Universe Infinite Canteen

Chapter 92 : 92 Strange Tenant

"When you're free, let's go to the beach, and you can take more bikini shots, I have a friend who loves that stuff."

As Ma Lu spoke, he opened the 2.4-second video clip, but before he could take a closer look, it was already over.

He had to play it again, and this time he kept his eyes on the second-floor window, finally noticing the corner of the curtain move slightly, lifted by someone before being quickly dropped back into place.

It wasn't until he played it at 0.25x speed that he could clearly see the thing behind the curtain—a pair of blood-red eyes, quite sinister.

"Vampire?"

Ma Lu had already encountered werewolves, so bumping into a vampire didn't faze him as much.

However, Old Wang said, "No."

"Not? Then whose eyes could be so red except for a vampire's?"

"Her eyes are red because of the abundance of blood vessels, probably due to a lack of sleep."

"Really? How long must one go without sleep to end up looking like a ghost?"

Ma Lu took another close look and said, "Putting aside that guy's race, it's a bit impolite to not come down and check when you hear the doorbell, especially when you're at home."

"I believe the emotion she displayed in that footage is closer to fear," said Old Wang.

Ma Lu thought about it, and two strangers showing up in the middle of the night to knock on your door is indeed a bit terrifying; no wonder the person upstairs was scared.

"Then we'll come back during the day tomorrow."

Having said that, Ma Lu didn't linger there any longer and turned around to go home to sleep.

The next day, after Old Wang had prepared the ingredients, the two of them rode the tricycle back to the hotpot restaurant.

Ma Lu noticed Ms. Chen's white GLC parked by the curb again, and Director Zhang's Lexus RX was also present.

This wasn't a good sign; it suggested that the two might have had a further exchange after going back, and Director Zhang's interest in this place was much greater than he showed the first night he visited the shop.

Ma Lu found a place to park the tricycle. He had planned to have Old Wang come with him, but after thinking it over, he decided against it.

The person on the second floor was quite timid and might play dead again if they saw two people approaching.

Ma Lu once again used the resident's entrance code to get into the community, arrived at the iron door, and bent down to press the doorbell three times.

As before, there was no response from the inside.

Ma Lu looked up and noticed that even during the day, the second-floor curtains were still not drawn, completely hiding the inside.

"You... you also want to rent... the first floor?"

The person's speech was somewhat hesitant, as if a tape had gotten stuck.

"Mhm." Ma Lu stopped, "Shall we talk?"

The person fell silent for several seconds, apparently engaged in a fierce internal battle, before finally saying, "Okay... come up."

Ma Lu went back up to the second floor.

He hadn't even entered when he was shocked by the scene behind the door.

Although it was already ten o'clock in the morning, the living room was as dim as if night had fallen.

All over the floor were drink bottles and empty snack bags, leaving hardly any room to step. Clothes and socks of all sorts, including underwear, were strewn everywhere.

The coffee table was piled high with instant noodles and takeout containers, and not just one of each; it looked like a week's worth of food was there, uncleaned, some of it half-eaten and gone sour, filling the room with a strange odor.

Ma Lu looked toward the room's occupant—

A girl wearing an oversized sweatshirt and pajama pants, her skin pale and eyes bloodshot.

She was also looking at him, but as soon as Ma Lu looked her way, she immediately turned her head away, averting her gaze.

As the host, she didn't invite Ma Lu to sit on the couch, nor did she offer any drinks.

She just stood there in silence, her small hands unsure where to rest.

One moment behind her back, the next crossed in front, then one hand hugging an arm, but less than two seconds later hanging down again in a stance of attention, soon unconsciously reaching up to touch her messy hair...

Severe social anxiety?

Seeing her like this, Ma Lu had a good idea of what was going on. He didn't purposefully initiate conversation but stepped over the trash piled up in the living room and moved to the French windows.

First he drew back the tightly closed curtains, dispersing the darkness inside the room.

But with the warm sunlight that streamed in, a scream also filled the room.

"Ah! No, quick! Close it!" The girl covered her blood-red eyes, crying out in pain.

Though Ma Lu had never encountered a real vampire, he imagined their reaction to bright light would be much the same.

And the girl before him had probably lived in darkness for too long, causing her eyes to become sensitive to light.

Ma Lu didn't continue to provoke her. After opening the window to air it out, he drew the curtains closed again, leaving only a sliver open to keep the living room from being too dark.