Sure enough, the knocking outside didn't last long before the door, which should have been tightly closed, was pushed open.
In an instant, the temperature in the room plummeted, and a chilling atmosphere filled the room.
Jiang Nuo hugged Si Yan tightly, her breathing steady to the point of being almost imperceptible.
A cloud of black mist approached.
A pair of crimson eyes could be faintly seen in the black mist, their pupils vertical, unlike human eyes.
It leaned down and stared intently at Jiang Nuo.
One second, two seconds.
Black Mist: "..."
Why isn't this person breathing?!
Undeterred, it raised its hoof-shaped hand, peeking out from under its black cloak, sensing the movement from a subtle distance.
... Why isn't there even a heartbeat!
This is a dead man!
The black mist remained silent.
It slowly turned its head and stared at the other man who was sleeping while holding the dead body.
Si Yan didn't move; she remained fast asleep.
The black mist raised the iron pestle and pounded it on the bed board a few times, its eerie and resentful aura binding the entire bed.
Si Yan still didn't wake up; in fact, she slept even more soundly.
They knocked a few more times, so hard that the whole bed was shaking.
Si Yan turned over and went back to sleep.
The black mist paused for a few seconds in anger, then decisively went to the next room.
The moment they left the room, Jiang Nuo and Si Yan opened their eyes at the same time and looked towards the door.
Si Yan asked in a whisper, "Do you want to go and see?"
Jiang Nuo shook her head, hugged him, and lay down. "Sleepy."
The black mist went to the next room.
Qi Lin was a light sleeper; he woke up at the slightest noise, clutched the blanket tightly, and pretended to be fast asleep.
But his acting skills were clearly lacking. The black mist noticed his deception after only a short while and prepared to take away his meal.
Just as he took the iron pestle, a cloud of Demonic Qi descended, and a blood-red phantom appeared.
Qi Cang's illusory figure surrounded the bed, coldly staring at the black mist, as if anyone who dared to lay a hand on the person in bed would not return that night.
The black mist, sensing it couldn't defeat this demon, muttered, "..."
The campaign got off to a bad start.
I wish I hadn't chosen the hotel.
The black mist cowered and slipped away silently, leaving not a trace.
Qi Cang was worried that it would come back, so he sat silently by the bedside, stroking Qi Lin's cheek, but he couldn't actually touch it.
Qi Lin was pretending to be asleep, noticed this and slowly opened his eyes, looking at his lover whom he could never touch.
"Go to sleep," Qi Cang said.
Qi Lin raised his hand and vaguely traced Qi Cang's face through the air. Even though it was an incredibly familiar face, even though they were the closest people in the world, they still couldn't embrace each other.
"Can we find your body?" Qi Lin asked.
Yes, it will.
Qi Cang answered in the same way, his gaze fixed on his lover with a longing he had never shown before in thousands of years.
The departing black mist lingered in the corridor, choosing to try another room over leaving the hotel.
It went straight to the last room on the other side of the corridor.
Inside the room, Yue Qian lay awake, unable to fall asleep.
Whenever I close my eyes, all I can think about are things from the past: my brothers being brutally killed by Jiang Nuo, the team falling apart, barely escaping only to be killed by some inexplicable force, and finally, being returned to the real world.
The past feels like a dream, but when the nightmare ends, my brother is gone forever.
Yue Qian never thought his older brother had done anything wrong. People are selfish; he only caused Jiang Nuo to lose an eye, but in the end, the compensation was a life.
Yue Qian was unwilling to accept defeat, so he sought revenge.
He stared intently at the ceiling, his mind racing, trying to think of ways to kill Jiang Nuo. Only when he heard the noise outside the door did he remember the little girl's instructions: to get a good night's sleep.
Yue Qian immediately closed his eyes, but it was too late.
The black mist suddenly rushed in, getting right Yue Qian.
Beneath the enormous cloak were a pair of triangular eyes that hung upwards, with vertical, blackish-red pupils and protruding fangs.
It resembles a demon from some mythology, but it hasn't shaken off human characteristics, making it look somewhat like a hybrid.
Yue Qian remained silent, reaching behind him to grasp something in the blanket—a bone knife.
The only thing I brought back from the dungeon world.
The black mist let out a hiss and lunged forward.
Yue Qian avoided its eyes, instinctively feeling he couldn't look, rolled off the bed, and plunged the bone knife deep into its socket, only to miss.
The black mist had no physical form, but it still gave Yue Qian a chance to get out of bed and hide.
Yue Qian dodged a few times, seemingly not good at direct combat, and flicked a few nails from his sleeve.
The nail froze in mid-air, then swayed into bizarre shapes with the movement of the wrist.
In this standoff, the black mist went from initially probing the human to realizing that he only possessed strange abilities, and then directly resorted to smashing him down with an iron pestle.
Yue Qian was caught off guard and had no items from the dungeon. He was quickly overwhelmed by the immense strength of the black mist, and was thrown to the ground, slamming hard against the cabinet, his head bleeding profusely.
Blood clearly held a deadly attraction and stimulation for the black mist, Yue Qian gradually weakened, its soul even showed signs of leaving its body.
Blood blurred his vision. Yue Qian used the bone knife to support himself as he stood up, swaying unsteadily, his mind filled with only one thought.
He can't die yet, since he hasn't killed Jiang Nuo with his own hands.
He let out a low growl, raised the bone knife high, and charged forward with all his might.
The noise coming from that room could be heard by people in other rooms.
Sano Kurotsuki hesitated for a moment, considering whether to go out and save the people, but after struggling, he gave up.
It's simply not worth risking your life for some random Hua Country who appears out of nowhere.
Another while passed.
The noise gradually subsided.
Yue Qian was covered in blood and completely exhausted.
He opened the door blankly, let the black mist dissipate, and then threw out the empty cloak.
In the corridor, Yue Qian noticed out of the corner of his eye that there was another person standing opposite him. He was standing in the dim light, and could only be seen by the moonlight to make out that it was a person.
He immediately became alert, gripping the bone knife tightly in his hand, and saw the man slowly emerge from the dim shadows, a smile on his face.
" Jiang Nuo..."
Yue Qian gritted his teeth, "You actually dare to show your face."
Jiang Nuo curled her lips, and a black knife suddenly appeared in her hand, one she had never drawn before.
"How can I sleep when I haven't even personally seen you off?"
The appearance of that knife caused Yue Qian's already dwindling sanity to collapse even further.
"You killed my brother! And you even dared to steal his weapon!"
Yue Qian, almost spitting fire, his fists clenched so tightly they cracked.
Jiang Nuo tilted her head, smiling innocently, "Why not take advantage of it?"
"Wouldn't it be better to use his knife to kill your brother?"
"I kill you!"
Enraged, Yue Qian disregarded his own serious injuries and drew his sword.
He was struggling terribly, but Jiang Nuo, like a fighting dog, would slow down every now and then toy with Yue Qian, leaving bloody marks on Yue Qian's body.
He was covered in blood, his eyes were bloodshot and swollen, and his face was contorted in a grotesque expression.
At this moment, Yue Qian looked almost indistinguishable from a monster.