Lu Mi took a deep breath and knocked on the door.
"Xiao Kui, we're here to see you."
Beside him, Zhong Zixian gave him a thumbs-up. "Lu Mi, that normal-but-creepy tone of yours sounds just like theirs."
Xiao Kui's bulging eyes appeared at the window.
It giggled. "You would come. I knew you would come."
Lu Mi asked, "What if we didn't?"
"If you didn't..." Lu Mi thought he heard it swallowing. "I'd have no choice but to come looking for you at night."
"Oh." Lu Mi deftly pulled something from his bag. "Want an egg tart? Give it a sniff. It smells amazing."
But Xiao Kui wasn't as easy to placate as Red Eyes.
It didn't even glance at the egg tart. "We had an agreement..."
"Just say what you want."
"You came to play at my house." A piercing scratching sound came from the door. "Of course I have to invite my guests inside, have tea, chat..."
They had to go inside.
The sound of nails scraping against wood made Lu Mi want to claw it a few times himself.
"Stop scratching! You can't open the door yourself during the day, right? I'll open it!"
That only made the thing inside more excited, and it scratched even louder.
Zhong Zixian was alarmed. "You're really going in? Won't that be dangerous?"
Lu Mi covered one ear and shouted toward the door:
"I'll come in alone. This friend's house is going to catch fire in a bit, so he won't be joining us!"
The scratching stopped abruptly.
Zhong Zixian gripped the hem of his clothes. How could it agree to that? They had agreed that both of them would go together...
The bulging eyeballs drew closer, almost pressing against the glass.
Xiao Kui scrutinized Lu Mi's face.
"All right."
"You