They Are Monsters

Inside the castle, in the grand hall directly facing the entrance, an exaggeratedly large oval dining table covered with a thick purple tablecloth could be seen. Both sides of the table were now filled with all sorts of people, or rather, monsters.

At this moment, they all turned their heads towards the door simultaneously, each with a smile.

The children's eyes were glazed over, no longer able to react to the bizarre and impactful scene. Han Su, amidst the crowd, was also numb.

He had been "welcomed" by this group of monsters many times and had long since become desensitized. Instead, as he walked towards the castle, blending in with the crowd, he habitually observed any small details around him.

First, he looked at the rose bush wall in the northwest corner, noticing that many wooden boards had been nailed horizontally and vertically behind the weeds.

That was where a hole had been, just large enough for a small child to squeeze through.

It was the path he had taken to escape for the first time, but the hole had been repaired by the time he was kidnapped back for the second time by the future self.

Similar repairs had happened many times. Originally, this dilapidated bunker was full of gaps destroyed by time or some other force, with many places small children could crawl in and out of.

He had also used these loopholes to escape more than once, but each time he was brought back after being kidnapped, the loophole from the previous escape would often be sealed, as if an invisible force was constantly fixing the castle's bugs.

Yet, strangely, the monsters here seemed unaware that they had escaped countless times. They didn't remember having escaped.

Lost in thought, Han Su entered the castle hall along with the dazed children. The monsters seated around the oval table slowly turned their heads.

Han Su had counted them countless times and discreetly observed them just as many.

They were of various shapes, bearing some resemblance to Song Chushi's initial quick sketch, but the feeling of being alive, mysterious, and terrifying was far beyond what a sketch could convey.

There were seven in total, scattered around the oval table with many empty seats. Each empty seat had tableware and a chair in front of it, some even with a half-full glass of wine, which made Han Su wonder if there were other monsters who hadn't arrived.

Unfortunately, in all his escape attempts, he had never seen any other monsters.

He then turned his gaze to the corner of the staircase, where a lone candlestick stood. It was made of brass, over a meter tall, with intricate patterns all over. However, there was no candle on it, only a sharp spike.

Like the rose bush, the candle on it had been removed.

His gaze shifted to the side of the long table, where he saw a brass key at the waist of a bloated monster wearing a tight suit.

This eased his mind slightly. "Thankfully, the key is still on the Pale Giant."

"This means the door is also on its level, so I just need to replicate the previous route as much as possible to escape..."

"Clap clap"

The butler gently clapped his hands, the sound crisp and elegant.

As if his clap had just magically made all the children dazed and forget their clamor, this clap seemed to flip a switch, and all the children suddenly woke up.

They lifted their small heads, looked around their surroundings, and gradually showed expressions of fear.

One child, in particular, who saw a monk covered in insects and wearing a black cassock at the dining table, burst into tears.

"These are the lucky ones chosen by our great Emperor..."

The pale-faced butler smiled, clasping his white-gloved hands together. He looked at the many monsters around the dining table and said with a smile, "Gentlemen, I hope they are to your liking."

"Hiss hiss!"

As the butler spoke, or rather, as the children woke up and displayed the fear of living humans, the monsters around the table suddenly smiled. They whispered to each other, their gazes sweeping over the children.

Their voices were strange, unlike any Han Su had ever heard in reality, as if it were the language of another species, carrying a mysterious and eerie feeling.

The previous Han Su had no impression of these sounds, but now, listening to them, he felt a slight stir.

"The linguistic style is somewhat similar to a fishing horn sound..."

"The sounds played in the Disaster Management Bureau are definitely among the languages these monsters speak, just not as clear as this."

"What was played in the Disaster Management Bureau sounded more like an old recording, with both monster languages and a lot of static... as if they accidentally recorded the monsters' words."

"..."

He subconsciously wanted to discern them carefully, to try hard to remember their language.

But he soon realized the difficulty. When listening to the fishing horn sound recording, he had found it very easy to remember and accurately repeat.

However, facing these monsters, that ease was gone. Everything felt blurry, and he couldn't retain any memory.

"Uncle..."

In this eerie and oppressive environment, a child in a small blue suit suddenly and boldly raised his hand.

He looked up at the butler beside him, mustering his courage. "Is this, is this a science museum?"

The butler turned to look at him, not answering, just smiling at him.

His expression was kind and amiable, but also stiff. He maintained that smile, standing still, yet his smiling face seemed to magnify in the children's vision.

It felt as if it were about to be pressed against their faces.

The child who asked the question began to tremble. He was so scared that he lowered his hand, averted his gaze, and his body began to shake uncontrollably.

At this moment, a monster slowly rose from the dining table.

This movement instantly drew everyone's attention. It was the monk in the black cassock.

When he sat, distorted worms would occasionally wriggle between his collar, cuffs, and trouser legs.

However, his expression was calm and austere. He slowly walked out from beside the dining table, his cassock sleeves falling, his expression solemn, looking like a compassionate monk walking through the ruins of the world in the last century.

He walked directly towards a small boy in the crowd.

The little boy was chubby, wearing shiny leather shoes on his feet. His hair was slicked back with pomade, plastered tightly to his scalp. He watched fearfully as the monk approached him.

The other children around him grew scared, shrinking away from him and scattering.

Suddenly, he became terrified. His eyes snapped shut, his legs trembled, and a large wet patch began to spread across his white pants.

The moment the smell of urine filled the air, the black-robed monk's steps halted. All the orifices on his body, from which worms burrowed in and out, seemed to recoil in disgust.

After a long moment, the monk slightly changed direction.

He looked directly at a girl in the crowd and slowly extended his hand towards her.

His palm was covered in rotting flesh and holes, with worms wriggling in and out, emitting a strong stench.

The little girl in the crowd, whose lips were already tightly pressed together in fear, finally couldn't help but cry out when the monk reached for her. But she didn't make a sound, nor dared to move, simply standing there blankly.

The monk took her hand. Despite his rotting palm, his movements were gentle as he slowly led her towards the spiral staircase. Worms occasionally emerged from his arms and wrists, crawling along the little girl's arm and disappearing into her sleeve and collar.

The terrified little girl just followed him blankly.

"Let her go..."

All the children were terrified and could only look on with sympathy and confusion as the monk led the little girl away.

But at that moment, a braided ponytail girl from the crowd suddenly rushed out. She grabbed the stiffly held hand of the little girl and shouted loudly.

She appeared to be a head taller than the other children, seemingly older, but in reality, she was the same age as the others. As she grabbed the little girl's hand, she picked up a candlestick from the corner of the stairs with her other hand.

"She's scared, she doesn't want to go with you..."

She shouted at the monk covered in worms, and at the other monsters: "We, we want to go back to school, we..."

"The police, the police will come find us..."

"..."

The other children were stunned by the braided ponytail girl's actions, they had even forgotten to cry.

Within the crowd, Han Su's heart sank slowly for a moment.

It was no wonder Song Chushi had given up his comfortable life for her, wandering this world for ten whole years to find her.

Every time, it was this girl who would be the first to step forward.

She would protect the weak children.

Even the first time he had a chance to escape was because of her.

Back then, the candlestick she grabbed had a thick tallow candle on it. As she swung the candlestick, she ignited the carpet, attracting the monsters' attention. He, seizing the opportunity, ran out through the still-open door and escaped into the bushes.

It was a pity that such opportunities and loopholes that allowed him to escape were becoming fewer and fewer. Without that door, it was becoming difficult for him to escape.

The only variable was that he had brought that spell this time; would it work?