Sister Xue's expression slipped out of her control.
Her face was clouded. One moment, she looked so tired that she was expressionless; the next, the corners of her mouth lifted in a hint of madness.
"Sister Xue!" A crafty glint flashed through the white-haired old man's eyes, but he was the first to rush forward and support her. He leaned in, studying her expression. "Are you all right?"
"I... I'm fine..." Sister Xue shook her head, as if trying to shake out whatever had invaded her thoughts, and managed to answer.
But when she looked up, she saw that the old man wore a face both unfamiliar and familiar. Countless infant eyes had sprouted from his skin.
Those eyes were pure black, innocent of the ways of the world. Yet in one fleeting moment, they unmistakably concealed a bone-deep venom.
One tender, pale arm after another pushed out from beneath the old man's skin, emerging through his eye sockets, ear canals, mouth, and scalp. Black pus seeped out, while the babies' hands clawed and flailed in the air, shoving the old man's eyeballs and teeth askew until they dangled, almost falling out.
Sister Xue jumped in shock, shoved the old man away, and stared wide-eyed, her scalp crawling.
"Sister Xue? What's wrong?" The old man and the others peppered her with questions. Sister Xue didn't respond. She only felt their voices growing more distant, while the scene before her became increasingly bizarre.
She had a vague feeling that something was wrong.
Couldn't the others see what the old man had turned into? Why were they all acting so normal?
No—even the old man himself seemed unaware. The unfamiliar monster, covered in infant arms, opened and closed its mouth. The words it spoke blended seamlessly with everyone else's: concerned remarks about