Chapter 38: Settlement

That period of time was long enough for Chi Yan to see that thing clearly.

It was a human, crawling on the ground by leaning little by little on his forelimbs because he had no legs.

Chi Yan slowly backed away.

He watched as the thing opened the door completely before crawling in.

When that thing reached out its hand and was about to reach the bed sheet, a tall and straight figure finally appeared at the entrance of the room, calling out to him in a deep voice, “Ah Yan, what's the matter?”

The moment that man shouted his name out of his mouth, his heart fell back into his chest.

He moved his throat twice and looked down at the bed. That thing had indeed disappeared.

He looked up at Ye Yingzhi and said, “Yingzhi, I saw that kind of thing again. I didn't hear any death this time, nor am I in school…” Why am I still seeing… that kind of thing.

Ye Yingzhi hurriedly walked a few steps and knelt on the bed with one knee, reaching out to hug Chi Yan in his arms. He kept patting his back. “…Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid. There's nothing anymore." He bent his head down slightly, rubbing his lips against the hair on the temple of the person in his embrace and he couldn't help kissing it gently.

Chi Yan did not notice the other party's movements, he also did not realize how intimate their posture was right now, he blindly took the opportunity to hide in Ye Yingzhi's arms to calm his frightened mood.

It's too scary… That thing just now was too scary…

The thing he encountered at his uncle's house had never shown its appearance, but the two ghosts he saw at school, though scary, they only appeared at one spot; they never made any advance toward him. However, this time, that thing kept on coming closer to him.

He had been in Ye Yingzhi's arms for a long time before he felt some embarra.s.sment. He blushed and retreated slightly. He secretly congratulated himself, because of the dark room, the other party shouldn't be able to see his expression.

Ye Yingzhi let go of him and softly asked, “Are you feeling better? Are you all right? Can I go back?”

“No, you don't go.” Chi Yan was so anxious that he grabbed Ye Yingzhi's sleeve at once only to lower his head, not knowing what to say.

Saying he is scared? Saying 'you don't go first and stay with me for a while'? Now it's past twelve o'clock, nevermind that I called him the moment I was scared, how can I still stop him from sleeping?

Ye Yingzhi was also good-tempered. He patiently stood by and waited, letting him pulled his sleeve.

Chi Yan bowed his head as he slowly released his grip, but he quickly rolled up the blanket into a ball before hugging it in his arms, whispering, “…Ye Yingzhi, can I go to your room and sleep with you?"

Ye Yingzhi was still very good-tempered. Instead of dissuading him, he smiled and said, “Yes, you don't have to take the pillow. I have two pillows there.”

Chi Yan nodded awkwardly and tried to stand up with the blanket within his arms. And then, he realized that he was so frightened that his legs were numb with fear. Instead of standing up, he almost fell onto the bed.

Ye Yingzhi reached out and helped him, seemingly teasing him yet serious. “Shall I carry you?”

Chi Yan hurriedly shook his head and stood up firmly. He followed Ye Yingzhi closely and moved to the next room as if afraid that the other party wouldn't want him.

Although Ye Yingzhi lived alone, he had a double bed, which was enough for the both of them to sleep in. Chi Yan spread out his quilt and occupied the outer edge. Seeing that he was lying down, Ye Yingzhi stretched out his hand to turn off the bedside light.

The room was instantly plunged into darkness again. Only dim moonlight came in through the beige curtains.

Originally. Chi Yan had his back facing Ye Yingzhi so that when he opened his eyes, he could see the door. The structure of the two rooms was the same and the color of the doors was also the same. This reminded him of his experience before, and then he couldn't help looking to the ground for fear of something crawling over. Although he couldn't see anything after he closed his eyes, he was still uneasy.

He couldn't help moving closer to Ye Yingzhi.

After a while, he could not help inching closer to the other party's territory again.

Ye Yingzhi opened his eyes and looked at the person squeezing towards him. “Why aren't you sleeping?”

Chi Yan turned to Ye Yingzhi and realized that he had occupied too much bed s.p.a.ce. He immediately returned to his own place and opened his mouth to explain, “…When I looked at the door, I will remember that thing and feel afraid. But then I'm constantly scared that something will climb over while I am unaware, so I couldn't help looking at the door again." This was a vicious cycle.

Ye Yingzhi did not say anything after hearing his words.

Chi Yan was about to tell him, “I will be well-behaved and go back to sleep. I won't cram into your side anymore,” when he saw Ye Yingzhi stretching out his arms, directly pulling him close to himself in a face-to-face position.

Ye Yingzhi said lightly, “Then go to sleep like this, just face me. I'll look at the door for you. Nothing will come.”

It really seemed to be safe when he was facing Ye Yingzhi's chest while Ye Yingzhi's was facing the direction of the bedroom door. Chi Yan wasn't willing to refuse and said, “Ye Yingzhi, you are the best.” before he fell asleep with his head nestled in this good position.

In his sleep, his hand unconsciously stretched and touched Ye Yingzhi's chest. Ye Yingzhi pulled his hand over his neck while his own hands slipped over his shoulder and back. He smiled as he whispered, “Be good, go to sleep…”

As the saying goes, 'bad things don't happen more than three times', this was the third time he had seen ghosts in a short period of time, Chi Yan could no longer deceive himself and calm down, however, he still dared not talk to other people about it. 

His parents were far away in H city and they were old. The older generation had a different mindset from his own generation. Telling them would only make them worry, and perhaps more unwanted situation would happen for no reason. His normal cla.s.smates and friends who didn't have a deep friends.h.i.+p with him would not believe his words. They would only think that he was fabricating in order to make sensation, likewise, they wouldn't be able to help him anyway.

Chi Yan unintentionally stayed at Ye Yingzhi's house for four days. After the first night, everything was safe and nothing happened. But he did not dare go back to the next room alone at night to sleep. Ye Yingzhi also didn't take the initiative to coax him to go back. He pretended not to think of it, that there was no such incident and he reported to Ye Yingzhi's room naturally when it was time to sleep as if he had settled down here, just like fallen leaves that had taken root.

He was aware that he would not be able to repay Young Master Ye's kindness so he actively helped to wash dishes and sweep the floor every day. Even Ye Yingzhi's underwear and clothes were done by him, from was.h.i.+ng to putting them in the wardrobe.

On Sat.u.r.day morning, as usual, he received Old Yuan's message of asking him to play basketball. He had already made plans to go back to school today to get some more clothes and also to go to the library to borrow some reference materials. After thinking, he also wanted to talk about the recent incidents with Old Yuan and let him think of some ideas for him, so he happily agreed to play basketball.

He informed Ye Yingzhi and was ready to go out after breakfast. Ye Yingzhi nodded his head and said, “Come back early in the evening, I'll make a hot pot for you to eat.”