WHF Ch 15 – The Experience of Booking a Room

At ten o’clock in the evening, night had fallen. Yu Tianbai, after stepping downstairs to smoke a cigarette, slipped back into bed. The guesthouse’s sheets were washed stiff, crackling like newspaper under his body. Perhaps it was the young master’s words, but now he too felt an unsettling discomfort about this place.

Could something really be watching them?

Yu Tianbai quietly got up, faced the door, and gave three deep bows, muttering a few “I’m sorry”s before crawling back under the covers with peace of mind. That should settle things. Yes, if the good brother had any sense, this would wrap it up.

But just as he closed his eyes, two shadows flitted across the moonlight outside the curtains, accompanied by faint rustling sounds. The shadows didn’t return.

Yu Tianbai cracked one eye open. The curtains weren’t fully drawn, and the moonlight outside was bright, everything seeming normal.

A trick of the mind?

He rolled over, facing away from the window, but kept his eyes open, staring, waiting to confirm that the shadow wasn’t an illusion.

Moonlight spilled across the wall, the scene serene. It must have been a mistake. Exhausted, Yu Tianbai struggled to keep his eyelids up, but just as they drooped, he heard footsteps.

Yes, in the dead of night, there were footsteps on the outer wall.

Humans are strange creatures. In ordinary moments, they’re prone to paranoia, but when faced with something beyond logic, they try to explain it with reason. So Yu Tianbai’s first thought was that some drunk had wandered into the wrong room.

But what kind of drunk climbs walls to get in?

Fully awake now, Yu Tianbai threw off the covers and sat up, reaching for a cigarette to calm his nerves. Before his backside even left the bed, there was a knock at the door.

He froze for two seconds, confirming he hadn’t misheard. The door was definitely being knocked on.

Yu Tianbai cleared his throat and shouted toward the door, “No special services needed!”

Not only did the knocking not stop, it grew more urgent.

Now anger flared in his chest, and he shouted again, “Come in if you want, but send a man!”

The knocking finally paused, but only for a few seconds before it escalated into outright pounding.

Yu Tianbai cursed under his breath, tossed the cigarette back onto the nightstand, took a few steps forward, then doubled back. He grabbed the desk lamp from the nightstand, held it by his head, and flung the door open.

There was indeed a man outside—it was Xiu Ma.

He was staring at Yu Tianbai, utterly bewildered. “Why are you holding a lamp?”

Yu Tianbai cleared his throat again. “I, uh, was looking for the bathroom.”

Xiu Ma glanced at him, then at the bathroom right beside the door. “Isn’t the bathroom right there?”

“What are you doing in my room if you’re not sleeping?” Yu Tianbai decided to cut the small talk.

Now it was Xiu Ma’s turn to clear his throat. He said, “Can I come in to talk?”

Half the hallway lights were off, and only then did Yu Tianbai notice Xiu Ma clutching a bundle of bedding.

It was a moment to test reflexes. In a flash, Yu Tianbai braced the doorframe, but just as he steadied himself, Xiu Ma ducked under his arm and slipped into the room, leaving Yu Tianbai facing an empty hallway.

Not bad for a martial artist.

Yu Tianbai sighed inwardly, turned, and shut the door. The two stood face-to-face, and the young master in the middle of the room even looked a touch innocent.

“Alright, what are you doing in my room?” Yu Tianbai set the lamp on the floor and flicked on the hallway light.

Xiu Ma, still hugging his bedding, pointed at the door, then at himself.

“There’s a noise.”

One sentence, not a word more. After speaking, he stood there like a statue.

Yu Tianbai, arms crossed, studied him for a moment, then grabbed the blanket from the bed and lay down on his side.

“Probably just a drunk who got the wrong room. You’re scaring yourself.”

“You heard it too?” The guy behind him was still standing, asking.

Maybe it was the presence of another person, but the room’s faint unease had vanished. Yu Tianbai, head resting on his arm, didn’t look back. “If you’re scared, sleep here. I’m tired.”

After a pause, he added, “Remember to turn off the hallway light.”

Xiu Ma didn’t respond. There was only the sound of rustling clothes behind him, but the other side of the bed didn’t move. Yu Tianbai turned over.

“Why are you sleeping on the floor?”

The question made Xiu Ma lift his head. He poked out from the bedding on the floor. “Don’t want to sleep next to you.”

Straight to the point. Yu Tianbai stared at the ceiling, blinking.

“Isn’t the floor cold?” he asked.

The sandy blonde head on the floor didn’t move, back turned to him, practically screaming, “I’m trying to sleep.”

Only then did Yu Tianbai realize that what he’d thought was pristine moonlight flooding the room was actually the parking lot’s streetlamp. Under its bright glow, Yu Tianbai got his first good look at the back of the kid’s head. It wasn’t some weird fetish, but no matter the species—cat, dog, even a turtle—the back of a head starts to look kind of cute after a while.

He stared for a bit, then said, “Your hair’s gotten longer in the back.”

Two seconds after the words left his mouth, Xiu Ma shot up from the floor with a whoosh, dragged his bedding to the bed, tossed down the pillow, tossed down the blanket, and flopped onto the bed beside Yu Tianbai with exaggerated force.

“Is this good enough? I’m here. Can you stop asking?” He craned his neck to spit out the words, then rolled over, leaving Yu Tianbai with another view of his head.

The man behind him, looking innocent, pursed his lips. Before rolling over, he glanced at the door. “Why didn’t you turn off the hallway light when I told you to?”

Now Xiu Ma couldn’t keep his eyes shut. He looked up suspiciously, and the hallway light was glaringly bright.

“I turned it off.”

He propped himself up on one elbow, squinting to double-check, but in the next second, the light went out with a crisp “snap,” as if nothing had happened.

Both had clearly seen the light turn on and off by itself, but neither dared speak. They lay frozen on the bed, hearing the same footsteps they’d both noticed earlier, now back on the outer wall.

One step, two steps, three steps.

After three steps, the footsteps stopped close to the outer wall. In an instant, every light in the room blazed on, followed by a sharp crack of a circuit breaker blowing. The room plunged back into darkness.

Xiu Ma shot upright, grabbing the desk lamp from the nightstand. He froze for a second or two, then noticed Yu Tianbai had sat up too.

“Wait,” the man behind him said in a low voice. “Don’t act rashly. I have a plan.”

Might as well trust him this once? Xiu Ma sat back quietly, waiting for Yu Tianbai’s next words.

“When I was a soldier, my squad leader said encountering restless spirits was common. They’re not out for blood—they’re just bored. If you’ve got something impure, you can drive them away.”

With that, Yu Tianbai turned to him, deadly serious. “So, right now, loudly recount your first time booking a room with a partner!”

In that moment, even the restless spirits outside fell silent. A beat later, Xiu Ma, wide-eyed, let out a stunned, “Huh?”