Chapter 2: Two Strange Dreams in One Night

  I feel my scalp tingling, my heart racing wildly, and I'm starting to suffocate. I know there's no one behind me, but the feeling of being stared at is unbearable, like a needle poking into my back. I couldn't help but spin around abruptly and shout: "Who!"

  Behind me was empty and quiet, so quiet that it made me breathless, there was no one, to be exact, there was nothing responding to me.

  The apple couldn't have fallen off on the road, nor could it have been stolen by someone. The only possibility is that it was taken away by something "non-human". I know it's not suitable to rush out immediately now. If that invisible thing wants to harm me, I won't be able to run anyway. Escaping outside will make things worse and I'll scare myself to death; if that thing doesn't want to harm me, then I don't need to run. What's most important now is to calm down.

  After some thought, I pretended to be calm and said to the air: "I won't even count one apple, I don't want to offend you, and you shouldn't come to bother me. I'm just a poor scholar, with integrity and clean hands, no gains or benefits, why not go find someone else..."

  "Hehe..."

  It seemed that a burst of women's laughter came, as if from downstairs, and also as if from the rooftop, drifting and vague, and it was unclear which direction it came from.

  A chill ran from my feet to the top of my head, and I got goosebumps all over. A female ghost? A fox spirit? A white bone demon? It was actually able to make a laughing sound, which was really too frightening.

  I calmed down and listened carefully again. Outside, the crickets chirped in fits and starts, occasionally a gust of wind blew through the willow tree making a rustling sound, and from afar came a few barks of dogs. Where was there any woman's laughter? Maybe I was just too tense and had an illusion.

  After hesitating for a while, I decided not to leave for the time being, but if there were any more abnormal sounds or strange things, I would leave immediately. A person's life is more important than their face. I continued to tidy up and counted the clothes, books, daily necessities and other items I had brought with me, and did not find anything else missing.

  Just as I was tidying up, I happened to glance up and was instantly petrified - on the desktop was an apple core!

  The doors and windows were all closed, I had been in the room all along, so how did the apple core appear? I was so tense that my hands were shaking slightly, and my neck stiffly turned around to take a few glances. There was no one else in the house, nor was there anything unusual. When I looked at the table again, I found that not only had an apple core appeared, but there was also an egg in the water glass - previously there hadn't been an egg in the water glass, and I hadn't even brought any eggs with me!

  I turned my head to look at the bed, and the apple I had just taken out was still there. Apparently, the apple core on the table was the one that had disappeared into thin air earlier. I walked closer to take a closer look, and there were some teeth marks on the surface of the apple core, which looked like they were made by a person who had eaten it very cleanly.

  Shall we go to Old Chen's place for an overnight stay?

  I hesitated for a long time and decided not to go. Perhaps the "peace declaration" just now took effect, so that thing returned my apple core and even gave me an egg as compensation, representing that we owe each other nothing. No matter what kind of monster or demon it is, since it has expressed its sincerity in coexisting peacefully, it won't harm me again.

  Although I am unwilling to admit it, there is indeed a bit because of self-esteem and face issues, so I didn't choose to escape.

  I didn't touch the apple core or the egg, quickly tidied up the bed, lifted the quilt and wrapped it around my head and feet, which made me feel safer. Also, it can prevent mosquitoes from attacking. I didn't turn off the light, leaving it on also increases the sense of security, anyway, I don't have to pay for electricity.

  Having encountered such a bizarre thing, I was mentally tense and couldn't sleep. Every time the wind blew over the roof tiles, making a "rustling" sound, my nerves were on edge. Every time a night bird's cry came from afar, my heart skipped a beat. I recited poem after poem, counted sheep again and again, but still couldn't fall asleep.

  Around midnight, I vaguely heard a crying sound coming from afar. Holding my breath to listen carefully, it was indeed someone crying, sounding like a young woman, sobbing and wailing, yet unable to make out what she was saying. Unless someone had suffered an enormous injustice, they wouldn't produce such heart-wrenching sobs. After listening for a while, I felt a stinging sensation in my eyes, my heart filled with sorrow, and I even wanted to go comfort her and tell her not to cry anymore.

  I don't know how I got out of bed and walked to the window, pushing it open. The voice was clearer now, and it was a young woman's voice: "Waaah... I'm not willing to give up... I'm not willing to give up, waaah..."

  At that time, I didn't know what fear was. I stuck my head out of the window to find the source of the crying sound. Soon, he saw a woman with long hair walking from afar. Her facial features were not very clear. She wore a floral blouse on top and olive green military pants on the bottom. In her hand, she seemed to be dragging a rope.

  Although I don't know what fear is, I feel that something is off in my subconscious. In the middle of the night, where did this woman come from? Why can't I see any other scenery except for her figure? And why has it suddenly become so cold, my body is almost frozen...

  That woman suddenly appeared in front of the window and rose to the same height as me, stretching out her hands: "I'm so miserable, I'm not reconciled, can you help me?"

  At this time, the distance was already very close, and I still couldn't see her face clearly. Although I felt something was wrong in my heart, I thought this woman was pitiful. Just as I was about to open my mouth to agree to help her, a furious roar suddenly came from the rooftop, just like the cry of a mother cat when her kitten is threatened.

  The woman suddenly raised her head and let out a furious roar, like a voice that was being strangled. In this instant, I saw her face, which should have been delicate and beautiful, but now it was deathly pale, with bulging eyes flowing with blood, her mouth wide open with a long tongue sticking out, and a rope tied around her neck.

  "Ah!"

  I let out a cry and hastily retreated, but unexpectedly stepped into thin air and fell from high above, landing with a thud on the wooden board. I immediately sat up straight, only to find myself sitting on my bed, with the window also closed.

  The room was very cold, with a biting chill. Outside, the wind howled and the willow trees downstairs made a loud rustling sound in the wind. The windows of the classroom next door creaked and groaned. The electric light flickered on and off, as if the power was insufficient, but after flashing several times, the light finally stabilized, and the cold feeling gradually dissipated. The wind disappeared, and everything became quiet, as if nothing had happened.

  Was it just a dream I had earlier?

  I wiped the cold sweat from my forehead, gasping for breath, and found it hard to believe that what had just happened was a dream. The feeling was too real. At this moment, both elbows and back still hurt, which was the result of falling on the bed board. And in the instant I woke up, I also heard the sound of myself falling on the bed board. Looking at the quilt covering my body and the slippers on the floor, it didn't seem like I had gotten out of bed. It seemed that I had just been frightened too much in my dream, and my body had jumped up on the bed and then crashed back down.

  But was that just a dream? The oppressive cold air, the flickering lights, and the howling night wind all prove that something unusual happened earlier!

  This time I was really scared out of my wits, and I couldn't wait to get out of there immediately. But outside it was pitch black, even more terrifying than the room itself. Who knows if that evil thing is waiting for me outside? I glanced at my electronic watch, just three more hours until dawn, no matter what, I'll hold on a little longer.

  I lay back in bed, covering my head with a blanket. I thought for sure that after this scare, I wouldn't be able to sleep, but before I knew it, I had dozed off. In a daze, I felt something heavy pressing down on me, making it hard for me to breathe. I couldn't tell if I was dreaming or if there really was something on top of me. I wanted to struggle, but my body didn't seem to be under my control, as if it wasn't mine at all.

  Sleep paralysis?

  Suddenly, this idea popped up in my mind. Actually, I had a similar experience when I was a kid and thought it was a ghost pressing on me. Later, after reading more books, I realized that what's known as "ghost pressing the bed" is actually when a person's consciousness has already woken up, but their muscles are still in a low-tension state, and the brain can't control the body, making them feel like they're being pressed down by something heavy. It's not really a ghost pressing on people.

  But soon I found something was wrong, this time it was different from my past experiences, someone was really pressing on me!

  This person's body is extremely soft, with smooth and elastic skin that emits a fragrance like orchids and musk. Although I couldn't see anything, I can be certain that the person pressing down on me is a very beautiful girl; otherwise, there wouldn't be this kind of sweet and tender feeling.

  The girl seemed to be focusing on me, then gently stroked my face with her hand. Her fingers were slender and round, soft and boneless, warm and smooth, with a kind of enchanting magic power that could capture one's soul. A strange impulse arose in my heart, and there was a surge of fire that wanted to find an outlet, the feeling of thirst was very severe.

  The girl leaned down, her face close to mine, and blew a gentle breath. The warm air carried an unusual, alluring scent. As I inhaled the fragrance, the evil fire within me grew more uncontrollable, my lower abdomen burning with heat. At this moment, my entire body was paralyzed, yet that one place, normally impossible to control at will, began to stir, hard as iron, swollen and ready to burst.

  It seemed like there was a faint laugh by my ear, and that jade-like hand slid from my face to my chest, roaming back and forth on my not-so-strong pectoral muscles, making me feel like something was about to explode somewhere...

  Suddenly, I thought of a terrible thing - the whole school was empty except for me. Where did this beautiful girl come from? This shock was not trivial, and my dizziness instantly disappeared. My hair stood on end, and the pillar that held up the sky quickly softened like a deflated balloon. Unfortunately, my body still couldn't move, and everything in front of me was pitch black - I didn't know if the lights had gone out or if I just couldn't open my eyes. At this time, I was about 60% awake, relying only on instinctive vigilance to discover that something was wrong, unable to engage in more detailed, rational thinking.

  The girl let out a soft "hmm" and blew a gentle breath between my lips, giving me another rush of hot blood. At the same time, her jade-like hand slid down from my waist and slipped inside my pants.

  I already knew that the woman on my body was not a monster or a ghost, but after making love, she would suck out all my vital energy, or swallow me whole (maybe I've read too much "Liaozhai" and "Journey to the West"), so I didn't have any romantic feelings at all. On the contrary, I found that hand more terrifying than a poisonous snake or a centipede, scaring me into a cold sweat all over my body, and the uncontrollable lust inside me disappeared quickly due to fear.

  My poor brother, was caught by someone else for the first time after I grew up... She fiddled with it for a while and still like a dead snake, then made a "hmm" sound, and then pulled one of my hands into her arms. The place where she touched me was as soft as condensed fat and jade, extremely soft and smooth, plump and elastic, but at this moment I only felt fear and disgust, how could I have any reaction?

  The girl let out a "hmmph" and might have been slightly annoyed, but didn't do anything else and suddenly disappeared. I sat up abruptly in bed, opened my eyes, the room was pitch black, outside the window the sky was faintly white, and from afar came the sound of a rooster crowing.

  It was almost dawn, I reached for the switch on my bedside and flipped it, but the light didn't turn on, probably due to a power outage. My shirt was soaked with cold sweat, and there was a faint scent around me, clearly what happened earlier wasn't just a dream.