Gathering

Li Sui, wearing human skin, sat with her knees together on the moss-covered steps of the Bai Family Compound.

She looked at the Pork Lard Candy in the child's hand, her large eyes full of curiosity. "Is that thing tasty?"

This little boy, wearing a Tiger Head Hat and tiger-head shoes and looking seven or eight years old, was some village child or other. The moment he saw Li Sui's delicate face, he could not tear his eyes away.

After waiting for quite a while, he seemed to come back to himself. He nodded hard, grabbed Li Sui's hand, and hurried toward his home.

He pulled Li Sui into his family's kitchen, imitating his mother as he used chopsticks to pick out a large lump of solidified lard from the oil jar and toss it into the sugar jar.

After the lump of lard rolled around inside and became coated in a thick layer of red sugar, a piece of Pork Lard Candy was ready.

Then the child with his hair tied in a sprout-like topknot carefully held the Pork Lard Candy out before Li Sui.

"Is it good?" Li Sui opened her mouth and swallowed it in one bite. After tasting it carefully, she said, "Mm, it's alright. It tastes like pig. I like pork."

"But I like bloody meat bones even more. Best if they're wrapped in soft, white cartilage. Those teeth are so delicious to chew on. My second mother and I both like them."

Just then, Li Sui suddenly pricked up her ears to listen. "My dad called for me. I should go back now. You treated me to candy, so next time I'll treat you to bloody meat bones."

With that, the tentacles beneath Li Sui's skirt swiftly swayed, propelling her toward the Bai Family