Tough Love?

Compared to Jin Jiuchi who was enthusiastically skipping all the way to the first floor and even humming a random tune, everyone else was dragging on their feet, the memory of Old Guan's tragic state and the disgusting meat sauce still repeating in their mind.

It couldn't be, the lunch menu shouldn't be the same with breakfast, right?

Jin Jiuchi entered the dining hall first and discovered that the mess Old Guan left behind had been cleaned. Not only that, Old Guan himself had also vanished without a trace. Jin Jiuchi sniffed the air but all he could detect was the musty smell of an old building that had not been occupied for a long time, with no signs of the middle aged man anywhere.

"Huh?" He made a curious noise. "The cleaning service in this place is so skillful. How can they clean up the mess so fast?"

Nian, who entered after him, heard his murmur and let out a snort in response. "From now on, you will see more of this 'cleaning service'. They are not only fast, but they can also do it in a blink of an eye."

Jin Jiuchi's eyes flew wide when he registered the meaning behind Nian's sarcastic words. "You mean, they make Old Guan disappear just like that? How?!"

Unfortunately, no one could give him an answer. After that, Jin Jiuchi learned that in the Cycle, as long as someone died, then their bodies would disintegrate after some time, leaving nothing behind that could prove that they once existed in the Cycle.

How magical…

Jin Jiuchi was getting more and more intrigued. Exactly what was the 'Cycle' and how could it display such fascinating tricks one after another?! Would he be able to learn more about it after he got out of this apartment, just like what Tang Ye had told him?

(Oops, he forgot that the man was a big liar. Jin Jiuchi couldn't trust whatever that had come out of his mouth. He'd better ask Nian later after they returned to the room. Nian had never lied to him!)

Lunch, as it turned out, was the exact opposite of what everyone had been dreading.

It seemed like the Cycle still bestowed them a little mercy. This time, there was a a bowl of noodles for each of them. Even though the vegetables did not look fresh anymore and the meat was so tiny that it was barely a slice, it was already a thousand times better than the meat sauce this morning!

Again, only Jin Jiuchi begged to differ. He looked at the bowl of plain noodles with clear broth that did not emit any scent whatsoever, and tears started to pool on the corner of his eyes. "No meat sauce?"

While everyone was busy stuffing their mouths with noodles, Jin Jiuchi draped himself dramatically on the table and wept for his tragic fate. "No meat sauce… why is there no meat sauce…?"

Breakfast in the morning was excellent. Because nobody dared to eat it, Jin Jiuchi could hoard a pot of delicious meat sauce all to himself. He had devoured it to his heart's content and felt so happy that he wished he could ask for seconds.

But now… how was he supposed to cope with this bowl of cooked paste with bland soup sprinkled only with a drop of salt?!

Everyone pretended not to hear him, or to be exact they were so occupied with filling their own stomach that they couldn't care less about Jin Jiuchi's unreasonable complaint. Only Nian paused, stared at his bowl for a while, then he moved the only slice of meat that he initially wanted to save for the last into Jin Jiuchi's bowl.

"Here," he tapped the rim of the bowl with his chopsticks. "Don't complain too much and eat it. You should be grateful that this Cycle provides you food. In some others, you have to hunt for it yourself."

'Even hunting is much better than this. At least, it's meat!' Jin Jiuchi grumbled inwardly.

However, when he looked at the two thin slices of meat on his bowl, he found the corner of his lips rising higher and higher until it morphed into an uncontrollable grin.

"Nian'er…" he reached out to hug the jade doll to him using his powerful arm, almost hauling the other person to his lap. "Nian'er, Nian'er, Nian'er! You're so kind to me! How can you be so kind to me?" Jin Jiuchi was so happy that he couldn't resist nuzzling his head on Nian's chest like an overexcited husky, earning him a crisp slap to his face.

"Owww—!" Jin Jiuchi held his throbbing cheek and stared at the jade doll in disbelief. "Nian'er!" How could Nian be so violent? And to think that Jin Jiuchi had just praised him for being kind! Was this the so-called tough love?

Nian gritted out, his cheeks flushing in deep red. "Keep your paws to yourself, you crazy pervert!"

The rest of the day passed by in this uneventful manner. After finishing the noodles, they continued to clean the sixth floor and moved the messy and miscellaneous items to the storage room.

For dinner, they got a bowl of rice and stewed potatoes. Jin Jiuchi wept again for the absence of meat until Nian couldn't bear it anymore and stuffed his mouth with potato.

Jin Jiuchi shut up immediately and started to chew with his eyes curving into crescents. He tried to test his luck again and shamelessly opened his mouth wide, asking for the jade doll to feed him. But Nian, as ruthless as he was, brandished his needles and threatened to poke a thousand holes into Jin Jiuchi's body if he were to misbehave any longer.

Jin Jiuchi was left to sulk on his own, but he did not dare to ask again for fear that Nian would really act on his words.

Sigh, tough love was really difficult…

When the hour hand of the clock pointed at seven, the group finally decided to call it a day. By then, whatever little sunlight that spilled in from the atrium had been swallowed by the large swath of darkness, making the dim corridor and closed rooms look extra creepy. Even the temperature seemed to plummet all of a sudden. The eerie atmosphere caused people to break out in goosebumps, it was as if something would suddenly burst out of those closed doors and drag them inside.

It was then that Jin Jiuchi started to sense the mysterious gaze from the glass roof again, just like he did last night.