Chapter 181: Cold

Lin Yin kept comforting Liu Hui, saying that she also loved her very much. She said many things about treating her well and taking good care of her in the future.

Liu Hui finally stopped crying and even started to act a little shy. She had longed for this love for a long time, and now happiness came so suddenly. Everything felt like a dream.

Lin Yin now felt her head was twice as big as usual. She only wanted to coax Liu Hui first, to prevent her from killing herself because of her. As for how to deal with this mess after Lü Yang came back, she couldn’t worry about that for now.

…

Night at the Mountain Peak Hotel.

Poor Lü Yang, he deeply regretted staying in Lin Yin’s body. During the day, he provoked Yang Lin and Wu Yunfei and caused a lot of trouble for her. However, he didn’t know that Lin Yin, in his body, had caused him even bigger trouble—a super big problem that would give him a massive headache in the future…

Because he had played too wildly and got too excited in the bathroom, after the excitement, he felt extremely tired. After returning from the bathroom to the room, Lü Yang fell onto the small bed and quickly fell asleep.

As he slept, Lü Yang suddenly felt very cold, so cold that he suddenly woke up from the freezing sensation.

What was going on?

The drowsy Lü Yang sat up and found the room’s light was on. Gong Xue was not on the big bed but stood by the window. The room’s window was wide open, it was raining heavily outside, and the cold wind blew in from the window.

“Sister Gong…” Lü Yang called out to Gong Xue, feeling a bit strange. What was she doing standing by the window in the middle of the night? And wearing so little? The wind by the window was so strong; wasn’t she afraid of catching a cold?

Gong Xue did not answer Lü Yang. She still stood by the window, not moving at all, as if she hadn’t heard Lü Yang call her.

Lü Yang felt even more puzzled and also vaguely sensed that something was not quite right.

“Sister Gong, why aren’t you sleeping?” Lü Yang put on his clothes and slippers, walked over to behind Gong Xue, and asked. It wasn’t for any other reason—the window was open, and it was too cold. Lü Yang was freezing and couldn’t stand it. Lin Yin’s body wasn’t as resistant to cold as his own body used to be.

Gong Xue still didn’t say a word. She just stared out the window, standing there motionless. Rain blew in from outside, soaking Gong Xue’s body and leaving a large wet patch on the floor by the window.

“Close the window, it’s too cold!” Lü Yang took another step closer, trying to pull Gong Xue away from the window so he could close it…

Gong Xue suddenly turned her head around.

Looking at Gong Xue’s face, Lü Yang let out a loud scream, stepped back several steps, tripped over the edge of the bed, stumbled, and fell to the ground.

Gong Xue’s face was the same as the face in the mural in the Mountain Peak Village Ancestral Hall—it had no eyes, nose, or mouth, just a smooth face and a pair of ears… Although Lü Yang was quite brave, suddenly seeing Gong Xue’s face like this in the middle of the night, unprepared, he couldn’t help but scream.

“Have you… seen the Mountaintop Demon’s smile?” Gong Xue suddenly spoke. Even though she had no mouth on her face, the sound still came out…

Then she turned around and stepped closer and closer to Lü Yang.

Lü Yang got up from the ground, not bothering with the clothes that had fallen, turned around, and ran. He took a few steps to the door, pulled it open violently, and rushed out…

The hallway was quiet, with no one around. Only the faint sound of heavy rain from the window at the end of the corridor could be heard… After running a few steps toward the staircase, Lü Yang again felt that something was not quite right.

Lin Yin was a girl. Was it really appropriate for her to run around outside wearing only small underwear and panties?

“Yinyin? What are you doing running outside in the middle of the night?” Gong Xue’s voice suddenly came from behind Lü Yang, making his skin crawl.

After all, Lü Yang had experienced several Mysterious Domains before. If he weren’t trapped in Lin Yin’s weak body now, he wouldn’t be so scared. Even so, he was still braver than most people.

Lü Yang turned around and looked at Gong Xue standing by the door.

Her face looked normal, with eyes, nose, and mouth all there… She looked at Lü Yang with a strange expression, as if she hadn’t been standing by the window earlier but had been woken up by the sound of Lü Yang opening the door and running.

Was she human or a ghost?

Was her face gone earlier because the Mysterious Domain had opened, or was it his own hallucination?

“Did you have a dream? Come back to the room…” Gong Xue walked over from the door, step by step, approaching Lü Yang, and reached out her hand to try to pull ‘her’.

A wave of disgust and cold fear rose in Lü Yang’s heart. He dodged Gong Xue’s hand, turned around, and quickly ran toward the staircase.

“Yinyin! Yinyin!” Gong Xue shouted after Lü Yang.

Lü Yang quickly rushed down from the third floor to the first floor, where he finally saw a person at the entrance service counter.

A staff member of the Mountain Peak Hotel.

But that person was lying on the table, seemingly asleep, and showed no reaction to Lü Yang’s arrival.

It was raining heavily outside. Trying to leave the hotel at this time would be impossible without the tour bus.

Where could he hide for a while?

No, he couldn’t just run away like this—Yi Ya was still upstairs…

Thinking of Yi Ya, Lü Yang forced himself to calm down.

There were no ghosts in this world.

What happened earlier was likely a hallucination, caused by the opening of the Mysterious Domain or some other unknown reason, just like the hallucinations that appeared in his Rented Room last night.

If he ran around everywhere, not only would it not solve the problem, it might even lead to more serious consequences.

He should go back to the room first, confirm whether this was a hallucination or not, and then… the solution might be the same as last night—just sleep, and it would be fine.

…

“Yinyin? What’s wrong with you in the middle of the night!?”

After going upstairs, Lü Yang ran into Gong Xue at the third-floor staircase entrance. She had already put on her clothes and pants, clearly preparing to go downstairs to look for Lin Yin.

Behind her stood Gong Jian and the boy sharing the room with Gong Jian. Both were only in their underwear, with clothes draped over their shoulders. They had obviously been woken up by Gong Xue and dragged along to help find Lin Yin.

“I had a dream, a very scary nightmare,” Lü Yang said, lowering his head and hugging himself, explaining to Gong Xue.

“You scared me!” Gong Xue complained to Lin Yin. Judging by her expression, she had indeed been badly frightened.

“Yinyin, don’t be afraid, we’re here with you!” Gong Jian handed the clothes he was wearing over to ‘Lin Yin.’ The other boy tactfully went back to his own room.

“Put it on for her!” Gong Xue glared at Gong Jian.

Gong Jian scratched his head, looking somewhat hesitant. Lü Yang grabbed the clothes he offered and wrapped Lin Yin’s body with them.

The three of them returned to the room together. Lü Yang quickly walked over to the window and saw that it was closed properly, and there was no water stain on the floor by the window…

Was it really just a hallucination earlier?

“Yinyin, have some hot water. It’s okay, don’t be afraid.” Gong Jian brought a cup of water over to Lin Yin, his eyes turning to Gong Xue, clearly indicating that Gong Xue had asked him to get the hot water.

Lü Yang turned and looked Gong Jian over. This boy was tall, big, and quite handsome, not slick or cunning at all. He seemed like a nice guy, probably a good match for Lin Yin.

However, during the time Lü Yang was staying in Lin Yin’s body, he wouldn’t make any decisions for her in this regard.

“Thank you.”

Lü Yang took the cup, went back to his small bed, placed the cup on the bedside table, covered himself with the sheet, took off Gong Jian’s clothes, and returned them to him.

“I’m right next door. Call me if anything happens.” After taking his clothes, Gong Jian said to Lin Yin and Gong Xue, then turned and walked out of the room, closing the door behind them.

“What kind of nightmare was it? It scared you so much you ran outside in the middle of the night?” Gong Xue asked Lü Yang after lying back down on the big bed.

“Dreamed about the Mountaintop Demon’s smile. Sister Gong, do you know that legend?” Lü Yang tried asking Gong Xue.

“The legend that says during a thunderstorm in the middle of the night at Mountain Peak Village, you can see the Mountaintop Demon’s smile? Ah… that’s just seniors scaring the new students. Don’t listen to their nonsense… How could there be any demons in this world?” Gong Xue spoke in a dismissive tone.

Lü Yang didn’t say anything more. Was it a dream earlier? If it was a dream, how did it connect so seamlessly with now? If it wasn’t a dream, then what was the faceless Gong Xue about? A hallucination? A hallucination in the Mysterious Domain?

Lü Yang closed his eyes… confirming that the Eerie Computer was in his field of vision, and the Eerie Card was also in a usable state…

Was he in the Mysterious Domain now, or in the Real world?

Lü Yang’s mind grew more and more confused.

“I’m turning off the light, sleep now. Don’t overthink things. If you’re scared… just… call out…” Gong Xue originally wanted to say, ‘If you’re scared, come sleep over here,’ inviting Lin Yin to sleep on the big bed. But recalling that they had actually kissed in their sleep earlier, she swallowed her words and changed what she was going to say.

“Mm.” Lü Yang nodded, lay down on the bed, and closed his eyes.

Whether it was a dream or a hallucination from the Mysterious Domain… maybe, like last night, when he woke up, everything would naturally disappear.

…

Wishes were beautiful, but reality was cruel. Before long, Lü Yang woke up again.

So cold!!!

Even colder than when he woke up earlier.

So cold that Lü Yang’s teeth chattered.

The dazed Lü Yang suddenly opened his eyes…

Water…

Not water…

Torrential rain poured down from the sky, soaking him completely through…

Where was this place? The wilderness? Wasn’t he sleeping in the room at the Mountain Peak Hotel? How did he get here?

Lü Yang wiped the rain from his face and sat up groggily, only then realizing that he had been lying in a rectangular pit.

Why did it feel… like a Coffin Pit?

Although it was storming, there was no standing water in the rectangular pit. Upon closer observation, one could see some small gaps at the bottom of the pit where the rainwater was seeping down.