thud, the door swung open.
“Nobody?”
Seeing the room completely empty, Tang Jinbiao paused, momentarily confused.
“Hmph! Dare play tricks on me? I’ll fucking kill you!”
Finding it empty, Tang Jinbiao turned and landed a resounding kick on the Seventh Room’s door, sending it crashing open. Yet, the Seventh Room was equally vacant.
“I’ll fuck your ancestors!”
Cursing loudly after finding no one, Tang Jinbiao stomped over to the Sixth Room and delivered another powerful kick that blasted it open.
BANG BANG BANG!
In the blink of an eye, the doors of all eight rooms had been kicked open. Without exception, aside from thick layers of dust, the rooms were utterly empty inside.
“Wang Qinian! I’ll fuck your ancestors! Got guts? Come out here! If I don’t rip you apart today, my name isn’t Tang Jinbiao!”
Tang Jinbiao stood in the middle of the courtyard, bellowing furiously at the rooms with their doors hanging open.
BOOM!
Seemingly overcome by rage, Tang Jinbiao slammed his Long Spear down into the earth.
CRACK CRACK!
Unfortunately, he really shouldn’t have thrust it in. The instant the spear struck the ground, a sheet of thin ice instantly radiated outwards from its point of impact, spreading rapidly in all directions.
“This?”
Witnessing the astonishing effect of the Frost Silver Spear, Tang Jinbiao couldn’t help but stare, momentarily stunned.
“Ahhh! Help me!”
At that moment, a piercing cry suddenly echoed from behind Tang Jinbiao.
“Who’s there?”
Hearing the cry, Tang Jinbiao whirled around and bellowed.
As he turned, he immediately spotted a man in filthy blue robes curling himself into a ball, wailing atop the thin layer of ice.
“B-b-b… brother! Your subordinate Wang Qinian knows his mistake! Please, put that thing away! I’m afraid of the cold! Afraid of the cold!”
That man was none other than Wang Qinian. However, he genuinely seemed terrified of the cold now—his body already encased in Frigid Ice, trembling as he lifted his head to plead with Tang Jinbiao.
“What?”
Tang Jinbiao felt a slight shock upon recognizing Wang Qinian’s face. He merely stabbed his Frost Silver Spear into the ground in annoyance. He hadn’t expected it to produce such an effect.
“Save me! Save me!”
Wang Qinian’s eyes brimmed with desperation as his body trembled uncontrollably. Though his features were hard to make out, one could vaguely see his face had turned deathly pale, as though he’d crawled from a pile of corpses.
“Why did you hide here to frighten me?”
Naturally, Tang Jinbiao couldn’t easily forgive this man who repeatedly disturbed his rest. Gripping his spear, he demanded an answer. But he didn’t pull Frost Silver Spear from the ground, fearing Wang Qinian might escape in the blink of an eye.
“B-b-b… b—”
Wang Qinian stammered, unable to finish speaking before his body suddenly stiffened. He fell backward with a thud.
“What?”
Watching Wang Qinian collapse like a block of ice left Tang Jinbiao baffled.
He didn’t feel particularly cold from Frost Silver Spear’s chilling aura—perhaps it just wasn’t that frigid, or he’d grown accustomed to it. Instead, he strangely found it comforting.
C-creak! C-creak!
The fallen Wang Qinian trembled incessantly. But it lasted mere moments before his body fell utterly still, covered by a thin layer of Frost Crystals as if frozen solid.
“Huh? Could he really be dead just like that?”
Tang Jinbiao couldn’t quite believe Wang Qinian might’ve frozen to death.
Thinking this, he cautiously reached toward Wang Qinian’s nostrils to check for breath.
“Fuck me, he’s dead?”
Not checking was one thing; the check nearly scared Tang half to death.
“Motherf—%￥%￥￥!”
Tang Jinbiao swore violently. He immediately retrieved Frost Silver Spear, scooped Wang Qinian off the ground, and sprinted away…