Lin was still fiddling with the curtains, not turning around as he replied, "If you're cold, put on more clothes."

　　Ruan said, "…You don't have a girlfriend, do you?"

　　Lin was confused, "Girlfriend? Why should I have a girlfriend?"

　　Ruan fell silent.

　　 By the time Lin finished with the curtains and turned back, she was lying on the bed, stiff as a board, like a dead fish.

　　Lin was still puzzled, "What's wrong with you?"

　　Ruan spoke softly, "You…isn't there anything you want to say to me?"

　　Lin fell into thought, looking at Ruan's beautiful face, and finally had an idea, "There is."

　　Ruan smiled contentedly, "What do you want to say?"

　　Lin said, "That, you know…if we encounter a ghost today, can you please run a little slower?"

　　Ruan's face turned cold, "No."

　　Lin was furious, "Then why the hell did you ask what I wanted to say? Go to sleep!"

　　Thus, they each went to their own beds, turning their backs to each other, preparing to sleep.

　　According to Chi, the best way to spend the night was to sleep peacefully.

　　However, Lin's mind was filled with various thoughts, and he couldn't fall asleep at all.

　　Ruan, on the other hand, was like a pig, falling asleep as soon as she closed her eyes.

　　It made Lin's teeth itch with anger.

　　As night deepened, the temperature dropped.

　　Fortunately, the blankets were thick, and there was a warm, living person sleeping beside him, so it wasn't too unbearable.

　　Lin closed his eyes, reviewing the clues from the day, his consciousness gradually becoming blurry.

　　He was about to fall asleep when he faintly heard a strange sound.

　　Unlike the knocking sound from yesterday, this sound came from the ceiling above them.

　　 It was a slow, dragging sound, like a sticky, heavy object moving across the ceiling from the third floor.

　　Lin's hearing was sharp, and his drowsiness vanished instantly.

　　His breath hitched, and he slowly opened his eyes, looking at the ceiling above them.

　　There was nothing there, just wood.

　　However, Lin's body began to chill.

　　He clearly heard the sound stopping above his head.

　　"Thud, thud," the sticky knocking sound pierced his eardrums, growing louder and causing goosebumps to erupt all over Lin's body.

　　He gritted his teeth, about to sit up from the bed, when a hand reached out from beside him, wrapping around his waist.

　　"What are you doing?" It was Ruan's voice, drowsy and sleepy.

　　"Did you hear any strange sounds?" Lin lowered his voice, "From the ceiling."

　　"Sounds? What sounds?" Ruan said, "I didn't hear anything. Don't move, I'm cold."

　　Her breath, carrying the scent of ice and snow, gently brushed against Lin's ear.

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　　"You…" Lin was about to say something else, but he felt Ruan tighten her grip around his waist.

　　"Go to sleep." Ruan said.

　　Lin had no choice but to close his eyes.

　　Ruan's fingers slowly traced Lin's waist.

　　This action, which should have been somewhat ambiguous, now had a soothing effect.

　　The knocking sound from the ceiling continued, but Lin didn't seem as scared as before.

　　Drowsiness began to creep back into his mind, and he finally drifted off to sleep.

　　The next morning.

　　Lin woke up in Ruan's arms.

　　Ruan stretched her arm, holding him completely in her embrace, her chin resting on his head.

　　After being woken up, she mumbled drowsily, "Don't make a fuss, sleep a little longer."

　　Lin was speechless.

　　He lay there for a while, seeing that Ruan didn't have any plans to get up, so he said, "I need to get up."

　　After getting dressed, he went downstairs.

　　The others were already sitting in the living room, eating breakfast provided by the villagers.

　　As usual, Lin counted the number of people and found that three people were missing besides Ruan.

　　Chi saw him and gestured for him to sit down.

　　"Did anything happen last night?" Lin asked.

　　"No," Chi said, "No one died."

　　Good, Lin breathed a sigh of relief.

　　In fact, last night was extremely peaceful, they didn't even hear any extra noise.

　　Lin tentatively asked if they had heard any sounds from the ceiling, but everyone's response was the same—it was a quiet night, with only the wind outside, no other sounds.

　　"After we finish eating, we'll go cut down trees and deliver the wood to the carpenter. We need to hurry," Chi said, "The weather is only going to get colder. And the fact that nothing happened last night…" he sounded a little puzzled.

　　"Yeah, that's true," Lin replied casually.

　　The other three people also came downstairs one after another.

　　Ruan was the last one.

　　 She was still wearing her beautiful long dress, but had added two relatively heavy coats and a pair of heavy cotton pants on top.

　　Because the dress was very long, she walked slowly, with a very elegant posture.

　　Lin saw her coming and unconsciously averted his gaze.

　　"Lin," Ruan called his name.

　　Lin helplessly nodded.

　　"Why aren't you paying attention to me?" Ruan said, "I want to eat the noodles you cooked."

　　Lin replied, "I'll make them for you at noon, it's too late now."

　　Ruan said, "You didn't say that last night when you were in bed."

　　Xiao, who was drinking porridge, almost choked on his food.

　　 Chi's expression became subtle, his gaze lingering between Lin and Ruan.

　　Lin chuckled helplessly, "Alright, alright, stop messing around. I really do thank you for last night. I'll make you noodles at noon, and fry two extra eggs for you."

　　"Alright," Ruan compromised, "Sigh, how good it would be if we had some green onions."

　　In such cold weather, it was already fortunate to have green vegetables to eat.

　　As for green onions, it was a pipe dream.

　　Everyone ate breakfast in a hurried manner, put on warm clothes, and a group of them, carrying axes, prepared to set out.

　　The place where they were going to cut down trees was in the forest on the edge of the village, accessible by a small path.

　　Because of the snow, the path became even narrower, only wide enough for one person.

　　Going uphill was fine, but going downhill with the lumber would be a lot more trouble.

　　 Lin thought to himself as he walked on the path.

　　Out of the eleven of them, luckily, there was someone who knew how to do carpentry.

　　He was a middle-aged man in his thirties, claiming to be a carpenter, capable of chopping trees and making simple furniture, but he wasn't very familiar with things like coffins.

　　He walked in front, chose a few trees, and began to teach everyone how to chop trees.

　　Most of them had never done this before.

　　 Although they had an instructor, it was quite clumsy for them to try it for the first time.

　　Lin swung his axe a couple of times, leaving a faint mark on the tree trunk after his first chop.

　　"Your technique is still wrong," Ruan stood beside him, her hands in her pockets, puffing out white breath, "You need to put your strength downwards, otherwise, how can you lift such a heavy axe?"

　　Lin asked, "Have you chopped trees before?"

　　Ruan replied, "I've watched others chop trees."

　　Lin said "Oh."

　　Ruan said, "Be careful, don't hurt yourself."

　　Lin nodded and continued swinging his axe.

　　 This task was more challenging than they had anticipated.

　　 It took the whole morning for several big men, taking turns to rest, to chop down a single tree.

　　"What should we do, Chi?" Someone asked, "What should we do?"

　　Chi looked at the weather and gritted his teeth, "Let's go, carry this tree back. We'll continue tomorrow."

　　Although it was only a little past three in the afternoon, the sky had already darkened, and large flakes of snow began to fall again.

　　It looked like it might snow heavily at night.

　　Lin asked, "How many logs do we need for a coffin?"

　　"The village head said three," Chi replied, "We'll be done in two days. Come on, who wants to give me a hand."

　　Lin was about to step forward to carry the tree, but he heard Ruan say, "Oh, I seem to have twisted my ankle. Lin, carry me down the mountain."

　　Lin said, "What?"

　　Ruan said, "What are you 'what'ing about? Hurry up. There are so many people here, why are you trying to be a hero?"

　　Lin was about to speak, but Chi patted him on the shoulder, "Go ahead."

　　Lin was speechless.

　　He glanced at Ruan's expression and didn't notice anything unusual in her pitiful demeanor.

　　But he sensed a hint of something, as if Ruan's sudden request was not as simple as it seemed.