The Third Person in the Darkness

Looking at the departing figures, Number Four turned around and looked at Number Three. He asked, “Are we still following them?”

“Cut the crap.”

After saying that, Number Three walked back to where he came from without looking back. He was prepared to go back and sleep a little longer before daybreak.

Number Four stood rooted to the ground. The other guard followed closely behind Number Three, also planning to catch up on his sleep.

Seeing them leave without hesitation, Number Four shrugged. What was there to worry about when the Crown Prince was with the general? Forget it, he should go back and get some sleep too.

After thinking it through, he quickened his pace and caught up with the two people in front of him.

Although their main job was to escort the Crown Prince, they all knew that with the general around, there was no need for them at all. This trip was basically a vacation that was gifted to them by the emperor.

Xiaoyi looked at the door that was getting closer and closer. A familiar and strange feeling welled up in his heart.

Thinking about Zhuang Zhuang’s expression when they met later, his heart was filled with joy. He quickened his pace and overtook Jiang Danhe.

The dogs in the courtyard were very intelligent. Although they were not familiar with Xiaoyi, Jiang Danhe was someone whom they recognized. He quickly intercepted the dogs in advance to prevent them from barking. Otherwise, they would have woken up Zhuang Zhuang who was sleeping soundly.

Xiaoyi ran towards the kitchen with his school bag slung over his shoulder. He opened the door and lifted the curtain, but the smile on his face froze as soon as it appeared.

There were six pairs of eyes looking at each other in the kitchen, and an awkward atmosphere lingered in the air.

Xiao Zhu and Yu Ling leaned against each other cautiously, not daring to look at Xiaoyi.

Xiaoyi gripped the curtain tightly and leaned against the door. Feeling confused as he looked at the two girls, wondering to himself who they were, He didn’t think that he had met them before.

The two girls were terrified when they saw Xiaoyi sizing them up. Although the person in front of them was just a child, it might be fine if they didn’t know his identity. However, if they knew his identity, they could no longer treat him as any normal kid.

Fortunately, the strange atmosphere between the three of them was promptly interrupted by Xiaoguo’s entrance.

After a brief introduction, Xiaoyi took the initiative to greet Yuling and Xiaozhu. He wasn’t a shy person to begin with, and he didn’t put on any airs.

However, Xiao Zhu and Yu Ling were not as unreserved as him. They still felt a tad uncomfortable in his presence.

Seeing how reserved the two of them were, Xiaoguo had no choice but to separate the three of them. Otherwise, the problem was not going to resolve itself if they continued standing there.

“Xiao Zhu and Yu Ling, can you help to watch the fire? I’ll bring Xiaoyi into the house first.”

“Okay!”

As soon as she said that, Xiao Zhu and Yu Ling nodded their heads readily.

Xiaoguo snickered and led Xiaoyi into the house.

Xiaoyi took two steps forward while being led away by Xiaoguo. Even so, he did not forget to turn around and wave goodbye at them with a smile.

Although he didn’t know why they were looking at him strangely, he was looking forward to meeting new friends.

Xiaoguo noticed his little actions and she turned her head to look at the two little girls who seemed to have been struck by lightning. She couldn’t help but smile helplessly to herself.

“Auntie, is Zhuang Zhuang awake?”

“Not yet. It will probably take a while.”

Xiaoguo lifted the door curtain. Jiang Danhe, who had just returned after washing up, also followed them into the room.

When Xiaoyi saw Zhuang Zhuang on the bed, he ran forward excitedly. After placing his bag on the bed, he quickly lay down beside Zhuang Zhuang. Supporting his face with his hands, he looked at his friend with a burning gaze.

The smile on his face was almost reaching his ears.

The friendship between the two little boys didn’t fade away with the passage of time, even though they could not meet each other frequently.

As if sensing something in his dream, Zhuang Zhuang frowned slightly. Just as everyone was holding their breath and thinking that he was going to wake up, Zhuang Zhuang smacked his lips and stopped moving in the next minute.

Xiaoyi was so frightened by him that he could barely breathe. His surprise plan had not been executed yet, so he couldn’t let it end so hastily.

Seeing that Zhuang Zhuang was showing no signs of waking up, Xiaoguo decided to let him sleep a little longer. She would wake him up before breakfast.

She was planning to leave the room with Jiang Danhe first. In any case, the little guy wouldn’t wake up so soon. She would leave Xiaoyi to accompany him.

Before Jiang Danhe left, he glanced at Zhuang Zhuang with an ambiguous expression. The corners of his mouth were curling up involuntarily.

“What’s wrong?”

Xiaoguo happened to see the corners of his mouth curl up before he could stop himself. She looked curiously around the room but she didn’t notice anything that looked funny.

Jiang Danhe stopped smiling and shook his head. Half-hugging her, he went with her to wash up.

“Haven’t you washed up already?”

Xiaoguo struggled for a moment, but the other party was quite strong.

“I’ll wash up again with you.”

Jiang Danhe said as he pushed her forward, seemingly trying to get her out of the room as soon as possible.

Xiao Guo looked at him strangely. “Is he not feeling well? Why is he still accompanying me to wash up after he was done? Could it be that he couldn’t leave me even for a minute?”

Ahem, she was feeling a little shy…

“What are you thinking about?”

Jiang Danhe pinched her blushing cheeks and looked at her curiously. Why had her face turned so red?

“Uh… I’m not telling you!”

Xiaoguo turned her head away from him in embarrassment.

In the end, she was just overthinking things, but she was not going to admit it.

—-

At this moment, only Xiaoyi and Zhuang Zhuang were left in the room.

Xiaoyi wanted to be the first person that Zhuangzhuang sees when he wakes up, so he tried to keep still as much as possible. His arm that was propping him up had become a bit sore.

However, remembering his plan, he only moved his numb arms and carefully searched in his backpack for a monster mask, before putting it on his face.

He was trying to imagine the surprise on Zhuang Zhuang’s face when he woke up and saw him in this disguise. Zhuang Zhuang would definitely cry out in surprise. This was going to be a big surprise—definitely bigger than the one that the others had prepared for him.

“Hehe…”

Just as he was immersed in his fantasy, a wave of drowsiness hit him. His eyes slowly became blurry, and his little head started nodding off, almost hitting Zhuang Zhuang in the face.

Eventually, he succumbed to his drowsiness and fell asleep right beside Zhuang Zhuang.

The little one had woken up early and must have been very tired. It was pretty impressive that he could hold out for so long.

When the sounds of Xiaoyi’s snores reached Zhuang Zhuang, who was pretending to be asleep, he opened his eyes helplessly and looked at the ghost mask beside him.

He had promised to surprise him, but how did it end up like this…?

Should he pretend to be surprised or very surprised later? Either way, it was a difficult task for him as he wasn’t good at acting.

In order to surprise someone, shouldn’t he be extra careful…?

Zhuang Zhuang sat up and waved his hand in front of Xiaoyi’s eyes a few times, only to discover that the other person was sleeping even more soundly than him. He was thinking of waking Xiaoyi up and pretending to still be asleep himself, but it seemed that it was not going to work.

After watching him for a long time, there was no sign of his friend waking up.

At this moment, Zhuang Zhuang was feeling a little regretful. He shouldn’t have woken up in the middle of the night to go to the toilet.

If he had not done that, he would not have realized that his father had returned. If he had not realized that, he would not have gotten so excited that he could not fall asleep.

If it weren’t for the fact that he couldn’t fall asleep, he wouldn’t have woken up so early. If he hadn’t woken up so early, he wouldn’t have heard about the surprise activity that Xiaoyi had mentioned.

If he hadn’t heard about the surprise event that Xiaoyi was going to present to him, he wouldn’t have landed himself in this awkward situation.

Last night, Zhuang Zhuang was half-asleep when he was carried to the toilet. Therefore, he didn’t think much about it. However, when he returned to bed, he suddenly woke up in shock.

His mother wasn’t that strong. Not that he was exaggerating, but his mother definitely couldn’t withstand his weight. The question was, “Who is the one who carried me to the toilet?”

A third person in the darkness…

Countless guesses flashed through his mind and every single one of them terrified him.

Emboldened, he secretly got up and looked at the bed. The room was pitch-black, so he couldn’t see anything clearly.

However, he remembered that there was a luminous stone under his mother’s pillow. She had placed it under her pillow in case they needed illumination at night.

Zhuang Zhuang secretly took out the luminous stone from under her pillow.

After taking it out, he shone it towards the side of the bed. This frightened him so much that he almost lost his grip on the stone.

Why was his father at home?! Was he dreaming or was he hallucinating?!