ATFBETIBM Chapter 685.2

Bai Lixin walked up to the second floor, took two steps down the corridor, then suddenly stopped and took two steps back.

He stared thoughtfully at the wall in front of him, then looked down at the floor beneath his feet.

In front of him was a plain white wall.

But judging by the location, the space below this wall… should be his own room.

Were there no rooms above his?

Then what was the noise he had heard?

Bai Lixin looked at the white wall thoughtfully, and just then, the door to room 205 opened.

Chen Min Min and Man Man came out, and when Bai Lixin saw them, he was slightly startled.

The two seemed to be surrounded by a faint white glow. Their faces were the same, but they looked even more dazzling and beautiful.

Every gesture they made exuded a charming allure.

Unlike the lively energy they had yesterday, today they were languid, with a lazy and seductive aura.

As soon as they stepped out, the door to room 207 opened as well.

The short-haired girl was wearing long pants. She was a cool, handsome girl yesterday, but today she looked particularly enchanting. Her eyes had a slight upward tilt, and every smile and frown was mesmerizing.

Seeing Bai Lixin, Min Min slowly raised her hand to greet him. “Why did you come up?”

Her voice was seductive, like silk brushing against a sensitive spot on a person’s body, just the right amount of teasing.

Bai Lixin withdrew his gaze. “It’s already time, and you hadn’t come down, so I came to check.”

The short-haired girl smiled, and it had a different kind of allure. “I don’t know why, but I felt a bit sleepy today. Still, I managed to get up.”

Bai Lixin: “…”

Perhaps it was just his imagination, but the captivating aura around the short-haired girl seemed even stronger than the others.

“You…” Bai Lixin paused. “You all look…”

The short-haired girl touched her hair. “Look what?”

Bai Lixin pondered for two seconds. “You look very charming.”

“Really?” The short-haired girl touched her hair again. “I didn’t notice. I feel the same as usual.”

Bai Lixin: “Not even a little difference?”

The short-haired girl: “Well, I do feel a bit sleepy, but otherwise, I feel light and refreshed.”

Bai Lixin: “…”

It seemed the four girls hadn’t noticed the dramatic change in their temperament.

Was it because of the dragon meat? Since the short-haired girl had eaten the most, her transformation was the most obvious.

Bai Lixin: “Then are you still planning to visit the Four Temples today?”

The four languid and alluring girls replied in unison, “Of course.”

Man Man: “Of course we’re going. We already rented a car.”

Snake God Mountain was large, and visiting the Four Temples would take the whole day.

The inn’s boss would usually help guests book a minibus in advance. The minibus could hold ten people, so besides them, there were five other people.

As they passed through the lobby, Bai Lixin casually struck up a conversation with the proprietress.

“Auntie, is there anyone staying in the room above mine?”

The proprietress maintained her smile. “No, that room is sealed off.”

Bai Lixin: “Then why have I heard noises from upstairs for the past two nights? Could it be haunted?”

“How could it be haunted? This place is protected by the Snake God,” the proprietress quickly retorted. “You probably heard the couple in room 201 above you. That room is right next to the wall.”

Bai Lixin nodded. “Ah, it turns out to be like this.”

When they arrived at the pickup point, the other five people were already seated, and they were ten minutes late.

From a distance, Bai Lixin could hear someone complaining.

“Who are these people that are still not here? All the other cars have already left.”

“Exactly, how rude. Wasting time is wasting life, and they’re wasting ours.”

“Let’s go, we shouldn’t wait for them!”

“It looks like they’re coming now.”

“Hmph, when they get here, I’m definitely going to give them a piece of my mind!”

Three men and two women were exchanging complaints, their voices filled with irritation.

But when Min Min and the other three girls got on the bus, the complaints stopped abruptly.

The three men stared at the four girls, their eyes practically falling out of their sockets.

The minibus was a bit old, and it smelled like gasoline and sweat.

The further back they sat, the stronger the odor became.

So people usually rushed to grab the front seats.

The six seats in the front were spread out on either side: two on one side, one on the other, making two rows in total.

The last row had four seats in a row.

Since they boarded late, only the last row of four seats and a single seat were left.

As soon as Min Min got on the bus, she covered her nose and frowned, “It smells really strong. If I sit at the back, I’ll get carsick. What should I do?”

She glanced faintly at the three men, and they immediately stood up together, scrambling to offer her a seat. “Carsick? How about you sit here instead?”

Min Min smiled sweetly and said, “Thank you, you’re so kind,” then gracefully twisted her waist and slowly sat at the front.

Having lost their chance to be gallant, the other three men turned to look at the other three girls.

Before anyone could speak, the three men tactfully moved to sit in the back row.

The two women traveling with them ground their teeth in frustration.

There was still one seat left in the back, and Bai Lixin walked over to squeeze in with the three men.

However, the short-haired girl got there first and, without saying a word, sat down between the three men.

The three men immediately looked delighted.

Once all the girls were seated, Bai Lixin took the last empty seat.

It was a two-seater in the second-to-last row. The seat by the window was already occupied by a woman.

The minibus started its climb into the mountains, with both doors and windows tightly shut.

Logically speaking, the bus should have been filled with the smell of gasoline, but Bai Lixin instead caught a faint sweet scent.

The smell was like milk candy—sweet but not overpowering.

He glanced around the bus, his eyes sweeping over the four girls before finally resting quietly on the short-haired girl in the back row.

The scent seemed to be coming from her.

The three men appeared to have noticed the smell as well. Their faces turned a bit red, and they occasionally stole glances at the short-haired girl, taking deep breaths through their noses with expressions of enjoyment on their faces.

The woman next to Bai Lixin opened the window for some fresh air, covering her nose as she complained, “What’s that stink? It smells awful.”

The window had only been open for a moment when the driver spoke up, “Please close the window. The road up the mountain is steep and dusty. Opening the window could affect safe driving.”

The woman reluctantly shut the window. “Didn’t any of you smell that stench? It’s like a pair of dirty socks that hasn’t been washed in days.”

“What stench?” one of the men in the back row inhaled deeply. “I only smell milk candy.”

“I smelled it too.” The woman sitting in the single seat next to Bai Lixin covered her nose and glared back at the short-haired girl. “I’ve got a sharp nose, and that foul smell is definitely coming from you.”

The short-haired girl smoothed her hair, and raised her eyes slightly. “Really? I don’t smell anything.”

The man sitting next to her quickly spoke up. “I don’t smell anything either. Maybe your nose is broken?”

Another man chimed in, “Yeah, yeah, it’s just a sweet scent. No stench at all.”

The woman next to Bai Lixin joined in. “You licking dogs are unbelievable. It’s clearly a foul smell, and you’re calling it sweet. You’ll swallow anything, won’t you?”

Suddenly, the bus hit a severe bump.

The woman was so frightened that she clung tightly to the handle in front of her, frozen in her forward-leaning posture.

Ahead lay a narrow and bumpy road, with a sheer 90-degree cliff right beside it.

No one dared to argue anymore. They all sat quietly in the bus, not daring to make a sound.

Fortunately, the driver was skilled, and after five minutes of rough driving, the bus returned to a smooth path.

After seeing the dangerous mountain road, the passengers lost all desire to argue, and the squabbling came to an end.

Bai Lixin looked out the window.

Outside the narrow mountain road, the slopes were covered in dark green trees and plants. The bus climbed along the S-shaped road, as if it were scaling the back of a giant python.

The Snake God Mountain was surrounded by the same faint blue fluorescent mist he had seen yesterday.

Unlike what he saw before, the further down the mountain, the thinner the mist became. Bai Lixin raised his eyes and looked toward the peak of Snake God Mountain.

There, the blue mist was thick, swirling around the peak like a blooming blue lotus.

After over an hour of climbing, the minibus reached the first peak—The East God Temple, the very spot where he had seen the blue lotus from afar.

The open area ahead was filled with parked cars. The driver had arranged for everyone to have an hour and a half of free time before they would return here and head to the next destination.

As soon as the doors opened, the two women hurried off the bus while covering their noses, as if the smell inside had been unbearable.

Bai Lixin, however, still smelled the sweet scent of milk, and it had only grown stronger over time.

He glanced at the three men who were looking at the girls with infatuated eyes, then at the backs of the women who had hurried away.

He wondered if the short-haired girl’s scent had some gender-specific effect.

Men smelled sweetness, while women smelled something foul.

It attracted the opposite sex and repelled the same.

Bai Lixin got off the bus, followed by the four girls and the three men.

From the way the three men and two women behaved, it seemed they didn’t know each other, and it was just by chance that they had shared the same bus.

Now the two women had left first, but the three men kept following the four girls, as if they had latched onto them.

Worried something might happen, Bai Lixin followed silently from a distance.

However, the men behaved quite normally. More than normal, they were excessively polite.

They didn’t make any inappropriate moves. On the contrary, they were humble and servile throughout.

It was as if the four girls were queens and they were mere servants.

After following for a while and seeing no signs of danger, Bai Lixin began wandering around East God Temple.

He could still see that faint blue glow, but after some subtle probing, he realized that no one else seemed able to see the faint blue mist.