Which means they are more like Sara people than people from Ice Lake Town.
Hitzfeld nodded.
Just when they were halfway through the meal, someone knocked on the door and said that the town was holding a bonfire party in the central square to welcome all guests from afar, and asked if they would like to go over to celebrate with them.
Hitzfeld was too lazy to move. For her, some information could be collected without being there in person, so she naturally declined directly, saying that they were tired from the journey and wanted to rest early.
Now it seems that Mayor Polly had obviously learned the identities of his group from Jager and was deliberately trying to win them over and make friends with them.
Next, of course, there is the legend about the Depp-Valtina Ice Lake that he wants to know, but Hitzfeld keenly noticed that the girl Lulum was already yawning and looked a little listless.
There shouldn't be any entertainment activities at night in a place like this, right?
This means they must go to bed early on weekdays.
After thinking about it, she felt that there was still a lot of time and there was no need to rush to find out the news.
After the host and the guest separated, the three of them took Lily and Crow upstairs.
Crow lived in one room, Heidi lived in one room, and the remaining two people and the dog lived in one room.
Calculating the time, it was just after eight o'clock. But it was pitch dark outside, and the strange howl of the cold wind could be heard through the wooden walls and glass.
"It must be very troublesome to take a shower here."
Xia Yibing was studying the stove. She guessed that if they wanted to take a bath, they would have to use this thing to boil water first, and then get some large basins to wash.
"It's definitely not possible today... the best you can do is wipe yourself with a towel."
"How about it, Aisuen? Shall we rub each other?"
With some intention, Xia Yibing turned to look at the girl, only to find that she was staring out the window in a daze.
"Aisun?"
He walked over and gently hugged the girl, kissed her on the side of her face, and asked, "What are you thinking about?"
"Cold wind."
Hitzfeld whispered softly.
"I don't know if it's my imagination."
“I always feel like there’s something else in the wind.”
Chapter 22: The Amnesiac Evildoer (Two in One)
For some unknown reason that even Hitzfeld himself could not figure out, she told Xia Yibing that she would be on guard tonight. She would be on guard from 8 o'clock when she fell asleep until after 4 o'clock tomorrow, and then she would take over when Xia Yibing woke up.
Xia Yibing was quite puzzled by this and asked several times if she had any premonition in her spiritual sense. But Hitzfeld was really unsure, so she insisted on staying up all night.
The woman couldn't win against her, so they could only wash each other's bodies and go into bed together. Hitzfeld lit the oil lamp and read a book. He curled his right hand on his chest and reached out his left hand to hug the girl's hips.
It was a dreamless night. When Xia Yibing woke up at 4:, the first breath she took was greeted by a deep and rich, unique aroma mixed with the fragrance of magnolia and another kind of shampoo soap.
Her mind suddenly became very peaceful. She looked up and moved forward, asking, "Don't you need me to pick you up?"
"Indeed, I don't need it." Hitzfeld looked back through the gap under his armpit. "I slept a lot in the car... I can handle just two days of staying up all night."
"No." But she was immediately dragged into bed by the woman, "I order you to have a good rest. It just so happens that I have slept too much... I plan to go downstairs and walk around."
Hitzfeld couldn't win the fight with her, so he had to turn off the lights and go to bed.
It was not even 5am yet, but because of the polar night, daylight would have to wait for several more months. During the polar night, locals tried not to go out as much as possible, and sleeping until noon was the norm, so she could at least get another 6 hours of sleep.
Xia Yibing tucked in the quilt for her and sat by the bed to watch over her, making sure she was really asleep. Then she put on two thick coats, warm furry leather boots, and quietly walked around the stove in the middle.
In the early hours of the morning, if you listen carefully, the only sounds in the room are the occasional crackling sounds of charcoal sparks, and the other sounds are the strange whistling of the wind.
"Woo--Woo--"
It wasn't obvious when I was walking outside, but when I returned to the house and stayed there for a night, why did the sound sound so sharp?
Xia Yibing felt a little scared when she heard the sound of the wind. She didn't know if it was affected by Hitzfeld's words. She also began to think that it was not just the sound of the wind, but might be the howling of some monster.
No, it was more like crying.
It sounded like a howl, or a cry, mixed with the sound of something scratching or slapping against the window glass.
Smiling, Xia Yibing felt that she was really going backwards.
What kind of monster... the crying sound... Even before I took this position, how many hideous and terrifying nightmare monsters had I seen?
Each one of them is extremely terrifying, the embodiment of fear. Any one of them is enough to suffocate the bravest child. And now, at just a little noise, I have started to have wild thoughts.
She walked around the room for a while, and then sat down by the fireplace. While warming herself by the fire, Xia Yibing stroked Lily's fur, and gradually she had some new understanding of the "eerie and fear" in her heart.
Because she really realized that if this unknown howling continued here, the mental pressure it brought to her would be much greater than actually facing a monster.
When facing a monster, one cut of the sword would loosen the taut string. Even if there was not just one but a large number of them, she was not afraid after having the experience of killing in Oujincheng.
The key is the unknown.
I don’t know what might be out there... This unknown has been staring at me, monitoring me... I can’t help but be unable to relax my body and mind.
Right... Aisuen did mention that the deepest fear is the fear of the unknown.
Just like we have solved so many cases, evildoers and incidents, but we still lack sufficient knowledge about the world behind the gray fog, about those ancients and great ones. This unknown will also bring terrible pressure, constantly oppressing our spiritual world...
"Boom!"
There was a muffled sound outside.
Xia Yibing didn't know why she thought this way - the first thing she thought of at this moment was... that was a disabled weirdo with only one leg. He sneaked into Bart's house from somewhere and just jumped from the first floor to the second floor.
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
Damn it...it never ends!
Goose bumps were all over her body. The woman waved her hand and slowly pulled out a metal straight knife with a very long handle from the dream world. She stood up from the chair and tiptoed towards the door.
"Boom...boom...boom!"
The sound seemed to be getting closer. She first released her own spirit, passed through the wooden door and sensed the void... but she did not feel that there were other spirits entangled outside.
At the door!
With a whoosh, she pulled the wooden door open and stabbed the air with the knife, as if her body had become part of the blade, trying to cut through the deathly silence in the corridor.
But... no one.
He landed on his heels and looked quickly back and forth in both directions of the corridor.
Forget about the one-legged weirdo. There is nothing here and nothing strange can be seen.
And the strange banging sound did not come again. Xia Yibing frowned and waited for almost three minutes but still didn't hear any movement. Finally, she relaxed a little and suspected that she was hallucinating.
[Don't come near...]
"who!?"
She turned around with her eyes wide open, lowered her legs and prepared to fight, holding a knife in one hand and half-raising the other, the woman nervously looked towards the wooden wall of the corridor.
But it’s gone again!
Did I hear it wrong again?
Did someone really say "Don't come near", or was it just a coincidence that the sound of the wind was created?
She couldn't be sure if she was scaring herself - Xia Yibing felt like she was being driven crazy by the weirdness of this place!
So... when it was almost noon, Hitzfeld woke up feeling refreshed. When she was about to sit up and get dressed, she suddenly realized that she was being held tightly by something.
Is it summer?
What kind of weird posture are we in?
After sensing it carefully, Hitzfeld was a little amused.
Their postures were so weird... She was fine just lying on her side facing the door, but Xia Yibing, she was curled up in her arms like a baby, especially with one hand passing through Hitzfeld's legs and pulling up her waist, his face not only pressed against her belly but his entire head buried in her pajamas.
What's going on?
Before falling asleep, she acted like an older sister and said, "I'll keep watch." Why does she look scared now? Is this really Xia?
After thinking about it, Hitzfeld decided to do something naughty.
She reached out and held the woman's head, leaning her body forward, almost pressing her lips and nose against her belly, then raised her head and counted silently.
5...6...7...8...
“Puff—Ugh, cough, cough, cough!!!”
When she counted to 12, the woman finally couldn't hold her breath anymore and began to struggle wildly in the quilt, accompanied by a dull cough.
"call!"
She suddenly came out, took a deep breath, and when she came back to her senses, she saw Hitzfeld shaking with laughter beside her.
"Plotting against me, right?"
Xia Yibing gritted her teeth, quietly pinched the girl's waist with both hands, and decided to make her laugh even more freely than she already did.
“Don’t… I can’t do this anymore…”
"I won't dare to tease you anymore..."
"And there's also ridicule... yes... I won't laugh at you anymore... I don't dare to laugh... ah!"
Hitzfeld finally paid a heavy price for his prank. Xia Yibing pinched the ticklish spot on his waist and tickled him madly. Both of them hid their heads under the cup and ran away in the bed together.
"call--!"
After venting their emotions and having fun for a while, they both poked their heads out and looked at each other's faces. They just felt that the atmosphere was happy and relaxed.
"So..." Hitzfeld quietly squeezed the woman's hand from below, "Why did someone who said he was going to go downstairs come back to look for his mother?"
"Don't mention it, okay..."
Xia Yibing's face was rosy, and her slightly upturned eyes looked so charming and beautiful.
She described the strange noises she encountered last night after the girl fell asleep, and at the end she complained to her: "Don't blame me for shrinking in and covering my ears. I kept listening to those strange noises, but when I went out to look, there was nothing. I'm going to go crazy if this continues!"
"You just know too much." Hitzfeld said with a smile.
"You know too much, you've seen too much... so you get scared at the slightest change. This is actually a hidden mental illness."
She wasn't kidding, this was real.
Post-traumatic stress syndrome is a common problem both in Namibia and on Earth, where veterans who have enjoyed peace for 20 or 30 years are ready to go on patrol with their shotguns at the slightest sign of trouble in their yard.
Yes, they did know that the war was over, but they were still worried. They felt that something unusual might happen and they needed to remain vigilant at all times.
Just like how that sand sculpture picture was drawn?
My rationale: The taps are already shut, the windows and doors are locked, the electrical plugs are unplugged, we don’t need to check…
My sensibility: What if?
"Very vivid." Xia Yibing laughed at herself after hearing this. "Indeed, I am too sensitive, but I'm afraid there is no solution to this problem."
Not only is she at a loss for a solution, but everyone who works in related fields, everyone who has a certain amount of experience and knowledge, will suffer from this symptom.
After all, if the faucet is not tightened, the worst that can happen is that we lose some money. But if we make any mistakes in this regard, we might be eaten by monsters!
Regardless of whether there are real monsters or not, that's what they think.
"It was a good decision for me to bring you here."
Hitzfeld reached out and gently pinched Xia Yibing's cold and charming face, pulling it back and forth like plasticine.
"Your mind needs rest."
"You can't bury yourself in those official duties anymore."
"You need to recuperate in a quiet place like this."
"You call this kind of torture recuperation?" Xia Yibing laughed in anger, and her hands began to move to her waist again. "I would rather go back and argue with those noble masters! I don't want to continue listening to that weird howl!"
"But your symptoms will only be relieved when you gradually get used to and then calm down the tension."
"Oh, forget it. If the price of relief is losing vigilance, then I would rather stay sick forever."
