He was anxious to remedy the situation, but the narrow space did not allow him to turn around. He could only slightly tilt his body to keep their awkward positions from becoming too embarrassing.
Like a poor little animal cornered, with soft fur and dull claws unable to fend off the bad guys, he could only curl up.
Yanchuan’s heart raced.
He realized it was his own rudeness that had led him to bump directly against another person’s face.
Yet it wasn’t just him who felt awkward; Tangzhen had nowhere to back away to even if he wanted to.
He was unfairly cornered in the vent, leaving them in a situation that could only be described as crass.
The cramped space of the vent made it such that Tangzhen’s usually gentle face was pressed against unspeakable areas.
Through the thin, barely-there fabric, a tall nose brushed against him repeatedly.
It even rubbed against a part where the fabric sunk in…
Yanchuan bit his lip, his voice trembling, “I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to…”
Out of panic, his voice even had a hint of tears at the end.
Tangzhen remained silent; Yanchuan couldn’t see his expression, only hearing increasingly heavier breaths.
He bit his lower lip; his cheeks and neck flushed pink.
[Ah, Yanchuan looks so cute when he’s shy, just like a little kitty to mommy!]
[Wife’s expression must mean he got bumped into, right?]
[You lucky guy, first taking photos of your wife in a dress, now this? No one is treated as well as you!]
[Recorded this, family, let’s enjoy it later.]
Is he angry?
Yanchuan felt miserable inside.
To move forward, he had to crawl, using his elbows and legs to push himself forward; making any distance was already quite difficult, having to pause now and then.
Originally, Tangzhen had been keeping pace, maintaining a polite distance between them.
But just as Yanchuan froze for a moment, that distance became less than polite.
Unbeknownst if it was deliberate or accidental, he kept pushing against him.
Yanchuan had to make an effort to turn his head; the beam from the flashlight revealed a white, panic-stricken face.
“Don’t move…”
His lips were pale from being bitten, and his cheeks paled further; his misty eyes reflected a hint of watery light.
He looked pitiful, completely at a loss, as if tears would fall if someone spoke to him in a harsh tone.
His long, curled eyelashes trembled incessantly out of panic.
Soft.
That was Tangzhen’s first impression; in an instant, his mind halted, leaving only those two words.
The thin fabric felt warm against him as it pressed upon his face, offering no barrier whatsoever.
The small, overly prominent curve was completely exposed before Tangzhen, showing off a delicate and inviting softness along the graceful arc of the back.
The soft owner turned his head, panic evident in his expression, looking apologetically at Tangzhen.
He felt embarrassed by the accident and apologized profusely.
However, rather than feeling offended, Tangzhen felt… a strange sense of delight?
He confirmed his feelings, pinpointing it accurately as “delight.”
No one else had ever received such treatment; not even that silly dog who happily boasted about a few kisses.
In a hidden corner with a beautiful wife.
Tangzhen discreetly licked his jaw, a peculiar thought rising in his mind.
He wanted to touch a few more times; his mischievous side sparked, wishing to remove the fabric barrier and feel that softness against his skin.
“It’s fine,” as Yanchuan’s mind wandered, Tangzhen finally spoke, gripping Yanchuan’s hand and adjusting the flashlight: “What did you see?”
His voice remained calm, echoing in the hollow vent, causing Yanchuan to shrink back involuntarily: “Uh-huh.”
Fortunately, Tangzhen understood he hadn’t meant any harm and pointed softly: “To the right, there’s something…”
Tangzhen looked in the direction he pointed.
At the junction of the vent, in the pipe leading to the right, there was a mass of dark “something.”
With the flashlight’s beam, he could vaguely make out its outline.
It appeared to be about eighty to ninety centimeters tall, with twisted limbs, indicative of a human shape. Its empty eye sockets had rotted and decayed, merging with the tattered fabric, giving off a charred color with countless sores.
A foul stench wafted around, spreading in the cramped vent.
Yanchuan and Tangzhen locked eyes.
The smell they had just noticed came from this decayed mass.
“It’s a child,” Tangzhen asserted: “The clothing and body show varying degrees of decay; it’s been dead for a long time.”
Yanchuan nodded mindlessly.
Seeing this scene in the pitch-black vent was naturally terrifying; he tugged at his clothing, feeling a chill wash over his back.
What if he had come here alone?
Yanchuan imagined aimlessly wandering into the darkness with a flashlight; the beam might illuminate something, or he could stumble right into the decaying corpse, face-to-face…
Or perhaps at the wrong moment, this corpse might “come to life,” making eye contact with them through those hollow sockets…
He pressed his lips together, fingers almost turning white.
“This is…” Yanchuan hesitated: “Is it the source of the crying child we heard when we entered the instance?”
He recalled the scene from the first day they entered the instance.
“Maybe,” Tangzhen provided a noncommittal answer: “It’s closely related to Room Five.”
He noticed Yanchuan’s lips tightly pressed and moved the flashlight away to prevent him from looking any longer.
“Let’s go,” Tangzhen’s voice rang in Yanchuan’s ear: “We’ll head to Room Five and verify exactly who it was.”
Subscribe
Login
0 Comments