032. I'm Afraid You Won't Be Able to Sleep

"Don't you like this song? I'll change it then."

Lu Ban immediately switched songs, a young child's voice singing a gentle melody.

"A great river, wide and wavy, with rice flowers fragrant on both banks."

"No."

"This is the heart's calling, this is love's dedication, this is…"

"That's not it!"

"You are like a fire in winter, a blazing flame warming my heart."

"That's not what I'm talking about!"

Qin Tiantian interrupted Lu Ban's song switching.

"Can you sleep listening to this at night?"

She had heard of counting horses to fall asleep, heard of listening to thunder for sleep, and heard of falling asleep in three seconds with eyes closed. But this was the first time she'd heard of sleeping to a Spring Festival Gala playlist.

And these songs were from thirty or forty years ago, weren't they?

Older than Lu Ban.

They say when heaven opens a door for one person, it closes another window.

It made sense that Lu Ban, so handsome, didn't have a girlfriend and didn't even have a girl around him.

Qin Tiantian thought.

"If you don't listen to these, I'm afraid you won't be able to sleep."

Lu Ban explained with a serious expression.

"?"

Qin Tiantian was stunned.

How could she possibly not be able to sleep with this music playing? Only a ghost would be able to sleep to this!

"Are you sure you want to turn it off? Some very bad things might appear later."

Lu Ban confirmed repeatedly.

". It's all special effects!"

Qin Tiantian hesitated for a moment before stating with certainty.

"Oh."

Lu Ban immediately turned off the music player, covered himself with the blanket, and lay down on the chair.

Qin Tiantian also burrowed back into the covers, hugging her shark plushie.

She soon fell into a deep sleep.

For some reason, Qin Tiantian, who should have felt insecure, felt incredibly comfortable sleeping on Lu Ban's bed, just like being at home. After just lying there for a while, she was sound asleep.

She didn't dream, but Qin Tiantian felt something approaching her.

A cold, soft, delicate hand seemed to gently brush across her face.

Qin Tiantian's consciousness cleared slightly.

Is it Lu Ban? Is he attacking me sneakily while I'm asleep, breaking the rules of engagement?

She tried to open her eyes but felt her eyelids were heavy, unable to open them at all.

Qin Tiantian felt the hand move from her cheek to her neck, and then, some kind of force pressed down on her neck, trying to strangle her to death!!!

The girl felt a suffocating sensation, trying to kick her legs, but her body felt as if it had been filled with lead, completely immobile.

In the darkness, where she couldn't even make a sound, a voice suddenly rang out.

It was the melody of some music, calming the mind, with a solemn and majestic feeling in the middle.

Hearing this sound, Qin Tiantian immediately felt her body relax, and the pressure on her neck gradually disappeared. She opened her eyes.

"What are you dreaming about?"

Qin Tiantian was about to scold Lu Ban for sneak-attacking her, but she found that in the dim room, Lu Ban was sitting in a chair in a corner, holding his phone, its screen brightness the only light source. He was covered by his blanket, a distance away from her, clearly not having just returned to his seat.

And only then did Qin Tiantian realize that her hands were crossed in front of her, fingers clutching her neck as if trying to strangle herself!

"!!!"

Qin Tiantian froze, almost tightening her grip.

"Pfft, pfft, pfft!"

She quickly let go and sat up, not forgetting to pull her slipping collar back up.

"What happened to me just now?"

Qin Tiantian looked at Lu Ban in disbelief. He remained unmoving, only looking in Qin Tiantian's direction.

No, to be precise, he was looking at a certain empty space behind Qin Tiantian.

Her fur completely bristled, Qin Tiantian's neck stiffened. She felt as if something was perched on her shoulder, as if turning her head would reveal the tattered Lan Lan Lu doll grinning mockingly at her.

Lu Ban remained silent, simply opening his phone's music player.

"Will you recall tomorrow, the diary you wrote yesterday?"

The melodious song echoed through the room late at night, diluting some of the terrifying and eerie atmosphere.

Lu Ban set his phone aside, calmly opened his computer, and continued playing the song through the computer's player. He locked his phone screen, placed it to the side, then turned his chair to look at Qin Tiantian.

"There's no problem, you can sleep."

"???"

Qin Tiantian felt as if she'd been doused with cold water from head to toe, her mind filled with unanswerable questions.

This is no problem?

There were huge problems here!

"Well, I'm not too sure either. Normally, they're hostile towards each other. I don't know why they're cooperating against an outside threat today, but don't worry, I've already warned them. If they cause trouble again, I'll start playing music by young boy idols." Lu Ban explained.

"'They'?"

Qin Tiantian felt the muscles on her back twitching. Despite it being summer, she was breaking out in a cold sweat.

"Didn't I tell you before? There are some strange things in my room."

Lu Ban looked like a waiter who had warned a customer about the extreme spiciness far exceeding normal expectations, but the customer, still insistent on ordering the super-large, extra-spicy portion in front of their girlfriend, ended up unable to speak from the heat halfway through and was sent to the hospital. Subsequently, the accompanying girlfriend was chatted up by a handsome guy at the next table, and the waiter could only honestly clear the plates.

"Weren't those special effects?"

Qin Tiantian clutched her shark plushie pillow.

"Do you want to hear their stories? I gave them names, one is Ah Zhen and the other is Ah Qiang. One day…"

Lu Ban asked immediately.

"N-no, it's fine. I'll sleep now."

Qin Tiantian immediately lay down, pulling the covers over her head.

"Women are really troublesome."

Lu Ban sighed and picked up his phone.

The icon on his phone had changed to the option for The Silent Land.

He checked the mission completion status.

So far, the fan count had just reached 13,000, but compared to before, it had more than doubled!

Lu Ban couldn't help but wonder what was wrong with this world, as the clicks and fan growth from his meticulously edited and posted videos were far inferior to getting traffic from streamers who already had fans.

"It's still a bit slow."

Hearing Qin Tiantian's steady, sound sleeping breaths from under the covers, Lu Ban thought to himself.

"How about I do a giveaway for a repost?"

Lu Ban conceived of an idea. He didn't have much money, and a few hundred yuan could only attract a limited number of fans. It would be better to do something unique.

For example, bringing someone along on his next exploration seemed like it would be very good.

Just as he finished drafting the copy and was about to post it, Lu Ban had second thoughts.

The dangerous forbidden lands and haunted houses he explored were places where people watched Lu Ban court death for entertainment. If it were their turn to go, they would definitely be unwilling.

It would be better to change it to giving the prize to someone who could bring a designated person along. This way, people could get revenge for grievances, settle scores for grudges, and everyone would be happy.

"As expected of me."

Lu Ban affirmed himself, modified the copy, and was just about to send it when his phone suddenly rang with the default ringtone.

He hurriedly turned down the volume, so as not to wake Qin Tiantian and disturb the peace. He looked at it; it was an unknown number.

Calling in the middle of the night, was there a problem somewhere?

Lu Ban answered the phone.

Thank you all for your rewards, monthly passes, and recommendation tickets!

Please vote!

Thank you to "Jialan" for the 500 coin reward, thank you to "Night Hawk Soaring" for the 300 coin reward, and thank you to "Yakumo Kaguya", "xiaotang246", and "Book Friend 160819165106713" for the 100 coin rewards!