Chapter 65: The Long Night in the Arctic Circle

Chapter 65: The Long Night in the Arctic Circle

The villa didn't have a chef on staff, and ordering takeout in a small northern town of just over two thousand people during a snowstorm was unrealistic.

Meng Yao opened the refrigerator, glanced at the fully stocked ingredients, and took out a can of drink from the side to hand to Chi Jue, "I can't cook, how about we make a salad?"

Chi Jue couldn't either.

They had never had the chance to do this kind of thing since they were kids.

Coming to the Arctic on the third day of the Lunar New Year to eat vegetable salad, just thinking about it feels a bit nuts. Even after several hours in the Arctic, Meng Yao still felt like he was in a dream.

"If only we had brought the family chef with us."

Xu Huaiting took off his coat and hung it at the door, rolled up his sleeves, and put on an apron from the kitchen: "I'll handle it."

Meng Yao was surprised: "Uncle, you can cook!"

Xu Huaiting smiled: "I've been able to since I was a kid, quite skilled, a bit of both Chinese and Western cooking."

Seeing him quietly showing off, ready to show what he could do, Chi Yan's first reaction was to look at Ye Man.

Ye Man, lost in his own thoughts, was much slower to react to what was going on around him, wrapped in a blanket, sitting on the sofa with his knees hugged, focused on what he had to do tonight.

There were only five of them in the villa, apart from Meng Yao, the other four were people Ye Man knew very well, so he naturally relaxed and started to zone out.

Seeing Ye Man not paying attention, Chi Yan silently sneered, it seemed some people's efforts were in vain.

"No need to bother Mr. Xu, I'll take care of it." He also rolled up his sleeves and walked towards the kitchen.

Facing Xu Huaiting, Chi Yan didn't back down an inch, politely saying: "After all, there are two of my brothers here, as the eldest, it's not right to always have outsiders taking care of them."

He emphasized the word 'outsiders,' still sounding calm, but when he looked at Xu Huaiting, there was a hint of coldness in his eyes.

Chi Jue: "Bro, you can cook? How come I didn't know?"

Chi Yan opened a tablet and placed it on a stand, looking at Chi Jue as if he were a fool, "There's a recipe, just follow the instructions."

Meng Yao stood behind Xu Huaiting to the right, feeling a chill because of the word 'outsiders.'

Originally, his relationship with Chi Jue had long been out in the open, Chi Yan didn't like him much, but wasn't that opposed either.

But thinking about his uncle's relationship with the Chi family's younger brother, Meng Yao realized he could no longer face the Chi family's eldest brother with a clear conscience.

It's all his uncle's doing!

Xu Huaiting wasn't too bothered by the hidden barbs in Chi Yan's words, smiling slightly: "As the 'eldest brother' says."

Meng Yao's scalp tingled.

He secretly glanced at Chi Yan, and sure enough, Chi Yan's face darkened.

Xu Huaiting didn't seem to notice anything wrong, naturally continuing: "I'll help you prep, two people together, save time, otherwise Xiao Man and the others might have to wait a while to eat."

The latter part of the sentence struck a chord with Chi Yan. They had left in a hurry, the journey was long, and even on the plane, they didn't have much appetite, so they hadn't eaten much.

If Chi Yan had to learn to cook for five people on his own, it would inevitably take more time, and although Chi Yan wasn't too pleased, he could only tacitly agree to Xu Huaiting's suggestion.

The two men started bustling in the kitchen, Chi Jue called out, saying he was going to organize the luggage.

Before they knew it, only Ye Man, Xu Huaiting, and Chi Yan were left in the living room and kitchen.

Cooking wasn't as easy as Chi Yan had imagined; it wasn't just a matter of following the recipe. As Chi Yan wrestled with the ingredients, Xu Huaiting brought the warmed milk over to the sofa.

"Cold? Here, have something warm."

Ye Man, lost in thought, reached for the milk when addressed.

Xu Huaiting swiftly covered the cup: "Let it cool a bit; it's still hot."

Ye Man nodded absently.

Xu Huaiting, facing away from the kitchen, leaned over, his shadow enveloping the figure curled up on the sofa, backlit. Abruptly, he said, "If something's on your mind, you can tell me."

His grip on the cup tightened, and for a moment, Ye Man was on the verge of speaking. But ultimately, he shook his head in silence: "Nothing."

Xu Huaiting studied him for a moment, then gave a slight smirk: "Alright."

He turned and headed back to the kitchen.

Ultimately, Xu Huaiting ended up doing most of the work. Chi Yan struggled to grasp terms like "about" and "appropriate amount" in the recipe and quickly became confused.

After dinner, the storm outside intensified.

Ye Man listened to the howling wind, his heart racing so fast it made him feel sick.

He had planned to wait until everyone retired to their rooms before sneaking out to cut the power. But for some reason, Chi Yan and Chi Jue were unusually chatty today, not in a hurry to return to their rooms after dinner, insisting on having a heart-to-heart with him.

Sweating profusely, Ye Man was surrounded in the middle, anxious enough to jump to the ceiling, yet still trying to act normal, chatting about this and that with the others.

No matter how he hinted at breaking up and going back to their rooms to rest, these usually smart people seemed to have their intelligence lowered today, stubbornly not understanding.

「Current time: 21:18」

Ye Man sat up straight: "It's getting late, it's time—"

"It's time for the midnight show," Xu Huaiting interjected.

Ye Man was a bit dumbfounded.

Hearing Xu Huaiting ask him: "It's rare to come out for a vacation, how can we not have fun all night, right?"

He struggled to say: "No..."

"Or do you have something else to do?" Xu Huaiting tucked the blanket around him, "It's okay, if there's something else, you can say."

"..." Ye Man said reluctantly, "No."

"Alright," Xu Huaiting said with a smile, then told Meng Yao to find some movies to play.

"The wind and snow outside are too strong, the signal is bad, luckily I had someone download some movies earlier," he explained.

Meng Yao dutifully checked and exclaimed, "They're all thrillers!"

"Let me see, there's 'Deadly Vacation Cabin,' about a group of young men and women going to a cabin in the snowy mountains for a vacation, encountering a chainsaw killer..."

"'Attic Horror,' 'Basement Ghosts'..." Meng Yao read out the titles, "Which one do you want to play?"

Everyone present seemed indifferent, Chi Yan even analyzed the props and filming techniques in them. For them, watching any of these movies was about the same, so they left the decision to Ye Man.

Ye Man wasn’t paying attention at all, so he just blurted out something random.

Besides, movies are way better with visuals. Just listening to the audio feels like something’s off.

But he quickly realized things weren’t going as he expected.

Ye Man had Chi Jue to his left, and Xu Huaiting was sitting in the single armchair to his right. As the fast, tense, and heart-racing music played, the guy next to him casually said, "The chainsaw killer cut the power to the villa and snuck in without a sound."

"He’s hiding in the corner shadows right now, gripping a chainsaw, lifting it..."

Clatter.

Ye Man flinched, yanking the blanket up and burying his face in it.

Xu Huaiting picked up what had fallen: "Sorry, my bad. Dropped the remote."

When he stood up, he saw the kid who’d just popped out from under the blanket, looking all upset.

He didn’t say a word, but his face was pure accusation.

Xu Huaiting stared at him for a bit before slowly standing up straight.

The movie was way scarier to listen to than Ye Man thought it’d be. He figured just listening wouldn’t be too bad, but with the guy next to him chiming in now and then, his mind was flooded with images, leaving him frozen in fear.

「Time: 10:54 PM」

Ye Man couldn’t take it anymore.

A shaky, almost tearful voice piped up: "Aren’t you guys gonna rest...?"

After a pause, someone said gently, "We’re done watching. Time to rest." Then they asked, "You want us all to head back to our rooms?"

Ye Man rubbed his tired eyes: "Yeah."

He was exhausted and could’ve just gone to bed, but making everyone else go back too felt kinda weird.

If they asked why, what could he even say?

But no one grilled him like he thought they would.

When he said he wanted everyone to go back to their rooms, they actually listened and went.

"What’s next after going back?" Chi Yan led him into their room for the night and asked, looking at Ye Man.

"Big bro... go shower..."

Nothing happened for a while, then someone walked into the bathroom next door, and the sound of running water filled the air.

Ye Man lingered at the door, and for some reason, his nose stung even more.

There was no time to think anymore; opportunities wait for no one.

Brother Tong was still waiting for him.

He scrubbed his face hard, grabbed his cane, and slipped out the door without a sound.

A few seconds later, the bathroom door clicked open.

A man dressed neatly walked out from inside.

As they cooked, Ye Man casually asked about the location of the circuit breaker.

Previously, the system had guided him, but this time, with the system absent, he had to rely solely on himself to find it.

Even something as simple as cutting the power turned out to be tricky.

First, he needed to get the toolbox and find the pliers inside.

He crept towards the spot he had scoped out earlier, almost there, when suddenly he heard a chair scrape.

Ye Man quickly crouched down, hiding behind the sofa, covering his mouth.

Chi Jue, having accidentally kicked the chair, said nothing.

He left the light on in the living room and searched the coffee table, muttering under his breath, "Why can't I find it? Strange, I just left it here. How come it's gone?"

"There it is, right where I left it. I need to hurry back to my room!"

The sound of footsteps gradually faded away.

Ye Man breathed a sigh of relief.

He hadn't been spotted.

He reached for where the toolbox should have been, only to find it empty.

Ye Man, in disbelief, groped around again. "How is it gone? It was right here before. Where did the toolbox go?"

On the stairs, Chi Yan observed his younger brother muttering about the toolbox, feeling around in the cabinet, then glanced at the toolbox lying not far from his right foot, and slightly closed his eyes.

He pulled out his phone.

Ye Man panicked as his phone rang. He hurriedly took it out and found it was Chi Yan calling him.

"Xiao Man, there's a bit of a problem with the bathroom pipe. If you're free, could you grab the toolbox for me? Just walk up to the storage cabinet, feel to the right and back, and you'll find it."

Before Ye Man could respond, the call ended.

He felt behind him... and there it was.

His bitterness was cut short. Ye Man awkwardly scratched his head, took the pliers, and went to find the circuit breaker.

With determination, he headed for the circuit breaker.

He stayed alert for any further obstacles.

Just as he was about to reach it, the house suddenly went dark.

Ye Man glanced down at the pliers in his hand, then turned towards the direction of the circuit breaker, a puzzled look crossing his face.

Xu Huaiting stood nearby, his tone casual, "I was just wondering why the lights were flickering."

He tinkered with the circuit breaker, producing a series of clicks. "Turns out the snowstorm knocked out the power."

Ye Man bit his lip.

However, Xu Huaiting seemed not to notice him and walked past, saying, "I'm going back to sleep."

Ye Man stood there alone for a moment, then rubbed his eyes hard and stumbled to find Meng Yao's room.

Meng Yao opened the door, stiffly glanced behind Ye Man, and reluctantly asked, "Oh, it's you. What do you need?"

Ye Man: "The electricity's out. I'm scared, can you..."

Meng Yao shivered, nearly dropping to his knees in fear, and shouted, "Scared, right? I'll take you to my uncle! Let me tell you, my uncle is amazing! He can punch out ghosts and kick down murderers! I'm no match for him!"

He lowered his voice and whispered, "Hey, cut me some slack. Whatever you want me to do, I'll do it."

Ye Man was getting desperate: "Go to that room, over there!"

He pointed next door.

Meng Yao looked and realized it was Chi Jue's room.

He felt a bit embarrassed, "This isn't right, I get what you're saying, but your big brother will be angry, this..."

Ye Man, on the verge of tears, pushed him towards the room. Meng Yao glanced behind him again: "Okay, okay, I'll go, I'll go, but if your second brother locks the door, it's not my fault—"

He turned the handle, and the door swung open.

Chi Jue stood there, face blank, at the door.

Meng Yao: "..."

Chi Jue wordlessly stepped aside, and before Meng Yao could speak, he was yanked inside, and the door slammed shut.

Ye Man fished out a key he'd stashed earlier, locked the door from the outside, and sat against the door for a while.

Everything was eerily quiet.

No one came to shut him in.

Brother Tong hadn't explained how he'd been found out, and Ye Man couldn't know the details, so he could only follow the steps one by one.

It's fine, he told himself. Brother Tong said that a little mistake along the way doesn't matter, as long as the final result is correct.

He wasn't out of the game yet.

Ye Man pushed himself up from the floor and walked towards the attic.

The attic stairs creaked and wobbled, and he stumbled along. At the end of the stairs was the attic door.

No one came to shut him in, so he did it himself.

As he opened the door, a musty smell hit him.

It was pitch black inside, like a bottomless pit. It was a completely unfamiliar space to him. Ye Man tried to catch a glimpse of light with his half-blind vision, but there was nothing.

Would he have to stay alone in such a place for the whole night?

A flicker of fear crept in, and he stepped back, but then gritted his teeth and forced himself forward.

It's fine. Just one night.

As long as he endured until sunrise, everything would be over, and Brother Tong would return.

But he soon thought of a problem: the sun wouldn't rise.

The nights in the polar circle are incredibly long.

When would the others wake up and find him here?

Would anyone even realize he was gone and come searching for him here? If he called for help, would he be ignored as Brother Tong said, or would someone come...

Ye Man held the doorknob, his hand resting on it.

However, the next moment, he heard the faint click of a latch in the darkness.

The door had been locked from the inside.

Not from the outside.

From the inside.

Xu Huaiting reached over Ye Man, deftly turned the lock, sealing them both in the attic.

"Is there anything else?" he asked calmly.

Ye Man's eyes widened in surprise.

Xu Huaiting leaned against the door, his gaze fixed on the figure before him, back turned and head bowed. "If there's nothing more, then it's my turn."