The Man Behind The Third Chapter

  Tong Xuan made a phone call to Yan Xi, speaking softly, afraid of waking up the person who was tightly nestled in her arms.

  "Hello, is it Yanxi?"

  "Hmm, who is this?" Hikari was on his way to school.

  "I am Xiaoyan's mom, Aunt Tong..."

  "Oh, Auntie is you, what's wrong? Is there something?" Yan Xi was a bit surprised, why would Tong Xuan call her?

  "Auntie has something to ask of you, can you come over to my place tonight and keep Xiaoyan company while she sleeps? She's always having trouble sleeping. I have to go to work and can't get out of it." Tong Xuan seemed a bit hesitant to ask, letting a rich young lady sleep on this broken wooden bed, but this was also unavoidable, she couldn't bear to see her daughter like this anymore.

  "What's wrong with Xiaoyan?" Yanxi was even more puzzled, wondering why he would be asked to accompany Xiaoyan.

  "Xiao Yan, Xiao Yan seems to have seen something unclean. She also can't get used to sleeping in a strange bed, so she wanted you to come and accompany her." Tong Xuan didn't hide the truth, but her voice became softer and more timid.

  "It's okay, Auntie, don't worry, I'll go keep Xiaoyan company tonight."

  "Thank you, Yan Xi. Now Auntie can rest assured. Come over after school, okay? Thank you so much, Auntie." Tong Xuan felt a huge weight lifted off her heart, and her words were filled with gratitude.

  "Alright, no worries Auntie." Yan Xi hung up the phone, a faint smile appearing at the corner of his mouth. The smile was so enchanting, so mysterious.

  Xiao Yan slept until 5 pm, when her mother finally woke her up. For these four nights, she had never slept so comfortably, even though she was half asleep and couldn't sleep soundly, but there were no endless nightmares, no "her" figure, Xiao Yan was already content.

  "Xiao Yan, Yan Xi will come over tonight to keep you company while sleeping. Mom has to go to work later, and your tuition fees are still overdue." Tong Xuan gently said while stroking Xiao Yan's head.

  Xiao Yan looked at her mother's sunken eye sockets, her face full of wrinkles and dark yellow, thin as if only a handful of bones were left, yet she still had to work the night shift and take on part-time jobs for the sake of living. She was working hard for Xiao Yan's tuition fees, and now she was still worried about her and thinking of her. Xiao Yan felt extremely guilty and didn't want to let her mother worry anymore.

  "Got it, mom, I'm fine, just had a dream, maybe I was too tense, don't worry, mom."

  Tong Xuan smiled comfortingly:

  "It's all right, mom will be at ease."

  The mother and daughter leaned against each other, smiling at each other.

  At this time, there was a knock at the door outside. Tong Xuan let go of Xiao Yan and rushed to open the door.

  "Yanxi is here, it's good that he came."

  "Yes, Auntie is good." Yan Xi smiled cleverly and bowed slightly, carefully walking into the house.

  Tong Xuan called out to Yan Xi to come in, and while putting away the cloth package, she said to Xiao Yan:

  "Yi Xi is here, Mom has gone to work. You guys stay home and be good, there's food on the table, heat it up if you're hungry."

  "Got it. Come back early." Xiaoyan smiled obediently as she watched her mother's receding figure.

  "Xiao Yan, what's wrong with you? I heard from Auntie that you saw something unclean?" Tong Xuan closed the door and walked away, then Yan Xi sat down beside Xiao Yan and asked carefully.

  "What? Nothing, don't listen to my mom's nonsense, I was just dreaming." She tried to speak in a tone that made her seem like nothing was wrong, forcing a smile and attempting to cover up the empty look in her eyes, something she never wanted to mention again.

  "When did you become so timid? What did you dream of?" Yan Xi still wouldn't let go, pressing step by step, even though he saw her evasive gaze.

  "That's all, nothing more. I'm hungry, I'll go get some hot dishes. What do you want to eat?" Xiaoyan hastily changed the subject and escaped from Yanxi's step-by-step pursuit, walking towards the kitchen.

  Yan Xi stayed in place thinking: 'Why is Xiao Yan being so weird today?' He spaced out for a moment before smiling and following Xiao Yan to the kitchen.

  Xiao Yan's phone rang, and she saw that it was a note from Ye Chen:

  "What's wrong?" Xiaoyan took a deep breath and pressed the talk button.

  "How come you didn't come to school, is everything okay? I saw your mom leave from downstairs of your building, that's why I dared to call you." Ye Chen only wanted to know if she was safe.

  "I'm fine, just a bit uncomfortable, don't worry. I'll go to school tomorrow." Xiaoyan's heart felt warm and fuzzy, Ye Chen was always like the sun, warming people's hearts, no, it was only for warming her heart.

  "Okay, no worries then. See you tomorrow."

  "See you tomorrow."

  Xiao Yan hung up the phone and continued to busy herself with cooking hot dishes. The smile that she couldn't hide from the corner of her mouth was again burning someone's heart.

  Yan Xi handed over the dishes from the side, with a hint of jealousy flashing in his eyes, but when he raised his head again, it was a radiant smile.

  Quietly finishing dinner, Xiaoyan took a bath and lay on the bed, gently rubbing her temples. Yanxi was playing with his laptop beside her, also nothing out of the ordinary. Everything seemed so peaceful, at least there was someone to accompany her, feeling much more at ease.

  Xiao Yan finished reading the review materials in her hand, let out a sigh of relief and tidied up the bed.

  "Yanxi, I'm going to sleep first, I'm a bit tired."

  Yan Xi still stared at the computer screen without blinking, "uh-huh".

  Xiao Yan lay contentedly on the bed, closing her eyes, with the sound of Yan Xi tapping away at the keyboard still in her ears, giving her a sense of security. She just wanted to quickly drift off to sleep and have a peaceful rest.

  Tick-tock, tick-tock......

  On a rainy night, lightning flashed outside the window, and the rumbling thunder foretold a torrential downpour.

  The wind blew through the window gap and into her bones, making her extremely cold. Xiaoyan burrowed deeper into her quilt.

  Already unclear whether it was a dream or reality, Xiaoyan got up and walked to the balcony, wanting to close the window tightly.

  A surge of power seemed to have opened the window first, and the wind blew so hard that Xiaoyan couldn't open her eyes. A cool sensation spread from her neck throughout her body. She shivered with cold, and subconsciously looked down at her neck, where a pair of slender and pale hands were lightly placed on her throat. It seemed as if they would snap her neck in the next second.

  "Ah!"

  She didn't care whether the window was closed or not, she just opened her legs and ran desperately. She didn't dare to look back, but felt numb all over her body, only feeling cold.

  Running, running aimlessly, surrounded by darkness and the silence of the night, with the sound of rain coming and going in my ears.

  I don't know how, maybe I got dizzy from running, but in front of me is an old and dilapidated basement.

  She looked around, and at the end of a long corridor was a public toilet and bathroom. Behind her back was a wall. So how did she get in? She didn't know. All she knew was that there was no exit. Of course, there was also no entrance, which made Xiaoyan breathe a sigh of relief - at least the owner of that icy white hand couldn't come in either.

  Tick-tock, tick-tock......

  Can't tell whether it's the sound of water dripping from the faucet or the sound of rain outside.

  Xiao Yan's legs slowly took a step forward, walking towards the first room on her left.

  Knock knock knock...

  Xiao Yan knocked gently on the door, but no one came to open it.

  She inexplicably opened the old rusty iron gate, which was unlocked. In front of her was a vast darkness, and she couldn't see anything or any structure.

  Xiao Yan cautiously took a small step into the darkness, but her foot slipped and she screamed as she fell into endless darkness!

  Rapid breathing told Xiao Yan that this was a terrible nightmare! She suddenly opened her eyes and it was the familiar room again.

  It's raining outside with pitter-patter sound.

  It's okay, it's not under the bed.

  There were too many unresolved puzzles in her dreams, and Xiao Yan didn't dare to think more. She just wanted to escape, escape from this inexplicable nightmare.

  "Oh no! Xiaoyan, what are you doing?! Can't you let people sleep?!" Yanxi suddenly asked in a slightly angry tone.

  "What's wrong? Did I disturb you?" Xiaoyan thought that maybe she had woken up Yanxi while she was dreaming.

  "Why are you touching my neck! It's freezing, your hands are so cold." Yan Xi said, shrinking into the quilt.

  "I didn't touch your neck! My hands were always under the quilt!"

  "Don't scare me! Who are you?!... Don't say anymore, go to sleep!" Yan Xi's heart suddenly stood on end, not daring to think further, urging Xiao Yan to hurry up and sleep.

  Xiao Yan stopped in her tracks, involuntarily recalling the pale and icy hand from her dream, tightly grasping the quilt.

  "Ahh!!! Help!!" Yixi suddenly shouted hysterically.

  "Cough, cough, cough... Xiaoyan! Save me! ... Cough... Someone is choking my neck... Save..." Yanxi shouted while slapping her own neck, as if an invisible hand was tightly gripping it. She couldn't breathe and her face turned red, with the veins on her neck and temples bulging.

  Xiao Yan was terrified, looking at Yan Xi's ferocious expression, what to do?! She was at a loss, and after a moment, she took a step forward with her stiff legs to turn on the light.

  Yanxi's struggling sounds stopped, leaving only the heavy breathing and coughing sounds. She was afraid, she didn't know what thing was holding her, no time to be relieved that she wasn't strangled to death, only fear remained.

  Xiao Yan felt extremely guilty, knowing that she had put her companion in harm's way and dragged her into this nightmare. But she didn't dare to speak up or offer any comfort, as she herself didn't know how to explain, escape, or face it all.

  The room was so quiet that all you could hear was the sound of rain outside the window and each other's breathing, heartbeat.

  The air is filled with a terrifying atmosphere, every breath is full of fear.

  Two women clutched each other's hands tightly, at a loss for words, and sat stiffly on the bed with the lights on, staring intently at every object around them, afraid that another icy hand would emerge from under the bed.

  Tick-tock, tick-tock......

  "I'm Waiting for You Under the Bed" latest chapter is released by Yunqi Book House, the fastest and most popular online release site! (This site provides: traditional pagination, waterfall two modes, can be selected in settings)