The rainy season returned to the room and found Jian Jing sitting on the edge of the bed with no expression, flipping through the documents.
However, she wasn't looking at all. She turned the pages back and forth. From her hair strands to the lace on her socks, she exuded an aura of “I’m unhappy” darkness.
"Teacher Jian, doing homework?" He smiled and asked.
Jian Jing gave him a big white eye without saying a word.
He didn't know why, but at this moment he felt that she was very interesting: "Did you find anything?"
"No," she said coldly.
Ji Feng held back his laugh, put down his things, and took the cigarettes and lighter on the bedside table: “Alright, I won't disturb your work. I’ll go out for a bit.”
Jian Jing didn’t even look at him.
After about twenty minutes, at 10:40, he came back again, took away the documents, and said lightly: “Let’s continue this tomorrow, take a bath and sleep early.”
She acted as if nothing had happened: “I like to wash in the morning.”
"There is no hot water until 10 o'clock in the morning." Ji Feng shook his head unwilling to tease her further, and said seriously, "Okay, I’ve asked, there are only four female guests staying here tonight, and the others are done. The attendant promised me to extend the hot water time until 11:15, you have half an hour, hurry up and go."
Jian Jing was taken aback and showed surprise.
Ji Feng pulled her arm: “It’s starting to thunder, hurry up, listen to me.”
She got up hesitantly: “Are you sure?”
"I'll wait for you here," he promised, "If someone comes, please ask them to wait a little while, okay?"
Jian Jing reluctantly agreed: “Alright.”
The bathroom downstairs was indeed empty. She was very satisfied. Before bolting the door, she emphasized solemnly: "In view of the terrible accommodation experience tonight, which was due to someone taking the wrong road, if someone wants to come in, you'd better stop them even if you have to sell your body."
Ji Feng: "..."
How much does she mind taking a bath with others?
She closed the door tightly with a "pop".
The bathroom lights were bleak. She carefully checked it and found nothing unusual. Only then did she take out her slippers, disposable towels, travel-sized shampoo and shower gel one by one. She turned on the faucet and enjoyed the comfort of hot water.
The lingering scent spread, relaxing her taut nerves.
Then... "Ah!" There was a scream from the ceiling.
Jian Jing’s movements stopped abruptly.
No way.
Impossible.
Did someone die?
The hot water washed away the bubbles on her body.
The system did not prompt.
Very good, it shouldn't be a case.
She continued washing at ease, changed into a loose nightgown, and even blew dry her hair before going out.
Ji Feng was still outside.
"What happened just now?" Her tone was much more cheerful.
Ji Feng was puzzled: “How would I know?”
"You didn't go up and take a look?" Jian Jing was surprised. "Someone was yelling."
He shook his head and said meaningfully: “If I had gone up, you might have been the one yelling here.”
Jian Jing raised her eyebrows: "Who would attack me after luring the tiger away from the mountain?"
"Teacher Jian, don't let your imagination run too wild," Ji Feng ridiculed her, pointing to the direction outside the window, "Look at the car outside."
The window in the corridor faced the parking lot. There were four cars parked in total. One white one was visibly dented at an angle.
There were also some strange marks left in the tire tread.
It looked like claw marks.
"Hit a zombie." Jian Jing repeated the previous remarks and suddenly became interested. "How interesting."
"Indeed," said Ji Feng.
"Let’s go upstairs and take a look."
It was quite lively upstairs.
A woman in a bathrobe was very excited and said, "Zombie, it must have been a zombie! I saw it."
"It's so dark outside, how could you see clearly?" someone else doubted.
The woman in the bathrobe spoke impassionedly: “Lightning! When the lightning struck, I saw it! He was right there!”
"Then it could also be just a person, why do you think it was a zombie?" someone else chimed in.
The woman in the bathrobe hesitated for a moment, but was not stumped. Instead, she said in an extremely solemn tone: “You may not believe what I say, but I did see—a lightning bolt struck him, and he was completely unharmed! He disappeared in a flash.”
She made way and quickly ran to the window: “Do you see that tree over there? The dark spot below it is where he was standing just now!”
The others came over to take a look, including Jian Jing.
She zoomed in with binoculars and took a careful look. Indeed, there was a scorched black mark that seemed to have been struck by lightning. The tree trunk next to it was scraped, leaving a long crack.
"Could it be...really a zombie here?" Xu Huangmao who she had met before, mumbled.
Jian Jing asked, "Didn't you guys hit a zombie?"
Xu Huangmao explained: “To be honest, it was already dark then. I was sitting in the back and just saw a shadow flash by so fast. If it wasn't a zombie what was it?”
"If you ask me, it was just an animal," said a crew cut man who came over, bored. “I can't stand that some people actually believe in feudal superstitions like zombies.”
Xu Huangmao argued: “If it wasn't a zombie, how could an ordinary person press down the front of the car like this just by brushing past it? What about the marks on the tires? How do you explain that?"
The two of them started arguing. The bun-headed girl whom Jian Jing had met before timidly asked: “If there really are zombies, we...we won't get in trouble, right?"
"Of course not." Gao Matou rolled her eyes impatiently. “None of us have dug up anyone's grave, offended local taboos, or taken any grave goods. Even if there are zombies, they have nothing to do with us.”
But Wanzitou was still afraid and said in a low voice: “But horror movies are all shot like this. A group of people get stranded somewhere because of heavy rain, and then...there are ghosts...”
As if to echo her, a flash of lightning split the night sky, illuminating it snow white.
Then came a very clear “bang” sound. The lights went out completely.
"Ah!" Wanzitou hugged Gao Matou's arm.
Gao Matou was extremely calm: “Stop screaming. In horror movies, the one most likely to die is not you.” She glanced at Jian Jing who was watching and seemed a little annoyed at her. She deliberately said, "It's the kind of picky and arrogant people."
Jian Jing was in a good mood and played along: “I don't believe in any zombies!”
"You see, this kind of arrogance," Gao Matou said expressionlessly.
Wanzitou smiled apologetically and pulled her back to the room: “The power went out, let’s go back quickly.”
Gao Matou nodded and went back to the room with her.
The others also dispersed.
With no electricity, Jian Jing had nothing to do and leaned on the window sill to look at the surroundings: “The location of this inn is a bit strange, very far from the village.”
"Relocation," Ji Feng explained. “The road we took to get here was originally where the village was located. It was demolished to build the road, and they rebuilt to the current location. They were lucky with the land here so they simply opened an inn.”
Jian Jing looked at him: "How do you know?"
"I casually asked around," he said very modestly. "Interviewing and investigation are basic skills."
"So," she flattered him in a complimentary tone, "you also found out about the identities of the other guests?"
"I asked about it in passing," Ji Feng replied in a Versailles tone.
Jian Jing asked a question: “The one who hit the zombie was?”
"A few young people, seems to be some kind of amateur outdoor enthusiasts," he said. "They came to explore. They specially go to strange places to check in and then make videos to post online."
"So you're saying they came for the zombie rumors?" Jian Jing said. "But that crew cut seemed to not believe at all."
Ji Feng shrugged: “That's what makes it interesting.”
"Are they really outdoor enthusiasts?"
"There are things like folding tents in the room," Ji Feng didn’t give a conclusion, just said his observations, "When I went to visit Room 202, the two girls were eating instant noodles cooked with an alcohol stove."
"Their equipment is quite complete," said Jian Jing. As she hesitated between whether or not to eat a midnight snack (she had brushed her teeth), she finally lost to the hateful public toilet and decided to give up. She said unpleasantly, "What about that woman in the bathrobe who said she saw a zombie?"
He was still able to answer: “Reporter, photographer, or some editor or something like that."
She made a reverse inference: “Laptop? Camera?"
"More or less."
Jian Jing hesitated and said, "The people in Room 206 don't seem to have come out. Isn't it fully booked?"
"He's a male guest, and I haven't seen him either," Ji Feng said, looking at his watch. "It's eleven fifty now. Teacher Jian, aren't you going to sleep?"
"Soon," she said, turning on the small light on the power bank. She took out a can of night cream, scooped out a spoonful and spread it on her face. The cool gel soothed her skin, and she could just wash it off in the morning.
It was an essential trick for travelers.
Of course, she couldn't forget an eye mask—she had dark circles under her eyes all day from staying up late last night.
She set a 15-minute alarm and closed her eyes to rest.
Outside, the wind and rain howled ceaselessly with rumbling thunder.
Her jumbled thoughts were like raindrops whipped by the wind, pattering noisily into her mind and rippling out in circles.
Very hypnotic.
Drowsiness gradually came over her. She only remembered turning off the alarm after it rang, tossing away the eye mask, then sinking into deep sleep.
The dream was heavy, like a sinker dragging her down into the deeper sea of consciousness.
—"Do you know why I didn't kill you?"
—"Why?"
—"It's a special holiday."
—"I don't understand."
—"I believe every soul is lonely."
—"So I..."
"Boom!"
A muffled but deafening roar sounded in the distance, jolting awake the sleeping people.
Jian Jing was confused for a moment, forcing her eyes open—Did something happen? Who died? No system prompts, was it zombies? Would there be a biohazard mission? Did she invest in immunity against the zombie virus?
Alas, thoughts in dreams were so irrational, slowing her reactions.
Her companion was already up, immediately pulling back the curtains to look outside.
"Hmm?" The nasal sound conveyed all her questions.
"It's nothing, go back to sleep," Ji Feng said. "It was probably a landslide."
How awful.
She closed her eyes again, content to continue sleeping.
Ji Feng was also a bit impressed that with the loud thunder and endless rain tapping on the glass, the poor soundproofing, she could still sleep so soundly.
But to be honest, it was...cute.
He couldn't help glancing at her a couple more times, revising to a more objective description: captivating.
The next morning, Jian Jing awoke at nine o'clock, but it didn't feel like nine at all.
The sky was gloomily dark, the rain pouring ceaselessly, the air damp and wet. The temperature had dropped sharply, and she felt cold even bundled in her quilt and sleeping bag.
The room was silent—Ji Feng was not there.
She took out her phone and couldn't help groaning: the feared had happened after all.
No signal.
"Knock knock," the door was gently rapped.
"Who is it?" she asked.
"Can I come in?" It was Ji Feng's voice.
Jian Jing shrank further into her blankets. "Don't tell me you didn't bring your key."
The door opened.
Ji Feng came in and asked, "Not planning to get up?"
"Has the rain stopped?"
"No."
"Can we still drive?"
"It'll be difficult."
Jian Jing felt a bit deflated, her will to get up now gone.
Ji Feng couldn't help grinning, tempting her, "Get up quickly, there's something lively to see downstairs."
"Someone died?" she blurted out.
Ji Feng: "...It was a dead chicken."
"A dead chicken isn't interesting, you're too bored," Jian Jing said. But her body was slowly emerging from the blankets.
