Chi Nan was sure that the candle didn't exist before he went to bed, and it was lit by someone and stuck out of their window at some point.
And the small white box he placed beside the pillow also had a note—
"You are the best volunteer on the second night. We will present the gift that best represents Candleman Town to express our gratitude. I believe you have already received the gift when you read this note. I sincerely hope that you and your roommates will be happy. Have a bright and beautiful night."
"It's no wonder that the cardboard box is empty. It turned out that the gifts for the volunteers had to be delivered late at night," Ye Chang closed the exercise book in his hand and pushed his glasses, "I'll go get it off."
Having said that, he has already jumped on the bed and pushed the window glass that could open and close freely, but now the window seems to be locked and cannot be pushed.
Seeing this, Chi Nan looked at the furnishings of the room, and finally locked his eyes on the iron clothes drying pole next to the wardrobe.
Ten seconds later, Chi Nan jumped onto Ye Chang's bed holding a drying rack: "You give in."
Ye Chang understood what he meant and made way for him obediently. Chi Nan smashed the clothesline directly at the window glass. With a loud bang, a large piece of window glass shattered and landed on Ye Chang's bed. Chi Nan stretched out his hand and pulled out the candle...
"It's a human candle made of special wax blocks."
Although the human candle held by Chi Nan is not as delicate and delicate as those exhibited in the exhibition hall, the material is translucent amber platinum, and the wax block is mixed with traces of red.
The same texture as the residual wax he found on the windowsill the first night.
Almost as soon as Chi Nan put the candle into the house, the original window was suddenly covered by a gray wall.
In an instant, the doors of this dormitory, including the vents, disappeared, as if the icy walls around them suddenly gained vitality and would grow and spread on their own, blocking all their exits and trapping them in a room filled with strange candlelight hermetic space.
"What do I do next?" Ye Chang, who was trapped in it, didn't seem to feel the slightest bit of fear, and even looked forward to Chi Nan's reaction in his eyes.
Chi Nan put the candle on the table, put his hand on the table like a student in an experimental class, and even threw the note in the carton into the fire, crackling, and the flames shot up all of a sudden...
He blinked his green eyes full of curiosity: "Look at it first."
As he said that, he moved his gaze behind Ye Chang, and the shadow stretched by the candle was beating with the firelight, flickering brightly and dimly, far and near, and its position seemed to be changing all the time.
It was as if he was playing the shadow game against the wall just now, but Ye Changming didn't move.
Ye Chang followed his line of sight and turned back: "What happened to the shadow?"
"The shadow from this candle is not right, as if it can move on its own without the body." Chi Nan stared at the shadow on the ground for a moment, and the shadow seemed to sense his sight and suddenly stopped moving.
The shadow cast by the candlelight is like a monster waiting for an opportunity, holding its breath and preparing to catch its prey.
"Shh, they seem..." At this moment, Chi Nan could feel the aggression of the shadow, it seemed that if he blinked a little, the shadow would pounce on them and attack them.
Ye Chang's face sank in the candlelight, with a vague sense of tenderness. Instead of seeing any fear, he reached out and fiddled with the flame of the candle wick: "Why don't you try extinguishing the candle? If there is no light, the shadow will not exist. ."
For a moment, Chi Nan thought of the overturned kettle and the water stains in the White Boat House. Maybe Bai Chuan and Gu Xiao also tried to put out the candles last night, but the result...
Chi Nan's curiosity became stronger and stronger. He picked up the kettle by the table and poured it directly at the candle, but a strange thing happened. Not only was the candle not extinguished by him, but it was crackling and burning more and more vigorously.
Ye Chang poked the candle: "Aren't you afraid of water?"
Compared with the horror that goes against common sense, his tone is more curious about human candles, like a good student who has a strong desire to explore in the experimental class.
Chi Nan looked at the ground again and found that Ye Chang's shadow was getting closer and closer to them, but he seemed to be afraid of something and never launched the final attack.
"Didn't you say there is a way?" Chi Nan asked Ye Chang suddenly.
"There is a way, it's just..." Ye Chang paused, suddenly raised his eyelids to look at Chi Nan, perfectly concealed the evil interest in his eyes under the lens, raised his lips indiscernibly and said, "As long as Brother Nan You allow it."
Chi Nan: "...?"
"Brother Nan, do you allow it? I'll use the method I think of." Ye Chang asked for approval with a half-smiling smile.
Chi Nan was a little stunned: "Well, it's up to you..."
Before he finished speaking, Ye Chang seemed to have seized the opportunity long ago, and leaned forward slightly. The distance between the two was suddenly very close, and Chi Nan could see the flame of the candle jumping on Ye Chang's lens. .
Twinkling, very bright.
Chi Nan's reaction couldn't keep up with Ye Chang's actions, he just blinked, Ye Chang had already used his ring finger to press the tear mole at the corner of Chi Nan's left eye, and there was a demagogic undercurrent hidden in his calm and polite voice.
He said, "Brother Nan, borrow your tears."
As Ye Chang expected, Chi Nan's tears had already flowed down before he finished speaking.
He was so happy that he couldn't restrain the curvature of the corners of his lips, as if he had wanted to do this for a long time.
Unfortunately, there has been no good reason and opportunity.
Now that his wish was finally fulfilled, he deliberately put his finger on Chi Nanlei's mole for a while, as if he was reluctant to remove it.
He enjoyed Chi Nan's tears, especially the tears that were caught off guard and couldn't stop on their own.
The rustling on his own face, making his face moist and moving, is especially pleasing to the eye.
Chi Nan opened his eyes slightly in shock and a little helpless, tears dripping like a gate, and his body trembled.
The tear mole was held down unscrupulously... It was such a strong, helpless and trembling feeling...
The shadow on the wall did not move, and the flames no longer burned upwards, and time seemed to stand still.
In the past long years, no one has done such arrogant and strange actions to him.
After a long time, Chi Nan finally blinked his eyes with difficulty. After a while, he asked in a hoarse voice, "Are you okay?"
Ye Chang deliberately remained silent for half a second, and rubbed his tear-stained fingers against the corner of his eyes: "It should be fine."
After another half second, he reluctantly withdrew his hand.
Ye often pinched the candle wick with his fingers dipped in Chi Nan's tears, and saw that the original jumping candle flickered and went out in a moment.
The room suddenly fell into complete darkness, pure and complete darkness, which reminded Chi Nan of the time when his eyes were invisible before.
"Sure enough, your tears can destroy a candle."
Ye Chang heaved a sigh of relief, and took out a washed handkerchief from his pocket, accurately and gently wiping away the tears on Chi Nan's face.
I don't know how he did it in the darkness where he couldn't see his fingers.
All of a sudden, there was only the sound of each other's breathing in the room, and Chi Nan couldn't help sniffing because he was crying too much.
Silence spread in tears and darkness. Outside the silence, Chi Nan was a little embarrassed because he cried too fiercely, and Ye Chang obviously concealed his excited heart very well.
"...How did you think of it?" After a long while, Chi Nan slowly suppressed her tears and asked in a hoarse voice.
Ye Chang pretended not to understand: "What?"
Chi Nan pursed his lips: "My tears are fine."
"I guessed it too." Ye Changhao said in a leisurely manner.
Chi Nan: "What if you guessed wrong?"
"I've always been accurate in betting, and I've never missed it." Ye Chang smiled silently in the dark.
Seeing that Chi Nan didn't speak, he suppressed the joy in his heart and put on an embarrassed tone: "Sorry, I made you cry again without authorization."
Chi Nan: "...It's okay, it's just..."
"Huh?" Ye Chang leaned forward, waiting for him to answer.
Chi Nan shook his head: "...Nothing."
He originally wanted to say, don't press the tear mole next time, he was crying too hard, but on second thought, Ye Chang probably didn't do it on purpose, but he just stretched out his hand and just happened to touch the tears in the corner of his eye. Mole like this...
And it doesn't seem very appropriate to just tell the other party about the physical weakness that he just learned about.
Ye Chang wanted to say something, but before he could speak, the darkness in the room was gradually diluted by the infiltrating light.
The doors and windows that disappeared reappeared on the wall, the candle light from outside the house came in, everything was quiet, and even the candles placed on the table disappeared.
Nothing seemed to have happened in the room, only the window glass smashed by Chi Nan with a clothesline proved that what happened just now was not an illusion.
The cold wind poured in, and the water used to splash the candle just now wet Ye Chang's clothes and trousers, and he shivered at the right time: "It's so cold."
Then he looked at his bed and pillows full of broken glass, and said in frustration, "It seems that I can't sleep tonight."
The culprit, Chi Nan, hesitated for a moment: "You can make do with my bed for one night."
Ye Chang was waiting for this sentence, but he still had to act a little surprised: "Then where are you sleeping?"
Knowingly asking, watching the tangled and embarrassed reactions on the faces of the prey, waiting for them to make a choice and then telling them in person, is there anything more pleasant in the world than this
Chi Nan seemed to be stuck again, for a moment: "Sleep in bed too."
It's not that they haven't slept together, anyway, it's common for him to cry by Ye Chang, Chi Nan convinced himself.
Ye Chang unabashedly smiled happily: "Okay."
After it was settled, Ye Chang went to the bag to get the change of clothes he brought, and stopped by the bathroom to take a hot shower.
Chi Nan watched his back as he walked into the bathroom, his eyelids twitched—
Ye Chang's shadow disappeared.
He subconsciously looked back behind him, his own shadow was still on the floor, but Ye Chang... He rubbed his eyes and looked again, before he could see clearly, Ye Chang had already closed the bathroom door.
The clatter of water came from the bathroom, drowning Chi Nan's words.
Ye Chang takes a bath very quickly, but less than five minutes makes Chi Nan feel extremely long. He rarely gets emotional ups and downs because of something or someone, and he has never been so anxious to confirm something.
He even had the urge to cry because of his emotional ups and downs, when he didn't eat sweets, was touched, or fell into a deep sleep.
Such a self is unfamiliar and out of control, Chi Nan doesn't want this.
He took out a sweet macaron from Ye Chang's snack bag and took a bite.
The scorching and moist lacrimal glands stimulated by sugar made him feel safe and familiar. Chi Nan was eating sweet and greasy macarons while crying silently and recklessly.
So when Ye Chang came out of the bathroom at first glance, he saw Chi Nan's wet face gnawing at macarons, devouring them as if macarons had a grudge against him...
Ye Chang couldn't help but smile again.
Chi Nan's eyes turned to Ye Chang for the first time, and he was relieved until he confirmed that the shadow of the other party was well cast on the floor. The moment he put down the macaron, he found that his tongue was numb.
"What's the matter? Are you hungry?" Ye Chang, with hot water vapor on his body, walked towards Chi Nan.
Chi Nan kept staring at his shadow and said in a low voice, "That's right, I suddenly want something sweet."
He answered perfunctorily, then bypassed Ye Chang and went to the misty bathroom to wash his face with cold water.
After he washed and came out, Ye Chang consciously slept on his bed, and leaned in to reserve a place for him.
Chi Nan paused in his footsteps, and finally lay down.
Although it was not the first time that the two of them slept on the same bed, the last time they were in the "special room" in Dusk was a double bed room, and now the bed in the Candle Factory dormitory is a standard single bed with a width of one meter and two.
As soon as Chi Nan lay down, the breath belonging to Ye Chang inevitably entangled in his ears.
"Just now…"
"Just now…"
The two of them spoke at the same time, and closed at the same time. There was a moment of silence. Finally, Ye Changxian opened the mouth: "It was too dangerous just now. If your tears didn't work, I actually don't know what to do."
Chi Nan thought for a while, and straightened his thoughts to express his conjecture: "It seems that the shadows of people who are irradiated by special people's candles will be affected, and then the shadows will break away from the control of the body, and even attack the body." Betrayal'."
Ye Chang nodded and said thoughtfully, "You said that my shadow changed after the candle was lit."
Chi Nan: "The disappearance of Bai Chuan and Gu Xiao, maybe the shadow hid the body, or devoured it?"
After a pause, he added, "Or has it turned into a new Candleman and displayed it in the Volunteer Museum?"
"...But why did Shadow do this?"
Ye Chang replied for a moment in silence: "Maybe he wants to be free, or he may want to occupy the magpie's nest and live instead of the main body... It's possible."
Chi Nan's heart skipped a beat, and he instinctively thought of himself: "Live instead of the main body?"
"Yeah, you think, shadows exist like accessories. Don't they want to turn against customers and get their bodies to live like normal humans?" Ye Chang's voice was very soft, and a faint breath lingered in Chi Nan's ears.
"The dove occupies the magpie's nest and gains freedom." Ye Chang's tone became a little colder when he said these four words.
Chi Nan thought about it and shook his head: "The shadow doesn't seem to be free, and the ghost wall in the square is no different from the prison."
"Perhaps for them, being independent from the body is freedom?" Ye Chang analyzed along Chi Nan's line of thinking, "but it's not important, but unfortunately we couldn't test what the alienated shadow would do to the body, otherwise he would say I might be able to find Bai Chuan and Gu Xiao."
"It's too dangerous." Considering Ye Chang's 90% mortality rate, Chi Nan shook his head. He rarely had such a sense of crisis on weekdays.
Now they have grasped very important clues. Once the volunteer is illuminated by the special quality of candle light, his shadow will be alienated, thus detaching from the body and even obliterating the body.
However, the motive of the shadow and the influence of the shadow on the main body are still unknown.
However, knowing the information point of Candleman Lighting, you can better avoid the rules of death and prevent the alienation of shadows.
Ye Chang thought for a while and said, "And from the situation just now, this alienation can be terminated before the shadow does actual damage to the body. As long as there is no light source, the shadow cannot exist, and the body is temporarily safe. "
Chi Nan nodded hesitantly: "Let me tell Lao Yu and them tomorrow this information."
"Well..." Ye Chang seemed to lean towards Chi Nan again, "What did you want to say just now?"
Chi Nan said truthfully: "I'm not sure if the alienation has been successfully terminated. When you entered the bathroom just now, I didn't seem to see your shadow."
Chi Nan could clearly feel that Ye Chang breathed slightly behind him, and then said, "It may be that the mutation is still going on, but it has been hidden cunningly, or it may be my... dazzled."
Ye Chang seemed to sigh, turned his back and looked at his shadow on the wall: "I hope."
After the two analyzed for a while, Chi Nan fell asleep in a daze and had a peaceful night.
At dawn the next day, there was a bang bang bang outside the door.
"Chi Nan and Ye, are you two okay?" It was Lao Yu's anxious voice.
Chi Nan just opened his eyes in confusion, and Ye Chang woke up before him and replied, "We are all fine, don't worry."
Lao Yu outside the door breathed a sigh of relief and smiled: "It's not a shame that it's Chi Nan, a newcomer I'm optimistic about, and escaped the disaster safely."
The two quickly washed and dressed, and when they opened the door, Yu Yu saw the mess in the house, and said dumbly, "Damn, did you guys want to escape from the window last night? Such a big hole."
Chi Nan looked embarrassedly at the window he smashed, and told Lao Yu what happened last night. Of course, he concealed his weakness of being touched and weeping, and changed it to forced because he was too anxious. The version with tears of its own.
After listening to Lao Yu, he exclaimed: "Good boy, it turns out that this ghost is afraid of human tears. I'm afraid what should I do if I can't cry? Otherwise, the capable ones will work harder, Chi Nan, if you can cry, cry more. Cry, collect the tears and give us a little bit of self-defense."
Chi Nan: "…"
Lao Yu glanced at Ye Chang and added with a smile, "I feel that Ye is very happy to do this, right?"
Chi Nan: "..."
Ye Chang smiled and shook his head: "I don't want to sell Brother Nan, please don't fool me, Uncle Yu."
Lao Yu suddenly choked, and after a while, he laughed and cursed.
Chi Nan glanced at Ye Chang, Ye Chang winked at him and said in a low voice, "Don't worry, although I always make you cry, I don't like it when others see you cry."
The implication is that only I can appreciate it, and others don't even think about it.
Chi Nan nodded incomprehensively, and then said with a blank face, "Oh."
While they were talking, there was a sudden 'bang' sound of pushing the door in the 105 dormitory where the mother and daughter were.
The young mother in the room was wearing pajamas, unkempt and standing in front of several men, her face was pale and her body was still shaking.
"What's wrong?" Seeing this, Lao Yu asked eagerly.
The young mother held a one-meter-tall humanoid doll in her arms, and broke down and said, "Rui Rui... Rui Rui... My daughter... disappeared last night!"