Yin Xiu remained silent, then reached out and waved his hand beside him, but his hand passed through the air and he caught nothing.
Do you think I would keep a pet that I can't touch?
Ye Tianxuan stared at his hand, lost in thought. As soon as he reached out, the tentacles that had been surrounding him immediately wrapped around his hand, their tips sticking to his fingers. The eyes on them were still trembling, seemingly very excited.
The long, twisting, jet-black strands were wrapped around Yin Xiu's clean arm; the stark contrast of black and white was surprisingly beautiful, even somewhat eerie.
"It's really not a pet?" Ye Tianxuan couldn't help but think that this thing seemed to be responding to him. "It came to me on its own?"
"Hmm." Yin Xiu nodded, ignoring the invisible black mass Ye Tianxuan described, and continued to reinforce the window with the hammer. Since he couldn't see it or shake it off anyway, he simply ignored it.
"You really do attract strange things quite easily." Ye Tianxuan nodded, already used to it. "Judging from its lack of hostility, it shouldn't be a big problem. It will show itself eventually."
As he spoke, he turned to look inside the room, "I saw you had a roommate in the dungeon earlier, right? Where is he?"
"They must have left," Yin Xiu replied calmly.
"should?"
"Or it's this thing right next to me right now." Yin Xiu pointed to his shoulder.
Ye Tianxuan's expression froze slightly.
What kind of creature is this roommate who can utter two eerie things in one breath, laughs sinisterly and has an unknown origin, and can even turn into invisible tentacles that stand by Yin Xiu's side?
"I reckon it's not a good thing..." Ye Tianxuan muttered, twisting the ring on his ring finger again.
As soon as it made a sound, the eyes on its tentacles turned sharply towards itself.
He could feel the chill lingering around him, which made his already uncomfortable body feel even worse.
Although the other party did not show hostility or warn him, they did indeed probe and sized him up.
"Alright, just don't get killed by those weird things. I came to tell you about the dungeon, and now that I've finished, I'll head back." Ye Tianxuan stood up, finished the rest of his tea in one gulp, waved, and left.
"Mm." Yin Xiu nodded, glanced at the sky outside. It was getting dark, and he would take a shower after dinner and then go to sleep.
"I hope the Night Goddess won't bother me tonight. I'm exhausted after just finishing a dungeon." Thinking this, Yin Xiu hurriedly went to the refrigerator, took out some meat he had bought, and piled it all into the iron bowl by the door in a particularly generous manner.
The small iron bowl was piled high with raw meat, more than the ones offered to the other rooms, which was enough to show his sincerity.
After finishing the last part of the repairs, Yin Xiu closed the doors and windows, locked them, and then went to make dinner. After eating and taking a shower, it got dark outside, and the sound of cats meowing began to fill the air.
Yin Xiu, who was washing his face in the bathroom, looked up at the mirror. He hadn't slept well before and had some dark circles under his eyes, but the night before leaving the dungeon, Li Mo had taken him to the Coffin Place to spend a peaceful night, and he slept very soundly, which made him feel much better.
He didn't know what Yin Xiu's purpose was, but he didn't hinder Yin Xiu from completing the dungeon, nor did he pose any danger. In fact, he made Yin Xiu's experience more comfortable, and Yin Xiu was less averse to his presence.
Out of the corner of his eye, he looked at his shoulder, wondering if there really was such a dark, sticky thing stuck to his side.
Generally, if Ye Tianxuan says he saw something, it really exists. But whether this thing is Li Mo is hard to say, since he has never seen Li Mo act in a similar way.
He reached out again and touched his shoulder. Apart from feeling that this area was even colder and seemed to have something real, he didn't actually touch anything substantial.
"Hmm..." Yin Xiu frowned and looked at his hand. It was as if a chill would creep up his hand if he touched it. He curled his five fingers and moved them around his wrist.
He touched it slightly, and the other person reacted quite strongly, showing no intention of pretending, just like Li Mo.
Yin Xiu shook his hands, trying to shake off the chill, but he couldn't shake it off at all, so he simply gave up.
He turned off the light, lay down on the bed, pulled the covers up, listened to the sounds outside the window, and waited for the Night Goddess to arrive.
Tonight, the Night Goddess arrived a little later.
A cold wind swept through the alley, and the dimly lit path was silent.
Two seconds later, a light, pattering footstep sounded, slowly making its way into the alley.
As always, she ate her way from house to house, until she reached Yin Xiu's house, where the chewing suddenly stopped.
There were no footsteps of her leaving, nor the angry knocking on the window; the silence only puzzled Yin Xiu.
He spent a lot of money to prepare a lot of meat, but surely Lady Ye still wouldn't be happy?
Outside the window, Lady Night stared blankly at the overflowing meat in the small iron bowl, lost in deep thought.
For the past six years, the small iron bowl that had been filled with either water or tea every day was now piled high with meat. She was still getting used to it, and the fun of knocking on the window to bother Yin Xiu every day was gone.
"Never mind." Lady Ye finished her bowl of meat quickly and reluctantly, then prepared to leave.
Before leaving, he felt uneasy again, so he turned back and knocked out two nails from Yin Xiu's window with a loud thud before leaving.
Upon confirming that Lady Ye had left, Yin Xiu finally breathed a sigh of relief. When he heard the knocking on the window, he thought that the night was going to be restless again, but now it was finally quiet.
"I'm going to sleep." Yin Xiu closed his eyes peacefully, preparing to welcome a peaceful night's rest.
As soon as things quieted down, the chill beside him began to stir restlessly, wriggling and climbing up Yin Xiu's body, silently wrapping around his waist until he finally calmed down.
Yin Xiu suddenly opened his eyes, his brows furrowed as he stared into the darkness.
Wait, this familiar feeling... how come it's exactly the same as that weird monster in the dungeon that haunts him every night??
Isn't that some kind of weird rule in the dungeon? He's already cleared the dungeon, there's no way he could have come out with him, so this strange sense of familiarity...
The room was silent for a few seconds before Yin Xiu's sinister voice rang out.
"Could it be that the monster in that dungeon is actually you?"
The chill on his body instantly receded, returning to a small, curled-up position that remained motionless.
In the darkness, Yin Xiu's cold gaze swept towards his pillow. Even though he couldn't see, he silently met the eyes on the tentacles.
His voice, laced with barely suppressed anger, said through gritted teeth, "You'd better not let me run into you in the dungeon."
The chill didn't move; Yin Xiu couldn't grasp or touch it, so he could suppress his anger, close his eyes, and continue sleeping.
After that, the room was quiet, and the chill did not dare to creep up again. Yin Xiu fell asleep quickly, but in his dream he kept frowning and muttering things like, "If you dare to come to my bed again, I'll chop you into eighteen pieces."
The tentacles curled themselves into a small ball, shrinking back and forth, without touching Yin Xiu again.