Grandma

The moment the cough subsided, a putrid smell wafted through the air.

Yu Xing paused, feeling as if she were being watched.

The oil lamp in his hand was far too conspicuous, but it was obviously too late to extinguish it now. The old voice seemed to have coughed twice to get his attention after seeing him.

It was less of a warning and more of a threat.

"Cough cough cough..."

Another coughing sound came, but just seconds before the coughing sound had been coming from the front, this time it suddenly moved to Yu Xing's back.

And the distance has become shorter.

Yu Xing raised an eyebrow, standing still as if she had been startled.

He recalled the interval between the two coughs and silently counted down in his mind.

It's getting dark...

Five seconds later, the aged voice was right next to her, and a putrid, stench filled her nostrils. The cool air emanating from that unknown thing was almost touching Yu Xing's neck.

Why are you out here... wandering around?

The thing was pressed against his ear, the sound muffled.

The lantern swayed twice, its light seemingly suppressed by something, becoming even dimmer, and the surrounding darkness seemed to gather slightly closer to Yu Xing.

There were no footsteps.

Near teleportation.

Yu Xing thought quickly, while tilting her head to avoid the side where the sound was coming from, so as not to accidentally give her a kiss when she turned her head.

But he didn't speak, letting the aged voice take the initiative to talk to him.

Because the things that could teleport had all gotten behind him, it was estimated that as long as he still had his hand, he could easily pass through his body if he were an ordinary person.

The malice was almost undisguised; if the old voice could really kill him outright, it wouldn't have bothered arguing with him.

But the reality is that the voice seems to be trying to elicit a response from him.

Yu Xing lowered his eyes and sensed the presence of a powerful shadow behind him to his right.

It was merely an immense aura.

If it comes to the body, he's unsure; he might as well just look with his own eyes.

Yu Xing kept his mouth shut, took two more steps forward, then suddenly turned around and shone the oil lamp he was carrying directly at the spot he had sensed.

There was a group of elderly people there.

The reason for using this quantifier is that Yu Xing could not find a more suitable one at the moment.

The old man's face looked somewhat familiar; he had just seen him during the day. In a quick glance through the crack in the open door of room 09, he recognized his grandmother.

The old man's face was full of wrinkles, his skin was all wrinkled together, dividing the flesh beneath the skin into many areas, which made people feel scared.

Those cloudy eyes seemed shrouded in a gray haze, obscuring their expression.

Her head was covered in silver hair of medium length, held in place at the back of her head with a clip, though the amount of hair was somewhat sparse.

The most normal part of this old man's body is his face.

After nightfall, Grandma changed quite a bit from during the day. First of all, her body, which was already hunched over during the day, almost curled up into a semi-circular arc in the darkness.

His back was bent at an almost impossible angle, his legs were also bent, almost squatting, and his arms were short and at his sides, making him look like a wheel.

It was still a completely black wheel.

This also caused Grandma's height to shrink significantly. Under the light, Yu Xing could see that Grandma only reached a little above his knees, and the old woman had to look up to see him.

Logically speaking, given his height, it's impossible for his breath to be so close to his neck and ears.

Yu Xing narrowed her eyes and looked at her grandmother's side again.

Grandma held a cane in her right hand, which was hidden in the darkness and not easily seen.

Without saying a word, Yu Xing moved the lantern up a little higher and finally saw the head of the cane.

Grandma was short, but her cane was very tall, a full two meters high, even longer than Yu Xing's height.

At the very top of the cane, there is a knot, securely fastened to the cane, with the other end connected to a sphere.

... That was a human head.

Before Yu Xing could see clearly, her grandmother, who was half-squatting on the ground, grinned.

Her mouth was stretched wide open, unlike a human's, but more like that of some kind of fish that had grown long and unrestrained because it existed in the deep sea.

When the lips parted, a mouthful of sharp teeth was revealed.

Yu Xing was amazed.

Goodness, those teeth!

During the day, some people lied to him, saying that Grandma wasn't eating because she had lost all her teeth and couldn't eat anymore. Just by looking at her densely packed shark teeth, you could tell that Grandma had a huge appetite.

However, what exactly she wants to eat is worth considering.

His grandmother, who had been hungry all day, approached him as night fell, and the answer to this question seemed to be revealed.

"Newcomer... Grandma is asking you a question... Please have pity on Grandma, don't ignore me..." Grandma grinned, tilted her head, and spoke in a pitiful tone.

But her eyes had nothing to do with pitifulness; rather, the malice revealed in them, as if through a gray veil, was chilling. It seemed that in her grandmother's eyes, Yu Xing was already a meal.

Yu Xing remained silent.

To be honest, Grandma's appearance is indeed convincing, making her look very powerful, but she lacks a lot in terms of cunning, and her intention to deceive is too obvious.

If they had to rely on this to find food, Yu Xing felt that her grandmother could go hungry for the rest of her life.

Were all the people I encountered before idiots?

Of course, he knew that his so-called grandmother was not so simple, so he remained wary, his narrow phoenix eyes fixed on her.

"Really..." Grandma was not happy.

The old ghost, curled up in a ball, moved two steps. While being watched, she walked very slowly, showing no signs of being able to teleport.

"Grandma is so pitiful, she finally met someone who can talk..." Grandma stamped her cane, closed her mouth full of shark teeth, and turned her mouth down.

"So, well, they won't even say a word to this old man like me. Do they look down on me...?"

She kept rambling on and on, not caring whether Yu Xing replied or not, and continued talking to herself.

Yu Xing licked her lips, suddenly feeling a tickle in her throat.

He raised an eyebrow, reached out and touched his throat, and suddenly felt something on his neck.

... It looks like a crack.

A crack that doesn't feel so pleasant to the touch.

"I'm so lonely. My son and daughter are both dead, and I'm all alone. My grandson doesn't want to come see me, he doesn't want to see me..."

"I just want to talk to someone. You look about the same age as my grandson, why don't you talk to me?"

Grandma kept nagging.

Yu Xing's hand remained across his neck, and with each sentence his grandmother spoke, the crease on his neck deepened.

Until... Yu Xing curiously stuck her finger into the crevice and touched something hard.

It looks like a tooth.

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