Chapter 56: Sitting

Xiao Ran was just about to let out a scream when Zhao Yisheng quickly covered her mouth from behind.

That scream turned into a muffled grunt, suppressed in her throat.

Zhao Yisheng had seen the three people who had gone out earlier and noticed they were no longer making any sound, so he curiously followed to check. But he was met with such a bizarre scene that he nearly lost his wits in fright.

The four of them didn't dare make a sound, quietly watching the figure in front of them that looked like a cricket—“person.”

He was moving his hind legs rapidly, like an insect, constantly changing direction as if searching for something, and occasionally lifting the two bloody holes on his face to scan around.

His neck twisted in a way that was nothing like a human's—instead, it was quick and insect-like, with an unnaturally large range of motion.

A few seconds later, the "person" suddenly leaped high into the air, jumping toward the wall of the convenience store.

Qi Xia quickly raised the torch to light the way, trying to follow the figure's movement—after all, in this pitch-black environment, the worst thing was to lose track of the target.

But the moment the torch was raised, even with Qi Xia's strong nerves, he nearly went weak in the knees and collapsed.

The wall illuminated by the firelight was crawling with "people," densely packed.

At a glance, there were at least a dozen of them, all moving quickly along the wall.

As soon as the firelight hit them, they seemed to sense something and scattered back into the darkness.

They looked like crickets, like cockroaches, like spiders.

In short, not like people at all.

Qi Xia felt every hair on his body stand on end.

Earlier, as he and Lin Geng had made their way in the dark to the convenience store, they had constantly heard waves of insect chirping.

Sometimes the sounds were far away, sometimes close.

It turned out those weren't insects at all... but one after another, these "people."

The thought of how, as he and Lin Geng had advanced, the ground nearby and the walls not far off had been covered with these things...

That feeling couldn't even be described as "aftershock."

Qi Xia wiped away a bead of cold sweat and slowly turned around, waving his hand at the others.

They all understood his signal and began to retreat slowly.

Qi Xia held the torch, keeping his eyes fixed on the "people" on the wall, while he and the three behind him backed step by step into the room.

Throughout, they didn't dare make a single sound, moving as slowly as possible.

These beings appeared to have their eyes gouged out, so they probably relied on sound to locate things. Fortunately, everyone knew their lives depended on it and stayed silent.

After closing the door, Qi Xia grabbed a wooden board from nearby and braced it against the door. The group continued retreating until they reached the corner.

The cold, mottled wall gave them a slight sense of security.

"That... what on earth is that thing..."

Xiao Ran asked, trembling.

"It's people..." Zhao Yisheng said, then immediately shook his head. "No... human bones couldn't make those kinds of movements. They're just insects..."

Qi Xia took a deep breath and said, "Last night, I also heard rustling sounds, which means these things didn't just appear today—they've been here all along."

He turned back, his face serious, and said to Lin Geng, "We're incredibly lucky that we didn't step on any of these things on our way here."

Lin Geng nodded, still shaken and looking quite frightened.

The four fell into silence.

Before seeing this terrifying sight, they might have been able to sleep peacefully at night.

But now, no one dared close their eyes. They leaned against the wall, staring fixedly at the door, ready for those things to break in at any moment.

The night, devoid of sleep and sound, felt endlessly long.

They stood by the wall for half the night, and now their waists and legs ached.

Gradually, they noticed something.

The "insects" outside the door seemed to truly act like insects.

They had no intention of barging into this brightly lit place.

Qi Xia was trying to explain the phenomena here using the rules of this place.

No matter how strange they looked, no matter how blood streamed from their eyes, they were just insects.

If "insects" and "store clerks" were the same kind of thing, they would surely play their roles properly.

Thinking this way, the insects outside didn't seem too dangerous. Even if they attacked humans, they probably wouldn't swarm and crash through the door.

With that in mind, Qi Xia slowly sat down and stretched his sore limbs.

Seeing someone take the lead, the other three also sat down, though their faces remained tense.

"Qi Xia... what do we do now?"

Lin Geng asked.

Qi Xia stroked his chin and said, "Sleep."

"Sleep?"

"Rest for a bit to conserve energy." Qi Xia found a clean wooden board and laid it next to Lin Geng. "After dawn, we'll set out and go find Li Jingguan."

"But those things outside..."

"Don't worry." Qi Xia said nonchalantly, "They won't come in. As long as we don't go out, we'll be safe for now."

Lin Geng listened and nodded carefully, like a child, then lay down.

Qi Xia went to the corner, found a clean wooden board, placed it over the pot, and sat on it, weighing it down.

Xiao Ran and Zhao Yisheng exchanged glances. They looked at each other, then at Qi Xia and Lin Geng.

How could they possibly sleep?

Even if they could ignore the insects outside, Xiao Ran still saw Qi Xia as a dangerous person.

From the story at the beginning, he was a scammer who had defrauded two million—how could someone like that be trustworthy?

Sleeping near him, would another mysterious death occur by dawn?

Qi Xia paid no attention to Xiao Ran and Zhao Yisheng's expressions. Instead, he leaned against the wall and closed his eyes to rest.

For him, whether these two stayed awake all night was irrelevant.

Lin Geng, lying on the wooden board, glanced at Qi Xia sitting in the corner and felt a bit sorry for him. She shifted over and said,

"Qi Xia, this board is big enough. You should lie down too."

Qi Xia lifted an eyelid and said, "No need. I'm used to sleeping sitting up."

"Sleeping sitting up?"

Lin Geng thought for a moment, then stood up, moved the board next to Qi Xia, lay down again, and continued, "Then sleep sitting up next to me."

Qi Xia didn't refuse. Compared to Xiao Ran and Zhao Yisheng, Lin Geng had left a decent impression on him.

Lin Geng lay on the board and curiously looked at Qi Xia, asking, "Why are you used to sleeping sitting up?"

Qi Xia raised an eyebrow, then thought seriously about the question. "Because sleeping sitting up keeps me from fully relaxing, so my brain can start working at any time."

Lin Geng nodded, but then seemed to think of something else. "Do you always sleep sitting up?"

"Yes."

"For many years?"

Qi Xia found Lin Geng's questions odd, so he turned to her. "Is this important?"

Lin Geng swallowed and organized her thoughts before finally asking, "But you have a wife... Even if you two live together, do you sit up to sleep every night?"