After the Little Crybaby Enters the Nightmare Cycle

For a moment, slight panic flashed on Bai Yingzhi’s face but she covered it very quickly. She quickly hid the knife-like murder weapon in her bag again.

Hei Cha was ready to solve it with violence and became confused at the sudden situation. He shifted his eyes to the source of the sound and found there was an eight or nine year old boy standing in the previously empty room.

The boy’s facial features were almost perfect. He was pale and not like a living person. He leaned against the blank wall under the clock like a broken, porcelain doll. This was obviously You Yu from the photo.

“Mother, can I invite my brother to come and play with me in my room?” You Yu’s voice rang out again.

Chi Nan couldn’t see but he could clearly perceive the ‘gaze’ of the other person on his face. This subtle feeling of being watched seemed to transcend his vision and existed in a way that he didn’t know.

Bai Yingzhi placed a smile on her face again. She walked into the bedroom in front of the guests and crouched down in front of You Yu. She spoke in a warm voice, “Of course you can. Your father and I are usually busy so it is nice to have someone to play with you.”

“Just…” Bai Yingzhi paused and turned to Chi Nan with cold eyes. “This brother also has ‘work’ to do. If you pester him to play and delay his time, it wouldn’t be good if he can’t finish his work.”

Chi Nan politely said, “There is no delay. I like the young master very much.”

You Yu cocked his head and his lips curved up. “Brother, I like you as well.”

He was obviously a beautiful little boy like an angel and his smile could be called cute but for some reason, goose bumps rose on Hei Cha’s body the moment he saw You Yu’s smile. Bai Yingzhi’s expression became even uglier. She turned to Chi Nan, her smile stiff. “Great. It has been a long time since there has been a guest that you like.”

She spoke well but it was a clear warning.

Chi Nan didn’t care. “It is my honor.”

Bai Yingzhi’s smile disappeared for a few seconds.

“Mother, can you leave this brother to accompany me for a while?”

Then You Yu walked over as if trying to take Chi Nan’s hand. Yet for some reason, he gave up and put his hand behind his back.

Bai Yingzhi’s eyes swept over the medicine splashed on the carpet before she quickly retracted her eyes. She thought about it for a moment before agreeing, “You are only allowed to play for five minutes. You should rest later.”

You Yu nodded. “Okay.”

He spoke while looking up, “Brother, play with me for a while?”

Hei Cha immediately came out to stop it. “Chi Nan, don’t…”

Chi Nan nodded. “Of course.”

Hei Cha, “……”

Chi Nan shook his head at Hei Cha. Hei Cha frowned, lowered his voice and anxiously said, “We don’t know what this young master is right now. It is too dangerous for you!”

“It doesn’t matter. I have an idea in my heart. Aren’t there still your charms?” Chi Nan turned to appease Hei Cha.

Hei Cha scratched his head. “You really… trust people too easily. You wouldn’t even know if I sell you out!”

Chi Nan was amused and his face became gentler. “I can take advantage of these five minutes to ask him what the words at the bottom of the bowl mean and the time shown on the clock.”

Hei Cha knew he couldn’t stop Chi Nan so he had to nod worriedly. “Then be careful. I’ll guard outside the door.”

“Okay,” Chi Nan agreed.

In an instant, the people around them disappeared. The door closed and only Chi Nan and You Yu were left in the room. You Yu grabbed his hand. As expected, two tears rolled down from the corners of Chi Nan’s eyes. He didn’t avoid it.

“Brother, I like the way you cry,” You Yu told him with a smile.

Chi Nan, “……”

He wiped his tears and crouched down to make it easier for You Yu to talk to him.

“Thank you for helping to deal with my medicine.” You Yu continued. “However, Bai Yingzhi can see your movements through the camera. You might have a bit of trouble at night.”

Chi Nan noticed that You Yu directly called Bai Yingzhi by name.

Chi Nan told him, “It doesn’t matter. I should be able to deal with it.”

You Yu asked curiously, “How do you know I hate that medicine?”

Chi Nan answered honestly. “I dreamed it.”

You Yu’s expression changed subtly. “Then why did you want to help me get rid of the medicine? Aren’t you afraid of offending Bai Yingzhi?”

Chi Nan thought about it for a moment. “The first time I came here, you helped lead the way for me. It is a favor.”

“That’s it?” You Yu obviously wasn’t very convinced.

Chi Nan was honest. “It is also in order to find clues. I think this is a plot point to increase favorability.”

“Good luck.” You Yu smiled with satisfaction. “The surveillance in my room doesn’t have a sound function. What clues do you want to know? I will tell you according to my mood.”

“What do the words on the bottom of the bowl mean?” Chi Nan asked directly.

You Yu answered, “Literally.”

“Why would she kill you?”

You Yu shrugged. “I don’t know. It is just my intuition. You have to figure out whether to believe it or not.”

Chi Nan asked again, “What does the 12:20 on the clock mean?”

You Yu was silent for a moment before smiling casually. “Perhaps the clock is broken or perhaps time is stopped. Who knows?”

Time had stopped.

Chi Nan pondered on this sentence for a moment before nodding. For the dead, time would stop at the moment of death…

“You seem to have guessed it. Is there anything else you want to ask? Time is running out.”

“Brother, I will tell you another secret. There is no surveillance in my mother’s bedroom. It is better to hide there if you want to play hide-and-seek.”

This sentence was full of hints and Chi Nan’s eyelids twitched.

“Brother, do you have anything else you want to know?”

“What did you mean last time when you said you know my face?”

The atmosphere was cold for a few seconds. Then You Yu suddenly raised his hand to touch the outline of Chi Nan’s facial features with a joking manner to his smile. “You look very similar to me, right?”

At almost the same moment, the touch on Chi Nan’s face disappeared and You Yu disappeared from the room again.

Then the closed door opened. Hei Cha standing outside the door was startled. “Chi Nan, are you okay? Why is the young master gone again?”

“The time is up.” Chi Nan’s tone was a bit lost as he walked out the door.

“Wait, why are you crying? Did that young master bully you?” Hei Cha found the tears that weren’t completely dry on Chi Nan’s face.

Chi Nan looked slightly stiff as he wiped at his tears. “No.”

The two headed down the stairs. The remaining teammates stood nervously and curiously in the living room.

“How did it go? Did you find any useful clues?”

“Just now, I saw Bai Yingzhi passing by. I thought you…”

“It’s so scary. We shouted but it seemed that you couldn’t hear us.”

Cheng Xu’s eyes swept over the two men. “Are you okay?”

“Of course we’re okay. Look, we even found a major clue.” Hei Cha placed the bowl in front of everyone. The words on the bottom of the bowl were reflected in the light. The simple words ‘Mother kill me’ caused people to feel a chill.

“Isn’t this sentence ambiguous? Is it ‘Mother wants to kill me’ or ‘Please, Mother kill me’…”

“I think it is the first one. Who would be idle enough to ask their mother to kill them?”

“It is hard to say. What if the young master knows that he is haunted by evil spirits and is afraid of his family suffering, so he sent an early warning for Bai Yingzhi to kill him?”

“Your words make sense and it fits the theme well.”

“If so, is it really necessary for us to kill that child?” The last question was from Nan Lu. She saw everyone look at her and bit her lip timidly. “Isn’t that a bit too cruel?”

An Ran couldn’t get used to this 38th tier weak artist and her tone was a bit impatient. “We are in the Nightmare World where it is hard just to keep our head above water. What qualifications do you have to talk about cruelty?”

Nan Lu muttered in a wronged manner. “You say that but I’m a newcomer. I can’t…”

Hei Cha turned to Chi Nan. “You talked to the young master later. What do you think?”

Chi Nan directly replied, “I think we should protect the young master.”

The slightly bald man coldly laughed. “Oh, here we go again.”

Hei Cha glared at him before asking Chi Nan, “What did the young master say?”

“He said that the meaning of the words is literally. I think it is people’s first reaction of ‘Mother is going to kill me.’ I think he lured us to his room as a distress signal.”

It seemed to make sense. Hei Cha scratched his head in a very distressed manner.

Cheng Xu wondered, “You mean, we should kill Bai Yingzhi?”

Chi Nan was silent for a moment before belatedly nodding.

“This…”

Just as everyone was uncertain, Chi Nan abruptly pulled the tablecloth off the coffee table without warning. The cups and plates on the tablecloth fell to the ground. The sound of porcelain breaking cut through the silence of the house.

“Chi Nan, why are you… hey!” Before Hei Cha could stop it, Chi Nan broke the engraved medicine bowl on the ground. The fragments of the medicine bowl mixed together with the porcelain and couldn’t be distinguished from the other.

“This little blind man, are you crazy!” The slightly bald man saw the clue being destroyed and almost jumped from the sofa.

Chi Nan didn’t care. “In any case, we already know the clue. What is the point of keeping the medicine bowl? It will be worse if it is caught by Bai Yingzhi.”

Hei Cha suddenly realized and hit his forehead. “Ah yes, I didn’t think of that.”

“Still, if there is surveillance in the young master’s room then Bai Yingzhi would know what you have done…” Nan Lu murmured.

Chi Nan explained, “However, she doesn’t know about the words on the bottom of the bowl.”

The slightly bald man sneered. “Are you destroying the clue to protect the young master?”

Chi Nan was blunt. “That’s right.”

The slightly bald man, “……”

“Okay, let’s seize this time to look for clues. It will be dark again soon.” Cheng Xu saw that the atmosphere was tense and hurriedly got back to business.

Time passed. Bai Yingzhi took her husband and guests to eat together. She was radiant in a blue evening gown but unfortunately, none of the people here had the heart to appreciate her beauty.

“Where is the young master?” Chi Nan asked Bai Yingzhi.

Bai Yingzhi’s hand paused as she sipped her soup. “You Yu isn’t used to eating with outsiders.”

Then she stared coldly at Chi Nan. “This guest, you seem to be quite close to You Yu.”

Chi Nan nodded. “The young master is very cute.”

“Thank you for the compliment.” Bai Yingzhi put down the spoon in her hand. “Still, I advise you and everyone here…”

Bai Yingzhi placed her hands together and gracefully looked at the group. “Don’t talk to my son so easily. Remember this.”

Then she left her table of guests and turned to leave. It seemed she had been swept away by Chi Nan’s question. People were afraid because Bai Yingzhi was annoyed. Only Chi Nan and Hei Cha ate to their heart’s content.

Hei Cha felt like he had been infected by the blind man’s nerves. Now he couldn’t feel the fear at all…

Soon, the bell rang to signal it was 12 o’clock. Bai Yingzhi changed into a white evening dress and came back down from upstairs.

“The trial scene is still carried out at 2 o’clock every night. I hope everyone can be on time. I don’t like people who are late.”

Bai Yingzhi repeated yesterday’s words. She sat in yesterday’s position and even the curve of her smile was exactly the same as yesterday.

Nan Lu warily opened her mouth. “That… we haven’t got the script yet.”

Bai Yingzhi’s finger tapped on the table. “The script is still yesterday’s one.”

Cheng Xu was confused. “Didn’t you say that the script and roles are different every day?”

“You will see when you open it.” Bai Yingzhi crossed her legs and leaned back, looking at everyone with playful eyes. They took a breath and slowly opened the script with hands that shook even more than last night…

“F*k!”

The moment Hei Cha saw the big letters on his script, he was so shocked that he directly threw it on the table. The group was startled and glanced at him in alarm. Only Chi Nan asked with concern, “What is your role?”

Hei Cha covered his face while cursing. Then he wailed, “I’m playing the role of a murderer.”

Everyone, “……!”

The script just happened to be thrown in front of Cheng Xu. He picked up the script and opened it. Then his expression changed. “Brackets, the scene of the crime can be chosen by yourself and the modus operandi can be improvised. The bloodier, the better. Please pay attention to keep the body…”

Everyone was silent. They were worried about one thing. If someone was playing a murderer then there must be a victim. In other words…

“How do you choose the actors for the plan?” Chi Nan was the first to break the terrifying silence to ask a question.

Bai Yingzhi’s finger tapped on the table. “Tonight, we need two ‘guests’ to audition. The other one is among you.”

Everyone was frightened and their faces turned blue…

Bai Yingzhi continued with a smile, “I believe the victim has received the script.”

No one dared to make a sound as they stared at the script held in each other’s hands.

“I will remind you again. I hope that everyone will thoroughly learn the script and try their best to act out their plot and character. Otherwise…”

She smiled and softly said, “Good night.”

The author has something to say:

Squid: Brother, don’t cry.

Chi Nan: Then please remove the tentacles from me first…