Wishing to Stop Time

However, Bai Yuze knew well that he could not just sit and wait for death in the current situation. The most important thing right now was to gather intelligence; as for whether Yang Peng's hint was correct, Bai Yuze decided he would find out once he looked into it.

Thinking of this, Bai Yuze quickly searched the man's corpse. After confirming that only the scalpel remained on the body, Bai Yuze stood up, stuffed the milk candy into his pocket, and handed the note from his pocket along with the one he had just found to the two women.

"Remember the rules above. This is the key to our survival."

After saying this, Bai Yuze poked his head out the door. After confirming there were no strange phenomena in the hallway, he took a deep breath and pushed open the wooden door of 101.

What met his eyes was still a dilapidated bed, but unlike 104, this room had a nightstand.

The cabinet was divided into two levels. Bai Yuze opened the drawer and found it empty, and the same went for the bottom level.

"Is there nothing in this room?"

Yang Peng said he had scattered the hints in every corner of the Sunshine Residence. Could it be that he meant every corner in the literal sense?

Bai Yuze stood frozen in place. He stared at the nightstand, thinking for a moment, then yanked both drawers out forcefully and crouched down to look.

Sure enough, a note was stuck to the remaining space inside.

[Today is my first week at the Sunshine Residence. The room is strange; it refreshes supplies at irregular intervals. Honestly, this feeling is not pleasant. There are always noises of small children at night, coming from the floor above, but my intuition tells me that going up to reason with them is a foolish act.]

[Monday: The clock in the hallway is broken. It stays stuck at a certain time, so I can only use my phone to determine the time. You need to rest at night, otherwise, your body will become exhausted.] ＜Red bold text＞ (Even if you can't sleep... you must stay in your own room!)

[Tuesday: I think I should go find some information, but I cannot go to the floors above. Whether it is day or night, it seems the time in the residence does not rely on the outside world but on certain things inside...]

[Wednesday: It's so strange. The sound of chopping things comes from upstairs from time to time, lasting for an entire day.]

[Thursday: The environment is becoming increasingly eerie. Moss has started to grow on the surrounding walls, and the residence is beginning to get damp!]

[Friday: I feel my memory starting to decline, so I am incredibly glad that I made a habit of recording my daily life.]

[Saturday: I discovered that as long as I don't sleep at night, I can...] ＜The text following this has been scribbled out with a black crayon.＞

[Sunday: I almost died when I was a child @#@#￥#@%% I have a bad premonition. This feeling is exactly like the sensation humans face when they are about to die!]

The content on the note ended there, but the information within revealed quite a lot.

"What can you do if you don't sleep at night?"

Bai Yuze fell into deep thought while looking at the note. It was obvious that the destruction of the Saturday message was the work of Him, which revealed two pieces of information.

First, the note had long been discovered by Him, and it was likely that some of the rules on the note had already been modified by Him.

Second, something peculiar happens if you don't sleep at night, and the phone in Tuanzi's hand could be used to check the time. However, Bai Yuze always felt that the fact that only Tuanzi had a phone was not that simple.

Bai Yuze decided to form an alliance with the two women before proceeding with further exploration. After all, the only thing that could confirm the time was in Tuanzi's hands; whether by logic or emotion, forming an alliance with the two women was necessary.

"Tsk! Although in my past life I knew the underwear of these anime characters like the back of my hand, standing in front of me now are living, breathing people! Dealing with people and social situations! It's so troublesome!"

Bai Yuze tugged at his school uniform in annoyance, and a scene that shocked him occurred!

He saw three marks on his left wrist, looking as if they had been slashed by a sharp object, and the force did not seem deep.

In this strange world, Bai Yuze's vigilance was at its peak. Forget about scratches; even if a fly flew past, he would have to confirm whether it was male or female!

Therefore, upon seeing the three scratches on his wrist, he immediately began to check his body for anything else.

Just then, the two women outside pushed the door open, wanting to ask Bai Yuze some questions, and so...

"Ah!!! Pervert!"

In her panic, Tuanzi accidentally threw the phone away, and in order to save this important tool, Bai Yuze lunged toward the two women without hesitation.

Bai Yuze gripped the phone tightly in his right hand, and seeing the phone intact, he let out a sigh of relief.

As everyone knows, when a person is in a state of panic, if one hand exerts force, the other hand will subconsciously exert force as well.

"Ugh! It... it hurts!"

Hearing a soft moan from beneath him, Bai Yuze only then noticed what his left hand was doing!

Terrified, he immediately stood up and performed a ninety-degree bow combined with a dogeza.

"I am very sorry, but I didn't do it on purpose!"

Yukino silently helped Tuanzi up. She had been watching the whole time. At first, seeing the other person shirtless, she was a bit surprised and thought he was an exhibitionist, but now it seemed...

Not only was he an exhibitionist, but he was a brazen, lecherous exhibitionist!

Bai Yuze felt the heavy atmosphere in the air, so he put on his clothes and gave a sheepish smile to the two women.

"Sorry about that. I only acted that way because three scratches inexplicably appeared on my wrist."

Bai Yuze scratched his head, showed the scratches on his wrist to the two women, and added.

"You should also check if you have any injuries on your bodies."

After saying this, Bai Yuze fled 101 as if escaping, ducked into 102, and closed the door behind him.

Bai Yuze leaned his back against the door and caught his breath. Ever since the Gui Dan strengthened his body, his senses were far beyond ordinary people. He hadn't been able to process it a moment ago, but now, that soft sensation began to replay in his mind automatically...

Although Bai Yuze was currently separated from the two women by a hallway and two doors, he could still clearly hear the sound of clothes being removed and other noises...

That sounded like... snoring?

"Snoring?"

Bai Yuze stood up. He first glanced at the corpse in front of him, and after confirming that the corpse was still lying there quietly, he shifted his gaze elsewhere.

"This location is..."

Bai Yuze pushed open the Gate of Opening and walked out. Only his footsteps echoed in the corridor. As he drew closer to room 106, the snoring sound became increasingly distinct.

At the same time, he noticed a clock hanging on the wall between room 104, where he had previously been, and room 106.

The clock lacked a glass cover, and its hands were firmly fixed at a certain time.

"Twelve-thirty at night? No, it could also be exactly twelve noon."

Suddenly! Bai Yuze's pupils trembled!

Why did I subconsciously think it was twelve at night? Logically speaking, with the lights this bright...

"Wait! The lights!"

Bai Yuze finally realized why he had subconsciously assumed it was midnight: if it were noon, there would be no need for the lights to be on at all!

Therefore, the basic common sense that lights are turned on at night led Bai Yuze to subconsciously assume it was nighttime, and he had also subconsciously interpreted the time on the clock as midnight!

Bai Yuze turned on his phone. Although Tuanzi had set a lock screen password, checking the time was still possible.

The screen clearly displayed:

21:30

That rule instantly flashed through Bai Yuze's mind.

[The soundproofing of residential houses is sometimes poor. For your safety, everyone is strictly forbidden from going out at night.]

"It matches! Everything matches. Because the soundproofing is poor, the snoring sound is coming through..."

Bai Yuze swallowed hard. He dared not recall the second half of the rule... He felt as if something was standing right behind him.

Now, Bai Yuze could be certain that something was indeed standing behind him, because a pair of large hands had already climbed onto his shoulders...

A bead of cold sweat slid down Bai Yuze's forehead.

He forced himself to endure the terror in his heart, reached out to nudge the hour hand on the clock, and set it to nine o'clock in the morning.

Click!

The lights went out!

Bai Yuze felt the pair of hands clinging to his shoulders vanish.

He collapsed onto the floor, gasping for air. He felt incredibly fortunate that he had remembered another hint.

[It seems the time in the residential house does not rely on the outside world, but on certain things inside.]

Bai Yuze stood up and took the clock down; such an important item had to be carried with him.

On the back of the clock was a note, with a sentence written in crooked, slightly childish handwriting.

[If only time could stop.]