The middle-aged man inclined his head to look at the strong man, not expecting to be disliked back by the strong man with a glare.

The scene ended on a slightly awkward note.

The strong man stood up and said it was too late to talk, he would go ahead and keep watch, urging everyone to get an early night's rest.

The strong man kept watch from 10am to 12pm, with 6 hours left.

Aoiz and the others, after discussion, decided that Jiangcheng should keep watch from 12 to 2, the middle-aged man from 2 to 4, and the fat man from 4 to 6.

The strong man had moved a thick cushion and was sitting around the fireplace baking, the flames reflecting his face in a bright and dark way.

The sofa where Aoiz lay was next to the fat man's, and the middle-aged man was some distance away from them, at the other end of the living room.

"Brother," the fat man asked softly as he stretched his neck over, "asleep?"

Aoiz rolled over, leaving him with a backward glance.

Aoiz remained awake for the two hours of the strong man's vigil, but thankfully, nothing happened except the sound of burning wood.

When the time came, the strong man came over and nudged Aoiz, who "woke up".

"Be smart during the night watch and wake us up loudly if anything happens," the strong man continued, as if uneasy, "the probability of those things happening around 12 o'clock at night is the highest."

"Which things?" Aoiz got up and asked.

The burly man's face turned ugly, but he lowered his voice and said, "Psychic events."

After a brief exchange the strong man laid down on the sofa before Aoiz, while Aoiz walked over to him and

It was quiet all around, except for the fat man's occasional grunts, there was hardly any sound.

Both the middle-aged man and the strong man had their eyes closed, as if they were sleeping, but Aoiz suspected that they were in fact both awake, just like he had just done.

Two hours passed quickly, and Aoiz walked to the other side of the living room and pushed the middle-aged man awake.

There was no exchange of words between them and Aoiz went back to sleep, while the middle-aged man took a few sips of water from a mineral water bottle and went over to the fireplace.

First, he added some firewood to it, and then sat cross-legged in front of the fireplace.

The pocket watch is also in his hand.

The middle-aged man was not as experienced as the strong man and the woman, but he had also come back from the dead on two missions, so he knew exactly what the spirits meant in the strong man's words.

More than that, he knew exactly how frightening they were.

Just as Aoiz had guessed, the middle-aged man had not slept since the strong man had started his vigil, always alert to the possibility of something bad happening.

An hour and a half had passed and nothing had happened.

Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!

During that time he added more wood to the fire, and the fire in the fireplace burned brightly, warming the middle-aged man's body as if that would dispel the chill in his heart.

The two hours were almost up and his shift was over, so he slowly stood up and turned his head towards the window.

Through the gaps between the curtains, it seemed that the sky outside was getting a little lighter.

People in nightmares are paranoid and resist the darkness of the night, and are particularly fond of the day.

The middle-aged man was no exception.

Just as he was moving his limbs to wake up the fat man from the next shift, a raging urge to urinate suddenly emerged, catching him even somewhat off guard.

He stared at the mineral water bottle in his hand ...... Had it been too much to drink?

The fact that it was almost dawn reassured him and he turned back to the bathroom, which was in the corner of the living room, no more than 20 metres away.

His eyes as he looked towards the bathroom gradually changed, the wary and unfamiliar feeling easing back.

What followed was an indefinable sense of familiarity.

And a ...... a sense of security.

He held up his glasses and slowly made his way to the bathroom in the corner.

Carefully pulling the door open and carefully draining the water again, the bathroom door was wide open and the living room was full of men anyway.

Shaking it off, the middle-aged man was all relaxed after draining the water.

Truth be told, after a long day and six hours of no sleep, his strength and energy were already a little too much for him to keep up with, after all, he was not a young man in his 20s.

Looking at his tired self in the mirror in front of him, the middle-aged man sighed, took off his glasses, unscrewed the tap and raised a handful of cold water on his face.

The water was cold and biting, but it made him feel good.

Just as he was about to wash a second time, he glanced at his glasses and suddenly noticed that there was actually a man standing behind him in the reflection of the mirror.

The visitor was silent and no footsteps were heard.

"Who?!"

The shock lasted for less than a second, then the middle-aged man calmed down again, although without his glasses he couldn't quite make out the visitor's face, but the chubby body still betrayed the person's identity.

"It's me."

Hearing that it was the fat man's voice, the middle-aged man completely put his mind at ease, and then said discontentedly, "Next time say something when you come, and don't suddenly appear behind me."

The middle-aged man wiped his face twice with his sleeve, then put on his glasses and turned around while shaking the water from his hands.

But the moment he turned completely around, a vicious chill ran from his head to his feet, and it was as if ice stubble had formed in his veins.

Behind him ...... There was no one.

Where was the fat man? Where had the fat man gone?!

His eyes went red almost instantly and he was subconsciously about to turn around and look in the mirror, but he didn't, because he felt a sinking in his shoulders.

Like ...... Something had hitched up.

......

It was daylight.

The three men who slept in the first floor room were much the same as the few in the living room, all of whom had left a man on guard.

The male clerk huddled in a corner of the bedroom was just about to yawn when he was interrupted by a murderous howl that also startled him so much he almost fell off his chair.

The woman and the innocent girl sleeping in the bed were also awakened by the shout.

Several people looked at each other before rushing downstairs.

Aoiz and the strong man gathered around the fat man while he sat on the floor, scared out of his wits, and it was self-evident who the pig-killing howl came from.

The eyes of all three were fixed on the bathroom in the corner.

With trepidation, unease, and ...... suspicion.

The woman with the mole on her lip looked around, not finding the middle-aged man, and her mind was made up.

She shook off the innocent woman's hand and walked alone to the bathroom.

The door to the bathroom was open and she stood in front of it and darted a quick glance inside.

Even as seasoned as she was, she drew a sharp breath.

The middle-aged man stood straight in front of the mirror, his body rushing in the direction of the door, his back to the mirror, but his head twisted 180 degrees, facing backwards towards the mirror.

Through the reflection of the mirror, the middle-aged man's eyes could be seen staring so wide that they almost fell out of their sockets.

After calming down, the woman alertly walked over to the middle-aged man and then the strong man.

Aoiz watched for a few seconds before following suit, standing outside the bathroom door and looking in.

The woman removed her hand from the middle-aged man's neck and said after a long moment, "He had his neck suddenly snapped by a huge force."

It was the obvious thing to do, and naturally no one raised an objection.

"There was also a violent shock before death," added the burly man, staring into the middle-aged man's eyes.