To successfully return to the ship, the two of us agreed to go to sleep. However, after lying on the bed for a long while, I still did not have the urge to sleep. And so I got up and went out to the hall.
There were probably only us staying in this inn tonight.
Her room was not lit up, so maybe she was asleep? Not surprising considering she had always been able to sleep fine even if something traumatic happened. Thinking about this, I let out a gentle smile and lit up a cigarette. Sitting on a sofa, I started enjoying my cigarette.
After a while, I heard the door to her room open. With a coat draped on, she came out in her pajamas and a pair of slippers. I stayed where I was while she sat beside me and asked, You couldnt sleep as well?
Yeah.
What do we do? If both of us cant fall asleep, would we be unable to go back onto the ship? Last time, it happened while we were asleep.
Well just go with the flow and see how things go.
You sure are chill about it.
Whats the use in panicking? Do you think we would have the ability to fight back against such a mysterious force?
Tan Jiao became quiet for a while when she heard my reply. Perhaps it was too cold. Then she said, There are some things where you wont know until you try.
As if my heart was whipped by her words, I looked at her and saw a vague light of hope in her eyes. It was the eyes of the woman I could not truly figure out. I took a deep draw from my cigarette and did not respond.
You should sleep early, I said.
Then why arent you going?
Ill go in after finishing my cigarette.
There was another brief lull between us again before she suddenly reached over and took my cigarette away. I turned to her and saw that she had hidden the cigarette behind her back. Youve been smoking a lot lately. Arent you going to save your mother and sister and protect me? Are you able to with the number of cigarettes youre smoking?
I felt somewhat hurt by that and said, Give me my cigarette.
No.
I tried grabbing it from her, but she seemed determined with her head held up. She had a hint of playfulness in her eyes. My hand reached behind her back while my face became very close to hers. I finally found her hand and felt my cigarette. When that happened, she looked up at me and looked at me lovingly.
There were only the two of us here.
In this hall, in the darkness, on this long sofa, there were only the two of us.
She stayed there motionless, but I felt that her body was slightly trembling. It seemed like she had made some sort of difficult decision and slowly closed her eyes.
I quickly grabbed the cigarette and moved away from her. At the same time, I let her go.
In the peaceful and quiet hall, I could not help but curse at myself, Wu Yu, you piece of shit!
She opened her eyes and looked somewhat disappointed with a hint of disdain.
Tan Jiao
Its fine. She casually interrupted me. You can smoke if you want to, I was just concerned as a friend. I wont stop you anymore.
Yeah. Just do what you want.
Then she got up and entered her room, slamming the door behind her.
I sat there for a little longer, but when I was about to go into my room, I noticed a room lighting up at professor Chens house miles away. I looked up naturally and saw that the light came from a balcony on the second floor.
A person came out.
It was Chen Ruying.
I could see clearly the white pajamas she had on. She looked very skinny with her face seeming particularly pointed. Her long hair was down, and her face looked pale. She pressed her lips tightly and had a dull look in her eyes, standing there in the darkness of the mountain, alone on the balcony. Then out of nowhere, a creepy smile gradually developed on her face.
I was shocked.
This was not like her.
She was not like this before she went on the ship.