Little Bear

"You really did die in the real world. You bought a cursed painting, and about a month later, you died. Right now, your wife is keeping vigil over your body."

"See for yourself. This is your diary."

As Zhang Ze spoke, he handed Old Zhou his own notebook.

Before entering the door in the painting, Zhang Ze had put the notebook into his shoulder bag precisely for a situation like this.

Old Zhou flipped through it for a while, his expression strange.

"It really is my handwriting."

"But I truly don't remember any of this."

"No matter what, I can't recall my past memories. I only know things about this world. It feels like a dream—or as if I had always belonged to this world."

"This world?"

Zhang Ze caught hold of a clue.

Old Zhou had definitely died. That was beyond doubt.

It was only natural that his memories were now incomplete, leaving behind only memories of the Door-After World.

"Yes."

"This world's prototype should be that children's cartoon. I think it was called Boonie Bears... the cartoon mentioned in my notebook."

"The whole area is a forest called Bear Ridge. Apart from this Tree Hole, there's also a small wooden cabin at the eastern edge of the woods. It's where the bald lumberjack lives in the cartoon."

Zhang Ze pointed at the corpse outside. "What were those Crows just now?"

"There are bears, Squirrels, Monkeys, Owls, Marmots, and Foxes in the cartoon, but I've never seen Crows."

At the mention of Crows,

fear appeared in Old Zhou and Li Yang's eyes.

It was as though they had brought up something terrifying. Their pupils shrank, and their breathing paused slightly—instinctive reactions.

"I don't know. Those Crows seem to appear out of nowhere, then disappear just as suddenly. You must never let them catch you. Crows eat people. Anyone taken by them has only one ending: death."

"Whenever a newcomer enters, the Crows appear. They attack us, kill one person, then disappear."

"Our numbers have always been kept at four."

"Before Little Zhou came in, there was another little girl. After Little Zhou arrived, that girl was taken away by the Crows. After you came in, that woman was taken away too. We buried her body beneath a century-old Korean Pine."

Hiss...

Zhang Ze recalled the Crows that had just swooped into the Tree Hole.

Those Crows were unlike ordinary Crows. Their eyes were completely black, their feathers had the texture of ink, and they made no sound at all when they flew.

Were these the ghosts and monsters of the Murderous Painting's Door-After World?

Zhang Ze thought of Third Ward and Men Nan's door. The monsters behind that door had all been manifestations of Men Nan's fears, including the lanky black shadow that leaped onto people, the ghost with the long, thin neck, and the black hand by the bed...

The ghosts and monsters in the Murderous Painting were quite interesting.

They were actually Crows.

Besides the Crows, there were also beings suspected to be Little Bear and Bald Strong.

It was practically a carnival.

"Have you ever encountered a woman in red clothes? Or rather, a female ghost?" Zhang Ze asked again.

"Yes."

"If you spend some time around those Crows, you'll see the woman in red... But none of us has seen her with our own eyes. I heard about her from that little girl before. Now she's dead, so there's no way to verify it," Old Zhou said.

The atmosphere became somewhat stifling.

Zhang Ze looked again at the door through which they had entered.

The door had already closed.

Inside the Tree Hole, aside from the four of them, there were only several honey jars giving off a foul stench.

The air was still incredibly murky, constantly oppressing their nerves. It was hot, damp, and choking, as though the temperature had been deliberately set to make people uneasy.

They all knew what kind of situation they were facing.

This world had not been prepared for the living. They had wandered in by mistake and could be killed by this world's ghosts and monsters at any moment.

Once they died, they would die in reality as well.

The longer they stayed, the greater the risk. After all, nobody knew whether the Crows would suddenly return. The Tree Hole was not safe forever.

"Little Zhou told me that I've already died in reality."

"But Little Zhou can't die."

Old Zhou looked at Zhang Ze, pleading in his voice. "You entered voluntarily. Only you might be able to leave this place."

"Please, take Little Zhou out. He can't die here. I can give you money—a lot of money. Even though I can't remember many things, I remember that I should be very rich. I'll give it all to you."

Zhang Ze fell silent for a moment.

He actually wanted to say that entering the door in the painting meant there was a high chance they would never be able to leave again.

Unless the door opened once more.

But such an opportunity could only be encountered by chance. Who knew when the door would open next?

What if someone in reality found the painting too dangerous and simply burned it, or threw it into a garbage dump?

The chances were far too slim.

"Old Zhou, don't make things difficult for him. He can barely save his own life. How could he possibly take your son out?"

"Instead of pinning our hopes on him, we should find the rules for survival and try to keep Little Zhou alive a little longer."

Li Yang said.

Old Zhou was somewhat unwilling to accept that.

Seeing the two of them like this, Zhang Ze knew he could not count on them, so he turned his attention to Little Zhou.

Little Zhou had probably been in contact with the woman in red for even longer than Zhang Ze had imagined.

After all, Little Zhou had mentioned that every night, the woman in red taught him how to draw and was fairly kind to him.

While Little Zhou had not yet died in reality and lost his memories, Zhang Ze crouched down and made his tone as steady as possible.

"Little Zhou, do you know how to get out of this place?"

Little Zhou glanced timidly at Zhang Ze. "Big brother, I can't leave."

"Why not?"

"Big sister said that if I leave, she'll pull my mother in here. Only by staying here can I protect my mother."

Zhang Ze:?

He now suspected that the female ghost had some kind of strange fetish.

"He's seen her?"

"Yes. Little Bear and I are good friends. We often play together. Big sister doesn't like Little Bear, but she often appears together with Little Bear," Little Zhou answered.

Little Bear.

At the mention of that, Zhang Ze suddenly remembered something.

"The place we're staying in seems to be called the Tree Hole, right?"

"According to the cartoon's setting, this place seems to be... a bear's den?"

The moment those words fell,

all four of them felt a chill of horror.

They had actually failed to realize it.

They had stayed in the Tree Hole for far too long. Little Bear was a product of the World in the Painting. Even if it was different from those Crows, it could not be much better.

Even the Crows killed people.

What would a bear do? Did they really need to think about it?

"We should leave quickly. If we wait for the bear to come back, someone might die again," Old Zhou said hurriedly.

Zhang Ze and Li Yang agreed with that view.

However, Little Zhou suddenly raised his head, widened his eyes, and pointed behind the stone bed where Zhang Ze had hidden earlier. In an innocent voice, he said:

"Little Bear has been in the Tree Hole all along."