Chapter 34: Lone Door
The four of them stayed huddled together. Ye Delun felt his mind drift away. This was too boring for him, there wasn't any feeling. No thrill of excitement, just lame walking. He felt down as he couldn't watch the walls anymore, the patterns were gone. And along with them, his makeshift entertainment.
"Hey," Li Yusheng said, he pointed his flashlight ahead of them. "Look at that."
Their eyes followed the light coming from the flashlight. The beam of light lit up the wall ahead of them to reveal a door.
Yang Lan glanced at the door, "Yeah, what about it?"
Li Yusheng frowned, "Nothing, it's just that it's in a weird spot."
While all of the doors were against the wall to their side, this door was directly across from them. "And look," He directed the flashlight to the wall to their left, where the line of doors was. "There's a door missing."
There was indeed a door missing. Along the line of doors, the one directly at the end was gone. Instead, the door was on the wall with the dead end.
"You're right."
Ye Delun silently watched the interaction from behind. His eyes gazed at the outline of the door and he paused.
This was his door.
The same dark brown wood, delicately styled framing, and gold doorknob. Although someone else would say that it looked exactly the same as every other door in the hallway, Ye Delun would be the only one to see the subtle differences.
[You stare at your bedroom door.]
In the dream house, the door to his room would be in the spot that the missing door would be. Although he couldn't have been for sure, as this house's layout is different, the system just ended up confirming it for him anyway.
Shen Lin moved up to the door, her callused hand held onto the knob of the door. "...It's unlocked.." It made no sound as it opened. They all peered inside.
The room was bright, cozy, and welcoming. Completely different from anything outside the entrance. The morning sun's rays pooled from the large windows. It warmed the room and cleared away the chilling feeling of everyone's veins.
In the center of the room, laid a crystal casket. The beams of light reflected off the glass and made the room look all the brighter.
"What is this?" Shen Lin stood in the plain room. It was empty besides the casket, the hardwood floors were swept, unlike anything outside. One of the windows, large enough to also work as a door, was left open. A breeze was left in, it brushed back some of the hair on her forehead.
"It looks like a bed." Yang Lan said as she studied the casket closely. Li Yusheng stood next to her as if he would protect her if anything were to suddenly jump at her. Yang Lan studied the rim of the casket, "There's no dust, this place was used recently." Her fingers grasped onto the handle and lifted the crystal outer casing.
"It's just a bunch of blankets." Yang Lan said.
Shen Lin moved over to look. She placed her hand onto an indent made into the blankets. "It isn't warm, just was used not too long ago. Maybe an hour or two." She accurately analyzed.
Perhaps a little too accurate.
[You watch as your victims mess with your bed. You were just sleeping there earlier, it was a long sleep as you didn't like to stay awake. But when you did, you escaped through the window and ventured into the town.]
[You notice you had left the window open, you secretly wish Gao Shunyuan or Zao Xing hadn't seen it.]
Ye Delun blankly stared at the narration messages, then looked at the casket. Although he thought it was a little strange, once he studied the fluffy pillows a bit more closely he understood. Yes, this place must be very comfortable. No wonder he would sleep for a long amount of time.
Suddenly, Shen Lin's golden eyes narrowed into a slit. Her hand moved to her side in a flash and tossed something from her pocket towards the door.
The clear sound of something sharp stabbing into wood echoed through the room.
They turned to see Gao Shunyuan at the entrance to the door. Part of his shoulder-length white hair was lodged between the sharp metal of a knife, and the wooden frame of the door. His amethyst eyes calmly looked at it, not at all threatened. His pale fingers wrapped around the handle of the blade and with a strange show of strength, he ripped it out of the wall.
His eyes looked strangely powerful. They were a dark purple and held a strange sense of resentment in them. It wasn't threatening, nor did they contain malice towards them. But instead, towards something that they wouldn't be able to understand, deep and undefined. Deep in them, Ye Delun could see how tired he was.
His eyes skimmed around the four people surrounding the casket. Dangerously traced the outlines of their bodies. He paused once his eyes made contact with Ye Delun. Ye Delun just quietly stared back at him.
[The character 'Gao Shunyuan' is piecing together the puzzle pieces and notices the cracked open window!]
[The character 'Gao Shunyuan' has caught you on your escape attempt, but he sympathizes with you and hesitates whether or not to inform the character 'Zao Xing' about it!]
"Would you all... like to explain why you're here?" He said. He was polite, but it didn't seem at all sincere. His slender fingers slowly twirled the knife, he grasped it by the blade and held it in front of Shen Lin. Shen Lin hesitated to grab it back.
"Gao Shunyuan, you... why are you here?" Yang Lan asked. Her eyes expanded as she twisted her head to look back at him.
Gao Shunyuan let his eyes cross her once again. She flinched under his flat gaze, Shen Lin put an arm in front of her.
"Isn't that what I asked? I don't believe intruders should have the right to ask such questions." He strolled forward, the sound of his pristine black shoes seemed to be absorbed into the red carpet. His hand reached forward towards Yang Lan, she flinched back and squeezed her eyes shut. But his hand didn't touch her face but instead went to her hand. He gently pried off her fingers from the lid of the casket and closed it.
"I will let this go for now, as I have no right to punish guests. But I can not say the same for the others." His gaze met Ye Delun's as if he was trying to convey something to him. "It is not safe for you to wonder here, your Host wouldn't be in the best mood if he were to find out. I recommend you all leave before lunchtime, therefore, you have an hour or two." He brushed the lid of the casket with his gloved hand as if he was wiping off dirt.
Then with his cold, nonchalant gaze, he turned around and headed out the door. "Although if you wanted to stay longer, I have no right to stop you. Feel free to stay for lunch." His eye caught onto Yang Lan, whose gaze followed him the whole way out. His eyes deepened and a cold, depressing area enveloped him.
His eyes traced the floor as he walked down the corridor. How his clean shoes stood out from the red coloring of the carpet. They matched just moments before, that was before he cleaned them off. "Zao Xing, that bastard," he said quietly. He took a deep breath through his nose and looked up into the dust-filled air. His dull eyes from before sharpened into daggers as they pierced the air. Something dark, and indignant. It sucked the color out of the surrounding area and used it to feed his eyes. They shined bright people, filled with an obscured amount of frustration.
"This is all going to be his fault."
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