As I was still thinking about all this, the scene around me changed again.
The shabby living room turned into a country lane.
The village didn't seem very prosperous. The road was narrow, the houses low. As far as I could see, there were only the yellow road and houses, with green hills in the distance.
The woman led the girl forward. Once they entered the village, they saw people.
My heart clenched, my scalp tingled, and goosebumps rose all over my body.
This electric feeling wasn't a pleasant tingle. It was a shudder, a heart-stopping fear.
Every one of those people, men and women alike, had a crooked neck. Some tilted to the left, others to the right. The degree of the crookedness varied, but seeing a whole village full of deformed people was enough to make anyone uneasy.
Crooked-Neck Village...
This was Crooked-Neck Village before it had been abandoned.
Even so, the atmosphere in the village was grim. Everyone looked miserable.
That wasn't surprising. Any place where all the residents were deformed would be a hard place to find happiness. Even the most easygoing person couldn't put up with something like that.
When the people saw the mother and daughter, they greeted them and asked how they were doing.
They weren't surprised by the girl's strange face, nor did they show any disgust. Instead, they seemed sympathetic and sighed over her condition.
The girl remained expressionless as the woman led her onward. They kept running into people they knew, so they didn't move very quickly.
The more I watched, the more unsettled I became.
I'd seen deformities and disabilities before. But I didn't work in healthcare or volunteer with any organizations, and I'd never seen so many people with the same condition gathered right in front of me.