She sat in the courtyard, sounds reaching her ears from all directions.
There were hushed whispers between couples, the crying of children, and the low coughs of the elderly.
This small town seemed so normal.
With myriad thoughts swirling in Ning Wei's mind, Li Ye walked out softly, placing a coat over her shoulders. He then whispered, "It's cool at night, don't catch a cold."
Ning Wei pulled the coat tighter. Li Ye sat beside her, and the two of them listened silently to the sounds around them, gazing at the crescent moon overhead.
Li Ye didn't ask about her conversation with Uncle Meng that afternoon, nor did Ning Wei bring it up.
After a long while, Ning Wei softly asked Li Ye, "Do you think, if we don't provoke it, it will let us go and allow us to leave here safely?"
Li Ye gently put his arm around Ning Wei's shoulders, pressing her head against his shoulder. He told her in a low, hoarse voice, "Don't worry, if it provokes us, I will make it disappear completely."
Ning Wei found it amusing, "Your two treasures are useless now, how can you still be so confident?"
"I want to protect you, even without the ring and the beads, I can still do it with my own abilities!"
This wasn't the first time Li Ye had directly stated his desire to protect her. The moonlight was cold, but Ning Wei's cheeks flushed red.
Fortunately, she kept her head down, and Li Ye couldn't see her face at all.
Ning Wei remained silent, and Li Ye hadn't expected her to say anything heartwarming to him.
The two fell back into silence. Leaning against Li Ye, Ning Wei felt her eyelids grow heavy.
She hadn't expected Li Ye to have a soporific effect. Her head kept drooping outwards. Li Ye sighed helplessly and gently told her, "Go back to your room and sleep. I'll handle everything, don't worry."
Li Ye pulled Ning Wei along, seeing her into her room and onto the bed before softly closing the door behind them.
No one knew about their conversation in the courtyard; everyone was fast asleep.
As Ning Wei slept, she felt a pair of dark eyes constantly watching her.
Even though her surroundings were pitch black, she could sense that gaze.
She knew she was trapped in another space. She had only just parted from Li Ye, and now, as soon as she closed her eyes, the mountain god had come knocking.
She had known that leaving this place wouldn't be that easy. This mountain god couldn't be considered a god at all!
The gaze moved up and down her body, making Ning Wei's every hair stand on end.
If the enemy doesn't move, I won't move. Ning Wei silently confronted the other party.
After a long time, Ning Wei's patience wore thin. She decided to walk around, only to find that no matter how she walked, she remained in darkness.
Those eyes followed her like a shadow; she was like prey caught in a trap.
"You went to the trouble of trapping me here, and you won't say a word?" Ning Wei's sarcastic voice suddenly rang out.
But the other party completely ignored her. Apart from the gaze, no matter what Ning Wei said, it remained steadfast.
Ning Wei was unsure if the passage of time was different here from the outside. She didn't want to be trapped here indefinitely, causing others to worry.
Originally, besides Ning Wei, Li Ye was someone else in the team they could rely on. However, now that Li Ye's two treasures had become inanimate objects, Ning Wei didn't want him to reveal his blood situation.
Thinking of this, her desire to leave this place became even more urgent.
Ning Wei only had her blood to use. To escape this confinement, she bit her finger. The moment blood sprayed out, it transformed into a lotus flower. She chanted words, clearly intending to unleash a powerful move.
However, before she could even finish her preparations, she heard the crowing of a rooster.
Ning Wei's eyes snapped open, and she found herself back in her room.
Because she had sat up unintentionally with a large movement, she woke up Tang Tang, who was sleeping beside her.
It was like a tarot spread, one waking another. Coupled with the persistent crowing of the rooster outside the window, everyone simply got up swiftly.
Ning Wei remained seated on the bed. Tang Tang gently nudged her and asked with great concern, "Are you feeling unwell?"
Ning Wei came back to her senses, shook her head slightly, and explained, "I just had a nightmare."
Zhu Yilian, who was fastening his belt, heard this and chuckled, "I didn't expect a ghost-catching master to have nightmares too."
Everyone was relaxed and no one pressed for details about the nightmare.
They were staying in this small courtyard, treating this adventure as a tourist homestay. They slept early and woke early, ate meals on time, and spent their leisure time either daydreaming or sleeping, appearing relaxed and carefree.
Only Ning Wei had a somber expression.
She had initially believed, as they had discussed, that as long as they didn't provoke the mountain god, it wouldn't intentionally trouble them. When the time was right, the bus would arrive, and they could leave smoothly.
Unfortunately, after experiencing being trapped in darkness last night, Ning Wei knew deeply that leaving this place wouldn't be that easy.
For some reason, the mountain god had become fixated on her, or rather, Ning Wei had been singled out by the mountain god.
As she walked out of the room, Ning Wei changed her mood.
She wouldn't tell anyone about this matter, because they lacked the ability to protect themselves, and there was no point in them trying to fight the mountain god head-on.
She also didn't plan to tell Li Ye, as he had lost his ability to summon his treasures.
She had taken his words from last night to heart.
If they truly encountered a life-threatening situation, she believed Li Ye would sacrifice himself to protect her.
But this was not the outcome Ning Wei desired, so she would continue to act as if nothing had happened.
Uncle Meng and his wife got up at dawn because they had to open the grocery store. They also prepared breakfast for everyone.
The breakfast was simple: a pot of congee, two eggs per person, and several kinds of pickled vegetables.
Although Ning Wei and the others had just come from a five-star hotel, they were still very satisfied with this simple breakfast.
Aunt Meng, on the other hand, felt a little embarrassed. She could tell that this group of people were from the city. Her daughter had told her that cities had abundant food, and some places even had over a dozen different ingredients for breakfast.
"We didn't have enough time this morning, so it's a bit simple. Tomorrow morning, I'll make big steamed buns for you. No one in town says my steamed buns aren't good."
"There's no need to trouble yourself. These children aren't picky eaters. Being able to eat something ready-made when they wake up is already very satisfying," Mei Nan, being the oldest, naturally assumed the role of an elder.
"It's fine, making steamed buns is simple. We eat them from time to time ourselves. It's just like making a couple more," Uncle Meng also felt that breakfast was too simple, so he insisted on making steamed buns for breakfast tomorrow.
With eight extra people at home, even if each person ate two, it wasn't just "a couple more."