Deep Within the Living

Chapter 32: The Downpour

"What are you staring at? By the way, are you hungry?"

The Class Leader's voice snapped Luo Di out of his thoughts as he turned back to her. It was already 19:30. Time truly flew while watching movies.

"Nothing. Wait a moment."

In less than fifteen minutes, Luo Di brought out four freshly steamed buns along with a large plate of stir-fried shredded pork with pickled greens and some sour radishes.

"Let’s eat while we watch."

Something about those words seemed to trigger a reaction. The Class Leader almost jumped off the sofa in excitement.

"This is pure bliss! At home, I'm absolutely forbidden from doing anything else while eating. I’d get scolded to death if I tried!"

She mimicked Luo Di’s method of stuffing some stir-fry and radish into the bun, taking a big bite. The complex flavors burst across her taste buds immediately.

Enjoying the delicious food while her eyes absorbed the entertainment onscreen, she felt something unprecedented—something so normal for others felt like a life-altering experience for her. Tears unknowingly welled up and began to flow.

"Luo Di… thank you."Luo Di, with a steamed bun in one hand and the other still curling his dumbbell, remained focused on the movie but gave her a soft response this time.

"Mm."

Without a nightly run to occupy him, the evening suddenly felt much longer. The two ended up watching three entire movies, even discussing them in between. Luo Di explained certain film details, delved into the origins of the killers, and elaborated on their abilities.

The Class Leader, sitting cross-legged like she was in a classroom, absorbed every word. She was so focused she might as well have taken notes.

At 22:40, as the credits rolled on the final movie, their movie marathon came to an end. The Class Leader stretched backward, yawning repeatedly.

"Good times always fly by so fast. Luo Di, if you don’t have extra blankets, it’s fine—I can use my puffer jacket. Your heating is so strong, I’m already tempted to take off my socks."

Still crouched near the TV, switching out the DVD, Luo Di suddenly said:

"Come sleep in my room."

"Huh? Didn’t you say I’d be sleeping on the sofa?"

"I’ll set up a floor mat in the room. On second thought, the neighborhood is still locked down, and I’ve got a bad feeling about something."

Luo Di still couldn’t shake the image of the silhouette he’d glimpsed earlier outside the window. While it was probably nothing, he refused to take any chances.

"…Alright."

It was her first time entering a boy’s bedroom, and the idea of spending the night there made her a bit nervous. But the opportunity to explore Luo Di’s mysterious room filled her with excitement.

Inside, she was surprised to find none of the strange smells or cluttered clothes she’d heard about in girl-talk. It was as tidy as the rest of his home.

The layout was simple: blackout sliding curtains ensured the room couldn’t be seen from outside, a 1.5-meter-wide bed with built-in storage, and a desk that just fit into the remaining space.

However, compared to the minimalism of the rest of the house, his room had more "personality."

B-movie posters adorned the walls, stacks of exorcism novels sat neatly on the bedside shelf, and a drawer in the desk housed his DVD collection.

"Wow, did you draw this?"

The Class Leader’s initial unease was quickly overpowered by curiosity as she approached the desk. A sketch of a mask was taped there, its intricate details showing the care that went into its creation. More mask designs were tucked under some books.

"Yeah," Luo Di replied.

"It’s amazing! Way cooler than the masks the killers wore in the movies tonight."

"I plan to have it custom-made once I get my graduation scholarship."

"Why wait? I’ll pay for it now! Consider it payment for dinner and lodging tonight."

"No need… I’ll take care of it after graduation."

Luo Di pulled some bedding from the wardrobe and spread it on the floor.

"Luo Di, do you have any gym shorts I could borrow? You know, the kind you wear while exercising? My tights are all sweaty from watching movies. Sleeping in them would be uncomfortable. Also, could you lend me a towel? If not, I’ll just use some clothes to wipe down." ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ novel·fire.net

"You’re taking a shower?"

"Of course~ We exercised together today, and the heating’s been on. I sweated a lot without realizing it."

Luo Di tossed her a neatly folded pair of gym shorts and a casual T-shirt. "Use these. Wear the shorts to sleep, and the shirt can be your towel. I’ll wash them all after you leave. As for a toothbrush, I don’t think we have spares. Just use your finger to make do."

"Got it."

"Go take your shower."

As the sound of running water came from the bathroom, Luo Di sat at his desk and pulled out a notebook from the depths of a drawer. He meticulously recorded everything that had happened that day.

Though his usual routine had been completely disrupted, he didn’t feel the frustration he would have expected. Instead, there was a rare, positive energy.

Once finished with his notes, Luo Di went to the balcony to feed the Corner Parrot and double-checked the locks on the windows near the air-conditioning unit.

Satisfied, he returned to the bedroom and placed his machete under the mattress, positioning it so he could grab it instantly if needed.

When he looked up, he found the Class Leader entering the room.

But it wasn’t quite what he expected—she wore his oversized T-shirt and shorts, holding her neatly folded turtleneck sweater, skirt, and white tights in her arms.

"I told you to use the clothes as a towel. Why are you wearing them?"

"Your shirt’s much more comfortable. Wearing that sweater was too hot… Besides, I don’t usually wear clothes like that, so it’s been uncomfortable all day."

"Then what did you use to dry off?"

"I’ll replace your toilet paper tomorrow~"

"Go to sleep. The lockdown should lift by morning."

With both the door and windows securely locked, the room settled into silence.

With the overhead light off, only the bedside lamp remained lit, ensuring the room’s brightness stayed within a comfortable range. Normally, the bedroom curtains were left open to allow external light to filter in, ensuring visibility even during a power outage. However, with the Class Leader staying over, Luo Di had drawn the curtains shut.

About five minutes later, a voice emerged from beneath the bed.

“I can’t fall asleep… Want to chat?”

Her words were met only with the soft sound of light snoring.

“Tch~”

The Class Leader stretched her arm out from under the covers, reaching up along the bed in an attempt to touch Luo Di’s arm. But in the end, she withdrew it. Wrapping herself tightly in the blanket, she let the white noise of the rain lull her to sleep.

A ray of sunlight pierced through the crack in the curtains the next morning, landing squarely on Luo Di’s face.

Perhaps due to the unusual events of the previous day, Luo Di felt more exhausted than usual. Sleep clung stubbornly to him, and his vision remained hazy.

In the blur of half-awareness, he noticed the blanket next to him rising into the shape of a slender human figure lying on their side. The sight jolted him awake. His vision sharpened, focusing on a cascade of black hair and a bare, pale shoulder. The shoulder, however, was marked with a scar that marred its otherwise flawless surface.

For a moment, Luo Di’s thoughts froze. He couldn’t comprehend why the Class Leader was lying next to him, or why she appeared to be undressed.

He hesitated but then reached out to touch her shoulder—

Buzz!

His wristband vibrated. A message had arrived, sent by Wu Wen.

"Luo Di, the lockdown was lifted last night. My family urgently needed me to come home, so I didn’t wake you. Let’s hang out again in a few days! (¬‿¬)”

Luo Di’s entire body tensed.

One hand instinctively reached under the mattress for his machete. He didn’t attack immediately; there was a chance the message was just the Class Leader playing a prank.

With one hand gripping the machete, he used the other to grab the shoulder of the figure beside him, cautiously turning them over to confirm their identity.

As the figure shifted from lying on its side to facing up, Luo Di froze in shock.

It had no facial features.

Instead, the entire face was dominated by a gaping mouth at its center—dry, scarred, and cavernous like a hellish void.

The cavern was packed with tongues of various sizes.

When Luo Di’s gaze fell on them, the tongues tensed up and began slapping against the inner walls of the mouth in unison.

Snap!

A sharp clicking sound reverberated in his mind, fracturing the surrounding scene like shattered glass.

Luo Di’s eyes flew open again—this time, he was truly awake.

The bedside lamp was still on, and his wristband displayed the time: 02:40.

“A dream…” he muttered.

Instinctively, he looked to his side. The bed was empty; the Class Leader was peacefully asleep on the floor mat.

A sudden, intense urge to relieve himself struck him—perhaps due to skipping his nightly run, his body hadn’t fully flushed out excess fluids.

Careful not to disturb the Class Leader, Luo Di tiptoed out of the bedroom.

The rain continued to pour outside, its relentless rhythm providing an eerie backdrop to the house’s silence.

Fully awake after the nightmare, Luo Di’s senses were unusually sharp. On his way back to the bedroom after using the bathroom, his ears caught an unusual sound.

It was the faint noise of rainwater splashing inside the house.

He immediately headed to the living room, where he found the balcony window slightly ajar—despite having closed it earlier.

Realizing something was wrong, he froze.

Click.

The power went out.

The house plunged into darkness, though the streetlights outside provided just enough illumination to keep it from being pitch black.

Boom!

A flash of lightning tore through the sky, briefly illuminating the room.

In that split second, Luo Di’s gaze darted upward—and he saw it.

A monster clung to the ceiling between him and the bedroom. Its form was difficult to describe; it was vaguely humanoid, yet grotesquely distorted.

Both the front and back of its body bore heads, with long, black hair hanging down in swinging strands.

The hair swayed in sync with the creature’s movements, as if beckoning him closer.