Chapter 212 – Nightmare from Ten Thousand Years Ago – An Interlude in the Restroom (08)
Fortunately, Bai Tang came out just in time—otherwise, Mu Quyan would have lost control completely.
The moment Bai Tang embraced Mu Quyan, the dark aura surrounding Mu Quyan dissipated, and the shadowy remnants that had been summoned by that aura quickly withdrew.
It was a pity no one noticed, or else they might have broken through to the second plane much sooner.
The second plane was a large amusement park.
It was daytime now, with a gray, gloomy sky that made the park—where all the attractions had come to a halt—seem even more lifeless.
According to the hint provided by Xiao A, the HE (Happy Ending) in the first plane was that Xiao Yu didn’t die.
The woman in the red dress—Xiao Yu’s mother—sent Xiao Yu to the amusement park to play as a distraction, while she stayed behind in the old district to deal with the remaining people.
The four of them walked through the dilapidated amusement park. Suddenly, lights flickered on atop the distant Ferris wheel, and it began to turn slowly.
A gust of wind blew past, making Bai Tang sneeze several times. He suddenly felt a chill down his spine. When he looked up again, people were walking past them—if not for their emotionless expressions, he might have mistaken them for normal parkgoers.
“Ah Yan~” Bai Tang gripped Mu Quyan’s hand tightly.
Mu Quyan kissed Bai Tang on the cheek. “Don’t be scared. Why don’t you turn back into a squirrel?”
“Mm-hmm.” Bai Tang nodded and obediently transformed back into a squirrel.
He nestled into Mu Quyan’s pocket, poking out half his head to secretly observe what was happening outside.
Wei Kexin had seen it too. She edged closer to Qi Jiu in fear.
Qi Jiu, puzzled, asked, “What’s wrong?”
Wei Kexin’s eyes widened. “You didn’t see it?”
Qi Jiu really hadn’t. He asked, “See what?”
Wei Kexin glanced at the people continuously passing by and then looked at Qi Jiu. She turned to Mu Quyan and asked, “Can you see them?”
Mu Quyan nodded slightly.
Wei Kexin let out a breath of relief—she wasn’t the only one who could see them. Thank goodness.
“There are people all around us,” she whispered, afraid of alerting whatever that thing was.
Qi Jiu looked around at the completely empty surroundings and felt an odd sense of being excluded. It was an awful feeling.
“According to the storyline, Qi Jiu was supposed to be the female lead’s backup love interest and a disposable character. He should’ve died in the first plane, but the host saved him. The second plane doesn’t include him in the plot, so he can’t see those things,” Xiao A explained, casually tossing a beef meatball into Qiu’er’s mouth.
“Exactly! He dared to go against my dear Tang Tang at the start, so I’m not giving him any plot-redeeming pills. Let him die without even knowing how he died! Ah—hot, hot, hot…” Qiu’er exclaimed, fanning his mouth with exaggerated motions.
“Eat slowly. Besides, it’s all yours.”
“Let’s be best friends! How much more food do you have? Come on, hand it over…”
Watching the two systems getting along so lovingly, Bai Tang felt a little down for some reason. His heart felt a bit stifled. So what if they could eat? That made them special? He could… in his semi-human brainwave-projected form—could he eat, too?
Bai Tang tried pulling a pine nut from his pocket-space and started munching on it with a “crunch crunch.”
“What’s that sound?” Wei Kexin’s scalp tingled at the unfamiliar noise.
“Chitter chitter chitter”—it’s a pine nut. Want one?
The little squirrel generously pulled out a few pine nuts to share.
Mu Quyan smiled gently. “As long as you’re eating, that’s all that matters. We’re not hungry.”
Well, alright then. If they couldn’t appreciate something so delicious, more for him.
The little squirrel regretfully finished off the remaining pine nuts on his own. So tasty, so tasty…
Now that she knew where the sound was coming from, Wei Kexin finally relaxed.
Maybe it was the little squirrel’s strange behavior that somehow “unblocked” something in her. Suddenly, Wei Kexin felt the urge to pee—badly.
“Um… I need to use the restroom,” she said, embarrassed.
Everyone present was male, and she was the only girl. It didn’t feel right to ask them to go into the women’s restroom with her—but she was too scared to go alone.
“The restroom is over there,” Mu Quyan said, pointing to a nearby building.
As Wei Kexin’s boyfriend, Qi Jiu naturally insisted on accompanying her.
They walked toward the restroom. At the entrance, Wei Kexin called softly into the room, “Is anyone there? Hello… anyone?”
There was no reply. She cautiously peeked her head inside. It was clean, tidy—and empty.
Wei Kexin let out a sigh of relief. “Wait for me here. Don’t go anywhere, okay?”
“Maybe I should go in with you,” Qi Jiu offered, still uneasy. His concern for her outweighed any embarrassment or hesitation shaped by his personal sense of boundaries.
“No, no, I can manage. Just wait at the door. Nothing’s going to happen.”
Wei Kexin dashed inside, determined to get it over with quickly.
“Wuu… wuuu wuuu…” Just as she pulled up her pants, a sudden sound of sobbing echoed through the restroom.
A chill crept over Wei Kexin. She repeated in her mind, I can’t hear it, I can’t hear it, I can’t hear it…
“Wuuu… wuuuu…” The crying grew louder. “Is anyone there? Is someone outside…?”
Not only did the sound continue, it now came with desperate cries for help.
Wei Kexin opened the stall door and cautiously walked past the one from which the sound was coming.
“I heard something! Someone’s out there! Please help me—I’m trapped in here, I beg you…”
Wei Kexin turned toward the entrance and called out, “Qi Jiu! Qi Jiu!”
But Qi Jiu, who should have been waiting right outside, didn’t respond—almost as if he hadn’t heard her at all.
Wei Kexin stood frozen, torn between running away and opening the stall door.
Meanwhile, the little squirrel suddenly felt the urge to use the restroom too.
“Chitter chitter chitter”—Too many pine nuts… I need to pee.
Mu Quyan didn’t quite understand what the squirrel meant. Every time the little squirrel tried to crawl out of his pocket, Mu Quyan gently pushed him back in.
“Be good, listen…”
The little squirrel was getting desperate and gave Mu Quyan a light scratch with his paw.
He jumped to the ground and transformed back into a human.
“I… I need to use the bathroom,” Bai Tang said awkwardly.
“Well… there’s a bush over there…”
“No.” Bai Tang refused firmly. He was an educated person now—no longer an uncivilized squirrel. It wasn’t like they didn’t have facilities. Handling it right there? Absolutely disgraceful.
Unable to argue with Bai Tang, Mu Quyan had no choice but to help him straighten his clothes and take him to the men’s restroom.
Since they were both male, there was none of the awkwardness Qi Jiu and Wei Kexin had faced.
After greeting Qi Jiu, the two of them turned and entered the men’s restroom.
Mu Quyan waited just outside the stall while Bai Tang took care of business.
Just as Bai Tang finished, two pale hands suddenly reached in from the gap beneath the next stall. Each hand held a thick stack of tissues. A voice spoke: “Would you like white toilet paper… or blue toilet paper?”
Back when Qiu’er was trying to help Bai Tang become braver, he had deliberately watched a lot of old urban legends with him—this exact “restroom paper choice” story was one of them.
Just by looking at those hands, Bai Tang knew this wasn’t a normal person. He absolutely could not accept what was being offered—but outright refusal was dangerous, too.
“Would you like white toilet paper… or blue toilet paper?”
The voice repeated the question again and again, as if it had infinite patience.
Outside, Mu Quyan seemed unaware of what was going on. If he had known, he would’ve kicked the door down by now.
Bai Tang forced himself to stay calm. He had to remain calm.
He answered, “I… I prefer using exam papers.”
The pale hands withdrew.
Bai Tang let out a long breath, just about ready to wipe and leave.
Suddenly, the hands reappeared—this time holding two exam papers.
“Would you like a Chinese test… or a math test?”
Bai Tang felt his soul leave his body for a second. How is a folklore spirit keeping up with the times?!
Thanks to the success of his first response, Bai Tang quickly gave another, “I prefer English exams—the kind used for Level 8 proficiency.”
The hands trembled ever so slightly… then silently withdrew again.
Bai Tang pulled up his pants and reached for the stall door.
And then—the hands came back.
“Would you like the exam paper from Year 8735 of Lanxing, or a real past paper?”
Bai Tang took a deep breath. “Seriously? That’s so outdated! It’s already Year 1533 in Future Star now. Don’t tell me you don’t even have this year’s exam papers?”
The more he spoke, the more confident he became. “Keep up with the times, will you? How else are you supposed to stay relevant? It’s attitudes like yours that drag down the average standard!”
Inside the stall, the shadowy remnant spirit looked deeply aggrieved. He was a remnant from Lanxing—how the hell was he supposed to know anything about Future Star?
“Then what do you want?”
The remnant snapped, clearly offended.
Bai Tang replied, “What, you can’t handle a little criticism? Why don’t you fly off into space while you’re at it? If you don’t understand, then read more books, follow the news, broaden your horizons! What future do you have lurking in a bathroom stall all day? It’s not that I don’t want your stuff—you’re just not able to meet my needs. ( •︵• )”
His speech left the shadow completely stunned.
Bai Tang seized the opportunity to swing open the stall door and throw himself straight into Mu Quyan’s arms.
“Wuwuwu… it was so scary! There was a creepy thing in the stall!” Bai Tang pointed shakily toward the still-closed stall next to his.
Inside, the remnant creature was speechless: “…”
Mu Quyan didn’t do anything reckless like opening the door to check. He knew better—meddling in places like this would only cause trouble.
“We’ll just leave it. He’s stuck in there; he can’t get out,” Mu Quyan said coolly, hitting the remnant’s weak spot with pinpoint accuracy.
Xiao Yu was a girl, so she definitely wouldn’t come to the men’s restroom. Mu Quyan didn’t want to complicate matters any further. After comforting Bai Tang, he half-embraced him as they headed out.
Remnant Spirit: Hey! At least acknowledge me! Don’t I deserve a little respect? I was just dissed—twice—in a row… This is too much…
When Mu Quyan and Bai Tang came out, Qi Jiu and Wei Kexin had already been waiting for quite a while. And now, a girl stood beside them.
“Ah…”
The girl seemed startled to see anyone else. Clearly, she hadn’t expected to run into Mu Quyan and Bai Tang.
“It’s okay, they’re my friends. They’re with us,” Wei Kexin said, comforting the girl.
“Hello, I’m Xiao Dong.”
Xiao Dong was a shy girl. She didn’t even dare to lift her head when introducing herself to Mu Quyan.
Only love rivals can sense other love rivals.
Bai Tang immediately picked up on the threat. He put his hands on his hips and stepped in front of Mu Quyan. “He’s mine. Don’t even think about it.”
“Ohohoh! Go, Tang Tang, nice one!” In the little white room, Qiu’er cheered while holding his chopsticks.
Xiao Dong gave Mu Quyan a timid glance, her eyes brimming with tears, and said softly to Bai Tang, “I didn’t mean it like that, I really didn’t…”
But Bai Tang didn’t believe her for a second. He’d seen her type before.
He turned around and gave Mu Quyan a loud kiss on the lips. Narrowing his eyes, he stared straight at him and said, “Don’t look at her. Look at me!”
Mu Quyan was only too happy to declare his loyalty. He kissed the corner of Bai Tang’s mouth dotingly. “Mm. I only look at you.”
Author’s Note:
Tang Tang is getting bolder and bolder—even daring to go toe-to-toe with a remnant spirit now (though only the non-lethal kind).