Hearing this, everyone relaxed and walked into the shelter. Inside, it was bustling and lively, like a marketplace.
Several large pots stood by the street, steam rolling from within as meat cooked inside, its fragrance drifting everywhere.
"Wow, it smells so good!"
Takahashi Yuya and the others had been fleeing for a long time and were desperately short on supplies. How could they resist such temptation? Their mouths immediately watered.
The girl with flowers in her hair spoke.
"Now that you've come here, you'll never have to worry about food again."
"This is amazing!"
"Sugoi..."
Everyone looked thrilled. They felt this was the ideal shelter they had dreamed of, and they could not help imagining a wonderful future.
"Wait..."
Suddenly, Takahashi Nayuki's pretty face froze. Her gaze turned vacant as she stared fixedly down the street.
People came and went there, their figures densely packed, but an old woman stood hunched in the middle of the road.
Her face was withered, her hair gray-white, and wrinkles covered her features. Yet she curled her lips into a strange smile at Nayuki.
Nai Xue was terrified. She staggered several steps back as a chill shot up her scalp, making every hair on her body stand on end.
That was because she knew that horrifying face all too well. It had left a psychological shadow on her, and the fear from before still haunted her.
The old woman before her was the Portrait Old Lady from the mountains!
"Sh-She... Why is she here?"
Takahashi Yuya and the others noticed something was wrong and turned to look. Their brows immediately furrowed, and their nerves, which had just relaxed, tightened again.
"That thing is here again!"
"She... she's a monster!"
"Right... We saw her portrait in the graveyard. She even tried to attack us back