CHAPTER 263: CHAPTER 263: DON’T YOU REMEMBER THE GAME WE PLAYED LAST NIGHT?

No one truly slept that night.

The corridors stayed too quiet.

The silence felt too full.

Every creak, every shift in the walls made the hair on their arms rise.

Someone coughed once in the dark, and half the room jolted upright, their breaths held.

By the time dawn arrived, the group moved as if sleep had only flirted with them and never followed through.

They gathered outside the maintenance room without speaking, each one tense, exchanging short glances but no words.

Qingran was the one to open the door.

She stepped in first.

Wei Sheng sat upright on the edge of the bed, hands resting calmly on his lap. He looked up as if they’d merely interrupted a nap.

His face was clean and his eyes were clear.

No tears.

No twitching.

No laughter.

And not a single bruise.

Qingran eyes widened but she quickly recovered her composure.

That was impossible.

Yu Song stepped forward and frowned. "You... feeling alright?"

Wei Sheng tilted his head. "Yeah. I think so?" He glanced around. "This isn’t the same room I remember. Did you move me here?"

No one answered immediately.

"Why am I tied up?" he asked next, brows drawn, confusion in his voice.

"What happened?"

He pulled against the bindings gently, not like someone panicked or pretending but like someone genuinely baffled.

Ruihuang exchanged a look with Qingran, subtle but sharp.

"Do you remember anything from last night?" she asked evenly.

Wei Sheng furrowed his brow, thinking. "Last night... I remember going to sleep. But that’s all. I woke up here. Did I—" he paused, glancing at their expressions. "Did something happen?"

Meng Nian leaned closer, squinting at his face. "Where’s your bruises?"

Wei Sheng blinked. "My what?"

"You were restrained. You struggled. You should have bruises on your wrists and face. And you were... injured."

"Injured?" Wei Sheng looked at his arms, then at his hands. "I feel fine."

He wasn’t lying.

His skin was clear. His pulse steady. Not even a shadow of swelling on his jaw or a scratch on his cheek.

The room fell into a strange hush.

Even the dust in the air felt like it held its breath.

"We tied you down after you.." Yu Song started, then stopped himself.

Qingran stepped in smoothly. "For the game we were playing, you had a little bruise when you fell. Don’t you remember?"

Qingran quickly changed the question, it was best not to alert the prey that it’s the prey.

Wei Sheng’s mouth parted slightly in confusion. "I... don’t remember any of that. I feel normal. Better than I’ve felt in days, honestly."

That did it.

They all felt it, the thing crawling just beneath their skin.

Something was wrong. Deeply wrong.

This wasn’t recovery.

Qingran motioned to Ruihuang silently, and the man stepped forward, quickly untying the knots around Wei Sheng’s arms.

He didn’t resist. He even smiled, grateful, and rolled his shoulders once he was free.

"Thanks. I’m starving. You guys have breakfast ready?"

"Nah..." Yu Song said, voice flat. "Let’s get back to the main room."

Wei Sheng rose to his feet and stretched his arms. "Did I do something bad? You’re all acting like I killed someone."

No one answered.

Qingran didn’t take her eyes off him as they walked.

Back in the main room, the air still held the fading aroma of last night’s dinner, stir-fried rice with diced beef and vegetables, reheated quickly over the low flame just to warm it.

Qingran hadn’t had the time or clarity to cook again, and nobody blamed her.

What sat in their bowls now was survival, not comfort.

Wei Sheng ate eagerly, as if none of them had spent the last few hours half-awake, listening to his muffled cries through the wall.

As if his hands hadn’t been around Xu Tianming’s throat hours ago. As if he hadn’t laughed in the dark and sobbed like a broken child.

"You guys didn’t have to wait for me," he said cheerfully, lifting his bowl. "Still tastes great."

No one replied right away.

Yu Song watched him from across the table, one hand clenched under the table.

Tianming sat quietly, the shadows under his eyes darker than usual.

Ruihuang didn’t bother hiding his stare it was cold, calculated, and unblinking.

Wei Sheng paused mid-chew, looking up. "What’s wrong?"

Meng Nian forced a smile. "Nothing."

Qingran leaned slightly forward and pushed the tray closer to him. "Eat more. You said you were hungry."

He grinned. "I am. Thanks."

He scooped more into his mouth with no hesitation.

No guilt.

No confusion.

Just... happiness.

The kind of casual contentment that made the skin between their shoulder blades crawl.

"You’re all acting a little stiff," he said, licking his lips. "Did I say something weird?"

"You’re fine.m" Ruihuang said. "We’re just tired."

"Ah.." Wei Sheng nodded sympathetically. "Well, makes sense. You all look like you didn’t sleep."

Tianming made a soft sound, the back of his hand brushing his throat. Meng Nian glanced away.

"Still.." Wei Sheng added brightly, "I’m really glad we’re all friends now. It’s good to have people you can trust. We should hang out more. Talk. Do stuff together.."

He looked at each of them, as if waiting for them to agree.

And they did.

"Of course," said Qingran, too quickly. "You’re one of us."

"We’ll hang out whenever you want." Ruihuang added.

"You can count on us.." Yu Song muttered.

Their smiles were all masked.

Because they couldn’t alert the prey that it was the prey.

And even though he smiled back, wide and warm, like a man surrounded by his closest friends but not a single one of them dropped their guard.

He finished eating and leaned back with a sigh. "I really missed this. Warm food. Good company. Peace."

His eyes slid shut for a moment then opened, but something was different.

"Though honestly.." he said slowly, "I liked the game last night."

The spoon in Tianming’s hand clattered to the floor.