Sunshine Welfare Institute (Black Mist Gong) (7)

His inability to sleep could be attributed to fear, but at this moment, Shen Yu was also awake, even telling him not to make a sound. Could he have seen something?!

Yu Chengyi's heart pounded. In such a quiet night, he felt his heartbeat sounded like a drum, until the rustling sound outside the window drowned it out.

He instinctively glanced toward the window, but before sleeping, Shen Yu had told him to draw the curtains tightly.

"Tap." "Clack."...

Some hard object was tapping against the window.

Yu Chengyi:!

There was a very soft sound on the bed.

Yu Chengyi was so scared that he shrank to the foot of the bed, calling out to Shen Yu tremblingly: "Shen..."

"Shh." Shen Yu had gotten out of bed at some point, a faint, cool scent wafting over. His mouth was covered by Shen Yu's hand.

Shen Yu's movements weren't particularly small, but perhaps because his attention was entirely focused outside the window, he hadn't noticed Shen Yu getting out of bed.

Shen Yu lowered his voice and said, "Go up."

"? Where?" After Shen Yu released his hand, Yu Chengyi asked back, but perhaps because he was too tense, his voice cracked on the last two words.

Shen Yu felt slightly amused but still said to him calmly, "My bed."

"Alright." At this moment, Yu Chengyi naturally wouldn't ask why. He quickly followed Shen Yu's words, scrambling up to Shen Yu's bed in a couple of moves without making a sound.

Afterward, Shen Yu said nothing, and he tightly wrapped Shen Yu's blanket around himself, leaning against the wall without daring to ask a single question. He believed Shen Yu had his own thoughts.

Shen Yu lay flat on Yu Chengyi's bed, his entire attention focused outside the window, "Tap, clack, clack..."

The sound was irregular, as if something was trying to break the window to get in.

Soon, the noise stopped, and the wind outside grew stronger. This time, both of them heard clearly: there was the sound of wings flapping outside, confirming Shen Yu's suspicion.

The wind blew in from nowhere, brushing against Shen Yu's face. This wind was very strange; it didn't blow across the skin like normal wind, but felt like a hand tracing Shen Yu's face.

Shen Yu closed his eyes, feeling this eerie wind, his heart beating much faster than usual.

After a long time, from an unknown room, a heart-wrenching scream echoed. The sound was so loud that the entire welfare institute echoed with it, blending into the wind, adding a few more chilling notes to the howling "demonic wind."

This sound kept drilling into Shen Yu's ears.

After the sound stopped, the wind beside his ears also ceased, and the sound of flapping wings came from outside again.

Shen Yu lay flat on the bed, his body relaxing slightly. He pulled the blanket over himself, stared at the bed board above for two minutes, and then slowly closed his eyes.

He was very tired now. High mental concentration would only make him more exhausted, and fortunately, it seemed safe for now.

Not long after closing his eyes, Shen Yu fell asleep.

At the same time, his brother on the upper bunk curled up in the blanket, leaving only his head exposed, clasping his hands in silent prayer, begging that nothing would happen to him and Shen Yu tonight.

—

The next day, just as dawn broke, there was a knock on the door. Shen Yu pulled the blanket over his head to continue sleeping, but Yu Chengyi woke up almost instantly. He hurriedly kicked off the blanket wrapped around him. The first thing he did was check the time; the clock showed a bit past 6:00 AM.

He let out a heavy sigh of relief. Thank goodness, thank goodness, they had survived until dawn.

The rapid knocking continued, accompanied by Wang Jiaxin's terrified voice: "Shen Yu, Yu Chengyi, are you two awake?"

Before Yu Chengyi could respond, Shen Yu pulled down the blanket, sat up, and opened his sleepy eyes, asking in a slightly raspy voice, "What's wrong?"

The person outside immediately replied, "Something happened! Xu Yining is dead!"

"Holy crap, dead?!" Yu Chengyi rolled off the bed, but the moment his feet touched the ground, his knees buckled. His legs trembled as he took two steps, and then he collapsed to the floor on all fours. His movements were so bizarre, as if his limbs had just been newly born.

Damn! Curling up to sleep all night had made his legs completely numb.

Shen Yu, who had already sat up to put on his coat: ...

Yu Chengyi: ...

Shen Yu stood up, buttoning his shirt cuffs as he walked toward Yu Chengyi.

Seeing Shen Yu approach, Yu Chengyi quickly waved his hand, "No need, no need, I can stand up on my own..."

As he spoke, he reached out his right hand to Shen Yu for help.

Until Shen Yu brushed past him and walked toward the door, leaving behind only a faint scent of soap.

Yu Chengyi's hand froze in mid-air, then he awkwardly retracted it and scratched his head, "Right, I can stand up on my own..."

Shen Yu opened the door, and Yu Chengyi also stood up, limping toward the door.

Shen Yu had a drowsy, just-woken-up look. When he opened the door, a gust of wind blew in, rustling the hair on his forehead, his expression calm. Outside the door was not just Wang Jiaxin alone, but also her short-haired female roommate.

"What's the situation?" Shen Yu frowned and asked.

Wang Jiaxin snapped out of it and explained, "His roommate said he's currently in a very unstable emotional state, and we can't get much out of him."

Shen Yu lowered his eyes, his long eyelashes hiding a trace of gloom.

"I see," Shen Yu nodded, then looked up at Wang Jiaxin and asked, "Have you seen the body?"

Wang Jiaxin shook her head, "I didn't dare go, but Li Yuan went to see. If you want to ask, you can ask her!"

She introduced the short-haired girl beside her to Shen Yu.

"I can only say that the way of death is definitely not something a human could do. If you want to go see, please be prepared," Li Yuan gave a friendly warning, which was heard clearly by the limping Yu Chengyi.

He leaned against the doorframe and poked his head out, "Holy crap?"

Shen Yu made some space for him, "I see. I'll go take a look later."

"Shen Yu, aren't you afraid?" Li Yuan looked into his eyes and suddenly asked.

"Why do you ask?" Shen Yu was puzzled.

Li Yuan: "No other meaning, just feel that your composure doesn't look like what a newcomer should have."

Shen Yu asked back, "Then what should a newcomer look like?"

Li Yuan tilted her chin toward Yu Chengyi.

Yu Chengyi:?

Shen Yu followed her gaze, meeting Yu Chengyi's somewhat innocent eyes, and let out an "ah" before explaining, "My health is poor, and my heart can't handle sudden emotional spikes. So I intentionally control the range of my emotions."

Being able to control emotional fluctuations sounded easy, but doing it wasn't. For example, witnessing a dead person right in front of you, could you guarantee you wouldn't scream?

An apologetic look appeared on Li Yuan's face, "Sorry. Then take care of your health. We'll head out first."

Saying that, she prepared to pull Wang Jiaxin away, but Shen Yu suddenly called them back, "Wait."

The two stopped, and Shen Yu asked, "Last night, did you hear any noises?"

Li Yuan and Wang Jiaxin looked at each other, then shook their heads simultaneously. Li Yuan asked, "Is something wrong?"

"Nothing, maybe it was my hallucination." Shen Yu turned back into the room, and Yu Chengyi, after bidding farewell to the two, quickly followed Shen Yu.

Shen Yu immediately went to the window and pulled the curtain open. The scene that met his eyes made his heart sink slightly. Last night, there indeed had been something.

Yu Chengyi let out another "Holy crap."

The window glass was completely shattered, requiring only a light poke of a finger to crumble entirely. It had clearly been pecked open by something, and Shen Yu's guess was verified in the next second.

On the windowsill lay two black bird feathers quietly.

Shen Yu reached out to open the window, and sure enough, the glass shattered with a clatter, falling to the ground. Fortunately, Shen Yu retracted his hand quickly enough to avoid being hit.

Yu Chengyi quickly asked with concern, "Shen Yu, are you okay?"

Shen Yu shook his head, looking down at the broken glass on the floor, then looking up at the empty window frame. Without another word, he reached out to pick up the two black feathers on the windowsill.

Yu Chengyi leaned in and asked, "What kind of bird feather is this?"

"A crow," Shen Yu replied.

Yu Chengyi: "How do you know?"

Shen Yu pointed his chin toward the locust tree opposite the window, "There."

Yu Chengyi followed his gaze. A black crow, about the size of his two hands, was perched on a branch of the locust tree. Unlike normal crows, it not only had an extremely large body but also had crimson, sharp, and terrifying eyes.

He immediately remembered the "clack" sound he had heard last night.

"Was the noise at the window last night caused by it?" Yu Chengyi wanted to point at the crow, but to be honest, he was still quite afraid of this kind of monstrous bird, so he suppressed the urge to raise his hand.

Shen Yu brushed off the non-existent dust on his hands, coughed twice, and pulled the curtain shut, "Probably."

"Holy crap, it was this thing that scared me so much my heart was pounding all night!" Yu Chengyi said resentfully.

Shen Yu glanced at him, seeing no excess fatigue on him, and said, "Didn't you fall asleep last night?"

Speaking of this, Yu Chengyi felt even more aggrieved. He stammered, "Could that be called falling asleep? I fainted from fear!"

"Haha."

Shen Yu chuckled, the corners of his eyes curving slightly, possessing a beauty that others could not match.

This reminded Yu Chengyi of what he wanted to tell Shen Yu.

"Shen Yu, let me tell you, based on my experience running a gym for so long, that guy Tang Gao is not only gay, but he also has designs on you!" Yu Chengyi suddenly counted on his fingers and said to him.

Shen Yu frowned, "You can tell just by looking?"

"Of course! Don't you like men? Let me tell you, you must never like this kind of man. This kind of man is just a visual creature. If he meets someone more beautiful than you in the future, he might just dump you!" Yu Chengyi spoke earnestly, as if he had experienced it himself.

"Of course, I'm not saying you lack charm. After all, you are indeed very beautiful..."

Shen Yu: ...

They went into the bathroom. Shen Yu turned on the tap to wash his face, while Yu Chengyi was still rambling. Shen Yu sighed, turning to look at Yu Chengyi. Their eyes met, and Shen Yu pursed his lips, raising his hand to make a zipping motion.

Yu Chengyi understood and mimicked the zipping motion.

—

The two arrived at the dining hall at 6:30. Everyone sat around the table with very poor expressions. Shen Yu glanced around and noticed two people were missing: one was Xu Yining's roommate, and the other was Chen Song.

Seeing the two arrive, Wang Jiaxin quickly stood up, "Shen Yu."

Everyone looked over, and Shen Yu felt a chill on his back.

"What time is it already, and you can still sleep," Yang Jiguang snorted.

Shen Yu glared at him, not bothering to respond at all.

This time, the embarrassed one was still Yang Jiguang.

Tang Gao stood up and pulled out the chair beside him, indicating for Shen Yu to sit. Yu Chengyi leaped forward and sat down, smiling gratefully at him.

Tang Gao: ...

Shen Yu chuckled inwardly, pulling out a chair himself to sit down.

"The dead person is Xu Yining. Considering what he said to the director yesterday, we can make a reasonable guess," Lü Wei, who was beside Yang Jiguang, stood up and pushed up his glasses.

Shen Yu nodded, whispering to Wang Jiaxin beside him, "Which room was Xu Yining's dorm?"

"108. Do you want to go see?"

After asking, Wang Jiaxin reminded him again, "You must be prepared!"

"I'll go later. Let's hear what they have to say first," Shen Yu shook his head, sitting up straight.

Actually, judging by the current situation, everyone regarded Lü Wei and Yang Jiguang as the leaders. It made sense; Lü Wei seemed to be the brains, while Yang Jiguang was the brawn.