After the Little Crybaby Enters the Nightmare Cycle

Highway 404 (6)

“The dagger is on the table.” Chi Nan added another sentence. His eyes were a bit wet from when he just yawned and Chi Nan blinked violently to hold back the tears.

You Yu looked at the dagger on the table and then at Chi Nan with a smile. “Are you ready?”

Chi Nan learned from You Yu’s lines. “Move quickly. Don’t hesitate, I’m afraid of pain.”

You Yu was stunned. Then he smiled and played with the ring in his hand.

Chi Nan looked at him as if there was o intention of moving and continued, “It is better to cut it neatly.”

You Yu naturally took out a few minutes from Chi Nan’s coat pocket and put them on the bed. “Brother Nan, don’t joke around. I might be scared away as long as you cry.”

Chi Nan, “……”

You Yu wondered, “The tears are easy to use, right?”

“I made a mistake at the time.” Chi Nan understood that You Yu knew he had used the tears against Qu Yijun. He thought about it and said, “I don’t intend to scare you away.”

You Yu raised an eyebrow and looked at him without speaking.

“I’m serious. Kill me.” Chi Nan said something that could frighten ordinary people in a calm tone. There was no joking in his eyes.

You Yu stopped playing with the ring and stared at him. “You guessed it, right?”

Chi Nan nodded. “After all, there are already corpse spots in my body.”

These marks didn’t look like they were caused by an impact. Chi Nan boldly guessed that they were corpse spots.

It was the setting of a murderer and victim so they might not be able to clear the dream by constantly escaping the revenge of their victims.

The guilty must be punished. Chi Nan’s experiment was to complete the process of punishing the murderer. There might be some risks but it was the only solution he could think of now.

In other words, he must be ‘killed’ once in front of the victim before he could push the instance forward. Otherwise, he would always fall into the cycle of traveling the road alternating with the sun, rain and fog, unable to be released.

Moreover, he suspected from all the signs on his body that his ‘character’ was no longer a living person.

All guesses must be verified through ‘death.’

You Yu smiled very lightly. He picked up the dagger on the table and examined it carefully. “It is very sharp. It seems the item preparation work by my colleague was done very well.”

Chi Nan was dumbfounded. “…Then thank them for me.”

“But even if you know the truth.” You Yu raised his eyelids to look at him. “Aren’t you really afraid of getting your throat cut by a dagger? After all, being killed isn’t a pleasant experience.”

Chi Nan blinked. “So thank you for the plot arranged by your colleague.”

You Yu smiled. “It doesn’t matter. I’m the same as you. You can kill me again with the dagger and perhaps you can get through the instance.”

He paused before adding, “It isn’t the first time anyway.”

Chi Nan retorted, “Last time it wasn’t me. It was the character.”

“I know. The character’s OOC was terrible. It was boring.” You Yu’s lips pursed. “I’m not talking about the last time. I’m talking about Candleman Town.”

Chi Nan thought to himself, ‘You Yu really wants revenge. However, this is tricky. It is obviously him who made me kill him.’

However, his mouth said, “Well, I can get 30 favorability from killing you. This is quite profitable.”

“Yes, there won’t be a loss.” You Yu smiled and handed the dagger to Chi Nan.

Chi Nan held the dagger. Their fingertips touched each other intentionally or unintentionally. Chi Nan’s tears wet his eyelashes and hurriedly raised his hand to wipe his tears.

However, You Yu was already one step ahead of him. He used his own scarf to help Chi Nan wipe away his tears, movements slow and patient.

Chi Nan looked at him with some surprise and found that You Yu’s spirit body didn’t disappear due to his tears, nor did he show any pain at all.

“You’re wondering why I’m not afraid of your tears when I’m in a spiritual state?” You Yu shrugged. “I’m also doing an experiment. I didn’t expect that the tears wouldn’t work for me. It is probably because… this is my body?”

Chi Nan, “……” So the tears still recognized the master?

“ Can I look at your neck?” Chi Nan turned his gaze to the red scarf.

You Yu took the initiative to remove the scarf stained with Chi Nan’s tears from his neck, revealing a deep knife mark that made the bones visible.

Chi Nan’s eyelashes trembled imperceptibly. “Did it hurt at that time?”

You Yu shook his head. “My colleague already turned off the pain system beforehand.”

Chi Nan said ‘oh’ before asking again, “What about Candleman Town?”

You Yu was silent for a moment before smiling. “A little bit.”

“Oh.” Chi Nan looked at the knife in his hand. The blade reflected his face. He was different from his ‘character’ so he was expressionless when he held the knife.

He was very calm inside. He could even hear his own breathing and heartbeat without a rhythm.

“We count as the same person. So if you want to clear the game, killing me is the same thing.” As a representative of dream makers with bad taste, You Yu was very good at deceiving people. He was even better at teaching people how to deceive the rules.

Chi Nan nodded as if moved by him.

“Brother Nan, I’m ready.” He said the same words as before but this time, it wasn’t a memorized line. There were sincere feelings and it was much more natural than the last mechanical acting.

Chi Nan was shorter than him and could only look up at him. “Then close your eyes.”

“Huh?” You Yu had some doubts.

“Close them.” Chi Nan emphasized again.

He might not know what Chi Nan was thinking but You Yu still closed it honestly.

The process of waiting for Chi Nan to make the choice and take action made him very happy.

After Chi Nan persuaded You Yu to close his eyes, he tried to use the dagger to cut the palm of his hand. The blade was sharp and blood quickly flowed out.

As he expected, he didn’t feel any pain from being cut by the knife.

This also confirmed his speculation that his alienation was faster than Jiang Yu’s.

“Don’t open your eyes yet.” Chi Nan emphasized it again.

You Yu’s lips curled up. “No problem.”

There wasn’t much time. Chi Nan didn’t hesitate at all. He raised the dagger to his neck and cut it. He was fierce and quick with himself. He soon cut his carotid artery and trachea.

The pain was blocked so Chi Nan only felt that his neck became wet instantly. Due to the lack of oxygen, his eyes were covered with black spots. These black spots quickly connected into pieces that seriously affected his vision. The strength in his body quickly flowed out along with the blood. Chi Nan couldn’t support himself and fell onto the bed of the hotel. The originally dry bedding was soaked with his blood, making people very uncomfortable.

Soon, his consciousness started to blur.

Chi Nan finally confirmed that You Yu didn’t open his eyes according to his instructions. Otherwise… Chi Nan felt a bit uncomfortable to cut his neck in front of the owner of this body.

‘It is good if You Yu doesn’t see the whole suicide process,’ Chi Nan thought.

He sighed with relief.

You Yu waited a while and didn’t feel his neck being cut by the cold blade. The closed motel room was also filled with the strong smell of blood. You Yu froze and instantly realized that he had been fooled by the little evil spirit.

He opened his eyes and found that Chi Nan had already fallen onto the blood-soaked bedding, his breathing weak.

You Yu didn’t speak and his vision became very dim. He felt that he was instantly occupied by a strange emotion. He didn’t know how to describe this complex emotion. He only knew that Chi Nan’s assertive ‘death’ made him feel overwhelmed.

He felt more irritated than a loss of control.

Chi Nan only had the last trace of clarity left. He wanted to open his eyes to see what expression You Yu would have after being being deceived. Unfortunately, he didn’t have the strength to open his eyelids.

However, he could feel that the air pressure in the entire room had become very low. It was as if it was filled with water, making people breathless.

Could it be that he angered this dream maker who was full of bad tastes?

Was it because he damaged You Yu’s body without authorization? Chi Nan thought about it and silently moved his lips. ‘Sorry.’

It was as if something had covered his cheeks and bloodied neck. Chi Nans’ eyelashes trembled imperceptibly.

Finally, he vaguely heard You Yu say in his ears, “Remember to come to me.”

After that, he fell into the abyss of death with no end.

The bathroom of 205 had a large dressing mirror. Lu Baizhou looked at the mirror. After taking off all the clothes on her body, she couldn’t help reaching out to touch and pinch her face.

This face and this body made her feel both familiar and strange.

The strange thing was that this was the first time she witnessed it, but the familiar thing was that this appearance had been seen in her fantasies thousands of times.

This was what she dreamed of. Her own appearance that belonged to herself. This was Lu Baizhou.

The well-behaved and quiet appearance that previously belonged to another person.

Lu Baizhou was Lu Baizhou. That person was that person and couldn’t be confused.

“Are you there?”

“Are you watching?”

“Can you still hear me?”

“You’ve been killed by me, haven’t you?”

“It is a character setting. You can’t blame me…”

Lu Baizhou spoke to himself in the mirror before suddenly laughing. “I might’ve fantasized about this situation countless times, but… after it really became a reality, I am quite unaccustomed to it.”

She took out the cigarette she received from Jiang Yu from her pocket and lit it, placing it in her mouth like Jiang Yu. However, it didn’t take long for her to choke.

“Cough. I’m really not used to it. Suddenly, it is just me.”

She extinguished the cigarette against the glass of the mirror and faced her mirrored self. “However, I knew you would come back for revenge.”

The room was streaming with fog. Lu Baizhou took her bathrobe and was ready to put it on, when there was a very urgent knock on the door.

She was startled before quickly getting dressed. “Who is it?”

“It is me.” Jiang Yu’s anxious voice was heard from outside the door. “Something big has happened.”

Lu Baizhou wasn’t a newcomer. She might’ve never been through an instance independently, but her accumulated experience was enough to speculate about various unexpected situations. A big event in an instance was often a dead person.

She got dressed, pulled open the door and asked bluntly, “Who died?”

Jiang Yu’s expression darkened horribly. Her lips trembled as she said, “Chi Nan.”

The air froze for half a second and Lu Baizhou’s eyes widened in disbelief. “How did he die?”

Chi Nan’s death hit very hard because she had long believed this boy was the sharpest and had the most potential to clear the dream among everyone. If even he encountered an accident then the rest of them could only wait to die.

Her already pale face became even uglier and her voice trembled with either fear or weakness. “The trachea and arteries were cut by a knife.”

The group walked to the double room where Chi Nan was staying. It was at the end of the corridor and far away from them.

“Jiang Yu, how did you find out that Chi Nan was killed by an evil spirit?” Lu Baizhou asked.

Jiang Yu answered, “Last time, Chi Nan saved me. I saw that he wasn’t in the right state after encountering the person waiting for the car and was a bit concerned. Therefore, I went to check on him.”

“As a result, his door was open. Before I even got close, I could smell the very strong scent of blood. I knew something must be wrong. I pushed open the door and saw Chi Nan lying in the blood. He had lost his breath.”

The group walked through the corridor to Chi Nan’s room. At this time, the door of the room was wide open and the bloody scene in the room was exposed to everyone.

The bed sheet under Chi Nan’s body had long been stained with blood. His eyes gently closed and his thick eyelashes cast deep and shallow shadows on his pale face.

He seemed to have died quietly, without any signs of pain or struggle.

The knife that slashed at his throat was still in his hand. It looked as if he had killed himself.

Could it be that the evil spirit made Chi Nan commit suicide through some bewitchment method?

The three of them were all experienced sleepwalkers. They didn’t vomit when they saw the bloody scene but their faces were extremely ugly.

Jiang Yu’s eyebrows were almost twisted together. “I didn’t expect it to be Chi Nan. After all, he… last time he helped me. He has the ability to exorcise ghosts.”

Pei Mo looked at Chi Nan’s tragic death and couldn’t help thinking of himself, who might be blown apart. He gave a cold snort. “It seems he is very unlucky. The vengeful evil spirit assigned to him is a very powerful character.”

Lu Baizhou’s expression was calm and she shook her head in a pitying manner. “Or he was deceived. It is hard to say.” She also took a seat and speculated about the tragic situation of her teammates.

The bloody air suddenly froze. No one spoke until the driver’s voice came from the direction of the stairs. “The fog outside had cleared. Let’s continue on the road.”

The three people heard the driver’s urging and turned around to leave. Jiang Yu couldn’t bear it and helped Chi Nan close the door.

“Wait a minute. Are you going to leave like this?” The driver was suddenly dissatisfied.

Pei Mo was stunned. “What do you mean? Then where should we go?”

The driver pointed to Chi Nan’s room. “Take this passenger who has mobility problems.”

The group was confused. “Huh?”

The driver spoke in a natural manner. “I don’t want my passengers to be left behind.”

Proofreader: Kat