No, no...
Zhao Mou abruptly staggered back two or three steps, staring fixedly at the crack in the door. Countless thoughts surged through his mind, only to be buried deep within him a moment later.
His face was astonishingly calm, though he himself hadn't noticed. His right hand closed around empty air at his waist. When Zhao Mou realized he'd reacted instinctively, his gaze darkened.
He was used to holding something in his right hand. But now it was gone.
A needle-sharp pain stabbed through his head. Under the gaze of the eye in the crack, Zhao Mou had no time to think it through. Instead, he stood ramrod straight, maintaining his dignified bearing as he faced the eye.
"You're not Young Master Yu."
He said it with certainty.
"Ha ha ha ha ha!" The face in the crack seemed to twist even further. Its shrill laughter squeezed through the wooden door, its barely concealed malice practically washing over him.
The thing said, "I am 'Young Master Yu.' Don't you know?"
"I've always been a monster in this world! Don't you know? You know perfectly well!"
Ha ha ha...
In a daze, it seemed countless people were laughing along with the monster behind the door. Their voices came from the surrounding houses, the streets in the distance, and even... from Zhao Mou's hand.
He looked down blankly and saw that the little wooden figure he'd just picked up—one that looked just like him—had also opened its mouth in a shrill laugh.
The little figure's eyes curved, its mouth stretched all the way to its ears, as if mocking Zhao Mou for knowing nothing about reality.
When "Young Master Yu" had laughed enough, he opened the crack a little wider and poked his head out.
His face was clearly that of