No time to waste!

Ten minutes later, Lu Yibei appeared in a corner near the community's artificial lake, holding a kitchen lighter and a bottle of purified water.

"Click—click—! Whoosh—!"

He lit the lighter, controlling the orange flame as it slowly approached the paper ball.

Although this behavior might seem overly paranoid, being idle was also idle, so finding something to do for peace of mind wouldn't hurt.

A gentle breeze blew, the flame flickered, and the paper ball, small, helpless, and afraid, swayed gently in the wind, making a "rustling" sound.

"What are you afraid of? Weren't you quite skilled when you scared me just now?!"

Lu Yibei cursed under his breath, and with a decisive move, he extended his hand and lit the paper ball.

Under the embrace of the flames, the paper ball quickly collapsed, deformed, and emitted an unpleasant burnt smell.

The smell didn't resemble burning paper at all; instead, it was somewhat like burning animal fur.

Could it be that he had inadvertently unlocked the correct way to use a flyer?

Hmmm, probably not! Lu Yibei thought.

Night was about to fall, and the square dancing grandmas, who had finished their final revelry before dark, were rushing home.

As they passed near the artificial lake, some square dancing grandmas smelled the burnt odor and looked in the direction it was coming from, pausing slightly.

Not far away, a young man wearing a red Coat was squatting by the artificial lake, his posture like a large toad, completely absorbed in watching the flickering firelight before him.

The dim yellow light shone on the red-clad youth's face, which was like a dead person's, completely devoid of expression, making it look as if he was performing some ancient and mysterious ritual.

Just watching for a few seconds felt like their life force was being drained away.

The grandma snapped back to reality, muttering under her breath, "What in the world is this? Trying to scare people to death!" Not daring to linger, she hurried away.

"Huh? Did someone just say something?" Lu Yibei shrugged, "Never mind."

The paper ball burned much slower than Lu Yibei remembered normal paper burning. It took him a full twenty minutes to completely burn the paper ball into ash, and then a few more minutes to flush all the ashes into the artificial lake with purified water.

By the time he returned, the sky had completely darkened.

...

Upon returning home, as soon as he opened the door, Lu Yibei saw the Coat he had worn today on the sofa.

On the gray fabric sofa, the Coat lay in a strange heap, looking like a freshly peeled hide.

Staring at the Coat, Lu Yibei's eyes swelled with an inexplicable pain. In a trance, he even saw a wisp of pale white mist lingering around the Coat, like a grotesque parasitic animal.

Damn it! Why is my Coat also problematic!

What should I do! I bought it for several hundred yuan, wouldn't it be a bit too wasteful to throw it away?

How about selling it on Xianyu tomorrow?

Tonight...

...let's just air it outside?!

Thinking this, Lu Yibei went upstairs, found a clothes pole, hooked the Coat onto it, then opened the window and hung the Coat outside the window.

After being busy for half a day, Lu Yibei finally had some free time. The long-dormant hunger gradually surfaced. After lounging on the sofa for a while, he slowly made his way to the kitchen to prepare a simple dinner for himself.

It wasn't that he didn't want to order takeout, it was just that ordering takeout after dark was definitely a luxury expense.

Not only were there very few restaurants open at night, but the delivery fees were also ridiculously high. Sometimes, the delivery fee was even much higher than the takeout itself!

Even so, there were rarely brave individuals despite the high rewards, as nighttime takeout delivery was a high-risk profession these days.

Not to mention the Weird tale that often happened to delivery guys, like a tentacle reaching out from behind a door to grab the meal, or delivering to the order address only to find it was a graveyard. Even customers who ordered takeout were at risk.

Lu Yibei had previously seen a Weird tale post online, saying that takeout ordered two years ago on a certain night had still not arrived.

To this day, he still receives notification messages from the delivery guy every night saying, 【Delicious food is being delivered, please wait patiently】.

Changing phones, changing accounts, canceling orders were all useless! The missing delivery guy was unexpectedly persistent.

Every time a nighttime takeout order is placed, a delivery guy might encounter danger. Protecting delivery guys starts with me!

Therefore, Lu Yibei felt that doing it himself was more convenient and safe.

If something really happened, he couldn't just drag the delivery guy over and burn him like he did the paper ball, right?

After all, besides the Weird tale circulating in the city, our country also has a complete and perfect set of criminal laws.

After finishing dinner and spending some intimate time with White Little Flower, drowsiness gradually set in.

After quickly washing up, saying goodnight to Mr. Great Sun Tathagata, he went upstairs, put on his eye mask and earplugs, and threw himself into bed.

To get his eyes checked, Lu Yibei had traveled across half the city and rushed around all day. He was already very tired. As soon as his head touched the pillow, his eyelids began to feel heavy, and before long, he fell into a deep sleep.

...

Night was already deep.

Under the night sky, the crescent moon's glow, like pale smoke, had a faint rosy tint. In the dry early autumn wind, a red and white color-blocked hoodie Coat hanging on the outside of the apartment building swayed with the breeze, like it was awkwardly performing a strange dance.

"Rustle—rustle—!"

A sound like some rodent grinding its teeth came from the left pocket of the hoodie. Along with the faint noise, something in the pocket wriggled, and then a pitch-black paper square nimbly jumped out of the pocket, paused in mid-air for a few seconds, and then...

...began its free fall.

Like an illusion, a mournful cry came from the wind.

...

When Lu Yibei opened his eyes again, he saw a hunched figure standing in the dim light of the streetlamp, like a tall, hunchbacked man.

The man's body was completely wrapped in a black cloak. He held a candelabra with dim yellow light in his hand, and his whole being exuded an aura that made Lu Yibei feel uneasy.

Seeing this scene, Lu Yibei subconsciously wanted to leave, but found that he couldn't move at all, always maintaining a not-too-far, not-too-close distance from the man.

The scene before him was somewhat yellowed, his perspective locked. He was like watching an old movie, merely an observer.

The man walked along the street, entered a residential area, and went into a building.

The pitch-black corridor stretched endlessly. The man in the black cloak walked through it, almost blending into the darkness.

The rusty iron doors on both sides were all tightly shut. When the wind blew, they made a faint "creak, creak" sound, giving people the illusion that a door might open at any moment, a hand might reach out, and pull passing pedestrians inside.

The man walked through the corridor and stopped in front of the iron door at the end of the corridor. Holding the candelabra in one hand, he gently knocked on the iron door with the other.

"Dong dong dong—!"

After knocking three times symbolically, the man asked in his featureless, strange voice, "Is anyone there? If not, I'm coming in!"

In the darkness, there was no response.

The man grasped the doorknob and gently twisted it. The iron door opened with a "click," as if it hadn't been locked.

This was a very ordinary one-bedroom apartment. The four walls were smoothed with white putty, the floor was covered with ordinary white tiles, and the simply decorated living room contained a television, a coffee table, and a blue sofa, a common rental apartment decoration style.

The man walked into the room without turning on the light. After wandering around like a lonely ghost for a moment, he sat down on the sofa, quietly waiting for something.

Time flowed slowly in the dead silence. After an unknown period, the sound of a woman's laughter and fumbling for keys was heard outside the door.

The next moment, Lu Yibei's vision suddenly distorted with light and shadow. Immediately after, his sight shifted from the man wearing the pitch-black cloak to a woman.

The woman was wearing an ordinary light gray business suit. Her face was blurry, her appearance unclear. She was drunk and seemed somewhat disoriented, fumbling in her bag for a long time before taking out the key and opening the door.

This was a very ordinary one-bedroom apartment. The four walls were smoothed with white putty, the floor was covered with ordinary white tiles, and the simply decorated living room contained a television, a coffee table, and a blue sofa, a common rental apartment decoration style.

The identical decoration and layout instantly made Lu Yibei realize something. His mouth fell open, wanting to shout and warn the woman.

Run! Run! Someone is in your apartment!

However, he was as if his throat was being squeezed by a pair of hands, unable to make a sound.

He was just an observer. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

After entering the room, the woman didn't turn on the light. After kicking °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° off her high heels, she stumbled towards the bedroom, muttering full of resentment.

"You old geezer, you're always there to take advantage when drinking, but when I ask for a raise, you just play dead!"

"Sigh! When will my miserable life finally get better!"

Returning to the bedroom, the woman took off her Coat, crumpled it into a ball, tossed it aside, and then collapsed onto the bed. Before long, the sound of even breathing echoed in the bedroom.

Along with the sound of breathing, time seemed to stretch out, each minute and second passing exceptionally slowly. Yet, Lu Yibei couldn't change his direction of sight and could only quietly watch the unsuspecting woman sleep soundly.

Damn it! What should I do now? That man is still in the apartment! Lu Yibei thought.

Perhaps he was still in the living room, perhaps he had hidden somewhere, or perhaps he was approaching.

Lu Yibei's heart was in his throat. Excessive anxiety and restlessness, a discomfort only felt during severe motion sickness, surged over him, causing his stomach to begin slight spasms.

Just at this moment, the woman suddenly woke up and heard a faint "rustling" sound coming from under the bed.

"Are there mice?"

The woman mumbled, leaning half her body over the side of the bed to look underneath.

A furry head abruptly emerged from the darkness. Its lifeless eyes, like glass marbles, were blood-red, and its split lip curved upwards in a bizarre arc, revealing a smile.

In the dead silence of the darkness, the woman and Mr. Rabbit met each other's gaze...