The night sky hung low, clouds piled up, and a crescent moon dangled in the air.
On the second-floor window sill of a detached villa sat a black-haired youth. He propped himself up with both hands on the windowsill, his black hair falling softly over his brows and eyes. His cheeks were snow-white, and his almond-shaped eyes were round, black, and gleaming with a hint of mischief.
He slipped through the window like a wisp of smoke. The moon's clear light shone through the youth's slender form, casting no shadow on the empty floor below.
The night breeze blew, yet the youth's clothes didn't flutter in the slightest.
This was no human, but clearly a ghost that had sneaked into a human's house.
And not just any ghost, but a Little Ghost who specialized in sleep paralysis.
The Little Ghost who had snuck in, Mu Bai, surveyed the brightly lit hall and let out a gasp of amazement.
The hall before him was luxurious and spacious, with an overall black, white, and gray color scheme. The spotless marble tabletop gleamed brilliantly under the dazzling dome light.
His new target was a big CEO; it seemed he hadn't come to the wrong place.
Mu Bai's eyes sparkled, and he floated towards the bedroom almost impatiently, intending to seek out his new target.
As a Little Ghost specializing in sleep paralysis, Mu Bai could only feed on the spirit and energy of living people during their sleep, or on incense offerings.
But his luck had always been poor. His previous sleep paralysis target was a newly graduated manga artist who often stayed up late working, leaving him without a proper meal for several months.
After starving for a long time, Mu Bai had no choice but to abandon his previous target and find a new one.
He had overheard his previous target talking on the phone about having a young uncle who was a big CEO, who unfailingly went to bed and woke up early every day, with a calm and self-disciplined temperament.
When Mu Bai heard this, his eyes lit up. As soon as night fell, he floated to the new target's home without delay.
Mu Bai, peeking around curiously, found his new target's bedroom and surveyed the furnishings before him with interest.
The bedroom's main color scheme was black, white, and gray, exuding a sense of stability and coolness. The dark floor was covered with a dark patterned pure wool carpet. Next to the gray bed was an ewe wool walnut armchair with several English books spread on it. Apart from this, there were no other decorations.
The sound of running water came from the bathroom on the other side, suggesting that the new target was taking a shower.
Mu Bai's eyes grew brighter and brighter, almost bubbling with excitement.
It's worth noting that his previous sleep paralysis targets would all stay up until two or three in the morning before reluctantly rushing to shower and sleep, as if herding ducks to a pond.
Now it was only nine o'clock, and the new target was already showering. Sleep couldn't be far off!
Mu Bai happily floated onto the bed. He rolled up his sleeves and, as he had done before, began to diligently make the bed for his sleep paralysis target.
He made the bed conscientiously, lying on it and carefully pulling the corners of the blanket straight, eagerly anticipating his new target to finish showering and get into bed soon.
A few minutes later, the misty bathroom door opened. A tall man emerged, his bangs slightly disheveled, wearing black pajamas. His skin was pale, and he was drying his hair with one hand, his eyes slightly lowered. On his wrist was a string of purple sandalwood prayer beads.
The newcomer had an exceptionally handsome face, with a calm expression, full brow bone, and straight nose. Even in pajamas, he was buttoned up to the very top, exuding a mature and ascetic aura.
Yan He draped the towel around his neck, drying his hair with one hand while his other hand, with its distinct knuckles, rested on the black doorknob of the bedroom. After a few seconds, he paused.
The bedroom doorknob was cold to the point of being chilly.
The man lowered his eyes, knowing that the presence of yin energy in the room was causing the doorknob to be so cold.
His narrow eyes showed a hint of annoyance, and the aura around him grew even colder.
Yan He had known since childhood that he had a special constitution that easily attracted unclean things.
Throughout his life, there had always been green-mouthed, fanged evil spirits with hideous faces that would suddenly lunge at him, drooling as they tried to suck the yang energy from his body.
Or they would create terrifying scenes of bloody seas and corpses to frighten his mind and drive him insane.
Just like now.
The yin energy was strongest in the bedroom of the entire house, indicating that some unknown ghost must be hiding in the bedroom with malicious intent.
Yan He opened the door, his expression calm, prepared for the sight of bloody stains or an evil spirit lunging at him with drool.
But when the door opened, nothing happened.
Yan He paused slightly and looked up.
There was indeed a Little Ghost in the bedroom.
However, this Little Ghost was earnestly making the bed, his bottom sticking up in the air.
He had even taken off his shoes.
Apparently to avoid dirtying the bed.
Yan He, usually so composed, was momentarily stunned.
Mu Bai, having diligently made the bed, reverently smoothed out every corner of the sheet with his fingers, then turned his head to look at the man standing at the bedroom door, his eyes sparkling.
The man, wearing black pajamas with his bangs slightly disheveled, softening his deep-set eyes, swept his gaze across the large bed in a very ordinary manner, as if he hadn't seen anything.
Mu Bai floated up, his eyes shining brightly as he hovered near his new target.
Yan He dried his hair, his expression calm. After blow-drying his hair, he walked towards the large bed, noticing the Little Ghost still busying himself nearby.
The ghost had made his bed for him, then diligently went to close the curtains, and finally hopped off the bed, puffed out his cheeks to blow some sleep-inducing aromatherapy, before turning his head to look at him with sparkling eyes.
He looked utterly different from evil spirits, appearing quite obedient.
Yan He got into bed without showing any reaction, noticing that the Little Ghost's eyes grew even brighter.
The young-looking ghost tilted his head and lay on the bed, looking at him expectantly, as if eagerly waiting for something.
The Little Ghost on the bed only showed half of his face. His cheeks were thin, his shoulders slender, and his pressed cheek couldn't squeeze out any flesh. His large, round black almond eyes were wide open, giving him a look of intense concentration and anticipation.
He was so expectant, lying on the bed looking at him, that even the tip of his nose had turned red from being pressed, yet his eyes were incredibly bright.
Yan He had seen many ghosts.
But he had never seen a Little Ghost like this one.
Staring at him eagerly, just like his nephew used to press against the candy store's glass door when he was little.
Although dressed in drab colors, both his body and face were clean, and he looked very nervous as he stared at him.
Mu Bai was indeed very nervous.
After all, whether or not his new target would go to bed early determined whether he could eat tonight.
But as he lay nervously on the bed, looking left and right, his new target just sat on the bed, not sleeping.
He even picked up a book from the bedside table and started reading slowly.
Mu Bai became a bit anxious.
He tried hard to stretch his head to see what book the man was reading that was so engrossing, only to find that he couldn't understand a single word of it.
The Little Ghost withdrew his head dejectedly, muttering in confusion, "What kind of ghost scribbles..."
Yan He turned the pages of the book, first noticing the Little Ghost's fluffy head stretching towards him. The head was round, with two small whorls on top.
He absentmindedly stroked the prayer beads on his wrist, thinking that the Little Ghost was finally going to make a move.
Who knew that the Little Ghost would just peek at the book, then mutter softly about "ghost scribbles."
Looking at the pages full of English letters, Yan He fell into a rare silence.
Half an hour later, Mu Bai finally saw the man on the large bed put the book aside and turn off the light, seemingly preparing to sleep.
Mu Bai was very happy. He floated up, lay down next to the man, and focused intently on waiting for his new target to fall asleep.
Yan He turned off the light, calmly closed his eyes, and fell asleep under the ghost's direct gaze as usual, planning to find a Taoist master tomorrow to capture this Little Ghost.
When facing those evil spirits, the best way to deal with them was to ignore them.
There was no need to waste time with evil spirits.
After all, those evil spirits couldn't kill him either.
Yan He closed his eyes.
At ten o'clock at night, under Mu Bai's nervous gaze, the man on the light gray bed closed his eyes, his features deep-set, his breathing steady, clearly having entered a state of sleep.
Mu Bai's nose twitched, catching a whiff of an extremely tempting fragrance emanating from around the man, rich and mellow, instantly arousing his strong desire to feed.
It was the spiritual energy of a person during sleep, which all sleep paralysis Little Ghosts fed on.
The starving Mu Bai couldn't resist at all, almost dizzily floating to the light gray bed.
He floated unsteadily towards the man, his head not even reaching the man's body before he tumbled onto the soft pillow.
It smelled too good.
The rich fragrance was like a warm jar of strong liquor spilled, instantly flooding the air with a thick, mellow aroma of alcohol, so intense that even eyelashes and hair strands seemed coated in it.
Dizzy and intoxicated, Mu Bai lay sprawled at the head of the bed, his head resting on the edge of the man's soft pillow as he fed.
At first, he took only small mouthfuls.
But the moment his hungry stomach began to fill, the exquisite sensation of satiety left his mind consumed by an overwhelming desire to continue feeding.
Like a small beast, he fed eagerly, unaware that he had nestled his entire body into the man's embrace, focused solely on satisfying his hunger.
The Little Ghost contentedly lowered his head to rest on the man's chest, nuzzling and burrowing his face into the man's neck to feed with gusto.
Before long, Mu Bai was fully satisfied, lying atop the man with a full belly, his eyes half-closed in comfort.
His usually flat stomach had now swollen, making his pale, thin skin appear even more delicate and soft.
As the night wore on, the well-fed Little Ghost couldn't bear to leave.
His fluffy head gradually slid down the blanket, until he found it so comfortable inside that he crawled entirely under the man's covers, falling into a deep, sweet slumber.
At three in the morning, Yan He awoke from his sleep, chilled to the bone with cold hands and feet.
He opened his bleary eyes and turned on the light, only to discover a Little Ghost sleeping beside him.
Most of his blanket had been stolen, and the unfamiliar Little Ghost beside him was sleeping soundly under it, his cheeks flushed a rosy red.
He remained silent, gazing at the Little Ghost who had earlier been eagerly making his bed, and was now imperiously wrapped in his blanket. One foot stuck out from under the covers, resting on him, while a messy tuft of hair stood proudly atop the Little Ghost's head.
It was a far cry from his previous attentive bed-making demeanor.