Translator: 549690339
The tent was dim and muted, with light seeping through the gaps, diffusing everything indistinctly. Faces of the occupants were barely discernible to each other.
“Close your eyes,” Shen MO said.
Bai Youwei closed them for a moment, only to open them again, “How would you know if I closed my eyes if yours were open?”
Shen MO was no stranger to her antics. Looking down at her, he asked faintly, “Not sleepy?”
“Yes, I am.” She shuffled a bit closer to him, “I just wanted to see what ‘I’ look like in your eyes.”
His breath hitched involuntarily.
In the silent dimness, her breath wafted around him, light and sweet, with a subtle coolness, like minty honey and a faint scent of flowers, possibly from the shampoo in her hair.
Unaware of their closeness, she looked straight into his eyes, her voice so soft it was almost inaudible: “Eyes are like mirrors, right…”
Shen MO gazed quietly at her. After a moment, he asked, “Can you see clearly?” “It’s too dark, I can’t see clearly.” She shook her head slightly.
Strands of her hair brushing against his arm tickled him, and he moved away subconsciously.
Bai Youwei reached out and grabbed his retreating arm, “You look at mine as well. ”
She opened her eyes wide and tilted her face up for him to look.
She has a pair of beautiful doe-like eyes that often give people the misperception of her being innocent and weak, but when she smiles, the corners of her eyes curling slightly upwards radiate an entrancing aloofness, making her resemble a proud kitten.
“Did you see it?” she asked him, “A person or a puppet?”
Shen MO went silent for a while, replied, “I can’t see clearly.”
Without emotion, he pulled her hand away from his arm, “Go to sleep.”
This time she didn’t lean in again, but lazily yawned and mumbled, “Shen MO, remember to look at yourself in the mirror tomorrow, you have to look…”
With that, she turned her back towards him, her breath gradually slow and steady.
Seemed like she fell asleep…
For some reason, Shen MO let out a sigh of relief.
The night was long and he wasn’t the only one who couldn’t sleep.
From the neighbouring tent came the rhythmic sounds of someone playing a mobile game. It was Tan Xiao entertaining himself, level after level, it was quite lively.
Later, the noises around decreased, and even the sound of the game had disappeared completely.
The maze was steeped in silence.
Gauging that the time was about right, Shen MO got up quietly and stepped out of the tent.
He pulled a packet of cigarettes out of his pocket, lit one for himself, and exhaled slowly. The wispy pallor of the smoke fluttered before his eyes.
Without that faint minty sweetness, his head seemed to clear up a lot more.
Sometimes he felt she understood everything, other times he felt she was just teasing him.
He wondered since when an errand of picking someone up had become so troublesome. On a second thought, had he not picked her up, where would he be at this moment?
Probably it would have been quite boring…
Shen MO gave a silent laugh, breathed out lightly, and softly blew away the smoke before him.
Night watch was dull and tedious.
He sat in front of the tent, quietly surveying his surroundings.
From some tent, a girl’s murmuring voice could be heard:
“The mirrors here are so scary. If we had known, we shouldn’t have entered…”
Another girl’s voice sounded cold: “You were worried that you wouldn’t get enough props, so you insisted on coming in, didn’t you?”
“Chen Hui, why are you talking like that…” the girl sounded hurt, “Everyone else was coming in, I didn’t want to be left outside alone.” “Since we’re already here, stop overthinking. Sleep.”
“But I can’t sleep. Talk to me for a bit…”
“Hmm…did you notice? That lame guy actually took a shower. He even came back with his hair still wet.”
“What’s wrong with someone taking a shower? Just go to sleep, it’s almost three.”
“Don’t you know? Many paralyzed disabled people can’t feel the lower part of their bodies and have bladder and bowel incontinence. This means they always have a strange smell and need to bathe regularly…”
In Shen Mo’s mind a thought emerged: No, she smells quite nice..