Mu Linsen froze, as though something had struck him. He looked at the nervous, frightened child in his arms and reached out with a trembling hand to take the peach.
He began eating it in great mouthfuls, an unfamiliar emotion spreading through his heart.
He ate crudely, almost savagely. Before long, the hair hanging over his face was soaked in peach juice.
He did not care and merely swept his hair aside.
But that simple motion let Gao Mu see the face hidden beneath it.
It was a face covered in mud, its features impossible to make out. But the most terrifying part was his eyes.
They were not human eyes at all. Or rather, they were not eyes at all, but...
Flowers!
Mu Linsen's eye sockets were filled with clusters of lurid, multicolored flower petals!!
All the color instantly drained from Gao Mu's face.
"Aaaah!!! Mommy, he's a monster!! Mommy, I want my mommy! Let me go!"
Gao Shiman's expression changed sharply in the distance, and she rushed over.
Gao Mu struggled free of Mu Linsen's arms, jumped down, and scrambled into Gao Shiman's embrace.
Instead of comfort, what he received was... smack!
Gao Shiman slapped Gao Mu hard across the face, knocking him straight to the ground.
"What are you saying, you ungrateful child! He's your father, not a monster!"
Without sparing Gao Mu another glance, she hurried to Mu Linsen's side and gripped his arm tightly.
"Lin Sen, he's still little. He doesn't know any better. Don't take it to heart."
Mu Linsen bowed his head low, as though trying to hide his face. Without a word, he pulled free of Gao Shiman and walked deeper into the woods.
"Lin Sen! Lin Sen!" Gao Shiman chased after him anxiously, but how could she possibly keep up with