The plump ones... slept beside Grandma.
The skinny ones... slept against the wall.
Every muscle in Chen Mo's body tensed.
Her words were still gentle and kindly.
But hearing them sent a chill through his entire body!
He instinctively looked himself over.
He was on the thin side, though still somewhere in the middle.
"Sure, sure! I love sleeping beside Grandma. It's so warm!"
A street punk with green-dyed hair, the burliest of the boys.
He held Grandma's withered hand and swung it back and forth.
Chen Mo's pupils contracted sharply.
Grandma's fingernails were frighteningly long, almost half a finger in length.
They were pitch-black, with an indescribably sinister look.
A smile blossomed on Grandma's face, so tender it made his heart ache.
She truly looked like an elder who doted on her grandchildren.
"Big brother, come inside! Time to rest!"
Hu Yaya.
The girl he had accepted as his "little sister" turned around.
Her ponytail swayed, her eyes full of concern.
Chen Mo gave a stiff smile and dragged his feet into the room.
There wasn't much space inside.
A large earthen sleeping platform took up almost all of it.
A coarse cloth sheet covered it.
Several moldy quilts lay on top.
"Grandchildren, lie down. Grandma's going to put out the lamp."
The old woman and the green-haired boy climbed onto the bed first.
The green-haired boy lay against the left wall, with Grandma lying beside him, facing him.
Grandma's voice remained kindly, as though she were coaxing naughty children.
"Lie down properly, side by side, from left to right."
The other two street punks laughed and lay down in the middle.
Hu Yaya lay down too.
Chen Mo had no choice but to steel himself and take the far-right spot.
"Go to sleep, go to sleep. Grandma's blowing out the lamp."
The old woman blew out the oil lamp, plunging the room into darkness.
He couldn't see his hand in front of his face.
The earthen bed was a little hard, but very warm.
Under the moldy quilt, Chen Mo couldn't stop trembling.
He kept reminding himself.
Stay calm!
Calm down!
Chen Mo, you have to calm down. There has to be a way!
Lin Lu said there was only a slight Tide Cry here.
The supernatural creature couldn't be that strong. There had to be a way out!
But the cold sweat covering his body betrayed his panic.
Before long.
Steady breathing sounded beside him.
Hu Yaya seemed to have fallen asleep...
In the entire room.
Chen Mo seemed to be the only one still "awake"...
Chen Mo kept his eyes stretched wide.
His back pressed against the Mountain-Cleaving Blade.
He tried to see through the darkness.
The instant that creature approached, he would draw his blade!
Even if he only got one chance.
Chen Mo would seize it.
He refused to die like this.
The air was still.
Only the breathing of his "family" beside him remained.
Time lost all meaning in the darkness.
He had no idea how long had passed.
Crunch...
Crunch...
Crisp cracking sounds rang out in the darkness...
They were faint, but Chen Mo heard them with terrible clarity...
Once.
Then again.
There seemed to be a certain rhythm to them.
Like a clock in the darkness, ticking away.
Chen Mo's scalp prickled, and his whole body felt as though it had plunged into an ice cellar.
The sound came from... the left.
What... was she eating?
Chen Mo held his breath.
He listened to each crunch, terrified of alerting Grandma.
Crunch...
Crunch...
The sound was sharp, more like teeth biting through bone...
An image surfaced in Chen Mo's mind.
Kindly Grandma, sprawled over the green-haired boy...
He had no idea how much time passed.
Beside him, Hu Yaya seemed to be disturbed by the noise.
She rolled over and mumbled something in her sleep.
Then she sank back into a deep slumber.
Crunch...
Crunch...
The sound continued.
One crunch after another.
"Ugh... I can't hold it anymore. Gotta pee..."
In the darkness, one of the street punks sat up and felt his way off the bed.
He seemed completely unaware of what was happening beside him.
Rustling followed, then the door opened and closed.
The crunching continued without the slightest pause...
Should I run outside?
Pretend I needed to pee and run out?
Chen Mo remembered the high wall and the locked gate.
No.
Going outside like that probably wouldn't help...
Soon, the street punk returned.
Yawning, he walked to the bedside and felt his way back onto it.
"Grandma, you're still awake? What tasty stuff are you eating?"
Crunch...
The sound abruptly stopped...
Chen Mo strained his ears.
It's over!
Was he going to die?
The scream he imagined never came.
Instead, Grandma's gentle voice rang out.
"I'm old. I can't sleep."
"I'm eating jujubes."
"This is the last one. Once I finish it, there won't be any left."
"Oh, I see. They sound crunchy. Must be pretty tasty, huh?"
Grandma chuckled.
"Hehe, want some?"
"Sleep beside Grandma tomorrow, and I'll secretly save you a few."
"Everyone else is asleep. Don't tell them. It'll be our little secret."
Daylight filled the sky.
He hadn't slept a wink.
The crunching had gone on all night.
Chen Mo had spent the entire night pressed against the wall, listening.
The old woman had been up for half an hour.
Chen Mo didn't dare open his eyes. He could only lie there and pretend to sleep.
"Grandchildren, get up and have breakfast!"
Chen Mo abruptly sat up.
He rubbed his bloodshot eyes, trying to make himself look normal.
Hu Yaya, Redhead, and Yellow-Hair lay beside him.
They seemed to have slept quite well.
But the spots where Grandma and the green-haired boy had slept.
Were now completely empty...
He'd survived.
At least he'd survived last night.
From what he could tell so far.
The old woman didn't seem to intend to eat them all at once.
It was more like... she was keeping livestock.
The morning sunlight spilled into the courtyard.
It shone through the window onto the old woman.
Chen Mo felt dazed. The old woman didn't seem afraid of sunlight.
Breakfast was already laid out on the table in the main room.
Plain rice porridge, pickled vegetables, and a few steamed buns.
They sat around the table, wolfing down the food.
Under the old woman's gaze, Chen Mo forced himself to drink a small bowl of porridge.
Just then, Redhead seemed to notice something.
Stuffing a steamed bun into his mouth, he asked indistinctly.
"Grandma, where's my second brother?"
"I haven't seen him since I got up."
He meant the green-haired boy.
Chen Mo gripped the rim of his bowl, his knuckles turning white.
Grandma still wore her gentle smile.
As though she were talking about something utterly trivial.
"Your second brother? He's gone to your aunt's house. He'll be back in a couple of days."
"Oh, I see."
Yellow-Hair nodded and asked no more questions.
Silence...
The clock on the wall ticked away.
Chen Mo finished his last mouthful of plain rice porridge.
With his head raised, he happened to glance at the old-fashioned clock on the wall.
17:35.
He withdrew his gaze without giving anything away.
He set down his bowl and walked out into the courtyard.
Fake.
This was all fake.
Even the time was fake!
After breakfast.
The old woman stood up and brushed the dust off her clothes.
"Children, have you all had enough to eat?"
"Grandma's getting old and needs a nap at noon. Don't sit around doing nothing, either. Help Grandma with a few chores."
She pointed at the firewood in the courtyard.
"Mo, take your two younger brothers and chop the wood."
Then she pointed at the courtyard.
"Yaya, go sweep the courtyard."
"I'm going to take a nap. Remember, no one is allowed to disturb Grandma during her afternoon nap. Do you hear me?"
For the first time, a hint of sternness appeared on the old woman's kindly face.
"Yes, Grandma."
They answered in unison.
The old woman nodded in satisfaction, then turned and entered the main house.
Clang!
The door was locked from the inside...
Chen Mo picked up the axe, walked over to the woodpile, and swung it mechanically.
Hu Yaya held a broom and diligently swept the spotless courtyard...
A little while later.
Yellow-Hair and Redhead went into the woodshed, laughing and joking, and did not come out for a long time.
When Chen Mo went to check again.
The two were already lying beside the firewood, snoring.
Chen Mo glanced back at Hu Yaya, who was sweeping diligently with her head down.
He turned toward the main house.
What exactly was that old woman doing in there?
Chen Mo quietly put down the axe.
He tiptoed toward the main house and pressed his ear close to listen.
There was no sound inside...
Slowly, he crouched even lower.
He gradually brought his eye close to the narrow crack in the door.
The next second.
Chen Mo saw something he would never forget for the rest of his life...
Before you continue