Chapter 397 - Relapse of Sleepwalking

Translator: Thyaeria

While flipping around on the bed, Su Tao couldn’t fall asleep from the movements outside. After quickly jumping off the bed, he slowly opened the door. At this moment, he noticed the door next to his was also slowly opened and Yan Jing appeared. Placing a finger on her lips, she gently hushed before she pointed upward, signalling that the commotion came from above.

Walking out of the room, Su Tao walked up the stairs with Yan Jing closely following behind him. All of a sudden, Su Tao came to a stop and Yan Jing nearly bumped into him.

Turning his head over, Su Tao gave Yan Jing a wry smile.

Letting out a sigh, Yan Jing stared at Su Tao.

It turned out Qin Meimei was wearing black lingerie with her pitch-black hair draped over her shoulders. She wasn’t wearing any shoes, but she bent down and made a grabbing gesture as if she was grabbing onto something and starting walking back and forth while muttering.

“Her sleepwalking has relapsed?” Su Tao inwardly sighed. Although he has treated Qin Meimei’s sleepwalking condition, he was just treating the symptoms and not the root. The reason why her sleepwalking relapsed was related to her psychology. She couldn’t let go of her relationship with Li Yede.

𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Making a gesture to Yan Jing, Su Tao tiptoed over to Qin Meimei and asked, “Big Sister Meimei, what are you doing?”

Qin Meimei trembled before she slowly stood up and turned around. After sweeping a glance on Su Tao’s face, she smiled and returned to what she was doing. She swept the vase away, which Su Tao swiftly grabbed onto it and placed it on the ground as he asked, “Big Sister Meimei, why aren’t you talking?”

“Hush!” Qin Meimei placed a finger by her lips as she whispered, “I’m meeting Yede tomorrow, and I’m choosing clothes. He told me that I’m lacking in fashion taste, so I have to find one. Don’t disturb me!”

Although Qin Meimei’s words weren’t clear, Su Tao could make out what she was trying to say and sighed before going along with her, “This pink one seems pretty good. You will surely look good in it!”

Qin Meimei did not bother with Su Tao, but suddenly stopped and grabbed a shirt and made a wearing gesture before making a spin as if there was a mirror before her. As she pinched her fingers together, it was as if she had taken a compact and started applying powder on her face, which her expression did not look any different from normal.

At this moment, Su Tao found it interesting. He made a grabbing gesture in the air and smiled. “Here, lipstick!”

Glancing at Su Tao, Qin Meimei was briefly stunned, as if she was unhappy with the unwelcome guest. However, she still took the lipstick from Su Tao and applied it on her lips, which seemed like she was genuinely applying lipstick.

After she completed it all, she turned around and returned to the bed with her eyes closed. A brief moment later, a faint snoring sound came from her mouth.

Seeing that there wasn’t any other reaction from her, Su Tao sighed out in relief before he carefully closed the door and gave a wry smile to Yan Jing. “Her sleepwalking relapsed!”

Furrowing her brows together, Yan Jing asked, “Will she move around when she’s sleepwalking? Wouldn’t it be terrible if anything happened to her?”

Shaking his head, Su Tao smiled. “Generally speaking. There won’t be any unusual actions for sleepwalkers. They would usually sleepwalk in familiar environments. Today, her mood was terrible, which was the reason why she was sleepwalking. Her subconscious wanted to go down the stairs, which her body soon noticed that she wasn’t familiar with the environment and returned to the room.

“There’s a saying that you must not wake a person who’s sleepwalking. Is that true?” Yan Jing asked curiously.

“It’s just a myth.” Su Tao patiently explained, “When you call a sleepwalking person, they might be startled or be at a loss, but I’ve never seen any record of anyone being scared to death.”

“Then, why did you not wake her up?” Yan Jing asked.

A bitter smile crept up from Su Tao’s lips as he responded, “I already did.”

At this moment, Yan Jing figured it all out. Perhaps Qin Meimei really was sleepwalking in the beginning, but her conversation and even pretended to put makeup on was just an act to cover up the awkwardness. After all, she was only wearing lingerie, and she was practically naked before Su Tao. So wouldn’t it be awkward if she woke up?

Glancing at Su Tao with a complicated look, Yan Jing commented, “You really had a bargain!”

However, Su Tao feigned not to understand her words and asked, “What do you mean?”

“You’re well-aware of what I’m talking about!” Yan Jing’s lips rose as she pulled the collar of her nightgown and returned to her room.

When Su Tao returned to his room, he still couldn’t sleep. Hence, he turned on his phone and played music while staring at the ceiling.

Roughly ten minutes later, Yan Jing came in and crossed her arms before her chest and locked her brows together. “It’s already so late, and you’re still playing music. It’s not good to disturb others!”

Su Tao immediately tuned down the volume and sighed, “There’s nothing I can do about it. I was initially exhausted, but Big Sister Meimei’s actions startled me. What should I do if she repeated it again?”

“Since when have your guts shrunk?” Yan Jing rolled her eyes.

Wearing a bitter smile, Su Tao replied, “I’m actually a normal person, and I know how to be afraid as well!”

Yan Jing snickered, “Then, what? Do you need me to get a few bodyguards over to guard you while you sleep?”

After a brief stun, Su Tao responded, “Being stared at by men, wouldn’t that make my insomnia worse?”

With a smile, Yan Jing asked, “Alright, what do you want before you settle down?”

After a brief pondering, Su Tao helplessly said, “How about chatting with me a little? I’ll naturally be able to sleep once I’m sleepy!”

Yan Jing considered Su Tao’s request. She also did not feel that sleepy after Qin Meimei’s episode. After all, it wouldn’t be good if Qin Meimei’s sleepwalking relapsed and she wandered into her daughter’s room.

Tapping on her lips, Yan Jing yawned and weakly sighed, “Alright, we’ll just chat then!”

“Chat lying down? I’ll tell you a horror story, and it will be a better experience if you lay down!” Su Tao moved his body to the side.

“Who’s afraid?” However, Yan Jing did not lay down but sat by the bedside. “Go on, but I’ll request a refund if it’s not horrifying!”

Pulling the quilt, Su Tao propped himself up as Yan Jing gave off a sacred aura, which he tried to resist himself.

After briefly lying down, he cleared his throat and said, “I’ll tell you the story of Zhong Kui catching ghosts, then. One day, Zhong Kui noticed a rabbit ghost and tried to perform a ceremony to capture it. But after interrogating it, he realised that it was formidable. That rabbit was the pet of Moon Palace’s Chang’e. Hence, Zhong Kui asked that rabbit, ‘How did you die?’ The rabbit said that it suicided, which piqued Zhong Kui’s curiosity. Hence, he pursued since Chang’e was an ethereal fairy. ‘So why do you not want to be her pet? You can enjoy food and live a luxurious life, so why did you suicide?’ The rabbit ghost weakly sighed and said that it wanted to break free from Chang’e’s grasp because it really wanted to eat a carrot without any fishy smell!”

When he finished, he took a peak in Yan Jing’s expression. The latter gently snorted with her brows knitted and blushed. An arc rose on her lips and she seemed bashful yet angry at the same time, looking indescribably charming.

“What horror story is this?” Yan Jing snapped. “How are you afraid for you to still have this mood? Forget it. I’ll go back to my room!”

“Don’t be in such a rush. I have another horror story if this style doesn’t fit you!” Su Tao rubbed his nose and smiled. “Once upon a time, Zhong Kui caught a beautiful ghost by the lakeside. After understanding her story, he realised that this female ghost has never harmed anyone. Hence, he told the female ghost that he'd ask her a few questions, after which he would let her go if she managed to answer it. The female ghost rejoiced before Zhong Kui asked her three questions. What’s located in the centre that’s roughly five to six inches with layering and hair? What’s a cave that is hot and hard when you go in, but soft when it’s out? What’s a seven inched item that a lady bring’s to the embroidery room and leaks out water at night while shrinking in size?”

Hearing those, Yan Jing burst into laughter as she replied, “Zhong Kui is really perverted!”

Su Tao’s finger started to wander, but he never expected that Yan Jing would catch it and pinched down.

After he painfully withdrew his hand, Su Tao cleared his throat and righteously said, “Don’t think of Zhong Kui as a perverted guy, it’s actually his method of testing the female ghost. If she has an upright character, then she would not think of it incorrectly, since it meant that she would go seducing men in the future and consume their Yang aura. However, that female ghost answered his questions correctly. The first is corn; second is baking sweet potato; third is a candle!”

Yan Jing never expected that Su Tao would tell such a profound story with philosophy in it. Thus, she sourly said, “Your horror story is not scary at all, and it even made me laugh. Stop messing around. I’ll go back to my room now. Stop bothering Chang’e too.”

At this moment, Yan Jing figured that Su Tao was purposely playing music in a loud voice to attract her. After a brief pondering, she felt that the latter was truly cunning, and she couldn’t fall for his trick.

It was a gorgeous sight when she laughed earlier, and when Su Tao saw that she was leaving, he gently looked at her. “Don’t! If you leave, wouldn’t I have to play music and hypnotise myself to sleep?”

Seeing how shameless Su Tao was being, Yan Jing was helpless since she rarely gets threatened by someone. But for some reason, she was powerless against Su Tao. “Stop messing around. I’ll accompany you for five minutes, and you’re not allowed to speak. I’ll leave after you sleep!”

“Alright, I’ll sleep.” Su Tao replied seriously as he clicked on the mechanism by the wall to turn off the light. Instantly, the room was engulfed in darkness.

After enduring it for ten-odd minutes, Su Tao purposely flipped around as he grumbled, “The quilt is too fragrant, and I can’t sleep. Why don’t you hug me a while? I’ll surely be able to sleep quickly!”

As Su Tao took the initiative to move closer, Yan Jing did not struggle or refuse this time and said, “Su Tao, this is my bottom line. Sleep now or I’ll chase you out tonight.”

After agreeing to her request, Su Tao was feeling inwardly joyful after he recalled how the hostility between him and Yan Jing changed into friendship and inwardly sighed.

Sensing the warmth in the quilt, Yan Jing had nearly forgotten how it felt to have someone sleeping beside her.

Although she was cold due to the air conditioner, her heart was hot at this moment.

In the darkness, Yan Jing’s eyes were like sparkling gems as she looked at his chin. Gently blowing air over, a smile crept on her lips.