His eyes snapped to open before dawn from anxiety. He had fought for too many hours to stay dreaming, and there was nothing that could help the way he felt.
The room was still dark, his sleepy brain slowly realized. The deep blue shadows of the fading light lingered. A tinge glow of light from the lantern made the darkness somehow, comfortable and cozy. He yawned lazily and rolled over. His heart melts at the sight before him, his son soundly asleep. He lay there, not willing to interrupt the sight, wanting only to enjoy and savor the quiet moments. Full of quiet snores and occasionally, giggles.
A quiet smile played gently across his handsome solemn face, adding a hint of relief as different thoughts ran through his head.
He quietly left the bed and stumbled to be porch, taking along a coat with him.
It was dark. The cold wasn't the biting but the slow seeping kind.
For months, he had constantly woken to darkness. He didn't know for what reason.
Was it expecting him to do something important? Or telling him something.
Well, he might never know.
He sat on the threshold, clenching the coat tightly on his body as the breeze was getting colder.
He stared up at the blank sky, lost in thought.
He didn't hear when someone sat beside him until they tapped his shoulder.
He flinched at the contact. He was about to attack but when he saw who it was, he sighed in relief.
With his hands on his chest"A-xiao, you scared me. " he yelped.
"..."
" Don't do that again, " he turned back to staring at the sky, "Why aren't you asleep? "
"..."
Shen Zhufu knew he couldn't answer verbally but those eyes do the talking.
' Why are you not asleep too? '
It was all written deep beneath those gorgeous eyes. He wished he hadn't seen it. They made him guilty —Self-conscious is the word.
He gulped down his embarrassment and forced himself to look away. He resumed gazing back to the sky as if it was his shield, his escape from those questioning orbs.
There was an awkward silence between them. Rather, the awkwardness was radiating from Shen Zhufu.
' Why do I feel embarrassed? '
He cleared his throat and spoke whatever came to mind, "Isn't the sky beautiful tonight?"
Without looking beside him, he could feel the raised brows. He knew he was spewing nonsense. He just had to say something to clear the awkward atmosphere.
There was no pretty sky. Just a blank melancholy sky staring at him
'Fuck you sky!! '
When he couldn't take it anymore, he got up, "Come, let's take a walk. " This way, they wouldn't be sitting awkwardly and... He won't be able to feel that piercing gaze on him.
They walked, side by side, in silence.
Each in their thoughts.
Deep in their thoughts, they heard a distant bone-chilling shriek. Both jumped in fright. They look at each other in understanding before running towards where the sound came from.
It came from a forest. The more they went deeper, the more it became darker like a bad omen. The more distant and louder the sound became.
Shen Zhufu's stomach clenched as he followed Xiao MeiNan. He hoped it was something nice.
Was this the reason he couldn't sleep?
Soon, the stringent odor of death filled their noise.
They stopped in their tracks but could not see anything but a carpet of corpses of the villagers.
Shen Zhufu felt a large bile up his throat.
' Oh no! '
XiaoMeiNan went to examine one of the corpses and scribbled something on his notepad before showing it to him.
" What's this? " he saw the confused look on his face and read what was writing. Just two words.
" Devoid of essence. "
'What? '
He examined the corpses one by one. They were all grey, bony, horrid-looking looking, and frightened. But one particular feature; their essence was sucked out of them.
'Oh, No! '
This was never what he hoped for.