They settled into the red-nosed man's house. He introduced himself as Danjie, forty-two years old. He mowed lawns for a living and enjoyed hunting in his spare time. When the instance descended, he had been asleep at home.
His little dog had woken him and saved him several times.
Danjie said numbly, "I've had enough of this place. You think you're saving innocent, ordinary people, but once you let them into your home, they bare their fangs at you. Then they tear you apart or turn you into a monster like them."
Juelu stood by the window, looking outside. "There's nobody out there right now," she said calmly. "Those monsters you mentioned come out at night, don't they?"
"Of course not!" Danjie looked tense. "They come out during the day, too. You can't tell them apart! They mingle with the living and look exactly like them. Only dogs can tell the difference. Nobody else can."
"In that case," Wei Yanchi said with a smile, "how can we trust that you aren't an Impostor? After all, that little dog is your pet. Of course it listens to you."
"You suspect me?"
A desperate look flashed across Danjie's face. As if triggered, he rushed to the dining table, grabbed a table knife, and slashed his wrist hard. Blood gushed out.
He stared at Wei Yanchi with a deranged look and enunciated every word. "I'm not one of them. I never will be."
Wei Yanchi glanced over his arm, then said calmly, "Got it. Go stop the bleeding. We wouldn't want you attracting any Impostors."
Danjie stiffened, then turned angrily and went upstairs, the dachshund trembling as it followed him.
They watched him leave.
Hearing them mention Impostors and vampires made Lin Zhenyue's skin crawl. He dragged a table over to barricade the